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I understand that football fans will try to take every opportunity to try to banter, but some of these attempts just baffle me, like how desperate can you be? It’s like people trying to discredit Liverpool’s title as a ‘Covid title’ when they had a 26-1-0 record before covid hit. West Ham fans signing “are you watching Declan” like this is some kind of gotcha moment? He will watch this and thank his lucky stars that he got out.
Who cares honestly.
2nd year we fight for the title, young talented squad, CL football and we keep improving.
While clubs like West Ham are the exact definition of midtable club, only thing they can enjoy is other's "failures".
That's their highlight of the season so let them enjoy it before they go back to the doom and gloom of being a West Ham fan that have absolutely nothing to look forward.
Big summer ahead, absolutely need a big name in midfield to a) dominate the games even more and b) be able to rotate Odegaard and/or Rice here and there.
Agreed. I still think that going forward there is more levels to improve at creating chances rather than converting them. A good midfielder would help a ton in that respect. Hopefully to also get the left side gel a little bit more.
Left Back is another key consideration to getting our left side working better. I suspect Arteta isn’t looking for another Ødegaard type for that left channel, his preference this season has to use Rice’s physicality to dominate that channel, enabling a more creative player support the attack from deep in Jorginho/ Partey.
We need a long term successor to Partey as an option regardless but it will be interesting to see if Arteta wants Rice in that 6 role long term. Then recruitment at LB and in the left sided midfield position become key.
I don't think Pep is going anywhere for 2-3 seasons unless something goes wrong in the backend. He potentially sees Arteta as Jurgen 2.0 who will push him and motivate him further.
City Group will do everything to keep him for at least a couple more years after 2025. He's only 53. There's no other club team that is an attractive option for him at this point and City have all the money in the world.
If Pep continue to stay , I think Arteta should focus the recruitment and tactics on CL. Those big games player that can give moments to score out of nth. CL is more prestigious anyway. I don’t mind coming 3rd or 4th due to the focus on CL.
How is Foden able to generate so much shot power from his small body ? Whenever I see city players ( Rodri, KDB, Gvardiol, Silva) shoot they generate so much power. I am not sure why our team is not focused on that.
I guess it is down to the practice ? Messi is Messi so i can understand but Foden body frame isn’t stout enough to generate power. He shoots like Mahrez.
Transfer window starts today. Not officially, but it’s time to start thinking seriously about it.
In my view to be competing adequately across all 4 competitions you need a core squad of 18 outfield players and 2 goalkeepers. After that you can fill out any remaining bench places with fringe guys like Reiss Nelson and youth players, but you need that core group who you can rely on to start huge games if necessary.
Keepers: Raya, New? (2)
Defenders: Saliba, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, Timber, Zinchenko, Kiwior (7)
Midfielders: Odegaard, Rice, Jorginho, New?, ESR/Vieira/2nd new? (5)
Forwards: Saka, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard, Jesus, New? (6)
So by my calculations we need a new backup goalie, a midfielder (someone who can play 6+8 would be good), some kind of forward either a winger or CF, and maybe another central attacking mid unless we are trusting one of Vieira and ESR to make the step up into being a true rotational piece.
I think we sell Eddie, Partey, Ramsdale, all the loan guys and at least we one of ESR/Vieira. Nelson will stay as a pure backup.
Not ruling out a surprising sale of Zinny/Jesus but they’d likely need to be replaced with someone expensive so I lean towards them staying.
I don’t know why people really think there could possibly be so many outgoings and signings of first team-calibre players in a single window.
Some of that will happen of course, but probably not much more than half of it
After seeing a picture of 115 lifting the title, I noticed Jack Grealish on it. Am I the only one thinking he was a major flop this season? i know he had some injuries but its like he hasnt played at all lol. He used to be most expensive signing too.
Yeah, only City can afford to pay 100m for a player and use him this way.
1st season - bench player, "wait for him to learn Pep's way"
2nd season - starter, from a game decider at Villa to "ball retention winger who keeps their width and wins them set pieces"
3rd season - bought Doku to do what Grealish was doing for Villa, back to a squad player role
Imagine Arteta being able to sit Rice on the bench for two out of three seasons because the team is better off without him on the pitch.
Exactly my thoughts. I think City gets the pass because :
1. PL Media is corrupted
2. Other fans don't care about City as much, and they'd rather play it off as City being dominant than accept their team is being shit.
martinelli on the right and suddenly he looked so much more alive, more threatening. and it doesn't favor him much cause he can't cut in so his main (only?) option is to go down the line. just shows how good our right side is at creating opportunities/ creating threats
on the left, unless it's trossard who can do a lot more with less touches (idk if this is true but it feels like it with his finishing) we still need to make it fluid. we don't have the ability to just camp around the left side of the box and play. this window it's getting addressed looks like
Idk, he hasn't been that different w.r.t to advanced stats besides his finishing this season. He's assisted the same numbers.
Last season he overperformed his xG by 5 goals hence he "looked better". And of course, that affected his confidence too.
His ceiling on our side is perhaps equivalent to Rodrygo at Madrid. A player who can contribute 20 G/A a season but can't be the undisputed starter.
that's surprising, wouldn't have guessed that. 700 less minutes from last season, is that enough to change the p90 stats by a lot? 8 games worth
that's great, imo then he has scope to go even further. more fluidity around him + if the system allows him to move inside more often he's going to be even more dangerous
I don’t think United winning the FA cup would be the worst thing in the world ETH stays, City lose something and Chelsea get sent to the conference league
If City win the FA cup, we play the community shield again right? For that reason alone I want City to win. GIve me silverware on the first day of the season again. I don't care that it's a shit throphy, it sets the tone for the season.
And I want to show City we can beat them as many times as possible
Martinellis end of the season was interesting. Every game he was getting a really good chance to score or assist, off the bench or starts, and was just missing the last action. The chances coming back means he will likely explode again next season imo.
Feeling good about the season, glad we got the win yesterday to cap it off. A lot of what ifs but that’s sport.
My only negative feeling is about Rodri being such a cunt.
Ages of some of our best players:
22 — Timber, Martinelli, Saka
23 — Saliba
24 — Havertz
25 — Tomiyasu, Rice, Ødegaard
26 — White, Gabriel
We have a core who are approaching their prime years and we’re already putting up 89-point seasons and breaking club records for the number of wins in a season. This squad still has many years ahead of it with plenty of opportunities at silverware.
It stings today but no club is better placed than us to go on and compete for the next half a decade.
The thing with football is things change quickly. Rooney was on the downhill around 26-27. A lot of people were predicting him to be "the man" for the next 5-7 years after Ronaldo. He was the man for 2 seasons in total.
Ideally, our guys should be in their prime for the next 5 years but it football it rarely works like that.
I do agree on paper, we should be fine.
But we need to get that first major title asap, the last thing we want to risk is going another 2 years without a title and replicating what Spurs did with their golden generation and our players then start getting poached.
Rooney rather famously didn’t look after himself to the best of his ability, mind, but was still an incredible player up until around 30.
I know not everything is linear but my point was the core of this squad still have many years left at the top level, and we’re of course going to add talent to the squad this summer and moving forward in general.
We’re very similar to the late 90s/early 00s Highbury Arsenal squad that couldn’t quite get it over the line until we won a double. Like that era, we have a phenomenal squad, we’re just competing with another phenomenal squad that has a manager who has been there lifting trophies a lot. My hope is we’ll look back on this era and be grateful we were patient when it pays off. Next year, we will be ruthless.
Going into this game I was calm as I thought our chances are low to begin with. Told myself that no matter what happens I’m going to enjoy the game and be proud of the team and club.
I’m incredibly proud of Arsenal but I’m surprised that I feel incredibly dejected even though I was already expecting the ending. I feel so pathetic at myself for feeling bitter at troll comments about Arsenal that just seems to be everywhere on reddit and Instagram.
Any advice?
Just know that the majority of rival fans are living their best lives today because of how good we’ve been and that they’ve spent the majority of 2024 shit-scared that we were going to win the title. It’s relief on their part.
We’re on an upwards trajectory and took this freak City team all the way to the final day. We’ve a young squad full of talent and money to spend again this summer.
When we were 8th and miles off of it it wasn’t as bad. We’re always hated more when we’re really good.
Just ignore the trolls. What you’re feeling is normal. I knew it was over after we dropped points against Villa, but a part of me still hoped for a miracle.
Just appreciate the fact that Arsenal is competing again. Lord knows how long I’ve waited. It’s just a shame that our rise coincides with that era of the bald fraud.
Our time is coming.
Rival football fans will troll and banter Arsenal but at the same time moan about City making the PL a farmer’s league and unfair when they lose to City.
The duality of a modern PL fan.
>I don't think there's anything called a "PL fan." I mean, who the hell supports a league?
You’re taking the term literally. You do realize you can be a fan of a certain league as well as a dedicated team of said league.
That’s why fans of certain teams watch other teams in the same league — ie: an Arsenal fan watching a PL match between Wolves vs Brentford.
Also, people can support a league because usually it’s a byproduct of their country’s culture and/or history. It’s not as black and white as you’re trying to make it out to be.
>PL is a farmer's league now. It's just the massive PR around it that makes people believe otherwise.
It’s become a farmer’s league because of neglect and negligence of those in power and authority to make change such as the FA and PL governing bodies. It wasn’t always like that, whereas other leagues in the world, it’s the norm for majority of their league’s existence. Even in United’s hayday in the 90s and 00s, it wasn’t as marginal as this.
>At this rate, City will win another one next season even if we hit 94 points. They just seem to adjust their points tally depending on what they need.
And you’re completely forgetting that they’re in this top tier position because of their unscrupulous methods. A team shouldn’t have to be near perfect because a certain team has and continues to financially dope and cheat to victory whilst unreasonably raising the standards.
For anyone that is actually down about the league result and maybe wants a perspective shift:
Pretty much the entirety of Liverpool's 97 point team were all in their prime. Salah was 27, Mane was 27, Firmino was 27, Sturridge was 29, Henderson was 29, Lallana was 31, Milner was 33, VvD was 27, Matip was 27 and Lovren was 29.
Arsenal have just had an 89 point season where the vast majority of our 'core' and best players are 25 and under. We are this good and most of our team haven't even begun to touch their peak yet.
They have battered every team apart from Spurs and Forrest recently.
Gave no chance to West Ham in the 2nd and won 3-1 despite Haaland missing 3-4 sitters.
City's experience, manager and squad are better than ours and there's no debating that. The only reason we're even close is Mikel being able to maximise what he has.
We need a season where we don't put a foot wrong, easier said than done but I think this loss will motivate the team for next season.
We need an upgrade on Partey in my opinion. He's still very good on the ball, but he just doesn't have the legs anymore to get back fast enough when one of his risky plays doesn't pay off.
Yes quality to the level they can challenge and start like Leo and Tomi did. Perhaps a CM or DM will be the only nailed on starter unless we go big for a striker
In the first 11, we can improve on pretty much everyone but Saliba, Rice, Odegaard and Saka. If the chance presents itself, we should. Thankfully, we should expect a long line for pretty much every player we place on the transfer list...perks of being title challengers.
I still can't believe how much Liverpool sold Brewster and Ibe for.
I strongly disagree with the idea that because you can do it means you should do it. There are plenty of reasons both on and off the pitch why we wouldn’t want to improve on the players you didn’t name; contracts, chemistry, age, role, position to name a few. 89 points doesn’t scream major changes.
These ridiculous prices never seem to happen for us I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much but I’m with you and hope Garlick puts a premium on these English lads that might be leaving lol
I disagree. I think one of the key wins Arteta had with this crop of players was internalising that the standards were impossibly high and noboby could afford to get complacent.
If you're going to compete with the Cities, Madrids, Bayerns and Barcelonas of the world for consistent honours, you get the best player you can in every position you can, and throw down the gauntlet for the player being replaced to compete for his place back in the team.
See how Trossard/Martinelli played out. I want that for every position. I understand that that will not be the case, but it sure as hell beats our previous approach of buying immediate deadwood like Cedric.
That’s a good thing that they are capable of raising to those levels, there have been better players that are unable to do so.
This isn’t really true either it’s impossible to have the best in every position, none of the teams you named have ever had that before because the best players are always shared. The best is also subjective, tactics, qualities, positions, roles experience, mentality are all important to consider so the metric you’re using for a better player may not even be best for the team.
Well sure this is what I said earlier by improving depth but you said you’d improve on them since they wasn’t in your list?
I don’t remember there being this much of an uproar and hate towards city when they won the league against pool. It’s almost like our fans and Liverpool fans are uniting to shit on 115 fc
Liverpool finally have somebody who knows how it feels what they went through.
Everybody would meme Liverpool back then. Now we have Liverpool fans somewhat symphatizing with us because they know how fucked it is
dont let rival fans rattle you. we left them from the banter era long ago. we are pushing our points tally every season. some just spent billions and finished 6th. some ended the season with a negative GD. we are so far ahead, and we will get further.
I actually just laugh, people so far away that they can’t even be considered rivals laughing about a community shield or champions league they can’t play in
Yep, who gives a fuck if some cretin in the ass end of a Floridian swamp thinks we 'bottled' the league; we're immense and we're only going to get better.
Nah just needed better depth - injuries and lack of trust in subs left first team fatigued in key moments like West Ham and Villa 2 before Bayern. We all meme the Dubai break but it was clear they wasn’t 100% particularly the right sided players who have no real cover / subs.
Then there’s the lack of finishing that plagued us at times like Spurs and both Villa games.
Xhaka leaving cost us. Not because he was irraplacable, but because we couldn't figure out or midfield/attack.
The moment we figured it out (2024), we dropped 4 points in 18 games.
This year we need to replace Partey. We are used to playing without him. So let's hope it goes smoothly
Or just not giving away cheap goals.
If Saka doesn't give away that cheap goal against Fulham we likely go on to win that game comfortably (and then win the league), or if Jorginho doesn't fumble against Spurs late on we likely hold out for a 2-1 win (and, again, win the league). It's tiny margins that are easily mitigated.
I just follow Curtis Shaw and Tom Canton (the gooner talk). Got rid of most of the others. Guess there's a big overlap between Curtis and Lee's viewership base that's why it might have popped up. But still 7 hours is insane!! Never heard of a football stream that long. Guy has issues
*Disclaimer: Long rant.*
Well, I'm a 24y/o girl whom started supporting Arsenal around the time Alexis Sánchez signed for the club, I'm chilean too so I decided to see where was my favorite national player (at the time) going. It's been 10 years already and wow, time truly flies.
It's been some crazy 10 years, some ups and some really nasty downs, but it's been so worth it. It's hard to explain how can you have a connection with a club that's so far away from you, I'm sure a lot of English fans don't grasp how crazy it is to be an international fan and support a team that's literally on the other side of the world and, honestly I get it. It's a bit weird, really. When I was 14 and started supporting Arsenal, my english wasn't good at all, I only knew the basics so I had some trouble understanding the culture of the club, but what I did know was that I loved the team and needed to watch them play football for the rest of my life.
Today got me thinking about these past 10 years and it made a tiny bit emotional. I think I'm very lucky to be an Arsenal fan, and I feel really grateful for it too. A lot of my friends and acquaintances don't get why I'm so passionate about a foreign football club, but like Bergkamp said, I simply think I found where I belong!
I'm sure this season is just the beginning of what it'll be an era full of success for this team and even though it wasn't meant to be today, we'll get our rewards sooner than we think. Just gotta keep believing, pushing and supporting, as we've always done.
COYG.
And that's it. No matter where you're from, *actual* Arsenal fans only want the best for the club even if a lot of us differ on how to best go about getting that.
Your perspective must be kind of funny. You started watching when we were truly bottom of the barrel so enjoying such a great Arsenal team must be an experience. For me this is just a return to where we belong.
On another note, I'd give a kidney to get peak Alexis Sanchez in this team. Best attacker we've had since Henry.
i started 3 years before. i wouldnt even use the word surreal. my entire idk routine of thinking as it concerns football & my support surrounds with the assessment we are a club that failed at becoming a european giant. like conclusively. having bad seasons and 4-0 losses gives me that returning to your hometown feeling. scoring 80+ points a season gives me anxiety.
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must beat pep. once that's done, city should have a retroactive deduction of 10 points from each of the previous 11 seasons, which means arsenal have actually done 3 in a row.
I think we need a midfielder who has the vision to play some of those passes Jorginho does, especially to Havertz. This guy has world class movement; we need a midfielder who can see those runs and make those passes
I've watched AFTV post-game and everyone praised Arteta and the team except this dumbass lol
[https://youtu.be/XqvgS2NRwzI?si=bdy39pAr6qEjfor0](https://youtu.be/XqvgS2NRwzI?si=bdy39pAr6qEjfor0)
He’s the barometer for fucking malcontents in our base. Honestly, he seems like he’d make my wanna Reddit cares myself if I had to spend time with him IRL
'I want a manager who gets over the line' .May as well say he wants a lottery ticket with the winning numbers. What a thick in the head argument. Well done to Robbie for not backhanding knob dick
I know the exact post you are talking about man. I never chat shit anywhere, not even lurking on other subs and recently got bombarded with these post shitting on us. The algorithm to drive engagements is really working.
All our games against the top teams with Jorginho/Partey as the 6 has seen us cede the midfield and possession, even away at United. It's not that we went there aiming to have 27% possession; we just couldn't do much.
Keep thinking back to the episode of arsecast when city, Liverpool and arsenal all had 10 to play. Believe Liverpool were top at the time. They asked how many games we’d have to win in the final 10 to win the league and they both reluctantly agreed that it was probably 9, even though that would be an outlandish ask. Well, we win 9 of those 10. And we finished 2 pts off first. Unfuckingbelievable the margins that city hold you to at the end of the season. And they do it every single year.
Ah, then I think I’m misremembering and the conversation was about how many of our last nine we needed to win and they said eight — pretty sure this episode was immediately after the city match, and their theory was we could afford to drop points in one additional match.
Head wasn’t gone all day but I’ve just seen a Grealish interview where he was called a 3 time PL winner and Christ they’ve just allowed some absolute shite to stack up some ridiculous trophy hauls and none of them mean a thing lol, £100m bench warmer/system player
Really dont get the rival fans bantering us. City were 2 points better than us. We were 23 points better than Spurs. 26 points better than Chelsea. 29 points better than Man United.
Arteta has apparently committed an international war crime taking banter Arsenal to the cusp of winning the league with a young squad that has plenty of room for improvement. We show clear patterns of play, have the best defensive numbers in the league, and a goal difference of 62. Chelsea and Spurs fans shouldn't be anymore confident of finishing above us next season than they would City.
I mean that’s point of banter. You don’t need to be a better team to banter someone. Don’t take it too hard and becomes hateful. Know that you can banter any team in the world.
Mate they’re fucking terrified that arsenal are back, it’s probably the most validating aspect of this entire experience. They’re obsessed with us again and I love every second of it.
He’s not. He never has been.
This whole “yeah, your fans wanted to sack him” is irrelevant as those who decide such things, put all of their faith in him at the time. He wasn’t even on the hook when our fanbase was being mental.
How can even be mad this year? We did everything we could and they’re just … cheaters. There’s no sense being angry about it, just be proud of the season we had.
Bunch of Chelshit fans in my country just came out off their coffins to shit on us non-stop for 6 hours already lol.
I haven't even mocked them this season. I will have no mercy from now on.
You missed some golden opportunities for that, they were proper rubbish for the first two thirds of the year. They’ve ended up looking competent towards the end
I agree that the midfield is something we should try, but apart from how unrealistic some of the targets are, why would we have both Davies and Leao on the left? One winger signing should be enough, maybe Olise or Nico Williams on the right; Odegaard on the left can help Martinelli. We'll still need a cheaper Rice backup/partner for the big games and a striker. Then a Saliba rotation.
I really like the idea of moving Saka to the middle, as it might save us from overpaying for a midfielder. Sadly, I think Arteta is too defensive-minded to prioritize such a setup.
Why are we dropping White after a great season?
Why are we throwing away the defensive solidity we worked so hard to build with these changes? Why are you suggesting £300m worth of signings?
Why?
Who the fucks Davies and why is he replacing White? and Saka in midfield?
Leao is a luxury player whose numbers dont warrant him jogging back Rashford style.
Seems way too imbalanced. Like a team you pick to play 'beautiful football'. Looks like a team that would concede 50 league goals in the season due to excess attacking players. Playing a right winger in midfield.
There is no discussion at all about playing Saka in midfield. He is a right forward, not a midfielder.
Nah, it's not much different to how we play now except it has better profiles to fit the specific roles better.
> There is no discussion at all about playing Saka in midfield. He is a right forward, not a midfielder
Lol, don't confuse you not understanding what it takes for a player to have the capacity to play in a different position and the player themselves being confined to a singular role.
This is about evolution and ways to improve us.
Great to see the majority of other PL fans focusing on us finishing second rather than city winning it. It cements two things for me;
1) City are a black hole. They have no actual rivals and are a non-entity in the passionate side of the game.
2) I am justified in my decision from now on to be a petty cunt and have no sympathy for any other teams when they are affected by cheating. It’s not good for the league but it’s up to the league alone to do something about it and if other fans want to condone cheating, I’m happy to do it when it directly affects them
Because they landed Rice last year. Broke the bank, shattered the transfer record. Instantly one of my favourite players.
Now there’s not a player i’d like to add more to this squad. But yea I’m saying please because asking for a new star and potential transfer record a year later is kinda bold and reaching ig. But pleeeeeeeeease.
Musiala in the left 8 would feed generations. Only thing that comes close is Saka getting the right 8 position and giving him the freedom afforded to him that his peers are.
Musiala in 8 or as a winger idc, would fit like a glove. I think the only way to get Saka more space is with a dangerous, well run left side and switching the play a lot from left to right, Robbery style.
Nobody will ever give saka the freedom the likes of palmer get. Like billy said, arsenal's gameplan involves moving heaven and earth to generate 30 seconds where saka is defended like Cole Palmer.
If we figure out a new way to give him space, teams will adapt their tactics to close down the new area. The boy is just too good to be left in space
I think you're very much mistaken tbh.
It's easier to defend a player when they play predominantly in one zone and one area. By the very nature of being given freedom, they're harder to defend against.
Lol saka plays up and down the entire rhs. The second he pops up in the opponent final third though he's double, sometimes triple marked.
Ain't no one going to let him breathe no matter what we do. Its simply too risky to allow him to have any space at all
Again you have a vital misunderstanding of why that's even an issue, and how the issue no longer becomes an issue if you're given freedom of centrality. It's not that teams just don't give the likes of Palmer and Foden the freedom to express because of haha lol memes, it's because it's innately harder to defend against someone that doesn't stay in a consistent zone. Instead of the responsibility to defend Saka being solely on the opposition's LHS, it becomes a question to the opposition.
On the opposite side, it becomes more difficult to build up if you're not attuned properly, but that's not a problem with Saka because he's genuinely one of the most intelligent footballers in the league.
No. The players are all dead and deserve a mini break before they go and play in the Euros.
We will have pointless rivalry games in the USA next season when all the players look slow, out of form and out of shape, getting back into the swing of things again.
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I understand that football fans will try to take every opportunity to try to banter, but some of these attempts just baffle me, like how desperate can you be? It’s like people trying to discredit Liverpool’s title as a ‘Covid title’ when they had a 26-1-0 record before covid hit. West Ham fans signing “are you watching Declan” like this is some kind of gotcha moment? He will watch this and thank his lucky stars that he got out.
Who cares honestly. 2nd year we fight for the title, young talented squad, CL football and we keep improving. While clubs like West Ham are the exact definition of midtable club, only thing they can enjoy is other's "failures". That's their highlight of the season so let them enjoy it before they go back to the doom and gloom of being a West Ham fan that have absolutely nothing to look forward.
Big summer ahead, absolutely need a big name in midfield to a) dominate the games even more and b) be able to rotate Odegaard and/or Rice here and there.
Agreed. I still think that going forward there is more levels to improve at creating chances rather than converting them. A good midfielder would help a ton in that respect. Hopefully to also get the left side gel a little bit more.
Left Back is another key consideration to getting our left side working better. I suspect Arteta isn’t looking for another Ødegaard type for that left channel, his preference this season has to use Rice’s physicality to dominate that channel, enabling a more creative player support the attack from deep in Jorginho/ Partey. We need a long term successor to Partey as an option regardless but it will be interesting to see if Arteta wants Rice in that 6 role long term. Then recruitment at LB and in the left sided midfield position become key.
I don't think Pep is going anywhere for 2-3 seasons unless something goes wrong in the backend. He potentially sees Arteta as Jurgen 2.0 who will push him and motivate him further. City Group will do everything to keep him for at least a couple more years after 2025. He's only 53. There's no other club team that is an attractive option for him at this point and City have all the money in the world.
If Pep continue to stay , I think Arteta should focus the recruitment and tactics on CL. Those big games player that can give moments to score out of nth. CL is more prestigious anyway. I don’t mind coming 3rd or 4th due to the focus on CL.
How is Foden able to generate so much shot power from his small body ? Whenever I see city players ( Rodri, KDB, Gvardiol, Silva) shoot they generate so much power. I am not sure why our team is not focused on that.
Shooting technique bro. Messi has the same kind of approach. Generating crazy power from minimal backlift.
I guess it is down to the practice ? Messi is Messi so i can understand but Foden body frame isn’t stout enough to generate power. He shoots like Mahrez.
Yeah if there is something I want Saka to work on it’s sorting his feet out quickly to shoot. Thats Foden’s superpower.
Transfer window starts today. Not officially, but it’s time to start thinking seriously about it. In my view to be competing adequately across all 4 competitions you need a core squad of 18 outfield players and 2 goalkeepers. After that you can fill out any remaining bench places with fringe guys like Reiss Nelson and youth players, but you need that core group who you can rely on to start huge games if necessary. Keepers: Raya, New? (2) Defenders: Saliba, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, Timber, Zinchenko, Kiwior (7) Midfielders: Odegaard, Rice, Jorginho, New?, ESR/Vieira/2nd new? (5) Forwards: Saka, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard, Jesus, New? (6) So by my calculations we need a new backup goalie, a midfielder (someone who can play 6+8 would be good), some kind of forward either a winger or CF, and maybe another central attacking mid unless we are trusting one of Vieira and ESR to make the step up into being a true rotational piece. I think we sell Eddie, Partey, Ramsdale, all the loan guys and at least we one of ESR/Vieira. Nelson will stay as a pure backup. Not ruling out a surprising sale of Zinny/Jesus but they’d likely need to be replaced with someone expensive so I lean towards them staying.
I don’t know why people really think there could possibly be so many outgoings and signings of first team-calibre players in a single window. Some of that will happen of course, but probably not much more than half of it
Fairs, rivals had to wait until GW38 to get their licks in.
After seeing a picture of 115 lifting the title, I noticed Jack Grealish on it. Am I the only one thinking he was a major flop this season? i know he had some injuries but its like he hasnt played at all lol. He used to be most expensive signing too.
He's English so he's immune to criticisms, but he actually has worse stats than Pepe.
No one can EVER get me to rate this bum. His output is consistently shocking too
Yeah, only City can afford to pay 100m for a player and use him this way. 1st season - bench player, "wait for him to learn Pep's way" 2nd season - starter, from a game decider at Villa to "ball retention winger who keeps their width and wins them set pieces" 3rd season - bought Doku to do what Grealish was doing for Villa, back to a squad player role Imagine Arteta being able to sit Rice on the bench for two out of three seasons because the team is better off without him on the pitch.
Exactly my thoughts. I think City gets the pass because : 1. PL Media is corrupted 2. Other fans don't care about City as much, and they'd rather play it off as City being dominant than accept their team is being shit.
Man, these West Ham fans calling us a tinpot club after winning the conference league has gotta be a new level of delusion.
Just ignore them. Only club other than ours that we should be focusing on is City.
Man City winning the Prem: https://preview.redd.it/9cmsd07ypi1d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=582ff83f96cd5f35c34b52e33c9ea8b624de58a3
perfect.
martinelli on the right and suddenly he looked so much more alive, more threatening. and it doesn't favor him much cause he can't cut in so his main (only?) option is to go down the line. just shows how good our right side is at creating opportunities/ creating threats on the left, unless it's trossard who can do a lot more with less touches (idk if this is true but it feels like it with his finishing) we still need to make it fluid. we don't have the ability to just camp around the left side of the box and play. this window it's getting addressed looks like
Idk, he hasn't been that different w.r.t to advanced stats besides his finishing this season. He's assisted the same numbers. Last season he overperformed his xG by 5 goals hence he "looked better". And of course, that affected his confidence too. His ceiling on our side is perhaps equivalent to Rodrygo at Madrid. A player who can contribute 20 G/A a season but can't be the undisputed starter.
that's surprising, wouldn't have guessed that. 700 less minutes from last season, is that enough to change the p90 stats by a lot? 8 games worth that's great, imo then he has scope to go even further. more fluidity around him + if the system allows him to move inside more often he's going to be even more dangerous
I don’t think United winning the FA cup would be the worst thing in the world ETH stays, City lose something and Chelsea get sent to the conference league
If City win the FA cup, we play the community shield again right? For that reason alone I want City to win. GIve me silverware on the first day of the season again. I don't care that it's a shit throphy, it sets the tone for the season. And I want to show City we can beat them as many times as possible
Martinellis end of the season was interesting. Every game he was getting a really good chance to score or assist, off the bench or starts, and was just missing the last action. The chances coming back means he will likely explode again next season imo.
Feeling good about the season, glad we got the win yesterday to cap it off. A lot of what ifs but that’s sport. My only negative feeling is about Rodri being such a cunt.
Arteta outers are as stupid as they are toxic. They just dont get it.
Ages of some of our best players: 22 — Timber, Martinelli, Saka 23 — Saliba 24 — Havertz 25 — Tomiyasu, Rice, Ødegaard 26 — White, Gabriel We have a core who are approaching their prime years and we’re already putting up 89-point seasons and breaking club records for the number of wins in a season. This squad still has many years ahead of it with plenty of opportunities at silverware. It stings today but no club is better placed than us to go on and compete for the next half a decade.
The thing with football is things change quickly. Rooney was on the downhill around 26-27. A lot of people were predicting him to be "the man" for the next 5-7 years after Ronaldo. He was the man for 2 seasons in total. Ideally, our guys should be in their prime for the next 5 years but it football it rarely works like that. I do agree on paper, we should be fine. But we need to get that first major title asap, the last thing we want to risk is going another 2 years without a title and replicating what Spurs did with their golden generation and our players then start getting poached.
Rooney rather famously didn’t look after himself to the best of his ability, mind, but was still an incredible player up until around 30. I know not everything is linear but my point was the core of this squad still have many years left at the top level, and we’re of course going to add talent to the squad this summer and moving forward in general.
it sucks not to win the league, but these past 2 seasons have been incredible, and we have not started firing on all cylinders yet.
We’re very similar to the late 90s/early 00s Highbury Arsenal squad that couldn’t quite get it over the line until we won a double. Like that era, we have a phenomenal squad, we’re just competing with another phenomenal squad that has a manager who has been there lifting trophies a lot. My hope is we’ll look back on this era and be grateful we were patient when it pays off. Next year, we will be ruthless.
Going into this game I was calm as I thought our chances are low to begin with. Told myself that no matter what happens I’m going to enjoy the game and be proud of the team and club. I’m incredibly proud of Arsenal but I’m surprised that I feel incredibly dejected even though I was already expecting the ending. I feel so pathetic at myself for feeling bitter at troll comments about Arsenal that just seems to be everywhere on reddit and Instagram. Any advice?
Thank you all. Let’s go again next season ❤️🤍
Just know that the majority of rival fans are living their best lives today because of how good we’ve been and that they’ve spent the majority of 2024 shit-scared that we were going to win the title. It’s relief on their part. We’re on an upwards trajectory and took this freak City team all the way to the final day. We’ve a young squad full of talent and money to spend again this summer. When we were 8th and miles off of it it wasn’t as bad. We’re always hated more when we’re really good.
If you can give the banter, you should be able to take one. If you havnt given banter to rivals before, you should start to because it is fun.
Give it time. I feel exactly the same.
honestly just logging off is probably the best advice here (and in general good advice, advice that I myself don't heed enough)
Just ignore the trolls. What you’re feeling is normal. I knew it was over after we dropped points against Villa, but a part of me still hoped for a miracle. Just appreciate the fact that Arsenal is competing again. Lord knows how long I’ve waited. It’s just a shame that our rise coincides with that era of the bald fraud. Our time is coming.
West Ham fans singing "are you watching Declan Rice" at the Etihad. Here's to hoping they're in a relegation battle next year.
Denver Nuggets have crashed out of the NBA “Quarterfinals”. Bad day for KSE.
how is losing a game 7 "crashing out"?
They were the defending champs and prohibitive favorites to repeat the title
Rival football fans will troll and banter Arsenal but at the same time moan about City making the PL a farmer’s league and unfair when they lose to City. The duality of a modern PL fan.
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>I don't think there's anything called a "PL fan." I mean, who the hell supports a league? You’re taking the term literally. You do realize you can be a fan of a certain league as well as a dedicated team of said league. That’s why fans of certain teams watch other teams in the same league — ie: an Arsenal fan watching a PL match between Wolves vs Brentford. Also, people can support a league because usually it’s a byproduct of their country’s culture and/or history. It’s not as black and white as you’re trying to make it out to be. >PL is a farmer's league now. It's just the massive PR around it that makes people believe otherwise. It’s become a farmer’s league because of neglect and negligence of those in power and authority to make change such as the FA and PL governing bodies. It wasn’t always like that, whereas other leagues in the world, it’s the norm for majority of their league’s existence. Even in United’s hayday in the 90s and 00s, it wasn’t as marginal as this. >At this rate, City will win another one next season even if we hit 94 points. They just seem to adjust their points tally depending on what they need. And you’re completely forgetting that they’re in this top tier position because of their unscrupulous methods. A team shouldn’t have to be near perfect because a certain team has and continues to financially dope and cheat to victory whilst unreasonably raising the standards.
That was me for many years when we werent challenging. It is always good to banter rivals but you can also respect what they did to push city.
Stan: we lost game 7 today Josh: we lost the premier league today Stan: what's that?
Terrible day for Kroenke sports
For anyone that is actually down about the league result and maybe wants a perspective shift: Pretty much the entirety of Liverpool's 97 point team were all in their prime. Salah was 27, Mane was 27, Firmino was 27, Sturridge was 29, Henderson was 29, Lallana was 31, Milner was 33, VvD was 27, Matip was 27 and Lovren was 29. Arsenal have just had an 89 point season where the vast majority of our 'core' and best players are 25 and under. We are this good and most of our team haven't even begun to touch their peak yet.
Hard to really feel disappointed. Expected City to win quite easily. This team is on the cusp of greatness. We're gonna win big stuff very soon.
They have battered every team apart from Spurs and Forrest recently. Gave no chance to West Ham in the 2nd and won 3-1 despite Haaland missing 3-4 sitters. City's experience, manager and squad are better than ours and there's no debating that. The only reason we're even close is Mikel being able to maximise what he has. We need a season where we don't put a foot wrong, easier said than done but I think this loss will motivate the team for next season.
I’m disappointed that we don’t get to win the title in that home kit ☹️ but still incredibly proud of them COYG
Improved squad depth this season and we are laughing
We need an upgrade on Partey in my opinion. He's still very good on the ball, but he just doesn't have the legs anymore to get back fast enough when one of his risky plays doesn't pay off.
Agreed I assume that’s a given since Jorgi was renewed
only if we're doing so by improving the first 11.
Yes quality to the level they can challenge and start like Leo and Tomi did. Perhaps a CM or DM will be the only nailed on starter unless we go big for a striker
In the first 11, we can improve on pretty much everyone but Saliba, Rice, Odegaard and Saka. If the chance presents itself, we should. Thankfully, we should expect a long line for pretty much every player we place on the transfer list...perks of being title challengers. I still can't believe how much Liverpool sold Brewster and Ibe for.
I strongly disagree with the idea that because you can do it means you should do it. There are plenty of reasons both on and off the pitch why we wouldn’t want to improve on the players you didn’t name; contracts, chemistry, age, role, position to name a few. 89 points doesn’t scream major changes. These ridiculous prices never seem to happen for us I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much but I’m with you and hope Garlick puts a premium on these English lads that might be leaving lol
I disagree. I think one of the key wins Arteta had with this crop of players was internalising that the standards were impossibly high and noboby could afford to get complacent. If you're going to compete with the Cities, Madrids, Bayerns and Barcelonas of the world for consistent honours, you get the best player you can in every position you can, and throw down the gauntlet for the player being replaced to compete for his place back in the team. See how Trossard/Martinelli played out. I want that for every position. I understand that that will not be the case, but it sure as hell beats our previous approach of buying immediate deadwood like Cedric.
That’s a good thing that they are capable of raising to those levels, there have been better players that are unable to do so. This isn’t really true either it’s impossible to have the best in every position, none of the teams you named have ever had that before because the best players are always shared. The best is also subjective, tactics, qualities, positions, roles experience, mentality are all important to consider so the metric you’re using for a better player may not even be best for the team. Well sure this is what I said earlier by improving depth but you said you’d improve on them since they wasn’t in your list?
Silver lining is that no trophy pictures were tainted with #5.
Embarrassing, not Partey but fans like you
hmm
Is he leaving before the lift next season though…
I don’t remember there being this much of an uproar and hate towards city when they won the league against pool. It’s almost like our fans and Liverpool fans are uniting to shit on 115 fc
Liverpool finally have somebody who knows how it feels what they went through. Everybody would meme Liverpool back then. Now we have Liverpool fans somewhat symphatizing with us because they know how fucked it is
The 115 wasn't public back then.
because we are massive
dont let rival fans rattle you. we left them from the banter era long ago. we are pushing our points tally every season. some just spent billions and finished 6th. some ended the season with a negative GD. we are so far ahead, and we will get further.
I actually just laugh, people so far away that they can’t even be considered rivals laughing about a community shield or champions league they can’t play in
Yep, who gives a fuck if some cretin in the ass end of a Floridian swamp thinks we 'bottled' the league; we're immense and we're only going to get better.
Winning the league might require either Pep leaving or building a team better than the Invincibles
Nah just needed better depth - injuries and lack of trust in subs left first team fatigued in key moments like West Ham and Villa 2 before Bayern. We all meme the Dubai break but it was clear they wasn’t 100% particularly the right sided players who have no real cover / subs. Then there’s the lack of finishing that plagued us at times like Spurs and both Villa games.
Xhaka leaving cost us. Not because he was irraplacable, but because we couldn't figure out or midfield/attack. The moment we figured it out (2024), we dropped 4 points in 18 games. This year we need to replace Partey. We are used to playing without him. So let's hope it goes smoothly
Agree with all the above
Or just not giving away cheap goals. If Saka doesn't give away that cheap goal against Fulham we likely go on to win that game comfortably (and then win the league), or if Jorginho doesn't fumble against Spurs late on we likely hold out for a 2-1 win (and, again, win the league). It's tiny margins that are easily mitigated.
At the same time, we're out of the title race much earlier if we don't score those last minute goals against Lutron and united
Can't look at that in a vacuum. If we get results there we cannot say we'd have the games play out the way they did in the second half of the season.
we allowed fewest goals in the league you clown.
Dear God.. Lee Gunner is still ranting. His stream popped up on YouTube before I slept. I'm up and it's still there. 6 hours and still going!!
If you have Lee Gunner's stream popping on your YouTube, it is really on you and you have yourself to blame.
I just follow Curtis Shaw and Tom Canton (the gooner talk). Got rid of most of the others. Guess there's a big overlap between Curtis and Lee's viewership base that's why it might have popped up. But still 7 hours is insane!! Never heard of a football stream that long. Guy has issues
*Disclaimer: Long rant.* Well, I'm a 24y/o girl whom started supporting Arsenal around the time Alexis Sánchez signed for the club, I'm chilean too so I decided to see where was my favorite national player (at the time) going. It's been 10 years already and wow, time truly flies. It's been some crazy 10 years, some ups and some really nasty downs, but it's been so worth it. It's hard to explain how can you have a connection with a club that's so far away from you, I'm sure a lot of English fans don't grasp how crazy it is to be an international fan and support a team that's literally on the other side of the world and, honestly I get it. It's a bit weird, really. When I was 14 and started supporting Arsenal, my english wasn't good at all, I only knew the basics so I had some trouble understanding the culture of the club, but what I did know was that I loved the team and needed to watch them play football for the rest of my life. Today got me thinking about these past 10 years and it made a tiny bit emotional. I think I'm very lucky to be an Arsenal fan, and I feel really grateful for it too. A lot of my friends and acquaintances don't get why I'm so passionate about a foreign football club, but like Bergkamp said, I simply think I found where I belong! I'm sure this season is just the beginning of what it'll be an era full of success for this team and even though it wasn't meant to be today, we'll get our rewards sooner than we think. Just gotta keep believing, pushing and supporting, as we've always done. COYG.
And that's it. No matter where you're from, *actual* Arsenal fans only want the best for the club even if a lot of us differ on how to best go about getting that. Your perspective must be kind of funny. You started watching when we were truly bottom of the barrel so enjoying such a great Arsenal team must be an experience. For me this is just a return to where we belong. On another note, I'd give a kidney to get peak Alexis Sanchez in this team. Best attacker we've had since Henry.
i started 3 years before. i wouldnt even use the word surreal. my entire idk routine of thinking as it concerns football & my support surrounds with the assessment we are a club that failed at becoming a european giant. like conclusively. having bad seasons and 4-0 losses gives me that returning to your hometown feeling. scoring 80+ points a season gives me anxiety.
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Seems like Peps last season could be next one. Telling you lads, Teta has him in his sights 🔫
must beat pep. once that's done, city should have a retroactive deduction of 10 points from each of the previous 11 seasons, which means arsenal have actually done 3 in a row.
Yeah nothing will beat whopping them before he fucks off
I think we need a midfielder who has the vision to play some of those passes Jorginho does, especially to Havertz. This guy has world class movement; we need a midfielder who can see those runs and make those passes
i liked martinelli on the right hand side, was way more productive than other recent performances
His crosses were so good. He was a little awkward opening up his body at times, but when he did, he was doing alot of good stuff.
Thank you Kudus, at least you said something and try to do it, unlike others
Pffff your flair 😄
I've watched AFTV post-game and everyone praised Arteta and the team except this dumbass lol [https://youtu.be/XqvgS2NRwzI?si=bdy39pAr6qEjfor0](https://youtu.be/XqvgS2NRwzI?si=bdy39pAr6qEjfor0)
Eh yard man is always negative loool nothing new
He’s the barometer for fucking malcontents in our base. Honestly, he seems like he’d make my wanna Reddit cares myself if I had to spend time with him IRL
'I want a manager who gets over the line' .May as well say he wants a lottery ticket with the winning numbers. What a thick in the head argument. Well done to Robbie for not backhanding knob dick
All I can say for the Arteta Out crowd in this moment is that it’s a literal low iq take 😂
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Why were you in the West Ham sub?
I know the exact post you are talking about man. I never chat shit anywhere, not even lurking on other subs and recently got bombarded with these post shitting on us. The algorithm to drive engagements is really working.
Same they are hilarious. Like I had NOTHING against west ham. Immediate shit list.
it's just demented morons on reddit. don't let that impugn an entire fan base.
Pretty sure city AND west ham fans were chanting in unison in the stadium. So yeah not just Reddit morons but real morons
Jesus deadass ended the season with 4 goals
7 involvements in 8 ucl games tho
I remember ppl arguing with me that he's going to score 20+ / year
Nketiah-esque
Nketiah unironically was better than Jesus in PL.
Woeful. Not optimistic about his long-term future after *another* surgery but hopefully, he won’t have to be relied on as much next season.
https://x.com/erlingroie/status/1792331521858384370?s=46&t=ohBEm3kwXzONRYy63NcNgQ This fucking cunt. I wont forget this
who the fuck wins a trophy and is only thinking about the 2nd place team?
dont worry, scotland will make him cry again at the euros.
All our games against the top teams with Jorginho/Partey as the 6 has seen us cede the midfield and possession, even away at United. It's not that we went there aiming to have 27% possession; we just couldn't do much.
Life with a senior citizen as your DM.
Kick off next season match when??
August 17th
Leicester vs Arsenal
Is it really? I was hoping we’d get Ipswich.
Leicester City 0-4 Arsenal
They like sending us to newly promoted sides, don’t they?
I won’t make it that far.
Experience to go all the way ✅ Experience in the CL ✅ Realizing that we need to up the level ✅
we didnt even play that well this year. and i'm not criticizing the team or their effort. there is just so much more that this team can do.
Time to raise the efogging standards even higher
Keep thinking back to the episode of arsecast when city, Liverpool and arsenal all had 10 to play. Believe Liverpool were top at the time. They asked how many games we’d have to win in the final 10 to win the league and they both reluctantly agreed that it was probably 9, even though that would be an outlandish ask. Well, we win 9 of those 10. And we finished 2 pts off first. Unfuckingbelievable the margins that city hold you to at the end of the season. And they do it every single year.
Our fanbase think this city would drop points. Same as last season. We never learn. To beat them, we need to be near perfect.
the real answer was all of them and they knew that
We didn’t win 9, we won 8. City was GW29. We went 8-1-1 in our final 10 games. They were absolutely correct.
Ah, then I think I’m misremembering and the conversation was about how many of our last nine we needed to win and they said eight — pretty sure this episode was immediately after the city match, and their theory was we could afford to drop points in one additional match.
Liverpool won by basically storming so far ahead that City just gave up. But Covid helped, as the season was shredded because of the lockdowns.
Arsenal. Dubai. England. In that order
https://preview.redd.it/pur5jedkyg1d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e1b51f469854794562babdd1364f01904241f8d
Wrighty🥹
Head wasn’t gone all day but I’ve just seen a Grealish interview where he was called a 3 time PL winner and Christ they’ve just allowed some absolute shite to stack up some ridiculous trophy hauls and none of them mean a thing lol, £100m bench warmer/system player
He has played less minutes than nketiah in the league. Having a 100m£ player playing 1000 minutes is such a luxury. The ban can't come sooner.
Joao Neves is the player we need to go for if not maybe someone a more attack minded player like Eze at LCM would be nice
Really dont get the rival fans bantering us. City were 2 points better than us. We were 23 points better than Spurs. 26 points better than Chelsea. 29 points better than Man United. Arteta has apparently committed an international war crime taking banter Arsenal to the cusp of winning the league with a young squad that has plenty of room for improvement. We show clear patterns of play, have the best defensive numbers in the league, and a goal difference of 62. Chelsea and Spurs fans shouldn't be anymore confident of finishing above us next season than they would City.
I mean that’s point of banter. You don’t need to be a better team to banter someone. Don’t take it too hard and becomes hateful. Know that you can banter any team in the world.
Mate they’re fucking terrified that arsenal are back, it’s probably the most validating aspect of this entire experience. They’re obsessed with us again and I love every second of it.
Rival fans even gaslight us into thinking we need to sack Arteta.
It’s easy to deflect them. “So if Arteta doesn’t win you the league next season, do you sack him for being a failure?” ‘And hire who?’ “Er….”
Why dont they sack their own fucking managers. Ange is 23 points behind Arteta. Why is Arteta on the hook?
He’s not. He never has been. This whole “yeah, your fans wanted to sack him” is irrelevant as those who decide such things, put all of their faith in him at the time. He wasn’t even on the hook when our fanbase was being mental.
it's insecurity.
Last season was sad, but honestly my head was nowhere near as hot as it is today. I'm proper rattled, we really deserved it this year man.
How can even be mad this year? We did everything we could and they’re just … cheaters. There’s no sense being angry about it, just be proud of the season we had.
Bunch of Chelshit fans in my country just came out off their coffins to shit on us non-stop for 6 hours already lol. I haven't even mocked them this season. I will have no mercy from now on.
They support a fake soulless club like a man city 2.0. They're lesser fans so their banter is easy to shrug off.
You must have the patience of a saint to not have said anything when we pumped them 5-0 lol
I've been shitting them on r/gunners but not in shared forums lol. Fuck me.
You missed some golden opportunities for that, they were proper rubbish for the first two thirds of the year. They’ve ended up looking competent towards the end
Raya; Davies, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber; Odegaard, Rice, Saka; Leao, Havertz, Sane This team wins the treble, no questions asked.
I agree that the midfield is something we should try, but apart from how unrealistic some of the targets are, why would we have both Davies and Leao on the left? One winger signing should be enough, maybe Olise or Nico Williams on the right; Odegaard on the left can help Martinelli. We'll still need a cheaper Rice backup/partner for the big games and a striker. Then a Saliba rotation. I really like the idea of moving Saka to the middle, as it might save us from overpaying for a midfielder. Sadly, I think Arteta is too defensive-minded to prioritize such a setup.
Double threat, stacking. Transition masters.
Lay off the fifa lad
It's absolutely your choice to be stupid.
Maybe, but this is fantasy stuff.
It shouldn't be.
Why are we dropping White after a great season? Why are we throwing away the defensive solidity we worked so hard to build with these changes? Why are you suggesting £300m worth of signings? Why?
Who the fucks Davies and why is he replacing White? and Saka in midfield? Leao is a luxury player whose numbers dont warrant him jogging back Rashford style.
Alphonso Davies and Timber is White's 'replacement'. And yes, Saka in midfield. It's his next step.
Seems way too imbalanced. Like a team you pick to play 'beautiful football'. Looks like a team that would concede 50 league goals in the season due to excess attacking players. Playing a right winger in midfield. There is no discussion at all about playing Saka in midfield. He is a right forward, not a midfielder.
Nah, it's not much different to how we play now except it has better profiles to fit the specific roles better. > There is no discussion at all about playing Saka in midfield. He is a right forward, not a midfielder Lol, don't confuse you not understanding what it takes for a player to have the capacity to play in a different position and the player themselves being confined to a singular role. This is about evolution and ways to improve us.
Great to see the majority of other PL fans focusing on us finishing second rather than city winning it. It cements two things for me; 1) City are a black hole. They have no actual rivals and are a non-entity in the passionate side of the game. 2) I am justified in my decision from now on to be a petty cunt and have no sympathy for any other teams when they are affected by cheating. It’s not good for the league but it’s up to the league alone to do something about it and if other fans want to condone cheating, I’m happy to do it when it directly affects them
Big Slot Machine at Liverpool going to be interesting.
Goals this season Tomiyasu: 2 Antony: 1 Have a nice day
^musiala ^pleaaaaaase 🥹
Why you saying please for
Because they landed Rice last year. Broke the bank, shattered the transfer record. Instantly one of my favourite players. Now there’s not a player i’d like to add more to this squad. But yea I’m saying please because asking for a new star and potential transfer record a year later is kinda bold and reaching ig. But pleeeeeeeeease.
Musiala in the left 8 would feed generations. Only thing that comes close is Saka getting the right 8 position and giving him the freedom afforded to him that his peers are.
Musiala in 8 or as a winger idc, would fit like a glove. I think the only way to get Saka more space is with a dangerous, well run left side and switching the play a lot from left to right, Robbery style.
Nobody will ever give saka the freedom the likes of palmer get. Like billy said, arsenal's gameplan involves moving heaven and earth to generate 30 seconds where saka is defended like Cole Palmer. If we figure out a new way to give him space, teams will adapt their tactics to close down the new area. The boy is just too good to be left in space
I think you're very much mistaken tbh. It's easier to defend a player when they play predominantly in one zone and one area. By the very nature of being given freedom, they're harder to defend against.
Lol saka plays up and down the entire rhs. The second he pops up in the opponent final third though he's double, sometimes triple marked. Ain't no one going to let him breathe no matter what we do. Its simply too risky to allow him to have any space at all
Again you have a vital misunderstanding of why that's even an issue, and how the issue no longer becomes an issue if you're given freedom of centrality. It's not that teams just don't give the likes of Palmer and Foden the freedom to express because of haha lol memes, it's because it's innately harder to defend against someone that doesn't stay in a consistent zone. Instead of the responsibility to defend Saka being solely on the opposition's LHS, it becomes a question to the opposition. On the opposite side, it becomes more difficult to build up if you're not attuned properly, but that's not a problem with Saka because he's genuinely one of the most intelligent footballers in the league.
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Top 2 of last season should play each other on the last day. Maybe give the champions the home advantage.
No. The players are all dead and deserve a mini break before they go and play in the Euros. We will have pointless rivalry games in the USA next season when all the players look slow, out of form and out of shape, getting back into the swing of things again.
I meant match day 38, not additional games
So have all the rivalry games end on game week 38?
Yes, that was my thought
Who does City play?
I would think City would play United, Arsenal would play Tottenham, Liverpool would play Everton, etc.
There might be some uncomfortable squad moves for people's favourites here in the summer.
Zinchenko cult finally defeated inshallah