It was a chastening night at the Etihad as two goals from Kevin de Bruyne, an offside one from John Stones, and a late goal from Erling Targaryen gave 158 Financial Charges Man City a 4-1 win to put the title very much in their hands.
The Gunners were out-played all night, Rob Holding’s goal barely even a consolation.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Man City 4-1 Arsenal report and see the goals here
Man City 4-1 Arsenal – Player Ratings
The ratings are hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above Aaron Ramsdale. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.
I feel bad that the boys worked so hard till this point only for the title to slip out now. Well, hope we strengthen well in the summer if we are serious about next season
Too conservative, no fast transition Third goal had a break on bottled it turned back , odegaard got stripped and kdb scores. Jesus how did he play whole match ? Zero shots , give me Trossard , Eddie in ten minutes had more efforts on goal . Zinny looks Hollywood but goes sidewards and back , give me KT any day today. Zinny had Martinelli on for the pass all game , but choose to pass inside to congestion. Give it to Martinelli and let him take on walk , draw a yellow card. Yeah City had a go at… Read more »
KT should have played
Totally agree
Sorry Riku : someone will just say ‘KT can’t do what Zinny does’….and apparently that’s all they think is needed to end any debate over KT getting more game time.
I’ve said it before : Arteta has been brilliant this season…but his under utilisation of KT has been a massive mistake & has cost us points.
I think this game has removed some pressure off, for me at least. Let’s just focus on winning all 5 remaining games and see what happened. It’s been a fantastic year for Arsenal this season, the boys have been giving so much joy. Keep up the good work, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
Come you gunners!
The fat lady sung.
She started practicing her scales at Anfield
They must be gutted after leading for the entire season. Still it’s an achievement to take it this far.
We’ve been doing great with the transfers, hopefully that continues. If we continue on this trajectory we will win titles sooner or later.
Aye, Fabio V was 34 million well spent. A non-playing lightweight midfielder in Odegards, Smith Rowes and Xhakas position was exactly what we needed this season
Oh, do leave off. FFS.
Odegaard has been poor for several weeks yes, but up till then he was probably the most complete midfielder in the country and pivotal to us being top of the league
All hard work built in 8 months, undone by 3 weeks. Frustrating.
I think it is so obvious in these games that it is not all about the boys, it is the game between coaches as well. Pep have in both our games in the league been so superior in his game management. It breaks my heart to say it believe me but Arteta has not improved since his arrival in this sense, still only making subs like for like – which makes me feel like he is not able to think on his feet when Plan A falls apart.. (This is not an Arteta out post, rather an Arteta needs to… Read more »
“ it’s a different game Bill”
This game showed which team deserve to be champions as they literally took us apart and smashed us into pieces. Amazingly we had the chance to finish above them, by just beating 2 bottom third teams in West Ham and Southampton and we could have lost it 10-0 yesterday without any real consequence. It is amazing that we were in such a situation, but after seeing that game, I am at peace with City being champions, they deserve it, considering also their monster schedule. (Generally they obviously don’t deserve anything at all in my mind due to their ownership constellation,… Read more »
As we say every fucking year: “There’s always next year.” Complete capitulation and nothing to show for what should have been our year
Disgusted with tonights performance, but Champions league next season is a very decent season I think.
Be calm man, it’s been the best season in a decade. The unfortunate reality is City are (probably) the best team in the world at the moment. Pressure’s off to some extent now, the Emirates has been phenomenal, let’s enjoy the last few games and keep the hope for this bright generation alive.
Title or not, this has been a fucking wonderful season to be a gooner!
It has been great to watch, long may it continue.
What part of “tonights performance” do you fail to comprehend?
agreed – we got dismantled by the best team in the world. They’re going to win the FA Cup and Champions League. Sometimes its ok to acknowledge a team is just better
Oil drink to that.
There’s more to football, dan dis.
City were good but Arsenal made them look fantastic by poor tactics and a failure to address their shortcomings. It was obvious they would overrun central defence and they did. Needed to play 3 in the middle to protect Holding.
You know we didn’t lose 4 v 1 just because of Rob Holding right?
100% this and a left back playing left back
Even Spurs beat Citeh twice I believe – tactics maybe
‘Disgusted’ – wow… strong talk!
Would that I had your (obvious) deep inexperience of PL football, managerial experience and exemplary track-record as a top player.
I say ‘obvious’ since, how else could you possibly feel equipped (nay, entitled) to pass such extreme judgement on a group of (largely) young kids, who’ve pretty much played their red ‘n white socks off all season, giving us such pride and frequently, outright joy.
Perhaps place a puffy cushion in front of your pedestal?
I can also discern the inimitable odour of self entitled millennials afoot who are disgusted at the fare being served up to them by our red clad heroes. These sort of invertebrates think Rupert Murdoch invented football and that they have to rate their customer experience after a disappointing result and performance. Stick to FIFA 23 kiddies as the real world isn’t for everyone
yeah im sick of it too. i was one of those that questioned the apparently prevailing sentiment that being out of europa was a good thing. i think if we still have a cup to play for we’d feel less deflated.
but we lost this ib the last three games. we woulf have played this game differently if we kept pace. but we didn’t and here we are. we capitulated.
hopefully the team will grow.
surely nobody really thought we’d win at the Etihad? I was looking for the team to have more of a go though. Arteta seems to be blind to how bad Jesus is at the moment and how good Trossard is. Why the fuck can’t he understand the concept of form??
Playing in the fucking Europa is one of the reasons why we’ve struggled these past few weeks.
Saliba injury? Hello?
🙄 🙄
Couldn’t any of our players have been injured in any of the games they’ve played this season?
We’ve progressed alot, we’re still coming up, and ahead of schedule. They’re an excellent side, on great form. They subbed on Mahrez, Alverez and Foden FFS.
Yes it was a chance to nick the title, but the last two games had already changed that.
And Lisbon gave us a taster of reality a little while ago. You can’t rely on luck at the top.
Hopefully this drives us on, add a couple more top players and we go again
We can use the Champions League money to buy you a moat
Still a fantastic season if you told me champions league start of August i would have taken it 100000% coyg
Whatever man. That was a fucking shit performance.
Arteta got his selection totally wrong, and failed to correct it at all.
Love this team and this manager but tonight they let us down.
Tonight wasn’t really the problem…fucking west ham and Southampton…now that’s the real problem…
Arteta got hos selection wrong…? Yeh, the alternative would surely have worked. Like last season, or at the Emirates… No selection would have won us that game tonight.
We were completely out-thought, outfought and outclassed. Painful yes after a season full of such promise but reality stings at the best of times
But perspective has to change given the context of the season?!
I’m all for being positive but you can’t dress up blowing an 8 point lead as a good thing.
Like, it’s completely fine to be disappointed and pissed off tonight my fellow gooners.
Never had an 8 point lead with a similar amount of games.
Agree. I’m much more bummed about dropping points against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton than tonight. Of course I wanted a result but we were straight up outplayed – KDB always puts in a 10/10 against us and I don’t know what you do other than man mark him (a seemingly partially fit Partey solo in midfield sure as shit wasn’t the solution). City were just on another level, we couldn’t get out against their press, and I think there were definitely some bull shit calls (second goal offside, Haaland block in box was a handball and pen all day… Read more »
Thank you. This. It was never 8. It was a razor thin margin with a soulless video game beast of a team breathing down our neck. That we didn’t blink sooner is still admirable and I love this team.
‘soulless video game beast of a team’
Bloody excellent! May I please have your permission to use it far and wide?
My mistake, it was only the 7 point lead we had in January 🙄
There’s some statt going around that we’re the first team to get the amount of points we did by January and then fail to win the league. There are reasons, but can’t hide the fact we collapsed from a winning position.
Disappointing that we never gave that we never gave them a game. Very timid from us. We looked as far away from them as ever.
Hope we don’t implode further and manage to hold on to second. Bit worried about our lack of confidence.
We need a better psychological coach. Team lacked any confidence from the start.
Freud wouldn’t have done any better
What about Nietzsche?
He prophesied something called ‘the eternal recurrence’ e.g. of losing to City every time we play them. Ditto he foresaw the arrival of the blonde beast ubermench a.k.a. Haaland
That does the late jowly eyed broadcaster a great disservice
Saved out worst performance of the season for the most important game. I don’t even think City even had to play that well, they just lumped it up to Haaland or ran straight through us. It was pretty embarrassing at times. Only Ramsdale and then the subs can hold there head up after that.
We lost form and they hit form, I’d have fancied our chances more a few weeks ago. Losing Saliba didn’t help.
Losing Saliba has exposed how fragile we are at the back. Much more than I thought it would.
Totally agree
It took Arsenal about 30 minutes to start to understand how to press City. KDB was basically roaming freely because no one had an idea of what to do. We had also no clue on how to get foward; Ramsdale booting it up 5, 6 times in the first half to Saka looked like the only trained path that was viable (and never came to fruition). Honestly, it looked like Pep completely scrambled whatever gameplan Arteta had by playing with 4 at the back.
After all the talk in midweek about adaptation, that was REALLY frustrating.
They looked like a weird mixture of prime Barcelona and also prime Stoke. Stokealona? Thats what having a phenomenon like Haaland up front does for you. The option is there to change up how they play and they did it fantastically well. We looked far too one dimensional and predictable, with Pep able to shut us down far too easily just by removing the ball to Martinelli and Saka.
City would still have won the league without Haaland
Martin mu bud
They destroyed us in every department.
The good news is , we have made progress, and with a couple of buys ( Partey cover and Saliba cover), we are on the right track. Process doesn’t happen in one or two seasons, but it’s coming😎
Unbelievable how often De Bruyne ran through our midfield. Partey has lead in his boots and is getting no support at all. Such a shame.
Lost the midfield and that needs to be addressed. The rest of the team couldn’t function with them missing.
Midfield is a huge priority this summer. Partey’s has brittle hamstrings, Xhaka is maybe borderline starting quality, Jorginho is an awkward fit into our system, and Elneny should only play a small part. And all are in their 30s. Lokonga’s chance has probably gone, Patino is probably another loan or 2 away, and ESR is far better suited as a front 4 player imo.
We need to sign 2 – one to take Xhaka’s starting position and another to challenge Partey for his
Throw in a quality central defender, a defensive midfielder, a wide attacker and a striker and you’ve got yourself a deal
2 deep lying midfielders I meant to say! Above all other needs
I’ll probably get shit for this no doubt but Odegaard just goes missing in the biggest of games. Every fucking time. He ain’t no KDB that’s for sure.
He disappears and spend the whole game around Saka leaving a big hole in the middle. The past few games he has been playing like a finished Ozil
He’s been poor for a while yes, but was probably the most complete midfielder in the premier league before that and one of the main reasons we are top of the league
We had a midfield? Partey seems the only player in the middle of the pitch, and he can barely run. The last few games it’s been the same and Arteta hasn’t tried anything. Very strange when we can all see what’s happening. Gutted.
When City sets up to plays counter attack against you, your defense needs to be perfect and ours is far away – so this was always going to be difficult.
Rubbish change w/ Smith Rowe on Odegaard, not sure if he touched the ball or helped the press. Eddie comes on and plays left wing for some reason. Arteta better be putting work over the summer on improving his substitution game.
Alongside Saliba being off, our downturn in results have also since Trossaad when out of the team for Jesus, who’s been very poor in at least last two matches.
Esr actually dribble and passed forward a couple of time after he came on . I could have kept Martin on but he passed a a couple of shots for square ball , we were already two goals down , have a bleeding shot mate .
Was there watching managed to get a ticket in the home end .
If that was the intent, then take Partey off, who was having a really bad game. Leave Odegaard and Jorginho behind and put ESR higher.
Not that Odegaard were that much better than Partey, but we know he is a guy who can turn a game’s tide.
Proud of the squad and manager, no one thought we’d be anywhere near where we are at the beginning of the season. Looks like we’re going to just fall short but the message should be clear; back Arteta.
Why not parking the bus tonight?
until you are better than them, that’s what you need to do Park The Bus and hope to hit them on the counter. then play champagne football 36 games a season,
Literally this!
I don’t get where people think we seemingly have the ability to play that way. If we were any more off them than we were, it’d have been a cricket score.
We’re not a sit off them team, it’s never worked. What we should have done is went and played our usual game, but we didn’t do that.
It worked in the FA Cup semi-final a few years back. There was just no way Arsenal could win this match playing their usual style without Saliba.
We tried but couldn’t…and they instead hit us on transition with quick counter/fast break. Not sure if Saliba was playing it would have made a lot of difference…Any CB pairing would have problems going 2 on 2 against Haaland and KDB on fast breaks.
Are you Antonio Conte?
Conte, Holding, Areta (you see the hair theme here?)
We played the same way as in Emirates, afraid of EVERYTHING, waiting for stuff to happen and feeling sorry. Our defenders couldnt even see Haaland or De Bruyne’s shadow and they would shrink and wish they had a shell to hide. This worries me because it was the same last year, hope its not something structural, we are not this bad, and they are not this good. We were going into challenges like we had already lost from the start, soft feet, arriving a bit late, this is not acceptable in this stage, and no, it wasn’t only Holding, it… Read more »
We are not this bad, yes, but they are not this good?
They’re a machine, a well funded and well oiled (for lack of a better term) machine.
They have coasted to the CL semi-final. They are THAT good. That’s why they’ve done it season after season.
KDB was running alone with no tracking, every time Haaland got the ball we tripped into ourselves.
they are good but we made them better and made it way easier for them
Their bench would finish top 6 in the premier league
This. Every time we play City we poo our pants, and it starts with the manager and the staff. We are far, far better than we showed last night. If we’d lost a good fight one or two nil I’d have taken that happily, but we looked scared of them. With Saliba out Big Gabi is doing his best to cover three positions at once, Zinchenko can’t defend and Holding can’t run, so why not change to three at the back and give him a chance? Mikel needs to be more flexible. Thomas Partey has been really poor again, everyone… Read more »
Stones goal was perfectly legit and no, we don’t remotely worry them. Deal with it.
The goal was clearly offside and we do worry them. Deal with it yourself.
Not the way I hoped it would go, but the way I expected it to go unfortunately
Same. I had little to no faith in us getting a result. We’ve dropped at a really bad time which is a real shame as it’s been a great season.
As far as I’m concerned Rob Holding ❤❤❤❤
Since he came into the starting XI:
– 0 clean sheets;
– 12 shots faced per match, up from 8;
– points per game 1.8, down from 2.4.
Tonight was just the icing on the cake, clearly his skill set does not match this Arsenal version.
And that’s hardly breaking news….we have known this since Arteta took over.
Why Arteta not adapt tho? Put Xhaka/ jorginho on a double pivot alongside partey
To help cover for Holdings lack of pace
Shake your head! Put our two slowest guys in to hold up their 2 fastest?
Well the only shot we had on goal in the match was his. He had his hand full with Harland like every defender has this season. Where was the cover for him from others. Yes he is not on the same pedestal as Saliba but he has contributed his bit as well as he can.
Our longest serving player (I think), has great hair and is our leading scorer over the last 5 days.
With a manager and centre half so blessed with luxuriant barnets we put Pep and his depilated gang to shame
Better than Canevaro
Not even close with those ratings. No one played even remotely average. Completely outclassed all over the pitch. Zero confidence being shown by players and the experienced players have disappeared. There was no movement on or off the ball for nearly the entire game and I kind of feel that Jesus hasn’t been on the same wavelength as the other forwards since he’s came back. not a criticism, just an observation. Not Holding’s fault, but Partey has looked shaky since Saliba’s injury and I think he’s possibly being asked to cover too much ground on the right side of the… Read more »
Once Newcastle start spending their Saudi wonga, it’s going to be harder to keep competing for top 4.
Maybe someone can explain tactically why city were able to run through the middle all night? It wasn’t that individual players weren’t up for the fight, but somehow we never got close enough to them to even have duels, let alone won them.
when teams used to play long ball against us, i thought who gives a shit, we’ve got Saliba and Gabriel in the middle,
we don’t have Saliba and they have Halaand
It was clear that Arsenal drilled a type of press suited towards City building with a back 3. City started with a back 4, constantly inviting Partey and Xhaka to go higher, while KDB and Haaland were allowed to go directly against our back line. If you rewatch the first half, you will notice that only after 30 minutes Arsenal start to understand how to press better ; and only in the second half Partey starts to defend deeper, marking KDB so that he isn’t allowed to go straight against the center backs.
I think this is very hard on Holding. He had no help and no protection all night, and made some very good defensive contributions. Should have done better for the first goal, but was otherwise solid in an impossible situation for me.
hardly solid, agree that he had no protection, so got exposed and goals came through. they could have smashed us 6-0 in the first half.
Make no mistake had we got Saliba instead, we would have still lost, but he may have made it more difficult,
Holding got pulled out of position all night. That left the hole for KDB to run into. That doesn’t happen if Holding doesn’t get sucked out…not entirely his fault as he’s That type of player
at times in the first half, he was in the midfield trying to anticipate KDB or Hallaand, may have managed it once or twice, but when he did not, left them with a free run on goal
Partey’s pitiful attempts at tracking KDB into that hole/space was painful to watch
Rob is always a lightning rod for criticism. Just waiting for someone to say ‘needs to score more with shots around the box-not good enough’
About where I would have had it. Ramsdale in the first half was good. Pretty much everyone else below average to below average.
Can’t get on board with the hate for Holding as a defender. He wasn’t awesome, but not really much worse than anyone else. He’s a 3rd/4th string backup. He’s fine for that.
Yeah but you won’t win the league with backup at that level. Not anymore.
Holding 1/10 – shat his pants
We still would have lost tonight if Saliba had played.
But of course we probably would have beaten West Ham and Southampton.
That’s a lazy narrative.
Since he came into the starting XI:
– 0 clean sheets;
– 12 shots faced per match, up from 8;
– points per game 1.8, down from 2.4.
🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
As if Jesus missing a golden chance last week is down to Rob Holding.
As if Saka missing a penalty is down to Rob Holding
As if Partey carelessly giving the ball away and Gabriel giving a cheap penalty is down to Rob Holding.
As if Odegaard slipping into mediocre form is down to Rob Holding.
You’re entitled to believe what you like, but player baiting is something I wish we could have left behind.
Stats does not lie. You can call ‘player baiting’ if you want…
In you stats you forgot to add the amount of goals we have scored since he came on. The whole team has been struggling its not down to 1 player.
You’re the undisputed master at this type of baiting. Kudos to you
Many thanks for your approval. Made my day.
I thought Rob was brave today, never hid or shirked a challenge. Haaland’s 49 goals in all competitions suggest not too many dry botties for any premier league central defenders out there
Just changes the way players play when Saliba is not there ! We can’t press high, we lose Partey to defensive duties and end up blaming Holding ? Poor tonight sadly and no real changes to formation or how we set up ? Love the process but really want to win !!!
MA had enough time to think about that, but did not change.
Better to be put out of our misery now. They’re a class team and will win the treble. The dumbest opinion out there I keep hearing is “Arsenal won’t get an opportunity like this again”. Heard that shite last year in regards top 4. We will strengthen big time the summer and will be back for that title next year!! Well done lads. Unlucky.
It’s not over
It is over. 2 weeks ago.
You are also unlucky in love am I right?
“We will strengthen big time this summer”
Heard that one too mate
Trot up the road to the giant loo, mate – it’s where you belong with a comment like that…
(a) your negitivity no doubt predicted we’d struggle to make top 4 at the start of this season;
(b) you then predicted we’d implode after the first 8 games or so;
(c) you weren’t satified with the shrewed buying we did in both transfer windows…
No satisfying the nay-sayers, eh!
Did we not strengthen last summer? Champions League qualification is huge for us. And seeing what we’ve done this season how can the owners not back the manager even more.
Daniel Levy and Lee Gunner had a baby and it was you.
Yes to being competitive again next season after some recruitment but NOT unlucky
Feel bad for the lads but no matching the class of citeh today, 11vs11 they played us off the park. Sad we couldn’t give them a game like pool seem to always do but I’m also realistic enough to know we aren’t competitive enough to really compete across a campaign. Next season we have huge steps to make forward to remain competitive across multiple fronts, but proud of the club and the team!
Taking your foot off the gas in the Liverpool and West Ham games are sure looking expensive, that alongside the Southampton game made me more disappointed than tonight, man city are a fantastic side.
Don’t forget Everton. Lots of dropped points in matches we should have won, so that we could afford this specific match – the only one that was clear from the beginning we should not be winning.
Let’s also not forget somehow losing at Old Trafford when we played the red vermin off the park
This.
Tonight is so disappointing because of the way we played more than the result. City are exceptional and I can forgive the boys for being outclassed.
I just can’t get my head around the West Ham and Southampton games. Unacceptable performances.
Our worst performance of the season alas. West Ham would have made a better fist of it than we did today. Here’s hoping they do us a favour when they visit the Etihad
We got outplayed.
Hopefully, we learn from this and hope we get to be in many many more high stakes game like this and hope we strengthen to compete with City. Lets win our next game, COYG!
Listen this game was always a tough task. I just think we’ve made it hard on ourselves by the lack of rotation. Whether that’s constantly starting the same 11, late substitutions, or playing key players in meaningless compositions. You’re never going to have City’s depth but you can try to manage the squad better. Hope Arteta learns that from this particular season in his managerial career.
Trossard should never have been dropped in the first place, player of the month and breaking records for assists. Arteta wanted his favourite back I suppose. ZInchenko has been found out too, nightmare when gets the ball at the back. They were all shit scared of city sadly
nail on the head, its a very nice group of lads but lacking any real personalities today
Couldn’t help but notice Zinchenko looks like a shrunken version of English actor Phil Davis
The amount of people saying it’s over does my head in. Sure it’s tough for us now, but City have a minging last 3 weeks of the season, if they get knocked out of the CL they will lose some heart too. We’re still top. I don’t care if I get stick for this, I love the unbelievable belief. We still have a chance and we have to go for it!
3 points out of 12 is relegation form but yes, as long as the arithmetic says it’s doable….
Proud of the boys. We found ourselves in a situation that we didn’t expect at the start of the season. It is apparent that Arteta did not prepare for this – our starting has been changed throughout the season which may be good for a top four finish. But to compete with City, we need those players to be fresh and be able to sustain the energy levels across the whole season. We were electric in the first half of the season, winning balls higher up and pressing opposition players, but Saka, Partey and Odengard look tired and haven’t been… Read more »
Getting a bit disappointed with the predictable pattern emerging here e.g. when Saka is poor = tired when Partey is poor = carrying a knock when Odegaard is poor = inadequate rotation. Players are human and sometimes they either don’t perform at their best or come up against opponents who have sufficient nous to nullify all their strengths.
From now on we’ll see if the Gunners show the character. Because it’s certain you fall, you’re down, you break your face. But you need to stand up and put out the fight in life and certainly in ⚽. Big test of character for Mikel and the boys has just started.
Citeh are gonna wobble too. They have a game in hand until that final week, and that will be pressure. Beating Chelsea can set us up for the performance of the season at Newcastle, like the first half at Anfield but for 90 mins.
And I wager anyone that in thier next four league games City will loose 1, draw 2 and win one. Any takers? 😂
This is why you’re not a bookmaker
Sorry to interrupt most people’s negativity but talks about Arteta’s selection are pretty much off. This squad exceeded most of the fans expectations. A bet 90 percent of all of us fans couldnt even imagine that we are going to be sitting at the top of the table in may 2023. What kind of selection can Arteta make? Who are the better options for Partey and Xhaka? What are better options for right back position at the moment? Are there any options about the centre backs? We may argue Trossard to start instead of Saka or Martinelli but that could’ve… Read more »
Have to agree with most of that. Given the absence of Saliba I had no problem with Arteta’s starting selection and he was correct in bringing Jorginho and Trossard on when he did. We were simply outplayed and outclassed by a better team with better players. What Arsenal players would get near the City first team?
Will win the trophy with an asterisk, so long as we get second place, after Man City are relegated and stripped of all titles in last 10 years. 158 charges oof, and how are referees still making mistakes after being fired and apologizing weekly.
Good luck with that court case coming to a speedy and successful conclusion for the Premier League in 2052
Weak in defense and we pressed up so high on the pitch and with the players ManC have, they can easily get out from tight spaces and that opened up a direct battles between Haaland and Co vs Holding and Co. Holding is at best average defender and will never be able to cope with Haaland. Exposing ourselves to the threat of City is just crazy and I don’t understand the like for like substitution. Either we throw all the attackers we have or we go for like for like substation. Anything doesn’t go with the plan, there is an… Read more »
Did we actually pressed high up the pitch. Didn’t see that. What I saw was a team totally unsure of what to do and who in the end didn’t defend or attack.
We struggled to get out of our own half for long periods so I’m not convinced we were regularly pressing up so high. With 49 goals in all competitions to date, who exactly has coped with Haaland this season?
Sometimes you have to tip the hat. City were incredible. We never got near them, sadly. Still, it’s been a great season. I think we’ve done exceptional. Also, at least we’re not Chelsea 🤣🤣 Onwards we go. I’d like to see Trossard start more games between now and the end of the season.
There was little doubt heading into the game given the form both teams were on as to which team was going to win, but really shocked how outclassed we were from the beginning after playing them strongly the previous two times this year.
Yes, they were brilliant but it has to be said they didn’t really need to be as we were so abject
We didn’t lose the title today. We lost it against Liverpool, West ham and Southampton. Young squad. Injuries at the wrong spots and not enough quality on the bench. Odegaard, saka and Gabriel look exhausted. Hopefully this puts an end to the notion that rob holding can be a backup. It wasn’t all his fault. But he just isn’t good enough. I also think KT should play. When zinchenko was just we were just as good. Against God teams zinchenko can’t defend. He obviously has other qualities but when the defense is weakened without saliba playing zinchenko seems careless. People… Read more »
“the Abu Dhabi govt will kill the wrong people….” Don’t hold your breathe on that. The Abu Dhabi govt keeps making thier part of the dessert the coolest spots to visit in the world.
So you’re pinning our hopes on an unprovoked military invasion somewhere? It’s only a game of footie mate. Chelsea just waved goodbye to a Russian sugar daddy and said hello to an American sugar daddy
Yeah we lost. But how the fuck did that Stones goal stand?
because he was onside… them’s the rules.
More interesting was their LB ‘s shove on Benny that pushed him off balance, which is why his out-stretched foot played Stones onside.
Another example of City’s experience – smart, shrewd, ruthless. But we will learn.
I don’t think he was onside. The first time they showed the replay, he was clearly offside. Half his torso was beyond Benny Blanco’s
Still we deserved nothing from the game. Partey and Martinelli could do with starting the next game on the bench. Partey in particular has been off these last few games
This game wasn’t a suprise. When city is in that mood they are the best team in the world.
It is the three previous games that cost us the title! Just like the bad run that cost us CL last season.
The fact that we are going to finish in the top three is slightly embarrassing to be honest. It’s only because the rest have been so poor. I fear that we are going to be humiliated like this many times in the Champions league next season.
Let’s not confuse the particular (4 really bad results at the business end of the season) with the general (23 magnificent wins and 3 draws which took us to the top of the table) That said, without significant recruitment in the summer we will get battered in the CL
Chin up. We gave it a real go this season, boys did us really proud and our club is back. Let’s build on that and see where it takes us.
Need to be ruthless and replace. We’ve sorted out the defence. Bought the wingers ans attackers. Now time to sort out the CM.
We’ve sorted out the defence….really?
I just hope that we don’t lose the next five games because we are in free fall at the moment .
Have slept and am up now. Have seen part of the game again and I must say apart from Ramsdale and Ben White I can’t be bothered to rate any player who started yesterday. The defeat hurts. It hurts more because we didn’t fight. Didn’t lay a finger on City and we actually have the ability to. Also Arteta’s management style come into question this morning. You have beaten Peps team once before and you did it in a particular style. 3 at the back and speed up front. In past years we would have been forgiven for not having… Read more »
If we’d played with three at the back we would never have crossed the half way line (we barely did that anyway with a back four) Our midfield simply couldn’t retain possession against City’s press.
1 for all of them. Not good enough.
Great season. Massive improvement. I can only suggest two major ways to keep the trend upwards. Deeper squad. And Mikel has to learn to rotate a deeper squad better. EG: We need cover for the starboy arteta cannot continue to play him into the ground. EG: we brought Trossard he’s been really good but PLAY HIM. EG: If Zinchenko isn’t doing it PLAY KT One more thing. I hope we chase from behind next season. Seems to me part of the problem is Arteta has been a bit frozen with the fear of trying walk a tightrope at the top.… Read more »
Bitterly disappointed. Not necessarily with the result but definitely with the performance. The same can be said for the previous 3 games as well. It’s not about City, it’s about us. There’s still a strange mental fragility lurking around the team – a complete lack of self belief when the pressure starts to build – which Arteta has to address this summer otherwise we will never be competing for the big trophies. Our supposed senior players go missing far too often and far too easily. Odegaard was anonymous yet again and he’s our captain – he should be setting an… Read more »
Agree with some of that but self-belief can only take you so far when you are completely outclassed in every department by your opponent. This could have been a 7 or 8 goal pasting
Nelson deserves much more credit. He proved that every minute (by far too few, sadly…) spent on the pitch this season. Saka is tired.
Partey and Zinchenko… they’ve broken long ago the faulty passes counter. Unfortunately, there are no better options on the bench for the moment. Here’s to be improved.
4-2-3-1 with KT on the left and a double pivot to protect our CBs, no way can we play a 4-3-3 against this City team. We are not Madrid.
Having now read through this entire thread… with predictable, potent brew of rants, commiserations, arms-round-shoulders and self-righteous finger-pointings… here’s am ageing Gooner’s reflection on the ‘state of play’… I am truly grateful for what these lads have already achieved this season. Having sat through decades of highs and lows, this team has – 99% of us would agree – surpassed our pre-season expectations. They have given us thrills, chills, despair and, above all, joy (thx Reece!). Perhaps, most of all, they have not simply patched up our bruised pride, but given it a complete overhaul – bringing songs back to… Read more »
The run-in this season has been a reality check for some in the squad (but not some of our more deluded fans) and confirms a lack of depth from the bench. Holding, Nketiah, Elneny, and Nelson don’t represent the future and should be moved on. ESR is at a pivotal point in his career and needs more first team football (not sure Arteta is either able or willing to provide that next season) Balogun has had a brilliant loan spell at Stade Reims in a much weaker league but he’s still unproven at the top level so we need to… Read more »
Agree with all your points re the team and actual football…however the “with the predictable brew of rants etc” is a bit much..when you then proceed to give a long critique and what your opinion on the season is …..it’s a perfectly accurate opinion…but by preceding it with a sneer at other opinions….you do yourself a diservice.
We were not pragmatic enough
Too much seParagould n between our back line and xhaka and oodegard
Separation
Does anyone still think that Zidane failed to recognize Odegaard’s qualities?!
Arteta beat City in his first game against them in FA cup final with a weaker team. Since then it’s all heavy defeats with a stronger team. Sign of his deterioration.
I think you mean FA Cup Semi-Final and that was Arteta’s 2nd game versus City (the first one was in the Premier League on 17/6/2020 at the Eitihad where Arsenal lost 3 v 0) Both clubs have strengthened in the interim but City have spent billions acquiring what is probably the finest collection of players on the planet right now all being coached by someone widely recognized as being the best in the business. How can Arsenal’s progression from finishing 8th in 2021 and failing to qualify for even the Europa League to being top of the league with 5… Read more »