Arsenal v Crystal Palace, 20:00 GMT (14/01, SS Main Event).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hope Woy is still feeling charitable.

Hate playing Palace these days, rarely beat them.

[Mac76]

Given our upturn in form i'm more optimistic than i would have been, though a Zaha hatter is obviously still a possibility :)

but we ought to win really

[GP]

3-0

[Marc Overmars]

Wouldn’t surprise me if it was a draw. Palace always seem to frustrate us.

But I’m feeling good so I’ll go for a pubbed 2-1 win.

[I am invisible]

Who’s getting sent off for us this time?

[Mac76]

well Xhaka will no doubt be playing so as always he has to be first and foremost - if Zaha has any sense he'll just keep running at him and draw the clumsy fouls

[I am invisible]

We're not that lucky - that wouldn't hurt us enough.

My money's on Partey - it would be the most Arsenal thing in the world to finally get him back and then immediately lose him for 3 games.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, David Luiz, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Runarsson, Gabriel, Cedric, Chambers, Willock, Partey, Willian, Pepe, Nketiah.

Palace: Guaita, Ward, Tomkins, Kouyate, Mitchell, Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Eze, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Butland, Van Aanholt, Dann, Ayew, Clyne, McCarthy, Batshuayi, Cahill, Riedewald.

No Tierney or Pablo Mari. Great.

[Globalgunner]

We really signed a dunderhead manager David Luis, Xhaka, Ceballos AMN. Players that wouldnt get a game even at Leicester. Not sure we are gonna win this one. Attack is good though, Midfield garbage

[Mac76]

Tierney needed a rest tbh

AMN is capable but clearly not as dangerous in attack

[Marc Overmars]

Tierney has basically been Pires and Cole rolled into one these past few weeks.

We will probably struggle now, unless AMN can deliver the same threat going forward.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sky's programme is on now.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jamie Redknapp and Alex Scott in the studio.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Auba just skied one in training from six yards out. :haha:

[Mac76]

Auba just skied one in training from six yards out. :haha:

just a trick to give Palace a false sense of security obviously...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Come on Arsenal. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

AMN cross.

Just a sighter. :unsure:

[Marc Overmars]

Not quite a Tierney level cross, Ainsley.

[Mac76]

AMN... :rolleyes:

[Mac76]

awful pass from Xhaka

[Mac76]

Townsend :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Eze. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

AMN is drunk.

[Mac76]

Xaka's such an idiot, i really can't wait to see the back of him

[Gooner23]

AMN is drunk.

Having a mare. I thought he'd started to cut that sloppiness out of his game.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka shot, saved.

[Mac76]

good effort from Auba

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great tackle from Xhaka.

[Marc Overmars]

Great tackle from Xhaka.

[Niall_Quinn]

Just tuned into these shitkickers. Let's see if they can do anything worth a mention.

[Niall_Quinn]

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, David Luiz, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Runarsson, Gabriel, Cedric, Chambers, Willock, Partey, Willian, Pepe, Nketiah.

Palace: Guaita, Ward, Tomkins, Kouyate, Mitchell, Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Eze, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Butland, Van Aanholt, Dann, Ayew, Clyne, McCarthy, Batshuayi, Cahill, Riedewald.

No Tierney or Pablo Mari. Great.

Unbelievable.

If at the millionth attempt you don't succeed (or even turn up) try, try again.

[Gooner23]

Lacking little bit sharpness.

[Mac76]

borderline pelanty shout there for Arsenal

[Mac76]

Xhaka's trying really hard to get booked at the moment

[Niall_Quinn]

borderline pelanty shout there for Arsenal

Stonewall pen by today's standards. He touched him. Slight touch.

[Mac76]

Dani playing well tbf

[Mac76]

another shit corner routine from Arsenal

[Niall_Quinn]

The top flight of English football has turned into a training session.

Tip, tap. Tip, tap.

Absolute bullshit.

We need wingers back in the game. Give them the ball and let them run. Get a cross into a (doesn't exist anymore) Shearer.

Real football is so much better than this. Don't know why we stopped playing it.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bellerin taking it off Lacazette. :haha:

[Niall_Quinn]

Bellerin is so braindead it's a surprise his legs move.

[Mac76]

bellerin ffs

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Well dealt with by Tomkins.

[Niall_Quinn]

Embarrassing by Saka. Get up lad! Stop screaming like a girl.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Xhaka with a classic tackle there. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tomkins heads on to the bar!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bentekkers. :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Tomkins hits the bar

[Niall_Quinn]

How stupid is Xhaka? Why avoid the tackle in favour of stamping the player? Or is he really that slow and dull witted?

[Gooner23]

How stupid is Xhaka? Why avoid the tackle in favour of stamping the player? Or is he really that slow and dull witted?

Bit of both

[McNamara That Ghost...]

ESR with some pub touches today.

[Niall_Quinn]

Get it sideways!

Look for the backpass!

Play slow!

What we need now is zero effort lads!

The players are talented enough (surely) to string together a piece of attacking football? Surely?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great save from Leno to deny Bentekkers.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tomkins booked for hacking Saka down.

Run at him!

[Niall_Quinn]

Like Palace just did. Actual football. Is it so hard?

[Mac76]

Leno, Leno, Leno

[Niall_Quinn]

Luiz looks up the field, he has time, he measures it up, and passes it all the way back to the keeper. It's pathetic.

[Niall_Quinn]

1 minute extra time. Best bit of the game so far.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-0 HT.

Utter bollocks. Hairdryer needed, or alternatively dumping the shit.

[Marc Overmars]

Load of shit. Had our Christmas miracle and now business as usual.

[Niall_Quinn]

HT 0-0

The most horrific 20 minutes of so-called football I have ever watched, since the last time I watched this non-entity of a team. Arteta is out of excuses.

WHY does he insist on playing such a low (or dead) tempo game? What can he possibly hope to achieve when he gives the opposition all the time in the world?

So out of his depth.

[Mac76]

some worrying signs of how we played earlier in the season, even Saka was passing back a lot

also gave a couple of good chances to Palace, though Laca might well have scored if Hector hand't got in the way...

[Gooner23]

Started off ok, but got worse as the half went on. Only Dani looks up for it. Really doesn't help when so many players are incapable of playing a simple pass.

[Niall_Quinn]

Bloody women on the half time team again :doh:

[Mac76]

maybe we can bring Partey on for Xhaka for the second half

[Letters]

Really doesn't help when so many players are incapable of playing a simple pass.

I never understand why professional footballers can’t do simple things like pass or take set pieces.
And these are allegedly right at the top of the professional game.
Baffling.

[Niall_Quinn]

Including Jamie Redknapp, of course.

[Mac76]

man, Vinnie Jones is so past it :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

maybe we can bring Partey on for Xhaka for the second half

Maybe. And still play low tempo, sideways and backwards shit? What difference would it make?

I was prepared to give Arteta a chance and I did. But it very plain he doesn't have the slightest clue. If this is his vision of Arsenal then pack it up and take it away with you. Manager who understands what football is all about is required. Proper football is high tempo, technical and ambitious. Everything we aren't.

Personally I think Pep has destroyed the game, despite Klopp's best efforts to resist. This absolute shitshow of tap, tip, tap appears to be the norm now. Ain't football, it's more of a pisstake.

[Niall_Quinn]

How are Utd top btw? Wasn't paying attention for a few weeks and suddenly Ole is top? Bonkers. Couldn't believe it when I looked at the table.

[Marc Overmars]

Kurt Angle’s music :bow:

Literally the best thing about the club these days.

[Niall_Quinn]

Stupid woman laughing at her own lame jokes. Get the bitch into a kitchen so she can do a proper job.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bellerin shoots, wide.

[Gooner23]

Need Partey on ASAP.

Will probably need to drop Saka into left back at some point as well, AMN having a shocker.

[Niall_Quinn]

That's excellent play by Auba. But nothing for him to hit. That's what we could do time and time again. Move it at pace down the flanks and get Auba on the case. Not rocket science.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Kurt Angle’s music :bow:

Literally the best thing about the club these days.

YOU SUCK.

YOU SUCK.

[Niall_Quinn]

Need Partey on ASAP.

Will probably need to drop Saka into left back at some point as well, AMN having a shocker.

AMN is a midfielder. He plays brilliantly there every time. So every Arsenal manger has played him at the back.

[Niall_Quinn]

Lovely cross by Saka. We are starting to play down the wings. DUH!

Just need about 17 years to teach the strikers how to get into a worthwhile position for those crosses.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Benteke. :haha:

[Mac76]

wake up bellerin ffs

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lacazette side netting but offside anyway. Played it quickly though to get there, eventually.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Woeful pass from Xhaka there, gives away a foul for no reason too. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

The commentators are going on as if this isn't totally bizarre. A football game with virtually no football.

[Mac76]

even Smith Rowe is passing backwards now

[Mac76]

Woeful pass from Xhaka there, gives away a foul for no reason too. :lol:

that's Xhaka all over

[Niall_Quinn]

Palace are as bad as us. It's a crap shoot, with the emphasis on crap.

[Niall_Quinn]

even Smith Rowe is passing backwards now

Probably got some extra training sessions in.

[Marc Overmars]

The kid has just woken up crying and I’m glad I’ve got something to take my mind off this “football match”.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bellerin pubbing it up.

[Niall_Quinn]

Ceballos is notable only because he resets every move. Every time we get a head of steam, he calms it right down. Fucking waster.

[Niall_Quinn]

The kid has just woken up crying and I’m glad I’ve got something to take my mind off this “football match”.

You lucky bastard!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nice from AMN but easy shot for Guaita.

[Mac76]

jeez Hector's having a shocker

[Niall_Quinn]

TRAAAAAAAAIIIIINING SESSION.

Taking the piss.

Give them money. Wheelbarrow loads.

Worst team we ever had.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

AMN hauled off, Pepe on to save us. :unsure:

[Niall_Quinn]

I keep making the mistake of coming back and watching this. It's a habit, fed by the good old days when football was... football.

It's not just us though. Almost every team is infected by Pep.

Might just watch South American football instead. They haven't been infected.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

David Luiz booked.

Zaha. :lol:

What a tit.

[Niall_Quinn]

Zaha is a horrible non-human being. Imagine behaving like that.

[Mac76]

Luiz gets his booking

[Mac76]

Zaha is a horrible non-human being. Imagine behaving like that.

yeah getting a knee in his face and complaining about it, what an arse... :rolleyes:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Well done Xhaka.

Pepe and Ceballos trying to do something ridiculous in an incredibly tight space set it up.

Ceballos off, Partey on. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Xhaka tried for the OG, but missed.

[Gooner23]

Granit has been very good defensively tonight. On the ball not so much.

[Niall_Quinn]

yeah getting a knee in his face and complaining about it, what an arse... :rolleyes:

Men and women. Women cry when you tap them. Men get up and get on with it. I guess he must be queer. That would explain it.

[Mac76]

Partey on :clap:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Holding heads wide again. :doh:

[Niall_Quinn]

Think about this.

Can anyone imagine Bergkamp in this team?

LOL

Or Henry?

Or Pires?

Or any real footballer?

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka hasn't shown any of the abilities that made him worth the effort. Has he finally become an Arsenal player?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Benteke off, Ayew on.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fuck this. Nothing happened. Can't be doing with it. What an embarrassment. They can't purge my mind. I still remember what football is.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lacazette hauled off, Nketiah on.

[Marc Overmars]

Have we had a shot on target in this half?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hopeless. :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Mid table dross.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe. :haha:

[Niall_Quinn]

Mid table dross.

Relegation material, more like.

Not a proper football team.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Milivojevic off, McCarthy on.

[Niall_Quinn]

Stopped watching and yet I still know what is happening. How can that be possible?

[Niall_Quinn]

I wonder, what would have to happen for a commentator to say... this is not football? I guess they'd have to dig up the pitch, build a circus and start firing dwarves out of a canon.

And even then, would they admit it?

[Xhaka Can’t]

The kid has just woken up crying and I’m glad I’ve got something to take my mind off this “football match”.

I’m sorry I missed this.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-0 FT.

That was utterly dreadful. Both sides deserve immediate relegation for that.

[Marc Overmars]

A pathetic waste of everyone’s time.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Think about this.

Can anyone imagine Bergkamp in this team?

LOL

Or Henry?

Or Pires?

Or any real footballer?

Every time those names were mentioned, I felt pride.

Now I just want to cry.

[Mac76]

for every good thing Xhaka does, he does three really bad things

[Mac76]

well at least we give away any stupid pels to Zaha

[Niall_Quinn]

Every time those names were mentioned, I felt pride.

Now I just want to cry.

Provided we remember them they are immortal.

Meanwhile, I'm busy forgetting every singe player in this so-called team.

[Letters]

Relegation material, more like.
In a proper league that would actually be true.
Luckily we don’t play in one.
Spurs haven’t even won half their games and they’re 6 points off the top. We’re about the same points off Spurs

[Xhaka Can’t]

Provided we remember them they are immortal.

Meanwhile, I'm busy forgetting every singe player in this so-called team.

The latter will be pretty easy.

The former? I’ll be boring my grandchildren about them and the time my wife spotted Dennis Bergkamp in the parking lot at Colney shopping center.

[Letters]

I’m trying to think of the last Arsenal player who could legitimately be thought of as an Arsenal legend. Anyone after that lot? Probably not.

[Niall_Quinn]

Every time those names were mentioned, I felt pride.

Now I just want to cry.

Go the extra mile and try to imagine, vaguely, in your wildest fantasies, Bergkamp in this team.

What would he do? He'd be looking upfield for the killer pass but all he'd hear is voices from behind him, "Back to me!, Square to me!, Keeper! Keeper!"

Thankfully it can never happen. Bergie is locked away in history and can't be slimed or shat upon by this lot. Although the badge can be. And they are going all guns.