Arsenal 5-1 Man City, Player rating and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 8 - Exceptional save from Gvardiol, could do nothing about the Haaland header


Timber 7 - Bit early to be picking up a yellow card but other than that did well both defensively and getting forwards


Saliba 8 - Haaland got the better of him once, but other than that Saliba had him on the leash


Gabriel 8 - It’s almost like he took Haaland throwing a football at his head personally. Followed him around like an intense stalker


Lewis-Skelly 9 - Who the fuck are you? That goal celebration :lol: top trolling


Partey 8 - One of his best games in an Arsenal jersey


Rice 7.5 - Was the engine in the team today kept everything ticking over


Martinelli 8 - This is a player to unleash on the counter attack


Odegaard 7.5 - Did not dictate the play as he usually does, but actually I think that worked better as he complimented others rather than trying to be the conductor


Havertz 7.5 - Would have marked him higher but for the horrendous miss, still low on confidence but he makes himself available. Someone else on here claims he ducks responsibility, he does no such thing


Trossard 7 - Mature performance, protected Lewis-Skelly behind him



Subs -

Sterling, Calafiori, Merino - N/A, They were there to add fresh legs to a game that was already won

Nwaneri 8 - Struck with nonchalant disdain for his opponents


This was a good old fashioned battering. Until Haaland got the equaliser we were too cautious by far, this is a side that absolutely gave its back four zero protection and so we decided (and rightly) fuck it lets tear them up.

There really isn’t much analysis to give, so I think will just end it with….Stay Humble

[Niall_Quinn]

We need a striker.

[Marc Overmars]

Might be too late for this season but if this team had an effective striker I would put money on us to win the league.

But we don’t have one and because of that we’re playing catch up and likely to be rueing another missed chance come May.

Monstrous performance today that should send confidence flying. Would be superb to cap it off by turning around the Newcastle semi final as well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Excellent point made elsewhere - MLS would have been banned today if Oliver and England and Webb got away with their bullshit.

[HCZ_Reborn]

One thing that stands out to me, only Liverpool have scored more goals than us in the premier league yet 24 games in we don’t have a single player who has reached double figures in goals

We also have had 15 different goal scorers

For context
Forest and Chelsea have 13
Liverpool and City have 11
Newcastle have 8


I like that goals are spread around the whole team, but with us because we don’t have an attacking focal point it means our goal scoring is inconsistent. Before today we had managed 7 goals in our last 5 home league games

[Mac76]

Would be superb to cap it off by turning around the Newcastle semi final as well.

Yeah I thought that was dead and buried but it has to be a real possibiliry now

[HCZ_Reborn]

I think it’s too late now. We have to win every game from now until the end of the season and hope that at bare minimum Liverpool lose two and draw two.

I think they’ve been lucky this season at times with decisions that have gone for them. But I don’t see them dropping ten points from the next 45 up for grabs. I think we could beat them at Anfield but I suspect the title will have been wrapped up by then. Even when they’ve been poor, they’ve found a way of getting a goal to get their way out of trouble.

Nothing short of an injury to Salah would derail them.


Us? I don’t see us winning every game. We scored five yesterday against a team with zero protection for its defence yet continually tried to play out from the back. Our XG was something like 1.4. We will revert to huff and puff when Newcastle gives us nothing on Wednesday. Though if we manage to score early and draw them out, could be different story

[Mac76]

I think it’s too late now.


blimey the turnaround really is on :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

blimey the turnaround really is on :lol:

https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/61796a8a442fda0001c14982-image_b51fc291.jpeg

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Ahhhhh, I've been trying to find this picture for months (I work with someone from Stoke) and that post has made me find it

https://i.imgur.com/FRphjc6.png

Sent from my CPH2663 using Tapatalk

[Niall_Quinn]

Nothing to say the Asian gamblers won't want to shift things around with a late comeback.

Haven't we had a "Bookies already paying out on..." season before?

Lots of twists and turns to go, just won't be our new striker making any of them.

[Niall_Quinn]

Saw the highlights last night and the most remarkable aspect of the game is how bad the gypos are all of a sudden. Definitely not down to one player being missing, because even if he was there he couldn't have done much about the lack of legs they had in the last 30, or the total disintegration of their passing game. And can players who have won so many titles be suffering such a severe confidence crisis they forget how to play the basics? Haaland had one touch in the remainder of the match after he score, so claim the pundits. Not sure if that is actually true, he might have had two.

They might struggle to make the top 4. Tactics against them are easy. Play at the highest tempo possible until they die on their feet and you can walk it past them and into the net.

[Niall_Quinn]

Is Gary Neville a secret city fan? He seems pretty butthurt about the result. And he really doesn't like Gabriel's unsportsmanlike antics where he threw the ball at Haaland's head and ran away "in the heat of the moment". Disrespectful, says Gary. Made him feel uneasy.

Same Gary that was fined 10K for showing his respect to Liverpool fans when Utd scored that late winner, isn't he?

[Marc Overmars]

Strange how Haaland’s tirade at the end of the 2-2 game was seen as funny yet apparently we’re the disrespectful ones now?

In any walk of life, if you behave like a classless idiot then you should be expecting some retaliation.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I went last night as a friend couldn't go.

What a great game and I so far have a 100% win record when I am lucky enough to attend games :)

[IBK]

Games like yesterday need to be savoured! I think HCZ's ratings are pretty spot on.

What this match showed is that despite our many setbacks this season the team is 100% behind the manager, and has real character. There's a backbone and togetherness that was lacking for years - and even where we have stuttered this season, it has not been for lack of effort/will.

What can I say about MLS and Nwaneri? 2 rookies who have come in and not just kept us going but have elevated the team. They not only embody the spirit that exists in our team, but show that if we are brave and take the game to the opposition we are a force to be reckoned with. I hope that yesterday's performance (including what happened when we went into our shell a bit at the end of the first half/beginning of the second) encourages Arteta to play more on the front foot and take a few more risks - because some of the points we have dropped this season have been IMO down to an over focus on keeping possession and pulling our punches when we could have been braver.

We have the talent. It's a shame that Liverpool are so far in front because I agree that winning the league will take an unexpected reversal in their fortunes at this point. But this result - combined with our upcoming 10 day break - should re-energise Arsenal even if (as now seems likely) we don't secure a new forward signing today.

[IBK]

Strange how Haaland’s tirade at the end of the 2-2 game was seen as funny yet apparently we’re the disrespectful ones now?

In any walk of life, if you behave like a classless idiot then you should be expecting some retaliation.

Yeah - speaks volumes that the Nevilles of this world have to find something to berate Arsenal over, rather than acknowledging an unbelieveable performance...

[Letters]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A69K6TEV1/?mibextid=wwXIfr

:lol:

[Mac76]

There's nothing wrong or troll-like about pointing out the HCZ often gets his judgements wrong - which he does (Rice, Gakpo etc etc)

So i genuinely am more hopeful we could get past Newcastle now he's said there's no chance

[HCZ_Reborn]

There's nothing wrong or troll-like about pointing out the HCZ often gets his judgements wrong - which he does (Rice, Gakpo etc etc)

So i genuinely am more hopeful we could get past Newcastle now he's said there's no chance

https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/61796a8a442fda0001c14982-image_b51fc291.jpeg

[HCZ_Reborn]

I shouldn’t engage with Salacious Crumb but honestly

I stand by what I said about Rice, his passing isn’t great, he’s slow, he’s technically not brilliant either. That’s why I didn’t want to sign him. I think he’s got a good engine, he’s excellent at spotting danger and putting out fires but we’ve also seen he doesn’t cope with the press.


I equally stand by what I said about Gakpo, average players can go on scoring runs. Martinelli has had two awful seasons with us but would tear the opposition apart if he had the space the more expansive high pressing play Liverpool have. Gakpo is one of those players if he’s not scoring his overall contribution is negligible.


But never mind, I should let a guy who thinks he could tell Xhaka was a teachers pet by going to games :haha: and who thinks the Labour membership is made up of salt of the earth working class types (despite being told by someone who was a Labour Party member and went to local and national party conferences that they are no such thing) continue to believe the world in his snow globe is the real one

[Niall_Quinn]

Except Rice was faster to the ball than anyone in city's midfield could handle and his passing was spectacular. Hell, I think Partey is like an anchor dragging the team down with his negative passing, but even he was on it yesterday. Quick to the ball and looking up the field for a pass. Can't always judge the players purely on how they play, it also depends on how they are instructed to play and Rice said in his post match interview yesterday (paraphrasing), the manager scripts everything down to the last detail, we don't need to think about it, just do it.

But clearly we can all see Rice is a genuinely excellent footballer and essential to the Arsenal midfield for years to come. Denying that, having watched him play yesterday, isn't at all sustainable.

[Mac76]

Except Rice was faster to the ball than anyone in city's midfield could handle and his passing was spectacular. Hell, I think Partey is like an anchor dragging the team down with his negative passing, but even he was on it yesterday. Quick to the ball and looking up the field for a pass. Can't always judge the players purely on how they play, it also depends on how they are instructed to play and Rice said in his post match interview yesterday (paraphrasing), the manager scripts everything down to the last detail, we don't need to think about it, just do it.

But clearly we can all see Rice is a genuinely excellent footballer and essential to the Arsenal midfield for years to come. Denying that, having watched him play yesterday, isn't at all sustainable.

precisely :good:

[Mac76]

I equally stand by what I said about Gakpo, average players can go on scoring runs.

in the last 15 games (which is basically since he began having regular starts this season) he's scored 8 goals and got 3 assists - that's more than a run but proof of a consistenty quality player - and while I dont know what his defensive game is like, as a forward his job is mainly to score and get assists - not all teams are like Arsenal where Arteta expects everyone to track back etc


who thinks the Labour membership is made up of salt of the earth working class types (despite being told by someone who was a Labour Party member and went to local and national party conferences that they are no such thing) continue to believe the world in his snow globe is the real one

The conferences prove nothing as they aren't representative as it's people who can afford to take the time off and pay to go plus lots of industry lobbyists


But never mind, I should let a guy who thinks he could tell Xhaka was a teachers pet by going to games

which of course is far less evidence-based than thinking they know Arteta's mind from a heavily edited documentary... :haha: :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Except Rice was faster to the ball than anyone in city's midfield could handle and his passing was spectacular. Hell, I think Partey is like an anchor dragging the team down with his negative passing, but even he was on it yesterday. Quick to the ball and looking up the field for a pass. Can't always judge the players purely on how they play, it also depends on how they are instructed to play and Rice said in his post match interview yesterday (paraphrasing), the manager scripts everything down to the last detail, we don't need to think about it, just do it.

But clearly we can all see Rice is a genuinely excellent footballer and essential to the Arsenal midfield for years to come. Denying that, having watched him play yesterday, isn't at all sustainable.

City don’t have a central midfield, why do you think they are so easy to get through. They’ve got Kovacic protecting their back four and that’s it. I know you have this rose tinted view of footballers that makes you think someone like Steve McMahon being an uncompromising tackler means he’d be able to cope with the modern game.


It’s like watching Ramsey play against CSKA Moscow six-seven years ago and how he was able to meander about unimpeded and a Juventus scout concluding he was a top midfielder. Without the proper context it’s absurd

[Mac76]

Without the proper context it’s absurd

The proper context being Rice, now he's back up to standard, is consistenly playing as NQ describes, it's not a one-off

[HCZ_Reborn]

in the last 15 games (which is basically since he began having regular starts this season) he's scored 8 goals and got 3 assists - that's more than a run but proof of a consistenly quality player - and while I dont know what his defenseive game is like, as a forward his job is mainly to score and get assists - not all teams are like Arsenal where Arteta expects everyone to track back etc



oh and on the Labour point, the conferences prove nothing as they aren't representative as it's people who can afford to take the time off and pay to go plus lots of industry lobbyists



which of course is far less evidence-based than thinking they know Arteta's mind from a heavily edited documentary... :haha: :haha:

Are you lying when you say you go to football matches, or are you partially sighted and as a result get seated in the disabled stands and simply go to games because it’s cheap. Because you give me the awful impression of not knowing a lot about the game if you think football is a binary of either defending or scoring goals. No you’d expect link up play from attackers, finding someone in space being able to read the game to sell dummies etc. All the things Salah can do as well as score goals and all the things Gakpo doesn’t….for someone with a reasonable amount of pace he can’t keep himself onside a lot of the time.


I use the Ramsey example a lot as that of a player who scored goals but largely lacked the attributes technically to make for a top footballer. Gakpo has the advantage over Ramsey of pace and strength but that’s it.

The point of being a Labour member as opposed to just a voter is to be politically active and attend local constituency meetings. I can guarantee you now that the conferences absolutely are representative of political membership. I’m not even singling Labour out, all party political membership holders are middle class….the working class are usually busy working or looking after their families….not spending evenings being political hobbyists and pretending that they are making a blind bit of difference to anything.

Though party membership tends to have hollered out, and the same middle class people have joined groups such as just stop oil or go on the pro Palestinian marches and pretend not to hear the same vile antisemitism on display (in fairness to them, the Met do exactly the same thing)

[HCZ_Reborn]

The proper context being Rice, now he's back up to standard, is consistenly playing as NQ describes, it's not a one-off

The proper context is as soon as you have a team that doesn’t give us all the space in the world, our build up play will again be too slow because Rice lacks the technical ability to play at 8. It’s utter lunacy to believe otherwise

[Niall_Quinn]

City don’t have a central midfield, why do you think they are so easy to get through. They’ve got Kovacic protecting their back four and that’s it. I know you have this rose tinted view of footballers that makes you think someone like Steve McMahon being an uncompromising tackler means he’d be able to cope with the modern game.


It’s like watching Ramsey play against CSKA Moscow six-seven years ago and how he was able to meander about unimpeded and a Juventus scout concluding he was a top midfielder. Without the proper context it’s absurd

So we didn't win yesterday, it was city who lost? It's still city and they were coming off a run of wins, weren't they. In the PL. So while they aren't at their own standard of recent years it doesn't mean they've dropped to a standard where "poor" players can dominate them. We dominated them because we finally decided to exploit weaknesses that have come into their game, and to do that we have to be capable of exploiting those weaknesses. It wasn't as if city were kicking he ball into the net for us.

[HCZ_Reborn]

which of course is far less evidence-based than thinking they know Arteta's mind from a heavily edited documentary... :haha: :haha:

Well it would be if I ever claimed I knew what Arteta was thinking

But again if you can’t tell the difference between understanding personality types and psychic powers…it’s another example of your ignorance. That’s in fact Owen Jones level (where he couldn’t tell the difference between wealth from income and wealth from asset ownership)

[Mac76]

The point of being a Labour member as opposed to just a voter is to be politically active and attend local constituency meetings. I can guarantee you now that the conferences absolutely are representative of political membership. I’m not even singling Labour out, all party political membership holders are middle class….



I know from my own experience over many years, in more than one geographical area, that it's utter BS to say most Labour members are middle class - sorry but sitting at your computer all day reading websites doesn't qualify you to know the reality

[HCZ_Reborn]

So we didn't win yesterday, it was city who lost? It's still city and they were coming off a run of wins, weren't they. In the PL. So while they aren't at their own standard of recent years it doesn't mean they've dropped to a standard where "poor" players can dominate them. We dominated them because we finally decided to exploit weaknesses that have come into their game, and to do that we have to be capable of exploiting those weaknesses. It wasn't as if city were kicking he ball into the net for us.

If you’ve watched how City have played this season even in games they’ve won, you would see that without the ball that yes even poor players can exploit their weaknesses (I didn’t exaggerate when I claimed they had no chance of winning the title without Rodri, a lot of ageing players being made to play in a way that teams can exploit). Is Rice a poor player? No he’s an excellent no6. But arguably so was Gilberto Silva and he absolutely lacked the attributes to play in the Vieira role

[HCZ_Reborn]

I know from my own experience over many years, in more than one geographical area, that it's utter BS to say most Labour members are middle class - sorry but sitting at your computer all day reading websites doesn't qualify you to know the reality

All I can say then is you have no idea what working class is. Which wouldn’t be a surprise given how confused most of the comments you make about politics are. What you think may be working class, are cos players playing class war. It’s not the same thing. There’s no sea change…it’s always been that way.

Political activism outside of trade union activity (and even that is largely middle class in this day) has always been a middle class hobby, especially on the left.


The thing is chief, it’s what you are….you reek of middle class. The white guilt, the stunningly misaligned social conscience, the superficial concern for the hardest off people which doesn’t do a great job of masking your utter contempt for them.

I’m not working class either…the difference is I don’t pretend to be like these people you claim to have met.

[Mac76]

All I can say then is you have no idea what working class is

I've literally studied what working class is

anyway whatever

[Niall_Quinn]

If you’ve watched how City have played this season even in games they’ve won, you would see that without the ball that yes even poor players can exploit their weaknesses (I didn’t exaggerate when I claimed they had no chance of winning the title without Rodri, a lot of ageing players being made to play in a way that teams can exploit). Is Rice a poor player? No he’s an excellent no6. But arguably so was Gilberto Silva and he absolutely lacked the attributes to play in the Vieira role

So we'd have done even better yesterday if we played Rice deeper and let him trail his man as far as the halfway line then limit himself to breaking up the play? We have the best back five in the league, why do we need to spend 100mill+ to supplement that? Is that what you believe Arteta and Co were admiring when they got the chequebook out?

Okay, fine. Rice is just a bog standard scrapper, good engine, no technique, can't pass, it's worrying to learn that.

So who would we have put in his place?

[HCZ_Reborn]

I've literally studied what working class is

anyway whatever

:haha:

You’re priceless you are


You studied what working class is? Am I led to believe you studied sociology ?


That explains so much….including why you got the hump when I spoke about graduates coming away from universities with useless bachelor of arts courses (I’m a BA honours myself so I feel like I’m free to say this)

[HCZ_Reborn]

So we'd have done even better yesterday if we played Rice deeper and let him trail his man as far as the halfway line then limit himself to breaking up the play? We have the best back five in the league, why do we need to spend 100mill+ to supplement that? Is that what you believe Arteta and Co were admiring when they got the chequebook out?

Okay, fine. Rice is just a bog standard scrapper, good engine, no technique, can't pass, it's worrying to learn that.

So who would we have put in his place?


I can’t tell if you’re being obtuse or whether these are actual questions

[Niall_Quinn]

I can’t tell if you’re being obtuse or whether these are actual questions

Well you said Rice is no good in the role he's playing, can't pass, lack of technique, etc, and he'd be better as a defensive midfielder, or did I hear that wrong? Or are you referring to the 80s #6 role at centre back?

Regardless, if we're shifting Rice around, who are we shifting him with, or who are we brining in?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Well you said Rice is no good in the role he's playing, can't pass, lack of technique, etc, and he'd be better as a defensive midfielder, or did I hear that wrong? Or are you referring to the 80s #6 role at centre back?

Regardless, if we're shifting Rice around, who are we shifting him with, or who are we brining in?

1) the Point was that Man City’s paucity means that we could play Rice there and not come up too short


2) I literally say in every match thread that we should swap the positions around and play Partey at 8, he’s better on the ball, better passer, better reading of the game and where other players are going to be. Also he’s useless at tracking runs, and putting out danger so our back four is more exposed this season. Partey isn’t the perfect no8 either…arguably it’s a role that doesn’t need to exist. If we bring in Zubimendi would make sense to move Rice on and bring in a more attacking midfielder to double pivot with Odegaard. Or keep him on the bench for when we play away at big sides and need to stodge up the game

[Niall_Quinn]

Partey. Knew it.

So the Rice thing is just a byproduct of the Partey thing? Not going to spend the next 2 days arguing about why the idea of Partey in that role would be catastrophic. But the amount of balls we'd give away in critical areas of the pitch ought to be enough to knock that on the head. If he's useless at tracking runs and putting out danger for the back four, why would we ever want him further up the field applying these special talents?

No, not spending the 2 days. So we'll let you have Partey there.

How old is Partey? How much longer will he be here? Almost left in the summer didn't he? Is he here next year if we can't bring in a more attacking midfielder to double pivot with Odegard? We'll have sold Rice, or he'd have demanded a move to keep his international career afloat rather than warming the bench for us. Sold at a loss I would think, and a big one.

It's one way to go I guess. We're bringing in Zubimendi, big wages there, and hopefully a striker, big wages. We'll save some on getting rid of Rice, of course. So maybe there is some room to bring in a more attacking midfielder to double pivot with Odegard.

But who? Any names spring to mind? Somebody who could be double pivoting up top with Odegard, and Partey, Rice and Jorginho all booted? We'd have Trossard, Martinelli, Saka, Zubimendi, and don't forget Sterling if he stays. Which leaves Merino as the steel in the middle, given the bloke we dump Rice for will be pivoting away up front.

You sure you thought this through fully?

[Mac76]

Also he’s useless at tracking runs, and putting out danger

he did just that yesterday on more than one occasion


1If we bring in Zubimendi would make sense to move Rice on ... Or keep him on the bench for when we play away at big sides and need to stodge up the game

A player that cost £105m on the bench, yes great idea :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Partey. Knew it.

So the Rice thing is just a byproduct of the Partey thing? Not going to spend the next 2 days arguing about why the idea of Partey in that role would be catastrophic. But the amount of balls we'd give away in critical areas of the pitch ought to be enough to knock that on the head. If he's useless at tracking runs and putting out danger for the back four, why would we ever want him further up the field applying these special talents?

No, not spending the 2 days. So we'll let you have Partey there.

How old is Partey? How much longer will he be here? Almost left in the summer didn't he? Is he here next year if we can't bring in a more attacking midfielder to double pivot with Odegard? We'll have sold Rice, or he'd have demanded a move to keep his international career afloat rather than warming the bench for us. Sold at a loss I would think, and a big one.

It's one way to go I guess. We're bringing in Zubimendi, big wages there, and hopefully a striker, big wages. We'll save some on getting rid of Rice, of course. So maybe there is some room to bring in a more attacking midfielder to double pivot with Odegard.

But who? Any names spring to mind? Somebody who could be double pivoting up top with Odegard, and Partey, Rice and Jorginho all booted? We'd have Trossard, Martinelli, Saka, Zubimendi, and don't forget Sterling if he stays. Which leaves Merino as the steel in the middle, given the bloke we dump Rice for will be pivoting away up front.

You sure you thought this through fully?

Your problem is (and in fairness I’m guilty of it as well) that brevity is just not your friend. I don’t know where letters finds the time to break down your interminable ramblings and answer each point but I suspect that’s because he could be made redundant and no one would even notice.

All I can say is you seem to come to a lot of conclusions here that don’t really necessary follow from anything I’ve said, and given you pontificate so much about how football was so much better in the 1980s gives me every impression that you stopped watching after May 26th 1989.

I’ll tell you what, when I’m finished for the day I’ll consider giving this a response it doesn’t deserve, but consider only mind you

[Niall_Quinn]

Your problem is (and in fairness I’m guilty of it as well) that brevity is just not your friend. I don’t know where letters finds the time to break down your interminable ramblings and answer each point but I suspect that’s because he could be made redundant and no one would even notice.

All I can say is you seem to come to a lot of conclusions here that don’t really necessary follow from anything I’ve said, and given you pontificate so much about how football was so much better in the 1980s gives me every impression that you stopped watching after May 26th 1989.

I’ll tell you what, when I’m finished for the day I’ll consider giving this a response it doesn’t deserve, but consider only mind you

I wouldn't worry.

You've said we should sell Rice and play Partey in his place.

I think you've said enough already.

[HCZ_Reborn]

he did just that yesterday on more than one occasion



A player that cost £105m on the bench, yes great idea :haha:


Partey tracked his runner is like saying you posted something that was insightful and thoughtful and showed signs of intellectual curiosity. It veers beyond the unlikely


I agree, having him on the bench would be a bit of a waste. Maybe because he’s English we’d recoup most of the money for him as well. It’s no disrespect to Rice but what I’ve seen of Zubimendi he has the ability to surpass Rodri and we simply don’t need both him and Rice in the same team most of the time


Of course Zubimendi hasn’t been confirmed yet so don’t want to count my chickens

[HCZ_Reborn]

I wouldn't worry.

You've said we should sell Rice and play Partey in his place.

I think you've said enough already.

Of course that’s not at all what I said. But I absolutely understand that your rambling shambles of a post might make sense, if you were unable or unwilling to read what I actually said (at least I’m honest enough to admit this)

[Niall_Quinn]

Partey tracked his runner is like saying you posted something that was insightful and thoughtful and showed signs of intellectual curiosity. It veers beyond the unlikely


I agree, having him on the bench would be a bit of a waste. Maybe because he’s English we’d recoup most of the money for him as well. It’s no disrespect to Rice but what I’ve seen of Zubimendi he has the ability to surpass Rodri and we simply don’t need both him and Rice in the same team most of the time


Of course Zubimendi hasn’t been confirmed yet so don’t want to count my chickens

Take a pause and start digging up.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Take a pause and start digging up.

If I have to explain again it will involve hand puppets

For this season Partey should play the more advanced midfield role with Rice at 6.


Going forward, partey will be gone in the summer and if Zubimendi is brought in to replace him….we should consider selling Rice because we don’t need two number 6s in the same team. Rice is 6, Zubimendi is 6 with a far better passing ability.


It wasn’t that difficult for you not to wilfully misinterpret

[Mac76]

It’s no disrespect to Rice but what I’ve seen of Zubimendi he has the ability to surpass Rodri and we simply don’t need both him and Rice in the same team most of the time


It's a massive disrespect to a player who can demonsttrably play well at 8 and got two assists yesterday :lol:

I love (not) the way you dismiss people getting, like, goals and stuff like it's immaterial to what football is about

[Niall_Quinn]

If I have to explain again it will involve hand puppets

For this season Partey should play the more advanced midfield role with Rice at 6.


Going forward, partey will be gone in the summer and if Zubimendi is brought in to replace him….we should consider selling Rice because we don’t need two number 6s in the same team. Rice is 6, Zubimendi is 6 with a far better passing ability.


It wasn’t that difficult for you not to wilfully misinterpret

Nah, I'm going to need the hand puppet version...

We are selling Rice because?

[HCZ_Reborn]

It's a massive disrespect to a player who can demonsttrably play well at 8 and got two assists yesterday :lol:

I love (not) the way you dismiss people getting, like, goals and stuff like it's immaterial to what football is about

I think we’ve established over the last hour or so that you understand football about as well as you understand politics. At least NQ has the excuse that he doesn’t actually watch football all that often

No it’s not disrespectful in the least bit, your argument makes about as much sense as saying it’s disrespectful to say Gabriel probably shouldn’t play up front unless it’s an emergency, and citing the goals he’s scored a few times this season as evidence of it

[HCZ_Reborn]

Nah, I'm going to need the hand puppet version...

We are selling Rice because?


I hate to use the word obtuse again, but ironically for someone who thinks they are playing 3-D chess when the rest of us are playing snakes and ladders…it seems rather crudely on display here

[Niall_Quinn]

I hate to use the word obtuse again, but ironically for someone who thinks they are playing 3-D chess when the rest of us are playing snakes and ladders…it seems rather crudely on display here

So it's my fault we are selling him?

[HCZ_Reborn]

So it's my fault we are selling him?


https://youtu.be/kOUnzOe314g?si=AyvjfuiKje1mtY6t

Here you go friend, lose yourself in the nostalgia. Don’t concern yourself with a modern game you don’t even watch. Though of course if you take the evidence of the Dullard who thinks he understands the working class because he did a course about them (though I give him credit, that’s the only time he’s ever made me laugh) watching the game gives you no guarantee of understanding the game

[Mac76]

the Dullard who thinks he understands the working class because he did a course about them

I love (not) the way you twist arguments around to suit your latest post - you said I didn't know what working class means (not whether i 'understood' working class people - i do because i'm basically one myself), so in order to pander to your pathetic accusations i produced actual real-world proof that i did

leaving aside I myself grew up in a working class area and went to an inner city state school ofc

[Niall_Quinn]

https://youtu.be/kOUnzOe314g?si=AyvjfuiKje1mtY6t

Here you go friend, lose yourself in the nostalgia. Don’t concern yourself with a modern game you don’t even watch. Though of course if you take the evidence of the Dullard who thinks he understands the working class because he did a course about them (though I give him credit, that’s the only time he’s ever made me laugh) watching the game gives you no guarantee of understanding the game

Sweet, I'll watch that. Thanks.

Might watch Rice's MOTM performance against the gypos while I'm at it.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I love (not) the way you twist arguments around to suit your latest post - you said I didn't know what working class means (not whether i 'understood' working class people - i do because i'm basically one myself), so in order to pander to your pathetic accusations i produced actual real-world proof that i did

leaving aside I myself grew up in a working class area and went to an inner city state school ofc


It’s a distinction without a difference, you don’t understand the working class because you seemingly can’t identify them (even with the benefit of a sociology course :lol:). But I see we are inching closer to the truth, the belief that if you grow up working class it’s a honorific title you carry throughout your life. Don’t get me wrong my dear Father who is fantastically intelligent in his grasp of maths and science (which he didn’t pass onto me) doesn’t seem to understand that growing up on a council estate in Pentonville doesn’t mean you’re working class when you can buy your own property in an affluent area and work in a white collar job. Yes there is a cultural element to working class as well as the economic one, but again equally my Dad is about as culturally working class as you are (that’s why I thought it was hilarious to get that waste of space Farage to make that video for him)

So yes if by working class you mean people that have come from humble beginnings but seemingly are too silly or burdened with guilt to rejoice in the fact that they’ve managed to gain social mobility so that they have to cosplay and pretend that they are still working class (Ken Loach types) then yes that’s exactly the type of people you might see at Labour Party meetings. Along with types like Tony Benn who spent his life in perpetual mental agony for being born into privilege.


But the fact that you talk about coming from the inner city and going to a comprehensive like it was some immense hardship tells me precisely how middle class you actually are now. It’s like every time you try to prove me wrong about yourself you only provide me evidence for how I was correct to begin with

[HCZ_Reborn]

Sweet, I'll watch that. Thanks.

Might watch Rice's MOTM performance against the gypos while I'm at it.

Maybe you can compare and contrast that with other games where we struggle to break down teams that don’t give us the space Man City did and identify why our build up play is so slow

[Mac76]

It’s a distinction without a difference, you don’t understand the working class because you seemingly can’t identify them (even with the benefit of a sociology course :lol:). But I see we are inching closer to the truth, the belief that if you grow up working class it’s a honorific title you carry throughout your life. Don’t get me wrong my dear Father who is fantastically intelligent in his grasp of maths and science (which he didn’t pass onto me) doesn’t seem to understand that growing up on a council estate in Pentonville doesn’t mean you’re working class when you can buy your own property in an affluent area and work in a white collar job. Yes there is a cultural element to working class as well as the economic one, but again equally my Dad is about as culturally working class as you are (that’s why I thought it was hilarious to get that waste of space Farage to make that video for him)

So yes if by working class you mean people that have come from humble beginnings but seemingly are too silly or burdened with guilt to rejoice in the fact that they’ve managed to gain social mobility so that they have to cosplay and pretend that they are still working class (Ken Loach types) then yes that’s exactly the type of people you might see at Labour Party meetings. Along with types like Tony Benn who spent his life in perpetual mental agony for being born into privilege.


But the fact that you talk about coming from the inner city and going to a comprehensive like it was some immense hardship tells me precisely how middle class you actually are now. It’s like every time you try to prove me wrong about yourself you only provide me evidence for how I was correct to begin with

TLDR, but the point is still that you're still wrong about Labour members, because if my car was red (which it isn't) I'd know it was red no matter how many times you told me it was green, because it would be outside my front door and I could actually see it

So stop wasting your time

[HCZ_Reborn]

TLDR, but the point is still that you're still wrong about Labour members, because if my car was red (which it isn't) I'd know it was red no matter how many times you told me it was green, because it would be outside my front door and I could actually see it

So stop wasting your time


In this analogy, it would suggest you were colour blind :haha: and

You’re right though I am wasting my time, because I know you’re wrong. Just as I know you wouldn’t admit (probably not even to yourself). Just a bit much when you think you can tell someone who was actually a member of said party that you know better than them the makeup of other members.

I left the party because of Corbyn (well he was last straw) but also because I didn’t like the middle class political hobbyists who cut their teeth watching Ken Loach misery porn (and this was even the case when Blair was leader). The people who as I keep repeatedly telling you identify as working class because like you claimed they came from a family that only had the one car, couldn’t afford to go on holiday abroad and went to a comprehensive.

They aren’t blue collar workers in heavy industry because these jobs don’t exist anymore, they aren’t working in the new working class jobs in hospitality or retail. They are professional classes, civil servants, local elected politicians or people in managerial roles in the charity sector.

So yeah if you see green as red that’s on you

[Niall_Quinn]

Rice is getting some love from Gary Neville and his incoherent scouser mate. Being a true captain he broke up Skelly's disrespectful epic burn of Haaland and Gary approves.

It's nice when one of our players gets some credit so another one of our players can be slagged off for the second day running.

[Niall_Quinn]

It's a bit like a spud cake I suppose, but we actually did win for the whole 90 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpdkp9T1FWo