Neverton v The Arsenal, Badison Park, 12.30pm Sat 5 April

[Mac76]

3-0 Beto hatter

Arteta will of course be the dickhead he is and play a 'strong' team

When he should of course play as many kids.and reserves as possible

This is as nothing a game as a nothing game can be

Let's look forward to a Saka injury as a result of his starting this game and being played for 95 minutes

[HCZ_Reborn]

I want us to finish 2nd plus I think we are a confidence team and a win in this game creates confidence for the Real Madrid tie

My hope is that White is fit so that we neither have to play Kiwior or Partey in defence


But it’s not that I don’t see where you’re coming from, we could put out the strongest team and still lose. But If we beat Everton and Villa beat Forest, Brentford get a result against Chelsea and United against City (stranger things have happened) that I think secures 2nd.

Also there’s an argument that with Gabriel’s injury we might want to try and play with the defence that we will have to use at the Emirates on Tuesday.


Starting Saka I would agree would be a bad idea, and resting Martinelli, Rice and even Odegaard might not be a bad idea.

[Marc Overmars]

Think this could be grim but hopefully I’m wrong.

[Mac76]

Couldn't give a stuff about being second compared to trying to give Real some kind of game with the best team we can field

Plus if a team which has challenged for the title two years running, beaten Citeh 5-1 this season and made the QFs of the CL isn't already confident then there's something seriously wrong

[HCZ_Reborn]

Rather interesting and worrying stat, the last time we won at Goodison Park after having played against them at home first and only drawing that game was the 1987/1988 season

The last two times we’ve played Everton at home first and drew, we lost (1-0 in 2007, a game I was at, and 3-0 in 2014)

We’ve also played Everton at Goodison park four times previously on a Saturday lunchtime.

Winning 1 - 2016

Drawing 1 - 2019

Losing 2 - 2006 and 2023

[Mac76]

Think this could be grim but hopefully I’m wrong.

I pretty much hope it is, as a result of our playing kids and reserves to keep the first team ready for Tuesday

[HCZ_Reborn]

Couldn't give a stuff about being second compared to trying to give Real some kind of game with the best team we can field

Plus if a team which has challenged for the title two years running, beaten Citeh 5-1 this season and made the QFs of the CL isn't already confident then there's something seriously wrong

That’s fair enough, but the fact is Arsenal are and to a large degree always have been a confidence team. We can go on winning runs, but when the chips are down it’s hard to know when the next good result is coming from.


That said, the last time we played Real Madrid. The first leg was sandwiched between a defeat to Liverpool 1-0 the previous week and a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn the following week.

I’d like the prestige of beating Real Madrid, but I’m of the opinion that we won’t be winning the champions league this season no matter what we do. Take away the PSV tie and we have scored six in our last six (4 of those goals from Mikel Merino). I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think we have either the available players or the quality of coach.

That said, I think anyone prioritising the Real Madrid tie over any remaining league fixtures is probably not wrong to do so. The last time we won a European trophy it was in part by sacrificing the league campaign somewhat.

Case in point, first Arsenal game I ever went to was when I was 10. It was during the Cup Winners Cup season (the one where we beat Parma, not the one where Nayim lobbed Seaman) and it was a home game against West Ham. No David Seaman (Vince Bartram in goal) - Bould, Wright and Merson played but no Lee Dixon, no Tony Adams, no Alan Smith and we lost 2-0

It’s academic, as I agree with you that Arteta won’t rotate but there’s precedent for it and maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I pretty much hope it is, as a result of our playing kids and reserves to keep the first team ready for Tuesday

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were in a time where we could put out a reserve team and still be reasonably confident of getting a good result, bit like how our weakened team beat Liverpool’s weakened team 6-3 at Anfield (ridiculous game but thoroughly enjoyable) and then went on to beat spurs over two legs

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh and yeah obvs this is our last ever game at Goodison Park. Not really relevant to anything but still.

I’ve seen the new stadium from a distance, I think it’s going to be an absolute nightmare in terms of traffic, crowd control etc. Then again, Liverpool has a far bigger base of support than Everton and whilst there’s a lot of traffic on match days to and from the city centre…it’s not actually as bad as might be assumed. It’s just that with Vauxhall, the access to and from the ground is narrow largely because of a bloody great stone wall

[HCZ_Reborn]

Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Merino, Rice, Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling.
Subs: Neto, Timber, Tierney, Zinchenko, Partey, Gower, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka.

So I’d say that’s quite a significantly weakened team

Enough to say that’s a guaranteed loss, no way that side is scoring goals

[HCZ_Reborn]

Also the latest player I’ve never heard of Jimi Gower. A 20 year old central midfielder….to be honest I’d rather start him than play Rice at 10

Will have to wait until next year before we can give Max Dowman a chance

[Marc Overmars]

Dreadful line up.

1-0 defeat incoming.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-2 tbh.

[Mac76]

I'd also have played Neto in goal, Tierney instead of MLS (or even Zin seeing as this is a meaningless game IMO) and someone else in place of Merino, NBO would have been an option if Arteta had bothered to give him minutes in previous games

You could even rest Saliba and play White, Kiwior, Tierney and Zin across the back

[HCZ_Reborn]

Dreadful line up.

1-0 defeat incoming.

I’m conflicted, I do want to finish as high up the table as possible. And win every game

But equally for once I am at least sympathetic to Mac’s POV that this game doesn’t matter and probably makes sense to rest players

Im hoping still that Kiwior doesn’t play on Tuesday, and that Timber is being rested

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rice should've struck.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

O'Brien should've done better with it.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

TROSSARD!!!

[Mac76]

good strike from Leo

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Six added minutes.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Close for Trossard and Rice.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-1 HT.

[Mac76]

Decent first half under the circs, hopefully we can nto try to hard and keep the clean sheet

I'd like to see Merino, Saliba and Rice withdrawn on 60 mins

[HCZ_Reborn]

So this is only the 5th time in the league this season, we’ve been ahead at half time away from home

We’ve won only twice from the previous four

5-2 at West Ham (we were 5-2 up at half time)

5-1 at Palace (we were 3-1 up at half time)

2-2 at Man City (we were 2-1 up at half time)

1-1 at Brighton (we were 1-0 up at half time)

So the story is, avoid harsh red card or ridiculous pel awards against us and we are home and dry :lol:

[Letters]

Rather interesting and worrying stat, the last time we won at Goodison Park after having played against them at home first and only drawing that game was the 1987/1988 season
That feels like a spectacularly meaningless stat :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

That feels like a spectacularly meaningless stat :lol:

It absolutely is (a meaningless stat)

It was a result of thinking, hmm I remember in the past where we’ve played Everton at home and not won and i don’t remember us doing well at Goodison Park in the same season. But as you say totally meaningless in that one thing has no real causal relation to the other

[Mac76]

Saka injury incoming

[dazthegooner]

1-1 England assist

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

So this is only the 5th time in the league this season, we’ve been ahead at half time away from home

We’ve won only twice from the previous four

5-2 at West Ham (we were 5-2 up at half time)

5-1 at Palace (we were 3-1 up at half time)

2-2 at Man City (we were 2-1 up at half time)

1-1 at Brighton (we were 1-0 up at half time)

So the story is, avoid harsh red card or ridiculous pel awards against us and we are home and dry :lol:

Ridiculous pel award it is...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Ndiaye

[Letters]

It absolutely is (a meaningless stat)

It was a result of thinking, hmm I remember in the past where we’ve played Everton at home and not won and i don’t remember us doing well at Goodison Park in the same season. But as you say totally meaningless in that one thing has no real causal relation to the other

I guess the only thing you could say is that if we didn’t beat <insert side here> at home then it’s probably less likely we will beat them away.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

White off for Timber.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

MLS. :bow:

[Letters]

:lol: just seen the penalty incident.
Never a pel

[dazthegooner]

Nice body check from Tarkowski who shouldn’t even be playin against MLS

[McNamara That Ghost...]

This ref is terrible.

[dazthegooner]

Friendly with Coote

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jorginho off, Odegaard on.

[Mac76]

:lol: just seen the penalty incident.
Never a pel

I've only seen it once but I wasn't thinking it was so outrageous, that said social media has plenty of people up in arms about it

[McNamara That Ghost...]

MLS off, Tierney on.

[Letters]

I've only seen it once but I wasn't thinking it was so outrageous, that said social media has plenty of people up in arms about it

I guess you could say he “gave the referee a decision to make” but it seemed very soft to me.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Oh Odegaard.

[Mac76]

Oh Odegaard.

indeed

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 FT. Well that was terrible.

Both teams and the refs.

[Marc Overmars]

Draws have absolutely killed us this season.

[Mac76]

If there were no injuries, that's a win for me

[HCZ_Reborn]

The struggle to score goals is still very much there, on the other hand I don’t actually think this is a terrible result when considering who we put out. You can argue that it’s annoying that MLS gave the ref a decision to make, because if it’s a marginal call you know it’s going against you

Disappointed but only really mildly so

[dazthegooner]

Cannot believe what I see Trossard put his foot up slightly was no where near the player ref I think blows for ft changes his mind then gives Nerverton a free kick.

[HCZ_Reborn]

In our last five away games we’ve scored 5 and conceded 2

It’s fair to say defending isn’t the issue :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh and Pel is never a pel, there’s zero contact inside the box aside from MLS losing his balance, it’s not even soft…it’s something you clearly should not be awarding when you’ve had the opportunity to look at VAR.

I’m going to say for the record that it’s not refereeing decisions that have cost us the title, but I don’t think there’s ever been a season where so many outrageous decisions have gone against us

[Letters]

Let’s just lose to Real Madrid and get this miserable season over with.
Try again in August.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Let’s just lose to Real Madrid and get this miserable season over with.
Try again in August.

The fact despite everything we’ve lost six games in 47 games, really tells you how this season could have gone if we’d invested in even one bloody striker

Our football might not be the best, in fact I’m starting to find myself agreeing with NQ that the overall standard of football has dropped (which I think is because of the amount of games rather than his theory that they are all a bunch of poofs :lol:)

But we absolutely do not have the soft centre anymore, it will all be for nothing if we don’t win something with this team and invest to make that happen. But as someone who doesn’t care much for Arteta at all, I will concede that he’s made us tough to beat

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

It was a poor decision by the ref to even think of awarding a penalty for that, but as usual VAR compounded it by reviewing it and not sending the ref to the monitor.

VAR more than the refs, have truly been against us this season, bloody useless cowards.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

On a sidenote, I'll miss Tierney....there is just something refreshing watching someone that was built to be an attacking LB doing his thing so naturally and effortlessly.... honestly if we'd had a more experienced and knowledgeable coach (one who bothers to field proper CFs) we'd have gotten so much more from this kid.

[Mac76]

On a sidenote, I'll miss Tierney....there is just something refreshing watching someone that was built to be an attacking LB doing his thing so naturally and effortlessly.... honestly if we'd had a more experienced and knowledgeable coach (one who bothers to field proper CFs) we'd have gotten so much more from this kid.

I couldn't agree more, Arteta's hatred for the orthodox LB is a real handicap, firstly it inflicted the disastrous Zin on this club, also I think Cala is a poor choice for LB, only MLS has been able to what Arteta seems to want with any assurity although we saw today he can be caugth out (whatever you think of the pel he let the ball bounce which created that situation), secondly having a different style of LB to use in certain games or game-states is surely a really useful additional weapon for us if used well

[Mac76]

Let’s just lose to Real Madrid and get this miserable season over with.
Try again in August.

Err, no let's not lose to Madrid please...

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

https://youtube.com/shorts/CVn2uFUTRpM?si=MEhG1V2KvTNBQTyR

Also, seems we are all forgetting the mistimed tackle on Trossard that was ACTUALLY a penalty, but he stays up and toe pokes the chance.

Again VAR should have gotten involved and asked the ref to view the monitor. Pretty sure it would have been given if it was Everton on the recieving end .

I'm beginning to think an outside body should be in charge of VAR as clearly they are all to chummy with themselves to be able to correct each other.

[Letters]

Err, no let's not lose to Madrid please...

Oh, that’s a good idea! I wouldn’t have thought of that.
You know what I mean.
This season has been a slog and a disappointment. I just want it over.
Obviously I would prefer if that season ends with a Champions League and an open top bus parade. But, let’s be realistic, that’s not going to happen.

[Marc Overmars]

It has been a hugely disappointing season on so many levels and Gabriel’s injury has killed a lot of the excitement for Real Madrid for me.

Cannot wait for this to be over. 7 more dead rubbers in the league and glorious failure in the CL to endure.

[Mac76]

I can't lie, I've watched that pel twenty times and for me the contact comes when MLS leans across to block the other player from getting to the ball, extending his right arm to do so - yes the other player then moves into him a bit but it's more about MLS leaning across the other player to the point where he falls over - in other words MLS's focus is on the man not the ball

I think if it was the other way round I'd call it a foul on our player - You could call it soft but IMO it's not as an outrageously bad decision as some people are saying and MLS should know by now he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt from officials - the more times he makes these bad calls the more other teams will seek to get him to do it

[Letters]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/videos/cg4155d1z91o

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

So apparently, the referees panel will say the penalty shouldn't have been awarded, but it wasn't a clear and obvious error so VAR were right not to get involved.

[Letters]

So apparently, the referees panel will say the penalty shouldn't have been awarded, but it wasn't a clear and obvious error so VAR were right not to get involved.

:wacko:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Gosh, it’s almost as if the word Penalty means to penalise/punish and that common sense would suggest giving the benefit of the doubt, do as much as you can to avoid disallowing goals but equally doing as much as you can not to penalise teams.

Lewis-Skelly had already begun to lose his balance before they were both in the box, so this was momentum. If it hadn’t been given by the referee on field, no one would be talking about this decision today as a potential penalty that wasn’t given therefore the fall back of saying because it’s been given it’s not blatantly stupid enough of a decision (which I think it is) in order to overturn it is moronic

[Marc Overmars]

I’m not usually one to whinge about refereeing as I tend to believe over the course of a season everyone gets shit decisions that can go for or against them, however it’s really difficult to ignore just how woeful some of the refereeing has been for us this season.

[Mac76]

I’m not usually one to whinge about refereeing as I tend to believe over the course of a season everyone gets shit decisions that can go for or against them, however it’s really difficult to ignore just how woeful some of the refereeing has been for us this season.

I'd say more than woeful, it's bordering on the vindictive

I've said it before but if I were the Club i'd invest in a dossierof what decisions have gone against us and what different teams have got away with (players like Van Djik and Guimeraes would be good examples) which would prove we've been extremely hard done by and to call for fairer treatment next season or they will sue the PGMOL for lost revenues