Yeah top marks for Kiwior, always seemed fragile with confidence but this tie was the making of him.
Also Timber and MLS have made the full back slots their own. It’s crazy how these areas of the pitch seem to change and evolve every season for us.
Yeah top marks for Kiwior, always seemed fragile with confidence but this tie was the making of him.
Also Timber and MLS have made the full back slots their own. It’s crazy how these areas of the pitch seem to change and evolve every season for us.
Due to his consistency, I consider Timber a contender for player of the seasonOriginally Posted by Marc Overmars
Rice was of course fantastic in both legs against Real Madrid, but to be honest I don’t think he’s had a great season overall. I still think he struggles in the no8 position when we play teams that will sit deep….and in many ways a central midfielder is only as good as the time and space they are afforded on the ball.
I think there are still things he does that we could well do without (time wasting etc) but he is quicker than Ben White and he seems to link up just as well with Saka
So pleased with last night's performance and result! No issue with HCZ's ratings - but as after the first leg I want to praise the quality of the whole team and the manager.
We were playing the occasion as much as the RM players - and the mental fortitude that Arteta has forged in our team, to rise to the big occasions, is very impressive.
There will be the inevitable mealy mouthed comments from some (I've already seen some) about how RM are not the force they were, and how PSG is the team to watch in this competition, but I guess this is inevitable until we actually win something. In the meantime, I think it is churlish not to acknowledge the sheer quality of coaching and execution that in hindsight made this almost a non-competition between a bunch of talented individuals and an extremely well-oiled team that you can see has complete trust and dedication to what they have been coached to do. This is why we can be quietly confident going forwards.
It is so good to shove much of the pre-match 'analysis' down some commentators' throats. Alyson Rudd in the Times went so far as to write an article entitled 'Winning 3-0 has made it harder for Arsenal — Real will be liberated'Then we had all the remontada nonsense from the Madrid camp. I don't know any Gooners who weren't nervous about last night's game given Madrid's pedigree - but it's almost as though many pundits were out to bring us down, and licking their lips for an Arsenal capitulation. It was a joy to see that our players were unaffected by all the noise and clearly confident and clear sighted.
Finally a word about the referee. We were worried that the Madrid crowd, and ther team's antics, might make him a 'homer' quite the opposite, and I admire his refusal to be affected. It was almost an epiphany for me to watch us play a game officiated without bias and competently.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
I've got to disagree with you all on Timber.
He's been great this season and obviously has been Mr Reliable when so many players have either succumbed to injury, poor form or both.
However, attacking wise, he still doesn't enjoy the sort of telepathy White has with Saka and Odegaard....and though I don't want to make excuses for Odegaard, I think he'd play better if White could manage to stay fit.
Also though MLS has done pretty well, I still think he should not play 95% of the games as LB (as Arteta seems to insist for any of his starters). He's still honing his craft and making mistakes. Also not every ref will take a liking to his style of play, or to be more specific his need to conjure up fouls when holding the ball (I don't mean this in a negative way). There are quite a number of situations where Caliafiori or someone else should play ahead of him.
Again both players are doing great jobs, but I wouldn't necessarily have them nailed as starters, especially Timber, due to how I feel White has been so important to a lot of our attacking success under Arteta ( not even mentioned what he brings in set pieces).
Last edited by 21_GOONER_SALUTE; 17-04-2025 at 10:54 AM.
Still feeling the warm glow, so wanted to add that it's even more of an achievement to have achieved a 5-0 against RM with no striker; our best defender this season out and an 18 year old with about 20(?) starts for the club.
Absolute flowers to Merino; MLS and Kiwor for making this irrelevant.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
Our stats vs Real Madrid:
P4 - W3 - D1 - L0 - F6 - A1
I think that's pretty decent against the legendary champions.
Not going to lie, still want to finish 2nd
Ipswich away should be a winnable fixture, Newcastle away at Villa, City away at Everton, Forest away at Spurs, Chelsea away at Fulham. I’m hoping we can pretty much secure 2nd this weekend and can focus on the Champions league
Just keep winning. Momentum breeds momentum. The idea one can separate giving up in one competition to focus on another is surely debunked by now.
I think this is imperative. As Shaquiri says, we need to take momentum and belief in the project into the Summer and beyond. Losing our EPL place will be counter to this.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
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