Arsenal vs Crystal Palace 23.04.2025 - KO 20:00 GMT

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I’m honestly confused, what is it you’re angry with that we didn’t defend out the lead properly or that we weren’t better going forward.

I think we were poor because Palace made us poor, we struggled to break them down and we struggled to deal with their aggression going forward. Do I think in the back of our minds that certain players might have been more reserved because they are thinking about the European cup, yeah because that’s human nature are you going to risk everything if you think you could get injured by getting into 50/50s. Of course you can argue that Palace didn’t have that mindset but I’d say they are just playing the same way they’ve played all season…they are a high intensity team…we aren’t.

I’m frustrated with tonight, but I don’t think there was any conscious desire to play the way we did. And given take away Ipswich we’ve scored an average of a goal a game since losing Havertz, probably not the worst decision in the world to soak up pressure and try and hold onto what you’ve got.

Angry that we chose to defend our lucky lead instead of improving our play and trying to beat them 5-1.

Thats the scoreline Arteta (or any decent coach) should have been gunning for once they'd assessed their recent away form and the fact that this game meant NOTHING to Palace compared to the semifinal they've got this weekend.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Angry that we chose to defend our lucky lead instead of improving our play and trying to beat them 5-1.

Thats the scoreline Arteta (or any decent coach) should have been gunning for once they'd assessed their recent away form and the fact that this game mean NOTHING to Palace compared to the semifinal they've got this weekend.

You can’t have a team with no strikers and expect to beat anyone 5-1. I’m sorry but that’s silly. You and I both know that we don’t have prolific attacking players currently. You can maybe duff up an Ipswich side resigned to relegation and even then you need a man advantage to do so.

[Niall_Quinn]

You can’t have a team with no strikers and expect to beat anyone 5-1. I’m sorry but that’s silly. You and I both know that we don’t have prolific attacking players currently. You can maybe duff up an Ipswich side resigned to relegation and even then you need a man advantage to do so.

But we can beat City and Madrid 5-1 with no striker, apparently. We do have SOME attacking players. Third highest scorers in the league, one behind City. Scored same amount of goals as PSG in Euros so far - only one fewer than Dortmund and Munich who each played 2 games more. Effectively tied second most attacking team in the tournament.

Are you CERTAIN we don't have an attacking threat? The stats, and indeed reality, seem to say the exact opposite.

But I'm sure you are right. Entirely unrealistic for us to come a way with a win at home against Palace, give our lack of firepower.

[HCZ_Reborn]

But we can beat City and Madrid 5-1 with no striker, apparently. We do have SOME attacking players. Third highest scorers in the league, one behind City. Scored same amount of goals as PSG in Euros so far - only one fewer than Dortmund and Munich who each played 2 games more. Effectively tied second most attacking team in the tournament.

Are you CERTAIN we don't have an attacking threat? The stats, and indeed reality, seem to say the exact opposite.

But I'm sure you are right. Entirely unrealistic for us to come a way with a win at home against Palace, give our lack of firepower.

I’m not Letters, I’m not getting into circular arguments with you forever

Nor am I going to do what you do and accuse you of wilfully misunderstanding. But do you think Real Madrid decided to create fuck all against us at home? Or do you think because we know how devastating they can be in attack if given the chance to launch a quick break we gave up possession to them which in turn allowed us to exploit space when we won the ball.

We aren’t having to break teams like Real Madrid down , the space is already there.

[Niall_Quinn]

I’m not Letters, I’m not getting into circular arguments with you forever

Nor am I going to do what you do and accuse you of wilfully misunderstanding. But do you think Real Madrid decided to create fuck all against us at home? Or do you think because we know how devastating they can be in attack if given the chance to launch a quick break we gave up possession to them which in turn allowed us to exploit space when we won the ball.

We aren’t having to break teams like Real Madrid down , the space is already there.

Yeah, I already knew what the problem is with you. You figure yourself some sort of football expert, having to painfully explain the insider's knowledge to us plebs in the cheap seats. And when the plebs say, wait, that's not what I saw on the pitch - and you contradicted yourself several times anyway, Mr Expert - you chuck out an attempted put-down so you can take a breather from digging ever deeper holes.

Now you want to compare the Madrid games to today as if Palace pulled off some masterclass that rendered the team who beat Madrid incapable. Once again missing the fact we played way, way below our level - obviously by design. And the tiresomeness of it all, having to explain to me the intricacies of something I wasn't even talking about. I said, we were shit today because we didn't give a fuck. Seems to be what most fans are saying. Some say unacceptable, others say understandable. You say, no, no, there's far more to it - and then you get your whiteboard out. Patiently tutoring us on how it's "silly" to expect a decent performance against Palace at home. Okay, if that's what you want to do. Maybe in your deep, tactical musings there's an answer to why we decided to exert ZERO pressure - you;d think that would be the last thing we'd do against a team apparently so hard to break down (except when we did).

[HCZ_Reborn]

Yeah, I already knew what the problem is with you. You figure yourself some sort of football expert, having to painfully explain the insider's knowledge to us plebs in the cheap seats. And when the plebs say, wait, that's not what I saw on the pitch - and you contradicted yourself several times anyway, Mr Expert - you chuck out an attempted put-down so you can take a breather from digging ever deeper holes.

Now you want to compare the Madrid games to today as if Palace pulled off some masterclass that rendered the team who beat Madrid incapable. Once again missing the fact we played way, way below our level - obviously by design. And the tiresomeness of it all, having to explain to me the intricacies of something I wasn't even talking about. I said, we were shit today because we didn't give a fuck. Seems to be what most fans are saying. Some say unacceptable, others say understandable. You say, no, no, there's far more to it - and then you get your whiteboard out. Patiently tutoring us on how it's "silly" to expect a decent performance against Palace at home. Okay, if that's what you want to do. Maybe in your deep, tactical musings there's an answer to why we decided to exert ZERO pressure - you;d think that would be the last thing we'd do against a team apparently so hard to break down (except when we did).

No I said it’s silly to expect us to score 5 goals against them

Given that in the previous nine league games we’ve scored 12 goals (a third of those coming against Ipswich) scored more than one goal against only one team that wasn’t in the bottom three (Fulham). It’s reasonable to think that we are struggling to score goals.

I’m not saying we couldn’t play better than we did, and as even you acknowledge I’m not saying the result is acceptable

I’m saying that a team that struggles to break teams down when they cede possession might just might in the back of their mind be that little more hesitant, and I’m saying that’s more of an unconscious reaction than some conscious decision to play within ourselves. The players we have available to us and the style of play we have is more amenable to playing teams that will try and dominate possession and prioritise scoring against us over preventing us from scoring.

That’s a weakness on Arteta’s part both in terms of personnel and tactically but realistically it’s not getting addressed this side of the end of the season.


I don’t think you’re too stupid to realise this, I think you’re too stubborn to acknowledge it.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don’t know where you pull this thing that I think I’m some kind of genius when it comes to footballing knowledge

I’m applying Occam’s Razor. No more no less. I’ve consistently said for months that in the league we had to recalibrate our expectations in terms of results and in the amount of goals we score.

I’m annoyed tonight because we contrived to drop points despite scoring two goals which was largely due to concentration issues at the back, not because we didn’t blow palace away they aren’t Ipswich and they weren’t down to ten men.


We don’t have the players in attack or midfield to make teams that cough up the majority of possession to us part like the Red Sea.


I don’t think I’m seeing anything that anyone else can’t see for themselves. As i pointed out to the other guy, when you already state you’d rather play Barcelona than Inter in the final (when Barcelona have the better players) you know what this team is about