Man City V Arsenal, Sat October 17, KO 1730

[fakeyank]

Going to be a close game IMO. Reading that KDB may be out.. if thats the case, then thats a blessing in disguise.

2-1 to City

[Mac76]

Arteta needs to stop being so cautious in these games against 'big' teams and show more ambition.

he needs to treat these fixtures more like those cup games we won last season

[fakeyank]

Arteta needs to stop being so cautious in these games against 'big' teams and show more ambition.

he needs to treat these fixtures more like those cup games we won last season

:gp:

I would like to see Aston Villa attitude against liverpool. They played without fear and attacked, rather than sit back and pray for a miracle.

[Marc Overmars]

City have plenty of vulnerabilities for us to exploit. I’m sure we can pub ourselves a result by playing that way but a lot depends on how sharp they are in attack. If they were anything like Liverpool were the other week then no amount of sitting back will help because we’ll just get overrun.

Hopefully Partey starts and can help us transition from defence to attack more effectively.

[Niall_Quinn]

8-2 to us. Why not? We live in a clown world.

[Gooner23]

De Bruyne confirmed out for City.

Hoping to see Partey start, but suspect Arteta will go with Xhaka and Ceballos.

[Niall_Quinn]

De Bruyne confirmed out for City.

Hoping to see Partey start, but suspect Arteta will go with Xhaka and Ceballos.

How could he NOT start the new guy? Especially in a match where there's nothing to lose. The fans want to see it, so give the fans what they want. Okay, so maybe the fans know fuck about football at a detailed level, and maybe we'll get our arses kicked if the fans get to decide. But we'll likely lose anyway. We always - fucking always - do in league matches that really matter. So drag a few positives out. Get the new guy on there and let him give us hope for the future when he puts in a brilliant performance. Or a Pepe encore in which case, well fuck that shit.

[Mac76]

De Bruyne confirmed out for City.

Hoping to see Partey start, but suspect Arteta will go with Xhaka and Ceballos.

i think it will be Xhaka and Elneny, and we'll have the usual seven defenders and leave whichever unfortunate front three he puts out there stranded

[Özim]

This is the worst Man City team in a while, they seem to have key players out too.

We could win this but the lineup and tactics need to be right, these are things that are a bit hit and miss with Arteta, I can see Partey being on the bench and him starting Xhaka.

[dazthegooner]

Well if we play the same as we did against Liverpool cannot see us getting anything from this.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well if we play the same as we did against Liverpool cannot see us getting anything from this.

Might get Covid.

[GP]

Well if we play the same as we did against Liverpool cannot see us getting anything from this.

Which time? The one we lost or the 3 we won?

[dazthegooner]

Which time? The one we lost or the 3 we won?

The one in the league.

[Mac76]

Which time? The one we lost or the 3 we won?

I suspect he means the recent league game where we set ourselves up to lose, played like a team who thought they'd lose and hey, we lost...

[GP]

The one in the league.

Which one? The one we won or the one we lost?

[Letters]

:lol:

[I am invisible]

Which one? The one we won or the one we lost?
:gp:

[I am invisible]

Seriously, I’d be very wary about using that Villa result as any kind of blueprint to follow for the moment - if Liverpool start consistently losing games in the same manner then fair enough, but odds are it was just a freak result, and the next team that tries that against them will get annihilated.

Sure, some of the matches that the likes of Leeds, Leicester, etc have been involved in have been exciting... but they’ve also been utter chaos! One week you’re spanking City, the next you’re getting embarrassed by David Moyes from a zoom call! I’m not convinced there’s a great deal of thought or planning behind any of it - it just looks like the usual craziness you get in the first 10 weeks of any season before it settles into a rhythm.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as eager as the next Arsenal fan to see us playing more dominant, exciting, attacking football, but I really think we need to stick with the plan and build towards it in a more structured way: get the defensive side of things nailed down first and then start layering it on from there. I’ll admit that I’d like to get started on it pretty damned quickly now we’ve signed Gabriel and Partey - I really think those two were the big missing pieces - but maybe we should let Partey actually unpack before we start building teams around him? He’s only been in the country for about 6 days, and I’d be surprised if he’s taken part in more than 2 or 3 training sessions in that time (one of which was likely a meet-and-greet) - would be great to see him feature at some point today, but I really don’t think it would be shocking or unreasonable if he didn’t...

[Mac76]

The Villa game had one very simple message - if you have ambition and don't fear the other side, and also of course play very well, you can beat these teams

if we go in acting all fearful again with an overly defensive lineup that doesn't give Citeh's defence anything to think about, we may as well forfeit the game without playing it

[Mac76]

i'd go with a 4 3 3, something like this:

Leno

Bellerin Holding Gabriel AMN

Ceballos Partey Elneny

Pepe Auba Saka

[I am invisible]

What happened with Tierney? Did he ever get cleared to play?

[I am invisible]

The Villa game had one very simple message - if you have ambition and don't fear the other side, and also of course play very well, you can beat these teams

if we go in acting all fearful again with an overly defensive lineup that doesn't give Citeh's defence anything to think about, we may as well forfeit the game without playing it
I never saw it as fearful - I thought it was a clever way of weaponising the high press against opponents, and turning one of our many (many!) weaknesses into a strength. It carried an element of risk, of course, and we got caught out in that last league game against Liverpool, but as GP pointed out we’ve also won 5 of the last 6 games against Liverpool, City and Chelsea (picking up two bits of silverware along the way) (well... one and a half), so there’s obviously more to it than just keeping our guard up and hoping not to take a pounding.

I don’t particularly want to be playing this way forever, and I agree that we’re going to have to freshen things up pretty soon, before we become predictable - I just don’t get the criticism of Arteta’s management and decision-making? The results just don’t justify it. In a very short period of time, and in the middle of a global pandemic, he’s managed to get a broken, flawed, unbalanced group of players looking competitive, he’s sorted out the defence, he’s turned around the players’ and the group’s weak mentality and addressed the culture at the club, he’s winning tactical battles against top managers, he’s winning trophies... isn’t this everything we’ve been asking for the last 10 years?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What happened with Tierney? Did he ever get cleared to play?

It would seem so.

[I am invisible]

It would seem so.
Outstanding!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Citeh: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Mahrez, Foden, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero.
Subs: Steffen, Stones, Gundogan, Torres, Fernandinho, Delap, Garcia.


Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka, Xhaka, Ceballos, Willian, Aubameyang, Pepe.
Subs: Runarsson, David Luiz, Matiland-Niles, Elenny, Partey, Nketiah, Lacazette.

[Niall_Quinn]

At least it's a more ambitious team selection, though it's strange how he'd pick Xhaka, Ceballos and Willian because that likely means Willian goes wide when we clearly saw he's 10x more effective playing more centrally. Unless he's pushing Ceballos wide.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We'll be bunched together in midfield defending anyway I would guess.

[Mac76]

He's played Willian wide before

Glad Tierney's in, i heard some doubts about fitness as well as the isolation thing

[Mac76]

Aguero starting for Citeh isn't such good news...

[dazthegooner]

Holding injured in the warm up Luiz starts... :blink:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

David Luiz starts. Holding. :doh:

[Mac76]

Luiz in for Holding who was injured in the warmup :doh:

[Mac76]

why is Elneny playing for City?

[Niall_Quinn]

Why are we playing in some weird blue kit?

[Niall_Quinn]

LOL. Foul on Saka. Play on!

[Mac76]

is Willian really our centre forward?

when we have Auba??

[Niall_Quinn]

Ceballos wide then, Willian central.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That's always a certain yellow isn't it?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rodri booked.

Run at him!

[Niall_Quinn]

Ref is a city fan then? Nice.

[Niall_Quinn]

So how was Mahrez not booked!???

What are the rules?

That shit will get a yellow and then score now, won't he?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sterling shot blocked.

[Niall_Quinn]

Nice tracking back by Pepe. When did he learn how to do that?

[Mac76]

so why is foden not booked - his foot was nowhere near the ball

[Niall_Quinn]

So stupid by Xhaka.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Willian obviously needed to make the run down the middle then.

[Niall_Quinn]

Auba's well off the boil. Has he signed a new contract or something?

[Mac76]

Xhaka making an early bid to get booked

[Niall_Quinn]

This is good, organised pressing so far.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Sterling. Fuck.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fucking hell Leno, you useless piece of shit.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka shot saved by Ederson.

[Marc Overmars]

:lol:

At least the boring tactics might go out the window now.

[Letters]

1-0 Sterling. Fuck.

Agreed.

[Mac76]

Fucking hell Leno, you useless piece of shit.

not sure, it was hit at him with some pace, i agree with Neville, Bellerin got done

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe header wide.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Leno saves from Mahrez. Did the same though. Eek.

[Niall_Quinn]

not sure, it was hit at him with some pace, i agree with Neville, Bellerin got done

Goalkeeping 101. He does it a lot.

[Niall_Quinn]

And he's just does it again. Doesn't cost us this time. You parry away, not out.

[Mac76]

Tierney's been leaving too much space for Mahrez

[Globalgunner]

Goalkeeping 101. He does it a lot.

If they get a shot on your goal a lot of things have gone wrong before that. Our midfield is wank. City just breezed through them

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Leno saves from Foden.

[Niall_Quinn]

If they get a shot on your goal a lot of things have gone wrong before that. Our midfield is wank. City just breezed through them

True. But a good keeper will bail you out when that happens.

[Niall_Quinn]

That's a fucking booking. How is it not? Cynical foul to break up the play.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ederson with some save to deny Saka.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yeah, we have to stop slowing the pace when we have possession.

[Niall_Quinn]

Good play there and good save. All about tempo.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ederson saves from Auba though offside. Actually was onside.

[Letters]

Saka :doh:

Good move though

[Niall_Quinn]

Ref's a cunt. He's been the 12th man for the gypos.

[Mac76]

really close from Saka, good play by Tierney

[Niall_Quinn]

These officials are wank.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aguero feeling up the lineswoman.

[Niall_Quinn]

Sub Pepe off and replace with AMN. Will give much more control on that side.

[Niall_Quinn]

That bird is probably one of the best linesMEN in the league. None of the shit has been coming from her side.

[Mac76]

Aguero puts his arm around the female lino :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tekkers from Bellerin.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saka. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Aguero puts his arm around the female lino :lol:

So? She's in a man's game? Theoretically.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanty?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nah VAR fucked half time off early.

[GP]

Nailed on pelanty :rolleyes:

[LDG]

Anywhere else on the pitch that is given as a freekick.

Fucking bollocks

[Niall_Quinn]

Bastard ref blows before VAR can take a look. Isn't that fucking disgraceful.

But WAIT! Can't the Man Utd rule be applied?

No, because it's not Utd.

What are the rules? Or are they just random?

HT.

Absolutely appalling reffing by that bastard. Not on the big things, but every little thing.

[GP]

Saka is elite.

[Mac76]

ref just wasn't bothered at the end there - terrible

as for Arteta, WTF is going to make him play Auba through the middle?? - Neveile's been saying it all game

to play Willian there instead is just beyond belief

[Niall_Quinn]

We did alright in that half, despite that ref. The gypos should have around 800 yellows by now, but the ref dinseenuffink.

[Marc Overmars]

Good response after conceding.

Come on Arsenal.

[Niall_Quinn]

ref just wasn't bothered at the end there - terrible

as for Arteta, WTF is going to make him play Auba through the middle?? - Neveile's been saying it all game

to play Willian there instead is just beyond belief

They rotate. That's the plan. Not sure it's working but Auba has been well off the pace anyway.

[Letters]

Good response after conceding.

Come on Arsenal.
Agreed. There’s been some sloppy play but some pretty good moves too.
Got a chance of getting something

[Niall_Quinn]

Woman hosting the show again FFS :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

It's Kenny Dalglish's daughter so that helps.

To be fair, better her than the Sky Bots they usually put out there.

[Mac76]

They rotate. That's the plan.

not really no - Auba's been almost exclusively on the left, the one teim he went central he got into a good position - they need to be swapped

Meanwhile our slowest player, Xhaka, keep charging forward leaving space for City to have a go at our defence

can't say i can really see us getting even a point from this unless Arteta bucks his ideas up

[Edinburgh Gooner]

Wish someone would knock the shite out of Walker. Can't stand him.

[Gooner23]

City were better for most of that but missing 2 big chances to equalise could come back to bite us.

Should have been a pel at the end surely?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe header, Ederson saves.

Pepe has died in the process.

[Niall_Quinn]

It's Kenny Dalglish's daughter so that helps.

To be fair, better her than the Sky Bots they usually put out there.

Yeah, but they have their own football now. I want Gray and Keys back, slapping tea girl's arses and shouting "Take a bow son!"

It was better. Admit it.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Yeah, but they have their own football now. I want Gray and Keys back, slapping tea girl's arses and shouting "Take a bow son!"

It was better. Admit it.

Andy Gray, fine. Richard Keys, couldn't stand him.

[Niall_Quinn]

Wish someone would knock the shite out of Walker. Can't stand him.

I'd do it. But they won't let me in.

[Niall_Quinn]

Andy Gray, fine. Richard Keys, couldn't stand him.

You can prove anything with facts.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good effort from Tierney.

[Niall_Quinn]

Our passing game is better, except the final ball.

[Letters]

Good effort from Tierney.

I have no idea if that was supposed to be a shot!

[Niall_Quinn]

That was lame by Tierney.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Mahrez shot, Leno saves and holds on to this one.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Has to be Partey time surely?

[Niall_Quinn]

Leno holds it for a change. More of that please.

[GP]

Partey on, Garth.

[Niall_Quinn]

Has to be Partey time surely?

Might as well bring him on so he can get sent off by that bastard in the middle.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Joe Hart top class. :haha:

[Niall_Quinn]

Xhaka :doh:

Tierney makes the move - he sees him - he plays it backwards. Why??

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Took ages to give that foul against Mahrez.

[Letters]

All this passing it around at the back bollox.
I really hate it.
We can concede possession and chances from it too often.

[Niall_Quinn]

Cuba Gooding Gabriel has done alright. So far.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Cancelo booked. No red?

[Niall_Quinn]

Why do players check for blood when they know they haven't even been touched?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tekkers from David Luiz.

[Niall_Quinn]

Red card for sure.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aguero hauled off, Gundogan on.

[Niall_Quinn]

Nope. VAR checks the kit, see's it's city, no red.

[Niall_Quinn]

FK to city because Xhaka was standing in the box.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Why isn't Rodri off?

[Mac76]

FK to city because Xhaka was standing in the box being a complete moron as usual

agree ;)

[Niall_Quinn]

Is that not even a yellow? He looks at the player. Puts his foot in. Hacks him down. It's cut and dried.

When you add all these up, the gypos are playing with 12.

[Mac76]

Why isn't Rodri off?

no idea, literally stuck out his foot and kicked ceballos with the ball yards away

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Dias wipes out Saka.

Has to be Wilian off for Lacazette surely?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Why do we indulge David Luiz on free kicks?

[Niall_Quinn]

That yellow was for something nowhere near as cynical as other shit that has happened. It seems to be all about how dramatically the player falls down.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Willian hauled off, Lacazette on.

My hive mind with Arteta. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Why do we indulge David Luiz on free kicks?

I've been asking that for ages. It has t go down as one of life's unanswerable mysteries.

[Niall_Quinn]

Don't get that sub at all. Hopefully Arteta has some clue.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Gary Neville wasn't at Valencia long enough to see a transfer window.

[Niall_Quinn]

We need to bring Partey on with 3 mins to go And if he doesn't win it - sell him.

Expectations are what big money players are supposed to be about. Otherwise, why all the money?

[Niall_Quinn]

Fucking hell. When Saka gets the ball stuff can happen. But as soon as he involves anyone else, they slooooooooooooooow it down.

[Niall_Quinn]

5,009th foul on Saka. FK.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great clearance from David Luiz.

[Niall_Quinn]

Christ, Luiz did his best, but still only 1-0.

[Letters]

Mahrez hits the moon

[Letters]

Great clearance from David Luiz.

Would have been a pretty funny og tbf

[Niall_Quinn]

Pepe's the new Walcott for sure. So much potential locked in there, so little production.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Free kick for us, go away David Luiz.

[Niall_Quinn]

Auba has been anonymous. But there's still a chance for him to do what good players do and step up for that one moment.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe, crap.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pepe off, Nketiah on.

Xhaka off, Partey on.

[Letters]

Partey time!

[Niall_Quinn]

Fuck off. What was that?

Like for like. Partey on for his few pointless minutes. Eddie too. Won't make a blind bit of difference unless Arteta is going to change what hasn't worked for 80 minutes.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ake booked.

[Niall_Quinn]

Laca has (no exaggeration) done fuck all.

[Mac76]

Ake booked :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka gets the ball and there's ZERO options for him. Zero.

[Letters]

Decent ball from Luiz, Auba can’t quite get there

[Niall_Quinn]

I wonder how bad Bellerin has to be before we hit the transfer market?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sterling off, Fernandinho on.

[Letters]

Just not doing enough :(

[Mac76]

I wonder how bad Bellerin has to be before we hit the transfer market?

yeah, he never was as good a defender as he ws going forward, but he seems really dire now

[Niall_Quinn]

Ceballos summed it all up there. Left a huge gap behind him. Was so lucky the ball didn't go there. Then luckily gets the ball. Looks upfield. Gives it away. Come on. WTF?

Are we a club that measures success by how few goals we ship? At least we didn't get beaten by 6. That's progress!

I think we need more.

This isn't a great city team. No Silva no De Shit. Can you imagine if they had been playing?

Started well enough, not great but we were on par. And then just faded away. Some of the players here are just not good enough. Nowhere near. Laca. Bellerin. Xhaka. Luiz. The keeper. We can't be thinking of progress when these decent enough, but not next level players are on the squad. We're aiming for more than decent enough. Aren't we?

And come on Auba. We need more than that.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Obvious corner not given.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Partey gets his first yellow. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

LOL, commentator just said it. 1-0 is better than 3-0.

PROGRESS!

LOL

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 FT. Meh.

[Niall_Quinn]

Partey gets his first yellow. :bow:

Could still get a red. Don't lose hope.

[LDG]

:banghead:

[Letters]

:rolleyes:

[Mac76]

almost fell sleep in that second half - so predictable we wouldn't get our shit together and really threaten them

waste of time

did Auba really sign that contract knowing Willian would be preferred to him at CF...?

[Niall_Quinn]

FT

Same old same old.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Well, that was dull

[LDG]

Should have had a pel. Thought we deserved a draw.

Not enough urgency. Still passing the ball too slowly, and more importantly, not forwards.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well, that was dull

Wrong again. That was TBLITWtbf.

[Letters]

Should have had a pel. Thought we deserved a draw.

Not enough urgency. Still passing the ball too slowly, and more importantly, not forwards.

I don’t think we deserved a draw.
Wasn’t a terrible performance but we really didn’t do enough.
Never looked like we were going to get a goal.

[Niall_Quinn]

I don’t think we deserved a draw.
Wasn’t a terrible performance but we really didn’t do enough.
Never looked like we were going to get a goal.

Well it did a bit, when Saka - our genuine talent - got forward. But he's got nobody to play off now Auba's on holiday.

[Niall_Quinn]

Also, Leno's not a great keeper. Good shot stopper, but everything else he does is shit.

[Letters]

Well it did a bit, when Saka - our genuine talent - got forward. But he's got nobody to play off now Auba's on holiday.

There were a few decent moves - more in the first half.
Just didn’t push on in the second half. Not enough urgency.
Not too despondent, we are a work in progress but this away record against the top 6 is getting pretty embarrassing.

[Marc Overmars]

Never looked liked scoring in the second half. Shite.

Another defeat away at one of the top sides. Shite.

[Niall_Quinn]

Leaving aside the fact Leno is almost always going to parry into the danger zone, how dod Sterling have so much time and space? He could have taken a snooze and then scored. Nobody was anywhere near him. Bellerin was wrong footed, Bad defending. He opened up the opportunity for the first shot. But it's really about what happened after that. We were operating at 1mph, the gypos were moving at 100mph. Inevitable outcome.

[Niall_Quinn]

When you look at the pen - I mean the surefire, 100%, certain, put your house on it, pen - the player has to fall on the ground and roll over clutching his face. Doesn't he? You actually have to cheat to get the decision. The appalling officials are forcing players to cheat.

[Mac76]

When you look at the pen - I mean the surefire, 100%, certain, put your house on it, pen - the player has to fall on the ground and roll over clutching his face. Doesn't he? You actually have to cheat to get the decision. The appalling officials are forcing players to cheat.

basically yes, staying on their feet gets them nothing