Arsenal v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[VancouverLion]

However coming through that ridiculous December period beaten only once is quite frankly extraordinary.

This is the bigger picture we need to remember at times like this.

Seconded, and we continue to give up really soft goals, it was bound to end at some point.
I’m almost ok with it being this lot, the thought of winning 14 in a row and losing to Palace, for me would be a lot worse.

We’ll batter Forest and the new run starts.

UTV!

[Dante Lavelli]

Re squad depth - we have two senior players for every position (García for Cash being questionable) which is the general benchmark, and today 5 of ours were injured or suspended - Mings, Torres, Cash, Kamara and Barkley plus Onana from half time on. Arsenal's only injury was Rice. So, we don't actually have a small or weak squad. We just are missing some due to the usual reasons.

This is a good point.

Garcia is a conundrum, he quickly needs some games to test his ability. Lose cash and the whole team needs a re-jig. That’s always going to be a problem.

[VancouverLion]

Special mention for Unai to disappear down the tunnel and not shake that wankers hand, was brilliant.
Celebrating like he’d won the league every goal and at FT, fuck him. As much as I hate 115, I’d prefer them to win it than that cnut and shit fans.

[Percy McCarthy]

A game too far and excactly why PSR is a problem.  Fcuk everyone.

Problem solved then. It finishes next season doesn’t it?

Seriously, we’re about the twelfth richest club in the world, with one of the very best managers, in competition with clubs who are allowed the same number of players in the first team squad.

The PSR blaming is wearing thin with me. Player sales, the academy, scouting and recruitment can overcome it, otherwise we’d be below Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and Manure.

[PhilVill]

Crap 2nd half with too many of our first teamers missing through suspension/injury. Kamara/Cash/Torres were a massive miss.

We were never in a title race this season but we are absolutely in the fight for third so need to regroup and get back to it.

[Toronto Villa]

Arsenal fans are the absolute worst. If it’s not us wining it at the end, as long as we have our CL spot wrapped up Man City winning it on the last day to deny Arsenal would be delightful. Couldn’t give two fucks about Man City winning another title. Most of their fans won’t care either. The Arsenal meltdown would be at nuclear levels.

[PhilVill]

Yep, was just making my morning cuppa thinking, as long as we are confirmed in the champions league, how nice it would be to let City win the title on the last day just to see those pricks cry with rage 😅

[brontebilly]

Re squad depth - we have two senior players for every position (García for Cash being questionable) which is the general benchmark, and today 5 of ours were injured or suspended - Mings, Torres, Cash, Kamara and Barkley plus Onana from half time on. Arsenal's only injury was Rice. So, we don't actually have a small or weak squad. We just are missing some due to the usual reasons.

Maybe in terms of numbers but the drop off in the case of Cash and McGinn to Garcia or Sancho/Guessand is huge. Malen isn't really competition for Watkins either.

[Dante Lavelli]

Re squad depth - we have two senior players for every position (García for Cash being questionable) which is the general benchmark, and today 5 of ours were injured or suspended - Mings, Torres, Cash, Kamara and Barkley plus Onana from half time on. Arsenal's only injury was Rice. So, we don't actually have a small or weak squad. We just are missing some due to the usual reasons.

Maybe in terms of numbers but the drop off in the case of Cash and McGinn to Garcia or Sancho/Guessand is huge. Malen isn't really competition for Watkins either.

Ideally we need to ship them out before we find replacements.  Potentially needing a sale to fund the changes.  Theoretically the Wakins/McGinn player could be the same person (just dont ask me who).

[The Man With A Stick]

Arsenal fans are the absolute worst. If it’s not us wining it at the end, as long as we have our CL spot wrapped up Man City winning it on the last day to deny Arsenal would be delightful. Couldn’t give two fucks about Man City winning another title. Most of their fans won’t care either. The Arsenal meltdown would be at nuclear levels.

Last day of the season is 4 days after the Europa League final so hopefully we'll even have a decent excuse for having our minds elsewhere.

I'd play a weakened team just to enrage that fucker Arteta, maybe give Habib Beye a run out if he's still kicking around somewhere.

[tomd2103]

A game too far and excactly why PSR is a problem.  Fcuk everyone.

Problem solved then. It finishes next season doesn’t it?

Seriously, we’re about the twelfth richest club in the world, with one of the very best managers, in competition with clubs who are allowed the same number of players in the first team squad.

The PSR blaming is wearing thin with me. Player sales, the academy, scouting and recruitment can overcome it, otherwise we’d be below Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and Manure.

I'm not sure about that last line to be honest.  Whilst I accept that we have spent a reasonable amount of money over the past couple of seasons and have not spent it that wisely in some cases, PSR restrictions have meant that we haven't been able to bring in the type of quality players needed to take us up to that next level.

[The Edge]

Disappointing drop-off in the second-half.

It wasn't the reason we lost but Merino should have received a second yellow and walked - the ref was also poor.

The Morgan Rogers booking was atrocious. He just stood there and the Arsenal player threw the ball in front of him then kicked the ball straight into his legs. Rogers could do nothing about it. Appalling decision.

[The Edge]

Arsenal fans are the absolute worst. If it’s not us wining it at the end, as long as we have our CL spot wrapped up Man City winning it on the last day to deny Arsenal would be delightful. Couldn’t give two fucks about Man City winning another title. Most of their fans won’t care either. The Arsenal meltdown would be at nuclear levels.

The worst fanbase by a country mile. Every decision that goes against them gets a cacophony of howls and boos regardless of if it's right or wrong. They reflect their manager who has a fanny fit every time an opposing  player goes anywhere near one of his. And then there's Arsenals self entitled Tarquin army who infect every corner of social media. Piers Morgan is a Gooner and that sums them up.

[Mister E]

Apart from feeling that it was a 'free hit'  in that we had enough points on the board to absorb a defeat, I felt that we played a great first half but that Arteta had set his team up to match our pace in the first half, fully expecting a tougher second half. The gift of a first goal obviously made things easier for Arse (no foul there; just Martinez getting sucked into a physical battle he wasn't going to win).
The rest of the game demonstrated to me that:
- McGinn needed the time off and came on too early for us;
- Garcia is massively undercooked: asking him to come in having had no minutes since April seems almost unfair on the lad;
- Sancho is no central midfielder, having none of the guile or physical strength (him losing the ball after that first goal, to set up their 2nd, was a pivot-point in the game);
- players like Garcia, Jimoh-Aloba and Hemmings need more minutes across several games if Emery sees them as credible first-teamers.

I hated losing to Arse but - in the grander scheme of things - we can move quickly o with minimal damage. The loss is only acceptable, though, if we immediately win again, starting this weekend.

[Flamingo Lane]

Disappointing drop-off in the second-half.

It wasn't the reason we lost but Merino should have received a second yellow and walked - the ref was also poor.

The Morgan Rogers booking was atrocious. He just stood there and the Arsenal player threw the ball in front of him then kicked the ball straight into his legs. Rogers could do nothing about it. Appalling decision.

As were his failures to give Saka a yellow card for two cynical and blatant fouls designed to prevent us breaking away, the first on Rogers, the second one just five or so minutes later, on Digne .