Arsenal secured a vital 1-0 win against Wolves after appearing to be heading toward another frustrating result.
The Gunners knew they were in for a tough test, and Wolves nearly took the lead early on, with Pablo Sarabia flashing a shot wide. Arsenal responded, coming close themselves as Kai Havertz headed a good chance off target.
The game was open, with Wolves intent on breaking the deadlock, but Havertz continued to cause problems, forcing a fine save from José Sá shortly after. Arsenal kept creating chances against an organised Wolves side, but their task became significantly harder when Myles Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off for a foul on Matt Doherty.
The decision to send Lewis-Skelly off appeared harsh, disrupting Arsenal’s rhythm as they struggled to regain their composure. The half-time break came at a crucial moment, allowing them to regroup.
In the second half, Arsenal pushed hard for the opening goal, pinning Wolves back as Sá made another fine save, this time from Declan Rice. However, Wolves remained a threat on the counter, with Matheus Cunha forcing David Raya into a brilliant save in what was turning into a thrilling contest.
The game took another turn when Wolves were also reduced to ten men, with João Gomes rightly sent off. Arsenal seized the opportunity, breaking the deadlock through Riccardo Calafiori to finally claim a deserved lead.
Wolves continued to battle, and Rayan Aït-Nouri nearly equalised, but Raya was again up to the task with a crucial save. Arsenal held firm in the closing stages to secure an important victory, keeping their hopes alive as the season progresses.
Michael Oliver made a wrong decision, but luckily Joao Gomes was stupid enough in the game and Calafiori stepped up. Arsenal severely need a new CF and a new inverted-RW
2 wrong decisions, why was skelly a direct red and Gomes not ?
What about Var not intervening on any? Make it 4 !!!
Oliver also has precedent Remember Kovacic 2 ankle breaker tackles vs us.
VAR’s priority is to defend referees’ dodgy decisions, that’s it. The commentators job is then to rubber-stamp the said dodgy decisions. It’s one big circus!
Well said on VAR protecting referees.
I seem to think the same 🤔
It’s called tactical foul!!!! We see that every week…. And every tactical foul is deliberate
Yeah, Gomes should’ve gotten his second yellow card from kicking the ball away during an Arsenal’s throw-in
There was a league decision before the season started that studs to leg which starts above the ankle is serious foul play. Oliver made the right decision.
The problem is your so called league decision rules only applies to Arsenal. Not long ago one player kicked Gabi on the knee, Gabi was even bleeding, there was no red card. The Arsenal fans are saying Arteta must go but they forget that Arsenal is loosing points through the bad refereeing. Since the introduction of VAR Arsenal was among the teams that were seriously robbed of points. Where is the rule that was applied when Rice and Trossard delayed the game by kicking the ball away??? We need the rules to control the game, but let it be not to control only Arsenal players
CF? Forget it. May as well sign more defenders since they have been our reliable channel for goals.
Between the two red cards, we look poor going forward. Things are just not clicking. After our goal, we decided to run down the clock instead of finishing off the opposition 10v10.
Well, I’ll still take the result.
@Gai, I must say our Boys played with their heart. If Arsenal has a lethal CF they will score more goals The squad is good enough to challenge for trophies. So many chances created with little amount of goals.
Nwaneri is playing with a lot of confidence to deputise for Odegard and if needed for Saka at the RW. Imo, getting a player of Saka’s quality would be a difficult one, Matinelli not thriving well in the position.
It’s not seeming like Arsenal board would invest in any player until summer.
Massive win here especially psychotically after the double whammy last week of Liv winning late and us blowing a 2-0 lead. Need to keep the moral high and push Liv.
Not massive about the win. What is good about it is the 3 points.
This was more like a. cup tie. Very good game despite the sendings off. I doubt that Cunha would fit in at Arsenal. He’s obviously a very good player, but a piece of work.
Cunha didn’t show any physical dominance or a bag of tricks. I’d be surprised if Arsenal sign him, especially when Jonathan David is currently cheaper to buy
Did David look a little overweight to you against Liverpool?
Yes, but he was very strong on the ground and worked hard for his team’s high-press
I’d take David every time. Hard worker, can play on the wing, currently more goals than Havertz, Vlahovic, or Sesko and an Arsenal fan.
Because our players don’t dive ?
Considering who the referee was, I would have gladly taken a draw before the game started. I’m thus thoroughly impressed we came out of it with maximum points despite the ref’s best efforts to undermine our team. I don’t think the Gomes tackle was a red even though it was 10× times worse than the Lewis Skelly challenge.. anyway! We got the result and that’s what really matters. Hope we don’t see that referee again any time soon.
Sorry, I meant straight red. Gomes was definitely a yellow but still miles worse than Skelly.
Corruption by Proxy. Cut the head off the Hydra, the PGMO. There is no financial, corruption, just an abuse of power. Sanction referees and take action. Michael Oliver and Howard Webb etc all are power freaks and making bizarre decisions. ‘It’s OK to send Arsenal players off’. Corruption by Proxy.
Sean
It’s not about conspiracy or corruption within our referring institution, it people fit and best for the position.
With all the money in our game and our league being one of or thee richest in the world why haven’t we got the best refs in the world rather then inadequate refs ruining the game with poor decisions.
Onwards and upwards
Exactly Sean!!
It seems people don’t understand that the word “corruption” has more than one meaning!!
One bad apple in the barrel so to speak, corrupts the whole barrel – the problem is, there is more than one bad apple and they back each other up.
I am certain Mr Oliver will be refereeing another PL game and no disciplinary action will be taken against him.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Please stop mis-using the word “corruption”. It’s BIAS, pure and simple.
The difference is, we don’t need to know what caused the bias – we don’t know if the biased person is acting alone or in collusion with others, nor do we know if they are being paid or influenced by other people, or if they’re doing it because they choose to do it.
It could be for any number of reasons – I imagine referees have teams that they like/support and clubs that they dislike, same as all the other people around football. It could be as simple as that
Neutral, there is a duffence between bias and corruption as you well know.
I’m not using the word bias, because I don’t believe he’s bias at all.
In my opinion, what Mr Oliver is doing every time he referees one of our games, he’s corrupting the system and rule book.
He isn’t using the rule book as it should be used, rather he’s interpreting the rules to suit the agenda he sets out… therefore he’s corrupting the rule book and producing different decisions to further corrupt the system.
Take the simple rule regarding kicking the ball away – there can be no bias there whatsoever, as it’s a straightforward decision.
Yet we saw Mr Oliver ignore a blatant breach of that rule that would have resulted in a second yellow card – unlike the decision to send off Trossard in the city game.
The facts and figures are there for everyone to see regarding the red and yellow cards he has handed out to our club and, if one looks at the red cards in particular, there are glaring examples of him not following the rule book.
Another example, the two yellow cards issued to Martinelli in one incident.
It has never been used before or since and the reason is that a yellow card is issued as part of a warning to the player to be careful, as he’s overstepped the rules.
Mr Oliver gave Martinelli no warning, as he branded the two yellows instantly… once again not following the rule book and, therefore, corrupting the system that referees are told to follow.
Forrest took a heavy loss. Found out at last?
Iraola is looking to be a fine manager
It’s getting to the point where you are starting to question corruption with the officials.
Wasnt Oliver contracted in UAE to referee a match, by the owners of Man City? It might start to explain all the pro Man City decisions from Oliver in the games he’s refereed…ie kovacic 2nd yellow against arsenal??? Not given, Webb afterwards saying it should have been.
Something doesn’t seem right. This isn’t just about arsenal, in general some teams get favoritism, just seems weird but not really when you look into the relationships between refs and clubs 🤔
21st century corruption isn’t so clear to the eye as it once was, but its still corruption.
It’s the same as how politicians act, its time to take action Webb. Or are you part of the problem???
A myth I believe
He was invited to reff in S Arabia
City owners are not from there
Again if he had an agenda why give us a pen against Liverpool?
Why not give Liverpool a pen when Gabriel hands the ball ?
Why send a Wolves player off at all ?
Why not book Skelley when he kicks ball away
Its a delicate topic because I’m taking about influence.
The work he got paid for by Man City owners (I only mention the team was owned by ADUG not that they are from where the game was played for clarity) appears to me a conflict of interest.
Because you end up building relationships with the people who are paying you, and then you go and ref a match in the EPL and you are trying to be fair. For me, I just feel the PMOL need to control all this, because that’s where the ‘indirect’ influence is happening.. the type you can’t put your finger on it exactly.
But when you look at the doku chest height studs into Jones in the box, no pen, city vs Liverpool you understand why Oliver made the decision, and it’s not about the event/moment but about the influence.
There’s more specific to Oliver and City, its pointless listing it all to make a point.
Essentially unconscious bias occurs when you are paying someone in the off season to work for you. That shouldn’t be allowed, as its clearly impacting his decisions in the EPL.
Like I say, this isn’t about arsenal. It’s about having impartial refs, not influenced by their potential off season contracts. Its about not having refs thinking about keeping Clients happy
Do you want me to name times M Oliver gave decisions against Man City
Hey Dan, maybe I’m not being clear.
I am not saying MO doesn’t give decisions against MC.
I’m saying you have an unconscious bias towards the club(s) that pay you for additional work in the off season.
I guess, my concerns are shared as PMOL are trying to stop this.
My long term concern is, like how manchini was paid when he was at city, there will always be a way around it! I hope I’m wrong.
One thing we can all agree on though, the standard of referees is very poor
But if it’s proven that all clubs are getting bad decisions against them that proves the officiating is terrible not that there is an conspiracy against Arsenal
I hope Arsenal release a statement today condemning fans who have sent threats and abuse to Mr Oliver
Rice was fantastic from what I saw today – back to his best. Partey looked really good as well, and calafiori looked hungry when he came on, and his goal was superb.
I thought the red card was as described in the article – controversial and harsh – it wasn’t crazy, though. Having watched it back, I can see where they’re coming from, but nobody would have complained had he given a yellow to MLS, which to me suggests that probably would have been the right call.
Unless he treated Gomez the same. A far worse tackle and should have been booked before then. Oliver has a problem, I don’t know wether it is anti Arsenal but he has a problem.
At this point, I don’t disagree – I think your “dossier” idea, as an official complaint isn’t a bad one. I do think Oliver’s big decisions against us this season are all defensible on their own, but he seems unwilling to give our players any benefit of the doubt at all. I thought the rice red card was fine, but the trossard one was unfair as he had no time to react, and this one was just plain harsh.
I dont as you would have to investigate e wey decision he’s made when we played
Once you find one that goes in our favour it proves he hasn’t got an agenda , he’s simply bad at what he does
True – and I don’t think he has an agenda exactly (nothing intentional), but he really does seem more willing to immediately assume the worst with our players. I’m just thinking it might be worth making a complaint and seeing what happens – maybe the outcome would be that he’s found to bad (inconsistent) enough to be demoted, regardless of any real or imagined bias. It’s worrying when you can predict your team is going to have a tough day because of the named referee.
Good win overall
Both players deserved their reds (not sure what some fans see )
Gomes maybe was verging on a red ,but the same end result.
Probably should have been 3-4 nil up if we had a proper striker before all the nonsense.
How on earth did we pay 65 million for a total dud infront of goal ,not his fault but the egotistical manager running the team pretending he’s some kind of messiah.
3 points are 3 points but bloody hell we made hard work of it against an awful wolves team .
Only decision I saw wrong was him not getting a second yellow for kicking the ball away .
I’m sure the Arteta weirdos will give a different opinion .
MLS was borderline. Gomez 100% red but Oliver saw it differently. I am not surprised. He has a problem with Arsenal and its his problem.
😴
Go away Alan your boring .😴
Onwards and onwards ,that’s your saying ?
Sorry missed the upwards .
Come on Mr.Kit
You can do better then that. You’re normally more abusive then that
Very tame for your standards
Has the win dampened down your abusive vocabulary 🤫
ONWARD AND UPWARDS
Mate I can only work with what I’ve got ,your response was nothing short of idiotic (no offence)
Give me a sh1tty emoji to work with and that’s what you get .
Onwards and onwards and onwards and onwards,don’t see no UPWARDS ,under this 🤡
There you go 😁
That’s the person we all know and get BORED off 😴
Unimaginative, seeking attention person
We are all celebrating a hard fought 3 points.
You’re out there on your own with a rant still 😴
Believe you only get excited when we lose.
ONWARD AND UPWARDS
Haha .
That’s the person we ! And get bored of!
Do you mean you and about 6 others that have nothing better to do and tell us how amazing Arteta is
As for unimaginative bit mate 😂
Give your head a wobble
Actually enjoying abit of back and forth without one of you asking to get a ban on a poster.
Reminds me of the good old days before this website was swamped with woke posters ,so well done you .
Sorry DK, but the only one who can decide if anyone is banned is Pat.
I’m assuming your on about Phil, but it’s his choice to stay away and Pat would welcome him back… both points are factual.
Yea the 🤡underneath 👇got one of the OG fans bannned and as threatened countless others .
Why on earth do you engage with him Allanball08? Do what most people do and give him and his musings a wide berth.
SueP
Actually , I am in a happy place today after the win
Don’t mind poking the bear tonight and waitng for the reaction and as expected Mr Kit responds right on cue.
It’s all harmless fun and not to take Mr Kit Trivial rants to serious.
Wobble, wobble
Its “Onwards and upwards ” DK
.
“Do what most people do and give him a wide berth “
Who is that then ? You and 5 posters”
Sue who try’s to ban posters who don’t agree with with her silly posts !
The female Jon fox
Oh and do t mention the original Sue in your posts again ,she could t stand you when she was on here .
She was liked ,you ….. the woke 🤡 .
Some people survives on being liked or being replied to. Someone quit the site before in attention seeking attempt (because people were not replying nicely to her 😂😂😂) but found nobody cared.
The original Sue was something else. She really brightened the comment section. People called her pig because of her honest opinion but I don’t think she asked for anyone to get banned.
I started reading JA long before I started commenting and there was always a Sue in the comments.
Ooooh popularity contest? Ok so let me think about my vote for bestest commenters…
SueP or Granddad.
But neurotic provincialists are always great for generating clicks Dan, so please don’t underestimate your value.
Cringe .
Havertz has outscored many European strikers this season, including the Sesko that Arteta (for reasons best known to him, himself and his shadow alone) is so fixated on.
He’s no striker and isn’t worth the £65m or the £280k p/w. But I think he’s been productive since last year January (for someone who isn’t a striker). I’ll give it to him.
All blame should be to the manager who insists on playing him in that role. Ha. annoy give what he doesn’t have.
*…he cannot give what he doesn’t have
Stupid keyboard
Contexts though mate
All these strikers he’s out scored ,how many of them are playing for a team that give him 5-6-7 chances a game ,we saw today he missed 2 sitters ,he is not and never will be a natural finisher .
What’s his conversion rate ?like I said and agree with you it’s not his fault he’s been put into a position that he’s not naturally accustomed to .
That was my point ,could have been 3 goals up before all of the talking points happened.
The issue with Havertz is that he’s terrible in midfield. It’s worse thinking that’s where he made his name with Leverkusen.
He’s done okay but not efficient enough as a striker for The Arsenal considering our ambitions
I see him playing the Nketiah role if we eventually get an established number 9 which is a shame really. He’s been quite a reliable goal getter considering that he’s not a striker and doesn’t have the killer instinct. What he utilizes is his positioning which I think is quite elite
Dan Kit
MLS red card. Bizarrely poor decision. Never seen a professional foul of this kind end up in a sending off. Never seen it before.
DK, it’s not the same end result though is it?
Gomes gets banned for one game.
Skelly gets banned for three games…. and, what a coincidence that one of those games is against city!!
Furthermore, he also misses our semi final against Newcastle and, guess what, he’s registered as a Newcastle supporter.
So a double whammy from Mr Oliver 🤔🤔
Firstly, I do think Arsenal need to get a dossier up about Oliver and tell the referee association, it would be in their interest for him not to referee an Arsenal match again. He has a problem with Arsenal. Right, to the game. Haverz and Martinelli were absolutely awful and especially Haverz the striker. Very poor effort before the sendoff, very poor play. But the second half they did come out with a different thought process. A good 3 points in the end but we need a striker and a winger. What we have is not good enough. That said, I can’t see us getting anyone good enough in this window. There is something wrong with the way we play, it doesn’t look right. 3 points and move on but we look dire at times.
Martinelli usually plays much better on the left wing, where he can cut inside easily with his stronger foot. I’d prefer Nwaneri on the right wing, but he had to deputize Odegaard
Martinelli plays the same whatever wing. He has no football brain.
Martinelli has put in some nice looking crosses lately, no?
I wonder why only few people see it, Martinely plays kids football. The guy is not improving
He does play kids football. Its a shame but a waste of good talent because he hasn’t a brain.
What do you want Martinelli to do?? Guys don’t hate the player, hate the game. The young man is trying, even if he is double marked we need him to perform the miracles. Let’s support our players not pull them down while they are struggling
I only listened on the Arsenal radio but the impression given was that Oliver gave the rub of the green to the home side. With all the talk of corruption expressed, I’m surprised that you took your view Reggie. As a qualified ref yourself you are not prone to your view expressed on this afternoon’s refereeing
Sue, Oliver has a different level of refereeing for Arsenal. He should not ref us again. It isn’t just todays game. His record says he has a problem.
See reply to Dan (by mistake further down) Sue.
Oliver is the prems best ref ,he got all bar one decision wrong .
This pathetic talk about corruption is just a an excuse from the mindless few who need said excuses just for the sake of excuses .
All it’s doing his skirting over the problem we have and they will use every one of those to deflect the problem .
DK, most people can discuss different things during a debate.
What excuses do we need today, after seeing a second half display that captured the fighting spirit installed by MA?
A great display.
At the same time, we saw a referee who was not following the rule book, but interpreting the rule book and giving opposing decisions to one team over another.
See, it’s easy to talk about two different subjects at the same time , at least for most of us, without becoming personal and calling people who don’t agree with you mindless.
Oh I whole heartedly agree Ken
It’s like calling some posters fans rather than supporters,who do not agree with certain posters .
Dan kit your totally entitled to your opinion but if you thought that was a red card against skelly then you must be in the 2% that think so the other Mike Dean trying to back fellow ref with all this diffrent angle buisness complete rubbish will get overturned and Oliver should be relegated to league 1 for his next game!
Mark you haven’t been here long have you. Unless it fits dans anti Arteta agenda then he will argue the toss out of it. Wait till he tells you he saw the potential in Tavares it will have you falling out you’re seat.
Rice and Partey were class above the rest today. Martinelli and Havertz were beyond awful. We cannot win any trophies with Havertz leading the line particularly when we don’t have goal contributions from the wingers not named Saka.
Rice been outstanding recently
Agree Dan, his best game this season in my opinion.
Well done to the lads for the hard fought win. Now it’s a trip to Catalonia next, to take on Girona. COYG!!!
Shouldn’t we be more angry with VAR and not the actual reff ?
He has given more reds and yellows to Arsenal than any other team. He has given 3 red cards this season 2 to us and a red (two yellows) to Wolves, when it should have been a straight red. He has dished out 8 red cards to us and thats way ahead of any other team or ref.
This reply was to Sue!!!!
Dan, Mr Oliver has refused to change any of his decisions and I do believe he was asked to review the Kovacic tackle on Odegaard, but he just waved it away.
The man thinks he’s above any criticism and he’s corrupting the system!!
Yes, on this one the VAR ref should be asking Oliver to review it.
Bad on-field decision probably, but it lets Oliver off the hook when the VAR guy doesn’t do his job. If Oliver is asked to look at it then he’s really at fault if he (a) refuses to look or (b) looks and sticks with the bad decision.
I hope our Manager has a quiet chat with young MLS to point out the errors of his ways and to impress upon him his responsibilities to his team mates and fans.He does not seem to be averse to confrontation which has its merits but needs to be tempered.He is of course a young apprentice who is bound to make a few mistakes but hopefully he will learn from what could have proved to be a very costly error of judgement which was rightly punished by the ref.Whether or not it warranted a red card is another issue but personally I do not think the vitriol directed towards Oliver is justifiable today.
Came here for the comments.
The MLS foul was a classic “professional foul” and a definite yellow. Nonsense that he should receive a straight red and then for it not to be overturned by VAR. It was a clear and obvious error from the referee, so if VAR isn’t going to intervene there’s no point in having it.
Every football pundit is saying Oliver’s decision is awful. Some saying it’s the worst they’ve seen in a long time. For all the contrarians out there.
Trouble with pundits they give their opinions and nothing to do with the rules. On its own, it could have been a red. BUT. OLIVER has history and form. The yellow for Gomez contradicts Olivers decision for MLS. HE doesn’t ref Arsenal the same as other teams. That is the bigger issue. Olivers record against Arsenal is glaringly different.
Indeed Reggie – didn’t want to spoil the spectacle by sending Kovacic off, but wasn’t so bothered when it came to Trossard…. city versus The Arsenal in both games and who benefitted?
I do think Oliver has a problem and someone needs to highlight his problems to his bosses. Should not ref an Arsenal game again. His problem seems to be Arsenal. There is far too much factual evidence to suggest he has not.
It was not a red card offense, Reggie. It was a professional cynical foul to prevent a counter attack. There was no stamping action and no kicking despite what Mike Dean thinks. Has anyone on this site found a better way of putting their foot on the floor than sole first? Once he has made the trip he has to put his foot down somewhere and at that speed there isn’t the chance to choose where. He tripped him. Yellow card. That’s it. There is no further discussion.
Any incident can be unpicked to find an alternative outcome if we take still frames and dissect it bit by bit but just watching it at normal speed you can see exactly what the intention is. I am genuinely concerned that there seems to be so many people still suggesting this was anything other than a yellow! Even the Gomez challenge was only a yellow but significantly more deserving of a red than MLS.
Thought we played well again, though lacking end product as usual. Great attitude from players. Don’t understand some of the negativity towards Martinelli in some if the comments. Fingers crossed on a new signing or two.
If was to nitpick, Trossard looked good but shouldn’t be wasting that many corners.
He was bizarrely taking corners with his left, despite being predominantly right footed, I guess because we had no-one else who could deliver in-swinging corners. It’s not surprising he struggled with them tbf
It was bizarre Davi but he did put two fantastically wasted crosses to Haverz with, i believe his left foot. I may be wrong, my memory is poor sometimes.
It’s troubling how we’re getting these bad decisions against us and even more troubling that fellow Arsenal fan here will still defend this decision against their own team…… Why? Is that how deep their hatred for the coach?
Have spent almost an hour checking the replay just to see any logic in the decision, it’s just ridiculous.
In the aftermath of what I thought was a gritty performance and a deserved win, I hope our Manager has a quiet , face to face chat with young MSL and point out to him the errors of his ways which could have proved to be very costly.As to the merits of the sending off that is another issue, but personally I do not feel the abuse directed towards the ref is entirely justified on this occasion.
I watched the game until the 20th minute. I saw, Lewis Skelly wasn’t himself. I do not know what led to he’s dismissal but he needs to step up. Even for an 18 year old, this is Arsenal
Thank you gunners for making my weekend. I applaud you. Keep it up.
No, he’s a young player. And they inevitably make mistakes and have bad games. Even 18 year old Messi had bad games. City’s new 20 yr old CB had an awful start to his game.
The elephant in the room, where is our forward? This Jan window will again make or break our season? Remember the season saliba was injured and we failed to reinforce our defense? The injury issue is surely bad, but we need to understand luck is not always on our side and if we have a chance, seize it. Or, maybe we already believe the season is over for the justification of no investment.
Or our owners are content with top 4 and CL revenue
That’s been their business model since they joined us so why would now be any different ?
Then why did they stick with Arteta following the 8th 8th and 5th positions and no European football for decades Dan?
Sounds sensible to me in terms of how to run a club.
In the football sense… if you do that then you qualify for the CL year on year and will win a few, over time.
Long-term planning over quick fix. Arsenal FC has always been quite good at that. They’ve had a few curve balls thrown in since 2003 (after clubs were floated on stock markets it led to Abramovic, “financial doping” etc until FFP).
Neutral, you obviously didn’t read the comment that Dan made at 11.30pm that I was replying to.
His comment doesn’t make sense if you take MA’s first three seasons.
Because they sat down after Covid and set up an action plan how to get back to that level
I think they correctly believed that he was good enough to get us back in the top 4 ..
If they are ambitious about being Champions they will buy a world class striker this month
Win a few ?
When ? Lol
So your original comment wasn’t true then?
On a side note, can Justarsenal team please make sure your video ads are on mute by default? Checking this site during meetings has become more and more a gamble. This will impact your traffic.
If you’re not an old referee you wouldn’t notice ,but referees usually keep the yellow card in their shirt pockets and the red card in a back pocket. To send Lewis-Skelley off Oliver pulled the red card out of his back pocket. Gomes had been cautioned once in the first half and was looking for another in my opinion. That must have been Oliver’s opinion also since in the second half he had both cards in his shirt pocket when he cautioned Gomes the second time. If there is anyone to blame for this one it is the Wolves manager for not pulling Gomes off at the half.
I don’t know how you acquire their services but Arsenal need their own refs.
More important than any other player or coach.
We just have to find the right bookie. 🤣
👍🏽
Hopefully.
Perhaps the Arabs might help us.
Where is Jon Fox who instead of calling out blatant corruption would rather call it incompetence. This is plain corruption we are witnessing here. Just look at Michael Oliver.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. The English Premier League is the MOST CORRUPT league in the world. The corruption when it comes to officiating is just one of the numerous forms of corruption. Another one not talked about is the ludicrous money laundering that goes on in the name of transfer. Few years from now whistleblowers and investigative journalists will begin uncovering the fraud going on in the EPL.
They are killing the EPL and the love the people have for football in general. If this continues for a decade even the numbers will begin to decline.
WHAT A CORRUPT LEAGUE
Money laundering or not I agree with you about how money has taken the soul out of the game.
I was proud of Arsenal and the great Arsene Wenger before for doing things the natural way. This is why I will never like Arteta because he has brought the model of trying to buy trophies ar Arsenal and still failing at it.
Is it really that Arsene didn’t want to spend money or that the club didn’t have the money back then? If Wenger was still the coach,do you think he’d reject the opportunity to spend money to improve his squad? Didn’t Wenger sanction massive investment in terms of transfer and wages of players like Ozil?
Is it really Arteta investing the money or the owners investing in their business? How is it unnatural for one to invest in their business with the aim of being competitive? Is it really Arteta’s model or the model of the owners? Are you aware that the owners of Arsenal have multiple sports teams especially in the USA and that they use pretty much a similar model?
Which other players like Ozil? Ozil transfer was massive?
If the club didn’t have money then, where did that much money come from that Arteta has mostly wasted?
HH
I agree MA could and should have invested more wisely and we have bought some duds along the way.
Each manger AW, GG, TN, DH etc
Have brought and squandered Arsenal money on players not good enough for the club. Back in the days we broken British records on players who didn’t live up to the price tag.
It’s a murky business when it comes to buying players good or bad. You talked about corruption before. This sector of football certainly has it.
Onwards and upwards
I get your frustration on how clubs are spending ridiculous money in the modern times,but I’m not sure you’re directing your frustration to the right person/entity. He’s just a guy doing his job. I’m sure any other manager,including Arsene, would be investing similar amounts.
There’s no way of being competitive without investing huge sums unfortunately. Other than Leicester,which was somewhat a miracle,no team in the last two decades has won the Premier League without major investments. The people/entities you should project your anger on are the English Premier League,Broadcasters,Sponsors,the billionaire owners and football governing bodies like FA:FIFA/UEFA. Interestingly most fans would rather see even more money injected into the game than the opposite.
P.S. I love Arsene Wenger and respect him as a legend of the club.He is one of the major reasons I started supporting Arsenal as a child in the early 2010’s. I’m also a fan of Arteta. I think he’s done a good job in reversing the fortunes of the club and he’ll only get better. I say this because I don’t like to engage in these anti/pro Arteta(or Wenger) commentaries. I find them tedious because they neither entertaining nor do they achieve anything.
Onyango, well said my friend.
Us oldies went through some dire periods back in the day (sorry to bring it up again DK 😂) so we have seen rubbish you would never connect with the last two or three decades.
It really is pointless to compare though, as you rightly say.
MA is our manager and we should judge him on his performances alone.
I’m still on the fence, even after five seasons, but I have this feeling he will succeed – maybe not in the way I agree with, but what does that matter?
Been following Arsenal since 1973, and man you are spot on with some of the sides we had, but it didn’t cost an arm and a leg, the beer was cheaper, the fry ups also, the away games were a laugh as we would take about ten of us, awful trains, but we always enjoy ourselves whether it was the Metropolitan Police band, the standing and surging against barriers when we scored. Different times, I have enjoyed Arsenal winning at Anfield ,Old Trafford and White Hart Lane, Wenger’s beautiful style of football he brought to North London, GG’s Arsenal shutting up shop once we scored. DB10 a joy to watch, Willie Young’s terrible foul to deny Allen a goal at Wembley. Chippy putting on the style. Alan Sunderland scoring the winner, Malcom MacDonald gracing our team. Plenty of ups and downs. The only final I have missed was the lockdown final against Chelsea. I wouldn’t change a thing….except Wenger bringing off Henry in the CL and we defended like GG would have instructed
To answer your questions now.Özil’s purchase was massive for that time. Correct me if I’m wrong but it was record breaking for Arsenal. His second contract was also massive and many fans, including on this site,raised eyebrows about those wages. For context,his wages back then would have him as one of the highest earners today. Other notable purchases back then under Arsene were Alexis,Lacazette,Mustafi,Aubameyang and Xhaka. I mention these not to slight Wenger, but appreciate the fact that spending big is part of the modern game and didn’t just start with Arteta.It is what it is.
As for your second question, I don’t have an inner knowledge of the policies at Arsenal. One thing I can note is that the Kroenkes gained full ownership of Arsenal in 2018 and it’s around that time that things started changing at Arsenal. One of the changes of course was letting Wenger go.
As for Arteta wasting said money,that’s a matter of opinion. Transfers don’t always work and it’s easy to describe them as wastage in hindsight. This happens under all managers. Under Wenger I could mention Mustafi and others. Under Emery I could mention Pepe and others. Under Arteta I could mention Willian and others. It happens.
I will repeat that I’m a fan of Arteta,as I was Wenger. I think both had/have their flaws but what matters is learning from and improving on said flaws. From what I can tell,Mikel demands a lot from himself and has been improving and working on his mistakes.
Onyango
they did aquire 100% shares of which it means they are now entitled as by.law entitled to not disclose full accounts.
The kronkies have always been in control as they had 51 plus percent of the club shares.
They have never been true die hard to the core fans as they never grew up with the arsenal. Josh maybe be a different kettle of fish as he did in the era of Bergkamp, Henry.
These are business people who.make business decisions not based on emotions where alot.ofnus base it the other way around like, me included at times
Onwards and upwards
👍Onyango, I’ve really regretted not seeing your comments lately. Cheers.
I miss Jon Fox, loved reading his comments
What happened to him?
Make sure you say that when we benefit from decisions as well though
John Fox might have been sensored out.
Who knows.
Start a campaign to get Jon Fox reinstated Thrill. Some of his posts made me laugh out loud and he could frequently be pedantic, change his mind overnight and change back again the next morning , but the site is poorer without him imo. One of life’s characters
👏👏👏
SueP
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I do think the campaign is on, already.
We all know the situation with Jon, and would like to see him return with his often controversial opinions.
I appreciated his controversial opinions Jax. However, his frequent insults to anyone and everyone on this site regardless of what they commented on or how they did it was inexcusable imo and down right disgusting to read at times. He definitely stood out but not in even a remotely good way imo.
The PGMOL are a self serving Cabal of power hungry ‘little men’. They damage football by their need to rule games without any accountability. They and VAR should be accountable to sanctions. They are biased cheats.
Why are we still playing Havitz up front ??? He cant hit the side of a barn door with a banjo !! He is far more liable for the close result than the red card !!!
I think Havertz’s poor form in front of goal has a lot to do with fatigue,even though he’s never been a prolific goalscorer.The poor guy has been playing 90 minutes every three days(120 minutes against United) since the turn of the guy. This kind of playing load will impact anyone’s sharpness,let alone someone who works as hard as Havertz.With no one else to play at CF, the club simply has to sign an attacker.
Spot on Onyango.
If Havertz had actually put away his three easy chances, I don’t think would have happened, I don’t like the surrounding of officials from Arsenal players, the constant whining of Arteta on the touchline which in fact in my opinion is fuelling the dissent on the pitch, I didn’t like the way Arsenal celebrated when the Wolves player rightly so was sent off. Arteta seems to be dragging Arsenal through the mud with his negative tactics, his poor excuses of games. The board need to reel him and tell him you are giving Arsenal a bad name with your antics. I thought he had cut that out last season, but now it seems to be threefold with him. LS should not have fouled him, this taking one for the team is petty behaviour from any player. Oliver should have issued a yellow card, but he couldn’t wait to give the red card, the same with the two yellows on Martinelli which funny enough has never been repeated. There is a horrible side to Arteta and Arsenal I don’t really like. It all began with the manager and it needs to end with him.
There is a “cynical “ side to the way Arsenal approach games at times.
However, the way the game is played means that almost all successful sides adopt such approaches and it is difficult to be successful without them.
I agree that the dissent should be toned down. However, some of the in-game tactics are necessary to get results.
You hit the nail on the head, successful sides, we haven’t experienced that with the current team
David,
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Never has done, and never will do.
Just because other teams do it, doesn’t mean we have to.
And as for your comment on all successful sides do it. Well on that logic, we should stop doing it.
Because it’s certainly not making us successful is it.
Unless you count 2nd as success that is.