It’s tough to lose to Spurs, but Arsenal will have the last laugh

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean striker Son Heung-Min (C) celebrates after scoring their third goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on May 12, 2022. - - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Winning streak finally comes to an end!

After four consecutive wins on the bounce we finally fell to a loss against our biggest rivals Spurs!

To be honest playing away to Spurs was always going to be tough, and with the inexperienced and youthful squad we have compared to the experienced and older squad Spurs have, it was always going to be a tough task.

Maybe all of the big wins over the past few weeks have taken a toll on the side as well.

And no, these are not excuses because it is never nice to lose, let alone to Spurs, but it has happened and now we have to dust ourselves off and get ready for Newcastle, a game that although will be tough we know we can and should win.

After our loss to Liverpool a lot of people questioned how we would bounce back, but we did and very quickly too.

So we have lost 3-0 to Spurs who had all the luck in the game, but we only have four days before our next fixture and as quick as we went down we need to get back up!

And no matter what Spurs do we just HAVE to win our last two remaining games because this fourth place is in our hands and our hands only.

But I am glad this game is done and dusted and Mikel Arteta will surely be able to pull his team together before we face Newcastle because he has no other choice!

In my opinion though all is not lost and although I would have loved to have beaten Spurs and all but confirmed fourth place, for Arsenal things do not always run that smooth or lucky and so if there is going to be one bump in the road from now until the end of the season, let it be this loss and this loss only.

Have faith Gooners this is not the end, and we know what we have to do!

Hopefully we have the last laugh!

Here’s hoping hey Gooners!

Shenel Osman

@sh3n3l_

Tags Tottenham v Arsenal

53 Comments

  1. Hopefully we do have the last laugh but doubt anyone is laughing tonight.. terrible performance but not unexpected, Arteta should have hooked Holding very poor from him now we have another high pressure game on Monday with more injuries and suspensions

    1. Holding like White is overrated. The same with Chambers who should’ve been sold way before the time he was. Saliba along with Tomi is clear of our defenders and I believe when Saliba comes here he’ll prove it. We will go to Europe and for me I expected it due to how bad Spurs and Utd have been. That Spurs are even close to us still shocks me. All that cheap talk of a free hit yet Spurs drew with Liverpool. 4th is needed to boost morale else next season may be worse. We will get it but we need to improve tactically.

      1. Brighton are laughing all the way to the bank at Arsenal for splashing 50 mil on an average smallish CB. I’m not even sure Arteta fancies Saliba I can honestly see him being sold this summer and we’ll go again next season with Gabi and White which we’ve seen just isn’t good enough, Burnley are in a relegation dog fight and have only conceded 4 goals more than us. Worrying times ahead.

      2. bad news, we will not beat Newcastle and we will not get top 4. Arteta has a habit to self destruct in big games and so do his players. And we have too many injured players.

  2. No one feels like laughing at the moment Shenel but hoping your optimism will be infectious.

  3. It’s highly presumptuous to say a definite “will”. I understand the sentimental optimism but let’s be realistic, anything can happen. We might or might not make the top 4, I hope we do as that determines the quality of players we attract. To say “will” as certainly as u said is cocky and you just might be jinxing it.
    Still not convinced by Arteta who has no clue on in-game tactics or how to speak to his players to keep cool heads after receiving a yellow card? We were hard done intially by the ref’s penalty decision but we dug our own grave with the way the remaining match turned out. Hope we see the difference between a thin squad and a squad with more options, that was difference between us and spurs today.. Just keep watching how the last 2 games will go and hope for the best. Take in mind, we’ve played more games than our top 4 competitors this season. There’s no better time to finish there than now. It will get harder next season.

  4. Every Gooner agrees with you Shenel – it’s all down to the manager and players… along with our supporters, who could be the 12th man.

    1. Pleased Arteta as much as he could said the exact same as i did during the game. Use it for motivation versus newcastle/everton

  5. The fact Conte focused on Artetas complaining instead of the result says everything positive we need to know. He knows, most of us know and they will still likely finish behind.

  6. Arteta cost Arsenal the game with his 4-2-3-2 and it’s quite unfortunate. He didn’t do his home work well on Spurds. Brighton beat Spurds with 3-5-2 formation. Spids don’t have creative players to break down a low block defense. It’s a sign Arteta is still lacking in experience. We beat Chelsea with 3-4-2-1 and Holding is very good at such formation. Why not adapt same for a top opposition? This lose is painful and almost avoidable

    1. Just to be clear your suggesting Spurs pen against the run of play wouldn’t of happened if we changed formation? and the ref wouldn’t of been hunting soft yellows to give two soft yellows to Holding if we changed formation? asking for a friend.

      1. Angus, they were not “soft yellows”. How would you have reacted if these tackles had been directed at Arsenal players?

      2. Hunting soft yellows! Oh Angus, really? The second yellow was easily a straight red. Other bookings were deserved, the whole bloody team lost their heads, Son nearly lost his too!

      3. Angus, turn it in mate. The ref had nothing to do with this defeat. Purely down to ourselves. No more excuses.

  7. Arteta needs a reality check if he thinks tonight was down to the ref. He is embarrassing himself by spouting. It was a bad performance by Arsenal and all involved, nothing else. We shut up and put up the next two games.

      1. The guy is deluded Sue, if tonight was the refs fault, he needs to get a grip for the last two games.

      2. It’s called anxiety … Have you watched our last 8 games? Took half the available points with just One quality performance .. against Chelsea … important victories against man utd and hammers but these were visibly flagging teams and we didn’t dominate in either case … Leeds was a sh** show against 10 men .. if we repeat that trend in final 2 games we drop out of top 4 unless burnley can deliver a miracle … that will be hugely costly in terms of finances and attracting quality players … next season will be a lot harder than this one and if we repeat the 2018-19 late season collapse it’s difficult to see where we will be heading with this squad of players

    1. Do one. We complained earlier in the year with well researched documented evidence. Nothings changed.

      1. Angus, do yourself a favour and stop spouting nonsense, you sound like Arteta!

  8. Tierney has always given the spuds an unfair advantage, against Liverpool as well although at least they managed to hold out for a draw, but then they are a vastly better team, and would’ve beaten the spuds with fair refereeing. Tierney should never be allowed to referee a spud game again.

  9. This is a game that could go any way by the look of it on paper.

    Nothing wrong with the selection in my opinion, just wonder if we would have gotten that penalty.

    The gaffer got his game plan right but individual mistakes cost us the game, brilliant move not to involve Ben White this would have given him four more days, hopefully Gabriel will be okay

    Have no problem playing after Spurs and Burnley
    It is said the hotter the battle the sweeter the victory

  10. Hope we can recover from that result. The danger players couldn’t raise their game. We are what we are. Odegaard needs to lead and be brave. The second half always seems to reduce our performance. I really hope it’s not Artetas team talk! Holding was scared of Son. They were strong against our danger men. Penalty and a sending off. No surprise really.

    1. Why is everyone talking like we got beat up on the pitch? Soft pen, that has not been given in similar situations repeatedly go back 4 years and it gets insane. Sending off. That is it. If your talking the team, danger men, selection whatever its in the minutes prior to the red card which I saw no issue with. Spurs were slightly more comfortable after then pen but there for the taking. After the red game over.

      1. I was still confident after the penalty as well although any team with Kane and Son is dangerous.

        Both big calls were 50/50 but Cedric and Holding gave Tierney something to think about. My only beef is so did Son with a swinging elbow on Holding and Tierney gave a different answer. Feels like a familiar story with refs this year.

        Bottom line is we are one point in front with two games to go. I would have taken that after the first three games and am backing the boys to get it done. Thanks for a bit of positivity Shenel.

    2. The real problem was Cedric wasn’t an adequate cover for holding, if Tomiyasu were beside holding it would have been less stress,
      Many times holding had to rush out to block Son, things Tomiyasu would have done while holding would have been the final man, so i think holding was under too much pressure.

  11. Coming up next …..Spurs hosts Burnley, I don’t see Burnley beating Tothenham away…..however being an early kick off on Sunday might proove a banana peal to spuds against relegation threatened Burnley.

    Should Spurs win….ohhh mine, we will feel pressure like never before

    While being hosted by Newcastle on Monday night…..which will be EXTREMELY TOUGH. I MEAN SUPER TOUGH

  12. White is really overrated. If he doesn’t improve next season he will be another poor business.

    1. He is,already poor business. He will never live up to his price tag. He’s worth half of the fee we paid, at best.

  13. It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel after such a shellacking at the Lane.

  14. Spurs is having tougher game than us this weekend…
    They are going to play against Burnley who are right in that relegation fight…
    Burnley Will give very much tough times than us to Spurs because they would play for their PL survival… and we have Newcastle who is comfortable sitting above relegation zone so Newcastle have much lesser motivation…
    I expect Spurs to tumble against Burnley…

    1. No one in their right mind shoukd expect Spurs to tumble … all we can hope for is burnley exceeding themselves and grabbing a draw

  15. Losing to Spurs away against Conte, Kane, Son et al is one thing, but losing to Brighton, Crystal Palace and Southampton is what pit Arsenal in its current position with only a one point margin.
    Now up to Arteta and the Arsenal players to maintain that advantage to the end by turning up against Newcastle and Burnley. It is totally in their hands.
    In any case major upgrades and squad strengthening are required to undertake a European campaign (whether Europa or Champions Leagues) and gain a Champions League place next season. Saliba and Mavtopanos return plus money spent to support Arteta in upgrading CF and midfield.

      1. R., oops my bad; had Burnley on the brain due to they’re playing Spurs. Holed up in isolation with covid.

    1. I would welcome Mavropanos with open arms but I’m afraid he’s off to Stuttgart for peanuts.. Who will definitely sell him on immediately for huge profit.

  16. Arteta must mix strength with skill just like Liverpool and not setup like Man city,

    We must learn from ours and the mistakes of other higher teams,

    As it stands now, the UCL spot is ours to loose,

    Whether we like it or not, the pressure is on us,
    Well I’ll console myself with either way we going to Europe, would love UCL Europe not Europa, except we go to Europa and win it.

  17. I didn’t expect us to win having guessed at 2-2 on Dan’s Predictions

    Going back just a couple of weeks or so, there was an expectation by some that we could finish 7th or 8th rather than still be in contention for top4. ManU would come good and West Ham would still be a threat to our European chances.

    The fact remains that we are still in it and everyone knows our run in is trickier. What is hard for me to swallow is the sending off and injury to Gabriel which is important for our remaining games if we are to win them both. I’d be amazed if Spurs tripped up now so the pressure to win on Monday is huge. If we overcome that then we face Everton who I pray have enough points to not need a result against us

    Very nervy indeed

    1. I have high hopes that Everton will be clear of the drop zone by the end of next week. Their next 2 games are homes games against Brentford and Palace, so I think they could prevail. That would mean their last match on the final round will be meaningless.

      Something like that in mind, our match against Newcastle is IMPERATIVE. Its not only our cup final, its a match about our future. We might not get this great of a chance for CL football. Competition is fierce and if we miss out on CL, we won’t be able to attract the top players we need to move forward.

      Newcastle has lost 5-0 to City, 0-1 to Pool, 5-1 to Spurs and 1-0 to Chelsea. They haven’t done anything spectacular, just beating low-table teams. We should treat them as such and give them no respect.

  18. Gabriel and holding will be missing for newcastle game so Tommy will have to move to cb with white taveres left back and cedric right back that’s the only solution available doesn’t fill me with much confidence could be another miserable night in store!

  19. We still have players that are not good enough or consistent enough, players like Holding,Cedric, Tavares, Elneny and Nketiah are not players that will get us challenging the top prem clubs or Champions league titles, we are a million miles away, although we have improved slightly this season, l still believe in the project but better players are needed.

  20. I’ll disciplined, stupid defensive mistakes from trying to be to clever (Cedric and holding aren’t no Maldini:), bottling it under pressure with expectation on players who on the whole are asked to punch above their weight. Not being able to make a 3 yard pass in midfield is also a concern at this level.

    Yes we have the exciting kids in ESR, Saka and Martinelli but too many players just aren’t fit to wear the Arsenal shirt.

    Odegard does some nice stuff when things go well but again the expectation on this kid is too much, too soon and he can disappear or struggle to have the impact on the bigger stages like most of them when there is jeopardy and something to play for..

    It’s not their faults it’s just the makeup of our team.

    1. I agree with most of this assessment, but regarding our exciting kids, my opinion is, ESR looks like he’ll become a back up player under Arteta and possibly move on when his contract expires. Saka’s predictable, cutting inside onto his left foot, opponents have worked him out and he seems to be becoming more and more frustrated. He always had a good partnership with ESR and I wonder if that’s affected him. Martinelli is a headless chicken, he’s got pace and strength but tries to beat to many players instead of getting his head up and putting the ball into the danger area. Odegard is lightweight, when he’s on his own in space he can pick a pass, but put him under pressure and he’s ineffective. I can’t see much improvement if any in these players over the last two seasons under Arteta.

  21. We will finish fourth. But I feel we will really struggle next season with the players we have and the way we play.. Man City and Liverpool are years ahead of us. There are too many very average players at Arsenal. We need at least 10 new players and a half decent manager to compete in Europe:)

    1. fi, to go into Europe without quality additions to the squad would be disastrous, particularly given the need to improve in EPL.

  22. Not optimistic about winning both remaining games. In the pl, any time when we say a game must be won, regardless of any of the 19 teams you are playing agaist, it is a bad situation.
    We will have to hope Spurs slip up in their games to put us through as they and MU, WHU and Wolves did to hand us the current 4th place position.
    Let’s face it, we did not get to where we are by playing well; we have been extremely lucky.

    1. Lucky or are the teams behind us worse?

      It’s an idea I struggle with as it is supposed to be a case of the table never lies

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