DaveT

Cancelo won’t be eligible which is a shame …. It would have been hilarious watching him score the winner for Bayern.

I was contesting the suggestion that the bench has been weak because we haven’t replaced certain departed players. That’s not the case, it’s been weak because of the ridiculous injury list. Yes, maybe we should have anticipated certain absentees (although Jota and Keita made 55 and 40 appearances respectively last season), but as you say yourself, replacing/getting rid of the likes of Keita and Ox is easier said than done.

The problem with the bench this season has been the ridiculous injury list. First game of the season, we were without Jota, Konate, Keita, Oxlade, Jones and Thiago got injured. Even last night, we had the most players available so far this season and were still without Thiago, Diaz, Henderson and Bajcetic, three of whom would have been definite starters. Why we have so many injuries is debated in full elsewhere. I notice Ten Hag is talking about Arsenal’s lack of injuries this season and bemoaning his own situation- which is nowhere near as fire as ours has been. We had virtually no midfielders for a lengthy spell and hardly any attackers for a while.

He was walking around on the pitch after final whistle. Still looked a bit dazed. Probably have to sit out a game or two due to concussion protocols

Kids deserved better than that.

Blatant foul on Jonas. After on ok first half, officials have been increasingly losing the plot.

And looked comfortably offside.

We looked really good for thd first 20 or so , all that was missing was converting one or two of those chances. (Sound familiar?). Then in thd blink of an eye, the fragility and lack of cohesion and confidence were back . Almost to the second that Trent got sloppy and complacent and nearly set up a goal for them. Virgil should be in double figures already with the number of straightforward chances he’s missed, although credit to the defender for the goal line clearance.

Mentality mice

Fulham are so incredibly terrible that this is looking distinctly fishy.

Difficult to tell if it’s a derby or a testimonial

This title is nailed on for Arsenal. Yet again they’re able to play virtually their strongest team. Nketiah the only injury that I can see, but Jesus is back, on the bench. Meanwhile Fulham , who kicked us all over the park in August, are without their best player that day, Paulinha, and have barely attempted a tackle so far.

Just imagine the stick Trent would have faced if he'd had a performance as woeful as Shaw, or Trippier a few weeks ago. Shaw owes a massive debt of gratitude to Fernandes for distracting attention away from his abysmal display.

My feelings are pretty much the same as Dave's as regards the Arsenal vs City dilemma. It feels like Arsenal are going to win it, as everything seems to be aligning for them. Ben White scores for the firt time in 94 PL games, Nelson re-appears from nowhere (last I heard he was on loan somewhere in Germany) to score a winner. They get to play Brighton when MacAllister and Caicedo were both unavailable. The terrible decisions they got against us earlier in the season. And hardly having any injuries all season. (Must admit, Trossard and Jorginho were shrewd bits of business to bolter a squad that was previously pretty thin). And City being quite a bit off the pace,too.

Just tuned into this to see what’s happening….. and apparently United are world beaters again….. according to Scholes and Hargreaves, who were then schooled in the rules of the game by the presenter.

Diaz and Gakpo combined cost only a little more than Jadon Sancho (remember him?)

I remember that 82-83 final….. keeping my head down in a Wembley bookies whilst there was mayhem on the street outside

ChatGPT has a lot to answer for!

And journalists. One big difference with the Paris situation is that, for once, the journos got caught up in it and had the same awful experience as the fans. The Sky reporter did a great job, immediately shooting down the lies of UEFA and the French authorities. Social media helped get the truth out, too. I’m sure the offer will be rejected by the complainants. Proper compensation and some rolling heads should be the minimum response

Beat me to it! It’s actually not one of his best….. but it’s difficult to make Sunday any funny than it already is

This narrative that they ‘shaded’ the first half (5Live this morning & elsewhere) is bizarre. Is that why they spent the first half hour time wasting and shithousing to break our rhythm? Even the big chance that St Marcus fluffed wouldn’t have happened if that spineless ref had given the blatant foul on Mo seconds earlier.

Totally agree withDave about the officials. Weak and out of their depth.

Shaw could, should, have been booked three of four times

Thinking exactly the same. No mention of the terrible refereeing or their petulant antics and nasty shite from the likes of Shaw, Fernandes etc

Well spotted! No idea why my predictive would pick up Howell Bennett’s comic character!