I adore this image. The joy, yes. That was me, in the moment.
But also the silent relief and prayer from Saka.
And then Luke shaw, quietly off to shake hands with the Swiss. That’s pretty damn classy
Arsenal's worst season of all time, worst squad ever, talentless manager, players don't want to be there.
Spurs are the greatest team in the history of the world, are going to win the World Cup and their manager shits golden rose petals
Arsenal above Spurs after 13 games.
Rice is booked for a foul he has to make because the ref refuses to stop the game after a red-card tackle on Havertz. Properly horrendous officiating that
Shearer watching Arsenal: You can't have both full backs going forward
Shearer watching Liverpool: Both full backs go forward at the same time. It's the modern way!
Xhaka has just been booked for touching Buendia’s chest. McGinn was given the same punishment for pushing lacazette to the ground. It’s not a conspiracy, but some players are reffed on actions, and some of reputations
Of course Zaha dives, but that's a ridiculous pass from Lacazette with six men committed to a counter. That's the kind of mistake that won't get highlighted, but costs points
Pogba (already booked) with a foul to stop a counter. The counter goes nowhere because lacazette is down. United get possession in Arsenal’s half and almost score. Appalling officiating
So happy for Sol Campbell. Legend of the game, treated as a joke, written off by everyone. Went into a really difficult job that everyone said didn’t suit him. And succeeded. Whatever else happens, that’s some achievement!
Just returning to the timewasting yesterday, because it was disgracefully managed by Atkinson and it's much easier to talk about sensibly when you come back and win. Two major second-half incidents.
Semedo injury
Jimenez non-substitution
Four lengthy stoppages where Porto players just sat down. A goal. Two clear warnings for timewasting.
One minute.
Why would you not cheat when it’s rewarded so obviously?
Since Ozil went off Arsenal have had less possession, have created nothing and still look defensively fragile... I'm sure that's all a coincidence though
Tavares off is madness. He’s the only one who’s fit, he is running hard, and he’s defending fine. Martinelli at LB kills his threat, Xhaka deeper means we will have even less control. And what do we get in return? Laca
@samuel_mpona
@OliverKayTimes
Salah probably. Ronaldo was ridiculous in a few big games and won CL. Modric was brilliant all year, won CL, carried unfancied team to WC final. Salah scored lots of goals (fewer than Messi) and struggled at WC (did worse than Messi). Still amazing, but probably 4th for me
Reckon Spurs killed 3 minutes of the 6 in stoppage time. 1 extra added on.
Every team does it, so not a go at them, but the ease with which you can cheat the clock in English football is mad. World Cup showed us how to fix it, and we've collectively said 'no thanks'.
🔴Casemiro encouragement
🔴Milinkovic-Savic contact
🔴Pulisic loan
🔴Aubameyang enquiry
🔴Meunier right-back target
@JBurtTelegraph
latest: Manchester United targeting five new signings in frantic end to transfer window
#MUFC
Sterling has not answered his critics on the field:
1. He actually answered them last week with words
2. They aren’t critics, they’re racists
3. If they are criticising him it’s not for being bad. It’s for being good at the same time as being black
Don’t make this into both sides
@samuel_mpona
@OliverKayTimes
although of course depends on what you count. I don't think Ronaldo is close to being top three players in the world most games, but no-one peaks in big games like he does
Itv: we have to talk about VAR
Bilic: the ref got it right
ITV: but how controversial
Bilic: not really, he was right
ITV: but VAR
Bilic: why are we talking about this, he got it right
Arsenal are so bad. The win is nice, but we just got outplayed by Bournemouth at home. Not because we don’t have better players, but because the manager is determined not to attack
Clever from Kane. Foul the guy, foul the second guy after the whistle, pull him towards you then collapse at the slightest hint of contact.
No question it’s a red card, but very few players manufacture that so well
None of these guys have to be the good guys to make them valuable allies in the fight against something far worse. This moral purity never works, it just leads to heavy defeat!
• UEFA failed with FFP and have actively tried to create a super league in the past
• FIFA have tried to expand the club World Cup for years and sold a World Cup to Qatar
• BT & Sky tried to charge us £14.99 for Brighton Vs. Burnley
Don’t make them out to be the good guys.
@davidflatman
you're free to say what you like - you won't be imprisoned for it. If you want a highly-paid job representing your country, you have to meet certain standards - that's not a free speech issue.
Arsenal had a real chance to put their foot on this game after a bad first half. And they vanished from the game as an attacking force. Two shots between the opener and the equaliser. And it keeps happening. Big questions for Arteta as to why.
@ChaseCard
@itsmejessio
@davidperrons
She was asked (four years ago) are there any Jewish wizards. She said yes. That was 12 years after the character first appeared. So, basically, she wrote an obviously Jewish character, didn't make a big deal of his religion, then mentioned it, when asked, a decade later!
Xhaka was amazing on Saturday, and torreira has definitely helped him. But I'm not convinced he is a very different player to last year. He's always been like this, but a few sloppy passes and everyone decides he's rubbish
"He made more passes than anyone else on the pitch, more recoveries than anyone else on the pitch and more tackles than anyone else on the pitch."
Granit Xhaka’s transformation under Unai Emery a game-changer for improving Arsenal
#AFC
In a world of VAR, you can lose a game on a technicality. You shouldn’t lose one on a howler. That’s what happened today. A blatant, appalling howler, from an official. Changed the result. Doesn’t feel like we’ve been beaten, feels like we’ve been conned.
Villa's issue isn't just a lack of creativity, it's that they're soooo slow. Every time they get a half-break, they turn, recycle, and allow Wolves to re-set. Then they can't break down a set team. Must be so frustrating for their fans!
@tancredipalmeri
@Marcotti
Several incidents of racist abuse in Italy (and elsewhere) over the last few weeks - yet this is a 'new low'? Reckon you might be going a bit far here...
@jamesbenge
presumably Ozil doesn't take massive satisfaction in taking apart a Liverpool reserve team because, you know, he's won a World Cup and is several levels above them. I'm fine with that tbh!
@SamJDean
I think De Bruyne is still better, and it's hard to argue with Haaland's 21 goals in 16 games. And Salah/Kane/Alisson all have merit. But he's in the conversation...
How can anyone defend emery? It’s the same every game, out-played by poor opponents, no offensive plans, no defensive coherence. Nothing. I can’t see how you could make this squad worse
Over two legs we've arguably been better than the team currently above Real Madrid in the table. They'll paint this as a Wenger embarrassment but it was a really decent effort undermined by one first-leg mistake
I think that might be the maddest game of cricket I’ve ever seen. Both sides bowled out for under 200 first innings. 600/5 declared. A chase of 593. And they get bowled out last ball for a tie! 592!
Arsenal lose to Chelsea despite creating loads of chances - it's only the result that matters
Arsenal beat Cardiff despite playing badly - put the result aside, that was a poor performance
I have nothing against Wolves. Any team in the lead, away, against a good side, would do this. It's for the officials to manage it, to ensure it's not rewarded. The officials just didn't do that.
In the end, it didn't matter. But it could have done. And it's bad.
Inconsistency between reds will happen - individuals are different
Inconsistency can also happen when events are super quick - mistakes are inevitable
But inconsistency within the same game by a guy sitting watching on TV. Inexcusable
@tancredipalmeri
@Marcotti
you said this action was a new low - ie, worse than anything that has gone before it. I was simply pointing out that it is not even close to the worst thing that has happened this week between players and fans!
We were terrible. And we should have had a penalty. And a goal. And a red.
And we'd still win that most of the time. Horrible evening, but no need to panic.
Hard to see how Manchester City’s PR department could have worded it better:
Poor oppressed city, targeted by the nasty establishment, given a wonderful opportunity to prove their purity
Manchester City are ready to fight back against the Premier League to achieve their dream of finally clearing their name. The reaction to the news yesterday shows there is a lot of ugliness ahead before they will even get a chance to
Messi has done astonishing things in this tournament, and his career. But the reason he’s winning this one, and didn’t win previous ones, is the guys around him. Alvarez, Di Maria, Enzo, de Paul. They’ve all stepped up at various times
This is spot on, but there's another side to it too. If we'd signed Odegaard for the first time today, there'd be major excitement. Arsenal fans (all fans?) crave the unknown. Someone we watched every week for 6 months doesn't do that.
Arsenal dominated the first half. Made one silly mistake, and Emery decided to change the entire style of play. Awful second half. Not one player played well after the break, but the manager has to take responsibility.
@jamesbenge
Gap between bookings:
Gabriel - 2 mins
Partey - 3 mins
Martinelli - 10 seconds
It's next-level naivety (if we're being super kind) to get one of those, but 3 in 6 games??
There's lots to dislike about Ronaldo, and most of it is much more serious than this, but the fact that his team-mates HAVE TO pretend that he's the best player of all time, despite no-one really believing that, is really grating.
Maguire on Ronaldo signing for
#mufc
: "For him to sign back for the club, the greatest player to play the game, it is amazing to have him at the club and I'm sure he's going to have a big impact on and off the field."
Arsenal fans, please read this, please share this, please show that this isn't acceptable, and please stand up to people who act like this. A horrible thing to happen on what should have been a joyous day
Yesterday my friend & wonderful comedian Katie Price experienced an antisemitic attack at the Spurs Arsenal game. She doesn’t use twitter so I’m sharing what she wrote on her behalf:
I know
@gunnerpunner
was up there with me for finding this the most annoying. It's not a Wolves problem - it's a football problem. The PL is probably the league that adds on the most for this, and still woefully under-estimates the impact of timewasting