By Walter Broeckx
A few changes compared to the last match against Newcastle that seems an eternity away.
Per Mertesacker returns to the team and Hector Bellerin comes in at right back and Chambers joins Gabriel on the bench. More upfront Özil comes back in the team and Welbeck who was a doubt goes to the bench.
On the bench we see a new face. Macey comes in the place of Szczesny who has a rib injury.
The Arsenal team that started this match was: Opsina, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud. And sitting behind Wenger waiting to come on we have: Macey, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Walcott, Rosicky, Welbeck.
Mignolet having to make a early save on a low shot from Cazorla showing how Arsenal started this match completely in control in the first minutes. Not a minute later some high pressure paying off but Ramsey his left foot schot was again saved by Mignolet. The following corner resulted in another and a possible handball from a Liverpool player in the penalty area but the ref just gave a corner. Giroud then being called back for offside when again the high pressure paid off and that was a close but correct decision. Arsenal completely in control in the first 15 minutes but nothing to show on it on the scoreboard.
Only after that the first real attack from Liverpool was seen but Koscielny was on hand to block the possible danger. And a minute later suddenly Markovic was alone on goal but his pass to Sterling was too hard. A real let off. Arsenal a bit less fluent in this part of the match. A sloppy pass leading to Sterling having another shot that went wide. The first 15 minutes were excellent but the next not that good and Liverpool looking the more dangerous in this part of the match.
But gradually Arsenal took the match back in control. And after 36 minutes Özil crossed it wide to Ramsey on the right wing and he gave it to Bellerin who cut inside his man and in the penalty area and with an excellent low left footed shot found the far corner past Mignolet. 1-0 to the Arsenal.
And hardly a Sakho then with a hack on Özil causing a foul some 5 meters outside the Liverpool penalty area. Alexis and Özil behind the ball and it was the latter that curled the ball in the same corner as Bellerin had done. Mignolet expected the shot in the other corner I think. 2-0 to the Arsenal after 38 minutes.
Another Özil pass causing Toure to give away a corner that was headed wide by Giroud. Ospina showing was was well awake in the last minute to intercept a dangerous ball. Bellerin intercepted a ball and gave it to Ramsey who spread it further to Alexis who cut in from the lef and his fearce shot went in under the crossbar. 3-0 to the Arsenal after 45 minutes. What a first half apart from some 10 minutes where we suddenly lost our fluency but apart from that a great performance from Arsenal.
Emre Can with a dangerous tackle that coudl have earned him a yellow card and then shouting at the ref did give him the card. Koscielny had to come off then early in the second half and Gabriel took his place. An injury to an Arsenal player. From the resulting free kick Emre Can was holding Giroud like a wrestler but the ref just awarded a corner. Giroud then with a hard low shot but straight at the keeper. A few minutes later a hanging cross from Özil was headed towards goal but Mignolet prevented another goal for Arsenal with a great stop.
On the other side Ospina having to make a good stop after 56 minutes on a low shot from Emre Can. Ramsey then looking in some pain after he seemed to have twisted his ankle. And he came off and Flamini came on. The second player to go off with what looks like an injury. Arsenal had to reorganise a bit as Ramsey had played up front most of the time and Flamini would sit deeper in midfield one could expect. Cazorla seemingly the man to go a bit more upfield. Flamini imediately getting away with putting his foot on a Liverpool player.
Arsenal dropped back and gave Liverpool the ball more. Sterling trying to dive for a penalty but even this was a bridge too far for Taylor. Bellerin then getting a yellow card for pulling Sterling back. Taylor then becoming Taylor when allowing a few Liverpool fouls without blowing the whistle.
Özil then being replaced by Welbeck with some 72 minutes to go. And Sterling going down again gave Taylor the chance to blow a penalty for Liverpool. Ospina just couldn’t stop the effort from Henderson. He had a hand to it but nothing more. 3-1 after 75 minutes.
Welbeck away on the left after being released by Giroud but the angle was too difficult and Mignolet could stop the effort. Taylor then being completely Taylor when two Liverpool players clashed, he did nothing but when Welbeck opened op the field he suddenly called play back. Emre Can then being stupid with a two footed clamp around Welbeck and he got his second yellow card. This was even a bridge too far for Taylor.
A few Arsenal players then running too much with the ball and forgetting the easy option at times and thus wasting good opportunities to start a good counter. Welbeck almost on the end of a cross then but he was under severe pressure and couldn’t a shot in. A great combination on the left between Monreal and Welbeck ending up with a shot from Cazorla that hit the outside of the post.
4 minutes of extra time gave Taylor and that was ideal for Giroud to continue his battle with Alexis on scoring goals. Alexis gave him the ball back after Giroud won the header, a nice cut inside and a great thundering shot ended up behind Mignolet. 4-1 to the Arsenal after 91 minutes.
Welbeck almost with the chance to make a fifth but his shot went wide. Then Welbeck being called back for offside and it wasn’t but hell what the heck. We won from Liverpool. 4-1. What a result!
And again when Arsenal Belgium is there we win with a high score. One goal for each of our members who was there. Oh, and a happy birthday to you Sam! What a way to celebrate it with a win like that.
Could have been 2-0…could have been 2-2. After that, Liverpool kind of faded and we took our chances. My 8 yr old came and watched the second half “I don’t like this referee, he likes teams and he hates teams and he can ruin a match” From the mouth of babes.
Brilliant!!
Super performance from the team and a very valuable three points.
Some very strange decisions from the officials, esp in the second half – as they tried to keep the Dippers in it.
Celebrations booked for later tonight!!
Could have been 2-0…could have been 2-2. After that, Liverpool kind of faded and we took our chances. My 8 yr old came and watched the second half “I don’t like this referee, he likes teams and he hates teams and he can ruin a match” From the mouth of babes.
Thanks for the report. Even thought I have not get to watch the game yet…
Great performance. Now we can enjoy the pressure on others. If wengers calculations are correct, nine points more for our minimum target, but this team have the ability to aim much higher.
A bit crap that Ozil!
I didn’t think Taylor was so bad. He got the yellow cards right and also the penalty. Probably missed one or two fouls on us, but the calling back play when the two Liverpool players were down was a bit strange though as there were no head injuries that I could see.
Our subs were great weren’t they. Well two of them were.
special mention to the fans for calling that lopsided referee out. we need to get more vociferous about this. the nerve on you Taylor! and in stadium Wenger too. at this rate, your puppet strings will break before long.
Taylor tried to do a few of his tricks, think he was hoping for Liverpool to get another goal to make it 3-2 and really make it nervous for us. Good win against a direct rival, doesn’t get better than that.
@tailgunner
the player on the floor was clutching the ankle… how’s that a head injury… i can only say that taylor don’t want us to score more~
“Liverpool have the weapons to threaten. Gabriel is new into the team and coming back from injury and Mertesacker is not comfortable with players running at him. But Liverpool cannot get on the ball at the moment.” – Martin Keown
Not really sure why Keown feels the need to say this. Ok, as a pundit he has to view things from both angles but I very much doubt any of the neville monsters would have said this had it been utd playing…
So so nice to enjoy Owen squirming for the full game, with Ozil humiliating him again 🙂
Great performance and must be said the ref was not too bad – though conned by the disgusting cheat Sterling for the penalty.
Special mention to 3 players :
Ozil – continues world class form – possibly the best player in the PL since his return from injury
Coquelin – an amazing return to the team and looks so comfortable in that role.
Monreal – he has totally settled in to the PL and has addressed his weakness of letting players run off him.
All 3 today were excellent.
Well, I went looking for the total eclipse, and missed it. GoingGoingGooner, did you see it in Calgary?
In any event, Arsenal eclipsed Liverpool!
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Blackfoox, that is where his brain was (in the foot). 🙂
@gord
absolutely agree 😛
In another game, ManU/Rooney may have deserved a penalty. I am just reading, I can’t see what happened. But it also sounds like Rooney should have a one or even 2 yellows for badgering the ref.
From the BBC:
> QPR make a change as goalscorer Eduardo Vargas is replaced by Niko Kranjcar. Vargas injured his knee landing on the side of the pitch, he then rolled off the pitch, play carried on, so he rolled the other way back onto the pitch and the referee stopped play.
Vargas should be carded for entering the pitch without permission.
Cyrano de Gunnero
April 4, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Can you expand on that for the benefit of those who weren’t at the stadium?
Thanks.
Jayram
Agree with that. Monreal’s reading of the game is probably second to Mertesacker only. Having watched Ozil for club and his country since his return from injury I fully agree with that observation. The pundits are looking more and more silly by the day for refusing to acknowledge Ozil is world class. The strange thing is he’s dismissed by people who have not won even half the things he’s won. That was a peach of a free kick, and I would say maybe he needs to take more often given the quality of his kicks, especially those coming from the left side. Think he had an almost similar one two weeks ago which came off the bar with the keeper beaten.
@Gord
Rooney is allowed to badger the ref – seems to get away with it every match – a legacy from the Red Nose days!
Great win & a great run for both Arsenal and Giroud.
I’m not one for regrets, but i can help but think what if we didn’y have all those injuries in the first half of the season. Missing Koscielny, Ozil, Ramsey & Giroud was simply too much.
There is some happy twitting from the players. I guess Serge Gnabry was at the game. At some point he did something to catch the attention of the commentators. They said he looked very happy, or something to that effect.
I ran across this quote somewhere:
> Olivier Giroud is the third Arsenal player to score in six Premier League games in a row – after Ian Wright and Emmanuel Adebayor. He has better hair though.
Wonderful to watch. A great win, great performance. That Ozil guy, part of the team that put in 7 against Brazil in Brazil, World Cup Winner, doesn’t turn up for the big games. You have to wonder the planet some people live on.
At some point I thought about all the crap Wenger has had to take. Still the guy who can produce the team playing the quality football, as if he never was. The same man who kept Bellerin, Le Coq.
A great day.
Guys
I went to Le Grove out of curiosity when I saw the headline “Will Arsenal have a game plan” and was disgusted I what is been said by “fellow Arsenal fans” although I’ve always known its an aaa site, but didn’t know its this bad especially after the wonderful run we have been in with Wenger and Giroud winning awards for March.
It was declared that Arsene has no game plan and doesn’t do tactics. Mert and Ozil were already been insulted before the kick off for lacking pace and clubbing in Berlin. After 30 mins, the whole team was shit and f**ked and so is the manager. They declared that Sterling will over run us and we will surely lose.
Thank you Arsene for showing them that with a full squad Arsenal can over-run any team. If nothing, for shutting aaa up but will they ever learn?
This is a faboulous victory.
Top draw goals.
Rembeber Liverpool was 2nd in points in 2015, only behind Arsenal
This was one of the 3 big hurdles to record a great run of victories in the league. Already 7 on the spin
Now Arsenal will play a minor opponent before facing Chelsea, then anonther 2 minor opponents before trip to Old Trafford. I’m looking forward that match
Happy Easter anyone!
Nonny
The Le Grove article is very positive about us (as it usually is lately), but the commenters are complete idiots who get carried away sometimes
From an article summarising the Everton game:
> Everton have kept four clean sheets in their last five league matches at Goodison Park. Only Arsenal (2) have conceded fewer home goals in the Premier League in 2015 than the Toffees (3).
First match in a couple of years where I could truly see the pitch (owning to declining eyesight). What a lovely way to come back from the darkness and see it.
First time in a while I lost my voice from
a) cheering Arsenal
b) screaming at the ref
Ah. Happy days.
Al has mentioned Keown today. Here is the lead of a Google news snippet:
> Martin Keown: Arsenal’s win against Liverpool was “as good as it gets” – Squawka Football News
It is too bad that Keown’s comments aren’t “as good as it gets”. Too often they aren’t even useful.
From the Guardian’s web site – picture of a banner and
Fans rghtly protest about the cost of Arsenal’s Premier League tickets
Total Guardian. Spelling mistake and anti-Arsenal
Great game, at one time i thought my prediction(8-1) was going to become true, but 4-1 is cool too.
GREAT goals.
Per Mertesacker had some nice things to say about Bellerin after the game.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150404/per-bellerin-gives-us-great-energy
With respect to the protesting, the best coverage I seen was:
http://fusion.net/story/114600/protest-emirates-arsenal-vs-liverpool-ticket-prices-premier-league/
In that, and other coverage, I do not know why the medja are saying that Arsenal _fans_ were supporting this. The black scarf people are not fans, they are anti-fans. And they don’t care about ticket prices, they just want to tear down the club.
Of course, that biggest anti-fan was in the news as well today. The lead of a Google news snippet:
> Arsenal news: Piers Morgan thinks Gunners will not win top trophies … – Metro
I feel nauseous i just shouted go on Stoke
Missed the first half entirely- thought the match was an hour later because of Daylight Savings Time.. There should be a warning on premierleague.com!! As a result, I checked into Guardian at 6:00 (India time) for the line-ups and lo and behold, we are 3-0 up! I’d gladly miss every first half if we are to play like that though 🙂
Caught the highlights of the first half- three awesome curlers including a left-footed one from a right back and it definitely look like we were avenging last season’s 5-1. While that didn’t happen, Giroud’s goal (another curler!) was delightful enough. Now I haven’t always been convinced by Giroud and I certainly do not buy the comparisons with Henry for a number of reasons. But the way he has progressed this season is a tribute to Wenger’s belief in players. His confidence is sky-high- he wins almost every long ball, his trademark flicks have remained brilliant and most importantly, he scores- scoring in six consecutive league games was something that even Henry couldn’t manage. Not an Arsenal type player?!!
Onto Anthony Taylor- that man is an absolute disgrace of a ref. He looks absolutely clueless and half the time, he simply is guessing. A lot of wrong decisions went against us- the Sanchez ‘foul’ on the halfway line being the biggest howler- but a couple of important ones went against Liverpool as well. Flamini (stud on a Liverpool player) should have been booked and Bellerin should certainly have been given a second yellow. And when Welbeck raced clear, he stopped play because Henderson was down for nothing (after clashing with a Liverpool player!). Now I don’t think this man has an agenda against us- he is simply a hopeless and incompetent referee!
TailGunner
Its really a shit of a site. I wonder how these aaa thrive with so much negativity. I would die of sadness if I follow that part.
Arsenal! what more can I say, beautiful team, fantastic goals, classy players, exquisite display of talents, I can go on and on with so many adjectives. Giroud, 7 goals in last 6 PL games. Our ‘SHIT’ striker is on fire. How about Ozil, so many fantastic torches (passes and dribbles) I lost count. So proud of the team today. Happy Easter Arsenal.
Just wondering if the press will berate L/pool as they did Arsenal last season.
hrishi,
Just imagine us fans having faith in and supporting our players the way Arsene Wenger does? It is easy to support and praise a player with 6 in 6 but the height of support is letting him lead your team’s attack after games like Monaco @ home.
It is funny to read how you disagree with the comparison of Giroud with Henry and in the next couple of sentences, you did exactly the same thing.
Untold Arsenal and its regulars will always support our players and manager in good and bad times but more importantly, in the bad times.
opps sorry posted that on wrong site lol thats why its off topic funny but off topic
@Tailgunner
I wouldn’t describe the Le Groan article as “very positive about us” – there are some barbs in that article and it seemed designed to prompt some of the boneheaded comments that turned up later.
Also – must disagree with you about Taylor – there were some disgraceful decisions in the second half where he repeatedly let the Dippers get away with stopping attacks by fouling.
Jake
Go Stoke!
thanks Gord: I think there are too many ‘reasonable’ Arsenal fans. the media, referees and pundits play on our perpetual critical stance on this great club and one Arsene Wenger. Like you point out, Keown is now partaking of this act. A supporter is an advocate, and all Gunners may take a leaf from Liverpool in this regard. How many times did that Anthony Taylor of an official stop the flow of our game today? But the stadium was rocking and the players reciprocated. Our fans fought back, and I am sure other refs took note. What a little yelling can do.
bjtgooner
I suppose Pedro/Peter of Le Grove couldn’t really be his usual acid self considering our recent form. The comments section is truly the pits though. You can tell how poor a blog is when the first few comments are “1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc” There are people who actually wait until he posts at various times of the day to be first commenter. How sad is that that they have nothing better to do with their miserable lives but wait for a blog to come online, but I notice he’s slung some of the more objectionable ones off recently, so things may be improving.
Have any of the mathematicians worked out when St Totteringham’s day is yet?
I was at the game & anyone who says the referee wasn’t too bad needs an intelligence test. Taylor cheated all game. He ignored fouls by Liverpool players particularly Sterling who was holding Mertesaker most of the time. He did the same to Bellerin. He should have been booked several times yet he got away with a dive for a penalty. The advantage rule is cleverly abused by Taylor giving advantage where a free kick would have been preferable. He also stopped play when he had no good reason apart from Riley’s orders. Taylor actually lifted one Liverpool player after he had fouled an Arsenal attack. I was just waiting to see if he was going to kiss him. He & his assistants cheated us all game but despite that we rodgered Liverpool 4 – 1.
So up yours PGMO & all those who applaud your idiots.
From Arsenal.com
It looks (trying to read a twit) like Hector is working at getting two feet.
> RT @pumafootball: @HectorBellerin Looks like training with the left footed ball is paying off. Good work.
Hint, hint Mr. Gibbs. 🙂
There was a twit there from Aaron, he is happy getting a couple of assists today.
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Go Stoke!
ahh crap
@Bootomee,
Absolutely agree with you. There is a reason I read (and, of late, comment on) Untold and that is a refusal jump on the bandwagon.
While I did not expect Giroud to start against Everton (after Monaco), I wasn’t calling out the manager/ player when he did start. There was even a moment in that game early on- when ‘Na Na Na Giroud’ followed a Giroud miss- and I absolutely loved it.
Don’t get me wrong- not being convinced by Giroud is certainly not a synonym for hounding him out. He was, to me, a good(ish) striker- where I remained unconvinced was his ability to score consistently, stand out when the team hasn’t really played well and score when he has no right to. Those concerns have slowly been addressed by seven in six, Newcastle (away) and today’s game (respectively). Of course, like every football fan, I have opinions (right or wrong) about the quality of a player and I am willing enough (and glad, in Giroud’s case) to revise that. No definitive judgements but honest attempts at objective analysis.
Onto Giroud-Henry comparisons and my apparent inconsistency. I disagree with Untold’s usual goals/game comparisons because:
Giroud moved here when he was 26 (peak time) and Henry when he was 22.
Henry, early in his Arsenal career, played in a 4-4-2 where the responsibility to score was shared and Giroud as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1.
Giroud’s reliance on decent service to score. (Should I take that back after today?)
I could not resist comparing him this time because Giroud did something that Henry did not in his entire Arsenal career. Of course, such a stat does not imply much about their relative abilities- just thought it was worth mentioning.
8th win in a row…
Come on gunners.. 9 more and we do the double.
come on stoke you £$%£’S
what arsenal 13 said 🙂
Chelsea manage to play shit again, and still win. @#%@$#!
BTW, our average points per game is now more than 2 points per game after 31 games. That is quite impressive!
I’ll always defer to those who actually attended a game, but as for an intelligence test I had a Mensa IQ test some years back and scored 147, which put me in the top 15% brain wise. So from my armchair point of view I thought Taylor was Ok, although I did note he missed Sterling’s dive, and bringing play back for no reason on the live blog earlier. He got the cards & penalty decisions right and let play continue when possible..
On this blog it’s obligatory to scream cheat at most of the officials, so I’ll leave it there.
Too drunk to write more than this…wonder why!! 🙂
Re Taylor, he certainly gave Liverpool the benefit of many 50:50s (and worse) in the 2nd half – but Bellerin could have walked for the penalty. However I thought he got all the important decisions right (subject to upcoming ref review). And, let’s be honest, I think we would have all accepted a performance like that ahead of time? Easily Taylor’s best performance in an Arsenal game for at least 2 years. I even conceived the word “exemplary” at the end of the first half!
Tailgunner,
I’m not quite sure why someone as sharp as yourself has to justify your intelligence level to bloggers that are such simpletons they scream at refs. Care to elaborate?
Thanks Walter.
@Pete
Yes Bellerin could have walked once the pen was given but it was never a penalty. Watch it again and you will see Sterling play for it, drag his feet into Bellerin and dive. It is typical of the cheat (many of them at Liverpool). He seems to have practiced it to be that good at cheating to get penalties. I can only assume it is something Liverpool work on in training.
Tailgunner – you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. What you saw was broadcast. Many things go on on the pitch that are not broadcast. Alexis was fouled from behind when bearing in on a good goal scoring attack and everyone saw it but Taylor. There were lots of off the ball incidents that are ignored by officials & broadcasters.
Critical selective vision is the prerogative of the few who have direct impact on the game. As a punter I can only complain after the fact. There are too many fans who allow cheating to pass by unseen. It costs us victories & robs us of fame. Fans chant ‘you don’t know what you’re doing!’ when in actual fact the official is cheating knowingly. Taylor has robbed us of points that cost millions.
I am a simple old man who loves the game. I’ve played this game barefoot & with boots, so I know the feel of the ball. It is a beautiful game & is being ruined by cheats & greed.
@Menace
April 4, 2015 at 8:33 pm
You are spot on friend!
and by the way Menace I too have played barefoot and boots with wooden (nailed in) studs!! 🙂 pretty painful when the nails start coming into the foot 🙂 🙂
TailGunner, for me every day is St Totteringham’s day 😉
You should check out the website http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~mikepitt/totteringham.html as it’s a comprehensive coverage of St Totteringham’s day and Mike usually updates it quite frequently as the day gets closer.
@Jayram,
I’m assuming you weren’t sarcastic on your last post (8:14). Considering your argument, it would pretty much rule out half of all penalties given these days, especially if you’re using that for today’s incident. The fouled player could always be seen as ‘dragging his feet into the fouling player and diving’. Let us not make every decision that does not favour us wrong- it dilutes the strength of our argument. Unless Bellerin got to the ball before Sterling (I was pretty sure he didn’t), that was a clear penalty and yellow card (no 2nd yellow leniency applicable).
What a shame that Arsenal’s lack of ambition allowed tactical genius Rodgers to sign Balotelli.
apo Those were the days when referees had to check the boots in case a nail was poking out. Those were real boots. These days they play with studded slippers.
Menace
Fair enough
Someone was asking about St.Totteringham’s Day. If Arsenal lose just enough games, it could go to the end of the season. At this point, the most Tottenham can finish with is 77 points. The soonest Arsenal can be above 77 is May 17 (against ManU). They are 25 behind on goal difference. It is unlikely they will catch that up with 8 games remaining. If Spurs lose points against Burnley, possibly a little sooner.
It’s too early yet to worry about.
Im just glad to know how high Tailgunners IQ apparently is. Phew! Was just about to ask how high it was after that comment, so im glad youve cleared that up for everyone!
@Jammy J
I wonder what level of IQ is required to enable the average fan, having observed a series of fouls, to correctly interpret what he/she has seen? 🙂
Off to get my IQ checked then 🙂
Menace; Good ol ‘bleeding’ days 😉
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150404/per-bellerin-gives-us-great-energy
If you look at the picture in this article you clearly see two very dissapointe faces and one of them is not Bellerin split seconds after he scored 😉
I just think that we can just all agree that tailgunners opinions are now 100% bonafide facts as we are all aware of his superior intellect to us mere mortals :D.
Please, anyone else in the future be sure to share with us your IQ level before stating an opinion so we know whether to blow it off as complete drivel or undisputed genius.
I think Tailgunner is doing himself a disservice. An IQ of 147 equates to the top 0.1% of the population…
More on-topic:
A couple of observations today.
1. This is the first time for a long time when we have played a team with more 1st team likely starters unavailable (Thinking Skrtel and Sturridge unavailable for them against Debuchy for us).
2. Per earlier comment, for once I don’t think we were shafted in terms of important refereeing decisions.
I hate to say I told you so (and I haven’t even told you my IQ 😉 ) but the correlation between injuries and results is extremely strong. If we can just keep our squad (bolstered by the soon to return Debuchy, Wilshre, Arteta, Ox and… just possibly… Diaby. Szcz is also injured but unclear how long for) more or less intact next season, without the distraction of a major international tournament to knacker them beforehand, we will be in a fantastically strong position.
I would suggest favourites for the PL and, given decent draws and the rub of the green, could go deep into the CL too.
Perhaps a PL expected return of around 86 points – although strongly dependent on player health. 86 points is – coincidentally (I just looked it up) – the average points tally of the PL champions.
could have been 8-0
and my Mensa IQ was 160 at 16. Might have gone down now… looked like a penalty must watch sterling dive again he should have got a yellow card for dive earlier!
Walter I dont know if u are gonna read this, but I would really love it if u wrote an article about Our Squad now and how it can be a problem that it is TOO GOOD and TOO BIG… They (the media) has always complained about Our lack of Depth, but where are they now when we dont have Space for players like Arteta, Wilshere, Diaby, Debuchy (although he will start when fit) or Chambers not even on the bench ??? Does any team in the Premier League even come Close to Our Squad now when u talk about strength in Depth ?
IQ doesn’t measure what people think it does. I’ve taken some IQ tests, where in places I get very low scores. Most other places I score high. I have autism, my brain doesn’t work the same as most people’s. Having autism, I have problems with social interaction. Gee, what kinds of questions have me scoring low?
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Seen by the referee or not, I think penalization after the fact for simulation (diving) is something that should be allowed in all football associations.
The football association in question, can consider as much evidence as is available, as many times as they want before issuing a ruling. But this has to be an all or nothing ruling. They either review all suspected simulation events, or none. There is nothing to be gained from looking at some.
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I think Moaninho has been caught in a mistake. I think Chelsea has known for a while that Costa needs surgery, but to get surgery rules him out for the season. Spain (?) noticed this. After today, Costa seems likely to miss Chelsea’s game against Arsenal. Moaninho made a decision quite a while ago, and has stuck to it. It is likely he was wrong. At this point, about 13 nanoseconds after the season ends, Chelsea will probably announce that Costa is going for surgery, and is likely to miss the beginning of next season.
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Now is all that is important. (MBA’s, people in finance, …)
I won’t underestimate Liverpool should we face them in the cup, but think they are done for in the top four after today, indeed think,their league season could go into free fall. Stirling contract issues, suspensions, injuries, apparently Ballotelli refused to travel due to a minor knock.
Just seen the goals again on motd, very very impressive. Our team really is on the up
When common sense is measured it will be done in English. The PGMO will have 99%. In todays match there was a corner a meter away from the assistant where the ball was placed outside the quadrant (selective vision was at work). The ‘all of the ball over all of the line’ is being abused anywhere on the field of play. The corner must be taken from inside the quadrant.
Football needs a reality check starting with the FA; followed by FIFA & UEFA. The Laws need to be revised so that they cover professional football in a clear easily interpreted way. There are post match decisions that are not covered in the Laws. The entire Game must be enshrined within the Laws. The amateur game needs a set of Laws that can be governed without technology.
The Game is different when it involves high tempo & large volumes of finance.
Menace
I agree with you that rewriting things would be useful. I disagree in the aspect of offside, that it is possible to write an offside law that is unambiguous.
It is a much easier task to detect if some of a body crosses a line, than it is to detect if all of a body crosses a line. In the case of goals, it is common for views along the line to be blocked by players for goals under argument. I can produce examples where a goal should or shouldn’t be given, when any amount of instrumentation currently allowed is ambiguous.
The last time I took referee training, was when the law changed from behind to even. We’ve got mechanics, teachers, painters and what not in the class and me. I wanted to look into long hair, large noses, where the wrists are and similar things, and everyone else just wanted to get done with the class and go home.
I decided to not bring up more questions.
I am quite convinced, it is not possible to write an unambiguous offside law.
—
Joey Barton getting into the news about someone’s foul on him not being a red card. No player should be allowed to say whether any person’s foul on them is SERIOUS FOUL PLAY for the simple reason that almost always they lack the point of view to make the judgement. That Joey Barton has poor judgement is secondary.
Or rather, players can say what they want, it is a free society. Officials and discipline committees should disregard those statements as the player almost never has a valid point of view (physically, not metaphorically). If a player continues to express that opinion to a referee, it should be a yellow card.
Joey Barton should never published his opinion, it is irrelevant! If Joey Barton continues to push his opinion, he should be suspended for games.
Sexism
The NCAA (USA) recently had a 3 point competition in basketball. Both men and women play basketball in NCAA. They found a men’s champion (from Canada). They found a women’s champion (from Canada). Might as well find a champion, eh!?
Congratualions Cassandra Brown! NCAA 3 point champion!
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/canadian-woman-wins-ncaa-three-point-contest-against-men-1.2311860
Now we need to start seeing this in football.
That goal from the woman in Ireland was not a fluke. On a skills basis, women are at least as capable as the men. In football, or many other things.
You Go Girl!
Menace
I borrowed your 6:47pm. Pardon me.
Seen the goals again on motd, will be difficult to pick a standout from the bunch. Think all four will be contenders for goal of the month.
I have always questioned tailgunner’s motives; always goes against the general consensus and will defend even the most inept refereeing. He’s proven it again today(and yesterday while everyone was agreeing the notion Liverpool could be deemed as a footballing super power was nonsense, he was seeing things differently from everybody else, always does). I don’t know why (seriously 🙂 ) but he reminds me of Rupert Cook, complete with the phraseology.
How to be a Football Journalist
Visit the team websites. Copy articles from those websites (ignore the note at the bottom about attribution). Pick sentences out of article and put in your article. Publish (without acknowledging source).
If none of the sentences will bring in advertising, look up synonyms of words. Try substituting most extreme (least accurate) synonyms. If that will sell publishing for your news site, publish it. Do not acknowledge source).
Al (others)
The tying goal against Chelsea by Adams was supposed to be spectacular. I remember scoring a goal myself from the half line, but it bounced once. I also remember a shot striking the join of upright and cross bar from 40m which had the goaltender helpless. For me, those shots do come. How often can one be successful from that distance?
—
There is Mesut’s goal. I had presumed that Mesut noticed the goaltender was far to the “wrong side” with a wall not placed far enough the other direction. I have seen a couple of pictures of Mesut’s foot after the shot. His foot is not oriented to get maximum spin on the ball. What trajectory did his free kick take into the net?
Koscielny coming off
By reports, Gabriel is not (yet) fluent in English, but has been working with the team longer.
How to Gabriel do after coming on to replace Koscielny?
Is he working well with Mertesacker?
Sports Journalism
It is easy to say that Arsenal had a slow start to the season, rather than to say that referees at the beginning of the season allowed opposition players to injure Arsenal players.
Now that Arsenal has close to a full roster, what is happening?
PGMO and Mike Riley 😈 are CROOKS! All they do is cheat!
From a picture here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3025492/Arsenal-4-1-Liverpool-Hector-Bellerin-Mesut-Ozil-Alexis-Sanchez-strike-half-blitz-Olivier-Giroud-s-clincher-leave-Brendan-Rodgers-four-hopes-tatters.html
I would suggest that Giroud is not _competing_ with Sanchez for most goals. Giroud wants to score and Sanchez wants to score, and they will help each other. What is important is that Arsenal score!
Some of you watched the game. Try replaying the game in your head while reading this:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2015/04/04/isnt-it-about-time-to-quit-talking-of-mesut-ozil-as-an-enigma/
Arsenal has had to ask many to stand in at center back, none responded like the Forbes article presents for Liverpool. Wonderful article. Please read all 3 pages.
Arsenal is blessed. Except the idiotic PGMO have been paid off to let some other team win.
—
What seems to happen, is that any article is _ONE_ point. And hence talking about a game usually fails, because it cannot be boiled down to a single point.
Except for the idiots in the aaa, who only want Wenger to go away. Gibraltar scored against Scotland. Please, find another team to support instead of this endless bitching about Arsenal. Gibraltar needs fans. Support them.
@Menace, your views of refs are so lopsided I wonder if you watch games from a boat in a force ten gale. Blatant penalty as Bellerin took Sterling’s ankles. Between bias and balance I know which one you favour.
The usual “ref’s a cheat and wants us to lose” comments after a very convincing win (see the cognitive dissonance there?) should give a clear indication of those on here who are devotees of the X Files.
Anyway it was a fine performance, my only quibble being that we didn’t smash them 5-1 to avenge that humiliating defeat last season. Notwithstanding that we played some scintillating stuff and scored four cracking goals with four different scorers. And we have players coming back though I hope Ramsey hasn’t joined the dwindling injured ranks.
Al
You’re wrong about my views re the “superpower” article. I completly agreed with Tony and said at the end that Liverpool are no longer a superpower so I don’t know why you lie over that.
I don’t think I’ve actually engaged with anyone over referees (I might have but can’t think of any instances) as I prefer to keep my comments on the issue seperate to avoid any conflicts, but it’s sometimes difficult when others want to debate it, but I try to be unprovocative.
Everyone has a view and mine is that our referees may not be 100%, but I don’t think they are consciously cheating, and thought Taylor was Ok yesterday. If he had been a bit more consistent he might have given a second yellow to Bellarin for the trip on Sterling (for the penalty), and a yellow to Sterling for an earlier dive.
I won’t disagree with any of the people here that there is plenty wrong with PGMO and that Riley needs replacing.
Ironically it might be a good thing if corruption is discovered .
Tailgunner
Maybe I didn’t articulate my point across very well. Ok, I come to a new thread, read the thread and get to the comments section. Most of the comments will be mainly agreeing with and/or adding a different view to the subject under discussion. Usually if the discussion is about something bad about an official, people who run football etc you can be sure most will be condemning the thing everyone will be talking about. But when I get to your comment you usually go “yes, but to be fair to abc…. ” In the end your comment comes across as defending that action or person. An example;
– Phil Neville says he’d two foot Rosicky if he’d done that to him. Everyone condemns neville for saying that but a typical comment from you will be something like ‘but to be fair to Phil anyone can see he’s being tongue in cheek….’
Nothing wrong with holding a different opinion or view, mind you, but when it’s so consistent from the same individual then some of us cynics will start thinking there’s something that’s not quite right.
Unfortunately the way this site is now laid out means it’s not so easy to pull old articles out but I swear I could go back and find five or 10 threads where everyone would be saying the ref was biased there, and you’ll be coming up with your usual ‘I thought he was ok, to be fair he was unsighted… ‘ I can’t exactly recall what exactly happened but I think two or three weeks back you apologised for getting something wrong after people roundly told you you were wrong, and I remember chuckling to myself thinking you got yourself in this situation due to your over-eagerness to defend refs. One can see you’re doing it again on this thread; you’re probably the only person who thought taylor had a game apart from one or two mistakes while everyone else agrees that was some biased refereeing. Anyway, it’s a free world and everyone is entitled to their view, and by that token I’ll call out any comments I deem to be a little on the disingenious side.
Al
Yes, my opinions often differ from others, and wouldn’t it be a dull place if we were all “nodding dogs”, and as you say I’m open to correction and am big enough to put my hand up when wrong.
Didn’t think much of your Phil Neville example though, you can’t really think I’d say that can you.
Oh yes, and Rupert Cook. Hmm, I’ll have to think on that one.
@Gord
re Gabriel – I thought he was excellent yesterday – (mind you I have not had my IQ checked recently!! 🙂
re PGMO – agree there appears to be considerable incompetence and also bias, giving the impression it is directed in such a way that the term “control” comes to mind – the desire to control the outcome of the EPL each season either to favor certain clubs to the detriment of others and/or to accommodate the wishes of betting outfits.
@AL
I don’t think TailGunner is Rupert Cook, agree there are some similarities, but Rupert whinges even more and only tends to appear here to stir it when we have a bad result. We would need Rupert’s IQ to make a full comparison – could it match up to that of TailGunner? 🙂
Tailgunner
I remember now, this was when someone trolled finsbury on a thread about Diaby and others a few days ago. While everyone was quick to say finsbury would never say such harsh things about Diaby you went something like ‘oh I think finsbury is just being sarcastic, I had a long running argument with him here and he’d lots of positive things to say about Diaby then…’ Of course you later realised this wasn’t the finsbury you thought you’d been talking about, but the cynic in me tells me you were prepared to defend finsbury’s views on this day because he, according to you, seemed to have some particularly unkind words for Diaby on this particular day (based on the nature of both you and finsbury’s comments I doubt you do find common ground often; you even confirm this by referring to a long running argument you once had with finsbury).
Tailgunner
We need diverse opinions, I agree. Just that you do come across as being on the ‘other side’s too often….
Bjt
Would be nice to know how Mr Cook’s IQ measures up against tailgunner’s 🙂
Just watched the replay of our match yesterday, and I know Michael Owen isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but I couldn’t believe it when he shouted ‘he meant it! He meant it!’ to Ozil’s free kick. What else could Ozil have been trying to do, Mr owen, other than stick that ball into the net???
Al
That IQ comment of mine was just a bit of fun in response to Menace saying anyone who thinks that Taylor had a good match need an “intelligence test”.
You didn’t notice my mistake, but in the haste to get the comment out (and using a virtual keyboard with just my fingers ) I hit 147 instead of the correct 125, and too late to correct it.
Tailgunner
Ok, fair enough. Just looking at my keyboard 2 isn’t next to 4, nor is 7 next to 5, but I guess that’s what happens when you have a super high IQ? Jokes. But 125 is still pretty high tho.
Anyway, enough about super high IQs and back to football; Phil Neville thinks sterling wouldn’t be good enough for any of the top four sides, amazing how a single result can change people’s perceptions. Only last week he was being hailed as the next supersta, I’m not saying he is or isn’t, but just found it interesting how Phil was quick to change his view after the pasting we gave them.
I’m sure Phil might even add that there was nothing special about our performance yesterday, after all it was only Liverpool….
Al
Not as bad as Hanson saying Dennis Bergkamp’s wonder goal against Newcastle wasn’t great because it was “only against Dabizas”
Tailgunner
“Everyone has a view and mine is that our referees may not be 100%, but I don’t think they are consciously cheating”
If you believe that can you explain how the Untold Referee reviews show a consistent negative bias against Arsenal, over many seasons, whether reviewed by experts of an Arsenal persuasion, or otherwise?
-Do you think the reviewers are biased?
Another thing is that, yes, the reviews are subjective, but penalty and card ‘statistics’ are not. They are matters of fact, and they both show Arsenal to be harshly treated.
Taken over a number of seasons:
-We have the worst penalties for/against correlation than all our direct competitors.
-We get more cards per foul than anyone.
Both these facts seem to support the Untold contention that the referees are indeed biased against, or indeed cheating against Arsenal.
You seem to disagree. Why?
WOO HOO , HOO ! Have yet to see the game as I was away , but saw the highlights …..and man ! Awesome !
Up the Gunners !
Smart arses-
Q: How do you embarrass an archeologist?
A: Give him a used tampon and ask him which period it came from.
The Punk Rocker:
An old guy is sitting on a bus when a punk rocker gets on. The punk rocker’s mohawk is red, green, yellow and orange. He has feather earrings.
When he sees the old man staring at him, the punk rocker says, “What’s the matter old man? Didn’t you ever do anything wild when you were a young guy?”
The old guy says in reply “Yeah. One time I screwed a peacock. I thought maybe you were my kid.”
Well, we are 2 points closer to St.Totteringham’s Day! Spurs got the scoreless draw against Burnley.
Brickfields, I wonder how many other ancient manuscripts have potions with efficacy?
—
There are still young people with the multi-colour mohawks around, but another group tends to wear dark, plain knit hats (like a close fitting Canadian toque, but without the ball) all the time. Even if it is 40C outside, they are still wearing those dumb hats. I think one of the names for this group is “Ned”.
Yesterday before I went to sleep, I thought I noticed a new article at the BBC. I looked at it this morning, and it has an internal headline of:
> Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Ryan Mason ‘proof of English talent’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32181836
I guess Tottenham, led by Kane and Mason was showing us that talent today against Burnley. I wonder if they are going to publish a DVD on this game?
It will be interesting to see if Spurs keep all this talent in trying to build a new stadium.
I don’t think Kane is off to Real Madrid, after Ronaldo scoring 5 in a game today, but maybe Munich?
Here’s an article about a couple of up and coming referees.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/mar/28/premier-league-referees
@ Gord – I should think that there must be thousands – each one claiming that their potions are the best solutions .
Very much like the commentators here who claim to be geniuses.
Is this a Mensa approved question ?
http://www.highmack.com/common-core-math-is-just-terrible/
I think I’ll call it a night ! Bye .
http://www.highmack.com/just-keep-scrolling-cats-lost-mind/
Sorry, I’m not a cat person. I think cats and pit bulls should be introduced to a friend of mine, wolverine.
—
The dumb things that end up in the news. Metro has an article about some thread on twitter. A twit on twitter, said in a twit, that he would cut his dick off if Ozil scored (when he then did). And in a follow-up twit, changed Ozil to Giroud. Who also scored.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/05/unlucky-liverpool-fan-has-to-cut-penis-off-after-mesut-ozil-arsenal-bet-goes-badly-wrong-5136147/
I wonder where his brain is?
jambug
“you seem to disagree. Why?”
Look, I don’t want to offend you but it’s my right to disagree.
I’ve said I don’t think refs cheat us and I stand by that.It’s an opinion, that’s all.
I think they are often wrong but not deliberately..
The reviews are quite accurate, but I can’t see how they prove bias as they only monitor our matches. If someone were to do a more thorough one for the whole of the league then they might be more revealing.
If the match assessors findings were published we might get an idea of anything that was going on, but we only have ex refs opinions and not many of those.
I guess the young man that led Arsenal out yesterday, was not from London, or even England.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/football-soccer/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=11428257
Sport360 has a longish article on the origins of the Premier League.
http://sport360.com/article/english-premier-league/35019/inside-story-how-premier-league-changed-english-football
@ Gord – not a cat person ? This may change your mind about other dogs too !
http://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=14954&memberid=763708
Brickfields
The one about catnip. You seen the post of mine about what they are smoking at Anfield? I said a particular kind of morning glory. One of the compounds in that family of plants, is a relative of LSD.
There is a whole bunch of other things in the plant as well. People really shouldn’t go smoking, making tea, … out of strange plants anyway. No telling if something else is above toxic levels, just to get the “buzz” off something else which may be there.
@ Gord – Did read that article and was thinking maybe those old vine creeper plants growing around Enfield ( an old and decrepit building ,which would be a suitable habitat !) were of this genus . That would explain the strange comments emanating from the equally creepy chairman , manager , Jamie Carrager and their fans .
Also was disappointed this morning with my showing in this ‘medical quiz’.
Read on and try it for yourself.
SELF EXAMINATION FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE….
It takes less than 15 seconds..
If you are over 55 yrs old, you SHOULD take this Alzheimer’s Test
How fast can you guess these words and fill-in the blanks?
1. _ _NDOM
2. F_ _K
3. P_N_S
4. PU_S_
5. S_X
6. BOO_S
Answers: (below)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1. RANDOM
2. FORK
3. PANTS
4. PULSE
5. SIX
6. BOOKS
You got all 6 wrong…didn’t you? (yes I did too).
You do NOT have Alzheimer’s.
You are a Pervert…
From the Medical Division of UA – A strange case study . Instructions lost in translation .
http://faadooindia.com/2012/12/thats-correct-doctor-instruction-said-to-squeeze-toothpaste/
TailGunner
Why should I be offended?
I don’t get offended because people disagree with me.
I don’t get offended when people get insulting. Sticks and stones and all that.
I do get offended when people try to put words in my mouth.(not saying you have)
And where have I disputed your right to an opinion?
Surely just disagreeing with you, or asking you to expand on what is behind your point of view is not denying your right to that opinion is it?
I have offered my opinion that the Referees ARE cheating Arsenal, and to back my opinion I offer statistics.
The Penalties for and against bias. These are facts.
The Yellow Cards ratio. These are facts.
The Untold Reviews. These are subjective
But regarding the refereeing assessments, I don’t understand what else you need.
Surely to show a bias for or against Arsenal, Arsenal have to be involved?
You say, “The reviews are quite accurate” and those reviews you consider ‘quite accurate’ show a CLEAR bias AGAINST Arsenal, in a massive percentage of our matches yet you deny a bias against Arsenal. You cant have it both ways.