GWT: EPL - Matchweek 36 (Ft. MW 25)

[al secord]

I really do not want to see that beautiful Scottish Argentinian in a scouse kit.

 

[hatterson]

Saka, I don't care if hes better up the pitch. Sometimes you gotta survive.

Saka at right back would get roasted way more often defensively if he's in a back 4. And if you go to a back 5 that means rolling out Rob Holding again which doesn't seem a great idea if you want to increase your defensive resistance.

 

[les Habs]

Arsenal is going to have problems repeating even this season unless they add a bit more depth through transfers. Knocked out in the FA and league cups very early, and out in the Europa League in the round of 16, this allowed them to play their best lineup in most PL games.

Look at you advertising the Chelsea fire sale. Mudryk on loan to Arsenal with an option to buy for 25 million.

 

[Savant]

F***ing heartbroken. I can handle finishing 4th, 8th, or 15th but lead 98% of the season and lose is clearly the worst thing to ever happen to a team. And the "you have a great young and upcoming team" piss me the f*** off the most. Arsenal lost this more than City won it and that's what hurts.

I mean Arsenal bottled this but this is what City does. Said it months ago, it’s all fun and games until City go on a 20 game unbeaten run when the calendar turns over. You need to be (near) perfect to beat them

 

[S E P H]

I mean Arsenal bottled this but this is what City does. Said it months ago, it’s all fun and games until City go on a 20 game unbeaten run when the calendar turns over. You need to be perfect to beat them

Maybe we were punching above our weight the entire season, too many capitulated games again this season by us. Losing against Brighton by three goals on the home pitch is as unacceptable of a standard I could ever imagine.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Entering their game against Liverpool on April 9th, Arsenal had a 5 point lead at the top of the table and both them and City had 9 games left.

Since then Arsenal have earned only 9 points from 7 games (a 49 point season long pace), going 2-2-3

Massive choke job.

Ooof.

 

[hatterson]

I mean Arsenal bottled this but this is what City does. Said it months ago, it’s all fun and games until City go on a 20 game unbeaten run when the calendar turns over. You need to be (near) perfect to beat them

You don't have to be perfect though.

Since the beginning of February they lost to Everton, City, and Brighton and drew Brentford, Liverpool, West Ham, and Southampton.

They don't need to win all of those, they just need to not blow 2-0 leads against Liverpool and West Ham, not draw the worst team in the league, and not lose to relegation fighting Everton. They could still draw Brentford, lose to City, and lose to Brighton in the last ~1/4 of the season and they'd be at 90 points right now, 5 up on City.

 

[maclean]

F***ing heartbroken. I can handle finishing 4th, 8th, or 15th but lead 98% of the season and lose is clearly the worst thing to ever happen to a team. And the "you have a great young and upcoming team" piss me the f*** off the most. Arsenal lost this more than City won it and that's what hurts.

City very much won it. They've been perfect the last, what, three months? Arsenal definitely lost it as well, but they did that after losing their best defender plus another at the same time. It was pretty clear all year from the line-ups Arteta was rolling out that we had one good eleven and anything else was a massive step down, which could be seen whenever we played a Europe or Cup match. Even so, they did get me believing, I admit, but we've had at least a month to mentally prepare for second, and I'll take it. At least we don't risk losing our ambition.

Selfishly, I will add that I have weddings to go to the upcoming two weekends and it was going to be a bit of a logistical nightmare for me to see them. I actually almost turned one of them down

 

[S E P H]

Saka at right back would get roasted way more often defensively if he's in a back 4. And if you go to a back 5 that means rolling out Rob Holding again which doesn't seem a great idea if you want to increase your defensive resistance.

So what you're saying is that we keep having White get roasted by Mitoma?

 

[hatterson]

So what you're saying is that we keep having White get roasted by Mitoma?

I'm saying the other options are probably worse given the roster they have right now.

 

[Savant]

You don't have to be perfect though.

Since the beginning of February they lost to Everton, City, and Brighton and drew Brentford, Liverpool, West Ham, and Southampton.

They don't need to win all of those, they just need to not blow 2-0 leads against Liverpool and West Ham, not draw the worst team in the league, and not lose to relegation fighting Everton. They could still draw Brentford, lose to City, and lose to Brighton in the last ~1/4 of the season and they'd be at 90 points right now, 5 up on City.

You need to be near perfect to go over 90. Ferguson used to say you could lose 5 games and still win the league; and that was true when he was in charge. You can’t do that anymore if you want to challenge City

Maybe we were punching above our weight the entire season, too many capitulated games again this season by us. Losing against Brighton by three goals on the home pitch is as unacceptable of a standard I could ever imagine.

“Punching above weight” I was told repeatedly how this team was better or equal to the LFC teams that went over 90 points many times this season because of how Arsenal was pacing. So much for that

 

[al secord]

Thanks again to David Moyes for keeping Benrahma on the bench until the game was pretty much over. Genius, he is.

 

[hatterson]

You need to be near perfect to go over 90. Ferguson used to say you could lose 5 games and still win the league; and that was true when he was in charge. You can’t do that anymore if you want to challenge City

My point is that this year Arsenal did what they needed to do to set themselves up for the second half and be able to not have to do a "win the last 15 games" streak.

At the beginning of February Arsenal were 5 points up with an extra game in hand. Arsenal then proceeded to lose against Everton, draw Brentford, and then lose to City.

They managed to leave that stretch of games still 2 up with a game in hand because City also faltered and lost to Spurs and drew Forest.

Full credit to City for being perfect since then, but they did more than enough to let Arsenal win the title, Arsenal just choked really hard. Yea generally 5 losses won't get you the title any more, but it's not like you need to get 99 points to win every year either.

 

[KJS14]

Arsenal is going to have problems repeating even this season unless they add a bit more depth through transfers. Knocked out in the FA and league cups very early, and out in the Europa League in the round of 16, this allowed them to play their best lineup in most PL games.

You're not wrong that they need to add depth. But they already have depth up front and in the midfield. They really just need depth at CB and RB, and then add a starter in midfield (Rice / Caicedo) that pushes the depth down one peg.

It's not a coincidence that their worst stretch of games all season came after Saliba got hurt.

 

[KJS14]

And fully agreed that Arsenal bottled this weeks ago against West Ham, Liverpool, and Southampton. Not today, even though they looked putrid.

 

[al secord]

Who knew losing Potter would benefit BHA.

 

[Evilo]

Who knew losing Potter would benefit BHA.

The moment they signed De Zerbi.

 

[Power Man]

Thanks again to David Moyes for keeping Benrahma on the bench until the game was pretty much over. Genius, he is.

I think Moyes’ priority is the upcoming Europa conference thingy game

But yeah I agree, terrible coaching

 

[cgf]

Brighton - Union in the CL is going to be so much fun

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Thanks again to David Moyes for keeping Benrahma on the bench until the game was pretty much over. Genius, he is.

The entire squad was rotated for the UECL semi-final next week. Moyes is a moron, not sure if that makes the list why.

Although he’ll look like an all-time idiot if results don’t go their way and they go down because they didn’t chase that game.

 

[Savant]

My point is that this year Arsenal did what they needed to do to set themselves up for the second half and be able to not have to do a "win the last 15 games" streak.

At the beginning of February Arsenal were 5 points up with an extra game in hand. Arsenal then proceeded to lose against Everton, draw Brentford, and then lose to City.

They managed to leave that stretch of games still 2 up with a game in hand because City also faltered and lost to Spurs and drew Forest.

Full credit to City for being perfect since then, but they did more than enough to let Arsenal win the title, Arsenal just choked really hard. Yea generally 5 losses won't get you the title any more, but it's not like you need to get 99 points to win every year either.

Maybe? But again if you can’t go over 90 you can’t compete with City. This Arsenal team wasn’t ready to go over 90 so no reason to talk about 99

 

[cgf]

Maybe when Pep leaves the EPL can once again have a title race as competitive as the BuLi

 

[JPBolts]

 

[Power Man]

The Mahrez-Gundogan connection in the last couple of games has been pretty strong

 

[les Habs]

My point is that this year Arsenal did what they needed to do to set themselves up for the second half and be able to not have to do a "win the last 15 games" streak.

At the beginning of February Arsenal were 5 points up with an extra game in hand. Arsenal then proceeded to lose against Everton, draw Brentford, and then lose to City.

They managed to leave that stretch of games still 2 up with a game in hand because City also faltered and lost to Spurs and drew Forest.

Full credit to City for being perfect since then, but they did more than enough to let Arsenal win the title, Arsenal just choked really hard. Yea generally 5 losses won't get you the title any more, but it's not like you need to get 99 points to win every year either.

The beginning of February? You mean with half the season left and with over three months left? With two matches left to play against City? If you expected Arsenal to win the league from that point on, or any point on really, then that’s on you. Yes, they could and probably should have done better in some fixtures, but they lost to City twice during that stretch, which should be expected, and so there’s six of your eight points. Then you’ve got the key injuries during that run. And no, Arsenal wouldn’t have needed 99 points to win. In the end they probably would have only needed 95 points to win.