GWT: PL Matchweek (mostly) 21

AB13

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Apr 29, 2019
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Who was better during that time? Maybe Xavi ( but he was better a few years later) or Gerrard, but probably not. Fabregas has extreme end product though, depends on what skillset you value. It is in no way a ridiculous claim saying Fabregas was the best.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

In the hands of Genius
Aug 8, 2006
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Who was better during that time? Maybe Xavi ( but he was better a few years later) or Gerrard, but probably not. Fabregas has extreme end product though, depends on what skillset you value. It is in no way a ridiculous claim saying Fabregas was the best.
It's absolutely ludicrous. Considering Xavi/Iniesta to be extremely lazy won a treble and won WC/euros. When Cesc wasn't even a starter in both those competitions.
 

TheMoreYouKnow

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May 3, 2007
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I would assume that in your mind, Ozil took straight over from Fabregas as best midfielder in the world. What's funny about that is that in your mind Arsenal had the best midfielder in the world for most of these years yet never won the league or a major European trophy. And in spite of that, you think the manager you had at that time was also a genius. I don't know how this all adds up, but you should probably have spent more time watching football teams other than Arsenal over the years.
 
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Power Man

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Sep 30, 2008
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I think it happen when they release the game in their played games.

I was at 55th minute reviewing and my stream stopped and gave me another video. I came to the game and it put me back at the 55th minute.

I guess it was just a small glitch on their side and not commercial.
Ah ok , yup could be a glitch
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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Gerrard was also considered to be better than Fabregas with 24 goals from midfield. And not by a little bit either.
 

The Abusement Park

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Leeds is 4 points off Tottenham, Chelsea (Blues having played one more game) and Everton (one less game).
And still some people on HFBoards think attacking at all cost is a recipe for disaster.
It's not that. I just find it weird how much love Bielsa gets every single game regardless of the result. I mean when they got battered by United NBC was just drooling over Leeds even though they were getting smoked. I respect the system and think it's great but the love for the system is a little too much sometimes.
 

robertmac43

Forever 43!
Mar 31, 2015
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It's not that. I just find it weird how much love Bielsa gets every single game regardless of the result. I mean when they got battered by United NBC was just drooling over Leeds even though they were getting smoked. I respect the system and think it's great but the love for the system is a little too much sometimes.
Bielsa is media invincible. It's hilarious.
 

Evilo

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Mar 17, 2002
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Or rather people realize that Bielsa is defeating the constant idea that a team needs to defend when facing a superior opponent.
Even when they lost to United, they continued to attack until the 90th.
Yesterday against Leicester they didn't bunker down to keep their lead.
No they pressed high and played to score another.
Bielsa understands the concept of pleasure and fun of a GAME.

It's sad that so many, including fans here, have lost the plot on this.
 
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AB13

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Apr 29, 2019
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I would assume that in your mind, Ozil took straight over from Fabregas as best midfielder in the world. What's funny about that is that in your mind Arsenal had the best midfielder in the world for most of these years yet never won the league or a major European trophy. And in spite of that, you think the manager you had at that time was also a genius. I don't know how this all adds up, but you should probably have spent more time watching football teams other than Arsenal over the years.
Özil was not the best midfielder in the world at Arsenal for long, but he was in 2015-2016. At Real Madrid, he probably was the best for a year or two. The reason we did not win the biggest titles can be attributed to a few factors. We lacked powerful and tactically disciplined players in defence and defensive midfield after we moved to the Emirates and Vieira, Gilberto and Campbell left. These sorts of players are sometimes necessary to win titles. That is the main reason.

I also believe there was a prevalent bias against Arsenal from the FA. I've actually seen one of the indexes used to measure the effect of refs. Can’t remember where, but you can probably find it. From around 2005, Wenger was cost minimum 10-15 points a season by referees. That doesn't even consider dynamic effects like confidence. Internally, Arsenal knew of the factors going against him. He became stubborn and didn't buy powerful and tactically disciplined players. Wenger needed battlers in his side to get over this. They even manipulated fixture lists against his teams which is why the Invincibles just won the PL for example ( seriously, look that up). The players did even more than they should have all things considered. This anti-Arsenal bias started by Wenger calling out referees many times in interviews, and was made much worse by him saying ” Manchester United would be mid table if there was video reviews of refereeing calls” in 2005.

This sounds crazy, and I probably should not believe it, but I do because I want to.
 
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AB13

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Apr 29, 2019
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Gerrard was also considered to be better than Fabregas with 24 goals from midfield. And not by a little bit either.

The season Gerrard scored 24 from midfield in all competitions, he had 16 goals and 11 assists in the league, in 34 games. The season after, Fabregas had 15 goals and 15 assists in just 27 games. So Fabregas had 3 more goal contributions in 7 less games in the league in their peak seasons. Fabregas also had the same amount of goal contributions as Gerrard in his best season in less games in 07/08. Not saying goals and assists are the best way to judge a midfielder, but the stats favour Fabregas, not Gerrard.
 

JeffreyLFC

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Sep 29, 2017
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Has Solskjaer also weighed in on this?

Van Dijk foul on De Gea: VAR saves Man Utd, but was it the right call?

The point is the rules regarding VAR are terribly inconsistent. I am all in to protect the goalkeepers and obvious interference calls should be called. IMO if a goalkeeper decide to go for the ball and miss because a player is in the way, it should not be called a foul. If the goalkeeper go for the ball get the ball and then get hit on purpose and lose the ball that should be called.

In term or United I understood why both decision were made although the Ramsey fumble was weak and should have counted as a goal. I disagree that the Sheffield United goal should not have counted, there was no foul on the play.
 

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Savant

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Only Liverpool fans could feel slighted by someone else being a bigger victim of injustice than them.
No one is feeling slighted. It’s just very obvious inconsistency and there are plenty of receipts. Also know what you are doing with the victim thing and am not going to take the bait there. I just think it’s funny you have a ref admitting that Man Utd got biased treatment not to long ago, and now you are going out of your way to try to show the opposite. It’s really insecure.
 

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