Playing City or Liverpool especially, you can't play Gabrielle AND Xhaka. Too much opportunity for a referee to decide the game. And yet again one has. I like Xhaka and feel he does get a harder time than due. But he's got no business playing in this team, he simply can't keep up with it.
Gabrielle can be his own kind of liability but he's only ended up sent off today because Xhaka being Xhaka fecked up momentum taking it to handbags drama instead of staying focused on putting the ball in the net.
The players both shoulder their blame but in a game this big, the manager should have had the good sense to not play both. City's win was pretty much guaranteed once he did. Because you got NO CHANCE of either player making it through 90 mins without giving a referee the chance to ask himself "Can I give him a Red."
The bloke just can't get out of his own stupid way. I wonder how long it'll take before he spots SIMPLE ass sh!t like "Don't play two card liability players Vs champs cos one WILL be sent off
Arteta Should Know Better
posted on 1/1/22
comment by Grand Cannon (U18697)
posted 30 seconds ago
Imo the ref was incompetent rather than biased. Saka escaped a yellow for celebrating his goal with the fans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Also should've been yellowed for a kick, meaning he was lucky to not be red carded.
posted on 1/1/22
comment by GregAli (U1192)
posted 15 minutes ago
How did ref decide the game?
City 15 shots to arsenal's 7
City 71% possession to arsenal's 29%.
Total domination and yet the gooners feel hard done by
----------------------------------------------------------------------
City's domination, and most of those shots and possession, started after Arsenal went down to ten men. Surely that's obvious?
posted on 1/1/22
comment by Admiral Ozil is my new favourite Star Wars character (U10178)
posted 5 minutes ago
Proud of a team that scuff up the penalty spot? Yes I would say it is fair to call the team that does that as what they are, cheats.
---
If you can't beat them join them you know that wasn't a penalty and your player chucked himself to the floor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
after being tripped and having his shirt pulled? Yes clearly he did.
posted on 1/1/22
The only stat arsenal dominated is fouls 13-5.
Proper dirty team
posted on 1/1/22
comment by bomdia (U13941)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Admiral Ozil is my new favourite Star Wars character (U10178)
posted 5 minutes ago
Proud of a team that scuff up the penalty spot? Yes I would say it is fair to call the team that does that as what they are, cheats.
---
If you can't beat them join them you know that wasn't a penalty and your player chucked himself to the floor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
after being tripped and having his shirt pulled? Yes clearly he did.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was so blatant he had to dive to add effect..
posted on 1/1/22
Arsenal were very hard done that the ref was able to adhere to the rules of the game
posted on 1/1/22
We literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. City were there for the taking.
posted on 1/1/22
No flags for either team but utter stupidity from two players. Xhaka is a liability, always has been, always will be. When did all this stupid scuffing the spot stuff start? The spot is so bit there's always a place to put it anyway or complain to get the groundsman to fill it with sand. Utter stupidity.
posted on 1/1/22
What the f are you talking about. Sharticle. Gabriel is our best defender, why wouldn't he play him? Also as much as I want an upgrade on Xhaka,. Xhaka has actually been good and if Arteta dropped him then people would say why you drop him he is on form?
posted on 3/1/22
comment by 5-2 (U10698)
posted 1 day, 15 hours ago
What the f are you talking about. Sharticle. Gabriel is our best defender, why wouldn't he play him? Also as much as I want an upgrade on Xhaka,. Xhaka has actually been good and if Arteta dropped him then people would say why you drop him he is on form?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the article man. I never said Arteta shouldn't have picked Gabriel. I said he should have enough experience than to have picked both players to play in that game.
It's not about how well Xhaka has played since coming back, it's about the fact that putting him and Gabriel on together in this game, all but guaranteed we'd go down to 10 men. Any Arsenal Fan who saw the team-sheet and never though "Uh-oh" seeing both names on it, hasn't really paid much attention to our players tendencies. To be expected from fans I suppose but no manager should be too stupid or blind about his own team to not see this and take steps to ensure we finished with 11.
He's been with the squad almost 2 years not 2 weeks. Plenty enough time to spot that Gabriel and Xhaka get carded regularly for clumsy, overzealous and hothead tackles so he shouldn't play both against certain pen manufacturing teams. They are godsends to those teams and always used as the focal point to change games like that one, why? Because the players they are it's too easy to get them sent off in a high pressure game.