Presumably still under the influence of Saturday’s confidence-building two goal away win at Wolves, Mikel Arteta and the Gunners are facing the quick turnaround of preparing to host third-placed Leicester City in a Tuesday evening Premier League skirmish at the Emirates. With five matches yet to play, including Leicester, Spurs and Liverpool, Arsenal are perched in seventh spot in the table, nine points behind the Foxes, eight behind Chelsea, six behind Manchester United, but only three behind Wolverhampton. If Arsenal are able to defeat the Foxes they could move up significantly on any rival who drops points, with Wolves in particular facing a tricky away test at Sheffield United on Wednesday.
Opposition
Zoologically speaking, Foxes may not be as big or as vicious as wolves but their quickness can be killer. Keeping that maxim in (or out, preferably) of mind, the darting figure of Jamie Vardy can be expected to lead Foxes’ attack, as he has since he helped his side win promotion to the Premier League in 2013/14. This season the 33 year old is still going strong with 21 goals and 4 assists in 30 appearances. Earlier this week Vardy scored his 100th and 101st Premier League goals so if Arsenal lose track of him we can’t say we haven’t been warned of the danger he poses. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers will be hoping his charges can stymie Arsenal’s dangermen, put a puncture or two in the Gunners’ heretofore porous defence, and solidify his club’s tenuous hold on a Champions League place for next season.
This season Foxes enjoyed a highly successful first four or five months, prior to the coronavirus intermission, but their form has been indifferent since play resumed. They drew with Watford and Brighton; and exited the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea before losing at Everton and winning at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday last. James Maddison, Leicester’s talented young England midfielder, remains an injury doubt for this game, as do left-back Ben Chilwell and attacker Ayoze Perez. Both of the latter players picked up knocks in Saturday’s game.
Leicester’s defence has been anchored all season by hulking Turkey centre-back Çağlar Söyüncü who will aim to make Arsenal’s attackers feel discomfited, and certainly not as if they are feasting on roasted poultry. The Turk should be partnered by 32 year old Jonny Evans, who has slotted right in to the center of Foxes’ defence. The Foxes recently announced a one-year extension of Evans’ contract so he must be doing the business to their satisfaction. In place of Chilwell we may see a recall for Christian Fuchs, who played so well in Foxes’ title-winning year. At right-back, where long-term injury absentee Ricardo Pereira misses out, we can expect to see 22 year old James Justin, who has started Foxes’ last four league games. Danish international keeper Kasper Schmeichel keeps his longstanding place in the Leicester goal.
In the Leicester midfield we should expect the presence of Wilfred Ndidi who has started nearly all Leicester’s league games in defensive midfield, excepting five midwinter matches when he was out with a knee injury. Belgian international Youri Tielemans has been a near constant in central midfield, contributing three goals and six assists; and 22 year old former England U-21 international Harvey Barnes has been even busier if anything on the left side, contributing six goals and eight assists. Up front, if Vardy falters we can expect to see Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho (no known connection to the departed Nacho Monreal, other than a tenuous linguistic oddity), who has been on the scoresheet several times recently.
Team Selection
Until Mikel Arteta says differently, I am not one to question his formation or the team selection that has put us on the right track over the last few games, including a proper dose of defensive solidity aided by the confoundingly ever-present Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka who certainly by now must deserve some credit from longstanding critics such as me. David Luiz hasn’t done too badly either when he hasn’t been accumulating red cards, so hats off to him too. Which means that with the possible exceptions of Lacazette coming in for Nketiah and Bellerín for Soares, it’s full speed ahead with the team that took the sheen off Wolves’ warm fuzzies:
Martinez
Mustafi – Luiz – Kolasinac
Bellerín – Xhaka – Ceballos – Tierney
Saka – Lacazette – Aubameyang
We can expect to see Arteta make some creative substitutions as he did at Wolves, so among others Maitland-Niles, Nketiah and Pepe, if he is recovered from paternity duty, should not get too comfy in their cushioned Emirates seats.
There is one last team selection item in case you were wondering about other figures: Responding to question as to whether Ozil or Guendouzi would play this week, Arteta was quoted saying: “Still, the situation is as it was before.” Seeing as the situation as it was before worked out pretty well on the pitch I guess it’s fine to leave it at that for now.
‘holics pound
Arsenal have won their last three league matches by a cumulative score of 8-0, but those three clean sheets are only part of a longer-term trend: If we include games from before Covid got in the way, Arsenal have recorded six clean sheets in their last nine league outings.
Prior to Saturday’s win, on the other hand, Leicester had won only two of the nine points on offer, scoring only two goals in those three matches. Despite Leicester’s high-flying spot in the league table I expect something of these trends to continue in this one, and despite a 1-1 draw at halftime, for Arsenal to prevail by a margin of 2-1 after two Lacazette billiard-like strikes that carom off the far post before rippling the Foxes’ net, to just the one Vardy stoppage-time consolation salvo that leaves the Leicester fans saying “I wish he hadn’t scored that one because it’s the hope that kills ya.” Leaving the opposition fans to commiserate, as is their wont when Arsenal play together like the boss says to do. The odds are out there if you want ‘em.
Have a good one, ‘holics.
Cheers bt8 – good stuff !
Any game this season, any win – fine by me, although a good display would be nice against the romantic title winning Foxes team who in reality were a niggly, dirty little bunch of divers – when they played us at least.
3-1 Gunners !
well done, bt8, and well scouted. i assume you’re talking about vardy scoring in first half stoppage…but i’d surely hope for a clean sheet. another 2-0 to us sounds about right, with auba the first and pepe from a late freekick as they tire for the second. one thing i don’t have to worry about is arsenal players’ commitment to the game, at least not with arteta in the pilot house. since brighton it’s been lovely to watch.
and dr. faustus, i never did compliment you on your piece previous; i enjoyed it thoroughly.
Nice job Bt8. Another big game. In the games in which they have bested us recently Morrison has been highly influential. It seems that he is doubtful for tomorrow, in addition to Chilwell. Let’s hope so. Morrison would grace our midfield for sure.
Sorry. For Morrison read Maddison.
Guendouzi firmly on the naughty. Step.
https://theathletic.com/1912588/2020/07/06/guendouzi-matteo-arsenal-mikel-arteta/
Congratulations on an excellent preview bt8.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Holding start. I’ve just gone through the training ground pix to see whether I could get any clues about selection. Sadly I couldn’t recognize a good proportion of the squad.
Hey, ho. More revision needed.
COYG
Curious, those tenuous linguistic oddities, aren’t they, bt8? I saw what you did there.
That’s a great set up. Nothing I’d like more than to see a clean sheet and bloody noses all round for Rogers and the Diving Diva Vardy. Never forget in the season you reference, a post-title refereeing decisions review revealed that Arsenal were the true winners and Newcastle shouldn’t have been relegated. Damned shame for the barcodes.
Mustafi must be nearing the ‘red zone’ and Holding may get the nod on the right side of Luiz. I might be inclined to go with Tierney for Kolasinac, Saka for Tierney and Pepe for Saka versus your team, but MA8 knows better than both of us and will certainly get it right.
Enjoy.
@5 The article is behind the firewall, C100. Could you do us a ‘cut and paste’ of the main bits?
Thanks to all who liked it and said so. 🙂
re: scruz @2. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice the odd (i.e., impossible) order the goals came in this version of the preview🥵. Please disregard or even better delete “and despite a 1-1 draw at halftime” because it wouldn’t be a consolation salvo otherwise. 😉
Not on my iPad Bt8. But essentially Guendouzi has had several fall outs with Arteta, has refused to apologise, is now training alone and the club is looking to offload him. Identical circumstances to him at L’Orient.
You wait months for a match and then like the archetypal London bus, you seem to have one every other day! Great preview Bt8 with very in-depth loom at a Leicester team that have dropped off the twig in recent weeks . I’d prefer Holding to Kolasinac who is better at warding off knife-wielding muggers than opposing forwards . I agree we will see Lacazette and Bellerin start and hopefully new Dad Pepe will return .I think Saka may start from the bench .
2-0 to the Arsenal
Excellent preview bt8, if a little confusing on the predicted score! 😉 Your outline of the likely Lesta line-up has my nerves jangling already. As to Maddison and Vresswell being crocked? I regard that as typical Rogers bullshit and I fully expect them both to play. He thinks he’s so smart that man. But Mikel wasn’t born yesterday.
I am sure you are correct that we will see the team line up with 3 at the back again, given Lesta’s offensive capacity throughout this season, if not recently. I agree with most of your selection (and your deference to Mikel’s choice – he has earned that respect) and expect Laca to lead the line and hopefully continue his goal trail.
However, as is frequently the case, I am inclined to agree with TTG’s prediction on the team and score. 2-0 to the good guys. Like TTG, I also expect Pepe to return to the right side of the forward line and Saka to be on the bench with Kolasinac replaced by the more mobile Holding unless MA8 chooses to heed BtM’s advice and do a left sided shuffle returning Saka to the LWB slot pushing the even more mobile Tierney inside. On reflection, I think that’s a jolly good suggestion. We are going to need pace and precision in the backline.
Go win, Arsenal!
Match previews & reports are coming through thick & fast ( like that lad Traore who plays for Wolves ). That’s a well researched report on the opposition & equally well written bt8.
Your team selection looks close but I would expect Pepe to play if available – the Foxes May well not have the accomplished Chilwell fit at left back and it might be propitious for Pepe to work him over. The main threat will come from Jamie Vardy who is good at finding space & use his speed to create goal scoring opportunities- our defence will need to be on their toes. If we can now maintain the good form & work ethic of recent matches then a 3-1 win to the good guys is on the cards.
Whoops….should read Pepe to work Lesta’s reserve LB over, not the non-playing Chilwell. Typically no sub editors to be found this time of night 🙄
Lesta molester – I just don’t like them so any win will do.
Thanks to TTG @ 39 in the last drinks – excellent on Xhaka. My thoughts exactly.
UTA
Enjoyable stuff, thanks bt8.
The presumably returning Pepe
gives MA a good selection headache.
It’s a pity Leicester got a confidence
boosting win against Palace but we
do know exactly how they’ll play.
This season’s away defeat at Leicester
was a low point and I hope the team
share my thirst for revenge – I’ll go
with 3-0 to The Arsenal.
bt8,
Evans has done well for Leicester.
I thought he would be a terrible
buy for us when we were linked
with him. Another one I got wrong
😄
If both first choice full backs are out we
can exploit Leicester out wide but Justin isn’t
a bad defender the couple of times Ive
seen him. Fuchs is getting on a bit and isn’t
able to cover so much ground these days.
Maybe that means an orthodox defence with
an extra man in midfield but I’ll leave it to
MA
It is interesting how in my own mind I have gained far more respect for Jonny Evans as a player in his time at West Brom and Leicester than when he was at Manchester United, where I always thought (incorrectly no doubt, in retrospect, but his team was so odious then) he was a makeweight in a team of superstars. His diligence and longevity are now plain to see even for fools like me.
@10
Thanks C100.
And after I said yesterday the club
were doing well to keep a relatively
tight lid on this story!
MA said we were open to exchange
deals yesterday, maybe that’s an
option if Guen has burned his bridges.
MA also said we are talking to Real
about Dani.
@18
To be fair to us Evans made a
number of high profile mistakes
at Manure. Red nose gave him a lot
of chances but he was never consistently
solid. In conclusion we were both right
and now we’re both magnanimously
acknowledging his improvement.
Yay us 👏
Sky showed the 2011 Carling Cup final this week. I was at the game and had no good memories of it and didn’t bother to watch the lowlights when I got home. We had a good team then and they played entertaining football.
The match was a much better one than I had remembered; a very competitive, exciting affair. We played quite well and really should have won it. You’ll remember that Birmingham had a 7 feet high guy who scored first, before Wilshere shattered their crossbar and then Van Persie equalized.
Cesc was injured and was really badly missed. Rosicky deputized for him but both he and Alex Song were not at their best, leaving Wilshere to provide the creativity and drive that lead to several good chances, none of which were taken by a lively front three of Nasri, Arshavin (replaced by Chamak wearing a neck brace) and RVP (substituted on the hour for TGSTEL).
Typically physical and cynical, (hey, it was an Alex McLeish team, what did you expect?), Birmingham excelled and played hard and well. The ending I do remember only too well. It is X-certificate stuff, even all these years later.
Worth a watch if your back’s hurting.
More on Guendouzi from Arseblog this morning. I think it’s notable how virtually all supporters are backing Arteta in this.
I was at that final too BtM and haven’t watched it since. I thought we were ‘all over them’ but had spurned so many chances that even when that disastrous goal went in for them, I still expected us to go up the other end and turn the match around.
Guendouzi needs to wake up and smell the coffee. I expect we all remember those days of being a headstrong, petulant 21-year-old who ‘knows it all’ and is going to ‘change the world’! The problem for Guendouzi is that his contribution to the team is neither huge nor unique, nor is he difficult to replace. In essence he is a slightly more flamboyant Elneney. Not a vital cog for a coach who seeks commitment, focus and quiet efficiency above all else and was the epitome of those virtues as a player.
I was there too. I vividly remember walking away from the stadium as it began to rain hard, listening to the ecstatic cheers of the Brummies.
You’re a braver man than me BtM. I never watch back games we lost. Just can’t do it.
Things didn’t get better that week as I moved on to the away game in Barcelona that featured RVP and the Swiss Cuckoo Clock Maker. A period of great expectations…….
The Week from Hell.
We coulda and shoulda won both games, no two ways about it.
I hope your back improves, BtM.
COYG.
Time for bed, an early start
tomorrow. I hope I don’t dream
of bloody Birmingham
Cheers Bt8 great preview!
Come on Arsenal, well up for this. Fucking hate Leicester. Grew up round there and had plenty of playground disagreements with the cunts.
Having said that I’ve still got (some) mates from round there and was genuinely made up for them the other year after we fucked it.
But tonight – fuck ’em!
UP THE ARSE!
Arsenal: Martinez, Bellerin, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac, Tierney, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Macey, Holding, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Willock, Nelson, Pepe, Nketiah
Leicester: Schmeichel, Bennet, Evans, Soyuncu, Justin, Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Perez, Iheanacho, Varda
Subs: Ward, Morgan, Fuchs, Mendy, Choudhury, James, Praet, Barnes, Gray.
Btm
Interesting you should mention that League Cup Final.
I have blotted it out of my mind but trying to recall it now I remember the odious Brummies who really rubbed it in .And as C100 said it poured down en route to Wembley Park.That really is a medal our lads should have pocketed . I remember Theo and Cesc were crocked against Stoke in the previous midweek ( very rare to get injured against Stoke ) . RVP pranged himself in equalising . I just hope we beat Leicester to re-erase those memories .
No Maddison, no Chilwell in the Leicester squad. Possibly their two best players. Now let’s take advantage.
Wow, we’re leaning pretty heavily on that starting eleven. Saka’s third start on the right wing. I expect MA8 will sprinkle the subs in liberally as needed for both tactical and physical reasons. Holding mustn’t be impressing in training.
Four wins, three clean sheets. Maybe something about don’t change a winning team?
Anyway, it’s only the Spuds up next. 🤣🤣
Everton gifted Spuds that win last night, even scoring their goal for them. I thought Iwobi looked completely adrift, like many on the field in blue.
At the time Emery was appointed, I favoured Ancelotti over Arteta. I’m very pleased MA8 became the eventual incumbent.
Big moment for match winner Danny Welbeck today against Norwich
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.givemesport.com/1580664-watford-v-norwich-city-danny-welbeck-scores-stunning-overhead-kick%3famp
@36 Great to see him fully fit again, bt8. Great goal.
lovely, that by welbeck. glad to see it…especially against krul.
btm, neither team looked like anything special. if sperz didn’t have son, they’d be done. looking forward to slaughtering them sunday.
COYG!!
Told you he was a Gooner
great save emi!
Wake up Bellerin
Good save by Martinez. Proving himself to be a good keeper. Haven’t really missed Leno.
yup. both the throw and the corner.
Not sure I see the point of Young Saka in that position . I prefer Pepe as an inverted right winger . Laca also frustrating me at present
Unlucky Saka to Laca 😂
They are fouling all over the place, especially targetting Saka.
wwwwoooooooo!
Saka Auba Boom 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Auba!!!!
god, what a goal. that hesitation by saka, then the pass…woooooow!
Foxes heads spinning.
Lovely biscuits.
TTG, there’s your answer (I was, however, thinking along similar lines to you).
It’s quite obvious why you play Saka on the right .😃Lovely set-up for the goal!
What a simply delicious goal. Ceballos to Saka to Auba.
Wenger ball.
I thought Saka was off side but he timed his run beautifully and his pass to Auba was perfectly weighted. Right or left, Saka makes a difference.
best part of that move was saka’s hesitation to put evans on his knees, though the pass to auba was dreamy. that whole move brought me pure joy.
Great ball by Ceballos too.
Very impressed by Martinez’s starting position on a couple of occasions. Very necessary with Vardy upfront
Foxes replacement fullbacks conceding space.
dani having a great game.
we are having a great time down the flanks.
We’re cutting them open with that front three.
so good from us. saka could have had it.
damn, without schmeical it’s 3-0.
We are on top of them now COYG
Got away with that one
They scored but Iheanacho had fouled. That was close.
lucky, that foul. keep it together at the back.
dani playing great contain v their 17.
They are on a fouling spree and the ref is really lenient.
Hector doing well in the attacking phase of his game.
And combining well with Saka.
Saka could probably do a good job at all eleven positions
Vardy is a nasty fellow. Kicked Mustafi in the face and got away. Now Iheanacho is foul Kola. Their game plan is clear, get physical.
Iheanacho fouled…..
Great first half we should be three nil up in my view but it’s great to see us being creative and defending well. Got away with it once but other than that we looked solid.
nice first half, we are good for the lead. their goal was luckily disallowed, and i hope acts as a warning. but i’d bet on our front 3 to score more in the second half, with such great midfield support. and what a joy was that goal, from the first to the last.
We could easily have finished that half at 3-0 and i should certainly have been 2-0.
Good stuff all round. No scope for brain fades in the second half. Got to keep focused. There’s latent sharpness lurking on the other side.
That early foot save by Martinez was critical and difficult because it came through Mustafi and he saw it late. Good with his head too. When Leno’s back maybe we should switch him for Kola? 🙂
Starting to really like Ceballos.
Sian Massey the AR is extremely good and I remember her making a great decision at Fulham a few years ago when she flagged off a goal . She was eagle-eyed there .
Very impressed with Ceballos and the movement upfront . With more ruthlessness and a tad more luck we could be three or four up.
tv commentators at the half: “they look like arsenal…finally”
So far so good. I hope we will
come out quick 2nd half
Ceballos excellent in last two games. If he plays like that to the end of the season he’ll make the club have to take a decision that I think they’re not currently inclined to.
Come on Arsenal!
4-0 with no schmeical.
Another fine save by Martinez. As we tire from all the pressing they will find more bang from counters.
More fouling.
Cynical foul on Tierney. Should have been a yellow, Leicester go to back four.
Second time, C100, first was on Kola.
eddie for laca, willock for auba ? get some fresh legs out there.
Kola kicking for touch there?
kola misplacing passes…whoda thought.
Love these crosses from KT.
so close laca. just offside. respect to sian massey.
That Sian Massey is bloody useless .
She was right again
She doesn’t get much wrong.
could of done with that second
Eddie to come on and wrap it up
kt3 on fire. damn fine cross, just a touch high.
Possible red for Eddie
Yup. Bit unlucky.
Nketiah red card! They were just waiting.
afraid to say, i’d want red if it was against us.
bummer for eddie.
Red justified?
two up front, keep the back set the same as it was.
We should stop pressing high up. We still have 20 minutes to play.
What Scruz said@98
Not how I wanted Eddie to wrap
it up. Fair red I thought ksn
The game has gone mad. But we already know this
Eddie left foot slipped him into that challenge, very far from intentional. Dubious red for me, caused by conditions.
Torreira, good sub.
what do you mean, ttg?
dani off for lt11. good game.
COYG!!
FFS
fuck.
Inevitably, we conceded.
offside. has to be. perez got it with his heel.
fuck that.
Goal stands
Bastard
Boooooooooooooooooooo
Very disappointing.If there’s a winner it wont be us
Silly by Luiz
Eight minutes!
eight minutes.
8 minutes bollocks to that
We didn’t take our chances well enough in the first half that came to bite us in the arse
indeed, atg. credit to their keeper.
Next time you’re out for a run, your left foot slips forward on the ice/mud/wet grass, check what happens with your right foot then award yourself a red card.
should be game over. sigh.
We should have been 3-0 up at half time. But not a bad performance.
on the basis of the first half, two points dropped. rodgers made decent changes.
there goes europe, i think.
Well done guys. You gave your all and gained a point. We were the better team but the red killled it for us.
Game should have been won given our superior number of good chances, turned on that dubious red card though.
A tad disappointed with our second half we played really well in the first if you compare those two halves. I don’t think 4th is achievable Europa League is the only place we can hope for.
Should have been better, could
of have been worse in the end
What I meant Scruz was that you don’t need fifteen different views of the Nketiah foul before you deem it serious foul play. The referee reacted ( correctly ) in real time. His intuitive view was that it wasn’t a sending- off. I thought the first half foul by Evans on Kola was as bad and that merited nothing. A pretty inconsequential challenge in which nobody was hurt on a greas6 pitch with a lad who has just come on fundamentally altered the game . It’s bollocks
Spot on, BtM. Arsenal must appeal to reduce any 3 game ban, due to the slippery conditions.
That has to be two points dropped given the first half was probably the best 45-minutes of football the team has played under Arteta. Leicester owe Schmeichel big time for keeping the score down to 1-0 at half time. But credit to the team for fighting to the last to salvage a point after the red.
Not intentional. Not malicious. Foot slipped because of slippery, wet grass. No consideration of the conditions represents poor refereeing. Very poor decision. VAR guy ducked the decision presumably? Would Mason Greenwood have been sent off at Old T in identical circumstances?
By the letter of the law, Eddie’s red was probably a red but then the law is an ass. Vardy’s boot in Mustafi’s face did more damage, but elicited no sanction.
On their goal, my reaction in the moment was that Ayoze Perez touched the ball on its way through to Vardy.
Disappointing end to a game we should have won. Red was sadly correct. Not malicious but by the letter if the law, it’s a red. The law is there to protect the payer and as others have said above, if it was against us then we would have been screaming for a red.
What disappointed me was that the moment we went down to 10 it was almost as if we did not know what to do? We had lost a forward. The defence and midfield were unchanged. So why do we just sit back? I didn’t quite get that. In the end I think we were the masters of our own destiny.
Several excellent performances and the last few weeks have definitely seen steps in the right direction.
Correct, Ned. Clear change in the flight path of the ball as it passed Perez (not because of the Bernouilli nor Doppler effects either). 🙂
Never mind, under Emery we would have been grateful for this point in our fight against relegation. It’s a good thing that we’re ticked off because we’re not 6th in the League tonight.
Yes, Steve! You won me dinner on Friday night. Right on the button. Good man.
VAR has to look at the foul at actual speed before super slowing it down. Seeing it actual speed would reveal the conditions and the nature of the challenge more. Super slow motion sometimes removes the context and then repeat viewing of the slow motion enforces the bias. We must appeal to reduce the three game ban for sure.
Free food BtM???? Who would have thought???
Btm has it spot on and while Steve T is right we have to say that if that is the rule and it’s a stupid rule, Vardy was guilty of serious foul play and did an unintentional very dangerous challenge . Football has been ruined by the lawmakers it’s like a ballet nowadays. The butchery of the offside law , the ridiculous ruling on handball, the complete Horlicks of VAR and the situation tonight where a yellow was the sensible decision disfigured the game . Serious foul play is Shawcross and Johnson not that.
Re the game our lack of mobility and durability in midfield cost us . Ceballos tired and we desperately need a dynamic midfielder to drive us forward . We had the static Xhaka and the inexperienced Willock. Torreira might have been more useful earlier . I don’t think Europe has gone but the CL has
I’m too wildly pissed off to say anything rational.
It is a bullshit red. VAR cannot take 3 minutes to review a yellow card decision and then refer it to the referee. If it is unclear after 30 seconds then call the ref to have a look. After 3 minutes if waiting to magically insist (against all usage of VAR so far this season) that the ref looks at it is to invite him to so what? Rescind his yellow? No chance. Give a red or face the music? The ref was left up shit creek. If it is contentious then just call him over to have a look.
The fact that he made the decision without the benefit of the angle that no one (viewers included) saw until moments after his decision which showed a clearly innocuous attempt to play the ball is beyond bullshit.
Still too annoyed at massive pile of shit.
Anyone who has read my posts over the last many years will know I dont post stuff like this almost ever.
But that was full power bullshit.
TTG. It matters not a jot whether it’s the best rule in the game or it’s the worst. I think it’s really unfortunate for Eddie. But having just watched it again and again on Sky Sports News, I just can’t see how it’s not a red? I also know that if the rolls were reversed then we would all be screaming for a red.
Why it took VAR so long to suggest the ref had a look at it is beyond me. I like VAR in general, but the way it is used needs a major overhaul in my opinion.
Also, Vardy’s shoulder is offside.
The VAR regs seem to change on a match by match basis.
Very difficult to see a CL place for us now. After the Brighton game, our margin of error dropped to zero. It is in negative numbers now so it will take three of the sides above us to go belly up for the rest of the season and Man City to be banned for us to have any chance. It would be nice to think we have a couple of wins at Wembley in us, though, which would get us into the Europa League for next season. Otherwise, we surely need at least nine of the remaining 12 points available to have any chance of European football, and we will still need other clubs to drop points.
I have never been one to shy away from disagreeing with Steve, who I have huge respect for, but I find myself on this occasion disagreeing with him as much as I ever have.
I would never be calling for Mason Greenwood to get a red for that at Old Trafford . But that is a fantasy scenario…
And those nine points include taking three off the neighbours.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>