Yeah I'd agree with that. Reliance on set pieces will dry up. I don't think necessarily because of PGMOL but because eventually teams wise up to it or if everyone does it the advantage dries up.
Arsenal Thread | 2025/26
- Thread starter jimharri
- Start date
Unbearable wanker. Talks absolute shite
blue_danube
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Agreed.
And this is precisely why it's important to recruit well this summer.
We are honestly not that far ahead of the rags now. If they recruit well and we don't, they'll catch us. We won two cups but that's somewhat papering over the cracks in terms of where we stand as league and European contenders.
Arsenal aren't great but found an effective way to get points, so fair play to them, you do what you have to do. Maybe its not a sustainable way of maintaining success but who knows? Their success may endure if the likes of us don't get our recruitment right.
Arsenal aren't the bottle jobs we wanted them to still be. We bottled it in the last 5 games, they won them all.
There's work to be done at city
He's just a whinger, you'd have thought he would have mixed feelings the last game of the season considering they were playing Palace who gave him his first major opportunity and actually played more games for.
I hope Eluko takes his job off him.
Lovebitesandeveryfing
Well-Known Member
I've been taking the time in these last few weeks to look at forums that are not notably favourable to us, but have never been noted for being particularly hostile to Arsenal. This is off the Holmesdale End forum (Palace), this morning:
“A few people have asked this today. I think it's to do with the nature of modern football. Arteta didn't invent shithouse football, but he is the industry leader in deploying it to exploit the blindspots and skewed priorities of modern refereeing, including VAR.
Hence, he will permit very little in the way of forceful tackling but encourage systematic niggling, trips, and clips, especially to stymy counter attacks (see Lewis Skelley today).
He recognises that VAR is desperate to give free kicks and penalties for any little thing it can find, but is never bothered about play acting and gross exaggeration of tiny contacts. Hence his team generally stand their ground when defending set plays but try all sorts when attacking them. Throwing yourself at the floor is encouraged (see the penalty they did get and the other one they wanted away to Ath Madrid). Holding your face and rolling around is encouraged, because you have something to gain and very little to lose.
He recognises that refs never clamp down on the conduct of big club managers and so does all he can to exert pressure by jumping around screaming like a c*** for every decision.
Arsenal get away with what they've identified they can get away with. Not much new there, but they and their manager have taken a cold reliance on data and analysis and a generally logical, unromantic approach and made it their religion. It has not only led them to sell a goalie who was doing very well and replace him with one that seemed no better at all at first, or to introduce taller players and to focus more on set plays than flowing football, but also to hone their cheating and shittiness down to a fine art in a way few have managed before. They are poor champions in lots of ways, but in other ways they are fitting ones in that they embody the era they are playing in. They are a direct response to modern football.
The irony is that none of this is necessary to win. I've no time for Man City, funded by highly dubious sportwashing money that they all just overlook, rule breaking, tedious football. But at least they play the game properly. And they do ok.”
Out of honesty, I felt it necessary to keep the obligatory hostile reference to us. That's ok. As far as I'm concerned, it really is water off a duck's back at this point. But I think this is a pretty lucid post, overall.
And here is one of the responses to it. I was particularly interested in it because I have many times this season been reminded of the Leeds team I grew up with in the late sixties and early seventies, and compared them to this Arsenal team. Eamon Dunphy, in his book, said at the time that playing against them was like sitting at your work bench, trying to get your job done, and having a guy run up and stick a pin in you. Over and over and over. In fact, he said exactly what is said about Jack Charlton below.
“Good summary, and I agree with the conclusion that Arsenal don’t need to play this way to win.
Arteta would probably disagree and point to his early spell at the club when most of the play was directed through Saka and Odegard and they looked to cut through teams in open play. They played good football, but you could get at them and they would lose games that on paper they should not be losing.
Hence the win at all costs approach which now infects their game.
Probably only Willo and I am old enough to remember the Leeds team of the 1970s which took a similar approach to winning games.
They too pushed boundaries on set pieces with Jack Charlton stationed on corners to obstruct the opposing keepers and would employ rotational fouling, provocation and intimidation in games.
They had very good players, but that team was never loved because their success was tainted by their antics.
I wonder if Arsenal will share a similar fate.
Gabriel would have been very at home in the Leeds team of the 1970s.”
It's pretty much what I've been saying. It's been effective, and they've done it, and (horrors!) they may actually get their first CL title out of it. But like Leeds United then, they will be remembered in this way. Good players, who could have won in another way, I think. But they and their manager chose not to.
The consensus, as you can see, is up and down the land.
“A few people have asked this today. I think it's to do with the nature of modern football. Arteta didn't invent shithouse football, but he is the industry leader in deploying it to exploit the blindspots and skewed priorities of modern refereeing, including VAR.
Hence, he will permit very little in the way of forceful tackling but encourage systematic niggling, trips, and clips, especially to stymy counter attacks (see Lewis Skelley today).
He recognises that VAR is desperate to give free kicks and penalties for any little thing it can find, but is never bothered about play acting and gross exaggeration of tiny contacts. Hence his team generally stand their ground when defending set plays but try all sorts when attacking them. Throwing yourself at the floor is encouraged (see the penalty they did get and the other one they wanted away to Ath Madrid). Holding your face and rolling around is encouraged, because you have something to gain and very little to lose.
He recognises that refs never clamp down on the conduct of big club managers and so does all he can to exert pressure by jumping around screaming like a c*** for every decision.
Arsenal get away with what they've identified they can get away with. Not much new there, but they and their manager have taken a cold reliance on data and analysis and a generally logical, unromantic approach and made it their religion. It has not only led them to sell a goalie who was doing very well and replace him with one that seemed no better at all at first, or to introduce taller players and to focus more on set plays than flowing football, but also to hone their cheating and shittiness down to a fine art in a way few have managed before. They are poor champions in lots of ways, but in other ways they are fitting ones in that they embody the era they are playing in. They are a direct response to modern football.
The irony is that none of this is necessary to win. I've no time for Man City, funded by highly dubious sportwashing money that they all just overlook, rule breaking, tedious football. But at least they play the game properly. And they do ok.”
Out of honesty, I felt it necessary to keep the obligatory hostile reference to us. That's ok. As far as I'm concerned, it really is water off a duck's back at this point. But I think this is a pretty lucid post, overall.
And here is one of the responses to it. I was particularly interested in it because I have many times this season been reminded of the Leeds team I grew up with in the late sixties and early seventies, and compared them to this Arsenal team. Eamon Dunphy, in his book, said at the time that playing against them was like sitting at your work bench, trying to get your job done, and having a guy run up and stick a pin in you. Over and over and over. In fact, he said exactly what is said about Jack Charlton below.
“Good summary, and I agree with the conclusion that Arsenal don’t need to play this way to win.
Arteta would probably disagree and point to his early spell at the club when most of the play was directed through Saka and Odegard and they looked to cut through teams in open play. They played good football, but you could get at them and they would lose games that on paper they should not be losing.
Hence the win at all costs approach which now infects their game.
Probably only Willo and I am old enough to remember the Leeds team of the 1970s which took a similar approach to winning games.
They too pushed boundaries on set pieces with Jack Charlton stationed on corners to obstruct the opposing keepers and would employ rotational fouling, provocation and intimidation in games.
They had very good players, but that team was never loved because their success was tainted by their antics.
I wonder if Arsenal will share a similar fate.
Gabriel would have been very at home in the Leeds team of the 1970s.”
It's pretty much what I've been saying. It's been effective, and they've done it, and (horrors!) they may actually get their first CL title out of it. But like Leeds United then, they will be remembered in this way. Good players, who could have won in another way, I think. But they and their manager chose not to.
The consensus, as you can see, is up and down the land.
We had a very tough schedule and our opponents were better. They played dross. That said I do think we didn’t have the belief of previous years but we have less top quality players. They’re average as fuck.
Lovebitesandeveryfing
Well-Known Member
If everyone does it I sincerely think I shall stop watching football and going to football. The prospect of seeing twenty Leeds Uniteds circa 1969 slugging it out in that manner is about as attractive as having electrodes attached to your genitals.
Johnnyblue7
Well-Known Member
Arsenal announce their Goal of the season.
Salford_Blue
Well-Known Member
37 games to win the title they should've had done and dusted weeks prior.
Against a transitioning City and Liverpool.
Speaks volumes.
If their corner farce is shut down by the rule makers, let see how they cope next year.
Against a transitioning City and Liverpool.
Speaks volumes.
If their corner farce is shut down by the rule makers, let see how they cope next year.
danielwood5
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I agree with pretty much everything that Palace fan put apart from the above sections.
Arsenal have put in and got away with multiple red card offences throughout the season and the referees have definitely not been desperate to give free kicks and penalties for every little thing. They've basically allowed a complete free for all in the box which is what Arsenal have taken complete advantage of. They've been pretty consistent with that for all teams throughout the season apart from the key title/relegation deciding West Ham - Arsenal game where they decided to completely ignore both the precedent they have set all season along with the Laws of the Game to chalk off a goal in Arsenal's favour.
manimanc
Well-Known Member
WHAT.
THE.
ACTUAL.
FUCK.
This is just too funny for words.
deano ou812
Well-Known Member
Dont know if someone has already mentioned it but Arsenal did get a guard of honour it was done at the corner flag ;-)
give it to gordon
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Working at an event the last 4 days. I have never seen so many arse shirts around the town. Most still have the creases in from delivery lol.
It's truly pathetic.
It's truly pathetic.
jimharri
Well-Known Member
Now; I have to own up. I've given Sky Sports a wide berth since last tuesday (couldn't bear the love in that I presumed happened). Now, I don't know if it's me or what. But it seems the initial fuss (assuming there was!) seems to have died off. Are the great unwashed generally underwhelmed with their success?
Plays By Sense Of Smell
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Got a few arsenal mates round here in W London, and one in particular was quite open about it not havimg been a good oe pretty season for football. Best word he could find was 'bitty'.
danielwood5
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Every team could put together a video showing a couple of decisions like that going for or against them but for 1 team to have all those, usually match deciding, decisions go for them in 1 season beggars belief. Really shows how much this is Howard Webb's league win rather than Arsenal's.
Chris Kavanagh featured far more then I realised too.
To be fair to the cheating thugs though, there was an Everton one in there where I wasn't sure what I was meant to be looking at.
Live in Bradford obvs and every Sunday we venture down to Bingley now you get Leeds and bradford shirts but i have never seen an Arsenal shirt down there till today not just but 3 of the gloryhunting kunts fooking jokers
Robinho's Subbuteo
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Please PSG. Please.