27 Feb 2025 19:48:49
A few thoughts from last night.
A very tense and ( mostly) subdued City Ground last night ( until we got forward in the last 15 mins ( but more of that later). Nothing like the raucous atmosphere during the Liverpool game. Mind you Woody scored early in that one and I thought we should have had an early penalty from CHO s run. It was 50 50 ( in the nebulous category of " I've seen them given ") but with Anthony Taylor as 4th official and "big club" Arsenal the opponents it was never going to happen.
We looked superbly organised and for all their pressure Sels was by no means overworked. We had a bit of luck when they hit the post but otherwise nothing to write home about. Malenkovic was immense, my MOTM, Murillo also.
I was surprised Dominquez started and, with all the debate on here I watched him closely, likewise when Yates came on. Chalk and cheese, horses for courses. Dominquez is undoubtedly much better technically but Yates changed the game when he came on. He imposed his physicality on their superb midfield early doors and by winning the ball and sheer workrate moved us about 15 yards further up the pitch. So instead of defending around our penalty area, which is immensely risky with a great team like Arsenal, they were pushed back to near half way for fear of losing the ball and exposing themselves to fast counter attack where MGW was a constant threat. For me, Yates and Anderson should be nailed on starters. For those who say Yates is a walking red or yellow card I'd say look at the stats my friends. Yates has never been sent off in the Prem and has accrued 6 yellows in 24 games, remarkable for a player in his role.
A draw was a fair result and I thought we looked on for a late winner as Arsenal were knackered, blunted, frustrated and stifled.
I must say I was angered by MOTD, Sky and other media outlets today with their constant stress on Arsenals injured strikers for their lack of threat. Ok, Havertz, Martinelli and particularly Bakery Sako ( who caused us massive problems at their place) are world class players, but just to put things in perspective their 3 forwards cost around £60 million ours £33m. They bought on substitutes costing a total of around £200 million we bought on Taiwo and Danillo around £32 million and Yates exactly nowt.
So, well done Nuno and well done the lads. As usual punching well above their weight.

1.) 27 Feb 2025
27 Feb 2025 20:12:50
Totally agree. I think that we should start with either Elanga or CHO not both against teams like Arsenal, we needed that extra body in midfield early doors to give us a bit more go forward instead of conceding possession. However a very organised defence never really looked like being overrun, having said that Arsenal don’t have the strikers that Newcastle do.