09 Jan 2026 09:35:28
Does anyone remember Gyokeres playing against us last night?
I just looked again at the line ups and I honestly was sat here stunned he played. can't remember a single thing he did, can't remember him playing at all.
Like I'm not even being funny, was he actually on the pitch? lol
Thought we did some good things last night, I reckon we had them scared. Certainly not at our best and we didn't go in for the kill but thought we bossed that second half. It's just a shame we didn't be a bit braver and go for a win. Kind of sums up our season though, overly cautious and not enough killer instinct. At least we moved the ball around a lot quicker in the second half at least.
But it's like getting the wrapper off a nice bar of chocolate and then not eating it.
I hope Bradley isn't out for too long but sadly I suspect he is. As mean as it's going to sound I reckon we need to look at the right back position now or in the summer. Bradley or Frimpong can't be relied upon as first team regulars sadly.
Martinelli is an absolute disgrace, he should face retrospective action there for me. There's no excuse to do that. I know he's a cheating, diving get himself but that doesn't mean everyone is, you never shove a player who's down.
That being said more does need to be done to stop playacting from players as well, it's cheating, ruining the game and embarrassing, I could slag off Arsenal for it but every team is guilty including us. (Hang your head in shame Macca) I can't see with the amount of time these players spend rolling round that VAR can't look at it, see it's blatant cheating and they get a yellow as soon as they decide to get back up.
The keepers get 7 seconds to release the ball, how about players get 7 seconds of amateur dramatics and then need to leave the field for 5 minutes of "treatment"
Something needs to be done anyway, it's embarrassing and bringing the sport into disrepute for me.
For Fowlers sake, football isn't half boring these days isn't it.
{Ed025's Note - im with you Mikey..
09 Jan 2026 10:08:21
Apparently he only touched the ball 7 times!
09 Jan 2026 10:08:54
Absolutely no knowledge or proof but to me it looked like serious ligament damage to the knee.
09 Jan 2026 10:41:16
Could say the same thing about Macca. I watched the game and followed the love chat and saw comments about Macca and genuinely didn't realise he was on the pitch.
Played some nice touches later in the second half to be fair.
09 Jan 2026 10:54:16
West Derby Wanderer IV - My thoughts exactly, you could see the way his leg twisted as he planted it, ACL/ MCL territory. He's probably out for the season. Hopefully it's not as bad as it looked. He did leave the stadium on crutches.
1985mikey1985 - Couldn't agree more about the play-acting, it only puts players with serious injuries at risk. Diving needs to be an automatic booking, with no discretion allowed from the ref. Automatic, end of. Do it twice, you're off. I don't care if they have to go to var for every dive and add 20 mins on to every match, if these handbags start getting sent off for diving it will soon stop.
09 Jan 2026 11:26:45
That's what I thought too when I saw that Wdw. It did look really bad and I'd expect him to be out for the rest of the season too. We definitely need a CB/ RB now. Preferably someone who can cover both positions.
09 Jan 2026 11:44:48
Watched the game again this morning. I thought it was a much improved performance. McAl did okay. Took up some good positions and made himself available. Clearly set up to contain which worked. Given the absences can understand why we lacked creativity. Massive shame about Bradley. definitely am ACL and therefore out for 12 months.
09 Jan 2026 11:53:15
It's the holding of the head, whenever the foul, or slightest touch, is neck down, that does me in too. They know the match will be stopped.
All this playacting has to stop.
09 Jan 2026 12:01:27
Actually thought Macca was very good last night. I get he's been poor this season as have a lot but don't get the hate. Seems like the modern way to judge a footballer is purely based on stats assists and goals and he's more of a knitter. People seem to have made a decision on players and then it's set in stone. He was tidy, kept the ball well when we needed to I thought. Im sure a lot of you see them live a lot more than me but I usually get over for 3/ 4 games a season as it's hard to get tickets from Ireland, so far i've been to Bournemouth and villa so been lucky this season and west ham next month but nearly every game I've been too over the past couple of years Macca has been superior in the flesh than he is on the TV. but again just my thoughts, has he been good enough this season, absolutely not, but I'd argue the majority fall into that bracket. Very similar to gravenberch who has been looking more like the Gravenberch from season 1 than last season but was better last night. Still don't like the fact he's been asked to drive forward more, I actually think that's affected Macca a lot as he clearly hasn't got the legs to do all the dirty work.
Any way just my two cents, first half hour I watched with head in hands, but lovely to see much improvement in second half. still would have liked us to turn the key a bit more but arsenal are a tough side to break down especially without a striker.
09 Jan 2026 13:17:12
Teams are obviously taking advantage of the head injury ruling. go down, hold your head and the game MUST be stopped.
OK, keep the rule, BUT, make an amendment to it.
Like in rugby, force the player to go for a concussion test.
That means the player could be off for at least 5 mins or so.
I reckon players will definitely stop this fake head injury thing. the problem comes in when its a real head injury.
09 Jan 2026 13:53:44
100 % blinding idea that.
09 Jan 2026 15:15:14
I thought Macca did rightly last night.
09 Jan 2026 16:40:44
Players could also use head injury assessments to get a break and then come back on fresher.
I watch a lot of rugby league and you'd be surprised at how many props get head knocks just before the twenty minutes mark.
A lot of props usually do twenty minute spells but a HIA doesn't count as a substitution so it can be seen as a free change.