It's been a season to forget for Bukayo Saka on an individual level, at least in comparison to previous ones. Hopefully he gets back to fitness and can contribute in the final PL and CL matches, at the World Cup (becuase we know that is important to these guys), and next season.

this site is vibe coded junk, it seems

this site is vibe coded junk, it seems

As @adam.cannonstats.com pointed out, it took Pep Guardiola, coaching 115 Charges FC, six years to reach consecutive CL semifinals and he hasn't made one with City in three years. The Champions League, particularly when you're slogging through the Premier League, is a brutally difficult task.

Anyone who tries to tell me that Arsenal are soft, that they don't have the "desire" or whatever ridiculousness you want to call it to win can MEET ME IN TEMECULA.

This is why you don't feed the trolls. They are not honest. They are not concerned with consistency. All they do is move the goalposts to suit their agenda, like Andy describes.

FWIW - it sucks that Hugo Ekitike tore his Achilles and will miss the World Cup (plus likely well into next season for Liverpool). Hopefully he makes a full recovery and gets back on track.

Really pleased with what Arsenal did tonight, particularly how they played to their strength. This team is built on being really tough to play against and they completely shut down a free-scoring Sporting side. Keep leaning into the things that got you this far!

You can't ask for much more from Arsenal from today's game. Guys re-energized, backups stepped up, and the team asserted their defensive identity. It could have gone the other way with the recent body-blow results. But these guys fight. And I'm backing them with every breath. Up the Arsenal.

What's wild is how a healthy Arsenal side HANDLED Bayern Munich in the fall. Sigh. If only the Premier League was a 12-point walkover competition, Arsenal might have several more key players in top shape and form at this point of the season.

I'd bite your hand off for another nasty 0-0 on Sunday.

Even if Arsenal don't end up winning the PL or the CL, I think it'd be tough to sack the manager that led you to four straight 2nds and back-to-back CL semis for the first time in club history. But that's a problem for a future that may not even come to pass.

There really hasn't been enough acknowledgment of the effect that missing both Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori has on the Arsenal side, particularly going forward. Hincapie and Mosquera are solid players who've done their jobs, but they do not provide the same creative, attacking danger.

ebere eze is as cool as the other side of the pillow

this french referee got a player haircut dude looks fresh but also should refs look that stylish?

Ranking Emi Martinez ahead of David Raya is deeply unserious behavior. Grow up, The Athletic.

Manchester City’s semi-passive pressing tactics against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, to me, were clearly developed (and further adjusted in-game) in light of who Arsenal were missing. Why give away even the slightest hint of info that might put your side at even the smallest disadvantage?

Opening Arsenal BlueSky today was a mistake and I have nobody to blame but myself.

as always, just keep posting. post through it and when you think you have, post a little more and a little harder just to be sure!

I’m at the Caps-Pens game for what could be Ovechkin’s last home game - it’s definitely his last game here. The way the team is treating it - seems like they know even though he hasn’t said it publicly.

115 charges

Scrolling LinkedIN tomorrow: What getting embarrassed by Pep Guardiola taught me about B2B sales

Cleaning out my garage and I found something for Rodri (and Bernardo Silva, and Marc Cucurella but not today, and many others)

Not watching Chelsea-City, but I’ve just been informed that Rodri was not booked for what the announcer said should be a yellow card. In other news, water is still wet.

The real question is would Spurs fans accept going down if it somehow kept Arsenal from winning the league?

Kirk Cousins hangout out with the president is one of the least surprising things ever.

If I told you Arsenal could sell Gyokeres and sign a different striker this summer, how much of a loss is an acceptable one off his purchase price?

Does anybody have a metric for opponent form at the time a match is played? Like, is there a way to capture strength of opponent in, say, a 5 to 10 match window rather than strength the accounts for the entire season?

I really want to know what the referee post-match review process looks like. Does Michael Oliver watch his decisions back with the benefit of replay to analyze them? Or, at the very least, is there a process where an evaluator says, "hey Mike, you probably got that one really wrong."

Do you think it pisses off the Arsenal players when teams are allowed to delay restarts against them like Bournemouth were today, given last season? Or have they moved past it? It's gotta sting at least a little bit, right? Like, in the back of the mind.

Offhand, does anybody happen to have the data / record on "most fouls in a PL half without a booking" for a club?

It's cool (not cool) how Arsenal have faced yellow card anomalies in consecutive games. Araujo's once-in-a-decade 7 fouls without a booking for a CL defender. Bournemouth committing 11 fouls (one short of their FULL MATCH average) in the first half without a booking.

Leandro Trossard picked a really terrible time to completely forget how to be an effective footballer. With so many technicians out and ailing, Arsenal could really use someone with the ability to control the ball and calm things down. You know, like he can do when he's playing well.

Thinking back on the match, it is rather annoying to realize that Arsenal made two big defensive errors in that match (both times losing a runner) and were punished with goals against for both of them.

Not sure I'll find the right way to put this, but I'm really tired of the "I can't believe Arsenal played like that with so much on the line" takes when, at least to me, it's all pretty easily explainable with simple factors like a rested side against a fatigued one and key players missing.

Ladies and gentlemen, might I interest you in what happens when Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, and Riccardo Calafiori are all out injured?

In retrospect, Arsenal needed Trossard instead of Martinelli - another technician on the pitch early to help control the ball against Bournemouth's press. It's a real shame that Eze was just back from injury and likely minutes-limited.

People should really stop acting like it is a fait acompli that Manchester City, a club that has dropped points to West Ham and Nottingham Forest in their last two matches, are taking 24 from 24 points.

You know, Arsenal were doing just fine while Mikel Merino was still healthy. I feel like losing him to injury was a bit of a turning point.

It's not great that Arsenal spent 160M on attacking options in the summer and they're still struggling to score goals.

I'm so glad Bukayo Saka went to play meaningless games for England and got hurt doing it.

Bournemouth committed 11 fouls in the first half without receiving a booking. Wonder if that is a record?

Not to shift the blame off Ben White and Noni Madueke for the Bournemouth goal, but I have to question what the Arsenal coaches / bench were doing in the moment, too. It was right in front of them, surely somebody (Arteta, an assistant, another player) can see the unmarked man and give a shout.

This kind of leniency with fouls (and delay) ALWAYS provides a significant advantage to the less skilled, more fouling team.

There was a time in football when this was, in fact, an automatci yellow.

Arsenal should simply score, like, three goals in the first 15 minutes. That would do wonders for the nerves!

It's cool how Arsenal are missing their captain, star attacker, and both first-choice fullbacks.

this looks fash af

“Haven’t you ever hugged an Italian” is an all-timer.

I would make J6 a national holiday, too. Democracy Day. Or something more pointed and petty, dealer’s choice.