Arsenal can still cock up Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning plans as the Reds send more mails than the triumphant Gunners.
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How Arsenal can rain on Liverpool’s parade
It seems inevitable now that Liverpool will scrape together the net six points that they need over Arsenal and win the Premier League.
The most likely outcome is that Arsenal will gain at least four points from their next two games meaning Liverpool can win with victories over strugglers Leicester and then Tottenham at Anfield.
This will be especially good for those of us Liverpool fans who remember when we were struggling to reach Champions League places and found ourselves competing for that fourth place with a Tottenham who would (pre-VAR) inevitably gain points through dodgy penalties and wayward offside decisions. (I’d swear that that some referees were judging Gareth Bale like they were judges in the swimming pool awarding ten points for the perfect dive.) Taking the title against them would be a good way to wipe out those memories.
But there’s still a way, in the Football365 manner of ‘what’s the funniest outcome?’ that Arsenal could rain on that parade, and I’m worried that they might.
If Arsenal draw with Ipswich, Liverpool can’t take the title against Leicester, but any points for Liverpool would leave them one win away from being Champions.
If Arsenal then lose to Palace on Wednesday evening, Liverpool will win the league without kicking a ball, and with their next game three days away, there won’t even be a crowd assembled at Anfield to cheer the incoming scores.
I don’t think Arsenal would do it, but if they draw with Ipswich at the weekend, I’ll start to believe they will.
Barry, LFC, Chippenham
Stewie may need to reflect on his approach
It was amusing to see Stewie being forced to congratulate Arsenal (one presumes he had to grit his teeth so hard he needed to see a dentist).
However he keeps reminding people that individual wins or sets of wins aren’t a trophy. That is correct but should also make him reflect on whether he needed to send 30 paragraphs to the mailbox everytime Arsenal dropped points in the league or in the CL group stages.
If people shouldn’t over-celebrate a win unless it brings a trophy then logically he shouldn’t a write novel- length analysis about every draw or loss unless it knocks Arsenal out of a cup or leaves them out of contention for the league.
Hope he can follow his own logic and write fewer messages to the mailbox in the future.
Turiyo Damascene (‘I don’t even like Arsenal!!’), Kigali, Rwanda
Opta are arse about face
I don’t know much about Opta but I am guessing they’re not based in Cataluña, Paris or Milan, where each citiy’s team will be considered favourites.
If you hav’nae seen , they have produced a mini table of favourites to become European Champions. It has AFC, FCB, PSG, 1,2,3 and Internazionale in fourth, albeit across a 28-22 % chance range.
With these things being tricky to measure and cup football being about many rizla thin things, there are a few areas that can help us.
One is fatigue. Inter and Barça are top but still every league point at the moment counts. Arsenal are in a clump of perhaps 6 teams trying to secure top 5. But PSG have won the league already. So from that metric they are favourites.
Very good players in form is another.
Barcelona , despite not having Ter Stegen, do have Pedri , Lamine Yamal and 5 or 6 other top players available yet many are knackered through being overplayed. Inter have the oldest team with some good midfielders, a ‘killer’ in form and a mean old defensive unit. It is great that Saka is back for Arsenal and that Rice is on fire. At PSG their standouts must be the goalie and the flop at Barca – Dembele. Nevertheless playing very well as a team is another metric and perhaps PSG are doing that to a level just above the other semi finalists.
Coaches get that out of their squads.
Lucho Enrique won the mighty treble before, Hansi is a European champion most recently in 2020/21. I could say that PSG have the best midfield and Barca the best front five but it is surely about the 11+ subs.
Stylistically Inter and Arsenal are more risk averse whereas PSG and Barcelona play high risk – high reward football. This is interesting as we’ll see a ‘ clash of styles ‘ in both semis. Some might say that defensively speaking Inter and Arsenal are more solid while PSG and Barca are way more dynamic.
Taking tiredness and all the other areas mentioned above I’d just shade Inter as more likely to get to the final, but cannot call the other. Only the relative freshness of the PSG players, second leg at home thing may make a slight difference.
So in the end, although I might favour an Arsenal versus Barcelona final, I’ll probably get an Inter, Paris Saint Germain one. Opta then, have got it ‘arse about face’.
Peter (Madrid going out is the sweetest thing every year in happens) Andalucia
READ: Arsenal are ‘backed by winds of football history’; give them Champions League now
Sticking up for Macca
Well done Arsenal. You need the football gods to smile on you to win a zero sum knock out tie. Rice scoring two world class free kicks with zero track record is a great example of that. Then of course there is playing well enough to deserve it.
John Matrix, moaning about Macca’s commentary but you need to see beyond the context of one game. Macca has won the Champions League more times than Arsenal. The Champions League format before had the first round of knock outs being the last round of dross and that’s usually where Arsenal would go out. This round they had PSV as an example of that. But you get past the quarters and it’s only real teams left.
For the first time in 20 years – TWENTY – this includes Arsenal. Anything can happen, including Arsenal thinking that they are billy big bollocks and losing their focus. You have lost that winning habit in the league after all. PSV are good side who also don’t need to overexert themselves in the league either.
I am reminded of a story I read about the Liverpool Arsenal Champions League tie in 08. Wild game. An Arsenal player gave an interview about how they were buzzing in the dressing room and Rafa had sent his players out to warm down as if it was just another day in the office. Arteta doesn’t do that for his players, he lets them get carried away with it all. Probably because he hasn’t matured enough himself. It hasn’t yet got them over the line anywhere.
If you don’t this year, there is always next year when Simeone takes over to complete Arsenal’s transformation into Atleti Madrid.
Alex, South London
…I didn’t watch the game last night (at work fixing Canadians) but I read the Mailbox where John had a three-paragraph rant about Macca and found this really bizarre.
I also read the article on F365, which discussed what the ‘party pooper’ said and have these observations:
1) Making petty comments about someone’s voice surely not acceptable – would John have done the same if Macca was an African player, say?
2) Macca is given a hospital pass of a question along the lines of IS Saka the best in the world – not one of the best.
3) He then gives a perfectly rational answer about why Saka probably isn’t the best in the world. At no point does he say Saka isn’t one of the best.
4) All UK men’s football punditry is shit, hit mute at this point.
5) Your team has just won the quarter final and this is all you care about? Really?
As an aside having watched the highlights, it seemed odd to me to see 2 teams with the same shirt sponsor! I am sure this is not the first time this has happened, but either way it just seems weird.
A, LFC, Montreal
Kylian the problem?
Far from being an Arsenal fan, but fair play – always nice to Real, truly humbled. They might want to try something else apart from lumping crosses in the box.
They just feel so entitled, like they just had to turn up. And how good is Rice, surely the most complete and well-rounded midfielder in Europe.
But, my main point, does anybody else notice a correlation?
Mbappe at PSG = they were a very fractured side, carrying the most self‑absorbed elite footballer I have seen. Improved massively since he’s left, no?
Mbappe at Real Madrid = judging on those games against Arsenal, they are just another very fractured side. They are struggling to carry the most self‑absorbed elite footballer I have ever seen.
Are teams not better before and after him? Hmmm…
Pabs
Another Liverpool fan writes…
Well done Arsenal, by far the better team, away wins in Europe are one of the best nights fans can enjoy, especially if you’re there and I’m sure you all did.
But can I talk about the VAR and the referee who showed the PGMOL just how effective the technology can be used. The Arsenal penalty is a decision which should be given (either way) almost every game, Arsenal being one of the biggest culprits and only consistent and regular awards will go some way to cut this blatant cheating out (I’d give one every time a player has his back to the ball as the intentions are quite clear) and even if it did take a couple of minutes for them to intervene, it was the correct decision. Similarly the Rice/Mbappe incident, whilst the referee didn’t get all decisions right (they can’t), having the courage(?) to overturn his original decision was superb officiating.
Could this be because he’s simply better and has a better understanding of the game than the likes of Oliver, Tierney etc etc, could the fact that he doesn’t have to referee in the Bernabeu 3 or 4 times a season have a bearing? That’s one which can’t be overcome.
The PGMOL should hang its head in shame (again) as I’m pretty confident they will not learn from this and this weekend will see even more horrendous decisions and Webb striving for convoluted excuses.
And once last thing, shouldn’t Arsenal’s two wins and Villa, currently seventh, being the first team to beat PSG for 18 games (cough, since LFC) demonstrate the strength in depth of the Premier League and show just how good this Liverpool team has been to be so far ahead and remove any talk of asterisks and “no one else turned up” gibberish.
Was amused to hear Declan Rice just cut himself short of publicly conceding the title in his post match interview, if you missed it, he said something like, “We have a tough game at Ipswich where we need to consol……” (our 2nd place spot and Champions League football).
Howard Jones
Skip if you are over VAR discussions
Firstly, yay Arsenal. Interesting to see that all four semi-finalists seem to be in the 22-28% chance of winning the whole thing range. I wonder how often the semi-finalists are all given roughly the same chance of winning. I can genuinely see a case for all four teams so it should be fun. I almost wish I didn’t have a horse in this race.
The main thing I wanted talk about was VAR. I’ll preface this with fact that I am generally in the pro VAR “I’d prefer the decision was correct rather than quick” camp with the caveat that it should never take 5 mins.
Last night, I was certainly screaming at the tv after the Merino foul and thought it was weird that the commentators (US) didn’t mention it and there was no replay. They also seemed surprised when the ref was ordered over to the screen, but I knew exactly what was about to happen. For the Mbappe dive, and it was a dive, I fully expected it to stand as you rarely see VAR have the balls to say that sort of decision rises to the “clear and obvious error” level.
I also think that there is another way VAR could and should be utilized. At least 2- or 3-times last night the officials got the decision wrong about a corner/goal kick. In these cases, it is often blatantly obvious from the first replay that the ball came off the other team’s player. The game is already stopped so you are not breaking the flow. It would be a trivial thing for VAR to whisper into the ref’s ear “actually that should be a goal kick”. Similarly, Real got a free kick just outside the area when, Vini jr. (I think) was “fouled”.
At the time, and from the replay I saw it looked like he wasn’t touched and fell over 4 seconds after the tackle. In this sort of case, again the game is stopped, why can’t VAR chirp up and say, “actually he didn’t touch him”. Hey presto, free kick other way and a yellow for the diver.
A lot of the objection to VAR comes from the time it takes and the disruption it causes. It seems like it would be a quick win to have it start chiming in if (and only if) it can quickly and decisively spot an error during an existing break in the play and help the ref rectify that error.
Ozzy AFC DC
Has Trent made an error?
Well done to Arsenal, a 5-1 aggregate victory is a great result against any side.
However, it is worth bearing in mind that Real Madrid would have won that tie if only they had a better right-back.
And if that’s not true, then you made a big mistake, Trent, mate.
Barry, LFC, Chippenham
A long riposte to Vinnie Pee
One time contributor/poster here, and that was years ago. However the mail from Vinnie P got my goat up so much that – in the words of Slipyp G again – we go again. What absolute drivel the lad spouts. To be clear, this isn’t me feeling the need to respond to a fan of a rival team, it’s just me wanting to clapback against his absolute drivel.
[re Arsenal: “no matter how cringe your manager is, no matter how horrible your fans are, (they are horrendous)”
Ok, care to provide any examples? Sure, every club in the world has their diehards, their fantasists, their deluded followers who think the club are better than they really are. I’m sure others say the same thing about Man Utd, Chelsea, [insert here] fans…..but can you provide any specific reasons for why you think this is the case? IF we are talking about cringe, then surely the plane and boat loads of folks that make the “pilgrimage” to Anfield every second week to sing The Fields Of Athenry have to be up there with the most cringe of cringe going, no? If not that, then maybe the whole “you never walk alone”, or “this matters more” is up there in the cringe stakes?
Either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s just fans being fans and coming together in a form of good-natured tribalism. What supporters of one club do versus a different club isn’t all that different.
“At the end of the day, investments are the hygiene factor of cups and trophies”
You’ve lost me here. Hygiene factor, football clubs, investments? WTF are you even trying to say, lad? Are you talking about FFP rules? If you are, then say that FFS.
“The past 10 years were dominated by Abramovich’s Chelsea and City, and it seems like Arsenal is finally coming to the table”
Hmmm…only Arsenal? Not Liverpool when taken over by FSG, not Man U when taken over by the Glasers, not Newcastle, not Everton with Moshri, Villa with V Sports?
Look, football these days is a business. Just like NFL. It’s a commodity. Yes, Arsenal are fortunate beneficiaries of investment. It was always ever thus…we can while for the good old days of Sir Chips Kenswright, the Royal Honorable Who-Gives-A-F**k but reality is that professional sports has, and always will be, beholden to some owner at the top who wants to make money one way or another. Sure, you get the occasion al owner who pumps their own money in because they want to see success in their lifetime and aren’t bothered about a return on their investment (c.f Jack Walker) but those days are dead and gone. Also, don’t play coy with how much money FSG have pumped in. Liverpool are right up there with Man Urd, Chelsea, City when it comes to corporation ownership/investment.
“The gate crashers, the one club that doesn’t belong in that upper echelon, is Liverpool”
I’m sorry…what? Liverpool don’t belong in the upper echelon? Those plucky underdogs? Those plucky underdogs of 19 top division titles, 6 European trophies (Champs League Equivalent). Are you trying to pretend you’re Newcastle or Villa (no disrespect to those clubs)
“For far too long, we have had no investments but relied on smarts”
I was trying to find a start to disprove your argument but actually it seems you make a fair point here. Even removing last summer from the equation, Liverpool have routinely been between 5th and 7th in expenditure (nb: expenditure, not net spend bullshit). I guesstimated they would have been like 2nd or 3rd, purely on the basis high profile signings like Nunez, Gakpo, Diax etc but then I remembered that, you are right, they have been pretty smart with signing like McAllister etc for relative steals. You do have a good point here.
“No other big club went a full season with ZERO new players”
Fair enough. However you did have some big renewals to get done this year, or attempt to get one. Maybe that plays a factor. You did send 30M (Euro) on a goalkeeper though, who isn’t even in the team yet.
“Other clubs have 300k/week bench players “
Ok, we are back into hyperbole again. Can you name names? Regular starters who happen to be injured don’t count. Genuinely curious.
“Other fans are getting owners like Kronke, Glasers, INEOS, Todd Boehly out of their clubs, but guess what?”
What? Ain’t nobody getting any owners out. Glasers are still there. INEOS and Boehly just came in. Kroneke had a bit of flak but IMHO most Arsenal supporters are behind him.
If by “getting owners out” you mean…”are demonstrating against” then, yeah, sure. Haven’t Liverpool demonstrated against FSG too, on occasion? What’s your point here? Fans are not going to “get owners out” FFs.
“It means more? Well next season’s slogan should be ‘We deserve more!”
“The fans continue to be the best in the world”
Why? Also, didn’t you open your mail by calling Arsenal fans “horrendous” and our manager “cringe”. Got a mirror in your house…..you’ll never walk alone, eh bro?
“no protests, no marches”
Really? That’s lies. Google it.
“we always create the best atmosphere in Anfield”
Went a few times with a Liverpool-supporting mate. Usually against the smaller teams cos tickets were cheaper and also flights from Dublin. Pretty shirt atmosphere those games. Haven’t been for a big game, but I’d say it’s pretty electric anywhere for a big game. Ask Villa fans.
“Then there are the global fans who stay up all night to watch the team, paying ludicrous amounts of streaming fees”
Not a uniquely Liverpool thing. Often up at 5AM to watch my team play, or paying an exorbitant fee for a monthly subscription that I use only to watch football. It’s called being a supporter, and it’s not unique to Liverpool.
To quote my American friends…..check your privilege mate (sorry, that phrase annoys me too).
Mark. Seattle
Enzo the line?
“The last two seasons Chelsea was not in the top four and this season Chelsea was in the top four most of the year”
This, in Mr Maresca’s words means a sign of progress and that his style is working.
It;s one thing to be in the top 4 most of the season, it’s another to then f*ck it up completely. I’d say that’s not a sign of progress at all.
This was his perfect season to get Champions :eague football, a year when Man City fell off a cliff and United and Spurs were nowhere near the top 4 race.
Fifth place will get CL this year and Maresca won’t even manage that after “spending most of the year in the top four”.
At the moment 7th looks the most likely finish, although with Chelsea’s run in 9th wouldn’t shock me. And forgive me if I’m wrong but I think that’s a fair old step back from last season.
Forget the Champions League, winning Europe’s 3rd tier competition might be the only chance Mr Maresca has of getting into the Europa League next season.
Talk is that the board are happy to keep him, certainly through the World Club Cup. No idea why, they sure as sh*t don’t have a hope of winning it. You can trust the morons who run the club to make the worst decision 99% of the time. Chuck managers they should keep (Poch, although I can understand him wanting to get the Christ out of the club) and keeping ones they shouldn’t.
You could say ‘oh who’s going to replace him?’ Other than Van Nistelrooy and the temp at Southampton I’d take literally any other manager in the league and think they’d get more out of this team. And certainly play better football.
If Mr Maresca was still at Leicester this season he would have gotten relegated. Is that the sort of manager who you’d think could then get CL football?
Finally, and what might piss me off the most about his is his stubbornness and arrogance. Stubbornness to only play out from the back with Cheslea’s worst Goalkeeper in 35 years. To insist on insipid sideways and backwards passing. Arrogance to proclaim how correct he is because when Sanchez hit it long once it led to an opposition goal. Arrogance to say that if players don’t pass back to the goalkeeper every 10th pass they won’t play. People have been angered by Amorim’s insistence on a formation and style, but I haven’t seen much about Maresca’s infantilizing tactics.
Will (Leicester fans, I understand now. Have him back?)
READ: Maresca resignation imminent if he continues to call out ‘environment’ at failing Chelsea
