Matchday 8

[PendlePie]

9 points across 5 seasons is nothing in comparison to how far ahead you have been of us so it does prove that point somewhat don't you think? You were more than 9 points ahead of us last season alone!

Your performance without those sides is 2.2 points per game compared to our 2.0 points per game. Considering we're both around the 0.5-0.6 mark against the top 6 sides I think winning the games you should win has definitely played it's part!

Considering those points are usually won in "6-pointer" type games, they're worth a whole lot more than simply 9 extra points across 5 seasons.

Especially when a potential result swing in even one of those games per year would usually be enough to change the order of the top 4.

Granted, it's not a monumental difference. But it's just as much in our nature to put in a solid shift against a top side and then conk out to Watford a week later (refer to this post in 2 weeks as it happens) as it is for Tottenham. We don't own the poorer sides as much as some people think.

 

[go you pups]

Here's an overall of Tottenham and Arsenal league records from 10/11 to 14/15 (past 5 completed seasons) against Chelsea, Liverpool, City, United and each other:

Tottenham: Chelsea (8 points) + Liverpool (13 points) + City (4 points) + United (10 points) + Arsenal (14 points) = 49 points
Arsenal: Chelsea (9 points) + Liverpool (16 points) + City (13 points) + United (6 points) + Tottenham (14 points) = 58 points

Point: Arsenal been poor against top opposition, Spurs have been poorer (and really have no consistent ability to beat the top sides, which for some odd reason your fans insist you do). Ergo our ascendency isn't due to simply having a better record over the s**t teams.

/ argument

Liverpool and City have had the wood over us recently

We draw with Chelsea a lot, that's 1 win and 5 draws that 8 points, Utd is 2 wins and 4 draws.

Yes our record is poor against these teams, but for a team that gets talked up to contend by some every bloody year, you guys should be doing better in this regard and is a reason why you don't win the league and sit 3rd-4th.

We shoot ourselves in the foot come March and April every season, we get fatigued from EL/FA Cup having not spent money on incomings in January and blow crucial points, while you guys are KOd out of Europe by then, all your injury-prone players seem to get fit by that time of the season and you steamtrain it home. This has happened every recent year except 2010-11 when you guys were top 2 by Xmas then fell in a heap and only finished 4th because us and Liverpool were incompetent ourselves.

 

[PendlePie]

Um no it wasn't. It was 1-0 their way and their opener was offside also. As marginal as Kane's but if people are going to cry foul about 1 bad call they have to open their eyes and look at them all

My bad on the score, but not even gonna bother arguing with the rest. Whether KDB's was offside or not, you were gifted two goals from blatant offside positions. Take away poor refereeing and you lose two goals and the result is still 0-0.

Not that hard to comprehend is it?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

The refs put that game on a plate for you. Don't try and deny it. It was 1-1 before the first dodgy call.

How? De Bruyne was also offside and Demichelis should have been off.

Be consistent please. Goals 1 and 3 were offside though. No question.

 

[jd2010]

Granted, it's not a monumental difference. But it's just as much in our nature to put in a solid shift against a top side and then conk out to Watford a week later (refer to this post in 2 weeks as it happens) as it is for Tottenham. We don't own the poorer sides as much as some people think.

An average of 2.2 points per game is pretty damn good if you'd ask me. It's also the nature of how you get your victories against them compared to us. We are either naming our first born child after Lloris heroics or snatching a last minute winner. I can't think of the last routine 2-0 or 3-0 win we've had. Definitely going to reduce the life expectancy!

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Harsh on Walker for the Utd own goal! Looked like he was going to be given a torrid time in today's game but after the initial scares handled Monterro pretty well. Trippier hasn't been much better in the EL which is a shame!


In the past 2 sub appearances I've thought N'Jie looks quite lively and wouldn't mind him getting some games instead of Chadli in the league. With his pace either out wide or up front and Kane playing as the #10 I think we'll be much more dangerous

yeah, as amusing at it was to lol at Walker, all he prevented was a Rooney tap in and not many players in the comp would have the speed to get back there.

N'Jie looks very good, a smart signing

 

[jd2010]

My bad on the score, but not even gonna bother arguing with the rest. Whether KDB's was offside or not, you were gifted two goals from blatant offside positions. Take away poor refereeing and you lose two goals and the result is still 0-0.

Not that hard to comprehend is it?

If a game is 4-1 and one side has 2 goals incorrectly not flagged and the other 1 how does this work out to be 0-0?

 

[PendlePie]

If a game is 4-1 and one side has 2 goals incorrectly not flagged and the other 1 how does this work out to be 0-0?

Are we playing the "let's pretend everything else after the offside goals that happened, still happens" game?

 

[jd2010]

How? De Bruyne was also offside and Demichelis should have been off.

Be consistent please. Goals 1 and 3 were offside though. No question.

Exactly. Some of the hysteria about the offsides was laughable. Yes they shouldn't have missed Walker's but hey they never saw Pedro Mendes' goal from halfway at OT somehow either. As Poch says "this is football"

 

[PendlePie]

An average of 2.2 points per game is pretty damn good if you'd ask me. It's also the nature of how you get your victories against them compared to us. We are either naming our first born child after Lloris heroics or snatching a last minute winner. I can't think of the last routine 2-0 or 3-0 win we've had. Definitely going to reduce the life expectancy!

Our results over the past season or two have been fine against these sides. But again, overestimating us a little there in our efficiency v. the poorer sides. We won a truckload of games 1-0 or 2-1 last season in tight circumstances (Leicester twice, Palace, Newcastle, Burnley - and they were just in the final 9-10 games).

Prior to last season we were well known for dropping easy points to average sides who loved "taking it to 'em" when they came to the Emirates.

 

[jd2010]

Are we playing the "let's pretend everything else after the offside goals that happened, still happens" game?

So we should all go inside and shake hands in the 20-something minute when KDB was offside and pretend the whole thing never happened? Both sides 1st half goals shouldn't have counted so whether it is 0-0 or 1-1 the result at HT is the same. Our 2nd goal was their GK stuffing up from Lamela's FK not Kane's offside so that was 2-1 or in the letter of the laws eyes 1-0

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Exactly. Some of the hysteria about the offsides was laughable. Yes they shouldn't have missed Walker's but hey they never saw Pedro Mendes' goal from halfway at OT somehow either. As Poch says "this is football"

"Swings and roundabouts"

On here though many just like to complain when we get the swings. Last year every win was "Jammy". Matches are 90 minutes so who cares if the winner is minute 10 or 90+2? That's not jammy that's just playing until the final whistle.

 

[PendlePie]

So we should all go inside and shake hands in the 20-something minute when KDB was offside and pretend the whole thing never happened? Both sides 1st half goals shouldn't have counted so whether it is 0-0 or 1-1 the result at HT is the same. Our 2nd goal was their GK stuffing up from Lamela's FK not Kane's offside so that was 2-1 or in the letter of the laws eyes 1-0

If the referee does his job correctly it's 0-0 into the second half and anybody's game.

Not sure how that's hard to understand.

Ask City if they would've given up KDB's goal for your two offside ones and see what they say.

 

[jd2010]

Our results over the past season or two have been fine against these sides. But again, overestimating us a little there in our efficiency v. the poorer sides. We won a truckload of games 1-0 or 2-1 last season in tight circumstances (Leicester twice, Palace, Newcastle, Burnley - and they were just in the final 9-10 games).

Prior to last season we were well known for dropping easy points to average sides who loved "taking it to 'em" when they came to the Emirates.

A pretty healthy +25 GD surely means you got a few good wins in there, I never meant you always get easy 2+ goals btw just saying you get the safer on the heart victories more often than we do (think we had 1 3-0 win and all 1 goal wins last season). Can't say I follow your results that closely but I definitely recall a few standard 2-0 3-0 home wins in among them

 

[Art Vandelay_]

If the referee does his job correctly it's 0-0 into the second half and anybody's game.

Not sure how that's hard to understand.

Ask City if they would've given up KDB's goal for your two offside ones and see what they say.

Yes but the 2nd offside goal was after Caballero had made the error so it would have been 1-0 by the time Kane scored under this hypothesis.

 

[jd2010]

If the referee does his job correctly it's 0-0 into the second half and anybody's game.

Not sure how that's hard to understand.

Ask City if they would've given up KDB's goal for your two offside ones and see what they say.

0-1: City goal (offside)
1-1: Spurs goal (offside)
HT
2-1: Spurs goal (not offside)
3-1: Spurs goal (offside)
4-1: Spurs goal (not offside)

How is it not anybody's game at HT 1-1 or 0-0 is the same is it not?

 

[PendlePie]

0-1: City goal (offside)
1-1: Spurs goal (offside)
HT
2-1: Spurs goal (not offside)
3-1: Spurs goal (offside)
4-1: Spurs goal (not offside)

How is it not anybody's game at HT 1-1 or 0-0 is the same is it not?

Offside goals clearly change games. Even at 2-1, your second offside goal essentially killed the game. Clearly not as simplistic as saying the score would've been 2-1 at FT if the rightoffside calls all took place.

My mistake with the timing.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Rafael is gawwwwwn. No chance that cheat gets out of Darmo's pocket.

Cheat? I do believe you mean clever, my good man. Mr Neil himself has given due acknowledgement.

Well Darmo didn't do too well against Sanchez, I do wonder what England's Number 9 is going to do when United comeback to relive their darkest hour. (I'm still wondering if we're one of the reasons Di Maria and Van Persie no longer play. I'm sure there's many as well (like VP's injury), but United under Louie seemed to had changed after that game).

 

[jd2010]

Offside goals clearly change games. Even at 2-1, your second offside goal essentially killed the game. Clearly not as simplistic as saying the score would've been 2-1 at FT if the rightoffside calls all took place.

My mistake with the timing.

Yeah but like you say you never know what's going to happen next after a call/non-call. Fact of the matter is we both went in at HT with goals that should have been and level and we came out and scored 2 more legally. We'll never know what City's response would have been if the 3rd goal never happened, all we know is in the 11 minutes between goals they didn't look likely anyway but we'll never know

 

[go you pups]

Harsh on Walker for the Utd own goal! Looked like he was going to be given a torrid time in today's game but after the initial scares handled Monterro pretty well. Trippier hasn't been much better in the EL which is a shame!


In the past 2 sub appearances I've thought N'Jie looks quite lively and wouldn't mind him getting some games instead of Chadli in the league. With his pace either out wide or up front and Kane playing as the #10 I think we'll be much more dangerous

Walker is a hack now

Smart opposition managers know he's suss now and always attack that left wing and more times than not he gets exposed now.

N'Jie up front and Son at number 10 rotating with Lamela needs to happen to give Kane a rest where applicable.

 

[jd2010]

Walker is a hack now

Smart opposition managers know he's suss now and always attack that left wing and more times than not he gets exposed now.

N'Jie up front and Son at number 10 rotating with Lamela needs to happen to give Kane a rest where applicable.

I'm not sold on all this rest stuff for Kane. Eriksen is 9 months older, has 50 more international caps to his name & plays a key role internationally yet he still manages to cover the most kms for us. What we do need to do is take some of the goal scoring pressure off him and have him play as a #10. With N'Jie our only other ST it should be with him, in a perfect world it would have been behind a poacher like Berahino

 

[go you pups]

If a game is 4-1 and one side has 2 goals incorrectly not flagged and the other 1 how does this work out to be 0-0?

Lol

Na it's 0-0

 

[go you pups]

I'm not sold on all this rest stuff for Kane. Eriksen is 9 months older, has 50 more international caps to his name & plays a key role internationally yet he still manages to cover the most kms for us. What we do need to do is take some of the goal scoring pressure off him and have him play as a #10. With N'Jie our only other ST it should be with him, in a perfect world it would have been behind a poacher like Berahino

Eriksen plays out on the left more these days than at number 10.

We have too many number 10/right wing types in our squad and not enough natural left sided players with Siggy, Chadli and Eriksen filling in that hole over the last 3 years since Bale played as the free roamer/was sold.

 

[NSWCROW]

Sakho last night........obviously Lukaku made a racial slur......................................................................................................................................................................................

^^ got a bit of DERP about it

 

[Cruyff14]

I think we need to focus more on United losing.

It's always glorious.