Been watching the Atalanta-Juventus game. Satisfying match. Atalanta play such enterprising football. Both of their goals were really well constructed. They should feel completely aggrieved that Juventus were awarded two unjust penalties.

Their first goal was just gorgeous. Gomez got the ball and dribbled diagonally away from goal at the top of the penalty box, dragging De Ligt out of position, opening up the lane for Zapata who just dragged Bentacur along and rifled a low shot past Szczesny. And the second goal was a great switch of play with the ball going alone the top of the box for Malinovsky to smack yet another one in.

Juve look old and stale. Their midfield is too rigid and short of invention. The only real spark came from Dybala who displayed magical touches throughout the game.

Shame for Atalanta, should have won yesterday. What a smart little player Papu Gomez is even at this age.

Szczesny is looking more like Kepa than Buffon now that he doesn't have one of the best defences of all time in front of him. I knew they would regret the decision to go with him as first choice keeper in the long run.

Everytime I watch Milan and Bennacer, I just don't get why we didn't take him back for peanuts. He would have improved our midfield by a decent margin.

We could always try to swap Torreira for him this summer. Give them £20 million on top too to grease them up a little bit.

Klaus wrote:

We could always try to swap Torreira for him this summer. Give them £20 million on top too to grease them up a little bit.

But the case of Bennacer is incredible. We let him go and passed him up when he was available for half price. 'Fool me once, shame on - shame on you! Fool me - you can't get  fooled again!'

We actually passed him up for even less than that. Last January (as in 2019) Empoli had agreed to sell him to Napoli for a ridiculous low fee, like a couple million quid, and they contacted us because we had the right to first refusal. The move eventually fell through with all the chaos in Naples, but we turned him down that time too.

We got Denis Suarez instead through our brilliant contact network and as you know he was a massive success here. I have very fond memories of at least five of the 78 minutes he ended up playing for us.

All that so we could keep Xhaka. This is the work of people who don't watch the team or the Premier League. We could've acquired a more complete, cheaper player and sent Xhaka off to Germany for any amount over £15m

Gotta love Atalanta. 8 minutes into their game against Brescia and it's already 1-1 after equal parts of brilliant attacking and terrible defending. A blind bet on Over 2.5 Goals would have paid out in like 95 percent of their games this season.

There’s a lot happening here. The gaffer has my vote for coach of the year.

Klaus wrote:

Gotta love Atalanta. 8 minutes into their game against Brescia and it's already 1-1 after equal parts of brilliant attacking and terrible defending. A blind bet on Over 2.5 Goals would have paid out in like 95 percent of their games this season.

Most of the bookies don't really offer over 2.5 goals for their games after a 3rd of the season. It's always 3 or 3.5 for a start

I always look to bet goals for their games

Malinovsky has a cannon of left foot.

Maybe its time to look at Belgian league and especially at Genk to see what they are doing right in terms of scouting.

The amount of progressive passing that Atalanta does and through the middle up into the area just in front of the opposition penalty box is great. Notice how we have none of that.

We go to the wings too early. By doing that, we make it easy to isolate our threats, and we create less variability in threats for the defense. They hit the wings late in the attack.

4-1 at half time. Incredible team.

Claudius wrote:

The amount of progressive passing that Atalanta does and through the middle up into the area just in front of the opposition penalty box is great. Notice how we have none of that.

I would do disgusting things to get Gasperini to manage Arsenal. Such a complete original, not unlike the Wenger of old. He does this season after season on a relegation-sized budget too.

Klaus wrote:

4-1 at half time. Incredible team.

Claudius wrote:

The amount of progressive passing that Atalanta does and through the middle up into the area just in front of the opposition penalty box is great. Notice how we have none of that.

I would do disgusting things to get Gasperini to manage Arsenal. Such a complete original, not unlike the Wenger of old. He does this season after season on a relegation-sized budget too.

He gets it. Not to be overly critical of Mikel and give that turd Mourinho some praise. But on Sunday he blocked our path out of our one consistent flank by sticking those brutes Sissoko, Winks, Aurier out left. And we became constipated because we can’t progress centrally like Atalanta. That’s why we were a ticking time bomb for defensive lapses. 

Gasperini might try this more expansive, dynamic style. And the tools are there

Yes. The circumstances are different and I get that Arteta had to put some structures down because Emery had built his team on top of quicksand, but I've been anything but impressed with his attacking showings so far. His lineups always seem to come with both belt and suspenders.

It's something about Spanish managers in general that I'm having a hard time to accept. It's like when they won the Euros by playing midfielders up front because it led to more passes inside the box. Even Pep is a boring arse when it comes down to it. No pulse.

What a well constructed goal. Move the ball around quickly. These are basics.

Most entertaining football team in Europe bar none.

How many times have they scored 6 or more goals this season now? 8?

I’m honestly struggling to think of a team that entertains as much. Maybe Bayern. I pray they win Champions League