Clrnc They'll need a clean deeper than Hercules sorting out the Augean stables to change the culture there. Maybe they could divert the Thames. Spurs mate this morning just said "now you know what it's like". They're an organisation that's neurotically addicted to failure.
Spurs will be Spurs. Better luck next year. What an utterly pathetic fan base this club has, dear me.
He said the last 48hours, no just the game - I reckon Levy has told him there's no money for the summer. We know how hard the years after building a big new stadium are. They spent the Kane money on a bit of cheese and a lot of debt.
I find it difficult to take Haaland's goals seriously. I feel they should count for half. Spurs lost 1-0 in my mind.
I feel for Ange. Recon now he’s sucked down on that Spurs gobstopper and reached the sourness he won’t be able to forget it. Those 48 hours have taken any shine the role had left for him away.
I wouldn’t really know how to begin to fix them. Unlike with us, despite being in fine fettle we can all pretty much agree upon the areas we should target to take us up another level. With a transfer window approaching it’s exciting. For them what the hell do you do? Many will tell you that a combined eleven between us consists of mainly Spurs players. They’ve tried bringing in serial winners like Mourinho and Conte but it doesn’t work. I can’t see any true superstars wanting to join them - only wounded players or those who the bigguns aren’t interested in.
Ah well. Fukkem.
Imagine getting more joy from others’ misery than from your own achievements. What a club. I honestly feel more sad for them than anything else, because I find it hard to grasp how anyone could be such a loser.
Spurs tried their best yesterday. But ultimately they’re not good enough. They’re a limited team. Remind me of what we used to be 4 seasons ago before we started our transformation in earnest. Entire midfield and attack needs to be upgraded.
What was awful was just watching City hold them at bay as you would a little child trying to hit you. Without much adventure. Just one or two attacks, and their cheat code ogre finished. It’s tepid yet inevitable.
lorddulaarsenal I wouldn’t really know how to begin to fix them.
You'd have to do what we did. Bite the bullet, start shipping out the misfits, pensioners and pseudo big names, select 5–6 players from the first XI as the kernel of the new project, then spend 3–4 years recruiting, expecting you'll finish midtable for at least the first two of those, certainly you can rule out Champions League qualification, and expecting to spend a nett £500m.
Their first team's already so makeshift I don't reckon swapping out the plebs for semi-decent youngsters would hit their results too badly.
The money will be the issue for them but too bad, so sad. My guess is Ange has been told that the bankroll won't be there because they won't compete in the new Champions League. Given having pulled out just one additional win since Christmas would put them in with a good chance, he's fucked it.
It's a similar situation to Arteta two seasons ago, but it's a mite worse due to Postecoglou's lack of pragmatism and acumen. He's kept saying to the players "We're going to follow my plan even if we lose," so now he's got a group of players who see losing as a viable option every week. Arteta has never strayed into that sort of territory.
From where Spurs are at at the moment, shooting for a league title looks like a decade long ultra-patient project. Given they haven't won anything of note in over 60 years that should hardly bother them. Fuck 'em indeed.
Claudius Spurs tried their best yesterday. But ultimately they’re not good enoug
I'm actually quite surprised they tried that hard. Son was devastated by that miss. Ortega took a game gamble and it paid off. No sane keeper would have left his near post so open to cover the far post in a one on one and Son already made up his mind
Panda no worries!
Spuds fans providing meme material for when Hammers do us a favour.
If only Son had scored that 1v1...
Michail my man all on you now.
I have a bit more respect for Ange after seeing those clips and articles, hope for his sake he gets out of that soul-sapping peehole.
Lol, you guys really wasted your time watching a Spurs game hoping they would do something?
Arsenal have broken my heart too many times, no way I was going to let Spurs do it too. Only one way this was ever ending.
We had our chance and put up a good fight. Feels bad to come so close and not win, but overall we can still be proud and call it a good season. If we can repeat this kind of 90-point-ish season over the next few seasons, we're bound to win one.
Segway That moment's a bit like the anti-Thomas ... "it's not up for grabs now"
RocktheCasbah I have faith in Arteta now. He will get Emery back next season 
Ridiculous. Juiced up fuckers
Really shows that the start and end of our season was ok - it was that mid season blip that cost us
Mirth Yeah, we dropped 11 points in short order in that stretch.
Though we gnashed and wailed quite a bit about the season probably being over, there was no real sense of our best shot at a title in forever going by the wayside over two points.
I reckon we'll start next season with a lot of dressing room angst about every point dropped.
naz nothing unexpected. Most of us expect this. City is like this in the run in. We saw that last few seasons as well.
I don't know why so many people were confident they will not win every match. You look at the fixtures and you can't even see which match they will drop points. They are more likely to be perfect than not
Mirth Really shows that the start and end of our season was ok - it was that mid season blip that cost us
We weren't great in the first half of the season, the blip was always going to happen sooner or later as we weren't creating chances. Once Havertz moved to 9 and Rice to 8 post Christmas things clicked together. It took Arteta a while to figure out how to best utilise them, I think he had different ideas for how to evolve the team on from last season. Hopefully next season we don't have that problem and we can start more coherently.
Clrnc agree albeit my outtake would be that given we were near perfect in our run-in despite it being the toughest one on paper, the only thing we don't have that City do is experience. And that's why it's easier for them to churn out the results.
Clrnc I don't know why so many people were confident they will not win every match. You look at the fixtures and you can't even see which match they will drop points. They are more likely to be perfect than not
Yeah, this is true. Even I've learned my lesson after last season. But this record also shows you how difficult it is to get past them. Their last loss was matchday 15 and they've dropped eight points out of the 66 available to them since. That is a level of relentlessness that is going to be very difficult to come by and, much as I'm sitting here thinking, "we will have them next season, for sure!" we all know they ain't going anywhere.
Maybe as well knowing how ruthless they are with most other teams the head to head is where you have real autonomy to hurt them and get some space. Do you go for the win away at theirs? I understand how we approached it this season and we got what we set out for but do we need to maximise them dropping points next season?
To be fair we've picked up more points in the last 10 games and we've arguably had the much tougher run in. It's not the run in so much as they've been near perfect for the last 20 games. The only games they dropped points in were against us and Liverpool ffs.
I think going for the safety first approach at the Etihad was a decent bet that did leave the title in our hands. But maybe a win there was the blow we needed to give them, because City looked like they were happy to give us a point and back themselves to out do us in the games that followed.
Burnwinter Yeah, we dropped 11 points in short order in that stretch.
City had a similar run a few f weeks prior to that. Goes back to what I was saying yesterday. It's not so much how, who or when you drop points, you're going to have variation on that each season. All that matters is how many.
awooga83 I think this is the next bit of our development, at least I hope so. I know that we were contending with our history at Old Trafford on Sunday as well as what it would mean if we lost that game, but I think we saw that whilst we are an excellent team, we aren't quite the finished article yet. I find it very difficult to believe City wouldn't have put 3 or 4 past that United side. And I think that goes back to goon's oft made point about Arsenal playing with the swagger and authority of a genuinely great team.
Similarly, we were able to shut City down in both league games this season, but having the confidence to go and attack them in the way that Liverpool did in the second half of their most recent game (and of course coming out victorious) would be huge for this team. Whether we will ever get to that level I don't know, but it's where we need to get to imo.
City are obviously very very good. But I think it's worth keeping in mind that their performance yesterday merited a draw. Son spit the dummy.
goon To be fair we've picked up more points in the last 10 games and we've arguably had the much tougher run in. It's not the run in so much as they've been near perfect for the last 20 games. The only games they dropped points in were against us and Liverpool ffs.
I think going for the safety first approach at the Etihad was a decent bet that did leave the title in our hands. But maybe a win there was the blow we needed to give them, because City looked like they were happy to give us a point and back themselves to out do us in the games that followed.
Safety first approach is definitely the way to go. Don't lose 6 pointers, and win all the easy games. We failed on the 2nd part. If we have gone h2h with City that day they would have tore us apart. They are a better team than us.
I remember posting City's record since December (GW14) and it's impressive as hell, in the thread where many were confident City will drop points in the remaining matches which I didn't understand why. They kept up with the pace without KDB for first half of the season, then kept up the pace without Haaland. When they are both back you know the game's up. I think many people viewed Liverpool as a threat and wanted them to draw at Anfield, but I was the minority that really wanted Liverpool to win and throw City off the boil.
I am still quite proud that despite such a tough run in, we are a routine home win against Villa from winning the title. We went through so many tough obstacles, disappointment obviously that we didn't achieve the home run but to finish 2 points behind them considering the stage we are at in December is commendable.
nothing is wrong with a draw at citeh, we took 4/6.
this is the sorta revelation liverpool had and followed it up with that damn near perfect season where they had the league wrapped up before the covid stoppage.
the seriousness you'll see next season will not be familiar to us. we're getting 100 pts next season. bet on it.
89 pts wouldn't be enough to win any of the top 5 leagues.
RocktheCasbah I get that thought, but it's going to be easier turning 0 points at home to Villa and Fulham into 1/3 than it is turning 1 at the Etihad into 3.
I'd bet it's more likely City take more points off us next year than Villa, Fulham, or whichever team has it's purple patch season next year.
A draw away at both of your nearest title rivals is an astounding feat and one we should be massively proud of. There's far more room to improve elsewhere before we need to consider that result being the difference maker.
Tam I think, for me anyway, it's less about turning the one point to three at City than having the genuine authority in your play - wherever you go. Of course, there will be times it doesn't always happen, but to go back to what I said earlier. I don't think this City side plays this Manchester United side and only comes away with a 1-0 win. I don't think this City side would go to Spurs, have them absolutely dead and done and then turn a 3-0 lead into a 3-2 squeakfest.
Ultimately, I'm super happy with where we are and hoping for more to come next season, but I'm also actually okay with us not winning the title this year as I think we all know that City are still the best team in the country. I'm proud of how close we've run them though, especially given the run we had to put together in 2024 to do so.
Tam Though I do also appreciate having the confidence in your defensive structure and play to and execute a game plan, like we did at City is authoritative in its own way....
Meatwad nothing is wrong with a draw at citeh, we took 4/6.
We murdered the Big Six all up. Saw the overall mini-league for the season and we're well out in front.
It's a brilliant change from the years we seemed to fuck up all these encounters, but also troubling as it'll be a difficult feat to repeat and meanwhile we need to start taking full points from more routine matches.
