Mexal

So much for that. That is one of the worst goals I’ve ever seen us give up. They’re deflated coming off the pitch. Unbelievably Arsenal. I don’t know why I watch.

I thought the penalty was super weak and that kind of inconsistency with the Chelsea penalties is really frustrating. Echo Mainoo is awesome. What a player you guys got.

Good win for GD. Need Rice and Gabriel to be ok.

United have spent a lot of money for ETH. Fans complain because that money spent has led to them being shit but it’s not like they have been cheap. Arsenal, once Kroenke took over completely, has spent a lot of money recently and part of that is loans from KSE on back of their Stanley Cup, NBA championship and Super Bowl wins. Liverpool spends but also does a good job of unloading so they’re net spend isn’t insane but they get more for their players which allows them to bring in some bigger names (Nunez for example). Spurs are cheap but it doesn’t help they just built a new stadium. And they still spend more than the rest outside of say Newcastle. It’s why they’re fairly unlikely to win the league, depth just isn’t enough. In American sports (NFL, NBA), it’s a star driven league. If you have a generational talent at QB or in NBA, you have a much higher chance of continued success. And that comes from drafting mostly. In MLB, it’s mostly money these days.

The whole system is reinforcing too. If you finish in the top 5, you get European money you can spend on players. You also get better and more expensive sponsorships along with other revenue streams. And then you spend it on more players. That plus rich owners lending money to the team allows the top 6 to continually stay near the top even with failures along the way. A bottom PL team will have a tough time competing with that, there is just no way for them to get generational stars outside of developing them and that is not easy to do. Without a draft or salary cap, this is the way it’ll be always. It’s why I appreciate the NFL model and parity. You can go from the 3rd worst team to a playoff winner in a year if you draft the right talent with right coaching staff. There are other limitations there why certain teams are always good and others aren’t but the system itself lends to more season over season parity where as football does not and never will. As for Chelsea, their comeuppance is coming. They’re getting away with it now because of accounting rules for who they’ve sold and amortization of their contracts but over next few years, they will have a harder and harder time paying for it without European football.

You can win those fights without being so much more physical. You can be more determined. You can be better trained. You can be more strategic / deliberate in your actions. Ellie isn't exactly the strongest woman in the world so it won't take a ton for her to do it. My point is more that unlike a Jack Reacher type of character where his entire being is his physicality, I think Abby can be less insanely strong and still fulfill the core of the character. And Kaitlyn Dever is a fantastic actress who has shown she can be smart, determined, hard as nails and a strong leader who people want to follow in previous roles which so important to Abby's character. I'm thrilled honestly.

I think it'll be fine. Dever is an incredible actress who can have a commanding presence. Physicality is part of what she looked like but honestly, in the game, it wasn't a massive part of what he did. She was a soldier and a leader, Dever can play that role. She can be hard as fuck. If I look at WJ's post on 3 main issues, I fell into the structural issues (it was an absolute mess but can easily be fixed in a tv show) and plot issues categories which was exacerbated by the structure issues. I get what they were going for and I think it could have worked but the narrative structure made it hard for me to get behind it. Still a great game, just not as good a story as the first game imo (there are those who disagree).

We finished The Brothers Sun a day or so ago. Very much enjoyed the ride. Need more fun series with good blend of action and comedy like this and Obliterated.

Yea, there is definitely a need for a DM to come in but the profile we want is more likely to be found in the summer with someone like Zubimendi. Even if true, not sure how this goes through, we have no money for Onna or a striker in Jan. I just don't see it happening. Personally, I'd love a LB. Kiwior is not the answer there.

Anatomy of a Fall was sensational. Riveting all the way through. Sandra Huller was special. One of the best I’ve seen this year.

Just wasn't meant to be but I have high hopes for next season. Burrow getting some time on the sideline, especially as the offense evolved a bit for Browning, likely isn't a bad thing. Got a lot of cap space next season, one major extension to get done and then start improving their DL, OL and depth.

Arsenal’s last three games (xG) vs actual (excluding pen): Arsenal (6.5xg) 1-6 (2.5xg) Opponents Absolutely hilarious.

Glad I don’t give a fuck anymore.

With things the way it is in college, not sure Williams even goes first. Could very much see Drake Maye going first. He's been awesome. Will be very curious what Bears do. Personally, if I was them, I'd go QB, Fields isn't the long term answer, even though he's as athletic of a runner as there is in the league.

Not here in the states. I have never heard of it, I just heard rumors so assumed.

Over the side? Meaning brining women (not his wife) into a hotel with other players and banging them?

Such is life. We don’t have polish running our transfers.

Last year, one of the major reasons Arsenal were good early was Partey. One of the reasons they fell off was Partey getting hurt then losing form. His profile is a huge need in the way Arteta wants to play. Just watch him come off the bench against City and what he managed to do. Not having him for most of the season has been a major hurt, even if it’s for the last 30 minutes as we push for a result. Arteta wanted to play him with Rice, not Rice instead of and that hasn’t really worked out. The other thing Arteta did was get Timber who had shown all of Zinchenkos technical ability but with the defensive solidity of Tomiyasu. He was exactly what Arteta wanted to upgrade the side and we saw that promise during the preseason. He tore his ACL in first game. Then Zinchenko got hurt, then Tomiyasu. And that Tomi injury has affected White because he’s playing with an injury, doesn’t have the same energy and is slower on his overlaps than last season which was so crucial to freeing up Saka to cut in. This has really hurt that right side. Anyway, I can see what Arteta wanted to do but it hasn’t really worked. January won’t bring in anything that will truly make a difference so we will need another big summer. And we will need to sell our academy players to get some pure profit to make these purchases. We have a good core, just still missing some pieces.

Jorginho has been hurt too. The system right now isn’t working and the wingers are massively out of form. We’ve had like 6 xg in last few games and have scored just 1 from it. Been a brutal stretch. Won’t win much if you don’t score goals. Rice is limited as a through the lines passer (which I’m ok with at this stage because he’s an absolute baller at getting the ball back cleanly) and Partey is massively missed because that’s his best attribute. Xhaka was good at receiving, turning and pushing ball forward which Havertz hasn’t been good at yet. Those are issues. Odegaard has been dropping deeper in the xhaka role of last year and it has worked great, he’s been awesome, but the players in front of him have bottled every big chance he has created. Saw a 4 minute compilation yesterday of Odegaard master class that was missed and it made me sad. Then I saw those positions intermixed with last year where we scored. That made me really sad. Just a brutal season where we lack confidence, energy and fluidity. The injuries also haven’t helped. Fun fact, Raya has yet to have a clean sheet when having more than one shot on target in a game. It hasn’t helped that his fullbacks are playing with injuries and the replacements are injured. Teams are all taking their minimal half / big chances against us while we miss over and over and over. Hasn’t been a fun few weeks as a fan. And yet we are only 2-5 pts off top of table and don’t play again in league for 3 weeks. I got a little hope but not much.

I don’t know but if we keep losing and playing this poorly, does it matter who’s consistent? All of us fighting for 4 will be in same boat.

This Arsenal team is comically bad right now. Will be lucky to finish top 4.

They had 23 opt outs. Literally every good player on that team opted out. Of course they’re on a different level.

Just for you mate. Just for you.

So… how was it? Did he bitch and moan like you thought he would?

19 games in and Arsenal's top goal scorer has 5 goals. xG of 2.72 and no goals. That's just sad.