Hazbro

I too get that (just realised). So it’s not the TLD.

Wonder if it’s because your TLD is .es and it assumes you’re Spanish based on that?

The only change I’d like to see is the lines being drawn based on the feet.

One drawn at the heel of the last defender, one drawn at the toe of the forward.

I did think they might play Stones and Khusanov, but I figured it’d be for Nunes (who covers a fair bit of ground) and one of Dias or Guehi would play.

To pick neither and no Rodri is almost like throwing.

You seen the lineup too? A lot more rotation than I expected given the opposition.

I agree, some limits on how far things can vary should be in place.

I think there are restrictions on pitch quality, and like I said, minimum and maximum sizes, but of course not all stadiums are the same size. It’s only natural some pitch size variance will occur.

I’m sure he’s got some irons in the fire, and as soon as outgoings happen he’s ready to move quick on incomings, but some of the outgoings, if they involve players at the WC, may take longer to get done. Just bc of medicals, contract negotiations etc.

I agree he probably is a little less dependent on pure pace in behind and a trickier player. I think my point was more that it wasn’t a judgement on their quality as players, which I think isn’t too dissimilar, but other factors. Profile, contract situation, homegrown status even.

I think it was playable, but difficult to play on. Tbf the Emirates pitch hasn’t been its usual carpet self lately (but is obviously better than today’s pitch).

You draw the line by having limits. Every team, even in the Premier League, has slightly different pitch dimensions, bc it suits how they want to play. But there are min/max size regulations. There should be similar limits to moving the hoardings closer or further back (maybe there are?)

I think Hincapie will happen (and happen fast) and I think Kiwior out likewise (which will go some way to funding it). However I suspect any more incomings may be outgoing dependent so probably don’t happen. Jesus and White (if they leave) seem most likely, due to probably not going to the WC.

Fair point.

I thought that post was implying Mansfield had done that and if they did I don’t think they did it too much to make the pitch totally unplayable, maybe just a bit more than normal to edge it in their favour. I think changes like that (or the hoardings) are fine so long as players aren’t endangered.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if we went down net 2 if that was also with a view to making sure we had scope to add in January if we needed to like City did this year to “jumpstart” if necessary. Especially in a WC summer where getting all business done might be hard.

People forget what a mess the club was when he joined. Without him Mikel doesn’t build the foundations he has. I’ll reserve judgement on whether Berta is an upgrade or not but even if he was, it doesn’t mean Edu did a bad job.

I don’t think the pitch today was unplayable or dangerous though. It was just not a carpet.

Or Liverpool’s tbf…

I should note when I say smaller I don’t mean dramatically so. I see maybe 4/5 outgoings and 3 incomings so maybe a net loss of 2 players. And even that’s probably on the high side, may only be down net 1.

And I agree about the kids. I’d play them in both cups next year.

I agree about the profile being pretty special and Arteta valuing it. That’s why I wouldn’t be as confident saying he’s definitely going as I am about White. Partly because his availability has been better, partly bc of his age, partly bc of the profile. I do think we may be open to it though.

Idc tbf. It’s their home ground, they can do what they want. It’s no different to clubs moving advertising boards closer to the pitch this season to try and affect long throws. Clubs also design pitch size to benefit their style of play (within the rules, of course). This isn’t any different imho.

Neither have we yet.

Salah played 52 games last season. Alvarez played 52 the season before.

If the bench increases to 11 then maybe we won’t make the squad smaller, but I’d still expect to see significant departures just to have room for incomings.

Happy to agree to disagree though.

It’s not just the going walkabouts, that’s his role, it’s the panicked pulls or tackle he puts in when he’s caught out of position. You see that as proof Cala is closer to Arteta’s ideal vision of a fullback; I see that as proof of Hincapie being closer to his ideal vision of a core defender.

The squad is already so big we can’t fit everyone on the bench if everyone’s fit. As it is we’ve had as much downside from the big squad this season as upside. As for a big squad being necessary; Liverpool didn’t use as many players as us last year. Neither did City the year before.

I think some of Max’s penalties are bc refs find it harder to default to their “he needs to be stronger” default answer if the “he” in question is only 16. Not sure they’d be as quick to do it if he was 21 tbh.

Moving the ball quicker is an area we can improve on, but I don’t think it’s a panacea. City aren’t ponderous moving the ball and aren’t scoring a ton more from open play. Liverpool probably move it quicker than us too and have fewer open play goals. As for Max, I’m not sure that’ll continue.

I think the “if fit and in form” part is the part where I think the issue lies. Mikel values availability. I’m not saying we’d rush to sell him, but if the right offer was made, I think we’d be open to it.

Also not sure about “shoring up defensive holes”, but agree about his attacking output.

Problem is B) is dependent on referees giving us penalties (they don’t). A) isn’t really that viable when the defenders are mobile enough to cover the ground (see Murillo against both us and City).

C) is really the only solution…and those are often blocked for…you guessed it, corners.

This is the answer. He doesn’t need to be in the main list, we added him there because we could, but he’s eligible for the B list and we can select players off that list for matchday squads.

Huh…but wait…didn’t we get that story about how he was a dick to some guy who wanted a shirt signed “for his kid” while Mikel was in a car with his family?

Almost like he’s a lovely guy and that was manufactured bullshit.

That sounds awful. But yeah, I think there needs to be some thought about how to force higher defensive lines, not how to better police free kicks (or at least not *just* that). We want flowing attacking football too, despite what rival fans or the media think, but it’s hard when teams low block.