Arsenal fans think they should ‘over-celebrate’ after dirty Porto win

Arsenal fans are celebrating. But would they prefer to be Chelsea instead? We have reaction to the Porto win as well as the idea that their fans should be happy.

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Can we celebrate?

Can I celebrate? A little?

No? OK. Bring on the QF.

Great intense game.

Great Ref (surprise)

I always hated Pepe but at 41 man was immense.

So was Raya!!!!

Hats

…My cat was fast asleep throughout that game, whilst I fretted and paced around barely able to breathe

He is now cowering under the sofa, as I may have shouted a bit louder than was strictly necessary when Raya saved that second penalty

I’ve had an almighty bollocking off the missus and my daughters, but the release of tension was incredible

That’s why we are going to over-celebrate this one and Richard Keys can go suck a big fat poxy one.

Rob, Bristol Gooner

(He’s brought a lot of mice in lately, so maybe it’s karma)

Sticking it to F365

Glad we edged Porto, it should act as a confidence booster for the team and the fanbase to get past this hurdle. Gosh the last time we won a CL knockout tie was 14 years ago against Porto as well. I remember kids at school taunting me back then when Arsenal lost the first leg away and then we thumped Porto 5-0 at home to fly into the quarters and I returned to school with smug glory.

Speaking of which, this is surely a disappointing result for F365. You’ve lost another chance to shitpost about Arsenal and gain clicks from bloodythirsty rival fans looking to feast on our failures! Whoever at F365 that writes under the pseudonym “Stewie Griffin” will be miserable today, I guess they’ll have to go back to their day job of browsing Reddit for more reactionary takes to adopt.

Oh well, you guys will have to make do with the dozens of laughable emails that come through whinging about Arsenal “celebrating too much”.

Vish (AFC), Melbourne, Aus

(I like Arsenal and we’re glad they’re through. Maybe just enjoy it? – Ed)

Porto were no fun though

Phew! That was a grind. It felt very Mourinho-esque, that battle. Clearly Conceicao and Jose have a lot of similarities when losing too.

Re Porto, Some call it clever, I call it cheating. Can I ask those, such as Matt Stead who called Porto “brave”, and others who think it’s clever: If football was like that every week, do you think it would have grown into the global sport it is today? Would you honestly watch football if it was like that every week?

It was an awful 210 minutes of kicking the ball away constantly, switching takers for set pieces etc, fake injuries, falling over at corners (4 at one corner in Porto), etc. etc… I get that all teams do it, but that’s ALL Porto do. I’m glad they’re out, for the good of the sport.

Could Porto be expected to go toe-to-toe with Arsenal? No. But there are ways to negate a team without resorting to the absolute depths they stooped to. I’ve seen teams stop us, without all the cheating, that I can respect.

Pepe was “truly magnificent” according to Matt Stead, while also playing Trossard on for the only goal? Was Pepe good, yes. Was he deified because he’s 41 years old, also yes. Wendell and Octavia were excellent. They’re just not 41. Did you know he’s 41, I do, because Ally McCoist told me about 10 times.

On Pepe, in my opinion he got away with one, Havertz pulls his shirt yes, but no more than what happened at Porto corners, and also Brentford who got away with two blatant pulls at the weekend.

I’m really starting to like Havertz, he seems to get under the skin of opposition too, he and Ben White are our shithousers, but they can also play a bit, that’s the difference. The change in him is massive, he makes passes with purpose whereas he used to roll them to teammates, he turns on a dime whereas he used to pass back, and he presses like a mad man. He looked meek when he arrived, this latest iteration is great, and a credit to him and his coaches.

How good was Odegaard? He prodded and probed and harassed and then smashed in the first penalty. He needs to win titles now, he’s got everything else.

Still love our star boy, but that was the worst Saka performance I’ve seen. He, Saliba, and Gabriel seemed off. Careless passes and some odd decisions, but as Matt Stead said, half the team showed up, and half of them didn’t. Thankfully it was enough in the end.

Someone needs to come up with a song for Raya now. Those were some good penalties, with good placement from Porto, his leap was massive. He adds real control to our possession game, and we have a great number 2 who can learn off him and still has time on his side.

Arsenal’s bench consisted of Partey, ESR, Vieira, Jesus, Tomiyasu, and Zinchenko, with Timber in training, that’s a strong bench. The players are returning from injury at a good time. The international break affords Martinelli time to heal for Man City, too.

We’re up against great teams in both competitions, but if they can keep everyone fit, and cut out some of the nerves that were clearly on show tonight, then they’re in with a chance. It’s a fun time to be an Arsenal fan again, whether we win a title or not, I like this team.

Strevs, AFC, Canada

On living beyond your means

The BBC today had an excellent article about how the Premier League needs to give more money to everybody else. Of course, it’s an article that doesn’t permit commentary,

It was replete with quotes from politicians, and of course, lower league teams that want money given to them. Even the profligate and massively over-rated Gary Neville chimes in. Of course, because he is a co-owner of a lower league team.

The most entertaining part was the excellent requirement that there must be a financial settlement. Settlement? Did the Premier League steal something from other leagues? Did they have an acrimonious divorce?

Without doubt the scariest part was that a windfall from the Premier League is a requirement for the “…financial sustainability…” of the other leagues. In what world are they sustainable if they are spending beyond their means and crying about an almost 1 Billion Pound transfer from the Premier League with absolutely zero entitlement to it? I know my wife and my government would not allow me to live so far beyond my means. But hey, I am not Gary Neville.

It’s a sad comment on what our societies have become. Somebody, somewhere, owes me lots of money that they earned and I didn’t. This, we shall call, sustainability.

I call it bollocks.

Sean (LFC – not one of the richest teams in the Premier League)

This means more

Let’s put this to bed. This means more than it does for Man City. This does not mean more than it does for Manchester United. This means more than it does for Chelsea. This does not mean more than it does for Arsenal. This means more than it does for Newcastle. This does not mean more than it does for what Newcastle once were. This may mean more than it does for Spurs, but we’ll never really know, will we? And this absolutely does not mean more than it does for every real club with real struggles below the future European Super League. Hope this helps.

Niall, Annapolis

This Really Means More

I think that the Premiership win that meant more to any set of fans was undoubtedly Leicester’s 2016 triumph. Why? Because it was so rare and so unexpected. So, using these – rarity and unexpectedness – as yardsticks, who would a title triumph mean more to?

In terms of rarity – City going for 4 in a row, Liverpool last winning it in 2020, Arsenal 20 years without a title – a Premiership title would mean more to Arsenal fans.

In terms of unexpectedness however, at the start of the season City were (and still are) widely expected to win the thing as usual. Arsenal were given a fighting chance of at least keeping it close til the final stages while Liverpool, rebuilding on the fly, weren’t tipped to come anywhere near claiming the prize. It actually might just mean more to Liverpool fans.

So, Arsenal and Liverpool fans can make a case for a title win meaning more to them but City? It’s just another week in the sun for the lad who gets four foreign holidays a year isn’t it? My God, Trent was right.

Of course, the reality is that a City win means more to City fans, a Liverpool win more to Liverpool fans and an Arsenal win more to Arsenal fans so as you were – carry on arguing. It’s vaguely more interesting than who has the highest shirt numbers, more injuries or lesser net spend.

Conor Malone, Donegal

This title race though…

It’s been interesting reading the mailbox given what’s happened over the weekend and the title race we have now. Just wanted to share some thoughts as a neutral.

On the Doku incident, not sure why there’s any argument. A high boot is a foul, any fan would be pissed off if that penalty was not awarded to their team. Liverpool should have won it before then though, they had enough chances to do so.

On the title race, it’s interesting to see how the various fans are reacting in the Mailbox (in my eyes at least).

Arsenal fans: Bullish about winning the league. Still in denial about last year’s choke, hopefully for them their players have acknowledged it and how to avoid it this year

Liverpool fans: Happy to be in this position but cautious about their prospects. Probably due to being in many title races with Man City over the years and expecting the inevitable 1 point loss again

Man City fans: Calm and unfussed. Even if they lose to Arsenal in 2 weeks time, they’ll still expect to be Champions in the end.

If I had to bet, I would put my money on Man City. No one’s beaten them down the stretch in a title race since Pep has come (Liverpool dominating in 19-20 doesn’t count as a race) and they just seem inevitable.

Jason (Looking forward to the next 10 games, hope all 3 teams make it to the last day)

Spurs are the kingmakers

I keep seeing things written the last few days about how Spurs will have a big say in who wins the title, given they play each of the current top three before the end of the season. It’s going to be amazing when they beat all three and go on to win the league.

Sam, THFC, Guernsey

Where’s Luton in your happy list?

Do F365 know where Luton Town were playing their footy a decade ago?

Magnificent decade half of which Nathan Jones in charge.

Glaring omission methinks.

Ricki bobby (LTFC in case you hadn’t guessed)

READ: Top 10 Premier League teams to support over the last decade

…Surely any list of the best clubs to support in the last decade has to include Luton?

Four promotions, with one player involved in all four. No relegations. Quite literally, has anyone ever matched that in a major league? Add the context of what happened to Luton in the decade before – which is fair, considering you mention Liverpool’s title drought, Forest’s “traditional PL club” status, Man City’s season in the third tier, and Man Utd’s fall from grace as reasons to rank them where you do – and the argument becomes even more compelling. Forget top 10, they can’t be lower than 4th.

I also think Bournemouth and Wolves deserve a mention in the list. Like Luton, Bournemouth have a small ground, were in the fourth tier with a massive points penalty in 2009, and were a startlingly strange name to see in the Premier League when first promoted. They weren’t expected to stay up for five years, incorporating a top-half finish, and even their own coach didn’t expect them to last long in their second spell. Yet here they still are, looking fine. Wolves, too, are unfashionable, and didn’t achieve much in two previous cracks at the Premier League, but have managed deep cup runs and a European campaign in the last six years.

I suspect “recency bias” has less to do with final league position and more to do with how we view managers over time. Eddie Howe and Nuno were once genuinely liked by neutrals; now they’re not “popular” in the same way. Nuno, in particular, might be better remembered for his still very recent work at Wolves were it not for the horrible injury to Raul Jimenez, something entirely beyond his control.

At any rate, fans of those three clubs would have to admit that in the context of their recent history – if not overall history – the last decade has been above par. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs fans, no matter how much they might have enjoyed their club’s greatest achievements in the last decade, would surely be more likely to feel it was what they ought to expect given their size and outlay.

Jack (keep up the good work in cutting down on the political rants, and I’ll stop mentioning Top Gear), Llanelli

Wolves are doing great too

With all the usual United Liverpool emails floating around, just a little shout out for Wolves who have an FA Cup quarter final this weekend and also a dream of European football next year. Not too shabby considering we were relegation favourites.

Good Times

Colin, WWFC, Dublin

READ: Wolves ride high in Premier League improvement table

Only trophies count actually

Your latest ‘top 10 of nothingness’ is really exceptional in it’s vacuous subjectivity.

The happiest fans in the last 10 years? 1. Man City 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool. In that order because of the number and grade of trophies won.

Elite Football is about winning and fans are happiest when their teams win trophies. Are you seriously suggesting that Arsenal fans wouldn’t swap their trophy cabinet for that of Chelsea’s over the last 10 years? Have you ever watched AFTV or the Bludbruvvers on YouTube? If that’s your idea of fandom happiness then best of luck.

Kirk Howard

What about Crystal Palace?

* We are four games into the Oliver Glasner era at Crystal Palace and have five points. Beating Burnley, who are awful, and losing to Spurs, who are good, is probably to be expected; draws with Everton and Luton Town, two teams still very much trying to fight their way out of trouble, both could have been better, but also could have been worse.

* These games have seen Palace line up in a 3-4-2-1, looking for direct and diagonal passes when playing out from the back but also pressing high from the midfield line. Such an approach led to the red card against Burnley, and also created their goal against Luton Town on Saturday: Daniel Munoz sprang from deep on the right and brought the ball forwards where he was able to find Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose backheel beat a couple of opponents.

Mateta has also benefitted from this new system, as it plays to his strengths as a target man while also keeping teammates close enough to him that he can link up with, and these have been flexible combinations – Jordan Ayew, Odsonne Edouard and Eberechi Eze each bring something different to the attack. At the other end of the field, it’s good to see Chris Richards doing well in defence. In general, it’s been good to see different players and the team as a whole contributing positively. Too often Roy Hodgson’s teams looked like they were too reliant on one player to produce a moment of magic. This doesn’t work often enough for the England men’s cricket team, and it didn’t for Palace.

* However, where goals have come as a result of the new approach, goals have also been conceded while Glasner’s system is a work in progress. Against Spurs, Munoz’s attempts to get forwards left lots of space behind him when possession was turned over, which Tottenham duly exploited to good effect. Most of the time though, they’re running out of steam late in games. This is annoying, but an inevitable consequence of not having had a preseason to work on the fitness required to play this way. Hopefully the international break will give some of the players an opportunity to top up their stamina. It’s also the case that three players who would be guaranteed starters (Cheick Doucoure, Marc Guehi, Michael Olise) are out injured. All of which is a lot of words to say that things are not perfect at the moment but there are reasons to be optimistic about next season, whichever division Palace end up in.

* Next up for Glasner’s men is a trip to West Bridgford in a match that will determine whether or not it’s safe to leave my house without being bantered for the next six months, as they take on Gladiators’ Mark Clattenburg’s Nottingham Forest.

* I played American football as a teenager and briefly at university before I got a concussion. Before our first preseason game one of the coaches addressed the entire squad: “all officials are fat, slow, blind, stupid, stubborn and ignorant; they’ve never played the game and none of them have the first clue what the rules are; with this in mind, there is absolutely no point whatsoever in arguing with them, you just have to get on with the game”. Not the most politically correct way to describe them, even by the standards of 2003, but the message was clear: focus on your own play and make it so that the game cannot be decided by a flag or non-flag.

Liverpool are just the latest cab off the rank complaining about officials. Like every team to ever bleat about refereeing decisions, they had the same amount of time to win the game as their opponents, and in Liverpool’s case this was 103 minutes. That they didn’t is primarily down to a combination of them failing to score more goals than Manchester City, and failing to concede fewer goals than Manchester City (the same thing applies the other way round of course). In other words, the same fundamental reason behind every result, and always far more significant than anything officials do or don’t.

Ed Quoththeraven

VAR from sarcastic

So as a Leeds United fan, having this season seen handball goals both for and against, penalties given and not given for and against, offsides given and not given for and against, I’m really hoping that we can get promoted back to the Premier League where all of these clear and obvious errors will be spotted and dealt with promptly and correctly.

Steve, Leeds since 1970