It was an awful decision, as soon as I saw Nyoni coming off, knew we would become worse, which we did.
Wirtz Isak and Barcola were all dour today. If you dont know what I mean by dour, try dog shit.
Ref did his paymasters proud, there were. few failures to show Arse a yellow, and lots of foul on us not given. Surely the PL deep committee have decided Arse need to retain the title, what with all the noise around Citeh.
We started bad into the second half. Nyoni is 19 and this was the biggest league match he started for us so far.
Actually a no brainer to take him off in favor for a attacking minded /experienced box to box player.
Madley provided further evidence on how poor and pathetic English refs are by pandering to Arsenal. He officiated just like Arteta wished, allowing them to waste time and freely awarding soft fouls.
That said, this does feel like a self-inflicted loss. The first 15 minutes were spent by cheaply giving away possession. Alisson, in particular, was making similar mistakes against Brighton and this time he didn’t get away with it. The next 30 minutes were probably the best of the season’s so far, but produced nothing thanks to an infuriating inability to execute correctly.
Second half was almost a non-affair, as Arsenal aided and abetted by Madley went on to put the game to sleep, while we increasingly looked short of fresh legs and ideas.
A tough way to lose a game where we deserved at least a point, but it is also one of those frustrating losses that are necessary to learn from and improve.
Nuoni is 19 and only now getting to grips with the demands of first team football. Plus, he played against Chelsea on Wednesday. It is entirely possible that Iraola was making sure not to overload him. Gomez would make sense but so did Munoz.
Seriously? If this is them being dog shit, I’d love to see what they do when they are good. Probably get a hat-trick each.