Pretty simple, really.
The EPL has allowed grappling, blocking, physical contests between attackers and defenders at set pieces all season.
Adjudicating of these moments is inconsistent.
But one thing you can’t do, is put your arm across the keeper so that he can’t jump.
Being close to the keeper, blocking them, surrounding them and making it difficult to to get to the ball is ever-present.
But putting your arm across them, holding them down and impeding their jump in any way, is clearly illegal.
It was never a goal.
Right decision.
I can’t believe I’m having to explain to adults that crowding a goalkeeper is not the same thing as blatantly pulling his arm while also tugging his shirt from behind.
Hate really does impede judgement.
Rival fans,
If you can’t understand why Arsenal fans are unbearable, just look at the reaction last night to that blatant foul from all of you, that’s why we’re unbearable.
We’ve had to sit and take all of your fucking bollocks for years.
We were told we’re too weak, now we’re too physical, we were told beautiful football will never win us anything, now we’re playing a less attractive style and winning we’re told we’re boring and it “doesn’t count”. We were told to stop moaning about refereeing decisions when we were being sawn off every week, now apparently the referees are letting us win it’s an issue for you?
Micah Richard’s and Granit Xhaka were right, when it’s Arsenal suddenly everyone loses their ever loving fucking minds.
So if you have a problem with Arsenal fans being unbearable, firstly you haven’t seen anything yet, just fucking wait and see what we’re like when we win the league, but if you have a problem with it then look inward because you’ve brought this all on yourselves.
If Arsenal lose this Premier League title, can we please retire the word “bottle” for five minutes?
There’s a section of younger fans who can’t analyse a football match without throwing that word around.
Back in the day you never heard it every five minutes. Teams didn’t “bottle it” they ran out of steam, they lacked depth, they picked up injuries, they came up against a better side.
Not every dropped point is a psychological collapse.
To call something the biggest collapse of all time, you need context: • How big was the points gap?
• Were there major injuries?
• Who were they competing against?
• Did they crumble in direct head-to-head games?
Losing a tight title race to an elite side isn’t bottling it.
That’s football.
Modern discourse has replaced tactical analysis with meme culture. Everything is banter now. But serious football conversations require more than one buzzword.
There’s a difference between collapsing under pressure and simply falling short over 38 games.
Football deserves better analysis than “they bottled it.”
Crystal Palace have become the first club to open a dedicated support centre for players after they’ve been released from the academy…
The idea is to limit the risk of mental health issues for released young men.
The three-year aftercare package will support released academy players in making a way of life, outside of football.
What an amazing initiative from a fantastic club, take a bow. 👏🦅
Mad to me that people think your arms will be by your side when you slide in or block a shot, but agendas got to agend for Liverpool, spurs, Chelsea and Newcastle fans I suppose