Arsenal

[Gotters]

I'm still not convinced by Fenton as a striker, like most people I think. Even less convinced by him as a starter rather than an impact sub when game is stretched, totally changes the way we play.

If its going to work though I suspect away from home is better for him.

[The Fox]

No Özil either, got a minor knee injury so we'll see him next season I guess.

[gooner4life]

I have to ask... What's with the Fenton shit?

[Silent Runner]

Classic Walcott non-finish there.

[The Fox]

Clear penalty on Bellerin ffs.

[Silent Runner]

Straight red? Think so. Dived in at mid-shin level, got none of the ball.

[Mars]

Dirty fuckers, think they'll be down to 9 soon.

[Silent Runner]

Walcott, amazing stuff to get it over from there - fair play. Giroud ASAP.

[The Fox]

Not sure Fenton is gonna have too much joy here now Newcastle have gone to a deep block, especially with no Özil to pick a final ball.

[Pavey]

Wasn't Fenton the dog in the park?

[The Fox]

Yes. I think it came from @ArsenalGent's squad names, presumably based on Walcott's 'excited puppy' runs.

Anyways I'd probably swap Ox for Giroud pretty soon and move Walcott to the right.

[gooner4life]

We should switch to a 442 and take Ramsey or Coquelin off for Giroud

[luckypierre]

Straight red? Think so. Dived in at mid-shin level, got none of the ball.

Dived in? Its a yellow and nothing more. Real time he misses the ball in a split second and his foot goes down naturally. Probably left it in a bit but theres no force going down, its not a stamp. Nothing said about Coquelin's reaction where he screams like a fanny or his ridiculous jump to get Thauvin booked for one of the weakest challenges I've seen. Same old Arsenal....

[The Fox]

Koscielny stepping out into midfield and playing some lovely passes here. Good to see him taking responsibility.

[The Fox]

Ramsey was excellent in the second half. Yet another pretty poor team performance though.

[Jonathan_Kerr]

I'm wedding-drunk (nailed the speech) but who the fuck is this luckypierre character?

We've got problems but I'll take the three.

[luckypierre]

Seeing as BT Sports coverage is wank to say the least I came in here to see what the craic was with you lot. Thought I might get some discussion along with the negs at least. I just thought the statement he dived in was ridiculous, its one step from him landing back on the floor from winning a header. Colequin gets the ball just before him and so there's the inevitable contact

This is Mitrovic diving in

Did any one not see Corzola's reaction? He's fucking laughing . Even he knew it was ridiculous to send him off.

Thauvin just makes contact with Colequin's trailing foot with a late sliding challenge where he is coming to a stop. Colequin leaps two foot in the air

I thought the ref had a mare and dont get me on Howard Webb being the ref expert, he's always been bent as fuck. Booking Sissoko after 3 mins made a rod for his own back and the penalty miss was a joke. Arsenal players were making a meal of challenges and asking for bookings all game but the ref didn't warn or book a single player for it.

Well deserved win and a game we would have expected to lose anyway but its a shame it was spoilt after 15 mins with a sending off. Would Mariner have done that to say Rooney? Would he fuck

[The Fox]

The only yellow card he maybe got wrong was Coloccini's right at the end. The others were all clear as day. Coquelin's jump was obviously not a dive as he hopped straight up in the air. To me it looked like he was just getting his standing leg off the floor as he felt the tackle come in. It was a yellow card regardless as the ball had long gone.

The red is contentious. He didn't dive in, no, but it's a clumsy challenge, late and high. No idea what you're on about having a pop at Coquelin for shouting out, seeing as that would quite obviously hurt. It's probably a red, but had he given a yellow I'm not sure you'd have seen too much complaining.

[luckypierre]

I'll watch it again then because to my recollection he didn't jump straight up. He jump and twisted (maybe even holding his leg) to make it look as if Thauvin's challenge launched him in the air. The contact would have been weak though. He could have just stood there and stared Thauvin down but then I was brought up to never show an opponent you'd been hurt

I also dont think Mitrovic's challenge would have hurt that much, might have stung a bit but the loud scream was purely for the ref.

[Mars]

What a chopper... Look at that picture, red card all day. Would say the same if it was the other way round.

[Gotters]

in true twitter fashion people seem to be putting 2+2 together about Ozil's last minute withdrawal today and speculating he could be off or part of a some swap deal.

I don't think there's anything in it, but don't totally dislike the idea of say swapping him for Benzema.

[toythatkills]

Let's get Benzema while getting rid of the player who could provide Benzema with 20 goals a season.

[Gotters]

he's not our only player capable of assists - if the way to get the striker we want is to give him up its an interesting problem.

on balance I'd go for it - but like I say doubt there is anything in it as madrid aren't flush with strikers (in fact footy in general isn't)

[toythatkills]

Yeah I'm not sure that it would ultimately weaken the team really, I just like Ozil and wouldn't want him to go.

[The Fox]

Our build up play, chance creation and general cohesiveness were really bad today without him. He can be frustrating but he knits everything together really. We're much worse when he's not playing, especially now we don't have a controlling style deep midfielder anymore.

I'd swap him for Suarez or Agüero, but not Benzema.

[Rev]

I'd not swap him for anyone. We'd have won comfortably if he was on the pitch today.

[hercules]

I second what Rev just said. Today should make people appreciate what Ozil brings to our team. Most fans, pundits and the media use make him a scapegoat. And generally chat shit.

[suzzopher]

What happened with Ozil today?

[humdrum]

The sad thing is the front 3 of Walcott, Sanchez and Ox are the players that would have got the most out of Ozil today.

[hercules]

He took a knock to the knee supposedly and will only be out for today. Twitter is rife with speculation that he is gonna be used as a makeweight for a late transfer. Don't believe at all.