I can see VVD and possibly Berty going, but equally I can see them both staying too, which would be a great starting point for next season. The only real concern being if we do lose a couple of key players, whether that unsettles the likes of Dusan into 'doing a Jose'. Depending on what the ownership looks like, I think it would be a very good summer to start being very firm about no player sales.
The only question on the Long penalty was whether the foul occurred outside or inside the box. Foul it most certainly was. Long would have been through on goal if he hadn't been brought down, so a straight red either way. As for the handball, when a player with his hand in an unnatural position swats the ball away from the danger area with the ref 10 yards away staring right at the incident, and no action is taken, it makes the requirement for VAR's even more urgent. I was so pleased for our defence, apart from allowing Benteke to stroll unescorted into the 6 yard box to receive Townsend's cross. That's an area of Stephens' play that needs tightening up. If he is designated to mark a player he can't afford to lose him in the box, ever. Otherwise the back four were excellent, particularly at set pieces. As you say, Lff, who would have envisaged 2 Academy graduates in defence at the start of the season? Where we do need more height is in midfield, as there were some mismatches at corners which we got away with, JWP marking Delaney being a prime example. Fortunately Palace never found Delaney with the ball, so all was well in the end. As for our attacking play, I can't remember such a comprehensive dominance this season. There could easily have been 6 or 7 goals scored with the chances created, and if Gabbiadini had been fit, there might well have been. Great stuff, and, like the Bournemouth game, thoroughly entertaining, even when we were struggling to score.
I'm not as concerned about JWP's free kicks. It'll be nice if he scores some but even Beckham didn't get that many goals from free kicks. If JWP can get more goals from open play that will make him a real threat. I could maybe see him becoming something of a cross between Beckham and Lampard (although I'm not saying he'll necessarily reach the same heights as those two).
Indeed CS, like the foul on Redmond where he stayed on his feet before jinking to the line and cutting it back for JWP to have one blocked followed by Cedric spanking it just wide. For me we had four stonewall penalties denied last night. It really is unbelievably frustrating.
Picture on Twitter showing VVD arriving last night still using crutches. please log in to view this image
How's the general mood at The Emirates mate? "Rancorous" is the word one Arsenal supporting friend has used to describe the atmosphere in the ground lately, and I'm told it wasn't great last night despite a convincing derby victory?
It was an awful challenge - and stopped an almost certain goal. The "ahem" 'assistant referee' (who was bloody awful all night - missed Shane being offside by at least a yard ....) should have called it. Very nearly a red card in my opinion. And how did Palace get away with no bookings?
It was pointed out in a newspaper that, although there was a photo of Virgil training, his crutches could be seen in the background. I wonder if there has been a further injury or perhaps he has undergone further surgery. On the bright side our chances of keeping him have increased. Please get better, Virgil, even if you go elsewhere....you don't deserve this. As for sticking pins in the effigy of Vardy....lets go for the real thing.
I just despair at the standard of refereeing I'm seeing week in / week out. Roger East last night was waving away the physicality of the Palace players (there was a clear elbow on at least one occasion and Shane was constantly wrestled around), as you say, we had at least (and I'm being kind to him and his officials) 2 clear cut pens, and then he books Oriel (probably the right decision admittedly) but does nothing to them. I haven't watched MOTD yet, but I'd be surprised if our goal came from a foul. Zaha was woeful (who said they wished we'd bought him instead of Redmond?) and spent all game moaning and throwing himself to the ground. Benteke is a big lump who's not afraid to use his elbows (challenge on Maya anyone?) and tried to bully us. He very nearly succeeded and I was worried when we were 1-0 down that this was going to be "one of those games" As for the jokers who sit behind me (Block 29) and spend all game shouting "get it forward" when we're trying to build and waiting for our players to make runs and get space, we'll, I hope they saw what Big Sam's hoofball to big guys up front did for the game. And I just looked (don't know why I bother) at the Saints "fan" site on Facebook to see the usual chants of "Puel out and Monk in" plus a "review" of the game by someone claiming not to have been entertained. I give up .....
Spot on Dave. Benteke nearly knocked Yoshida's head off, not even a foul apparently, although East did stop the game eventually. As for Zaha, what do those who were saying the other day how much better than Tadić he is think after last night's game? Genuine question.
Well, Zaha did do 3 or 4 of our players in the lead up to their goal. Tadic was excellent last night.
Their goal was all Zaha accomplished last night, the rest of the game he spent throwing himself to the ground when tackled and taking wild shots when he wasn't. Tadić, as you say, was excellent throughout.
