possibly it ought to be, if the referee does anything about it, but equally i maintain that there's also at least one foul by an attacker on every single corner, so it could be a defensive free kick. or a penalty. every corner without fail could and should result in a penalty or a defensive free kick.
Currently holding this up is seeing which other games go to replays too. According to their contracts, BT (first choice) and the BBC (second choice) can each show one replay should one replay be available to each of them. After the first day's play, we are the only replay. The reason this is important is because UEFA prefer/don't allow non-Champions League games to be televised against Champions League games. Games CAN be played at the same time as long as they're not televised. So, if our game is televised, we will potentially play Monday 7th March. (Arsenal play Tottenham on Saturday 5th, 12:45pm on BT. We play Thursday 3rd March away to Birmingham on Sky - this option is a good one for us and Arsenal will have no choice but to play twice in three days). This isn't unheard of; a team playing a replay two days after a league game. If two other games go to replays and are televised (and we aren't), we can play either Tuesday 8th or Wednesday 9th. Any of these options will postpone out home game against Brentford. The other option is to play the game the same weekend as the 6th Round proper, allowing either club to play their Quarter Final in a less congested Easter period. Being televised and playing on the Monday would be perfect for us. edit - typo.
Finally on my laptop, probably repeating a lot of what's been said, but: What a class act from Jakupovic, with a bit of character in the display as well after seeing his save from the FK on the big screen. Easily his best performance for the club, and probably our best goal keeping performance since Boaz at Spurs. The defence was tremendous too, with Davies putting in a huge shift. Tymon did not look out of place, and I dare say will have won more than a few admirers with that performance. Meyler was at his harrassing best in midfield, I lost count of the interceptions and steals he made to win the ball off Arsenal, although he lacked a bit in the final third. Powell looked tidy on debut, his passing was very neat, although clearly lacking match fitness as the match wore on his chasing dropped off considerably. On the flip side. What a woeful performance from Elmo, his form has just entirely dropped off. Was essentially invisible until late on, and even then he only succeeded in turning the ball over numerous times. The same can be said of Maloney and Taylor, virtually invisible for the entire game. Diomande also put in his best Sagbo impersonation. Decent at holding up the ball, but offered us very very little going forward. Very pessimistic about his chances at the club going forward. Also - WTF was Bruce thinking subbing off Tymon for Odubajo when Robertson was also sat on the bench?!
When the referee does give something for all the pushing and shoving, 90% of the time I'd say he awards in favour of the defending team, even though if anything the defenders foul more than the attackers. The attackers would rather just get on the end of the ball coming in. The game has changed. The refs turn a blind eye and that's it.
After the stellar performance by Jak two questions come to mind. Should he have played at Wembley 2014? Which round does Mac take over should we advance further? Should have done some homework before posting that. It was Harper who played in the early rounds of 2014.
We need Robertson fit for Tuesday. Perhaps Bruce does know what he is doing ? Just a thought for you to ponder on.
Diomande has played a handful of games for us and can't be anywhere near match-fit, also he will never have played a team as good as Arsenal on their own patch, a bit too early to be writing a player off I think. Sagbo had countless chances for us and played in the top flight, not to mention a French cup final
I haven't seen glimpses of a decent striker in him, while a clearly not match fit Powell at least showed what he's capable of.
We won't see the best of him till next season, judge him when he's had a full pre-season and is fit. How many full games has he played, 3 or 4? A player from his league won't come to England and adjust straight away. I know you like to argue so I will leave it there
Plenty on here thought he would hit the ground running. This is a discussion board, forgive me for wanting to discuss one of our players.
Also he showed promise when I saw him at the KC v Brighton, and i was actually there not watching a TV feed from 15000 miles away
He looked the part yesterday. Ran the channels willingly, crashed through the challenge of a world class defender and got him booked. He wasn't a threat in front of goal but that wasn't the type of game we played yesterday, we had no possession in the box until the closing moments. I think that was Diomande's best game so far by a long chalk.
I guess we'll see but he looks far too clunky - big physical presence I absolutely agree with, but lacks pace to take advantage of his physique. Also gave the ball away a lot. I suppose we'll see, but I'm very sceptical.
He didn't lack pace when he outran Koscielny, who is express paced for a centre back. He's not a Premier League star in the making, but he's an asset for the Championship run in.
He didn't outrun him, he managed to bustle past him then pulled kos down on top of himself to earn a foul rather than back himself and outrun him.
