Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The 2025-2026 Football Thread

Crystal Palace is on 42 pts, relatively safe from relegation, and with nothing much to play for. They certainly won’t get into the European places. So you might get something from this match.
 
Spurs play Wolves next so we really need to pick up the win tonight.

Unchanged team for us. But Palace have rested a few of theirs. Hope that helps!
 
Against Bournemouth I was angry. Yesterday I was just numb. Realising all the foreshadowing predictably came to pass

The game was a honest reflection of both teams…

- Cherki who creates magic, created a goal from nothing
- Haaland who finishes a lot of chances converted 1 in 2
Doku takes on his man and finds a pass
- Players coached by a manager to believe…believed and have come back from the brink
- Bernardo Silva outmuscles Havertz to a ball all because of belief and passion
- City have beaten us and Liverpool on a run to winning a title.

Meanwhile…

- who misses chances, missed 3
- Madueke does nothing…again
- A team lacking in attacking flair struggled to create chances
- A team coached to fear losing…lost.
- We have never beaten our rivals when it matters.


Some will say we played well or have been top of the table for who knows how long. But ultimately it doesn’t matter if you don’t see things through when needed.

Objectively, it’s been 7yrs and Arteta has failed to deliver full stop. Yes he’s done good things. But he has…

- Been in only 2 finals and won 1
- He has never won at Anfield or the Etihad when it mattered in his tenure
- He has given up 3 title charges from winning positions
- He has only won 1 trophy in 7yrs despite being backed massively

As a great man once said. It’s time to go.

Personally I’m ready for Havertz, Madueke, Jesus, Martinelli, White, and maybe even Odegaard to go.

For me it’s the end of an era and we might as well gut the attack and start over. Ideally with a different manager.
I know the board won’t do any of these.

Do I hope I eat my words and we win something? Yes

Are likely to limp toward another trophyless season? You bet.

But I’m personally done. And I won’t be watching or be as active from here on out.
 
Last edited:
Scepticalscribe said:
No.

For me, winning the Premier League takes priority over everything else.

While I cannot deny a small smirk at the situation Spurs find themselves in (which is entirely of their own making), I do 't take pleasure from their misfortunes.

In any case, winning the title is - for me - the sole remaining aim of the season. We haven't the proverbial snowballs chance in hell of winning the Champions League, or even, to be candid, making it past the semi-final stage (for the second consecutive year).
Click to expand...
It sounds like you're a Gunners fans so winning the title would be highest utility for you, which is fair enough. Personally, I can't stand Arteta and think he's a fraud. I'm indifferent to Arsenal otherwise as they're just a nearly club that usually fall flat. The crime for me for Spurs is what they did to Ange. I thoroughly detest that cretin who owns Spurs FC so this is why I desire to see them relegated.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Corefile said:
It sounds like you're a Gunners fans so winning the title would be highest utility for you, which is fair enough. Personally, I can't stand Arteta and think he's a fraud. I'm indifferent to Arsenal otherwise as they're just a nearly club that usually fall flat. The crime for me for Spurs is what they did to Ange. I thoroughly detest that cretin who owns Spurs FC so this is why I desire to see them relegated.
Click to expand...
Curious why you think Arteta is a "fraud"?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bodhitree and Scepticalscribe
Gutted tbh. I think we should have scored first half. A point on paper looks good against Palace. But I expect Spurs to win their game against Wolves and we will be back in the bottom three.

Wolves go with 5 games to go. Earlier this season it looked like they’d be gone by Christmas so I think they turned it around pretty well the second half of the season.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Gutted tbh. I think we should have scored first half. A point on paper looks good against Palace. But I expect Spurs to win their game against Wolves and we will be back in the bottom three.

Wolves go with 5 games to go. Earlier this season it looked like they’d be gone by Christmas so I think they turned it around pretty well the second half of the season.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't trust Spurs to beat anyone right now
Corefile said:
Zero track record and a classic example of a checkbook manager at play. The only trophy he's won is the COVID FA Cup won in front of zero fans.
Click to expand...
Whilst his record leaves much to be desired, i don't think he's a checkbook manager. The trophy he won was with a squad that wasn't even his.
I personally don't understand the hate he and Arsenal receive. Several mumblings today about how justice has been served and football has been saved from Arteta ball which is ludicrous
To me there are vastly more insufferable managers.

Hot take - i think Pep is a chequebook manager, a great one, but still requires a boatload of money to succeed everywhere he's been.

I think SAF, Ancelotti, and Benitez are top managers who have delivered at the highest level with relatively limited resources.

But to each their own.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
daneoni said:
I think SAF, Ancelotti, and Benitez are top managers who have delivered at the highest level with relatively limited resources.

But to each their own.
Click to expand...
Ferguson is definitely up there but they all are secondary to Brian Clough. He is the greatest manager of all time IMO.
 
daneoni said:
Whilst his record leaves much to be desired, i don't think he's a checkbook manager. The trophy he won was with a squad that wasn't even his.
I personally don't understand the hate he and Arsenal receive. Several mumblings today about how justice has been served and football has been saved from Arteta ball which is ludicrous
To me there are vastly more insufferable managers.
Click to expand...

I think to finish 2nd in three consecutive years you must be doing something right. Even to build (and squander) such massive leads is the league is an art mastered by few. It means you know how to coach a squad to go on runs.

In a way Arsenal are the anti-Real Madrid. Real are always there in big games, they have the big game temperament you need to win at the highest level. Arsenal tend to have a go but fall just short.

Almost all successful managers are check book managers at heart, you just need a big enough squad loaded with talent to succeed at the highest level. But some of Arsenal’s buys have been questionable, like Madueke.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Corefile said:
It sounds like you're a Gunners fans
Click to expand...
Ever since as a very small child I saw them (on a black and white TV) win the FA Cup, (and then the Double) in 1971......
Corefile said:
so winning the title would be highest utility for you, which is fair enough.
Click to expand...
Very high utility.

At this stage, it is all I really care about; anything else (even the stuff we failed to show up for, and utterly failed to compete in) is a (welcome, granted) bonus.
Corefile said:
Personally, I can't stand Arteta and think he's a fraud. I'm indifferent to Arsenal otherwise as they're just a nearly club that usually fall flat. The crime for me for Spurs is what they did to Ange. I thoroughly detest that cretin who owns Spurs FC so this is why I desire to see them relegated.
Click to expand...

Corefile said:
Zero track record and a classic example of a checkbook manager at play. The only trophy he's won is the COVID FA Cup won in front of zero fans.
Click to expand...

daneoni said:
I wouldn't trust Spurs to beat anyone right now

Whilst his record leaves much to be desired, i don't think he's a checkbook manager. The trophy he won was with a squad that wasn't even his.
I personally don't understand the hate he and Arsenal receive. Several mumblings today about how justice has been served and football has been saved from Arteta ball which is ludicrous
To me there are vastly more insufferable managers.

Hot take - i think Pep is a chequebook manager, a great one, but still requires a boatload of money to succeed everywhere he's been.

I think SAF, Ancelotti, and Benitez are top managers who have delivered at the highest level with relatively limited resources.

But to each their own.
Click to expand...

Bodhitree said:
I think to finish 2nd in three consecutive years you must be doing something right. Even to build (and squander) such massive leads is the league is an art mastered by few. It means you know how to coach a squad to go on runs.

In a way Arsenal are the anti-Real Madrid. Real are always there in big games, they have the big game temperament you need to win at the highest level. Arsenal tend to have a go but fall just short.

Almost all successful managers are check book managers at heart, you just need a big enough squad loaded with talent to succeed at the highest level. But some of Arsenal’s buys have been questionable, like Madueke.
Click to expand...
Actually, I don't think that Arteta is either a fraud, or a cheque book manager: rather, I think that he is a control freak, and is both stubborn and rigid.

What bothers me (most) is his (almost complete) inability to learn from his mistakes.

A close second is his injury record; at this stage, that is on hime. Yes, I know that the modern game is very intensive, and the timetables insane. However, at this stage, I do have questions about A~rsenal's training regimne, which I strongly suspect is contributing to our dreadful injury record.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ivanwi11iams
Bodhitree said:
I’m not sure there is a good answer. A new striker often takes a year to get used to the club and the league, as Gyokeres has demonstrated. But an attack often revolves around much more than one player - at it’s best the Arsenal attack is fluent, bringing in midfielders who can finish as well as be mobile in the box. A modern striker like Haaland can do both, play as a lone target man as well as scoring from within the box. Ultimately I think Gyokeres will prove to be a decent buy, because he has the physicality to do that job.

On it being potentially a terrible year for both halves of North London: everyone likes being on the winning team, and coming in second without a trophy for a fourth year would be awful, yet I think second is still pretty good. And it’s not over yet.

Spurs being relegated would be a real domper for their year. I sympathise because it was my stepfather’s and his fathers team.
Click to expand...
To my mind, building a team around a "star" striker is a mistake; I far prefer an attack that revolves around several players, people with different skills.

My concern is that Arsenal doesn't have a plethora of players who can create goals from open play, or, even messy play; they are brilliant at set pieces - and I don't, not by any means, disdain goals from such a source - but scoring creatively, converting half chances that appear out of nowhere, clinically finishing off an attack, are skills that seem to be almost beyond this Arsenal team.
 
Corefile said:
Zero track record and a classic example of a checkbook manager at play. The only trophy he's won is the COVID FA Cup won in front of zero fans.
Click to expand...

A fraud would be a manager not actually qualified to do the job, or one who is being deliberately dishonest in some way. Arteta has failed to deliver the results fans wanted to see, but that doesn't make him a fraud as far as I'm concerned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bodhitree, Silencio, ivanwi11iams and 1 other person
Apple fanboy said:
Gutted tbh. I think we should have scored first half. A point on paper looks good against Palace. But I expect Spurs to win their game against Wolves and we will be back in the bottom three.

Wolves go with 5 games to go. Earlier this season it looked like they’d be gone by Christmas so I think they turned it around pretty well the second half of the season.
Click to expand...
A point on paper is more than good; candidly, I'd give anything to have a "point on paper" from our game with City this past week-end.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
A point on paper is more than good; candidly, I'd give anything to have a "point on paper" from our game with City this past week-end.
Click to expand...
Well yes. But you are going to finish 1st or 2nd in the league.
We are going to finish 18th or 17th. That could be the difference between survival and not.
We are spending more than we earn. In the Championship could even fall foul of financial fair play rules.

So on reflection I think our dropped points is a much bigger deal than yours (no offence intended).

Really need Wolves to do us a favour this weekend.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Apple fanboy said:
Well yes. But you are going to finish 1st or 2nd in the league.
We are going to finish 18th or 17th. That could be the difference between survival and not.
We are spending more than we earn. In the Championship could even fall foul of financial fair play rules.

So on reflection I think our dropped points is a much bigger deal than yours (no offence intended).

Really need Wolves to do us a favour this weekend.
Click to expand...
I do understand the difference.

For me, this is all very.....frustrating.

And, while second place is - of course - an impressive place to be, it becomes somewhat less impressive when it occurs for the fourth consecutive year, especially having led the table for around 200 days.

If Arsenal do win, they will have done it the hard way, and by that I don't just mean the sadism of making their supporters suffer, as though masochism is our default setting - but, rather, the fact that we will have led from the front for the vast majority of the season, for around 200 days, (not for the first time over the past four seasons; we also did something similar a few years ago, if memory serves).
 
Sal09 said:
Best decision ever. Stop ruining the game.

www.bbc.co.uk

Championship clubs reject bringing in VAR next season

Championship clubs have turned down the chance to introduce a challenge system of VAR for the 2026-27 season.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
I actually think that the concept of VAR is not bad, - there was far too much pressure on, and bullying of, and insulting of - referees; VAR allowed for the introduction of a supposedly impartial arbitrator to support the referee and his (or her) assistants.

However, I will readily accept that the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bodhitree, Silencio and Sal09
I was against VAR when it was introduced and I’ve seen nothing that makes me think it’s improved the game.

But I’d say the same for only indicating a player was offside once the play stops. What’s wrong with a flag as it happens?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sal09
I hope VAR remains where it is and doesn't appear in any more leagues. The technology will never be cheap, refs don't like it, and it has not fulfilled its promise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sal09
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back