Arsenal need a new ‘elite’ goalkeeper and that’s not David Raya

Is David Raya good enough to win the Premier League with Arsenal? We also have more mails on Spurs and Ange Postecoglou.

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Arsenal DO need a better goalkeeper
I usually despise any criticism Will Ford has regarding Arsenal but I happen to agree strongly with his and Troy Deeney’s (another one whose comments have annoyed in the past) recent takes that we probably need a better goalkeeper if we are really going to win the big trophies.

He’s been mainly solid but that’s now three massive head-scratchers in recent weeks that have completely turned games on their head – twice before to very dire consequences.

He put Gabriel in a really bad spot for the Gnabry goal in that first leg (though Gabriel should still do better), I have no idea what he was trying to do for the cross on Bailey’s goal against Villa (though Rice at the back post should do better), and now this in the NLD. The first two were punished ruthlessly by both teams – the third was against Spurs.

And despite the parenthetical caveats, an actually elite goalkeeper (even just “very good” IMO) usually does much better in at least one if not all of these situations – completely changing the trajectory/potential of our season. These are the exact margins that are coming to define not just our season right now but most any season for any team wanting to compete in the “elite” bracket.

The clean sheets are definitely mainly due to the defenders in front of him and as Will Ford mentioned the stats do show he does not do well to save the few shots he faces. Raya is still young and can improve but – standards being high at the level at which we want to compete and all – I would like to see that improvement happen in-season, week-by-week (this also goes for the entire squad) and he’s now had three major instances in a relatively short span (that has coincided with our biggest games) that show he unfortunately probably can’t be trusted and we probably already have to start thinking about transfer options. And really good ones.

I hope I’m wrong and Arteta looks like he will give him a chance to prove me wrong next season but it’s definitely a space worth watching.
MAW, LA Gooner (Bournemouth 5th in the table since November and 3rd since March – the trappiest of trap games)

📣 TO THE COMMENTS! Do Arsenal need a new goalkeeper? Join the debate here.

Spurs are superb and awful in equal measure
Having read 16 Conclusions on the match, watched the match itself and the MOTD2 highlights, I am clearly a glutton for punishment.

Spurs were beaten by Arsenal, again. Arteta has fashioned an excellent team that might just pip Manchester City for the title, they are that good. But, if you only read 16 conclusions, you could come away thinking that Spurs were cannon fodder for an imperious Arsenal side so much better than their north London rivals, this was a routine win, despite the expected NLD chaos. 16 Conclusions would have you believe that Spurs are a profoundly silly team with a dogmatic manager and an assorted group of unserious players and also rans whereas Arsenal sit above everyone else as the newly complete team that Arteta has fashioned.

The truth is that Spurs are superb and awful in equal measures, capable of losing control and dominating teams in their first season of AngeBall. They have some way to go, which Postecoglou knows and the wasted years under Mourinho and Conte need to be overcome.

Arsenal have built their success out of the failures of the post Wenger years, there is no doubt that Declan Rice is exactly what Arsenal needed, that Kai Havertz has surprised everyone and made a spectacular contribution to what might turn out to be Arsenal’s first title in 20 years. Fair minded people would agree that they deserve to be where they are, they have put in the work, they have played through adversity and are a stronger team than they have been in decades.

But, for all this, they still have not won a title and the view that if they do not win it this year, then they will next year is fanciful. We know only too well that injuries to key players can derail any title challenge and that Arteta uses the same players week in week out. The NLD played out like you would expect at this stage of the season, the team that has had 5 years to eliminate their weaknesses emerged victorious.

The 3 nil half time score flattered them though, yes they were the better team but also as good as they were, they had a great deal of luck. Romero should have scored, Kulusevski was fouled and it should have been a penalty and van de Ven’s goal should have stood. These are the intangibles that can control the narrative of a match, especially the NLD.

That Spurs brough the match back to 3-2 says a great deal about both sides, but equally, luck played its part in the result. Var and Michael Oliver played their parts as well and even when it was an obvious kick by Rice on Davies, Oliver waived it away, despite being only feet away from the spectacular kick in the balls. VAR and the ref’s decisions had an impact on this match, that should be recognised as much as the stunning brilliance of Arsenal’s second goal or their complete set piece dominance. Arsenal deserved their win, but only just, they should have never allowed it to become so close in the end.
David (Arsenal are better and that hurts more than anything) COYS

Ange has been found out!
Ange had great success in the early days because the other managers were not familiar with his methods. Well they’ve all worked him out now and as the mail says, he has no plan B. Not getting an out and out striker after Kane left doesn’t help.
Sam

MORE ON SPURS FROM F365
👉 Klopp-Salah war, Arsenal bottle it, Spurs win by mistake – 10 Premier League predictions
👉 Postecoglou should be sacked’ by Spurs after north London derby defeat

Blah blah VAR
Nothing left to say about how sh*t VAR is…there is one thing that can be done to change the experience for us who actually go to the games; let us see what the f*** is being debated!

Tickets cost a fortune so to be kept in the dark is infuriating (relative to real life, of course).

But also; f*** VAR. It feels so shit for every club and supporter to have to contend with the utter nonsense of it all. I remember Sheffield United had a goal ruled out against Spurs a few year back, when I saw it on TV later I still couldn’t figure out why.
Dan Mallerman

VAR is not the problem
So, let me see if I got this correct…

There were lots of complaints about the inconsistency and subjectivity of referee’s calls and egregious calls being missed (such as ball over the line) so the governing bodies developed a technology that enabled a play to be reviewed from multiple camera angles and in slow motion. Trouble is, it was handed to and is run by the SAME people who were making the inconsistent calls in the first place.

And surprise, surprise, the outcomes still have the same inconsistencies and subjectivity. Decisions in a game are made in complete isolation from any precedent in prior games, so one week Onana punches someone and it’s a foul, when in a previous week it wasn’t a foul.

The solution is really quite simple. All VAR reviews are relayed to ONE central location where a team, using the latest technology such as AI, can compare the VAR event against similar events from a database of all VAR decisions from all prior games.

It’s not difficult. In fact this solution is already about 75% in operation now. You already have a bunch of pundits in TV studios reviewing an incident in real time, and coming to a consensus. One could even argue that Carragher, Neville et al may well give more accurate decisions because they are drawing on their experience of watching many games. So maybe the Decision Hub is staffed by ex-footballers. But the logistics can be sorted out later.

The main problem is… the referees! You have to have a certain personality to want to become a referee. A person who WANTS to be in authority and the center of attention. They would resist this idea tooth and nail because it would highlight the fact the the flaw in the system is not the technology but the humans implementing it.

VAR is not the problem. The problem is the humans interpreting it.
Adidasmufc (It would certainly help if the rules were simpler – ball touches hand in penalty box, whatever the angle or intent, it’s a penalty. End of.)

Palace have 40 points; is Ed okay
No one seems to be taking this seriously!

Ed QTR.. Have I missed a 40 page missive on this from you?.

But Palace have now confirmed that they will be a 40 something points team again this season.!

40pts (that F365 were worried they wouldnt get.. silly people) and 3 games to play… so it’s confirmed again!

Surely this is both, not at all (as it happens every year), and also MASSIVE news .. as it happens EVERY year.. the chances cannot be high

This is madness that I had no idea of until your article a few weeks ago and I am now obsessed by.

So roll on another year and me checking that this will still be a possibility.

I fear that if they keep Eze and Olise that Glasner will spoil this fun though…
Al – LFC not much point talking about this part of the Red Cartel. (Taylor you early whistle chicken, let Gakpo score that! then tell the keeper he’s a plank)

Man Utd have put together a decent run
Man United’s draw with Burnley at the weekend means they will pass a milestone on 7th May. On that day it will be 40 years since they last lead at half time in a Premier League/First Division match at Old Trafford and subsequently lost.

Since the 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town in May 1984, United have been ahead in 376 home matches at half time in the topflight and never subsequently been defeated. (W 344 D 32).

To put into context, whilst Liverpool’s and Chelsea’s current runs are a respectable 13 and 12 years, the average for the other seventeen teams is just over two years.

There you have it, useless piece of trivia for the day, and a record, which given my age, I will likely never see bettered.
Ged Biglin