Could Ben White do a job up front for title-chasing Arsenal?

Liverpool are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League but you wouldn’t know going by the reaction. They want another striker. Will Ben White do?

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

BANTER
BANTER BANTER BANTER JOKE CLUBS CLOWN SHOW BANTER BANTER BANTER DAVE TICKNER EXCLUSIVE ANGE MUST BE SACKED BANTER BANTER CRICKET SCORE BANTER BANTER WOOOOWOOOOO BANTER

WHATS THE SCore…oh..well then…back in the draw that piece goes.
TGWolf(maddison,slick vic,odobert,johnson all back in one game, getting the band back together)THFC

Madd man
Hi

It was a shame that Keane wasn’t presenting on Sky Sports this afternoon. I would have enjoyed his analysis having last week talked about ‘Spurs players not being that bothered to see Maddison coming back from injury‘.

No one is under any illusions on Maddison. He’s a bit of a fancy Dan, inconsistent and doesn’t show a lot of muscle. A modern-day Jamie Redknapp.

But Maddison’s stats this season are very good. A goal or an assist a game. That’s not inconsistent. That’s showing up fairly regularly in a horror show of a season. And he’s putting in some defensive work. 5 minutes before he came over covering some midfield yards to win the ball back. I found myself wistfully thinking about the difference he might have made in last Sunday’s joke of a midfield. I was glad he was back.

I doubt you’ll be putting Spurs in the winners column as Man U were horrible, and Spurs will lose at Ipswich. But a bit of credit where credit’s due if Ange is right and y’know we win games if we get players back. It gets boring if we’re always the banter club. You know you’ll get your opportunity at  regular points throughout the rest of the season so flip the narrative when it’s needed….lads.

Cheers then,
Andrew

READ MORE: 16 Conclusions on Spurs 1-0 Manchester United: Spence, Zirkzee, Maddison and abysmal Amorim

He didn’t die for this
I don’t know where Erik ten Haag is, but I’m sure he’s laughing his beard off.
Tunji, Lagos.

Holy diver
Still got half an hour to play, hopefully LFC can see this out and get 4 points from Villa/Citeh games.

Anyways, Jota.

Does he annoy other LFC fans with his diving? He’s done it a few times and gotten away with it, today he could have scored easily but instead decided to try and get a pen.

Not long ago, he took it past the keeper, goal at his mercy and instead fell over a couple of yards past him and got the pen.

Just take the ruddy chance! Could have been 3.0 up today.
David (Anyone get Sabbath tickets?) Molby, Shrews.

LiVARpool
I’m writing this just as the penalty has been confirmed against Wolves

Can all the Liverpool fans crying about referee bias pipe down now? 36 minutes of some of the most blatant, one sided, horrendous refereeing of the season – and that’s saying something
Sara – HTFC but marrying a Wolves fan

38 minutes – blatent, cynical take out of Cunha by a player already on a yellow. Obviously should be a second yellow? But no he’s playing for Liverpool

Shocking, shocking shocking

Looking forward to all the Liverpool fans emailing about this, as they were after the Everton game

Laughable
Sara

Liverpool’s elephants in the room
The way that second half went if Wolves had equalised you’d have had to given them their dues. It was nervy in part because of how the Everton game ended and in part because we looked dreadful after we went 2 up. Was it the mark of champions that we looked ugly but found a way to see it through? Depending on your bias you’ll have a different view of it.

On the plus side we scored early and scored twice so that gave us some decent wiggle room. Jota forcing contact for a penalty that ultimately got overturned by VAR (correctly) seemed silly when he could’ve stayed on his feet and shot. That said he had another moment in the box where you see how clever he is. The ball comes to him and instead of shooting he takes it round a player before releasing. The player tried to dive in but missed and on another day would’ve made contact and Jota would’ve fairly won a penalty. He’s got the intelligence of Firmino and the talent to find a header but sadly not the ability to avoid injuries.

Trent was having a stinker of a day and I’m glad Slot withdrew him before he cost us a goal; a lesson learnt from the Man Utd game and those two needlessly dropped points. If his mind is on Madrid and he can’t focus then he shouldn’t be playing when Bradley is really quite able. Sadly Nunez was brought on and he was similarly awful in terms of keeping the ball.

The other elephant in the room is that Robertson really can’t keep up with the game anymore. Today he looked so stretched. He’s been such an epic servant to the club but the summer business is surely going to be for a left back and a proper centre forward. Victor Osimhen would be kind of fun and maybe affordable if Nunez gets sold for decent cash.

As nervy as it felt we at least were aggressive and controlled for most of the game. Wolves had a lot of chances in the second half but none were huge moments. Quansah snuffed out what would’ve been the huge moment of the game and Cunha could only score by tucking a worldie into the side netting from 30 yards. Villa will provide a much more stern test and the bigger issue is that it’s another midweek when maybe a lot of legs are tired already. The only thing in our advantage is that they look tired too.
Minty, LFC

Liverpool 2 F365 writers 0
Hi Lewis, Stephen, Will and the amazing Jason.

Another Liverpool win. Another day for you all to go crying to mummy.

Who knows, maybe one day  you’ll write an unbiased article where you actually praise Liverpool? Doubtful.

Just like the time in October where Liverpool were going to come undone because they hadn’t played anyone good yet- Aged very well. Just like the next 3 games where Liverpool will come undone according to your future articles ( won’t age well ). Trent, Virgil, salah. Neither signed contracts but rehash same article again with a hopeful attempt to get more clicks.

Liverpool win today but it’s “ lucky Liverpool”. Liverpool draw and it’s “ wheels coming off” ( hugely amusing ). Liverpool lose and it’s, oh wait.  It’s….. oh, damn.

“ mummy ( aka winty) what do I say about Liverpool now, it’s so unfair, I want to write a click bait article but they just won’t lose”

“ winty, now now boys, how about a speculative article on Trent going to Madrid or salah going to anywhere?  or… I don’t know lads, you are meant to be original not rehash the same poo”

Gutted Lads.
Ade. 20 is coming. Gutted f365. 

Lazy Sunday thoughts
A clumsy FA Cup exit to Plymouth Argyle…  an anemic draw at Goodison Park that felt like a loss…  a bumbling win against Wolves today, which still feels like we lost.  If you’re a purist, and let’s be honest many (most) of us think we are, that’s three losses on the spin tracking three lethargic, unconvincing, rather shite performances.  Seven points clear again but the next three will be the litmus test as Liverpool stumble for form.  It’s cognitive dissonance of the highest order; this is not glorious table-topping football yet here we are.

Shout of appreciation to Howard Jones, pointing out disparate Chris Kavanagh decisions officiating the Merseyside derby and Brighton-Chelsea.  To Howard I’d wish to say Things Can Only Get Better but unfortunately PGMOL sit idly by as their employ make farce upon farce with no accountability from them, no recourse for us.  Imagine being incensed at clearly suspect decisions then facing censure, fines, red cards and such for daring to voice slightest disagreements.  What a never-ending joke it’s become.  David Coote was just a poor unlucky sod at the tip of an iceberg.  No doubt there are much deeper roots to all this.

Congrats to Ange for a scrappy El Crappico victory (can’t take credit there, some pundit named it such).  Ange and Amorim have been battered endlessly this season, more battering and they’d be a pair of tempura prawns (or at least one would be shrimp on the barbie ?).  Only reason Postecoglou’s sat on the slightly hotter seat is because he predates Amorim, but both are equally stubborn and equally crap.  They’re both lucky the other’s around so they can mutually deflect wearing the crown of top fraud.
Eric, Los Angeles  CA

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Narratives
Hi,

Whilst this email may be a variation on a theme of my last, in some ways it is becoming a really odd time to be a Liverpool fan.

This weekend we established a 7 point lead at the top. Equal games played. 39 points left to play for, 33 guarantees us the league. Will.we get 33 points? Most likely not. Was it our best game? No. Was it likely the players had been told to take their foot off the gas with an eye on the next week? Almost certainly yes. But that’s by the by. To read from the tone reports you’d think we’ve already thrown the league away.

I can’t help but contrast this with the era of chasing down City when, though playing the best football of my time as a fan we ultimately, repeatedly came up short. At the same time, we were being written up as a team for the ages – always just about to, almost, nearly snatch the thrown from Pep’s City.

Undoubtedly we were a better team then, it’s likely the 2018-19 team would have been out of sight this season. But they weren’t then and aren’t here now. We are in the season we’re in. And we are seven points clear of a very good but not infallible Arsenal team. Ask me which league position I’d rather have, it’s this one all the way (not counting the Champions League for the purpose of this example!).

There will be ups and downs before the end, but we won’t steamroll every team, bar one, we play to rack up 97 points and finish 2nd. Neither will Arsenal. This title race is a throwback to when teams lost now and then.

We’re in a great position, we will lose a game or two. We might not win the league, but we really could. All Liverpool fans I know accept this, would be great if everyone else did too.
Dan

Wolves are fun to watch
Writing in after the Liverpool game – with the amount of domestic and international matches on show any given weekend, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. I’m not ashamed to say that Wolves have rarely been at the top of my list of teams to watch but that is quickly changing.

As a neutral observer, they’re a fun, carefree team with a lot of skillful players and they throw caution to the wind with a high press very often. A five-aside team of Ait Nouri, Joao Gomes, Andre, Cunha, and Sarabia would be up there for best in the league, and the casual diving in on the defensive side is a refreshing breath of fresh air for teams at the bottom end of the table.

Obviously, if I were a Wolves fan, the lack of a cutting edge offensively and discipline defensively would make me want to tear my hair out, but after watching Wolves look like the better team (esp in the second half) against Liverpool at Anfield, they’re going to be a must watch for the rest of the season.

Liverpool were somewhat lucky to get away with a win, particularly with Konate on the verge of being sent off in the first half. Will never understand why that Jota penalty/not penalty was not a yellow card for a dive either, but that’s just par for the course these days. Also – pretty sure that players can thigh the ball back to their goalkeeper (Robertson to Allison in the second half). The commentators on my channel were questioning the legality of the move but this was always within the rules??
– KM

Another Arsenal striker
Hi,

Don’t think anyone’s noticed the return of one Ben White from injury, as he was on the bench for the Leicester game.

Surely, with his honed housery skills and height he could do the Havertz job for a few games, whilst there’s sufficient cover for his usual position at the back…?

Opposing teams get wound up just by his presence at set pieces; imagine how stressful he’d be for defenders during the whole game? Whilst he keeps them niggled and occupied there’d be more space for Trossard and Nwaneri (and maybe even Merino as well).

Not to mention the additonal threat, and protection, back in the team for corners. He can also be – honest guv – composed and skillful on the ball, ideal for hold up play. In fact what I see as his main weakness, being run at by wingers, becomes conveniently irrelevant.

And I’m sure he’d fancy himself as the new posterboy Giroud.
TyA, Essex

Mid-table nonsense
Yiembe’s mail highlighted the Madness in Midtable (TM). I think Villa have picked up 3 points in their last 4 games. As I headed toward Aston station after a frustrating and lacklustre draw*, I could hear the ‘no chance of Champions League now’, ‘won’t get European football at all’, and ‘probably won’t finish top half’ comments every thirty or so steps. I was finding it difficult to disagree with any of them. Then I looked at the table… Still only 6 points off 4th place. How?!? Just winning one of those three draws would have made a pretty significant difference.

If any team from 4th to 11th wins 3 in a row or takes 10 points from 4 games they will be in the CL spots. It’s madness in there, and I’m here for it. Just when you think a team is a shoe-in they start to wobble (hello Chelsea and Newcastle). When you think a team has no chance, they get a win and you realise they’re not far off at all (looking at you Fulham and Brighton). We have another 13 weeks of this, with a number of those teams also eyeing up a FA Cup final appearance.

Liverpool may march to the title, though I suspect it won’t be quite so easy, but behind them it may be all about timing a couple of wins against the rivals in around you perfectly. Next weekend we have Villa v Chelsea, Newcastle v Forest, and Man City v Liverpool. It’s all excellent fun.
Gary AVFC, Oxford *(Well played former WBA keeper Alex Palmer. Not saying that through gritted teeth at all. Honest.)

Solutions
Fans will rightly moan about a 100 things in football that will never change because its impossible or too difficult. But what can be stopped is the terrible idea of teams sporting a Green football kit. For the EPL the biggest draw is the global audience, most of whom are watching on TV (or even low quality streams on the internet), where watching a team play in Green is unbearable. Has anyone not bloody realized it clashes with the bloody grass? Do you see them play with a green ball? Do you see them play with a white ball in the snow?

I honestly find it incredible that this still goes on. No green kits should be part of the next broadcaster TV negotiations. This must be stopped.
Hats