Ben Ray

Spot on

Show some respect mate, his speaking topics include both ’Football Speaker’ and ‘Sports Speaker’. Proper polymath.

There are some properly moany c*nts around here. And I say that as a pretty glass-half-empty sort of a person. Am I enjoying every game: no. Am I though going to slag off the team after another win in a local derby: again, no. These games aren’t pre-season fucking friendlies. This is high stakes.

Did you feel this way 7 days ago?

The hearing will take place in two weeks, but then City will tie up the verdict with lawfare and diplomatic shenanigans until after Rohdri has retired.

I’m not going to lie, that level of tidying makes my heart skip a beat 🤓😂

No surprise. It all felt like play-acting at the time!

100% this

Another great piece- cheers mate

No

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Not celebrating. Back in 15.

Like it’s at the point where you start thinking it’s an actual yips thing.

Never mind not celebrating because of VAR, now at the point where I won’t be celebrating until a good 10-15 minutes after we score. Come on lads.

Remember back when we could defend a lead? No, me neither

No Havertz?

Irrelevant in a derby, sadly!!

(due another hiding, in reality…)

So what you’re saying is they’re due

This feels like it is giving no weight to the order of events, which is where I think stats and real life can diverge.

Dear Arsenal, the next time you decide to stamp my hopes into the carpet like a half lit cigarette butt could you do it during a sunny spell rather than 50 days of continuous rain. Many thanks. Yours ever (regrettably), Ben Ray

Sorry to hear I wasn’t the only one awoken at 5am by the indigestion caused by that Arsenal shit sandwich

Eze for me is the big one- particularly with Odergaard either absent or just meh. The sign Mikel sent to our most dynamic player by benching him so deep after the mistake against Villa (even tonight with Saka at 10) feels like ‘I prioritise no mistakes over the chance that you of something magical’.

Birmingham 2008 for me. But oddly more difficult to process because then there was so much more that was obviously wrong with the team. And a couple of justifiable rods for anger (Gallas in particula). Here everyone seems to be working flat out and in good faith but have fucked it up somehow.

I think this is spot on. Although what I can’t work out is whether we lack those ultra-creative high-end attacking players or whether Mikel’s system prevents any players showing those skills. Everything seems so close to perfect on paper but on the pitch it’s so often flat.

System teams are more prone to collective collapse.

I‘ve staked out a seat in a lifeboat

Or just tired and currently sick of life, and therefore ready to vent at the team you love when it kicks you hard in the fucking balls

Can and will, sadly

2026 so far well on course to overtake 2020 in the ‘year that can most go fuck itself’ race