h.

Neville trying to draw a comparison between Liverpool today and Arsenal's games at the Etihad in 22-23 & 23-24. He just seemed to miss the bit where Arsenal were playing probably the best team in the world at that time.

Slot has been devastatingly straightforward this year. FBs as FBs, double-pivot, 10 as a 10, wingers as wingers. He’s put brutally effective players in a position to be most brutally effective.

But he’s really turned up the detail tweaks in these City matchups. Has outmanaged Pep both times.

Arteta "very angry" at his team and himself for that performance. "Nowhere near the levels we have to hit to have the possibilities to win the Premier League."

Arsenal are not going to blow teams apart with their attacking firepower in the next few weeks. They simply don’t have the players for it. They therefore need to be defensively immaculate at all times — and they weren’t here. Impressively disciplined performance by West Ham.

Saw West Ham bring on Evan Ferguson late in the game.

We could’ve ended the Neto loan and got a tried and tested Premier League player that was available on deadline day.

Surely they didn’t think he’s a worse option than Merino / Sterling up top.

The Leicester game could’ve easily ended how today’s game went if they scored that chance.

We’ve at best got a goal in us in the game but if we concede, that slim chance also disappears because of our inability to create chances

We threw away the season when the Arsenal hierarchy saw Saka tear his hamstring, Jesus do his ACL, and Havertz barely able to walk at the end of matches and decided no forward on the market could improve the team. Pretty ill-advised gamble, pretty foreseeable result.

People disagreed with me highlighting our lack of forward signings at HT because Merino played alright.

Doesn’t matter. If we have another CF, we have Merino as an impact option. If we have another RW, Nwaneri can play in midfield and take off struggling Ødegaard. But we don’t.

I can’t slag Nwaneri off for being a bit ineffective, or Merino off for not being amazing upfront the first time he’s ever played there in his career. But the goal we give away is difficult to accept.

Ultimately the thing that matters most for us at the moment is defensive solidity. We have no injuries and loads of depth there and we don’t have enough firepower to score much more than one goal. To give West Ham such an easy goal was criminal.

Let’s be honest here. Title hopes ended the week we lost both Martinelli and Kai. We tried to convince ourselves we could do it with Leo, Ethan and Raheem 😳. Not in a million years

Ethan Nwaneri appears to be limping as he leaves the pitch. He's walking very gingerly and was holding his leg a moment ago.

No complaints with that red card, Lewis-Skelly gets caught, brings Kudus down - he's through on goal otherwise. Another miserable day in a miserable season.

Time for the “zero PL minutes for Bukayo Saka the rest of the season” plan to be put in place

They also have forwards

Unfortunately, that one is very much a red card

Right then. League's done, every point for the next month is a bonus.

That’s a red

Man, if anyone's scoring the next goal it definitely ain't us 😂

We were always going to look ropey, that’s just what happens when you have your four main attackers injured. What we really needed was a clean sheet, conceding is the disaster, looking toothless in attack was just 100% what was always going to happen. This is a ‘just win 1-0’ period.

Arsenal have tried to push the full backs up and drop Partey between the centre halves and it’s just not worked. Not given us any extra offensive power and it’s cost us a goal down our left side.

I think we all need to be realistic and say none of that is going to happen. You lose four attackers, you look shit in attack, end of. To expect anything else is delusion. You just have to score once more than the opposition. Don’t expect performances at the moment, just results.

Mostly, this is just how this period is gonna feel. We don’t have our starting forwards or Jesus — it’s gonna be a slog. Structure generally fine. Merino good. Two rough performances from the 8’s, some hitchy first-phase stuff, and a bad transition. Let’s see how they react.

Keep thinking that the euphoria around the emergence of 'Mikel Merino, goal machine' clouded quite how bad that first 80 minutes or so was at Leicester.

I don't think today will be easy - and think that goes for most of our games until we get some semblance of our front-line back.

When Lamina was sent off the whole away end still sang ‘Michael Oliver it’s all about you.’ Football fans are sick and tired of these remedial individuals ruining games and making it all about them. Both red cards did not need to happen at all. So fucking sick of it.

Josh Kroenke should leave a voicemail for Mikel telling him whatever fine he gets, whatever fines anyone on the staff or team gets, he’s covering them - and to have fun in the mixed zone after the game.

Declan Rice needs to protect Partey more and perhaps dial back the go forward, he’s looking like he can’t run today

What I'm calling Arsenal's Big Three -- Saka, Odegaard, Saliba -- have all been in the Premier League starting XI in 10 of 22 matches this season. Include Rice and it's just eight.

There has been one starting XI since August to contain White, Rice, Saka, Saliba and Odegaard (Chelsea, away).

Pablo Sarabia volleys over the bar after Nelson Semedo runs away from Leandro Trossard.

Not really sure what William Saliba was doing on that move, found himself in no man's land.

He didn't commit to challenging Semedo nor did he mark either of the two players in the middle.

the real threat to free speech in america is that criticizing powerful interests, from israel to elon musk, will cost you your livelihood