Van Persie is not a striker.

 

I do agree about the Carling Cup having a psychological blow on the team, but I'm surprised by how bad its actually been for them. As for leaders, Vermaelen would step up to that role nicely, plus maybe a signing of maybe one more experienced player. The RVPs and Sagnas of the team also would make good leaders.

 

BUT I can't agree with the quote there. 18 goals in 20 appearances this season? I think he's a pretty good striker...

 

^Only because he's played as a striker imo. Don't believe he's an out and out striker. He doesn't get in to the same positions the likes of proper strikers would. He'd suit Arsenal much better if he played behind the striker. If Arsenal lose Van Persie they have no attacking power really. Chamank (sp?) hasn't done as well as I thought he would, Arshavin seems out of favour and Bendtner is just crap.

So QPR guilty, and don't get punished. Go figure! Probably didn't want to upset Warnock again :rolleyes:

They've been fined although that's not exactly going to hurt the owners much. It's also a tiny fraction of the amount they will make from a season in thee Premier League.

 

I suspect they've done it out of expediency. QPR would have appealed against any points deduction thereby potentially throwing the play-offs into chaos. They really should have dealt with this a lot earlier. As it is they have now set a precedent so other clubs may feel if it's worth the risk if it will help them win promotion.

 

Even by the usually low standards set by the football authorities this has been a massive cock-up.

It annoys me when people constantly say "Arsenal are going to bottle it / lack leadership / poor defence" etc. Yes, in the last month or so we have thrown it away massively, but the fact we were fighting on four fronts until then was still impressive, especially given that we've played with our 3rd and 4th choice centre backs for most of the season. Szcz will be the answer to the goalkeeping problem, but I think our main problem is actually up front. RVP, Chamakh and Bendtner are all great players, but the system Wenger plays only really has room for one of them. Bendtner has been coming on and playing right wing recently and playing in crosses, when he should be the one on the end of them. We do need to clear out some of the dead wood in the squad (Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby etc) and hope that the likes of Ramsey and Wilshere continue to develop. Expect Arsenal to be much stronger next year, and with a bit more luck we might not drop points as ridiculously as this year.

 

As for QPR, I was really hoping they would get docked points, Norwich and Swansea would get automatic promotion and then Forest win the play-offs. Pity the FA didn't have the bottle to actually do something about it, and I do suspect if they were mid-table they would have been deducted :(

 

Bottled it again today.

It was a shocking performance today, we really really were awful. Arsene seriously needs to sort out our defending from set pieces, its abysmal. Chelsea didn't turn up today either, gifting the title to Fergie. Park was the best player on the pitch by a mile too, so well done him.

Arsenal's defending today was indeed dreadful. It's also true to say that their defending from set pieces has been poor for some time. Their other problem seems to be psychological. A couple seasons ago they never really recovered after that awful injury to Eduardo. This season's turning point seems to have been losing the League Cup final. That really has to be down to the manager.

 

Man U played like champions today which is something they haven't done much this season. Their home record this season (52 points out of 54) has been phenomenal. The fact that they didn't win the title weeks ago shows just how modest their away form has been. It's hard to say how much Chelsea's performance was affected by going a goal down so early.

I may well be slightly late with this but..

 

COME BACK WHEN YOU'VE WON 19

I was gutted that Qpr didin't get deducted any points,yet were found guilty.

I really want Reading to go up for the reason that Dundee United will get 250,000!

Fair play to Man Utd. They've been the best team this season, the only team really in contention. They've been terrible at times mind, and had it not been for some dodgy refereeing decisons and some catastrophic finishinh thigns may have been different, but generally theyve been consistently good (away form is definitely something I'd be highly worried about if I was a Man Utd fan, its awful for a title winning team). Chelsea had a really bad spell for 9/10 games, Arsenal have been terrible since the Carling Cup defeat, Man City have got a pussy for a manager so they were never in contention, despite what the media and 'arry will have you believe they never had a chance, and Liverpool had their worst run post-war. Think next season could be interesting though. Manchester City are obviously going to spend big again now they're in the Champions League.

 

I'd expect Man Utd to win the title again next season. Think Liverpool will give them a run though. Need to improve greatly in a few areas, but every top club does. Suarez is absolutely magical.

Liverpool will be a huge threat next year. The rate they've improved since January is phenomenal and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see them pip Tottenham to Europa this season.

 

We definitley need to invest in players if we're to retain it next year; we've ridiculously ridden our luck away from home and our home form is all that's really kept us away from Chelsea. The way we set up on Sunday was incredible; that fighting mentality was evident from the whistle. I trust Fergie with my life. If we go into the European final with that mentality, who knows...

Man Utd played well on Sunday. But things might have been a lot different had Hernandez not got that very early goal. I think it really knocked Chelsea back, caught them off my surprise. Played massively in to Man Utd's hand, as Fergie really does like playing on the counter attack, and Chelsea had to come at Man Utd. European Cup final could be interesting. Can't see Barcelona not winning though. If Man Utd play with a high defensive line then I think they're in for trouble. Think they need to do what Real Madrid tried to do.

 

Suarez is an absolute beat. Believe me when I say he'll be the best attacker in the league next season. He's going to be up there with Cantona, Begrkamp, Henry, Ronaldo etc. as he's a very very special player.

Man U's home form should have seen them win the title weeks ago. Yesterday's performance against Chelsea was a rare occasion when they looked like they might be capable of beating Barcelona.

 

Will Liverpool be a threat next season? Under Dalglish they have averaged two points per game. That's good but not quite good enough to win the title. So they need to do a little better and maintain it over a whole season.

Great win for Liverpool. Love Luis Suarez so much right now.. Great signing for us

Has anyone been watching the play-offs?

 

Once again, I'm absolutely gutted. Although I was fully expecting it this time so was far less heartbreaking than the last two times. I wish I watched the game as a neutral though as it was a wonderful game of football. Four fantastic goals, the woodwork hit four times and a couple of penalty appeals, both of which we should have got. I haven't seen the replays for the second one at the death but I read on Twitter the Sky studio reckon it was. The first I wasn't that fussed about at the time, as penalties for shirt pulling aren't often given, but if you're going to book Gunter for what he did within two minutes of it, then that is a stone wall penalty 100% of the time. No consistency once again.

I went to Milton Keynes yesterday for MK Dons v Peterborough. Posh are so lucky to still be in the tie tbh, MK Dons should have killed it in the 2nd half but for some reason took their foot off the gas at 3-1, even when Posh went down to 10 men. Really looking forward to the 2nd leg on Thursday, we should be able to see them off at home, but I use should very lightly :lol:

I saw bits of the match. I would have preferred Forest to win but obviously npt as much as you would.

 

Even allowing for the fact that the goalkeeper was nowhere to be seen, Swansea's third goal was a great shot.

My local team, Bournemouth, really drew the short straw when it came to play-off dates. Their home leg just happened to be played at the same time as Man U were winning the title and just before the Cup final so nobody noticed. After a 1-1 draw Wednesday's second leg (at the same time as the Europa League final) will be difficult.

 

I saw bits of the match. I would have preferred Forest to win but obviously npt as much as you would.

 

Even allowing for the fact that the goalkeeper was nowhere to be seen, Swansea's third goal was a great shot.

When Camp first went up there there was still 3 1/2 minutes of injury time left! I don't really see the point of doing it that early, may as well keep him half way in our half and send Maloney up. It was a great finish though, as were all the goals. I couldn't help but admire Britton's first.

My local team, Bournemouth, really drew the short straw when it came to play-off dates. Their home leg just happened to be played at the same time as Man U were winning the title and just before the Cup final so nobody noticed. After a 1-1 draw Wednesday's second leg (at the same time as the Europa League final) will be difficult.

That is a bit unlucky, although does anyone care about the Europa League? I didn't even know it was on!

 

I'm looking forward to watching some non-Premiership football every night this week.

That is a bit unlucky, although does anyone care about the Europa League? I didn't even know it was on!

 

I'm looking forward to watching some non-Premiership football every night this week.

As it's an all Portuguese affair I doubt there will be much interest in it. It's just unfortunate for Bournemouth (and Huddersfield) that their semi-final has ended up being scheduled against some stiff competition.