11 Mar 2026 10:59:32
Ed025, I dunno whether Arsenal are even standouts as worse offenders than other sides. I watched Everton the other day and I thought they were even more physical than what Gabriel and Saliba do. I would absolutely agree that Arsenal have catalysed the set piece change for the league -- corners went from a set piece with like 3% conversion to something like 8%, and what team wouldn't copy that? IMO the onus lies on the league and the officials to be clear about what is and is not acceptable. To my mind, the fact that they have not weighed in yet is an indication they believe what Arsenal does is absolutely fair.
As for the stuff about diving and holding their faces, I really have no idea why you'd single Arsenal out for this. I can't recall any of our players getting yellow for simulation or playacting to get someone else sent off.
To my mind, Arsenal are top of the league right now because they found a way to break down teams who don't set up to play attacking football against them. This has always been a problem, and I don't have anything against the clubs who do it, but you can't have it both ways. You can't accuse a club of ruining football when they have only resorted to this method to win against teams who are content to park 11 men in their own box.
{Ed025's Note - the catalyst for me Wire is that the standard of football in the whole league is dire mate, its not just Arsenal though but they are the ones who have used cheating as an art form especially at corners, throw ins and set pieces where they grapple and pull opponents constantly a lot of the time not even looking at the ball, its not all your fault though as its up to the referees and VAR to do something about it..but it would end up with you having only 4 players actually finishing the game as the rest would be sent off if they done their jobs properly, other teams are copying the Arsenal model now and even my beloved Everton have been guilty of Arsenalgate, but i do still want you to win the league even if it will go down as the worst one ever.. :)
11 Mar 2026 19:55:58
I'm all for the banning of fouling, blocking, holding, etc., in the box. I'm looking forward to an unimpeded Gabriel having a free run at it, with Deckers and Saka's delivery. He's quite good at it, even when being held, blocked, etc., at every corner, especially. All for it. Coyg.
12 Mar 2026 07:19:16
Set piece goals can vary in quality too. Many of them don't look good because of the "meat wall", but our first against Chelsea was fantastic.
Most of the teams are now very capable, at least physically, in addition to being tactically good enough to nullify their opponent's biggest threats.
If there was a shift towards outplaying the opposition, the quality might go up. As it stands, teams don't seem to think they would be very successful using such tactics.
I also think the way games are being refereed is having an impact, as written previously.