James Fitzgerald

I'm not sure he's a big upgrade, as we've said before, but I think he's smart (apart from when scything down VVD).

Just say it. A big team moves them on in the summer.

The reason Wenger's best teams never won two in a row was because he stuck with players when a more ruthless manager would have moved them on. Arteta needs to be ruthless, even if they are nice guys.

This game has shown that for the biggest games Arteta needs to pick a team that is not thick.

Martinelli typifies being thick. I'm sure he'll do something good before the end of the year, but it's time to move on from him.

He'll be made into that Dalot sliding meme if he's not careful.

A thought, apropos of nothing in particular...

If a pint pours in <10 seconds and you can down one in, say, 20 seconds, that's potentially 30 pints to drink in a 15 minute half time break.

Some of those guys should get them lined up and drink that sweet, sweet pain away.

Enjoyed Arteta's businesslike interview. Perfectly bland.

While Hincapie has been very good, and did well tonight at LB and CB, Calafiori just has it. He has to play.

I'm not cut out for this!

Great win.

Wow. Forest goal line clearance 10 seconds after our final whistle.

He loses the ball quite well.

Yes. It would help if we played better and made him less relevant

Gyokeres getting criticism. Fine. But what is Martinelli offering?

Yep, both Martinelli and Gyokeres are low iq footballers. Only one should play.

Need his set piece delivery as well tbh

It's right that I'm not to shout at the TV. It's football. Meant to be fun. I prefer it when it is actually fun, mind.

This is correct. One week off doesn't magically mean he hasn't played a lot of games.

I almost turned that off. Too stressful.

And when watching at home when I'm not allowed to shout and swear at the telly, it's too much.

Should have taken the ticket I was offered an hour before the game and just accepted being late to it.

A sniper took both his knees out.

How do they square giving a penalty for that and allowing rugby at corners?

Should VAR not show him the "contact". He might not even give it. Except it is Kavanagh, the most craven of them all.

Yes, I think the new needle bit is right. Generally, there aren't a lot of obvious upgrades in that position, let alone available upgrades. Perhaps Arteta (over?)values the players who cause him/us problems and perhaps you need AG's spikiness to offset EE's lack thereof.

I'm not necessarily in favour, more considering the logic behind it as his is a name that keeps cropping up.

I think Arteta generally has a good record with the ones he pushes for, which is what this would have to be. Arteta likes spiky hard running types who kick the ball cleanly. He is that.

Listened to @arsenalvisionpodcast.com FNC. If Anthony Gordon were to come to Arsenal, decent chance he'd be the Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli replacement wrapped up in one. If so, might make the (too high) numbers make more sense.

If we win the league, we can expect those same journos to say, "I didn't mention the word "bottle" and direct us to the sub editors who did use it on the headline to make people mad/defensive/other/delete as appropriate.

I think it's a bit of a "for you" loop. Someone daft*, typically a fan of another club stirring, says it on the hell site, then a daft journo picks up on it, insinuates the idea of *bottle" without ever using the word, then lets it all play out.

*I am using a kinder word.

Phone off. I'll stick to my own angst.

Not sure I'll ever quite understand why MPs go on a show to not talk about an issue because they need to run it by parliament first. Just go on the show after the details have been shared.

Laura K would still chase a gotcha over all else anyway.

But what a waste of time for all concerned.

For all the comments from those in the US noting the difference in justice systems, I'd only add that the guy who has been arrested has had rumour of his various dodginesses exist for 30+years.

That there is no longer a desire to protect him speaks to a different story.

Now, back to football.

As examples, nobody wanted Martinelli enough last summer to make an offer; I reckon there'd be a market for Calafiori, even with his injury issues.

Think it would be interesting to consider what players outside that list of so-called untouchables other good clubs would go for.

If the number remains low, it indicates the issue is talent. If it's high, it might suggest coaching.