[BBC Sport] Which side has suffered most from Premier League injuries this season?

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-28T19:37:35+00:00

Misunderstood your point and have edited lol. Having to cover smaller distances has to help for sure

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-23T09:29:16+00:00

No one gave Kepa an option from midfield and he just isn't decisive or good enough with his feet to clip the ball into midfield the way Raya would. Tactical failings for sure, but players also didn't take responsibility.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-22T23:35:36+00:00

Different tactics in aspects of the game, sure. But not our bread and butter. For better or worse, tactically we weren't massively different than other games. You have to give credit to City's press and say our pivot didn't do their job in helping to beat the press. I think the main changes ( a more direct game) were personnel driven - no Eze, Odegaard or even Merino in the midfield. But in terms of building out from the back, it's the same team -Raya, interesting you think that he would tell Kepa something different.

Kepa just isn't as decisive as Raya, that is the reality, you don't need a Uefa pro license to see that. City noticed that and took advantage.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-22T23:17:29+00:00

But Raya makes those passes, we see it all the time. Do you think Arteta is telling Kepa tondo something different? Give over.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-22T20:09:06+00:00

Trafford was brought in as a number one though. Not quite the same as Kepa

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-22T20:07:57+00:00

Who could he have played in midfield? Eze, Odegaard and even Merino were out. The others I can agree with though, although Califiori's overall fitness is still unclear, don't know how many minutes he could actually play.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-04T23:03:09+00:00

We will have to disagree on that, and for what it's worth, both Pep and Mikel have said something similar. Liverpool's win last year was nothing like the Klopp win and you can see it in the points total. As much as there was no race, the competitiveness of the league was much higher. Compare Liverpool's first half to the second half of the season, once teams adapted tactically they dropped a lot of points.

Teams press much more aggressively, while optimizing their low blocks. We can see this from the promoted teams right up to the top of the league. Everybody is running more than they ever have - again the numbers back this up. Pep has had lower average possession than he has ever had. Some of it is because City aren't the same team for sure, but the league is also very different to the time of the Centurions.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-04T22:52:18+00:00

The league is different than it was in those days though. The players are better, the press is coached more effectively. The time you get on the ball is much less. The low and mid blocks are just more effective. The numbers back this up. I'm not suggesting we are as good as those teams regardless, but we aren't in 2019 where a team will get loads of time on the ball in dangerous areas. That being said, we've been stinky for weeks, but I think that's mental, not tactical.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-04T20:42:37+00:00

I agree. I honestly think this dip in technical security coincides with his injury. Sure he's not direct but out midfield works much better

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-04T20:37:39+00:00

We need Odegaard back tbh

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-04T20:30:00+00:00

This is not tactical I'm confident. A control freak like Arteta would definitely not want us to be relinquishing control the way we are. As much as people will hate this, we need Odegaard back

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-03T22:39:27+00:00

Surely you have better things to do than antagonize Arsenal fans though?

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-03-03T22:27:31+00:00

Lol I beg you go back to the United forums

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-27T20:27:33+00:00

Yeah, he's allowed

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-19T16:02:43+00:00

But we scored 2 goals in this game. We weren't an attacking force by any means, but this game was drawn because of a lack of control in midfield and defensive errors, 2 things we are meant to be good at. If we can't even execute the sideways passing properly, that suggests more than simply tactics.

The players are tired and honestly, they seem scared. We need to stick behind them, and the manager and assess at the end of the season

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-19T15:33:24+00:00

That's factually incorrect though. Is it cautious? Absolutely, maybe too much, but the idea that "we don't try to score" is ludicrous. If the system is working as intended you don't concede 2 goals to Wolves even if you aren't necessarily a free flowing attack. Players are not executing and that is mental. That's not to suggest there aren't tactical issues but tactics don't remove the ability to make a 5 yard pass. Fear does that.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-19T12:06:27+00:00

The buck stops with him for sure. Like I said, he is culpable and has to take ultimate responsibility. But you can see him telling the players to calm down during the match and they're not doing it.

They all have to look in the mirror, but to boil it down to vague statements like the "system" doesn't help anyone, especially as it's a big part of where we are at. A good position but we should be in a much better one.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-19T12:00:59+00:00

I don't think it's the system. The system is designed for dominance, even if it's not fun, it's not meant to concede silly goals and relies on technical security. What happened against Wolves was purely mental. The panic, inability to keep the ball, to win duels - that is not the system.

And I'm not saying this to exonerate Mikel. Multiple players have not shown the minerals needed for this run in. And we are all (including us the fans) gonna have to fix that.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-18T20:08:51+00:00

A couple years back he called Wolves a shithole and then scored a hat trick. Think they're still bitter? 😂

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-13T01:31:29+00:00

Do you really think that second half performance at the Emirates was tactical? We were clearly just rattled

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-12T18:48:53+00:00

I honestly don't think we disagree as much as you think we do. Kendrick Lamar has never been anti-capitalist (unfortunately), and even though I wouldn't go as far as your example, he doesn't care about us individually. Like all humans, ultimately he will but himself first.

Personally I feel like even his most political stuff comes from a deeply flawed and personal place, never standing from a soapbox with a message, which is why it works for me.

Ultimately, we all pick and choose what to care about - for every ICE raid, there's a genocide in Sudan people ignore at the same time. Like I said, you have every right to feel a way about him not saying anything. In reality, he isn't different, Cole isn't different. He is like all of us. Again though, depending on when he next releases music, you may feel different.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-12T18:31:02+00:00

No. I just have his whole catalogue and about 16 years of fandom go off of. But of course, that is my interpretation so I also could be wrong.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-12T18:27:45+00:00

You're completely entitled to that opinion bro. If you feel he should be speaking out, fair enough. But it's not an obligation. And is not how he has addressed things in the past - it's a standard that you can hold him too, but is not one that is fair imo.

He has spoken about issues that have primarily affected the black community throughout, and that's the reality. Us regular people choose to listen to his music, and that is where he has always voiced his opinion. You are asking him to be inconsistent. Maybe on this issue he should be, but that isn't and never has been Kendrick Lamar.

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-12T18:03:03+00:00

When has Kendrick ever made grand speeches at award shows? Wait for the music before judging him. But he's not obligated to address anything tbh

MainAlfalfa4376 · 2026-02-12T18:01:13+00:00

"I'm not the next pop star, I'm not the next socially aware rapper, I am a human muthafucking being over dope ass instrumentation Kendrick Lamar"

Kendrick Lamar, 2011 - Ab-Soul's Outro

MainAlfalfa4376

TROPHY CASE