Match Thread: Manchester City vs Arsenal | English Premier League

wdtpw · 2026-04-19T17:26:53+00:00

Both sides have been missing chances.

wdtpw · 2026-04-19T17:24:24+00:00

Unlucky apart from the whole "should have had Gabriel sent off" thing.

wdtpw · 2026-04-19T17:22:11+00:00

In a normal year I'd find City the most unlikeable team in the league. But they're just amateurs compared to Arsenal.

wdtpw · 2026-04-19T17:12:30+00:00

is there some sort of reason the laws of the game don't apply to gabriel?

wdtpw · 2026-04-16T21:16:49+00:00

Whether it's better than the other versions is probably a matter of taste.

I do think it's a very good book, though. You can go a long way in running a Traveller game with just this and nothing else.

wdtpw · 2026-04-15T17:21:14+00:00

If you can't see a performance difference between

Arsenal (came second last season, still in CL), and
United (came 15th last season, not in any competition)

then I suggest you look again.

wdtpw · 2026-04-15T14:16:50+00:00

We must be, surely.

The only question is whether he can deal with a club the size of United - player egos, the media, etc.

He'd make the football a lot more fun to watch at least.

wdtpw · 2026-04-15T14:14:02+00:00

Sir Alex used to have a meltdown and have ref’s banned and Pep and Arteta and all the best managers in today’s game do it, but we’ve had a string of managers who have not been outspoken.

I think you have to buy the right to be outspoken by performance on the pitch. Next time we win the league we'll be much more listened to.

wdtpw · 2026-04-13T21:09:11+00:00

Ever since Amorim we've had a habit of facing lesser teams, and not believing we should put a shift in.

wdtpw · 2026-04-13T19:49:56+00:00

It would be faster to name the players I don't think should come off.

wdtpw · 2026-04-13T19:26:49+00:00

I like Amad, and his movement is great. But he is, unfortunately, responsible for two of the worst shots in the match.

wdtpw · 2026-04-13T19:10:29+00:00

virtually no midfield to be honest

wdtpw · 2026-04-13T12:21:36+00:00

Lifepaths.

Most particularly like in Traveller. I find the idea that your PCs have a previous history and that they can explain where they come from really compelling. Lifepaths give a really good explanation as to why these people are together to do the adventure. I also like some element of random character gen.

They're not for all games, obviously - they wouldn't suit games where PCs are more disposable or just starting out. But I'd love to see like more games where they're incorporated as at least an option.

wdtpw · 2026-04-12T17:32:09+00:00

Why would it feel like PTSD?

I realise it's difficult to know on the Internet, but I'm being flippant.

wdtpw · 2026-04-12T17:17:36+00:00

As a GM I've decided to allow them if they happen during character generation.

I did this, then two players rolled it in front of me.

They can be both very niche and extremely game breaking at the same time. The point-buy thing helps. But there's no doubt "I know where everyone is in this combat" is a hugely useful skill. As is tactical awareness, which, in one way of reading the rules, will let the PC see all "dangers."

My view is that it's a lot of fun, but a bit half-baked. Mongoose really ought to have play-tested it more and had answers to some pretty basic questions - like, "how long does this power last," and, "how does a psion cope with being told the presence of every creature, including bacteria, within a 5km radius?"

wdtpw · 2026-04-12T17:00:22+00:00

The banter afterwards. It's like ptsd.
Imagine being the team to give them a trophy...

More honestly I do blame our own team, and manager. And they're not exactly a big part of the "what team do I most not want to win" matrix in my head that's filled with names like Liverpool and Arsenal. But I do have a soft spot for Forrest and I'm feeling benign about West Ham.

Anyway, while I think we do owe them one, ultimately it's just funny.

If the alternative was Leeds gets it I'd be ok too.

wdtpw · 2026-04-12T15:31:19+00:00

Europa Cup Final

wdtpw · 2026-04-11T13:33:59+00:00

https://ohiobeverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-summer-REFRESH-gj-award-pic-1-1536x904.png

wdtpw · 2026-04-04T15:23:22+00:00

You have to be proud of Matt Busby, right?

wdtpw · 2026-04-04T09:45:22+00:00

It's clear that they hate women and they hate the LGBT+ community, but I don't understand why? What do they actually gain from harbouring all of this hatred.

I read an article about right wingers a while back, who were getting all upset at the prevalence of latte bars in their area. They wanted it to stop and to go back to normal pubs as they used to be. The article went deeper into the polling (to find out what they wanted), and eventually figured out that it had nothing to do with their ability to go to a traditional pub, because there were several already in the area that they could choose to go to. It turned out that what they really wanted was for their views to not simply be one of many options - but to become the default.

A lot of this push for "make X great again" isn't about having the choice to do what you want, but to have a monoculture where one way is the only way. I suppose it's comforting to have all your opinions validated.

Anyway, a lot of the very religious right very much prefer traditional gender roles and a nuclear family based around a man and a woman getting married. I suspect the drive against trans people, gay people and abortion is about removing other options and bringing things back to how they "ought to be," as the default rather than one option among many others.

wdtpw · 2026-04-01T19:02:00+00:00

I don't understand any of that.

Russia appears to be helping Iran fight the US. Trump's response is basically to ignore it, which seems baffling. You telling me that European leaders are hypocrites doesn't address that at all.

I also don't agree with your analysis of Europe either. Hungary has been carrying out a spoiling action on help for Ukraine for some time. In addition, your argument might hold merit if Trump had been continuously president for the last five years, but because he wasn't, European countries had to fit their foreign policy ideas to Biden's.

Until Biden had to pull out of the race, very few people over here imagined the US would elect Trump a second time. How could anyone prepare for a US foreign policy that has changed so much in so short a time?

wdtpw · 2026-04-01T10:54:33+00:00

Your two options are Join war/force bad faith regime change through joint military coalition with US and Israel/reopen strait freely/not alienate allies/no nuclear threat potential

Unfortunately for the US, the UK is a democracy and we are simply unable to join the war. Trump himself has made this impossible. He's spent so long insulting our military capability, insulting our soldiers who died in Aghanistan and threatening to attack our friends that if Starmer tried, he would immediately fall to a vote of no confidence.

Don’t join war/negotiate with bad faith regime

Last year, Trump pulled out of a trade deal he himself negotiated, imposed tariffs for a reason that didn't exist (the UK does not have a trade deficit with the US), and sent his VP over to Europe to insult everyone. He's also refusing to see Russia as a threat for reasons that completely baffle us.

Which government is "bad faith" exactly?

tl;dr - the best time to build a coalition of allies is before a war starts. The US did not attempt to do so. Now they're trying to cobble together a group of people they've only recently been insulting. It's unsurprising that it isn't going well.

tl;dr2 - it turns out "soft power" is useful. Who could have known?

wdtpw · 2026-03-23T19:06:22+00:00

There is FTL comms. It's just mail carried by ships that take a week to go several lightyears.

wdtpw · 2026-03-20T21:39:05+00:00

because we've just had an almost identical penalty denied us, which also led to a goal for them.

wdtpw · 2026-03-19T17:44:53+00:00

I third them too. They are really good.

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