THE DECISIONS TONIGHT ARE UNFORGIVEABLE! | Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal Reaction

The refereeing in this country is a joke, it's an absolute joke, but we knew that already, you know, again, certain decisions that went against Arsenal and or Newcastle in this game will stand in any other Premier League game to follow. I personally think, you know, when you look at the Premier League and they talk about it as an entertainment product, controversy sells, like in showbiz, and that's why you see this inconsistencies, you know, between Bruno Gomarez needing to be sent off, maybe even Kai Havertz to be fed to Newcastle, between Bruno Gomarez, Kai Havertz, Joe Linton getting away with murder, you know, the ball going out, let alone off sides and fouls. Again, I did think we switched off for the only goal we conceded. I think we need to play to the whistle regardless, really. I think the refereeing in this country is an absolute joke, and I'm not one to focus on refereeing. I always like to ask myself or my team, away from the dodgy refereeing, can we hold ourselves accountable? Did we do everything we needed to do to get the result we wanted? And for me, we didn't do that. We didn't do that. It's the same old thing, as I keep saying, chance creation and chance conversion is going to hold this team back. It does feel like we've improved a tenfold off the ball. It does feel like there was a competitiveness in our game and a relative confidence, but ultimately, you need to put the ball in the back of the net. You need to create. That's how football games are won, and we don't look like a team that done that. I think we had 14 shots come the end of the game, one on target. How many chances can you not remember of significance? I remember Martinelli in the first halfway maybe could have squared it for Saka, and it didn't happen. I think that's the only thing I'm really critical. I don't think anybody was terrible. Some players did better than others. Shout out Declan Rice and Saliba. Some players evidently showed their limitations. I do think Arteta needed to make those changes sooner. I do think where we find ourselves with the injuries and the inability to cope with injuries is a byproduct of what we did or didn't do in the summer and maybe an over-importance on relying on certain players that can give us three, four decent games but are not players to rely on. Maybe mismanaging funds in certain mid-products, even though I think he was better than me. He's had two decent games on the floor standards this week. Horrible, man. It's a bitter pill to swallow, man. We all knew he wasn't going to remain unbeaten. Had you offered me an L or two Ls in November, I might have taken it, but it is frustrating, man, because the ref has played a massive part in a game like this. And what did Nick Pope have to do? That was the one thing away from the ref I look at. What did the goalie have to do? We didn't put Nick Pope under any real pressure. We don't look like a team that can really create or score. That's been the case over the last two years, regardless of how the system rightly so has been developing and what the goal said on the board. Ultimately, we do have a lot of injuries, so do Newcastle, but we're relying on players that give us a three, four decent patch of form. There's very few players we can rely on on ten or so games. And it's too easy. It's side to side. There isn't that healthy randomness. It's too scripted. When our wingers are receiving the ball, they're not really in positions where they're taking men on. Too often, they're not on the halfway line, really. There's not enough invention or intention or innovativity, really, in truly enough final third play. It's been something that's cost us. Goals are like bosses and defeats are like bosses in that we haven't tasted an L all season, and two have come at the same time. All we can do is move forward to Sevilla and Burnley and lick our wounds. Every referee can, without making it obvious, stick that where the sun don't shine, if I'm honest with you. But I do think, ultimately, we've lost that Newcastle, which wasn't the case last year. But in a weird way, as I said, I'm disappointed in us not creating and converting and keeping a clean sheet and certain question marks remaining over certain players and a lack of players standing up to be counted. The ref has played a big part. But I think, considering what I've... Again, you wouldn't have saw my predictions. I said we would have lost 3-1. But it was a bit of a stalemate. It was a scrappy game. It was more of a fight. Normally, we crumble. And I think, under Arte, in the last few years, we've risen to that occasion. I don't think we were bullied. I think we gave as good as we got. I do think there was a relative amount of confidence there. But as I said, build-up play, isolating our wingers against their defenders, putting Pope under sustained pressure isn't something we could say we've done, really and truly. I think it was an entertaining game for the neutral, but not in terms of quality, just because of the fouls and the talking points and things like that. And it did look like, towards the end of the first half, both teams, with that Havertz challenge, it started getting a bit emotional. But I think it's another game in the week now where, really, Arte needed to make changes at half-time more within the first 10 minutes or a lot sooner. But it was really lost within those 15 minutes. I did think, in the second half, we looked a lot off the pace, if I'm honest with you. At half-time, people, we had eight shots, one on target. They had four shots, none on target. We had 53% of the ball to a 47. We played 214 passes to 197 of theirs. There wasn't too much in it. We had four corners. They had none. I did think Dan Byrne got away with murder. Bruno got away with murder. Almiron got away with murder. But they could probably point to the same. And as I said, big up Newcastle. They competed. They won. You have to be gracious and defeat people. But ultimately, it's a sour taste in the mouth. Now, there's undoubtedly been times where VAR might be in our favour. But even though I think the ball went out personally, and maybe a foul on Gabriel, the variables we could have controlled is being switched on. Every one of our team players went to sleep for that. And you can't afford to do that in a game like that. I do think we competed a bit well. I think in the first half, there was periods, we was moving it from back to front a bit well. But once we get into the final third, we don't look like a team that looks threatening. And I know there's injuries, but even when Part A, Jesus, all of these guys that are injured, even when they're dead, these are the same things we say, people. As I said, I think we've improved a tenfold off the wall, but it's come at a case on the boys. You know, I do think Benjamin White could have overlapped a bit better today, but there wasn't too much there. I think Martinelli doesn't get enough support. Yeah, man, but I don't think anyone was terrible, terrible. But fundamentally, we lost the game, man, easily. You know, the 45 minutes against Chelsea, the performance against West Ham, worst performance in the season. But I would say this has been the most frustrating game because although I think there were certain variables out of our control, and there was some for our control, and I think Newcastle competed, it was a good game. And I think it was a better game against Newcastle than I anticipated. It's one where the ref has marred it. Now, even before the circus with all those yellow cards, I think he needed to manage the game a bit better. I'm not just saying book people, it's a big game, emotions are high. How you might manage a game like this might be very different from a standard game, and I don't think the ref raised to that occasion for both sides. I don't think the ref had the control over the game, and I would say I don't want no sorry from any PGM or any FA, all of that stuff. All we can do, Arsenal Football Club, is learn to put the ball in the effing back of the net and move forward to Sevilla. And obviously, who we got after Sevilla, Burnley next week, there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We were going to drop points, obviously, in this fashion and in this manner. And with them locked down the road, the only unbeaten team, it does leave a sour taste in your mouth because we can't really banter no one this week, people. But it is what it is. We need to keep moving. This month has started off in a terrible fashion. Let me know your thoughts on how the players have played, where you think the game was won and lost, either the referee or elsewhere. And appreciative to all of you lot tuning in. You lot stay safe, stay blessed. Let me not take up too much more of your evening. One love.