Arsenal ‘classless, unsportsmanlike, disrespectful’ after putting Pep in the ground

Editor F365
Myles Lewis-Skelly celebrates
Myles Lewis-Skelly celebrates

‘Stay humble’? Arsenal get a kicking in the Mailbox for their behaviour in beating Man City, which was like Jake Paul beating Mike Tyson.

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The gig is up for Pep
Pretty shocking to see how Pep is standing up to what is pretty much the first bit of adversity in his managerial career.

Just to lay the foundations here – this man has never had a proper challenge. He has only ever managed a team that already had league winning quality in it before he arrived and also a massive financial advantage over the rest of the league.

His first gig was Barcelona, which 2 years prior to his appointment had won the league and champions league double. Messi was also well established in the team as were several other players that would play for years under Pep.

Next gig is Bayern…..this league is almost as bad as the Scottish prem, Bayern should simply win it every year, which Pep did. Big deal.

Then City. More money than everyone and their mates.

He turned all these teams in to metronomic winning machines but 90% of the puzzle was already complete before he got there and then he had a blank cheque book to complete the rest.

At the start of this falloff earlier in the season a stat was thrown out that the last time he failed to win in 6 straight games was with Barca and happened during a rare time when Messi was out injured. I thought this was very interesting considering they have now also lost the current Ballon D’or winner and straight away are miles from a title hunt. So unless Pep can call on the best player in the world his team are Europa league quality. That is shocking.

To put this in perspective, Liverpool played the majority of last year with children across the back line (with the notable exception of a a fit Van Dijk) and they were top of the league in March.

Give Pep Spurs now and see what he can do with them. Or go and take over AC Milan and see if he can get them back to the top like Klopp did with Dortmund AND Liverpool. Let him take an actual challenge and see what he can do when he doesn’t inherit a title winning, filthy rich team.

Going by current evidence he would fail miserably.
Patricio Del Toro

MORE ON ARSENAL’S CRUSHING VICTORY FROM F365
👉 16 Conclusions on Arsenal 5-1 Man City: Havertz Discourse, Haaland numbers, Lewis-Skelly’s humble day
👉 Arsenal make history with Havertz miss as Haaland learns ‘who the f***’ teenage dream is
👉 ‘Plastic’ Arsenal fans should step aside; all hail Arteta and Havertz

 

…I’ve never been one for religion, but boy, that City midfield is more washed than Jesus’s feet.

Mostly just glad we don’t have to talk about refereeing or the f*cking “dark arts” tomorrow, mind.
Just Some Guy

 

How to use Erling Haaland properly
It strikes me that the tactical genius of Pep has fallen on a sword named Erling. Presumably he has told his viking like forward to lay off the press and defensive duties to concentrate all his energies on scoring, which he often does well.

This however has clearly confused an otherwise super well drilled team who expect their 10th outfield member to contribute in all phases.
Sneakily using the super quick rolling subs routine from ice hockey offers the solution.

Everytime City lose the ball, green camouflaged City staff run onto the pitch carrying 4 stacked traffic cones in a Haaland shirt with a pic of his face stuck on top whilst he sneaks off. Get the ball back, the real dude comes back on and so forth.

he key to this is the City players are in on the trick and will return to their former levels knowing that a traffic cone will perform to the levels of a traffic cone as opposed to why a bloke being paid half a million a week for the next nine years does the same.
Steven McBain, Singapore

 

Are we allowed to enjoy ourselves?
So I watched Arsenal demolish Manchester City, the champions, with consummate ease. I saw a team that had two teenagers rise to the occasion, two teenagers who’ve been with the club since they were 8! Two teenagers living Roy of the Rovers dreams (an old football comic for those of a younger persuasion) I heard the roar of the stadium when Myles Lewis Skelly scored 7 seconds before I saw it from my flat, and the joy I had at the banter was transcendent. The trolling of Haaland etc, delicious. I saw a rivalry that has been so lopsided in City’s favour go the other way.

So I was unsurprised to see the joyless chuds of Sky, and on social media, telling us Arsenal fans we had nothing to celebrate. That we should still stay humble as we’ve won nothing. Are Forest not allowed to enjoy their 7 nil whupping because they haven’t won anything, or it was only Brighton? Of course not, they should be celebrating. If they finish 3rd, are they not allowed to celebrate that? Also, when you have someone like Haaland telling you to pipe down, are you not allowed to give it back? Do you even enjoy football?

Lots of you may have enjoyed the sauceless rivalry between Liverpool and City where Pep patted Klopp on his head and gave platitudes to the opposition players, but I prefer seeing him broken like he was after that match we just played. We talk about the bland media training that players go through, do you not want players like Myles Lewis Skelly who are young, and brash and who believes in himself. We saw teenage players announce themselves in one of the biggest games of the season (for Arsenal at least). If you don’t enjoy that while teams that spend billions struggle, I don’t know why you watch the sport.

Personally I find it a bit tragic Alf Inge Haaland, a grown man, banging on about Arsenal having won nothing, what like you Alf? A man who is famous for having his leg smashed by Roy Keane? We may not win the league, but we’re a growing team, and we’ll continue to get better. So Stewie, and everyone else can go do one, I’m gonna rewatch the goals for the umpteenth time and look forward to our next match.
John Matrix AFC

 

Declan is a proper £100m man
Transfer fees have obviously gotten silly, but Declan Rice really is the only true £100+m player isn’t he? While the rest on that small list are or were pretenders, he has really lived up to that valuation for Arsenal in his 18 months at the club so far.

He was everywhere yesterday, winning the ball high up, moving with it in stride, knitting things together. And then he saved his best until the final seconds. Watch it again; Arsenal kept the ball on the left for ages, with nobody paying Nwaneri attention over on the other side with his hands raised in the air. Enter Declan. An inch perfect, first time rake to switch the play and the setting up of a cherry on top goal for the 17 year old. Rice got some bad press at the Euros and afterwards, but for about three months now his level has returned to where it was when he first joined us. Worth every penny that boy honestly.

Can’t be arsed to get into the pantomime stuff or whether MLS was not staying humble enough because he’s won nothing (literally impossible by February in the first year of your career) – I will leave that for others. David Raya was brilliant though and those big saves at 1-0 shouldn’t be forgotten. Hell of a season he’s having too by the way.

Final thoughts are with Gary Neville having to sit through United, then be at the Emirates for that. I now look forward to the other emails that tell me why I shouldn’t be happy because we’re not top, or even be celebrating whipping the champions 5-1…
Joe, AFC, East Sussex

 

Finally our turn to hammer
Since losing 4-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad in April 2023, Arsenal have played Pep Guardiola’s side, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs for a combined Premier League record of P18 W11 D7 L0 F39 A17.

That is an incredible statistic (from Premier League winners and losers). What an absolute transformation. Regardless of how much you spend and where, that is an unbelievable set of results against the best teams in the League. I think the Ashtray played in all of those as well. Quietly impressed with his g/a of 0.66 in the League so far this season but don’t tell the haters. Last season was 0.54 for reference when we thought he was pretty good.

Here’s hoping both sides are fully fit for the Anfield game, that is going to be one hell of a game if both sides can keep this level up. Arteta, Slot, Iraola and Nuno are miles ahead of the pack. What a great season in general for the Premier League this is turning out to be. The only blemish is I don’t think we can catch Liverpool now unless Everton do the job. If they can’t, all eggs can get thrown into the Champions League and let’s see what happens.

5-1. I genuinely never in my wildest dreams thought we’d smash a big team like that, let alone City.
Rob A (obligatory “stay humble”) AFC

 

Arsenal: Still lemons
Just wanted to say a hearty congrats to Arsenal fans for their thumping of City yesterday, great match and you most certainly did what Chelsea should have last weekend when you smelt blood (Although it seemed it might still go that way with Havertz doing his best Nico Jackson impression).

But alas, it ultimately means nothing. It’s just the same old Arsenal under Arteta – steamrolling teams when there is no pressure – and will undoubtedly once again collapse like a shabbily made soufflé when there’s any sort of heat on them. Well done in advance for now putting in the best second half of a season you ever have, to inevitably still finish 4 points off the top, after squeezing every last drop of juice out of Arteta’s imported Spanish lemons.

There was a post by AFTV yesterday before the game asking “Which one is your favourite performance against City?”. The choice? 3 draws and a 1-0 win. Sums it up really. At least now there won’t even be a debate!

Genuinely great #Bantz with the stadium playing “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar at the full time whistle though.
JR, London

MORE ON ARSENAL’S CRUSHING VICTORY FROM F365
👉 16 Conclusions on Arsenal 5-1 Man City: Havertz Discourse, Haaland numbers, Lewis-Skelly’s humble day
👉 Arsenal make history with Havertz miss as Haaland learns ‘who the f***’ teenage dream is
👉 ‘Plastic’ Arsenal fans should step aside; all hail Arteta and Havertz

 

Humble chat
Liverpool fans can laugh at our admiration for our team…it’s called passion!
Chris, Croydon

Yeah Chris, you’ve just won a game against 4 time in a row champions, but a result that nonetheless leaves Liverpool 6 points ahead with a game in hand (so nothing has changed since Friday) and you’re thinking about us.

AND, talking about passion as if that is something uniquely Arsenal and to Liverpool fans to boot, a fanbase that is praised globally by players and former players a like.

Weird.

I also like how much ‘Stay Humble’ has become the clubs mantra moving forward, without seeing the irony of crowing post a win, and losing all sense of what being humble actually is.

Nod to Stewie too, good grief man, let the game finish and then decide if you enjoyed the result first no? Yikes.
Barry (Perth)

 

…When asked if this was a grudge match prior to the game, Mikel Arteta was surprisingly thoughtful – he said they’ve forgotten what was said on the pitch and that emotions were running high. Time to put that behind, he said. Well, judging the evidence – Gabriel goading Haaland all game long, Skelly’s mocking goal celebration, Arsenal fans’ chants about Pep getting the sack and for Haaland to stay humble – paints a truer picture of what Arteta and Arsenal are all about. Classless. Unsportsmanlike. Disrespectful.

Just sit back and think about what you are mocking for a moment. Pep has one of the most illustrious managerial records in England and world football. Haaland already has numerous titles and is one of the fastest to 250 goals in his young career. All those times Pep and City strolled past Arsenal (and there really are quite a few of those – indeed, Pep has beaten Arsenal more times than he has any other club) – how many times did City goad and mock Arsenal post-game?

Certainly, Arsenal should enjoy this win. They were good value for it. The better team on the day. But this is like if Jake Paul had beat up and then laughed at an aging legend in Mike Tyson. Even Paul understood he is the one who would look like a fool. Arsenal at their peak defeating City at their lowest ebb. Because we all know what happens when peak-Arsenal play peak-City – we saw for 2 years running. And this is why I think a lot of neutrals don’t want insufferable Arsenal to win. Not the PL, not anything. Classless. Unsportsmanlike. Disrespectful.
Rohit, Abu Dhabi

 

Presenting #TheWorst awards
Just like FIFA’s The Best, but opposite.

Worst run football team: Manchester United

Worst transfer of the decade: 3 way tie between A. Sanchez (500k a week), Antony (90m), Pogba (86m).

Worst transfer committee ever formed: Manchester United committee

Worst owners: MUFC for Glazers & INEOS

Worst player downgrade: De Gea to Onana. Went from saving 15 points a season to giving out 15 points a season.

Worst matches to watch: Any MUFC match

Worst team of the decade: MUFC

Worst stadium: MUFC

Worst everything, everyday, all time: Manchester United.

Still more trophies in the last 5 years than Arsenal: Manchester United 😉

Jokes aside, this has honestly been a testing time to be a United fan. And I would like to say that yesterday’s defeat to Palace did not even
feel bad. It felt expected. I honestly find joy now when we manage to string a few passes together or if we manage a shot on target in the match. That’s the max I expect out of this team, this season. If we win the FA or Europa League, that means someone, somewhere f***ed up big time to let us win it.

This season needs to be used for pretty much practice and training, finding out the best players for the best positions, and getting rid
of the deadwood. I am okay to see Amorim give everyone a try, try different combinations to the Starting XI, and do whatever he needs to
do. But next season is do or die for him already. If he does all of this, and then messes up the next season, there is no excuse left for him or for Manchester United.

Also, how difficult is it to understand that if you are at the bottom of the scoring chart, just get a goddamn striker on loan in January. Wingers are not strikers, stop trying to find the new Ronaldo. There are 100-150 strikers in the world who would improve our current goal scorers. Just get ANYONE who has a decent scoring record and is available from the top 5 leagues in the world. No one is saying spend any money. Get them on loan! But get a damn STRIKER!

Wishing Lisandro Martinez a quicker recovery from a horror injury.
Aman

 

Amorim has to change
It is now becoming increasingly imperative for Amorim to reconsider his approach including his system, unnecessary rotation and team selection. I reiterate my contention that Amorim’s system will not work in the EPL and that he should reconsider. Needless to say that the results underpin my position and no one can challenge or argue a case for those poor results.

His team selection coupled with unnecessary rotations leave much to be desired. How can anyone even consider playing Mainoo at No. 9? The point must further be made that a good coach will listen and change or rather amend his approach. United are unprecedentedly (in the EPL era) sliding down to relegation and it goes without saying that, if he continues to stick with his system, rotations and team selection,, we will be in the Championship next season.

Some people continue to argue that Amorim does not have his own players but sight should not be lost of the fact that no coach joins a club with his own players. Coaches add to and subtract from what is already there.
Professor (Dr) David Achanfuo Yeboah

 

Football’s great, innit
If anyone is wondering whether, with all the misery and anger going on (not just in the Mailbox), it’s still possible to get any enjoyment from football anymore, I can heartily recommend watching your team’s rivals get roundly humiliated and your own team beat Manchester United within the same weekend.

Football’s great sometimes.
Ed Quoththeraven