Or Tierney 3 Arsenal 0. Or Cedric+Holding 3 Arsenal 0
You wait the entire week for the game and you get this shit. I was as excited and nervous for a game as I have been in ages. And within 20 minutes it’s all up in smoke. The cumulative effect of each of Tierney’s decision was to give the game to Sp*rs. Sure Holding butchered Son a little – who wouldn’t? And why not? But why did he have to give the penalty? Sure Cedirc is dumb. We know that. But no-one is actually reaching that ball as it was too high. And, for their third goal Kane clearly pulls on Gabriel and yet that’s not a foul. But Tierney changes the course of the game with that penalty call. It was borderline and he did not need to give it. This reminded me of Michael Oliver at Wolves sending off Martinelli. It just did not need to happened. But this is Tierney. A bullshit referee that makes you pine for the days of Mike Dean.
Clearly Cedric bares some responsibility. Just as Holding does for his consistent fouling on Son. But, even for his second booking, the ball was going way away from the players so it was not like he blocked any chance. He did use his shoulder and you can see him raise his elbow but he did not have to book him. He could have given a final warning or something. He could have exercised some judgement. But, no, just like the penalty, he was very quick to make that decision and then, again, change the course of the entire game.
Prior to that we had come out firing. Sp*rs were looking to play their boring defensive containment brand of football (yawn) and to hit us on the counter-attack; and this was a home game for them, mind you. We moved the ball around and looked in control. Until Tierney stepped in.
It’s so frustrating. All the luck we’ve had in the last four games evaporated. In addition to losing Holding for the next game it looks like we lost Gabriel for the season. And White, who was warming up never came on. Maybe he’s being saved for Monday but I fear he really is not fit. So we’re out of center-halves for Monday.
By the way, before the second goal Saka was fouled and they got the free-kick that lead to the corner and the goal. Tierney did not give us any decisions. He just handed us a red card and numerous yellows. This is not how you referee a top flight game. I’ve always thought he was a joke and tonight we got confirmation of it. He is not fit to referee. But he won’t be held accountable. He was their difference maker. What should have been a balanced and genuinely competitive contest was rendered useless. After a game like that you can’t tell who was the better team.
So I lay this at the feet of Teirney. I think that’s pretty clear. But, and here’s the funny thing (though I know no-one, in particular me, is laughing), we all know that have the youngest team in the Premier League. We lack experience. And tonight it showed. But we will learn and improve. But yet our failures today were not due to our youngsters but actually our older players. It was not the inexperienced players that let us down tonight. Cedric – who is as close to retirement as we can hope – and Holding are two of our most experienced players (aside from Xhaka). They are certainly our oldest. And yet, it was their decisions that cost us this game. Well, apart from Tierney but maybe I’ve already mentioned that.
What was Holding thinking? Did he let Son rile him up? If so, even more shame on him. This was his chance to nail down that position. He’s been so solid up until now. I’ve not seen him lose control but tonight he did. And even though the referee was a wanker, Holding did not need to give him the opening to book him again. And as for Cedric, in addition to the stupid challenge in the box for the (non)-penalty, he also found ways to pass the ball back to Sp*rs and set up more chances for them. He has replaced On No as our kamikaze full-back and our liability.
Arteta seemed, from the penalty decision onwards, in shock. For that first 20 minutes he was his usual self. But once they went 1-0 up it looks like he could not channel his anger and frustration into tactics. It was interesting though that he warmed up White but did not bring him on. As mentioned, this does not bode well. It was interesting to see Tomi move to center back. We’ll need him there for Monday. But Arteta will also have learned a lot. He won’t have learned that Tierney is a wanker because he’ll have known that already.
I also have a sneaking fear that he should have pulled Saka off because he did not look entirely healthy and we’ll need him for Monday. He protected Eddie but not Saka. As an aside, when Cigarette came on it only amplified how much better Eddie is. I know it was only for ten minutes but his lack of mobility compared to Eddie shone though.
There were little periods in the second half when we created some chances – for example, when Odegaard shot right at Lloris or when he had a shot deflect away by Davies. This was like the Southampton game, nothing was going our way, we were never going to score and we certainly were not going to get any calls from this wanker referee. So most of the rest of the game turned into a training session. Sp*rs did not need to extend themselves. They should and could have rung up the score. I would have hoped we would have in the same position. As it was, this game was effectively done after 20 minutes. What a waste.
We are in Europe next year irrespective. I would not bet on it being the Champions League. Without White and Gabriel, and with an unfit Saka, we now have two challenging games versus the easier fixture for them. We have to win both games. Hopefully by the last game of the season Everton will be safe from relegation. But the Newcastle game is going to be challenging. Look how hard it was for Liverpool. For us to have any chance of three points (or any) we will need a different referee and definitely the luck we had in the last four games.
I know I should be angrier. I was from their first goal until half-time but then it became a joke and I was more worried about not getting Xhaka sent off. I have no idea why he did receive a yellow card because the cameras continued this trend of showing us the crowds and not the game. Or the managers and not the game. I will know when we have entered the future when we actually can watch games with picture in picture. Or where we can chose the camera angles. Because whoever in the production room is making those decision is a cretin. We want to watch the action on the field not some chubby, hairless tattooed twat in the stands. As anyone who has the misfortune to know me will attest, this has been a frustration of mine for many years. It’s as though the producers (or directors, whoever they are) are trying to create some real-time artistic reality show with various personalities. Trying to capture everyone’s reaction. Whenever a player does anything it immediately then tracks back to follow the player -even if the play is proceeding somewhere else on the pitch. Why can’t they simply let us watch the action on the pitch?
Oh, I feel just a little better now. For one minute there I nearly forgot my anger and disappointment along with the sense of injustice as I got into my standard TV camera rant.
The good news though, as stated before, is that we are going to be in Europe. But, what a letdown. To lose like this. It was not a contest really. It was 12 against 10. And I had been so excited for this game.
So, onto Monday now. I truly believed we’d be able to wrap up the season today. I truly believed (and still do) that we’re a better team than that lot. Turns out Tierney does not see it that way. Of course, Leeds could make a similar argument. They made us work for it. I will retire to repair my wounds, put on my game face and hope that I can rediscover my mojo for Monday. How sad is it that now, rather than check out the opposition players, I’m checking who’s referring the next game. It’s Darren England. Whoever he might be. Maybe we should ask for Jonny English instead.
-LB7