20 Apr 2026 07:37:33
Ed001 not a great performance but a great result but I would take that 5 more times this season. Derbies are not normal great games any way so points and bragging rights are all that ever matters.
I wonder how many days off he gives the players this week.
{Ed001's Note - if they keep winning I don't mind!}
1.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 08:51:00
I think our performances have improved a little bit the last few matches. Not great, or even very good, by any means, but a level of performance that gives you a chance against teams like Everton, Fulham, etc. Even against PSG, we were a bit better.
I'm not saying we've turned a corner, but since that abysmal run of drawing with Tottenham at home, losing at Brighton and getting schooled by City and PSG, we do seem to have picked up just about enough - combined with Chelsea's form - to get ourselves into a good position for the last of the Champions League places.
With the way the season has unraveled, that's the only realistic target we've ended up with. Nothing really to celebrate or get excited about, but the minimum we needed.
2.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 09:02:56
Should be aiming to finish as high as possible. At the moment that looks like 3rd spot.
3.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 09:14:46
Palace got their Conference Semi next week, so they might even go weakened on Saturday.
Utd got a tricky game against Brentford, and Villa have their own Semi and trip to Fulham.
Us finishing 3rd would show how far the league has fallen. There again, it would still show that with this Utd side finishing 3rd.
4.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 09:23:17
Ed001 If we can get Isak fully fit think he will make a big difference. I feel Salah is starting to look a bit better too Ed I wonder if the training intensity has stepped up last couple of weeks if so and it has been fitness issues effecting him am gutted because if so he could have seen out his contract because he deserved to end his career with us better than this season has been.
{Ed001's Note - I think it is more the players are playing at a higher intensity as the opposition have forced us to do so. They are no longer being given time to roll the ball across the backline slowly, simply because no one fears us enough to play the low block any more.}
5.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 09:35:06
And yet there could be an English team in each of the European finals JK, It's still the best league overall in the world. Finishing 3rd would not be what we wanted, but a lot better than where we were a few months back.
6.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 09:53:58
Florian, that's your opinion, mate, and you're more than entitled to it.
The English league is by far the richest league in the world, and the fact we might have teams in the second and third tier European competitions doesn't really put it on a pedestal, especially as these teams get more TV money than 90% of the CL clubs.
The PL 100% used to be the most entertaining and competitive league in the world, but now it's only the most competitive because teams play low block set piece football.
For the love of the game, this Arsenal team cannot win the league this season, because if they do teams will continue to follow suit and think it's the pathway to success.
7.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 10:29:10
And 1st tier.
8.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 10:44:17
Florain, Arsenal need to get there first, mate, and if they do, then there will be a German or French team there who can have the same argument that their league is the best.
I suppose it all depends on how someone would define 'best'.
9.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 11:01:43
You have a good point there, Ed.
Flo, that is not the flex you think it is. And no, the PL is not the best league in the world. Not for this season, anyway. And as for entertaining? Wait, when did that happen for this season? Yeah, exactly. That would be never.
Most importantly, you cannot big up the fact that we have a PL team potentially making the CL final while ignoring the absolute embarrassing hammerings the other PL representatives have received in this same CL comp. you are referring to. You simply cannot acknowledge one fact and ignore the other.
Also, i'm not sure you realize how much of a shambles we have been this season. Don't let the table fool you. This season for us has been an unmitigated disaster. Us finishing potentially 3rd in this season of all seasons is nothing to write home about. even VVD said fighting for a CL spot is not "Liverpool-worthy" after the game.
So an English team making an a CL final don't mean jack this season esp. if that English team is as relentlessly dreadful as this Arsenal team is. In fact, it is a scathing indictment on this current PL season. Just my opinion.
10.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 12:33:44
The PL is the best league in the world. No other league offers the same challenges week on week over a season. Not even close. Why do I have to acknowledge the English teams that were beaten? Everybody knows that already.
I didn't mention our season, Oli, I agree with Virgil. Arsenal are not dreadful, may not be as good as some of the teams of yesteryear, but in today's game worldwide they are right at the top in terms of the best sides.
11.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 12:35:51
JK and Oli are spot on. Florian, talking waffle as usual. Everyone knows cup games are a poor measure of true quality. You do that over 38 games. We've won many a cup game we had no right winning whilst we struggled in the league, and so have countless other teams.
12.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 12:57:26
If you took any other league in the world and added those teams to the PL and had a massive season, then it would only be the top 3 teams in each league that wouldn't end up relegated. There is no doubt at all that the PL is the strongest league in the world, as far as the gap between the top teams and the bottom teams go. It might not be the most entertaining league in the world this year (or, perhaps going back to last year), but it is far and away the strongest league.
I think that's what Florian is getting at, but apologies if I'm putting words in his mouth.
Where I do agree with others is that, if we weren't so god awful tactically and fitness-wise this season, we should have gone very deep in every competition, which is why this season has been a huge disappointment.
13.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:07:00
JK, you could say Bayern and PSG are the best teams in the world that play the most attractive football and you'd almost certainly be right, but take the next step down and you could hardly say Lens, Marseille, Dortmund and Leipzig are anywhere near the same level. I'm not sure that Bayern or PSG winning the CL this year is proof that the Prem is overrated in any way, surely Bayern winning it isn't testament to the strength of the Bundesliga when all the other German teams were basically steamrolled in the CL, with Dortmund thoroughly bludgeoned by Spurs?
Whether you think the Prem is the best league in the world or not is maybe not the point.
I think that the physical demands of playing in the Prem are so much higher than playing in other leagues that it affects the way Prem teams perform in the CL as well. PSG and Bayern can afford to rotate or rest players because the exertion of playing week to week simply isn't as high, whereas the sheer physicality of having to compete in the Prem is uniquely grueling. I think other leagues are perhaps much better to watch because the risks and rewards of winning and losing financially aren't as high.
14.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:08:25
I had major worries heading into a physical derby.
Maybe the day off helped us, as we didn't exactly shirk the challenge of the derby.
Good on the lads.
15.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:23:08
Yes, but if you put any European team in the PL, that team then gets the PL tv money, which is about 10 times more than most get now. So they will not have to sell their best players like they.
As I said, people will determine the word 'best' differently.
Me saying the PL isn't the best doesn't mean I am correct in the same way that someone who is saying it is isn't correct.
It's opinions.
16.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:24:31
Flo, you are using a universally known fact (PL is the strongest league in the world) to explain the shambles the Premier League has been this season.
While at the same time, choosing to ignore the part of the ledger that doesn't suit you (the batterings PL teams have had in the CL this season) to big up the other side of the ledger where a dreadful Arsenal (their fans think they are dreadful, let alone me) may potentially make a CL final.
Sorry, but for this season, the anomaly (Arsenal making a CL final) you are putting out will never overshadow the norm (the PL is dead this season) that you deliberately choose to ignore. That type of disingenuous crap won't fly.
17.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:28:57
The Premier League team for team is by far the best league in the world. That's not to say, for example, PSG or Bayern aren't a better team than Arsenal, for instance. But in terms of depth and the allround quality of the league, the Premier League is out on its own. I'm surprised anyone thinks differently.
18.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:41:50
The Premier League is by far and away the strongest league in the world.
The money on offer in the Premier League has really determined that the buying power of the bottom end of the table is as strong as European chasing teams in other European leagues.
I actually think it is to the detriment of European football and even the Premier League.
19.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 13:53:10
I'm with FM on this one. The Prem might not be the best in terms of pure footballing quality, but it is certainly the most competitive.
{Ed025's Note - i agree Westwood..
20.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 14:04:51
I'm pretty sure I've said that the PL is the most competitive, but it's currently not the most entertaining.
Therefore, in my own (nobody else's) opinion, it doesn't make it the 'best' in the world. For me, it just makes it the most competitive.
21.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 14:23:19
I responded to a post that said the league had fallen by saying an English team could (it's not a definite) be in every final. If that happens, I think it shows where the league stands compared to its counterparts.
Teams like Forest, Leeds, and Spurs would be midtable anywhere else. And the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea would qualify for the Champs League at a canter.
22.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 15:07:08
Well we'll agree to disagree then, mate.
Otherwise, we'll be toing and throwing all night.
23.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 15:08:28
I think we can agree with you there, JK, though you might argue that watching the team that is top of the table struggling to break a team in the relegation places down in the Prem is a better watch than Bayern putting 7 or 8 past the equivalent in the Bundesliga.
Lucho himself has said that he was shocked at how much more time he got on the ball in the attacking third in the Bundesliga.
24.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 15:22:54
No one is saying it is not the best nor competitive league in the world. That is stating the freaking obvious.
What I am referring to is Flo's argument that the league is strong this season (specifically) cos we have a team potentially in a CL final and EL final is not the flex many think it is.
If you consider the dead standard of football and hammerings PL teams have received in Europe this season esp. in the CL, that claim cannot be made. That is my only point, and I'm sticking with it.
Cheers.
25.) 20 Apr 2026
20 Apr 2026 17:33:13
Pat, watching Arsenal try and break down a low block via set pieces is definitely not more entertaining than watching a team fire in 7 goals.
The PL used to be so exciting. Are people honestly telling me that the PL entertainment levels have been the same this season as they have in years gone by?
If so, then we must be watching different games.
Yes, it's competitive because English clubs get the most money to compete. But if Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, Brentford, Palace etc were in the Spanish, German or French league etc they wouldn't have that money so they wouldn't compete.
And if the Dortmunds, Marseille's & Sevilla etc were in the Premier League, they would be 10 times richer to buy players and not sell their best players, so I'd argue that they would compete.
But, as I've said, it's opinion, which is what football is all about. And no matter how many times other posters tell me I'm wrong and they're right, I still won't be changing mine.