OTF

Papis Cisse I think in particular could benefit from Ben Arfa's inclusion. Very early to say it, but he likes to play into space and Ben Arfa has the ability and vision to pick out the right sort of pass to find him. Jonas will drift across from his side towards the middle and will provide a nice short pass option for Ben Arfa, with Cabaye and Tiote the out ball options behind. Jonas is at his best IMO making short sharp passes as his crosses from the left don't have enough movement or pace and consequently are too often picked off by the defense. He does hav ethe ability to get in behind which is where Ben Arfa's instinct and touch could serve them both well. Arsenal are a good side, in good form but their defense is nothing special. If we can maintain enough posession to build some attacking impetus any result is possible. I do worry about marshalling van Persie, particularly if they're able to isolate him against Danny Simpson or worse Mike Williamson. Tiote should be tasked with protecting the defense... but alas I have gone way off topic.

Aye, cos there's a massive prick in them.

Has he borrowed Sol Campbell's shorts?

Fucking hell

For sure. Santon to RB, Simpson to the bench Raylor to left back. Get out. It's nearly 2AM on a Monday morning, pipe down.

For sure. Santon to RB, Simpson to the bench Raylor to left back.

Has surely earnt a starting berth in the next match. made the right decisions the majority of times today, didn't excessively dally on the ball, and completed a high percentage of his passes. Terrified the defense and added a new dimension to our attack, plus he covered the necessary ground with urgency in defense. I know we're not going to see this level of play from him on a consistent basis but it would be crazy to not try to get him to become a permanent fixture in the side IMO. For once he looked comfortable playing in a wide position as well, so that should solve the riddle of where to play him.

What makes getting the draw in a game we should have won all that more bearable is the way in which their souls will have been crushed - from thinking that they had pulled off some sort of against all odds miraculous victory (with the assistance of their 12th man) to conceding the late equaliser and losing two of their key 'players' to suspension.

Mike Dean is an absolute cunt, thought he might conspire to not give us the penalty (again). Shola should have taken it, he's a penalty specialist and he earned it. In the end a draw is not necessarily a bad result but we should ultimately have won it. Once the game settled down we were clearly the superior team even before they went down to 10. To make the hopeless refereeing worse the commentary was ridiculously one sided as well, just hopelessly bad. Great half from Ben Arfa, has surely earned himself the right to start in the next match. I would have rather that Simpson went off at he half instead of Santon, but not too bad from Pardew overall. That's hilarious that Cattermong was sent off after the whistle, complete and utter embarrassment of a 'player' he is.

Colo would be world class if he was quick. He is a world class tackler though IMO. Great judge of when to stick his foot in, stalks his prey then moves in for the kill - as opposed to Simpson who will never make the move.

Excellent news and good timing that will hopefully give a boost to them both.

Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2 Blackburn 0 Villa 1 Man City 3 Bolton 1 QPR 0 Everton 1 Stoke 1 Norwich 0 West Brom 1 Chelsea 2 Wigan 1 Swansea 0 Newcastle 2 Sunderland 0 Fulham 2 Wolves 0 Tottenham 1 Man Utd 2

It's his face that gies the biggest impression of the weight coming on. It's consistent with his lazy performances of late.

Are there any teams out there that could have not qualified in the same circumstances? Already having one of the largest wage bills in the league and then spending an exorbitant amount of money on bringing players in?

Maybe someone needs to come out and tell Ben Arfa that he's not very good, give him a point to prove.

I'm almost certain that his left leg is a prosthetic operated by James Perch from the bench.

Yeah no way that that is going to happen, though I kind of agree it would be the best place for him in terms of potency in attack. However with two strikers up front and HBA in behind I'd say there would be a very good chance that the midfield would be overrun and Williamson would be horribly exposed.

I'm really not seeking to defend him. Moreso just commenting on people who are unrealistically criticising. KSA - Shola's highlights package has been assembled across the 4 million seasons he has been here. My point was that despite the lack of time on the pitch Ben Arfa still has a pretty impressive highlights package to him name. Noone can deny he's capable of the sublime, but as for being a waster it's tough to say whether this is something that has plagued him throughout his career as most assessements of his ability on here would be simply looking at highlights that are available online, as there's not a great many Lyon or Marseille fans kicking about here. As for how much of his wastefulness is down to attitude and application and how much is down to being rusty and lacking cohesion noone can say with any level or certainty. I'd like to see some confidence shown in him so that he has the chance to properly establish himself in the side - in the same way that Obertan was continualy played by Pardew. The main problem with this is that trying to fit him into the side without sacraficing some of our more consistent performers is proving tough. He doesn't seem suited to playing in wide channels as it limits his space and also cuts down his passing avenues. As it is currently we know he's not a player who likes to make a backwards pass, but this is something he'll need to learn - patience. Having to appear in cameo performances from the bench must be contributing to the way in which almost every time he gets the ball he tries to create something, regardless of where he is and what other options may potentially be available. Some might say that we can't afford to give him a run in the side based simply on his ability and previous successes, but I'd say that we can't afford not to.

Strange that you could put together a pretty decent highlights package for Ben Arfa from his very limited time here and yet he cops it from most quarters here.

I don't think anyone's suggesting he had anything other than a poor cameo performance, just trying to add some context to it. I wouldn't play HBA over either of our front men and yet he seems to struggle when out wide for us, like he needs space all around him in which to operate. With two up top such a lighweight defender can't be afforded through the middle.... Echo the sentiment of whoever else said it - if he's not going to get meaningful time in the first team then give him a run in the reserves to get some match fitness and cohesion as well as confidence going.

@ that watch.

As much as he can be frustratingly poor Obertan would have been a better sub than Slowla.

A lot of frailties, lack of depth and ultimately a lack of motivation and application against seemingly lesser opponents. A lot to take from this match, but sadly it's not a one off, or a new lesson.

Lets hope we aren't made to pay again for not strenthening our defense.