Lighthouse

Just for reference this is the team that lost narrowly to Man Utd 2 years ago: Bart - Butters, Seaborne, Fonte, Harding - AOC, Morgan, Guly, Chaplow - Lambert, Barnard Putting out a weaker team doesn't necessarily mean a spanking. I'd wager an entirely reserve XI would still be as strong or stronger than that team which played Man Utd in the cup. I'm not in favour of whole sale changes but 4 or 5 fringe players would probably be sensible.

Not so much a HCDAJFU but Ba leaving Newcastle is surely good news for us. Lets just hope they don't reinvest the money wisely.

Koscielny falling wasn't even a reaction to Ramirez, he tried to jump backwards and head a ball which was going behind him and lost his balance. Lawro was right, Gaston barely touched him. If you watch the replay slowly, there is a brief moment between the (tiny) push and the fall where LK briefly maintains his balance then jumps for the ball. Not a foul.

Not sure which team to put out for this. On the one hand confidence breeds confidence. On the other we have a faily thin squad and injuries to players like Gaston, Yoshi, Puncheon and Lambert would be a problem. I would rest a few players but not go with a complete reserve look. Boruc Frazer - Fonte - Hooiveld - Fox De Ridder - Davis - JWP - Guly JRod Lambert Something like that.

Watching his reactions to the clangers on MOTD, the guy seems like an absolute fruitloop.

alpine is a complete lost cause. He's like a bear turning up on here every week to tell us where he sh*ts, there is no discussion to be had. Just ignore him and discuss the match please everyone.

If ever there was proof of people holding grudges this is it. Even in the dark days of Jermaine Wright I don't remember anyone saying THAT about one of our players. More worried about the vote for Boruc. Surely Artur has got better things to do after a match.

Player ratings anyone? Boruc - 6 Looked like a Jellyfish for the first 10 minutes but has only played twice in about a year I think. Looked far more assured second half. No blame for the goal. Cork - 8 Don't get why people were worried about him at RB. He is the very definition of versatile and reliable. Fonte - 8 Defended very well. Yoshi - 9 MOTM excellent all round. Good in the air, good on the deck, reads the game, knows when to stick 50 yards on it. Shaw - 9 Well if Arsene wasn't interested before.... Morgan - 8 A real engine in midfield Davis - 8 Worked his socks off. Puncheon - 8 A bag of tricks, always running at them. Gaston - 7 Infruriating at times but took his goal well. There second was a class finish, not convinced it was a foul. Guly - 7 A decent performance. Can't really fault him for the goal, maybe he should have been better positioned to defend that ball. Lambert - 7 Didn't have a lot of luck but certainly put himself about. Arsenal had trouble all evening against him in the air. JWP - 7 Came on and had plenty of energy De Ridder - 7 Put in at least one decent cross and put some much needed pressure on their defence with fresh pace. Took a booking for the team. JRod - 7 Good running, not as effective as Lambert tonight but a decent effort.

Reads the game so well and made some crucial interceptions tonight. Knows when to play it and when to stick it in the car park. I know a lot of people want a new CB in January and I'd tend to agree, however I wouldn't be dropping either of our current pair on current form. I was convinced that cross in from the left on about 88 minutes would be tapped in but Yoshi was there to stick it out for a throw.

I thought he improved a lot second half but truth be told he was never really tested. A couple of rountine saves from difference and caught some crosses well 2nd half. I'd certainly keep him in for the next few games.

Excellent performance, well done to all involved. Yoshida was imense IMO, can't really name a poor player. Boruc started understandably nervous but improved a lot second half.

I can't watch this... I'm hiding behind the sofa, peeping through my fingers.

Hopefully Steve can stretch Arsenal a bit. They're looking a bit too comfortable since Gaston and Lambert went off.

Gaaaah. We just don't have any luck at all.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Arsenal were lucky to get possesion in the build up to the free kick too with a lucky rebound in midfield.

We will have to wait for alpine to turn up in order to find out.

Tha's just unlucky really.

Gastoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playing like a jellyfish at the moment.

I would offer them £3m plus Davis. They haven't got a pot to p*ss in and would probably take half the £6m they're banging on about in the media.

Thank f**k for that!

That just means he hasn't been suspended yet, pending a hearing. Doesn't mean they have been succesful.

Because they beat West Ham 1-0 at home? I don't buy that.

I think you could put Hughes in that bracket and Redknapp is carrying on with his work so far. McDermott should be doing better with that Reading squad too, although it is possibly the weakest in the league.

I'd take wins for Swansea, Spuds, Norwich and Utd. That Fulham win is a bummer.