Last nights team

[bathlad61]

Overall a top performance, against a top prem team - more positives than negatives.
Young keeper, looked more than capable, Douglas although still not showing his true Wolves form, when fit, looks / plays like the decent LB, we need.
Gotts, did ok, plenty of energy etc, but don't think hes the ready made back up to Phillips, need some height / physicality in front of defence. Harrison, another good game, worth signing on perm basis, which is more than could be said of Costa - looked lightweight, slow & very ordinary, 10-12 mill for him, huge gamble.
Strikers, or lack of - not knocking Bamford, but with Roberts out again, surprised that Edmundson not even on bench.
Expected more U23s to be involved last night, we keep hearing rave reviews from Corberan , but few seem to feature.

[Tichi1]

I was amazed before the game when the teams lined up in the tunnel at the height difference FFS!

Even more amazing is the number of headers Allioski wins against blokes a foot taller than him, almost as many as the number of times he's caught offside!

[joellufcprice]

Think that is very very harsh on Costa, he was chucked into a game we didn't have much control of and then was moved centrally when Ayling had to go off so was playing in an unfamiliar position. Especially when Costa has been one of our best players in last few weeks.

[Silentman]

Meslier's distribution was fantastic. Gooners seemed mesmerised by all of the long range touchline to touchline passing. Worst thing for us was the half time whistle, oh and the appalling refereeing (and VAR) that seemed to condone clear fouls warranting cards.

[Ozwhites]

Costa can be very damaging at times when running with the ball...but gee he needs to toughen up a bit for mine. Gives up possession a lot because he is pushed off the ball way too easily. I know that is not easy to install in some players due to their natural instincts, but he would be a lot more valuable if he could get a bit of mongrel into his game.

[spaldy]

the keep looked very good.

The ref was horrible. Was he a prem ref or just someone they picked up from a lower division? If is safe to assume the home team oversees the VAR program. They were as bad as the ref.

[whitestomper45]

the keep looked very good.

The ref was horrible. Was he a prem ref or just someone they picked up from a lower division? If is safe to assume the home team oversees the VAR program. They were as bad as the ref.

VAR is run by the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) They organise officials for the PL, FA Cup and EFL League and Cups.

Anthony Taylor is in Select Group 1, so he mostly refs PL and European matches. We usually have Select Group 2, Then there is a 3rd Level called National Group, mainly for Lg1 and Lg2.

All VAR decisions are decided (however badly) at the HQ in Stockley Park.

[spaldy]

Thanks for the information.

Jeez, if that's the best and brightest....

I suspect they are paid good money. I realize that everyone has good days and bad at work but even I did better than that in my officiating days and I never made it past college matches.

I generally don't think ref's have real bias but some really shouldn't ref certain matches based on the style and intensity of the games. In my day I was generally assigned the intense rivalry/derby type games. I did much better on those than technical finesse type of games. Wonder if this ref struggled with the pace and speed of this game? He just always seemed a step slow on the positioning.

The VAR is an entirely different matter. Glad they didn't have back in my officiating days. Becomes a crutch for them.

[norfolk white]

Costa struggled to adapt to the pace of the game, saying that 3 times he was fouled and got nothing, ended up on the floor each time, yet that Muppet xhavia or whatever his name is kicked every Leeds player and didn't even get booked, ref gave us nothing, Costa was strong enough, but got fouled, the keepers distribution was superb, his handling and confidence seemed good to.

[WTF11]

Costa can be very damaging at times when running with the ball...but gee he needs to toughen up a bit for mine. Gives up possession a lot because he is pushed off the ball way too easily. I know that is not easy to install in some players due to their natural instincts, but he would be a lot more valuable if he could get a bit of mongrel into his game.

Very much in agreement.