What a great day. What a great score-line. Added one to the family and added one more win. My number 2 added one and we, care of Gabriel, got one. Not that my number 2 can read (or write, or tie his shoe-laces) so he won’t see this emotional outburst by me. Thankfully his wife has brains. 1st new baby and a beautiful girl. And three hard earned points. The perfect results. The perfect day.
Though Michael Oliver did his best to ruin everything. What a ridiculous decision to send of Martinelli. He ignored two clear yellow cards at the start of the game – one for them and one for us – and then proceeded to hand them out like confetti. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a referee do that. Within the space of 10 seconds penalize the same player for two actions resulting in a red – without any review or weighting given to the two offenses. The first one was not even a yellow let alone the second. Martinelli pushed the player over with a tame little push. It was not a hand to his face and it was not dangerous – so how is that a yellow card? Oliver seemed caught up in the emotion of the game. Normally he’s a reasonably sound referee. And, generally, he was relatively unobtrusive in his decision making. But this was insane.
Fortunately we now have a long history of knowing how to play with only 10 men. People talk about sample sizes. We surely have a statistically significant sample now to assess how few goals we concede when down to 10 men. And who could have imagined that Xhaka would not be the one sent off? It seems that whenever we play at Molineux – whoever the referee – we destined to finish the game without at least one player.
Gabriel was immense today. Scoring that goal was critical but resolute defending was the standout feature of his game today. He and White marshaled the defense perfectly. And that’s with Cedric on the field. Who, it so happens, was not entirely shit today. He gave the ball away too easily and often drops back so deep that he negates the attempts of the other three to hold a clear off-side line. Better teams will exploit that. Luckily Wolves aren’t one of those teams.
Today Jotta was at Anfield nipping a few goals. That signing by Liverpool was very valuable for us today. With him in their forward line we’d have lost. But thankfully they lacked any cutting edge. Not dissimilar to us in fact. Not that they had so many clear cut chances. Ramsdale had to make one or two important interventions and saves but he was not required to be the usual miracle worker. In fact, there were instances when he was caught in two minds as to whether to come out for crosses. So he rode his luck a little today but he’s earned it.
Partey and Xhaka provided coordinated cover in front of the defense. I can’t think of many times when they left the back four exposed. While it might have limited our creativity and attacking threat, the organization and coordination of the time was crucial. And especially once Martinelli went off.
Though Cigarette helped set up the all important goal we saw again how much we need a striker that can score. We’ve seen this now in too many games. That one on one chance he had in the last 10 minutes was the perfect opportunity for him to seal the victory. And it was frightening that he not only failed to score but also missed the target. These types of misses will jeopardize any chance we have of re-entering Europe (except by Eurostar). At this stage of his career, with his experience, he has to put these chances away. It undermines all his hard work and link up play. It makes you wonder what he’s doing all week in practice. Maybe he’s focusing on painting and decorating. Or, writing his first full length documentary. Maybe he should focus instead on target practice. Because today he just about got away with it. If we had drawn or lost this game then this would have been the central theme that would have dominated the discussion given the loss of Aubmayang and lack of a replacement. Not that it’s obvious to me who there was on the market to bring in. That does not matter – this would have been the story.
Towards the end the game devolved into attack versus defense. But now – even with Cedric – we have a real defense. What a transformation from two years ago. It’s something we’ve not had in 10 years. A coherent, dependable and organized backline. They are also figuring out how to play the ball out from defense in a more balanced manner. The times – and there were many – when we broke through their lines, opened up their midfield and defense. If only we had a real striker.
Saka was somewhat subdued again today. I would guess that he’s the most fouled player in the EPL. I can’t think of a game he’s played in where the right back has not at least been booked. He linked up well with Odergaard and did his best with Cedric. We need to get him more involved though. Our attack runs through the wings but not central. All good things for us start wide. And today we missed the forward runs from Xhaka and Partey. But it was a winning strategy.
We’ve had to wait six weeks this year to see us score a goal. And if someone would have said it came from a Brazilian, I bet few would have guessed it would be Gabriel. And it’s great to see the old 1-0 to the Arsenal. But this is one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed the last few weeks. No stress or trepidation in watching Arsenal. It’s far too tense to enjoy. It’s far to aggravating to witness these frequently poor referee decisions.
And can someone explain why there weren’t any games for the last few weeks – sure I know we were dispatched from the F. A. Cup. But what about the prior two weeks? Unless I’m completely deaf and dumb (no response needed to that), I did not see any international matches involving England or any other European country (please excuse me for considering England European). So, what was the break for? We forced all EPL teams to try and play through COVID over the Christmas period only to force them to take two weeks off (and fly to Dubai). It makes no sense. But then nothing the FA does makes sense. How is it that the most popular game on the planet earth is overseen by incompetent, corrupt fucking morons. Whether it be the FA, their counterparts at EUFA or the biggest criminals of them all at FIFA. It’s amazing that football is as successful as it is given the retards that have elected themselves to run the game while lining their pockets with multi-million dollar bribes, while simultaneously coming up with self-serving money making ideas for themselves such as a bi-annual World Cup. It’s bad enough they gave it to Qatar and then decided to move it to the middle of our season. God I hate FIFA. I think I might have said this once or twice before.
So, back to Arsenal. Todays points speak to character and determination. Not a great spectacle but a demonstration of team unity and focus. Not something we’ve been renowned for. And that’s not to underplay our overall performance. There were clear periods where we controlled the game and moved the ball with purpose and speed. The link up play with Xhaka on the left and Odergaard on the right provided balance. Which also explains why we use the wings to attack. You could also see the value of planting Partey in the middle of the pitch. He was in control and provided the necessary cover for the defense. He’s passing was sharper even if his shooting is still miserable.
Arteta will be delighted with this result. It was vital we got something from this game after our start to the calendar year. Whether it can be a springboard for us is too early to tell. It certainly sets us up well for the next few games before we have to deal with the run of difficult games against the big teams. But jumping up to fifth whilst pushing Wolves further down is a great start to this phase of the season.
As I’ve said, I don’t feel we have the depth of squad to realistically get 4th place. Of course, if the other teams around us continue to find ways to lose home games (you know, like 2-3 ha fucking ha) then, maybe, by default we can get 4th. But more realistically I figure 6th to even 7th will get us into Europe. The winners of the League Cup won’t use that slot because both teams will already be in the champions league. And let’s hope that 2 of the top 3 compete in the F. A. Cup final. Not that I’d want to be in that wanky new European competition. And, maybe I’m getting too far ahead of myself, but we have an opportunity over the next few weeks to position ourselves for the unlikely chance to get back to Europe. And now we’re shorn of so many players and left with this minimalist squad that would be yet another impressive achievement for Arteta. It’s just not clear I’ll be able to handle the street and angst along the way.
But maybe I’ll be able to hold young Mila’s hands, look into her eyes and then picture her playing for Arsenal Women in another 20 years from now. The next generation of Arsenal supporters is with us. Best thing #2 has ever done (no cheap jokes here please). What a great day.
-LB7