This is why we love football. This is why we love Arsenal. And this is the sound of joy typing away at the keyboard. Two great days. Both filled with tension and perfect outcomes. If we celebrated too much at Molineux, then we did not celebrate enough tonight. What a victory. Talking about having a fighting spirit! Let’s have another 9 days off please. And then go again.
I did not see that coming. As the game wore on the best I could hope for was a point. I’m not a greedy man (OK, maybe, technically, that’s not true – put food in front of me – especially bacon and I’ll show you a greedy fat basterd). I would have been fine with that. We huffed and puffed but seem to be missing that little sprinkling of either luck or skill. Cigarette was having another one of his games whereby outside the box he worked hard but inside the box he is incapable of finding the target. Saka worked hard as well but missed too many opportunities. Balls over the top that he could not control, touches that were too heavy or taking too long before shooting. Neither really tested the goalie until the end.
BTW, how was that a yellow card for Saka? And how easily did Atkinson let the game out of his control today? I like the fact that he did not want to wave yellow cards around (except for Saka). But that late substitution situation was a farce. They did not even put the board up but he tries to walk off Raul, gives him a yellow card and then he’s not even substituted. But it allowed Wolves to waste even more time. They thoroughly deserved this loss. They had chances they wasted but more than that, their attitude was to hunker down and preserve their lead once Gabriel set up their goal. They wasted a mammoth amount of time whenever they could. Sure, maybe it’s good game management but it effected their attitude. It caused them to try and hold their lead rather than build on it. So, justice was more than served with the result.
So back to the game. Right after that careless Gabriel mistake we started to assert ourselves and try and break Wolves down. It was mighty hard and we would tended to over engineer any chance we had. Aside from Saka and Cigarette, this was also not the best game for Martinelli. We missed someone like ESR today. The build up play was just a little too slow in the first half but that was also due to Wolves closing us down so quickly.
I like the way White was the one responsible for distribution from the back. And Partey – more on him later – was one of his main outlets. With Xhaka on one side and Odegaard on the other we should have had more attacking intent. But, aside from a few passes at the end, Xhaka was fairly quite. Steady but not dominant. And as he played further up the pitch than normal, that exposed Tierney as well. And watching Xhaka try and recover once he’s beaten is like watching a tortoise in a sprint race. Odergaard however continued to push and try and create. He has a clear football IQ and, just maybe, could turn out to be the child that Bergkamp never had. A long-way to go and a ridiculously high bar I know.
The base of the team today and the stand out performer was Partey. Minus that is his moon shots on goal. Maybe he was trying to launch missiles into Moscow. His shooting defies explanation. Thankfully the rest of his game was outstanding. He was the outstanding presence in midfield today. He would broke up play, win tackles and turn upfield, then he cut through their lines and created. And he provided important defensive cover. Reassuringly, he remained on the pitch for the full 96 minutes. These gaps between games seem to be helping him. He is finally finding his groove. Today he was majestical in his control and passing. Moving the ball quickly and defining our approach.
I had felt that Arteta had waited so long to make any changes. And the first one I’d have taken off would have been Cigarette. But, clearly, every change he made worked perfectly. It’s fair to say Pepe changed the game today. From scoring the first to setting up the winner. After watching Cigarette continue to fluff his lines in front of goal it was a joy to see the masterful, calm and fluid way that Pepe took this goal. That gentle first touch followed by that sweeping shot. And that after watching us miss so many chances to get anything on goal. And credit to Eddie as well for the run and cut back. Though I’m not Eddie’s biggest fan, he like Pepe made a difference today. It also allowed Saka to switch to the left. He tried an ESR like attempt with his right foot which their goalie did well to parry. I figured that was the end of the game but Pepe brought ball back and then interchanged with someone though he was so good it could have been himself before unleashing Cigarette. It took a few seconds to register that the ball had gone in. The visual did not make sense. It’s only on replay that you realize their goalie steered it in. How else could Cigarette have got anything on target? Anyway, cue mayhem. This is the kind of come from behind victory that other teams engineer – not Arsenal. Actually, usually it would have been against Arsenal. This was truly stealing victory from the jaws of defeat.
And it was all down to Pepe. Even though he nearly cost us a goal when they countered down their left and he could not follow his man before the ball was pulled back from them to shot just wide off Gabriel’s’ leg. He more than made up for it by jump starting us. As soon as he came on we looked livelier. That’s a nice, expensive and talented substitute to call off the bench. And today he made a difference.
At the end we had to switch Tierney for Tavares. Tavares did manage to pass sideways when you could see he was tempted to storm forward or play a risky forward pass (a la Liverpool). But he resisted the temptation. But he still stormed upfield, over-dribbled and then lost the ball to allow them to counter. He makes me nervous that boy.
What a wonderful result. What a wonderful game. Ok, it was not so wonderful. But, by the end of I was out of my seat screaming and dancing. Brilliant. That’s how you climb the table. That’s how you build a team for the future. And though our balance is still off, we are learning as a team. And we are progressing. And we are in fifth now with a clear shot at 4th. We still have Liverpool and Chelsea to suffer through. Not to mention United, West Ham and that other lot. So, plenty of important games for us to deal with. And arguably a harder fixture list than anyone else. But, at least, we don’t have to play again mighty, mighty Burnley.
As I said, two great days. Both the manner of their loss and the spectacle of their manager having an emotional breakdown. It’s got to be hard waking up in the morning knowing that you’re the manager of that lot. Only they could beat the best team in the land and then find a way to lose against one of the worst. How very, very Spursy. And how delightful. As much as I don’t want to see Burnley accumulate points and preserve their status that’s more than out-weighed by the delight in the pain, suffering and despair in seeing Sp*rs lose yet again. They are beyond arrogant and conceited. If only this would make them realize their station in life. To see Conte nearly burst into tears and concede he has no clue what to do was priceless. This was a successful Chelski manager – like one of their previous ones – that was supposed to stabilize their ship. We’ll, in a way he has, they now are predictable and stable. Except that translates to consistently losing their games. Perfect.
So, two great days. Two great results. It’s a shame February is a short month. But it makes up for that long January. Anyway, give Arteta credit for this one. Along with Partey and Pepe. Enjoy this victory. They don’t come like this that often. Wallow in it. And laugh out loud. If you can’t enjoy this then you’re either dead, a vampire or a Wolves fan.
-LB7