Month: October 2023

Well, that was easy. So easy in fact. As easy as any match I can remember. Sheffield were shit. Truly non-existent. I don’t know what happened to that team that battled United and nearly defeated the wankers down the road.

Today they barely made it out of the changing room. I don’t think Raya – who should not have been playing – had a single save to make. Even when we took the lead they did not change their approach. I thought Luton would be the worse team in this league. Sheffield look like they will challenge them. They could even be worse than the Derby and Sunderland teams that were relegated years ago. Sheffield could be relegated before Christmas.

Today we saw rotation. In nearly every position apart from the goalkeeper. I’m Sure Aaron will play in the stupid cup game against West Ham. And, I’m sure, come the end to the season, he’ll engineer a move to a team that values him. I can’t believe he did not start today. Like a certain politician we know, I suspect if Raya shot someone on the high street, Arteta would still pick him for the next match.

Overall though the selection made sense. It was good to see Kiwior and ESR. I would have thought Saka might get a rest. And it was good to see Have-that start. As the game progressed it seemed like the attack-versus defense would become quite tiresome. But our reserve team found a way through care of Eddie. Prior to his first goal, he seemed somewhat uninvolved. There was so little space for him to move into. But as he delicately took the cross from Rice and beat Trusty to score he must have thought he was back in pre-season training with Trusty.

His second goal was that of a pure poacher. He reminded me on Franny Jeffers, the original fox in a box. By then the game was clearly settle. No anxiety and no fear of the outcome. Truly Sheffield offered nothing. But that third goal was a worldie. That was a goal that had me fall out of my chair. This was a goal of a player who suddenly had found his confidence and belief. The smile on his face when that went in was as radiant as I’d ever seen from him.

I still have my doubts about Eddie. I still believe, when fit, Jesus is the superior player. But, today he was on fire. He won us this game. And, when the penalty was finally awarded, he was gracious enough to hand it over to Vieira.  

Martinelli was electric again today. He benefited from both Zinny and ESR. He was fouled so many times – more than Saka. I can’t believe it took until the 70^th minute for Bogle to get booked. He clattered into Martinelli on numerous occasions. I was relieved when Trossard replaced him.

ESR took time to adjust to the game. In fact, he was a little underwhelming. That’s natural given that this was his first start in more than a year. And likewise, Have-that was fairly quiet. He provide the link-up play nicely and worked hard. But we’re still waiting for that explosion of play, that telling contribution or those goals to flow. He seems to be withdrawn, shy and still lacking in confidence. Maybe we just have to remain patient.

Kiwior’s selection was a good one today. Obviously he was not tested defensively but his distribution and calmness was a pleasant improvement over Gabriel. Obviously you want Gabriel back for Newcastle but this was the perfect game for him to be rested. Likewise Odergaard. Hopefully our captain does not play mid-week either. We should allow him to recharge his batteries.

Rice was again imperious in front of our defense. He really is the natural leader of this team. And behind him Saliba strolled around surveying everything in front of him in his usual regal manner. These two are pivotal to any success we have this year. Today we saw the benefit of rotation and the benefit of a strong squad. But these two have no equivalent on the bench. Along with Saka, they are irreplaceable.

A small digression onto VAR. We had 10 minutes of additional time today in the second half. No-one really needs this – well apart from Tommy and the 5^th goal. And this came about because of the long review of that 5^th goal and the time it took to decide on the penalty. How that 5^th goal could be in doubt and how the review detracts from the enjoyment of the celebration really does sap the joy from the game. It’s as though VAR is desperately looking to take the oxygen out of the room to nullify the pure enjoyment of the goals. That’s the reason we support our team and watch their games. And in that moment of fun, we have the fear of VAR coming along to snatch that joy away. For VAR, to somewhere in the footnotes or fine print determine that someone has breathed on someone that no-one else has noticed in order to cancel that moment of pure joy; VAR is on course become the destroyer of the soul of this game.

And then for the clear and obvious penalty on Vieira, it took them a lifetime to conclude – what we all knew – that Fleck had indeed fouled him in the box. I just don’t understand how VAR has becaome so damaged and disruptive. The intent was to smooth out the inconsistencies in the game. Instead we have more disruption and more uncertainty.

Today though it did not really matter. It was a walk in the park. A pleasant day for the team to relax and stroll around unhassled by the opposition. Once that first goal broke the deadlock, the game was effectively over. I can’t remember watching an Arsenal game with as few nerves, worries or fears. The idea of missing Partey or Jesus melted away within minutes. To be left with just the yearning for Aaron.

So, onto the mid-week WHU fixture in the useless Milk/Coca-Cola/Carabao Cup. I genuinely have no idea what Carabao is. According to google it’s a type of water buffalo. I believe this might be some type of sports drink. Who knows. I know I don’t. But hopefully we’ll play our reserves again. This is the least important cup. I’d like to see Rice given a rest for this game. But I doubt that would happen. I’d also like to see Saka on the bench. Let Elneny and Jorginho start this game. And give Saliba the night off. And poor old Aaron will have the reserve team in front of him.

We have Newcastle next Saturday we will certainly need everyone fit and available for that.  Well, aside from Partey and Jesus. Or maybe Raya will start mid-week as well. Because, evidentially, that’s how, at Arsenal, you rotate goalkeepers.

-LB7

The result of Champions. A point when we deserved very little until the last 15 minutes. At two nil down this game was done. We were pretty useless for most of this game. Of course, their goals were a debatable penalty and a fluke goal. But we never connected in that first half. But, if you want to compete for the league, you have to find ways to get points when you don’t deserve any; you have to find ways to not lose. And today we did that.

Right from the start Zinny was tested by Sterling and then made a crazy pass in the box. Soon after even the stalwart Rice made an errant pass in the middle of the pitch. Odegaard was off the pace and uninvolved. It was wonderful to see Saka back but even the hairy Curcello seemed to have his number (with the standard number of fouls). This was a day when we just did not function.

They pressed us and played decent football. Not that Raya had too many saves to make. But right from our sloppy start they managed to press us and minimize any available space in the midfield. So we had to go round the wings where only Martinelli showed some life.

We seemed to have lost our dynamism and creativity. While we retained some possession it seemed to lack intent.  They pressed us and we went sideways. They were half decent to be fair and we weren’t. This was very unlike our City performance. They crowded us out.

And then Sterling swung in a cross for VAR to adjudicate. I suppose if that had been us attacking I would have asked for penalty. I don’t know the exact rules but the header from Mudrick was not on target. It certainly hit Saliba’s arm but he had no idea; no intent. I give up trying to figure out how VAR works. It seems no less random than a regular referees decision.

I had thought that Partey might come on at half-time. Rice is wasted in Xhaka’s position. And Jorginho did not look comfortable in that defensive role today. Part of that was due to them not playing a center-forward. Instead they blocked the space around him. And we brought on Tommy instead of Zinny. Actually, I thought this was a smart decision. Sterling had been their best outlet and Tommi can actually defend.

Unfortunately, pretty quickly they fluked their second goal. As much as I want Ramsdale in goal I can’t say Raya was at fault here. Though I don’t think he was faultless either. Anyway, with Ramsdale wife generating a mini-Ramsdale, we were stuck with Raya. He made one decent save today in the second half and then reacted well at the feet of Madueke. But it would not be a match review if I don’t not lament the absence of our Aaron. Raya seems to have a free pass. Because some of his long distribution today was way off – like the City game.

And miracles do happen though. And they started with the arrival of Have-that and ESR which allowed Rice to return to his natural position. And then the game changed and we discovered ourselves. All that possession now had intent. Saka started to get passed the hairy one. Martinelli was being fed the ball. And then Sanchez, who looks to be similarly challenged on his distribution played a wayward pass only for Rice to first time deliver a perfect shot into the unguarded net. Inspirational stuff by a true leader.

From then on Arsenal were awoken just not in a woke way. And this game changed. Chelsea, who had been protecting their lead, wilted. And then Trossard, care of Saka, saved us. A perfectly guided finish from a classic Saka cross. Immediately afterwards Eddie worked hard to create an opportunity. As the momentum shifted, at this point I thought we might steal it. But it was not to be. We should though be very happy with the point when it looked, for the longest time, we’d deserved nothing. This performance was so different from previous ones at the Bridge. It speaks though to the mental toughness and resilience of our side. In the past we’d have withered away and lost this game. But they are not good enough and we are better than previous years.

Though it’s a let down from the euphoria of the City game today was also (again) a testament to the improved strength of our bench. The arrival of subs helped change the momentum of the game. And this was without using Partey. And we were missing the oh so mighty Vieira. Tactily Poch got it right and it took a long time for us to figure it out. But once Rice replaced Jorginho in the base of the midfield our game changed.

Maybe this is what happens after the tedious international break. Of course, it’s the same for them. But the best players out there for us today stayed home. White was excellent. Composed, feisty and controlled. Odegaard are representing the abysmal Norway was barely present today. Fortunately, we brought on ESR. He likes the Bridge; he’s managed a few famous goals here.

Apart from a dubious penalty, Saliba was a graceful as ever supported ably by Gabriel. As often as we recognize the silky skills of Saliba we can often overlook the progress that Gabriel has made. He has progressed from a rough and tough center half who’s distribution was uneven at best. With Zinny alongside him and when Rice is in front of him, he looks more assured and reliable on the ball.

We just need to solve that Xhaka position. It’s just not for Rice. He’s wasted there. Have-that contributed again from the bench and was important in the build-up to our equalizer. He quietly goes about his game. He competes in the air and links up really well. I’m not sure though that he’s a natural Xhaka replacement. But he deserves playing time. I’ll give him that.

Jesus buzzed around today. When we were ever so quiet in the first half, he dropped deeper to try and instigate moves. Often kicked and battered, he works so hard. We are better when he’s in the line-up. Today was the first time this season we started Martinelli, Jesus and Saka. Not that Saka was fully fit or at his best. Martinelli was the most dangerous. But given time these three can gel and ignite this team. As long as Odegaard can find aways to insert himself and dictate games. Today was one of his quietest. He was squeezed for space and had no answers.

In a long season it’s important not to lose games – especially to teams that can compete for the top 4. Today was a symbolic win. A point that should instill more confidence in this team. It can’t afford to perform like they did in the first half. But they’ll know that. And some of that was down to Chelsea. But how they responded was even more important. At 2-0 down this game looked utterly lost. Sure, their goals were fluky but we were pretty pathetic and deserved it. I was more than happy to give up, right this game off and walk away.

There seems to be a belief in this team. One that was not there in prior years. Not there when we lost to Brighton, Newcastle, Palace and all those other bland, average teams we used to lose games to. This team seems to have learned how to earn points even when they are not at their best. I mean, you can’t expect to win games if you only turn up for one half (at best).

Now we have a stretch before the next round of corrupt FIFA international games. God, how they ruin the season. At some point FIFA will move full time to Saudi Arabia and the illusion of being a neutral, Swiss-based entity will be shattered. In the meantime they will set up world cups not just across multiple countries but multiple continents. Sure, that makes it easy for fans. The next world Cup will be split between the Moon and Mars.

Next up is Sevilla. There won’t be much time to rest given our prior CL performance. Hopefully their new manager has only had time to confuse them. We can’t afford to lose this game. So, let’s hope today gave us some confidence. And allowed some of our players to shake off some of the rust from the international break.

In the meantime, we continue to move in the right direction. This team is for real.

-LB7

Finally. A few ghosts were vanquished today. Three points deserved. A tactical chess match that the student won. Today the reserves beat the first team. Actually, in some ways we looked like the first team. In a season of important matches this is just one – and as we saw last season (and is all previous ones) you can’t win the league in October. We know the City juggernaut will be resurrected and have it’s annual resurrection in February in time for their crushing run-in. We can though savor today and wallow in the warm embrace of finally beating the best team in the league.

Though in that first period of the game it didn’t seem like it would finish this way. They had two or three clear chances to take the lead. As Arteta always says, it’s a game of fine margins and, in games such as these, you have to take your chances. And they didn’t. How Ake missed is beyond me; to not even get it on target either. We had Rice to thank for clearing off the line as well. And then there was Raya giving us all palpitations.

The line-up was interesting. T0 play with a base of two holding players with Rice pushing up. Without the glorious Saka we knew it would be more challenging. Missing both our wingers took away our ability to work through them in our wide areas. Jesus worked really hard but it was clear and understandable that he did not have the same understanding with White.

Both Trossard and Eddie were somewhat anonymous though Trossard’s ability to switch the ball was noticeable. Eddie was frustrating most of the game. He does not quite close them down in a press and he does not quite link up the play fast enough. Whereas City knew how to press as a team so much more effectively. We found it hard to build out from our defense. They denied passing lanes and put pressure on Raya. Unfortunately for a player renowned for his distribution today just begged the question as to why Ramsdale does not play.

What does Raya have to do to lose his place? If this is Arteta’s idea of what a rotation means then I then I can only assume that he’s English is not as good as I had thought. Whether it was his long passing or short passing he created uncertainty in our defense. Maybe he has compromising pictures of Arteta, or maybe he’s in a relationship with the goalkeeping coach because based on the last few league games, Ramsdale deserves to be our starting goalkeeper.

Rice was immense today. His ability to thrust himself into tackles and break up play is something that we’ve not had for along time. His leadership and work rate elevate this team. He is one of the main reasons we have progressed as a team this year. And in big games he certainly imposes himself. He was the best midfielder out there. Because of Jorghino, he played more on the left but also pushed up more. He had more of a license. I liked Jorghino today. He’s limited in his speed and physicality but played an important role today.

And behind them Saliba and Gabriel had Haaland under complete control. Haaland was anonymous today because of them. Saliba out muscled him and Gabriel out fought him. And thankfully Raya did not have a shot to save all game. With White on the right and then a non-inverted Zinny on the left this defense looked assured an in control. It was interesting that neither teams full-backs inverted in the first half – there was no space in the congested midfield.

The game changed though at half-time. Once Martinelli appeared the tempo and directness of our game changed. In the first half there were periods where City, unsurprisingly, dominated possession. But once Trossard was replaced with Martinelli, we began to control the game. Odegaard was more involved and Jesus continued to threaten down our right. But it was only with Martinelli did we finally have a presence on the left.

This game was finally won by our substitutions and lost by theirs. With Grealish and Phillips on the bench they opted to bring on Nunes, Stones and Daku with only the later having an impact. Whereas, in addition to Martinelli, Partey, Have-that and Tommy were the key players in our goal. Have-that was more energetic than Eddie, working back and tackling with more energy. And, of course, his layoff from Tommy’s header set up Martinelli.

Partey demonstrated what Jorghino was lacking. An ability to play more direct, more vertical. That extra poise makes the difference. Having Rice and Partey alongside each other protects the defense and yet can create more. So it was good to see Partey back. And Have-that should take more confidence from his cameo today. And what was Tommy doing up in their penalty area?

Even after that goal City did not seem to threaten too much. I can’t remember any real clear cut chances they had or saves Raya was required to make. They clearly missed KDB and Rodri more than we missed Saka and half of Martinelli.

Phiilips must be drawing a nice fat pay check because clearly Pep has no faith in him. Playing Lewis in the Rodi position and then bringing on Stones. But of course, Southgate will still pick Phillips along with Maguire but ignore White. But thankfully Southgate won’t be able to use White or Saka during this tedious International waste of time break.

As enjoyable and tactical and watchable this game was – and as brilliant as the outcome – we do have to address one issue. Of all the refs around I’ve always liked Michael Oliver. He’s one of the best. Of course, that bar is pretty low these days. I just don’t understand how, after booking Jorghino, he then booked Kovacic for a foul that was closer to being a red card than a yellow. It’s funny how at the start of last season they were the senior teammates on LAChelsea and yet today they were the protagonists on the two best teams in the EPL.

That initial Kovacic challenge was much closer to the one that got Curtis Jones sent off against that lot last week. And then soon after, from yet another wayward Raya pass; this time into Rice, Kovacic dives in, studs up with another late tackle that is as a yellow a card as you could see. And yet Oliver declined to produce the card. There is no way Kovacic should have stayed on the pitch. And yet, somehow, he did. This made no sense. But then, as we saw last week, little about refereeing does make sense. Having said that, I thought Oliver was good again today. Certainly better than Hooper and the other morons in the VAR booth.

And lets revisit last week. As stupid and fucked up as the VAR review was we could all see for ourselves with the naked eye. And then we could hear it later on the VAR recording, I worry that everyone has focused on the mistakes of Darren England and allowed him to be the scapegoat. The core issues though is not him but the incompetence of the PGMOL. If this needed proof then how they handled this cock-up was a clear demonstration of their ineptitude. Their solution, among other things, was to remove English from refereeing any Liverpool game this year. How does this even make sense? What kind of precedent does this set? English is not good enough to ref Liverpool games but he is the other 19 teams? And what about if he refs a Sp*rs game? How does this help English or anyone. Either say he’s not good enough to ref any EPL game or leave him alone. Now certain refs can be kept away from certain teams? How does that work? And why for one year? All it does this does is demonstrate the fact that we are beholden to the union of refs that is the PGMOL. We have the best players in the best league in the world with the worst refs. Why can’t we have European refs rather than being limited to English ones? We are not limited to just English payers any more so why just English refs?

I don’t mind them going to UAE to ref games. But why can’t European refs come and ref our games? Again, this is all down to the PGMOL who have a vice like grip on our game. Why? Who allows this to happen? The clubs? The FA? I don’t really know. All I know is that the PGMOL has taken the available technology and fucked it up. Why can’t we have automated offside technology. I know that would not solve the basic lack of communication skills that VAR displayed. But again, while everyone is focusing on English, the PGMOL escape answering for the drop in ref standards; are not held accountable for tarnishing the best league in the world. What happens at the end of the season if Liverpool lose out on the title or Europe by one point? Apart from making me exceptionally happy, I’m sure it will throw up yet more conspiracy theories from Liverpool fans. It’s not a conspiracy – they are too stupid and dumb to be smart enough to conspire (the refs not the Liverpool fans) – it’s just a plain-old cock-up in a quintessentially English way.

But back to the game. We deserved this victory today. We matched them tactically. Neutralized most of their threats. And as the second half wore on began to control and dominate the game. This team has grown up and evolved. There was a balance there – again, in the second half – that bodes well for the future. As good as the result was, as we saw last season, there’s long way to go. If we had lost Rice like they had lost Rodri it would have been a different outcome. He is our difference maker this year. That was money well spent. Today was a pleasure. This team is still young. We will make mistakes and will miss our chances (like they did today). But we continue to move in the right direction. We have to protect Saka, Rice and Martinelli. Oh, and Saliba. But with Tommy on the bench along with Have-that. And Timber in the recovery room we finally have a squad to compete. And today will have given us some more belief. Maybe not for this year but certainly for next.

Now we can wallow in our accomplishment for 2 weeks. And hopefully that gives Saka enough time to recover. To have him back along with Partey will help stabilize this team and add that creative spark that we missed in the first half. So, enjoy your next two stressless weeks away from actual football and then we can start to look forward to our next match at LAChelsea. That will be challenging. But we’ve shown we can rise to these challenges now. As long as Darren English, PGMOL and VAR are not involved.

-LB7