OMFG. That was incredible. The beauty of this game. To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Unbelievable. Maybe, just maybe, fate is on our side. At one nil down I thought we could win but at two nil down I thought we’d be hard pressed to get a draw. And, then I figured we’d need a penalty. We had about 5 shouts today of which we should have gotten one.
This was even better than Villa – if that’s possible. Both the Villa game and this one will help define our season. In both instances, karma – through the additional time added for the relentless time-wasting, came back to haunt the opposition.
It’s hard to know where to start after that. Nothing can capture the sheer joy of this victory. The unbridled happiness Reece Nelson created. The crash of the back into the net and the resulting mayhem. Me – I was jumping up and down like a demented moron (which, to be fair, is my natural state). How can you not love this team.
There’s so much that could be said but who gives a flying fuck. Honestly. If I could only bottle that feeling when that ball went in and then sell it on the interweb at www.fuckmewegotthreepointsandwecanactuallywintheleafgue.com.com or (www.FuckTheLeague.com for short) I would be a wealthy man, or, just happy for the rest of my life. I could even consider ranking this higher than the most important things in life such as bacon, eggs and my wife (not that I’d join those three together on one plate). I’ve excluded my children from this list because (1) they don’t read this blog (2) they are not yet at the level where they can read any words longer than 4 letters and (3) well, because there are just a little bit ratarded. I digress though. This was a miracle result. Completely unexpected up until that Nelson shot. And implausible until White scored on the 70th minute.
Where to start? Maybe team selection. Given the fixture list, it makes sense to rotate I’d guess. But it did not work. Not hard to make that claim given that they scored after 8 seconds. The second fast goal in the history of the ELP. After the demolition of Everton, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say no-one saw that coming.
Wednesday was tough for the first 40 minutes up until the Saka magic goal. But here, after the one goal start that we were generous enough to provide, we fell into the same style as Wednesday in that first 40 minutes. We possessed the ball but created very few outright chances. And yet, unlike Wednesday, Bournemouth had a couple of breakaway chances. In fact, throughout the game they had chances. Way more than Everton. But this was always about us and our ability to actually test their goalie. I think we had one outright chance in the first half.
In hindsight it’s easy to pick holes in our play. But, you could see that with both Tomy on the right and Vieira on the left, we’d lost that creativity and drive that Xhaka and White provide. Then within 20 minutes we lost Trossard. It was good to see ESR but you knew he would not be able to last the balance of the game. Let’s hope he’s not out for too long now because I fear Trossard could be gone for a few weeks or at least until the annoying international break.
We must have had 15 corners today. We tried every variation known to man kind and produced nothing. They go up the other end and from them one and only corner make it 2-0. Sure, Partey lost his man in the same way Saliba did for their first, but I won’t actually blame either. Because they are my favourites.
Then the game changed. And it was driven by Arteta’s substitutions. Two goals from two subs with Nelson involved in both. And boy did we need that today because it seemed there was no way we could even buy a goal. So, after all those tricky corners we finally scored from a direct one from Odegaard with ESR setting up Partey to make amends within 5 minutes of their second.
Nelson injected a little more directness on the left. He was able to provided crosses and push them back. And it was his cross that set up White for the equalizer. At that point you felt like we should take the point and run. But, as Bournemouth wasted more time they helped us with that additional time. Odergaard’s shots and free-kicks today seem to either hit the goalie or Row Z. Martinelli had few opportunities. And Saka was quiet today. I had assumed he’d need to produce some magic to win this game. But he barely shined today. He looked tired. And, in the first half, he was not helped by the presence of Tomy. And you could see the difference when White came on. We were sharper and quicker on the left. Though I thought Odegaard continue to flit around without producing that killer pass.
On the other side we had to watch Vieira pass sideways and backwards. It’s during games like this you realize the important of Xhaka. I know Vieira needs more time. Or so I’m told. But I’m not sure if, by the time the universe has expanded so that there are no visible objects in the sky, that Vieira will have developed his game sufficiently. He was unable to provide any vertical passes and consumed the space that Trossard and then ESR operated in. You could immediately see the difference when Xhaka came in. He passed the ball forward and found the gaps ahead of him.
So, neither of those selection changes worked for us today. But, somehow, we got away with it. It just all felt a little too slow in the first half and then only when we went two nil down did the urgency seem to come into our game. But with Odegaard and Saka not firing on all cylinders and Vieira adding no value whatsoever, it seemed like we were destined to drop three points to one of the worst teams in the league. Imagine the pressure and criticism we’d have faced. City would be barely 2 points behind. Our lead over them would essentially have evaporated.
But Nelson – as a replacement for the replacement – managed to help dig us out. Even then you can’t point to too many direct chances – aside from the numerous penalty shouts. This though is what a team needs to do. If you start the game half asleep and give up a goal in 8 seconds, you have to find the spirit and fight to recover. Twice now we’ve pulled it out by the same score line. Even though it was a joy of my life to see the ego of Martinez provide our winning goals, this shot from Nelson will long live on in all our memories. And from a player who has basically been injured the entire season. This was, I think, he’s longest time he’d spent on the pitch this season.
We need Jesus to come back; he can’t be hanging around any longer. With Eddie injured and now possibly losing Trossard as well as ESR (again) our forward line it looking pretty sparse. So having Nelson contribute for this game is vital for today and for the next twelve games. I just worry that ESR is our new Wilshire. Destined to have a career blighted by injury. Or maybe, he’s turn into Rosicky who, finally, overcame his injuries to be a mainstay of our team.
Chris Kavanagh, while calling a reasonable game, with reasonable decisions, completely failed to keep the game moving along. From that first goal onwards, he allowed them to waste an appreciable amount of time. From lying on the ground faking injuries, to their goal-kicks to their throw-ins. I don’t understand why linesman can’t use the white spray to indicate where the throw-in should be taken from. Instead, we had to watch them waste 20 seconds on each thrown and also steal 10 yards each time.
And in the first half, when, again, Saka lost the ball on the edge of their box. One of their players fell down injured. It did not stop them counter-attacking and nearly scoring. And as Arsenal countered, they all expected us to kick the ball out because their player was still down. And then they surrounded the ref to complain. Let’s see if the FA fine them. I think we know how that goes.
After the joy of demolishing Everton, in the second half at least, today seemed like it would be gentle, relaxing easy three points. The way we played on Wednesday, the rhythm the team found seemed to assure us we’d breeze through this game. And maybe, just maybe, that sentiment seeped into the mentality today. No-one – apart from White and Nelson – seemed entirely at their best today. Even Gabriel and Saliba had one mistake in each of them. That is, aside from the time that Saliba allowed the ball to bounce and then cleared right to their man, he remained majestic. And Gabriel, whos’ distribution is improving – because he finds Zinny or Partey now – put in another solid performance. And we should not forget the important save from Ramsdale who remained a spectator for most of the game.
Then there is Zinny. He ignited us on Wednesday and was key again to driving us forward. As impressive as Xhaka has been. As exhilarating as Saka has been. And important as Partey is, Zinny has been the surprising gift of the year for us. His creativity, experience and drive has far exceeded any expectations. And when you put Xhaka alongside him instead of Vieira, we function and flow. Long may they both stay fit. Yes, I know, I just jinxed them.
As I said, it seems fruitless to try and dissect a game as insane as this. The crowd were immense and deafening – even through the TV. There seemed to be a belief this team would be able do something. Whereas, from my couch, it seemed we were banging our heads against an effective brick-wall. And then all hell broker loose.
I’m still in shock as I belatedly write this up. I don’t know how we got three points. I do know though that we’re still TOTL. At least for a few more weeks. And the remaining games continue to shrink. And, back on planet earth, I have to remind myself that the objective for the season was to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. That seemed like a stiff ask at the start of the season. But here we stand, 15 points or 5 games clear of 5th place. That’s beginning to feel like a pretty healthy buffer.
It’s getting pretty close to the point, now that we’re basically 2/3rds of the way through the season, where you can look at future games and model the possible points. That’s fruitless though. All we need is (1) for our key players to remain fit (2) for VAR to actually award us some penalties and (3) for Jesus to return ASAP.
So enjoy the rest of the day and just know that nothing you experience this weekend can come close to the exhilaration you experienced this morning. The absurd, unreal emotions of this morning will inevitably give way to the humdrum pattern of normal daily life. But there was nothing normal about this morning.
-LB7