Arsenal 3 – 2 Manchester United
Gunners on ferocious fire for 90+ minutes and at last they sacked Ten Hags exhausted Mancs.
Eight Observations:
- The Zinch and Granit have found their collective groove. Both were excellent and the left flank was ours all game long. It’s taken a while for the Ukrainian and Swiss wizard to figure each other out, but wow they were brilliant. Despite all that support I thought Martinelli was a bit underwhelming with his final ball.
- Zinchenko has a fantastic motor with fine excelleration. He had no fear of the Mancs’ high press and went through their lines like a Bentley. This made a crucial difference. Great positioning and interceptions too, and he had Anthony in his boot and rattled him all day long. His big game experience and enthusiasm was clear to see. Love those meaty underarms. MOTM.
- Gary Neville, I have time for you mate but don’t have a go at Mikel for his enthusiasm. Ben White got a card straight away but Shaw could commit foul after foul and get away with it. THAT’S what Mikel was pointing out to the ref when he put four fingers in the air, not the severity of Shaw’s last foul. That was poor commentary.
- Eddie played again for the team and was a constant threat. Two goals including the winner and we all love you, Eddie. Very close to MOTM.
- Bukayo was once again a class act. Superb goal and almost a second from a similar effort. Bukayo left Luke ‘Shaw of the Dead’ all game. The partnership with Ode is one of the most beautiful ones to watch in Europe right now. It doesn’t get any better than that.
- The midfield was ace again. Zinch and the strong substitute, Tomiyasu, really helped Partey a lot in the second half, and it made all the difference. Our full backs are Mikel’s greatest managerial invention, and we have great double cover there as well.
- Did you feel that shot in the arms too when Trossard came on?! It was like all of a sudden revealing the last siege engine to finally crack the Mancs medieval castle. It was too much for them. The crowd was electric and the pressure was so intense. PB wrote in his match preview that our opponent are a fit team that often plays best in the latter part of the game. They did however play midweek and we didn’t, and it showed. Bringing on Trossard was a great psychological move by Arteta.
- I cannot believe Arsenal only played half of its games and we are almost in February. Whatever happens next, these have been the most exhilarating set of games in the last 18 years or so. Great, lasting positive change happens when a leader – from Charlemagne to Alfred the Great and Herbert Chapman to Arsene Wenger – has a great vision and plan, focuses hard on non-negotiable values and norms, knows how to get the best out of people who have pride in what they do, operate with a long term plan of reform, AND put their heart and soul into it. Mikel I salute you (and please look after yourself!).
By TotalArsenal
Bergkampesque 
Great 8 positives TA.
In my previous comment I mentioned about us sitting too deep when they attack us.. we need to fix that and we are good to approach the next games with a higher defensive line.
On to Citeh next in the FA cup.. COYG!
Cheers,
JK
Good point, 84. Against MU it is important not to push too high. That’s why they beat us and MC this season already.
Ode deserves more of a mention as he was superb once again. His vision and many of his passes are something else.
Yes he was immense
TA, you are spot on with the observations, (even as you imit yourself to 8 points); there’s a OT to agree with… and more. Without doubt, Zinchenko was MoTM, with Ode and Eddie coming a close second. He was unbelievable and played like a man possessed by the spirit of the Manchester rivalry. His tactical move to go into the middle more often, to support Partey and Xhaka was impactful as the manure tactic of pressing our midfielders suddenly seemed toothless with Zinch as an additional (unplanned for) threat in midfield. Some Arteta genius right there.
Replacing Ben White when he did was also uncharacteristic of Arteta but it was a case of Needs must, I guess, and I did call it after White looked out of sorts, copping a card in the process. What I didn’t expect was how influential Tomi would be (he also provided a new body in midfield to worry about for them) when he came on. Noteworthy was the ack of communication between Ramsdale and Tomi for their second goal.
Trossard already showed in that cameo, what an addition he would be. He had a pre-assist for the winning goal. It was nice to see Jakub, another new boy, watching in the stands too. He got first hand knowledge of the standards we operate under.
It is all down to Mike Arteta and it is a good thing your post gave him due accolades. As fans, we should just revel in the moment and see what/where we get in May.
Cesc Fabregas: “I was lucky enough to be at the training ground recently and it was like I had never been there before. Everything had changed so much. The manager of the training ground said it was 95% Mikel who had changed the whole thing. He’s changed everything.
The perception of the club in the last few years, a lot of positive messages around the training ground, much bigger facilities, better equipment, the pitches. Everything. You name it. At the entrance they have a symbol of an empty Premier League (trophy cabinet)….
He wants to show the message. It’s an inspiration every day to go there and prove yourself that you really want to put the Premier League [trophy] in there. I think it’s changed the mentality of the club since Arsène left. It is fantastic what he has done.”
This sums up Arteta’s relentless work ethic.
It is important to restate how Eddie has seized his moment and shown us all why Mikel didn’t want to lose him to another club during the contract talks. I had seen a few of his games while at the academy and one thing that struck me about him was how much he loved to be the one scoring the goals. He appeared to sulk if he was denied the chance to tuck the ball away by a better positioned team mate. Ian Wright described his attitude in the box as him being in “his room”. He comes alive in there, ready to utiize opportunities.
What more is there to say about Saka, Xhaka and Odegaard? They were all brilliant again and look very determined to do something special, as they have been threatening to do, for a while now. Martinelli, I guess, could do with managing of his playing time to enable catch some rest after the Word Cup. He may not have played much but you can’t overlook how much the kid may have exerted himself trying to please his national team manager. The competition will only make him better.
The future is bright for the Arsenal.
It’s hard to disagree with this article.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11664307/Daniel-Matthews-Eddie-Nketiah-responding-Arsenal-exceptional-way.html?ico=topics_pagination_desktop
Fine article, GN5. Crazy to think it but with Eddie, we have not really missed GJ9. The boy works hard and scores goals….. For sure, Southgate can’t ignore him now. Fingers crossed, he stays fit till the next internationals.
One key observation is how our “at risk” lads played without getting a yellow card to get them suspended for one game.
Looks like my keyboard is been contriving to miss out my ‘L’ s. Up there, at 15:23, I meant to type… “there’s a lot to agree with… “, for instance. Seen a few more. Oh well…
Here are last weekends results.
1st Kev & Stuart 4/6 plus share of most correct predictions = 6
3rd Madhu 2/5 plus 1 correct score = 4
4th GN5, Eris, & Le Gall 3/5 = 3
7th OX10 2/5 = 2
8th Total 0/5 = 0
“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
Season to date:-
1st OX10 76.8
2nd Kev 74.8
3rd Madhu 68.8
4th Stuart 68.0
5th Eris 60.13
6th Total 57.33
7th GN5 51.33
8th Le Gall 49.8
“”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
Next weekend’s FA Cup selections:-
Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City
Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion
Fulham v Sunderland *
Ipswich Town v Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool *
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt *
Even after 75 seasons of supporting winning back to back games against two of oldest and bitterest opponents is still hugely satisfying to me. I always suffer from nervous apprehension throughout the games – fearing the worst outcome – and most times it has ended up being disappointing – but when we win it’s still an incredible feeling.
I was wary that the last three games would be our “back to earth” downfall so to collect 7 out of 9 points is a just outstanding.
The 2022/23 version of Arsenal is as good as the AW glory days. They still have win the EPL and continue to progress to prove their worthiness of that statement – but in the meantime it’s an absolute pleasure to watch the level of skilled football they play.
Blackburn Rovers Birmingham City H
Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion H
Fulham 3 Sunderland 0
Ipswich Town Burnley A
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Liverpool 2
Bayern Munich 4 Eintracht Frankfurt 1
Thanks Eris for commenting on the post and game. All agreed too.
Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City H
Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion H
Fulham v Sunderland * 2-1
Ipswich Town v Burnley H
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool * 1-2
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt * 3-1
Welcome to the Arsenal, Jakub
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64365376
I’ve been waiting a long time for a “Kiwi” to play for our beloved club…
GN5, thanks for the report. Loving it. Please do a review of my predictions, though; I am certain I got 4 correct predictions, including one correct score (if you use the Feynoord v Ajax game).
God bless you as you help to create a different type of excitement on here.
Gary Neville can ‘do one’ I really have the minimum of interest in anything the majority of pundits opine before, during or following Arsenal games. After about 20 minutes I’d had enough Sunday and muted the commentary, I mean ffs SKY have Carragher as co-commentator on this game, a neutral, SKY truely are awful I so hope that they lose a lot more of their football content to BT and Amazon.
Positive post TA, Kiwior arrives and I don’t think that that is the end of businesss.
Kev I’m very curious about the plan for midfield in this window, with Elneny condition unknown… also in the next window. We need to keep some space for Patino too.
I’m very happy with Trossard, of course.
Do you think there is a lad down below who could make it, Stu?
Have the Māori kids no interest in football at all?
Johnno I read somewhere that Arsenal are interested in an American midfielder who plays in Italy but we would need someone very special indeed to break into or supplement our current midfielders who must be among the most technically proficient and intelligent around.
Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City. H
Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion. A
Fulham v Sunderland * 2-0
Ipswich Town v Burnley. A
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool *. 2-2
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt * 2-1
Looks like Ryan Gravenberch has got lost in Bavaria, he’s had a miserable 180′ playing time since the start of the season .
Even though rumour has it Kimmich has been hitting rock bottom since Germany’s exit in Qatar, I don’t think there’s a snowball chance in hell he’ll be taken off Bayern’s XI, though. So, should-Mo-go (which’d make me sad, but would make sense from his POV), a loan (to start with) would seem a good idea to me.
Ever since we’ve been out of it, I used to watch ten Hag’s Ajax on CLeague nights; I also watched quite a lot of Eredivisie last season, mainly to watch Reiss play for Feyenoord, but also because there were some good games involving Ajax or PSV. Anyway, every time I watched Ajax, the least I can say is that the kid was eye-catching: it’s hard not to think of PV4 (a more “polished” version – I don’t think we should expect him to headbutt, or kung-fu kick anyone).
Thomas’s been kept out of harm’s way so far this season, but he’s been an injury waiting to happen since he donned the red-and-white, so given how frantic the schedule will get soon, it’d sure be wise to get him a proper backup.
Ryan is young, tall, excellent on the ball, has top-level experience, is used to tactical subtleties, and he needs a way out of his situation at Bayern …
That “Kiwi” quip (about Jakub Kiwior) had me in stitches, Stuart. You may have your way some day soon, who knows? 😅
Ryan Gravenbaech is a great call, Le Gall. However, I have read he is on the radar of Manchester united (Erik ten Hag) and Liverpool (Klopp) already.
If he is available and a loan deal can be struck for him, he should be an upgrade on Lokonga in the DM role.
FA Cup weekend predictions:
Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City H
Bristol City v West Bromwich Albion A
Fulham v Sunderland * H (2-1)
Ipswich Town v Burnley A
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool * H (2-1)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt * H (3-1)
Hi Eris, I did not include the Ajax game as I thought it was too late in the week to make changes. So there were only five games counted and not six, therefore your score was correct.
New Post 🙂