Jesus, resurrected from his slumber, turns water into the sweetest, juiciest Red wine. Arsenal Match Review.

TotalArsenal

It started drizzling with rain when I got to the station to catch my train to Stratford and pretty much didn’t stop until we got home after the game. It made conditions slippery and perfect for cup football.

Crystal Palace turned up full of confidence in the midst of a good run of form with a sizeable and very vocal crowd of support from South London. They filled the Clock End and made a lot of noise, particularly in the 1st half.

Arteta tried to balance his books by picking as strong a starting XI as possible whilst resting as many key players that he could and who needed a rest for the battles ahead over the congested festive period. In a way playing Palace twice in a few days is beneficial as we can’t have an Everton scenario this weekend vs an opponent who’s had a weeks rest.

Palace picked their strongest XI and went for it, an early long ball over the top caught Timber and Kiwior on their heels, Kiwior looked uncomfortable as his attempted clearance squirmed off of his head into the path of the imposing, immovable figure of Mateta who easily held off Jakub and slid the ball past a surprised Raya. Only 4 minutes on the clock and the Clock End was going bananas.

Arsenal did well to recover from that early blow and Palace maybe didn’t take advantage of the understandably disjointed Gunners, 8 changes from the previous weekend. The Arsenal defence, a back-four that had never played as a unit before was not as secure as we were used to and had its struggles but Kieran Tierney, who’d enjoyed the loudest cheer of the evening during the warm up, was rolling back the years as only he can. He gave it everything until subbed in the 2nd half when the tank was dry.

Arsenal applied some pressure in an effort to find an equaliser but it wasn’t clicking, Nwaneri was struggling to make an impact and wasn’t getting a lot of help from those in front or behind him, Partey wasn’t on his A game. Sterling went close from a free-kick and there were a few scrambles at the Palace end but Henderson looked fairly untroubled between the sticks.

Uncle Jorginho kept probing and looking for an opening but he wasn’t receiving much help from Merino and Ethan. The 1st half ended like a damp squib and Arteta reacted with two key substitutions. Off went Ethan,l – he’ll have much better days – and Partey; on came Big Bill and the Captain.

The impact of Martin and Bill was immediate, the defence reorganised with Timber going right-back and looking far happier and with Saliba cruising around the back four like the Bismark looking to pick off any Palace incursions, Kiwior looked more secure and McTesco just did his thing, it was great to see.

The midfield immediately began to move and generate danger and Palace began to drop deeper, Odegaard and Uncle J encouraged more movement from the forwards, Trossard woke up and was buzzing all over the place, Sterling looked threatening and Jesus was resurrected from his slumber. Sterling should have scored following great work from Tierney and then Jesus finally equalised, a surgical pass from Odegaard sliced open the Palace rearguard and Jesus showed great composure in lifting the ball over the onrushing Henderson, the roof flew off and Arsenal were back in business.

Smart work from Trossard, following another searching Odegaard long pass, saw Jesus swivel and almost score again, GJ was cooking!

Then Saka joined the party replacing Sterling and Lewis Skelly replaced the exhausted Tierney who gave everyone a wave as he left the field, was he saying goodbye? Great work from Odegaard and Timber put Bukayo away and he slid in Jesus who steadied himself before blasting past Henderson.I did hear some comments about it being off-side, but I couldn’t care less.

Palace pushed forward looking for an equaliser leaving Jesus lurking on the halfway line, Odegaard found him, of course he did, and our PL-misfiring Brazilian smashed another past Henderson after running half the length of the pitch – job done.

Eddie scored a consolation for Palace but it was a night for Jesus and we worshipped at his miraculous goalscoring return to form. Where it leads from here is really in the hands of the gods, but the return of our No.9 was like turning water into wine, a nice fruity red.

To be continued….

By Allezkev.

32 thoughts on “Jesus, resurrected from his slumber, turns water into the sweetest, juiciest Red wine. Arsenal Match Review.”

  • Thanks Kev, for a brilliant post. It sparkles with excitement and seasonal bliss. I love the biblical analogies.

    On a dark, damp night 🌙 GJ9 finds his Samba moves again. I had almost forgotten how good his mobility and close ball control are. Wow, what a performance. So happy for him.

    Ode and Saka also really delivered, and it was good to see Martin respond like he did.

  • “Bismark” indeed, Kev. The fella is imperious.
    Fine write up, mate. Glad you mentioned Eddie, that was a cracking header.
    JG is a confidence player (which striker isn’t?) and let’s hope we see him enter the form period of his life and run us into some silverware this season. He’s got to be a starter again at Selhurst.
    Martin got his mojo back (must be sleeping in the spare room). He is such an exquisite footballer.
    Newcastle in the semi’s. I’d have preferred Spuds, especially with Foster in goal.

  • Thanks guys, I really enjoyed the game, the Palace goal encouraged Arsenal to go for it and it made for a very entertaining game, I was delighted for Tierney, the fans were great with him and he showed us what we’ve missed and also what he can do against opponents who play the system Palace employed, if he could only stay fit I’m sure that Arteta could use him. C’est la vie…

    It’s only one game but has all the work he’s done with the attacking coach begun to bear fruit? I noticed how Jesus, when clear on goal would just check himself, he’d stare intently at the goalkeeper, maybe composing himself and then blasted both his 2nd and 3rd goals past the flailing Henderson.

    In the past he tried to do everything at 200mph and trip over his feet, maybe now he’s reinventing himself?

    It’s a long shot but maybe, just maybe Jesus is going to revise the footballer we initially had when he signed, he’s still only what, 27..?

  • Newcastle at the Emirates for the 1st leg Stu and we’ll need at least a two or three goal lead to take up to St James’

  • January is going to be one hell of a intensive month with not only Man Utd FAC, Newcastle LC, Villa, Tottenham, Brentford and Brighton (a) plus two CL games, but Wolves as well – in total 9 games in 29 days……

  • Funnily enough Total I was thinking about Merino myself the other day, he doesn’t really catch the eye so I need to study him more.

    So I’ve not really got an informed opinion on him TA

  • I like him a lot, Kev, but I wonder whether he and Declan are too similar. We need goals and assists in addition to all the other good midfield stuff they do. I think Merino is the sort of player best judged in a stadium.

  • Re: Merino, do you see elements of Granit Xhaka in his game Total because I wonder if that may explain why Arteta pushed so hard for him?

    It is amazing how a player can almost completely change the narrative around himself by scoring some goals ( maybe we really are all that shallow 😉) we saw that in the recent past with Xhaka, we’ve seen it in reverse with Martinelli and even up to a point Rice and now we’ve seen the opposite again with Jesus.

    So maybe Total if Merino scores say 3 goals in the next 6 games, all those questioning him will become believers – for awhile anyway…

  • Lewis Skelly or Califiori, does Arteta stick or twist?

    I’d be inclined to start the game off with Myles, he’s steady, confident and hasn’t let us down, then with Palace hopefully chasing the game throw on the most handsome of Italian defenders to dazzle them with his looks and football skills.

    I’d definitely start Jesus, when a striker is on heat you’ve got to go with him, the Palace defenders will be edgy as will Henderson.

  • Whilst listening to my regular podcasts there is occasionally mention of the extremists who supposedly ‘follow’ our club, namely the odd bods who circle the AFTV brand and the dopes who call phone-in wind-up shows on radio.

    Some have been calling for the sacking of Arteta following the last two EPL draws – not defeats, draws!

    I don’t go on X of any of the other ersatz platforms that ape X so I have no idea how that’s going but it saddens me to see so many stupid people following our club. You like to imagine that Arsenal fans are a bit above that, more sophisticated, more thoughtful, but it seems we have an unfortunately large group of nut jobs pertaining to be ‘Arsenal supporters’.

    The clue is in the title…

  • Kev, I think that Calafiori has more of Granits qualities than Merino, who I see more like a Flamini type. He does remind of Rice too. I think they will both play in deep midfield with license to roam, once Partey, who is having the season of his life at Arsenal, moves on.

    And yes goals always help.

  • Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.

    Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Merino, Nwaneri, Trossard.

    Crystal Palace: Henderson, Cylne, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Hughes, Sarr, Kamada, Mateta.

    Subs: Turner, Ward, Nketiah, Schlupp, Chalobah, Doucoure, Devenny, Kporha,, Agbione.

  • Interesting line up. Havertz at number 8, with JG up top again? Big Gab back to cope with Mateta.

  • Professional job done, and five star 🌟 🌟 goal fest upfront. I was impressed with Martinelli’s job on our right today. Get well soon, Bukayo.

  • Unto us a striker is reborn…

    Oo to, oo to be… Fab performance from all the lads. Another five fest, four from open play, three from the boys from Brazil, two from our reborn number nine. One cloud in Bukuyu’s injury, let’s hope.

    Come on you toffees and spuds.

  • Palace really had a go and put us under a lot of pressure, which is good preparation for Brentford (a) and Brighton (a).

    A few scary moments but our finishing was top top class. The way Jesus stuck his two goals was mesmerising and Rice is so accurate, he just speared it into the far corner.

    My only regret was Jesus not getting his second hat-trick but I’m always pleased to see Havertz score and Martinelli needs goals.

    Saka could be out for three weeks, that’s standard for a hamstring so he’ll miss Newcastle (h) in the FLC, borderline for Man Utd in FAC.

    Martinelli really showed what he can do down the right and having Idegaard behind him brought his game to life, Trossard was vgd on the left. Apparently Sterling picked up a knock in training!

  • Was chatting to Johnno and he spotted how good Lewis Skelly is playing which I concur with completely, we have an absolute gem in young Myles.

    In fact I can see for Myles and Myles and Myles and Myles, oh yeah.

  • I’ve got the same magic in my eyes, Kev. The boy is an absolute gem. He’s not the biggest unit but is tigerish and tenacious. He and Timber share more than a few traits. I understand he’s a midfielder by preference, perhaps the club have another Bukuyu in the ranks.

    I’d bite your hand off for just three weeks. Do you know if it’s the same hammy he did playing for England?

  • I believe it’s the same hamstring Stu, I’m hoping it’s a 3 week jobbie, they got him off sharpish and he’s a quick healer. The problem with hamstrings is once you do them bad, they have a habit of reoccurring.

    Any longer than 3 weeks and it makes January problematic, if Sterling is also out then maybe Arsenal need to bring forward a transfer or two from the summer as we’re at a juncture where we could if we play our cards right have an historic season…

    Interesting to see Ethan deployed, briefly, as a forward, could be an option for Arteta, playing two No.10’s and no striker during periods of games?

    So much for having no Plan B

  • She’s been dead since ’29, Kev. I had Debbie H and Stevie N on my teenage wall.

    Always looked after my hammys, (I was never quick off the mark) a groin tear kept me out for eight frustrating weeks a few years back. Still twinges at training on a cold winters night. I have to wear groin pants, and stretchies on both knees now. Feel like Robocop when I go on the pitch. Smell like a liniment factory.

    I recall Arsene playing Cesc and Tomas R up top for a game or two. Back in that era where he collected number 10’s.

    Sublime bit of music, Total. This is my song of the season. No one does it quite like Mariah: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N9oWi_8vieA

  • I had Linda Lusardi and Samantha Fox on my wall Stu, two fine looking woman – and Boris the spider living somewhere up in the corner of the ceiling and wall.

    Marquinhos returns to Arsenal on January 1st, maybe he can do a GJ9 and resurrect his Arsenal career?

    Apparently Arsenal cannot take anyone else on loan as with Stirling and Neto we have our full quota.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *