Well, aren’t we lucky? A midweek PL game and a great chance to put ourselves six points above the cocky Blue Mancs, who have already declared themselves champions today. Thanks for the Pep-Talk, mate! Arteta can now use this for each game this season.
I don’t know much about Luton but an away fixture on a cold night with a fanatic crowd hoping for a Brentford-like giant-killing, is not to be underestimated.
Unfortunately, we will not see in action the brilliantly named Marvelous Nakamba, tonight. I had been looking forward to that.
I think the lineup is pretty predictable given that there’s no change in our sickbay, and the team is doing so well at the moment. Maybe it will be Havertz for the Tross and White for Tomiyasu, but other than that it should be the same players who frightened off the Wolves.
The real season started yesterday. The interlul disruptions are over and we can look fwd to uninterrupted club football for four months or so. Bliss.
This now is the business end of the season. Time to push, get in the groove, create momentum and make opportunities count. With Pool and Citeh holding each other to a draw, Arsenal had a golden opportunity to go top. But Brentford away is a tough nut to crack, and playing an away game after an interlul is seldom easy, especially with three Brazilians returning late from a painful loss against arch-rivals Argentina.
So there was a great opportunity, a huge away challenge (Brentford were unbeaten in more than a dozen London derbies) and little time to prepare as a full unit for Mikel:how did Arsenal do?
Eight Observations:
Aaron started with living through his, no doubt, recently regularly returning nightmare. We all felt for him. Ramsdale is all about presence, energy and talent. At the base of this needs to be confidence, and this cannot be magicked. He clearly went through hell in the first half but his team mates helped him out. No shouts, no finger pointing, but hugs and love. Togetherness, kindness and positivety are the answer to everything. Humans can move mountains when they are in that space. VCC. Result: the Ram had a great second half.
Reading the game is what great footballers do differently from mere good ones. Zinchenko’s goal line clearance and especially Rice’s were the result of that precious attribute. Declan had another quietly demanding game. He gets everywhere and makes it looks simple; he rules like a Kutuzov rather than a bombastic, self-adoring Napoleon, and that makes him such a fine human being. He has got his fellow players’ back as a result of this.
Bukayo does not like to be imprisoned. Space and movement is what he loves but opponents study him, try to shackle and disrupt him. But the Buk doesn’t stop there: he keeps trying without wasting energy unnecessarily. He knows he will get a moment or two to make the difference. Nine assists are already in his backpack and last night he produced one of his finest ones to date. He made space for himself and looked up, and his silky left foot delivered one of those passes every forward dreams off. Late in the game with tired legs and heads, Saka delivered and that’s what makes him so fecking special. A very cool, intelligent head on a young, very strong body.
Kai the Killer. Yes, last night Havertz finally found his inner beast and delivered a goal in open play. He met Saka’s peach of a cross with the venom of a striker in top form, nutmeging the impressive Flekken in the process. Oh how sweet and precious that goal was for him and for us all!
Arteta tried to give Martinelli and Jesus some extra support by pushing the Tross into the hole behind the attackers. The Ode had therefore more freedom to aid the attack wherever he felt he could add the most value. They did not crack the Brentford walls as well as hoped for beforehand, but they managed to find a few chinks in the armor nevertheless, and Leandro was very, very unlucky to see his goal chalked off for having a few toes apparently off-site. A work in progress, but playing with these four attackers more often is a very exciting prospect.
Gabriel Jesus still does not look at ease to me. He looks grumpy and irritated, and his touch and passing are off. Rather than creating chaos and despair in the opposition’s box, he seems to be creating it for himself and his team mates at the moment. Now that the international games are over for a while and he is fully fit again, we should start seeing a calmer and more effective, yet ferocious and effective central forward again.
Next to the joy of watching our superb duo of central defenders strutting their stuff, I also enjoyed our full backs yesterday. Tomiyasu is a cult warrior and Zinchenko had a decent game defensively, whilst contributing well in midfield and attack. There is a lot of feeling in his left foot and we need to make more use of it.
The eight observation I will leave up to you; I have nothing left to say. 🙂
Arsenal have almost played 1/3 PL games and so we should be able to come to some early conclusion about our chances this season. The Spuds and Aston Villa are hanging in there, but I expect the title race to become a three-horse one over the next 8-10 games. Pool have almost got identical stats to Arsenal, with just one more goal scored (27 v 26), equal number of goals conceded (10) and equal number of games won, lost and drawn (8-1-3). Citeh are one point above us with nine wins, one draw and two losses. They scored six more than Arsenal but also conceded two more.
Citeh have to play Pool, Spuds and Villa in the next three rounds, and this may give us an opportunity to move above them. Of course there is no such thing as an easy game in the PL, and the best thing to do is simply focusing on our own games on an OGAAT basis. Pool, who have a decent set of games coming up after they have played Citeh on Saturday, have, like Arsenal, a good opportunity to collect a lot of points in the next six+ games. They may well become our nearest rivals for a while.
After three inter-lulls, the season will now truly start and it’s Hammer-time as they used to say in F1 races when Lewis Hamilton had a car he could compete in. Arteta and the boys will need to get the bit between their teeth and power forward.
The first 12 games have shown that we can defend very well, although for some reason we have let in goals at home too often. If the team can get this right, then the defence is as strong as any in the PL, and give us a real edge. I thought they were awesome and against the Oil-dripping Barcodes this month.
Midfield is getting stronger and stronger and Rice-baby has just been a joy to watch. A fit Thomas Partey would be very, very welcome, especially when we play Pool at the end of December. Jorginho adds a lot to the team and I somehow feel that Kai will start settling in next month. The big question is whether the Ode can get back to his best and shrug off his injuries now: let’s flipping hope so!
Attack has been a bit of an issue at times. We lack a bit of bite up-front at times, or is it fluency? When Jesus plays we certainly have an extra dimension to our attack; something Eddie just struggles to offer to us. But Gabriel looks now injury-prone and a title-winning team needs a CF who can play week in, week out. Eddie has still done a very good job, and so has my favourite, the versatile Trossard. If we can add a fine CF in January then that would be the icing on the proverbial, of course.
Finally, I would like to talk about Arsenal finest guns on show: Bukayo and Martinelli. They have not had as good a service as they got during last season with Odegaard and Xhaka just brilliantly spreading the ball as they saw fit. This season, at times, we have looked static, lack creativity and are too slow as a result. Still, Saka and Martinelli have given us an edge in almost all games and the better the service they will get – and that includes movement and continuous threat from our CF – the more they will shine.
So my question to you, fine fellow Gooners, is what would you like Arteta to do to get the balance right in our attacking game so we can start scoring more goals (especially against the park the bus/ low block teams)?
The month of October is nearly over, and it has been a busy one for me. I had little time to write posts but was still able to watch all the games and witness the establishment of Arsenal’s backbone for the season – and maybe many more seasons to come. This backbone is the most wonderful thing to witness for us Arsenal supporters.
I am a huge believer in OGAAT but also realise that a team has to brace and spare itself sometimes. It was obvious that we did this when we played Lens in the CL: a big, big game v Man City was up next and the boys were holding back a bit. Many second balls fell to Lens players and this happened simply because they wanted it more. Still Arsenal started well in that game and scored the first goal, but when there was a bit of adversary the team did not seem to lift itself as it so often is able to do. Ultimately, the players knew (deep down) that they could afford to lose that game, but the one up next v Guardiola’s Oilers was simply a game we had to get a result. One Game at a Time is a great and necessary principle, but sometimes a manager and a team just have plan for the much more important game.
I think something similar happened v the Chavs. They were winning the battles in midfield too often and we seemed to lack our usual intensity. We then had a bit of adversity – the penalty caused by Tequila’s handball – and had to dig really, really deep to still get a result. The reason for starting so calculated rather than full-blooded might well have been our game v Sevilla that was up next. With playing Sevilla away and then home again, it was really important to get a result in Spain first. Would we lose that game, progress in the CL would have been much under threat: it simply was a must not lose, ideally go and win, game. Our boys played with much more intensity in that game compared to the one at Stamford Bridge, and once again it all made sense: choose your battles, resources and tactics carefully. The season is long, and to win the war not every battle has to be won. Our manager and players are more mature now.
To be on equal points with Citeh at the end of October, after playing the likes of Man City, Man U, Chelsea, Spuds already, is a great achievement. The team is still gelling and learning to live without Granit on the left – who, btw, is doing very well with Leverkusen in the Bundesliga – and embedding Havertz and Rice. Up-front and in attacking midfield we still lack the automatisms of last season: too much is expected of Ode in the middle and Saka on the right. Teams know what to expect from us and we have to work much harder to find the openings and move the game from left to right, and right to left, whilst also carrying a threat through the middle. It will come and ESR may well be the answer to the vacuum left by Xhaka.
The left is so important and not only do we miss Xhaka, we also miss Jurrien Timber, who was impressive on this wing from the start but sadly got badly injured. Zinchenko is clearly struggling in the Left-Back-Come-Extra-Midfielder role for which he lacks physicality and passing ability. Luckily, we have Tomiyasu who is so solid and enthusiastic and becoming a cult-hero at THoF.
The other good thing is that Martinelli is starting to regain his top-form, but for this to continue we need Gabriel Jesus to stay fit and play regularly with his fellow countryman.
Ultimately, it all needs to be gelled together on the left by an attacking midfielder, and I hope that Kay or Emile will fill the gap as soon as possible.
The really, really good thing, though, is that Declan Rice has given us such a thickening of our backbone since joining us, and this more than compensates for our current little struggle on the left side.
I have always believed that Rice would be a replacement for Thomas Partey rather than Granit, and I think this is obvious now. Rice offers something that is so rare to find all in one player: drive, tacit knowledge of the game Mikel wants us to play, a great engine, a nose for where the danger is, extra drive when others are starting to tire, leadership, hunger, and a great, great love for playing football and leave it all on the pitch. This intrinsic, passionate motivation to give his all combined with his footballing qualities and intelligence, is making a real difference this season.
Declan, but also Raya, Gabriel, Saliba, Odegaard, Saka, White and Tomiyasu (and a few others) simply through their continuous development, are giving Arsenal a very impressive backbone. It will take something to break this team and beat it, and this is what will make us title contenders again this season.
By TotalArsenal.
Something quite different:
I know some of you have been following my daughter’s band No Windows’ journey, and I have some great news. No Windows won the coveted award of ‘The Sound of Young Scotland 2023’ last Thursday.
After what seemed an eternally long interlull, Arsenal are back in action v the Chavs today. Yippee! It is seldom easy playing an away game after an international break, especially not when the team has to play an opponent that recently started to find some form and confidence again. Arsenal’s visit to the Bridge will be a challenge for the boys, of that I am sure.
As usual, the club remain vague about injuries to some of our key players: Bukayo, Leandro and William did not play for their nations and it is unclear whether they will play today. Good wing play makes all the difference in attack, and I guess that if Bukayo and Leandro do not start, which I am anticipating, it is likely to be Martinelli and Jesus instead of them, with Eddie central. Two of the Brazilian Gabriels played a full game v Uruguay on Wednesday (a 2-0 loss), so I am hoping that they will not be too tired to star tonight.
Not starting with Saliba would probably be the worst scenario of the three injury-doubts. We can usually nick a goal or two, so being solid at the back is vital once again. The really good news is that we can play both Rice and Partey in midfield today, which should give us the edge, especially if the Ode is able to continue his fine form pre-break. At left back we will probably see Zinchenko, although I would prefer Tomiyasu there.
Although selecting the right players is important, much more important is to play with energy, passion and focus throughout the 90+ minutes. Will we have those three critical qualities on the pitch today? If so, Arsenal will win; if not, we will struggle.
What to say about this game that has not been said already? We can talk about the line-up, but it’s so hard to tell whether Saka or indeed Partey will be fit enough to play. We could talk about the GK who will start today, and who would replace Bukayo if indeed he does not start. I am going to leave it all to Mikel, and of course you may fellow bloggers.
It is important not to lose today for obvious reasons, and a win would be sweet, very, very sweet. Yet, I don’t believe this game will determine much at this stage of the season. Citeh, as we have seen tend to finish strong and we have only just started. I think we will benefit psychologically from winning or even not losing, and we owe it to ourselves to turn our excellent recent home games against them into a result this time round.
Preferred Line-Up:
Raya
Partey-Sal-Gab-Tomi
Rice
Ode-Havertz
Saka/Nelson-Jesus-Tros
That is possibly our strongest starting line-up with Timber out.
So it is Bournemouth tomorrow and possibly another banana skin in waiting. We have injuries and it is all quite unclear who will be available for tomorrow. Injuries are of course part of the game but the biggest worry is always losing multiple players for a key position. It looks like Declan will still be unfit and Partey is certainly out, and that means we may have to use Jorginho in the deeper midfield role once again. He may not be the fastest and is prone to a mistake or two in the game, but I still like the friendly and gifted Italian. We also have multiple injuries on the wings with Tross and Marti definitely out and Saka still a fitness-doubt. Salibaaah is a further fitness doubt. So all fun and games.
Hopefully one or two of the above will recover before the game, otherwise we will be a bit thin on the ground. I have a lot of respect for Bournemouth that just keeps punching above its weight 🏋️ . The home fans and players will love these games more than any other: nothing to lose but always capable of an upset; low expectations and it is always nice to ‘see the Arsenal’.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
Tomi-White-Big Gab-Zinch
Jorginho
The Ode – Havertz
Saka – Jesus – Nelson
Come on You Rip Roaring Gunners!!
Now, you know I am a big believer in OGAAT – One Game At A Time – and today Mikel summed up this approach better than I ever did:
“It’s about now. It’s about Bournemouth, and this is the most important game that we have now in the season. That’s it.”
It is the NLD and the Spuds are coming to THOF. Both teams are in great form and a win today would be extra sweet. We don’t really know how our opponents will play, but post-Kane they look different and have started well.
However much I despise the team with the skinny chicken on the ball, I must admit I like Postecoglu. Finally the silly Spuds have gotten themselves a manager who knows his stuff, is humble and gets the best out of players: quite a difference from the Conte and Mourinho days. Of course, it’s early days and a red and white thumping today may yet unsettle the manager and the fans, but it looks like they have got something to build on now.
Arsenal had a great game against naïve PSV. If only we could have as much as space and time as we had on Wednesday in every game, hey?! This turned out to be a great practice game even though it was the CL season-opener. What was especially pleasing to the eye was both our defensive calm v a rampant Eindhoven attacking line-up and the quality of our finishing. The shots were like snooker-game long-pots: you could almost hear the satisfying sound of the pockets sucking the balls in. Saka pounced on his opportunity and used his weaker foot to put a diagonal placed shot past the keeper; The Tross exquisitely riffled a shot past the keeper’s left from the edge of the box after a precise lay-off by Bukayo; from acres of space and time, Jesus put a hard diagonal in the same corner Bukayo had scored in, and; in the second half, Martin Odegaard cued a technically perfect shot, also from just outside the box, to beat the keeper at his left once more. It was slick, precise and deadly, and the boys are ready to peel the Spuddies today.
We have seen Arsenal struggling to get the attacking game going in the PL, but we also really loved our sturdiness at the back. Today we need both, attack and defence, to be at their best to secure the win and three points. It looks like the Spuds will play with two deeper midfielders, Sarr and Bissouma, with Son up-front. In between these three they are likely to play the creative, attacking trio of Maddison, Kulusevski and Solomon. We all know that Maddison has a good shot from distance and is good with set-pieces, Kulusevski has been a good signing for the Spuds and Son may well do well, especially now he is no longer in the shade of half-moon-faced Kane. I guess we will see Hojberg, more than a half-decent deep-laying midfielder, at the start or at some point later, too.
We need , as almost always, to control that midfield to win this game and I reckon today is the game we all start to appreciate Havertz a lot more. As Kev said in the previous post, Kai covers a lot of space and links up the lines as such. He has good defensive qualities too and passes the ball well. He will need to support Declan AND the Ode today as both will be targeted, no doubt.
Arsenal can play some awesome football but, at the moment, it’s the pre-Wenger spirit of winning with 1-0 to the Arsenal that’s keeping us on top. Resilience, grit, being hard to beat rather than flamboyance and style. I like it: without it we just will not have a chance to win the League this season.
Eight observations:
David Raya I salute you: confident on the ball and in the air, what a debut! He may not have had much to do but he did everything with composure and confidence; and that rubbed off on the rest of the defence. His distribution was also faultless. Class.
Everton had one player who I reckon will give their Arsenal counterpart a run for their money if he was signed: Vitalii Mykelenko. This 24 year old Ukrainian I would happily swap with his fellow countryman at our left. The Zinch is too much of a chancer for me in his passing: he lacks composure and accuracy. Yes now and again he produces a peach of a pass but too often he loses the ball for us. Mykelenko really impressed for Everton, just as he did v England a week ago. One to watch.
Trossard may well become our super-sub this season. It was sad for Martinelli that both his goal was chalked off and he had to leave the field with a hamstring injury, but the Tross made us forget him. The really good thing about Leandro is his technical ability. He works hard, and is a good passer of the ball, but his biggest asset is his shooting accuracy. I love this guy.
This was a hard game for Eddie. With a deep block by the opposition we need movement and ability to hold on to the ball everywhere. Eddie is best when running into space or when we create lots of balls into the box: sooner or later Eddie is in the right place and boom he scores. But, as the whole team struggled to create momentum and chaos in the opposition’s box, Eddie just could not give us a bit of edge today.
I think we can put to bed that Arteta is not going to rotate the team this season. Starting with Raya, Eddie and Vieira is a sign that he will mix and match players more now. Let’s see what will happen on Wednesday, but I reckon we will see at least four changes then.
Saka is not yet as his peak this season, but he still manages to produce; two goals and two assists in 5 PL games is a sign of quality. I like it that he does not try to force things. Bukayo is so calm and always keen to find that one moment…. and he did so again with his assist for Trossard.
The refereeing was once again poor. It was all about Arsenal not liking it when they get roughed up, and the referee was loving Everton doing it. On top of that the commentary was proverbially poor and lazy. Luckily, we won and can move on to the next game.
Well done, Mikel. The subs were spot and you clearly had the team prepared to focus for 90+ minutes. I like it that we are slightly behind Citeh: they are the ones being chased by a pack and we are one of the wolves. The press will keep loving Guardiola’s team, and they would love us to be ahead and do the whole ‘Looks who is behind you, Arsenal’ rhetoric, so let’s stay close and keep grinding out results. It is a long season and nothing else but OGAAT matters. Bring on Eindhoven finest!
For some bizarre reason our trips to Goodison Park have been a tough toffee to swallow in recent years. The last three visits there all ended in a loss, and yet historically we have such a good record against them in the PL. I don’t like playing an away game straight after an interlull: players return on different days, possible injuries need to be assessed, and rather than settle back in at the home of football the team has to travel somewhere straightaway.
But Citeh and Pool had to do it and they won their games today, and Arsenal have to do the same on Sunday. Everton have made a poor start and are in a dire situation all together, but they will want to bounce back and what do they really have to lose playing us? They know Arsenal have struggled there recently, and it will give the home team a bit of much needed confidence, no doubt.
So we all know that the boys need to show a ruthless streak and stay focused for 90+ minutes. This is a must win game for more than one reason. Will we have the backbone for this? I think we do, and the team have shown already that they know how to grind out a result and fight for every ball. Yet, we are without warrior Partey and others will have to step up. The good news is that Jesus is properly back and he will be much needed to crack the Toffees’ deep-lying defence and give us that extra dimension in attack.
Further good news is that Elneny is back in training after a long injury. Will he play a few minutes tomorrow?
I am glad we have Eddie in the team but with Jesus we really have more zip to our play; we become more unpredictable and the likes of Odegaard and Havertz will likely benefit from this. Martinelli seems to play much better when Gabby is on the pitch too. Everton will likely play us on the counter and hope for goals from set-pieces. We know what to expect and only a fully professional performance will see take three points down the M6 and M1.
Bergkampesque 