Bergkampesque

Arsenal v Liverpool August 24, 2019

 Liverpool FC’s origins lie with their neighbours Everton. Founded in 1878, Everton moved to Anfield in 1884, a facility owned by the club’s president, John Houlding, a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool. In 1892 a dispute arose between Houlding and the Everton board of directors, over the club’s tenancy of the ground. The annual rent had risen from £100 in 1884 to £250 in 1892; Houlding wanted to sell the ground to the club, which in turn wished to agree a long-term rental. Houlding would only agree to this on the basis of a rent at a level unacceptable to the club.

Negotiations having failed, the directors decided to leave Anfield and find another ground, leaving Houlding with an empty stadium. His response was to form a new football club to occupy the stadium. He attempted to retain the team name “Everton” by registering the name “Everton Football Club and Athletic Grounds Company, Limited” with Companies House, but the Football League decided that the name belonged to the departed Everton club, which acquired new premises at Goodison Park. Houlding therefore adopted the name “Liverpool Football Club” for his new venture.

Liverpool have an inspirational manager in Jurgen Klopp; he literally drives Liverpool, his passionate antics on the touchline display his love for the game and he urges his team forward. His players have responded to his management style with their performances, which resulted in them winning the 2018/19 Champions League (their 6^th) and finishing 2^nd in the Premier League after losing only one game and ending up only one point behind the Champions – Manchester City.

We have a miserable away record at Anfield where we win only one out of every four games, currently we are on a six game winless streak our last victory (0-2) was on September 2^nd 2012. One winless but very memorable game took place on April 21st, 2009 when Andrey Arshavin scored all four of our goals in a 4-4 draw.

I fear that our porous defence will once again be our Achilles heel at Anfield: we have conceded 22 goals in our last six visits, 9 in our last two.

I wish I could write something more positive but the difference between the two teams is very evident and our past record at Anfield speaks for itself. Liverpool also have, in my opinion, the best set of supporters in the Premier League.

Arsenal v Liverpool All – Away Games
Division	W	D	L	GF	GA
Div 2	0	0	2	0	5
Div 1	18	11	37	75	125
EPL	6	8	13	31	59
Total :	24	19	52	106	189

Here is our complete Premier League record.

Arsenal v Liverpool EPL – Away Games
Date	W	D	L	GF	GA
23-Aug-92	1			2	0
02-Oct-93		1		0	0
28-Aug-94			1	0	3
23-Dec-95			1	1	3
19-Aug-96			1	0	2
06-May-98			1	0	4
22-Aug-98		1		0	0
28-Aug-99			1	0	2
23-Dec-00			1	0	4
23-Dec-01	1			2	1
29-Jan-03		1		2	2
04-Oct-03	1			2	1
28-Nov-04			1	1	2
14-Feb-06			1	0	1
31-Mar-07			1	1	4
28-Oct-07		1		1	1
21-Apr-09		1		4	4
13-Dec-09	1			2	1
15-Aug-10		1		1	1
03-Mar-12	1			2	1
02-Sep-12	1			2	0
08-Feb-14			1	1	5
21-Dec-14		1		2	2
13-Jan-16		1		3	3
04-Mar-17			1	1	3
27-Aug-17			1	0	4
29-Dec-18			1	1	5
Total :	6	8	13	31	59

Regardless of the facts I still hope we see an entertaining game and that Arsenal finds a way to turn the record book upside down.

GunnerN5

With hundreds of millions in turnover every year, Arsenal football club needs responsible leadership and a value-based custodian. In an ideal world the club is owned by the supporters and the leadership – selected by the supporters – acts on the supporters’ needs and aspirations, both short term and long term. This model is near impossible at Arsenal now and the next good thing is a majority shareholder who is in it for the long term, respects the club’s history and values and have high ambitions for silverware.

Bergkampesque is an independent blog and is not financed by anybody or advertising. It is focused on the beauty of the Arsenal game and not afraid to give our version of the truth. 🙂 I have always said that I liked the way the club is managed and had nothing to complain about. We have a financial self-sustaining model and are developing exciting youth players, buy one or two top quality players every season (recently more) and don’t sell our best players anymore unless it makes sense.

To further support this view, I (TotalArsenal) am putting up a link up of a BBC interview with Josh Kroenke and the rest of the post is a comment made by GoonerEris re the custodianship of the club:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49401513

Goonereris’ recent comment:

The criticism of Kroenke for a “lack of investment” or “paying himself huge dividends” have been so misplaced, and I don’t say that in the euphoria of this window but just on the facts.

Since buying up a 62.9% stake in the club in mid-2011 (up from 29.99% he had acquired since 2008), the club started a gradual re-build and investment in people and technology like it had never done. By the close of the summer (transfer window) of 2013/14 season, Arsenal had spent more on players than it did in the last 10 years before his acquisition of a clear majority stake. That means within 3 years of his taking control, we spent more on players than we did for a decade.
The argument may be made that the period coincided with the rising player fees and that Arsenal were restricted in spending because of the stadium project, but the facts are the facts. Plus, we had the restrictions placed by repaying loans from the stadium project up until 2016, and still haven’t completed repayment of the loan, anyway.

As for the accusation of dividend payments, that was a farce as it turned out. The club has held onto a policy of no dividend taking, up until the man got full control (now, we can’t know and shouldn’t care since he owns the club, entirely, in effect). At the start of 2014 year, a £3m payment to one of his companies for Advisory/Consultancy services was seen by the AST as him taking out money and though the club defended it as a mere token considering the extent of beneficial consultancy services (re-jig of our commercial play, expansion of sources of revenues, Data analytics, new fan base build-up, etc.) received from the company, the payment was stopped.

Fact is Stan Kroenke has defied the naysayers and stayed the course, respecting the club’s philosophies and values, in the face of growing pressure to become a sugar daddy owner. I have always felt, if and when the times call for it, he is unlikely to hold back personal funds to support the club. The fans need to give him a chance. Sorry, that was a bit long but I have had to make this case to someone years back and assured him we will have successes under this owner, if we stay patient.

 

By TA / Goonereris

LUMPING THE BALL FORWARD IS A CAR CRASH!

There are a lot of Arsenal fans who have gone as far as demanding that Emery should abandon the tactics of playing out from the back. They want goal kicks lumped forward. I sympathies but such fans are only over responding to their fears of the moment, seeing only the moment instead of the larger picture. If the tactical and statistical advantages of playing out of the back are better understood, the fears of the moment becomes easier to manage.

Study has shown that about 70% of plane passengers fear to fly, but are able to manage their fear because they know that the odds are very much in their favour. For example according to the US Census Data one’s chances of dying in a plane crash is 1:205,552. Note that the chances of dying in a car accident is 1:102. Yet we feel so cosy inside cars, so cosy lumping the ball forward.

In statistics, models are built on large samples. For example in the two matches played so far this season we have taking 21 goal kicks (terrible compared to City’s 8). At that rate (I believe it will come down) we would have taken 399 goal kicks in the PL by the end of the season. That’s potentially 399 playing out of the back. Brace up for it, there’s likely going to be two or three crashes but the benefits from playing out of the back would overwhelmingly outweigh the cost. Already this season Adrian and Ndidi of Liverpool and Leicester respectively have blundered but Klopp and Brendan Rogers are never going to begin to lump the ball forward. In modern football, lumping it forward as the go to is nothing short of a car crash.

To understand the science behind playing out of the back you have to look at the whole field. We have a goal kick. Auba and Laca, ever drifting into spaces, stay on the shoulders of the opposition back line. Even though we normally play out of the back, the opposition knows that any moment Leno or Luiz or some one else could go long. Therefore they put at least 3 men on Laca and Auba knowing that 2 on 2 is bad defending.

In our box area the opposition would have 3 players (usually) pressing our 2 central defenders and a central midfielder, but we have a 4th man who is not an outfield player, Leno. That means we always have a free man to pass to. If one of them decides to press Leno, then one of our 3 outfielders engaged in playing out of the back is free. We now have 3 of their outfielders against 2 of ours around our box.

Sum the numbers at their defensive line and at our box area and we have 6 of theirs engaging 4 of ours. Automatically in the middle patch of the field we have 6 players against their 4. That is a whopping 50% overload and that is the name of the whole game: overload in the middle, easier transition.

50% overload at the middle patch of the field for 399 times in a season from goal kicks would fetch many goals. So it’s easy to discount the 2 or 3 that it would cost us and to discount the nerves. Nobody knows the flight that would crash not even Pep the Master, but what the master knows so well is how sweet the odds are.

No doubt one of the big reasons Luiz was acquired is to bring the calmness and the confidence that are essential to that process to the team. These days defenders must be good with the ball at their feet, calm and assured in their passing of the ball. That is exactly why Holding is being missed, not because of his tackling numbers or his pace. The lack of it is also why the guy with the our best defensive numbers is out in the cold. People wonder about Mavro. He is fantastic defensively but they say he is nervous with his passing. The coaches are working hard on him.

By road or by air? Get me a flight ticket please.

By PE.

This is a quick and dirty post to discuss how we can beat Pool in Saturday. I like to get your tactical views and ideal formations: the more the better!

I watched the Pool v Chavs game last Wednesday and saw the West-Londoners making it really hard for the Champions League winners. How did they do it? By placing a solid wall of three ALLROUND midfielders in front of the defence and keeping the side-doors – especially the one on their left – firmly shut.

If we want to have a chance on Saturday Arsenal will need to do  the same. Klopp’s Liverpool (but also his predecessor’s) love nothing more than combining through the middle and open up opponents for fun. If that is not so easy they will happily go the flanks, and especially their right flank, where an Egyptian football pharaoh rules the land, is the go-to-area. The difference between us and the Chavs is we have some awesome firepower to cause the Pool defence some real worries, and so, if we play it well, have a real chance to get something from this game.

The line-up I would pick is:

Ceballos-Xhaka-Torreira protect the defence when Pool pushes us back into our own half. As soon as we got the ball we have the midfielders to pass our way out of the press OR put one quickly over the top to the hungry horses of Auba and Pepe (or Laca – whoever is the fittest on the day). Key is also to play Ozil in the hole who can hold up the ball for our midfielders and attackers to move forward and find that killer pass easiest of all. If Ozil is not available, Ceballos can pay in the hole and Willock can partner Xhaka and Torreira in midfield.

The full backs have to play at the highest level and I would  go for Mustafi for this one. As a full back I reckon his occasional mistake will harm us less, but in terms of energy and experience he is just ahead of Ainsley for this cracker of a game.

Over to you!

By TotalArsenal.

Another hard fought win against a team that is likely to end in the bottom six by the end of the season. There were plenty of individual positives to take from this game and the biggest one is of course the three points, but it had me also quite worried, especially with big games v top-six contenders coming up.

We struggled playing out from the back all game long and this was mainly to do with the lack of cohesion in midfield. Nobody of Guendouzi, Willock and Ceballos was playing the Xhaka role and it showed. The Clarets had 18! shots – two more than Arsenal – in an away game of which five were on target (Arsenal had nine shots on target though).

Emery also saw a need to improve things (as per his post match interview with the BBC): “We didn’t control the game as much as we wanted. We need to improve. Each match is giving us a lot of information. I think we can do better. We lost some easy balls at times, but in general we can be proud of our first match here“.

Luckily, Emery instructed our players to push up and keep Burnley as much as possible in their own half during the break; so our second half, as so often with our new manager, was much better. This meant we had to play significantly less build-up footie from the back and that suited us, given the absence of both Xhaka and Mesut.

For the usual observations I have not got too much to add to the ones of last week – and in the below player ratings you will still read a few – but one thing is clear IF we play like we did v NU and Burnley we will get punished mercilessly in the two upcoming games.

Leno: 7 – less calm than usual but with the aerial threat of the Clarets and a new CB in front of him this was to be expected.

Nacho: 7 – captain today and a decent defensive performance. Worked hard to be involved in all areas.

Luiz: 8 – Man of the Match (together with Ceballos). Good positioning and calm but extravert leadership of the defence. Must have been quite shocked with our lack of dominance and limited passing ability in our own half. But his experience and positivity made a difference and for me he was our best player on the pitch.

Sok: 7 – Had to work hard especially v aerial menace Barnes. I expected more joined leadership with Luiz from him but Big Sok put in a performance and helped us in keeping the damage to the one goal.

Ainsley: 7 – similar to Nacho’s performance.

Willock and Guendouzi: 6.5 and that is me taking into account their age. They tried hard and both had good moments but failed to dominate the midfield and allow us to pass out the ball from the back in a controlled way. This is of course a new partnership and it will take time to flourish, but today it was below par and the main reason we struggled against Burnley.

Ceballos: 8 – Man of the Match (together with Luiz): worked hard to connect midfield with attack and help out in deeper midfield. He clearly enjoyed himself with some fine Santi-esque twists and turns and wonderful ball control. He also had two assists which will do him really good.

Nelson: 6.5 – very unlucky not to score (assister Nacho ruled offsite). Clearly a work in progress and we need more penetration from him but I liked his work rate. Missed Iwobi today.

Laca: 7.5 – scored a superb, individual goal and worked hard.

Auba: 7.5 – same as Laca.

Subs:

Pepe: 7 – keen to get involved and some fine ball control and passes to his fellow attackers. Needs to start a game soon.

Kola & Torreira – 6. Didn’t see enough of them to comment.

By TotalArsenal.

A winning team needs an unbreakalbe spine: from defence to attack we need men with character and pride, quality and passion.

I reckon Arsenal will be able to field its almost strongest possible spine, if not strongest, tomorrow; only Holding is still missing, who may well be able to dislodge either Luiz or Big Sok in the ‘Spine of Champions’. In this spine I have for now Torreira but he may well be displaced by either Ceballos or the pre-season mega-surprise, JW28, anytime soon.

There has been a rumour that Xhaka is not fully fit and, would you believe it, there are some ‘supporters’ out there in the blogosphere who are rejoicing in this, but I saw him in the training pictures and fully expect Unai’s (and Wenger and anybody else who knows anything about football) ‘first player on the team sheet’, and captain, to play.

Here is the line-up I am hoping to see v the Clarets: 

Emery may not start with these eleven and give one or two more youngsters a chance, but eventually we should end up with these players on the pitch, subject to late fitness checks. Xhaka is our pivot in the team and the arrival of Luiz, who can quickly move forward with the ball and join Xhaka in midfield (like Holding likes to do too), or even swap with him to keep our defensive shape, will help him to be less relied on to make play from the back. It will give us an extra dimension that we have been missing. Xhaka and Luiz will understand each other as they both have great strategic awareness, and I expect their on-field partnership to flourish.

The other player who is very mobile in the spine is of course Mesut Ozil: the one who gives us that added dimension to our football. He will come and get the ball of Xhaka and Torreira whenever they are forced to sit deep, or indeed get the ball of Luiz to continue a quick penetration of enemy lines. Oh how we missed Mesut’s use of space and control of the ball against the Barcodes last weekend, so great news to have him back now!

Furthermore, the one who plays next to our central playmaker in midfield, either Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos or Warrior Willock, will also need to be mobile up and down the spine and yet protect the team’s shape and defence continuously. To get this right is Emery’s biggest challenge this season, and I must say I loved Willock’s performances in this role during pre-season.

And if that is not enough mobility for you, we have of course our ferocious workhorse, player of the season and homme de beaucoup de merite, Lacazette, to complete the spine-mobility with his runs up and down the opponent’s half (and beyond if required).

All together, Leno – Luiz/Sok – Xhaka/Torreira – Ozil – Laca, they give us a very strong spine and I  see these players – give a change or two during the season – as the bedrock of the team.

All it needs is a couple of fast and effective wings, and it is great news the club have invested in this with the arrivals of Tierney, Pepe and Martinelli. What a squad we have and let’s hope we see this spine in action tomorrow.

COYRRGs!

By TotalArsenal.

 

Arsenal v Burnley August 17, 2019 

Burnley Football Club began life as the ‘Burnley Rovers’ rugby club and became Burnley Football Club in 1882. They moved to their Turf Moor home shortly afterwards, at the invitation of the town’s cricket club.

Our very first game against Burnley was an away FA Cup game on February 1^st 1896 which we lost 6-1. FA Cup campaigns gave way to organised football in 1888 with the foundation of the Football League – and since then Burnley have claimed many major honours. The first honour was a Second Division title in 1897-98 and the club’s improved fortunes were finally reflected in an FA Cup Final triumph at The Crystal Palace in 1914, with a 1-0 win against Liverpool coming just months before the outbreak of the Great War.

Following the War, the Clarets continued to make their mark on the domestic game and in the 1920-21 season the team enjoyed a remarkable unbeaten run of 30 league matches as they led the club to an inaugural First Division title, having been runners-up the previous season. 

That magnificent league record stood for over 80 years, until being battered by Arsenal in the 2003/04 season. 

Our first home game against Burnley was in Division 2 on April 2^nd, 1898 and ended in a 1-1 draw, our goal was scored by Fergus Hunt (1897-1903).  Arsenal’s starting eleven that day were: Roger Ord, John Caldwell, Alex McConnell, Gavin Crawford, John Anderson, Fred Davis, James Brock, Adam Haywood, Fergus Hunt, David Hannah and William White (this game was played 121 years ago and I just couldn’t resist putting the team’s names in print). Burnley went on to win the Div 2 title losing only two games – Arsenal finished in 5^th place which was their highest league position to that date.

We have met Burnley at home on 48 occasions and we have only lost 9 games.

Arsenal v Burnley – All home game results
	W	D	L	GF	GA
Division 2	4	1	0	17	3
Division 1	21	8	9	77	43
Premier	5	0	0	16	3
Total:	30	9	9	110	49

Our Premier League home record is close to impeccable winning all 5 games played and conceding only 3 goals.

Arsenal v Burnley – EPL home game results
		W	D	L	GF	GA
1	06-Mar-10	1			3	1
2	01-Nov-14	1			3	0
3	22-Jan-17	1			2	1
4	06-May-18	1			5	0
5	22-Dec-18	1			3	1
Total:		5	0	0	16	3

Burnley started the season very strongly with a 3-0 victory over Southampton at Turf Moor. Their striker Ashley Barnes led their scoring with 2 goals and will need to be watched closely at The Emirates.

Sean Dyche is an excellent manager and is sure to make it a difficult game for Arsenal. On Barnes performance Dyche noted: “I have great admiration for him. This pre-season he didn’t score a goal and he looked hungry for it. “The first goal was a fantastic touch and finish, it was great skill. His second finish was sublime, it’s a brilliant ball by Erik Pieters, but when centre-forwards finish like that it looks easy. It’s not easy when the ball is coming over your shoulder like that.”

Enjoy the game.

By GunnerN5

 

A few days ago I, TA, asked BKers to predict the PL top-six at the end of the season. Admir was the only one not predicting a top-four finish for the mighty red and white, and today’s post is an explanation for his reluctance to do so. Most of us tend to will Arsenal higher than a cool analysis of Arsenal’s and our competitors’ positions would permit, and I know Admir as a very analytical blogger with an eye for historic trends and relevant statistics, so I think we should take his views seriously – even though I hope he is very, very wrong! 🙂

These are Admir’s analyses of the six most likely contenders for the top-six (based on final positions by the season’s end):

1. Man City – they have incredible attacking variety. So many ballers (two Silvas, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling, Gündogan), one of the finest strikers Premier League has ever seen (Agüero) and a defence without (too) weak points. In the last 77 games they have won 65 (84%!), drawn 6 and lost 6. That’s mental and virtually impossible to match. Their attack is so good that they turn draws into victories on a regular basis and that was the main difference between them and Liverpool in the last campaign (Liverpool lost just one game to City’s four but City won 32 to Liverpool’s 30). The long absence of Sane, a rare classic winger in their team, and a departure of their leader Kompany might be the only two reasons that give hope for the chasing pack.
2. Spuds – yes, it’s not just surprising choice but also extremely annoying. If VAR had been introduced two or three years ago, I believe Pochettino would have been at Espanyol, trying to revive his career after a 10th place-finish with red card recorders Spuds. Now, however, it looks to me that they have fixed things properly with Ndombele and Lo Celso while keeping hold of Eriksen and Alderweireld for a while. Their attacking variety is sublime – Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Kane, Alli…all of them capable of both scoring and assisting.
3. Liverpool – whilst Salah has managed to win two Golden Boots in two seasons in England, I still see Sadio Mane as their best forward. They rely too much on their full-backs’ attacking contribution – basically, they are what Emery wants Arsenal to be – which gives us a perfect question: what will happen when either or both of TAA or Robertson gets injured/suspended? The answer is: a dull 0-0 draw or a defeat. Even with our ex Ox back in action, they don’t have enough options from the bench and Klopp’s football – sooner or later – takes its toll. Also, they’ll spend some time playing Club World Championship which means rescheduling games and adding to players’ fatigue.
4. Manchester United – they have fixed their defensive problems by signing Wan-Bissaka and Maguire. They still don’t have midfield solutions capable of dealing with teams above them but I believe their defensive superiority over Arsenal and Chelsea will give them advantage over both clubs. Pogba can go from zero to hero and reverse in a single game but he is their best midfielder by far. Rashford, Martial and, maybe, Alexis Sanchez give them attacking guile and it looks to me that counter-attacking football will get them points against every team that opens up too much.
5. Arsenal – we have lost Aaron and I fear we haven’t replaced him. We have too many big games until October when we will finally enjoy our full backs Bellerin and Tierney with a remote possibility all our other signings bed in until then. Perhaps our chance to get Champions League is through Europa League again.
6. Chelsea – playing Champions League will reduce Lampard’s chances to rotate as you have to play your best players in that competition. That might be a big problem in the Top 4 race with Man United and Arsenal, teams that play Europa League and will have a bigger chance to rotate players. They are under transfer ban and their team is Hazard-less. Aside from Kante, I’d struggle to find one player in their team I’d grab with both my hands and bring to Arsenal. No, not even Giroud who is their best striker. Mind you, they played some exciting football at Old Trafford and the final result was totally undeserved but they looked like Arsenal from our barren years when our youngsters lacked composure, quality and strength at either side of the pitch.

By Admir.

A back four or a back three this season, that is the question. I have a preference for four at the back, but with the arrival of both Tierney and Luiz, Emery has the sort of players now to make a back-three a success, and in all competitions!

We can argue about our strongest possible line-up with three at the back, but I reckon it will be close to this:

Luiz to lead the defence and bring/pass the ball out from the back and Nacho and Holding securing the wings, with fast and furious Bellerin and Tierney supporting our defence as much as possible. Xhaka can go deep and allow Luiz to penetrate the opponent’s midfield regularly, as he likes to do! Torreira and Xhaka have to find the balance between protecting the back three – especially with AWOL wing backs in our line-up – AND support Mesut in the hole as much as possible. The latter is a challenge and especially Torreira can/should grow into that role. I would be quite excited to watch this team start games once everybody is fit.

But I amalmost just as excited about our possible ‘B/Cups team’ with a three at the back line up:

Chambers and Big Sok can produce the calm in the back three and a less centrally positioned Mustafi can also be effective. But there is also Mavropanos who will want to get some games under his belt.

The centre of midfield could be our undoing with this formation: both Willock and Guendouzi are talented and we have high hopes for them, but playing without the experienced Xhaka or Torreira will make them more vulnerable. Having said that, from what I have seen until now, Willock is possibly to best fit for the B2B position in a three at the back line-up, and I would not be surprised if he dislodges our Uruguayan carve-biter anytime soon. Willock may well become key for our midfield balance this season.

A shout out for Elneny

Guendouzi likes nothing more than walk/run forward with the ball and look for an attacking pass and he will add value to our attacking endeavours; however, his defensive positioning, reading of the game and rapid ball distributions are below par as yet. This may be controversial, given the dislike many seem to have of him, but imo there is still space in the team for Elneny. There is nothing spectacular about our Egyptian midfielder, but he is a solid passer and hard worker and his forward passes are not too shabby either. Mohammed definitely fills me with more confidence in terms of effective support for our defence and being the more natural partner for B2B-Willockie.

I have no doubt, though, that Kola and AMN will add real width and penetration from the wings and that Ceballos, Mikhi (or indeed ESR) will revel in the hole position. It would also be great to see Martinelli and Pepe play in such a formation, and I expect them both to play in the ‘first team’ regularly, of course.

So except for some worries regarding the midfield-pivot, I reckon we now have the players to make three at the back our main line-up for this season…. You agree?!

By TotalArsenal.

 

With only four/five of our best Arsenal-11 starting the match, it was not going to be easy to get all three points. Laca, Bels, Holding, Pepe, Ozil, Tierney and Luiz did not make our starting eleven (all with good reason), and it showed. The team looked rusty and lacked an attacking edge but it worked hard and had most of the initiative at the Barcodes’ home ground, and that goes a long way. 1-0 to the Arsenal, three points and a clean sheet; let’s not look this gift-horse too deep in the mouth!

Eight observations from Newcastle v Arsenal:

1. Unlike the Chavs v MU in the later game, Arsenal did not play at a high tempo and try to overpower the opponent in their own half from the start. We sat back, protected the back four and tried to pass our way to the Newcastle box. We lacked cohesion and the tempo was too low to hurt NU, but we also managed to take the initiative away from an equally rusty and cohesion-lacking opponent. The crowd was quiet and the whole game was a bit of damp squib and this suited our starting 11 very well.
2. We played both Xhaka and Guendouzi in the DM pivot and it sort of worked, at least from a defensive point of view. Willock played in the hole and did his best to connect the often quite deep sitting ‘back-six’ with the three attackers, Mkhi, Auba and Nelson. However, the balance in midfield was not great and against stronger opponents we will not get away with this. This is btw no reflection on the individual performances by Xhaka, Guendouzi or Willock: all put in a good shift and had plenty quality moments. Unfortunately, Xhaka and Guendouzi did not support Willock enough as neither of them did a proper box to box job on the day, and seem to want to play a similar role in the team. With Torreira and Ozil hopefully available soon Emery will have more/better weapons at his disposal to the get midfield balance right.
3. Willock did get a lot of support from Mkhi and I liked both their involvements in the game. Unfortunately, the Armenian is badly lacking in form and his final ball was often overhit and played with too much haste. But the form will come again and at least Mkhi is putting in a decent shift.
4. There were only two big highlights in the whole game and that was Ainsley’s great cross after a well-anticipated interception on the right flank at the half way line AND Auba’s fine ‘Bergkampesque’ first touch and steely finish to score the winner. AMN’s well-measured cross had pace but this was taking out of it by the bounce it had before it reached Auba; this gave our official MotM the chance to control the ball first and then slot it home. It was a rare moment of beauty and Auba showed us why he is so important for us with that calm moment of quality.
5. Tierney and Bellerin may well become our first team full backs once they become fully fit, but both AMN and Nacho really put in a shift and both were contenders for BK’s MotM. Both worked hard and tried to add value to all areas: defence, midfield and attack. But My MotM ‘award’ also goes to Auba. He was by no means without fault and being the lone CF does not really suit him, I think, but he worked hard for the team and took his chance when it came – and that is why we travelled home with three precious points in the bag.
6. Of course this would not have happened without our defence keeping a clean sheet. It is fair to say the Magpies did not give them a lot too worry about, but the quartet of AMN, Sok, Chambers and Nacho, and GK Leno, worked together well and dealt adequately with the few set-pieces that were thrown at them. I wonder whether we will play an easier away game this season, though, so I will not be going overboard as yet, but the Sok-Chambers combo wasn’t too shabby today.
7. Nelson worked hard and there were a few moments of quality, so he should be content with his performance. More will be needed from him but, as always, we need to give our young players time and keep our expectations quite low. The managers will be able to analyse Nelson’s performance with him, and I am sure Fab Freddie will help him to progress further this season. What I like(d) about Martinelli is his confidence and desire to be involved and get stuck in from the moment he crosses the longest white line. I don’t have that feeling (especially regarding confidence) with Nelson as yet, but it will be a joy to watch both of them develop further this season.
8. It was a bit of a worry that the subs – Ceballos, Pepe and Martinelli – did not make much difference in the game. We had just scored a precious goal of course and the team were trying to find a balance between protecting the win and getting another goal (which we usually really, really need), but we played even more chaotically after all three were on the pitch. This is no reflection on the individual performances as all had good moments, but as a team we were really not looking organised and purposeful in the latter part of the second half. It is early season of course and it did not harm us this time round, but with games against Burnley, Pool and Spuds coming up, we must get more organised and attuned to each other.

By TotalArsenal.