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No howlers at Wolves, please

Apr 19th, 2024 by

And so to Molineux, where Wolves await. That sound you hear is not howling but the clacking of loose wheels after the Villa and Bayern defeats. A weary team has to ensure that they do not come off in the Black Country on Saturday evening to avoid bringing this season’s journey of hope, ambition and advancement to an early end. This will be a game played in the mind as much as on the pitch.

Molineux memories

Somewhere in the bowels of Castle Ned lies a dogeared copy of a Charles Buchan’s Football Annual with evocative black and white photos of European club football under the lights at Molineux in the 1950s when Stan Cullis’s Wolverhampton Wanderers were a power in the land.

The story goes that Gabriel Hanot, editor of the French sports newspaper L’Equipe and acknowledged by UEFA as a founding father of the European Cup, was inspired by watching Wolves and the Hungarian Army side Honved play a friendly at Molineux in December 1954. Two down after 14 minutes, Wolves overpowered the tiring Honved of Puskas, Kocsis and Czibor in the Molineux mud to win 3-2. Following victory over Spartak Moscow the previous month and England’s 6-3 humiliation by the Hungarian national side at Wembley the previous year, the Daily Mail, ever the chest-thumper for Vainglorious Albion, declared Wolves ‘the Champions of the World’. 

Even being champions of Europe was beyond them. Mixing with Johnny Foreigner was still regarded in the isolationist halls of the FA as being too demeaning for Englishmen. Chelsea pulled out of the inaugural European Cup in 1955-56 after being ‘advised’ by the FA to withdraw. However, in 1958, Cullis, who had been one of the England players who had refused to make a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938, raised two fingers to the FA, and Wolves became the second English club to play in the European Cup. 

Wolves received a first-round bye but were knocked out by Schalke 04 4-3 on aggregate in the second round. The following season, Cullis’s team, back-to-back Division One champions in 1957-58 and 1958-59, reached the quarter-finals. There, they lost to Barcelona 9-2 on aggregate — 4-0 in the Nou Camp and 5-2 at Molineux. Fitness, power and direct attacking won Wolves titles in the Football League, but its muscular long-ball game fell short against more skilful European teams.

Regardless, this was the most successful period of Wolves’ history. Cullis guided them to nine top-three finishes in his 16 seasons as manager, winning three league titles and two FA Cups with a team built around the half-back line of Bill Slater, Ron Flowers and England captain Billy Wright, later to manage at Highbury for four years in the 1960s with little distinction.

Wolves’ stadium takes its iconic name from the Molineux Pleasure Grounds, on part of which it was built in 1889. The Pleasure Grounds had once been the grounds of Molineux House, a property the eponymous ironmonger and banker Benjamin Molineux had acquired in 1744 from the estate of John Rotton in settlement of a £700 debt. The Rotton would not have the same exotic ring as Molineux, although there is still a Rotton Park district in Birmingham just 15 miles away that derives its name from the same family.
Wolves changed their instantly recognisable colours from black and old gold to black and gold after Molineux became one of the first grounds in Britain to install floodlights in September 1953. Cullis thought the brighter shirts would show up better under the lights. The colours come from Wolverhampton’s civic motto, Out of darkness cometh light or E tenebris oritur lux for the classicists in the bar.

The opposition

As GHF Predictathon players know well, Gary O’Neill’s team has exceeded expectations this season; Wolves sit in eleventh rather than the predicted bottom three. O’Neill played over 200 Premier League games for Portsmouth, Middlesborough, West Ham and Norwich as an old-school, workhorse midfielder. Yet the second youngest manager in the Premier League after Vincent Kompany — O’Neill turns 41 next month — is developing a reputation as a leading light of a new generation of progressive English coaches. 

Last season, he took over at Bournemouth after the Cherries 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool and steered an apparently relegation-doomed side to the safety of 15th. He was thanked with the sack at the end of the season. Wolves picked him up after Julen Lopetegui walked out in a huff just before this season started, with the club having sold four of his best players to make ends meet.

O’Neill has developed a knack for giving top sides grief. Last season, his Bournemouth team was two up at the Emirates in the game Reiss Nelson rescued with his famous last-gasp winner. His Wolves’ scalps have included Manchester City and doubles over Chelsea and the neighbours. His injury-depleted side lost only narrowly 2-1 at the Emirates in December, in the game in which Bukayo Sako scored his 100th Arsenal goal. 

O’Neill likes to set up a 3-4-2-1. He has Arteta-like attention to detail, customising match-day tactics to Wolves’ opponents and seeking the marginal gains that add up to significant improvement. Against us, I would expect him to play something akin to a 3-5-2 to create the mid-block against which we struggle. Wolves will look to keep things compact when out of possession, make it difficult for us to play through the middle and, in possession, stretch us wide and get the ball to their assist king, the much-admired winger Pedro Neto to play in their leading scorers South Korean international Hee-chan Hwang (10 goals ) and Brazilian international Matheus Cunha (11), whose loan from Atletico Madrid was made permanent in the summer in return for a 50 million euros fee.

The return last weekend of Hwang and talisman Cunha from injury will encourage Wolves’ belief that they can end a mini-slump that has put their season at risk of petering out. They are winless in five in all competitions, including last Saturday’s draw at Nottingham Forest. Their small squad lacks the depth to cover their lengthy injury list, which now also includes centre-back Craig Dawson and Algerian international left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has reportedly attracted the interest of ourselves and the Scousers. 

Wolves can be tricky but not impossible to beat at Molineux. They have lost five of 15 home league games. Our recent form there has been up and down, with three wins and two losses in the past five visits, although we had not previously lost there since 1978, a 1-0 defeat in which Kevin Stead made the first of his only two appearances for us.

The Arsenal

Which team Arteta fields is guesswork. He says everyone except Timber is available. Plenty of tired legs and minds were in evidence in the second halves of the Villa and Bayern games. In his pre-match press conference, Arteta again pointed a finger at the playing load on his players, but he has rotated only lightly.

Some of the team look to be carrying knocks, while others have started running on fumes. For Saturday, Arteta must strike a balance between refreshing spirits and recharging legs, plus keep one eye on Tuesday’s game against the mob from the Bus Stop. I would like to see Partey start to give the skipper or Rice a deserved and much-needed break and to provide more vertical passes from midfield, but I doubt the Ghanaian is fit enough or that any of the leaders in the team will want to stand down. This could be a game for ESR’s direct running, though. Thus:

Raya

White Saliba Gabriel Tomiyasu

Ødegaard Rice ESR

Saka Havertz Trossard

It goes without saying that this is a must-win. If we can revert to eliminating the mistakes that have crept into our defending in the past two or three games and start taking our first-half chances, we should be able to achieve the victory we need. City plays Chelsea in an FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, and Liverpool does not visit Craven Cottage in the league until Sunday. We can go back to the top at least overnight. A calm and controlled 3-1 under the lights at Molineux would do it.

Enjoy the game, ‘holics, near and far.

Posted in Match Preview | 13 Drinks »

Our Time Will Come, But Not This Year

Apr 18th, 2024 by

The Arsenal lost a tight European tie by a single goal to the mighty Bayern Munich. The opposition played well and used all the experience that they had in such abundance compared to our young team to get the result they needed with a well-judged performance.

We lost fair and square, and have little time to lick our wounds before we are thrown to the Wolves, so to speak.

I watched the game in the pub with my old man and I should say at the outset of this report that my experience of the match was coloured by the three young lads sitting behind me, who notionally supported Arsenal but spent the entire game abusing our players, the manager and swearing vociferously at pretty much every on-field action.

Against such a backdrop I found myself even calmer and more measured than usual, if only as a reaction against the petulance, entitlement and, frankly, idiocy going on behind me. No-one has a God-given right to win football matches, and if you hate watching the team and lose your shit when we lose, then you might wanna do something else with your time.

Personally, I reckon there is a clue in the word ‘supporter’, but I’m younger than many in the bar and I was still twice the age of these lads, so perhaps the younger generations show their allegiances in ways I just don’t recognise.

So, to the match itself. The first half was excellent, at least from my perspective. We had a little more of the ball, stroked it around well and applied some pressure, without committing enough men to attacks that we created many clear chances. This also meant that we were rarely caught out at the back. We went in 0-0 and George Graham would have been chuffed.

One long ball went over Tomi’s head to Sane, but Gabriel blocked his cross from the byline. Apart from that, we kept him fairly quiet all game. I assume most of those in the bar, who had been advocating the Japan international’s selection at left-back in the first game as well as this one, were fairly happy with what they saw. Arteta knows his players’ fitness better than we do, but it was a shame he wasn’t deemed ready to start at the Emirates too.

Rice began at left 8, but gradually drifted more centrally. With Tomi inverting too, they did a decent job swapping about to fill the midfield and cover the left flank between them. Jorginho was a calm and classy presence on the ball, but Bayern pressured him enough that he couldn’t find a telling moment. Rice is quality and we all love him, but tonight we needed the vertical passing of a Partey. Our number 41 does not find spaces between the lines at this level, and he can’t always drive past men either. Going forwards, we need him to find Odegaard quicker and let the captain do his stuff.

We pressed sensibly and in waves, sometimes dropping back and sometimes going for them. We won a couple of possessions this way, but a few times our final ball was a bit off. Neuer is also very good with his feet, which helped Bayern out of a couple of tight spots.

Bayern forced some corners and we had to be switched on to defend them, which our centre backs did well, although Raya was not commanding his box the way Neuer was. He did make a couple of good saves though, even if they were ones he would expect to make. We had some half chances, Odegaard having a couple of shots blocked or skied over the bar – he was little hesitant to shoot from the edge of the box with the half yard of space which was all a switched on Bayern would allow him. Our best chance fell to Martinelli who hit it with his left insole straight at Neuer. Would he have been better served to sweep it with his right? We will never know.

The ref was good. He made a couple of marginal calls I disagreed with and seemed to give Kane more than his share of decisions against our CBs. Late in the second half he failed to give us a corner we really needed despite Odegaard’s shot both deflecting of a defender and then being palmed behind by Neuer. But he was generally excellent, using his cards sensibly and avoiding any major talking points. I’d be very happy if we were reffed this well every week.

We got a warning right after half-time as the Germans immediately upped their tempo and the dangerous Goretzka headed the ball against the bar. The follow up also drilled into the outside of the post. We would have to watch their aerial threat, as Gabriel and Saliba could not mark all of the men who began making runs into the space.

The game began to open up and Bayern were slightly on top, Musiala getting more involved, but Kane was quiet and I was perfectly happy when the clock passed the hour mark and there was still no score. As I said to my dad, just don’t concede and take the game as deep as possible.

Except three minutes later we conceded. They got to the byline and crossed high. Raya got a hand to it but it stayed in and they picked it up on our left. The ball came in (from memory, between our CBs) and Martinelli had let Kimmich go at the last moment to power in an excellent header. I thought Raya showed again tonight that he is not a keeper anyone will win the Champions League with, even if he is a good keeper. However, there was nothing he could do about the header once we’d let Kimmich free to connect to the cross. It was a moment of quality that went on to decide the tie.

Arteta immediately brought on Trossard and Jesus for Martinelli and Jorginho. Good subs, but they didn’t make enough difference. A fit Partey would have been huge for us tonight, we needed his skillset badly.

We had a few freekicks and a couple of corners. Nicholas Jover gets a lot of plaudits for his routines in the league, but in the CL we rarely get near the ball before the ref blows his whistle for a foul. I do think a lot of these are soft, but they keep getting given and we don’t change our tactics and that is on us. A series of genuinely threatening set-pieces would have put Bayern under pressure, but as it was, they got off with a free kick of their own every time. Towards the end, Rice sprayed a free kick out to Trossard who controlled it poorly and gave away a foul without getting a cross in, even though everyone was up for it. Again, it is the sort of fine margin that a more experienced side (like Bayern) would be on the right side of.

We brought on Eddie for Tomi, and I doubt any of us felt it was likely to lead to a goal. Still, hope springs eternal, and the swapping of Sane for Upamecano showed that Tuchel was willing to sit deep and see it out.

I had felt, with fifteen minutes to go, that there would be one more chance in the game for us, but we didn’t manage to fashion it. In the dying seconds we had a freekick in a great position that we chose to take quickly. It could have been a masterstroke. As it was, we were lucky to get a corner, which we were given time to take. But, personally, I’d have preferred to take our time with the freekick. It is all moot now as Saka, who was well marshalled all game, failed to beat the first man with a disappointing last Arsenal kick of the tie.

The ref blew up. We were out.

As the dust settles, I am sure we will all have our own opinions on how bad a loss this was, or how good a chance we missed.

For me, I think we have progressed so rapidly in the league that our European expectations are far higher than they really should be. We have so little experience in the Champions League, and that was the one quality where Bayern really had us beat tonight. We still came mighty close and gave a good account of ourselves in a tie we will learn a lot from. I think the quarterfinals were about par for us this year, so I’m not too disappointed to go out at this stage, especially as I trust us to be wilier and tougher next year.

Not everyone agreed, but I thought we were denied a nailed-on penalty in the first leg, and that might have changed the dynamics of the tie significantly. It is tight when you get to this stage, and everyone needs a little luck, no matter how good they are. We didn’t seem to get much this year.

We will be back next year and in a far better position to put in a challenge. For now, we focus on the league, and we make sure our boys know how much we support them. They are having a magnificent season, the league is still to play for, and the club needs all cannons pointing outwards for six more huge matches.

Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Until next time ‘holics.

Posted in Match Report | 46 Drinks »

We Need To Tear Bayern A Neuer One

Apr 16th, 2024 by

This season has been an aberration for Bayern Munich in that they will not win the Bundesliga title. The German champions will be Bayer Leverkusen and our own Granit Xhaka. It’s a well worn joke by now but no less worthy of repetition for that – one of “their own”, Harry Kane, left the Spuds in desperation to finally win a guaranteed title in Bavaria with Munich, champions of the Bundesliga for the last twelve seasons. He was joined by his Tottenham mate Eric, Dier by name and Dire by nature, and such has been their influence that Leverkusen have won the title and currently sit no less than sixteen points ahead of the Bavarians with five games left to play! It was still a brave move for Kane in some ways, not least in having to learn the Bavarian dialect of a language which is a challenge to many natural German speakers, let alone an Englishman who struggles with his own native language.

Seriously though, there is no doubt about the size of the task facing us this Wednesday. While Bayern may not have been performing to standard domestically this season, the Champions League has been a different matter. They took 16 of a possible 18 points in the group stage, and dispatched Lazio in the Round of 16 by a 3-1 aggregate score, although they did lose the away leg by a goal to nil.

They remain fearsome opponents with huge resources and while under German regulations the official owners of the club are FC Bayern München AG, they are co-owned by Adidas, Audi, Allianz SE and president of the club Herbert Hainer, the former CEO of Adidas Group and chairman of the supervisory board to the club. They play in the 75,000 capacity Allianz Arena where we can expect a massively hostile atmosphere created by their fans who, incidentally, pay an average £21.00 for the privilege! Dream on, Gooners!

With 30 German league titles – 29 in the Bundesliga era – and 20 DFB Cup honours, they are by far the most decorated club in Germany and, whisper it quietly, they also have six European Cup/Champions League titles. But hey, we all have to get lucky sometimes!

The Ancient History

Bayern is the German name for Bavaria, one of the 16 states of Germany. Bayern may also refer to: Kingdom of Bavaria (Königreich Bayern), a state existing from 1806 to 1918, and, Electorate of Bavaria (Kurfürstentum Bayern), an independent hereditary electorate existing from 1623 to 1806.
All Bavarians call their state Bayern when they’re speaking German. They might accommodate English speakers by using Bavaria – a word that harks back to the Baiovarii, a tribe who settled there in the 5th century – and is probably Latin in origin.

The Modern History

Ex-long term player and French international Franck Ribery gave a teary-eyed farewell speech to the Bayern Munich fans at the end of the 2018-19 Bundesliga campaign, but what did the Frenchman mean when, with his hand on his heart, he signed off with the words “Mia san Mia”? Arsenal fans at close quarters with their Bayerischer counterparts may be wondering what exactly that means emblazoned on their scarves. Well, he wasn’t actually speaking French. Ribery was actually reciting Bayern’s club motto – the Bavarian variation of the German “Wir sind wir” or, in English, “We are who we are.”

“Mia san Mia” is a phrase that has its roots in the 19th century Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was later used by German politician Franz Josef Strauss – chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988 – before being adopted by Bayern München during the 1980s.
“Mia san Mia stands for the complete will to succeed,” explains homegrown Bayern star Thomas Müller. “That’s how we manage to turn games round so often. There’s no middle ground, only wins. “Mia san Mia stands for a hardcore winning mentality with a good dose of self-belief, but without any arrogance. Whoever wants to win in life has to work hard for it. It’s the same as for professional footballers. The best footballers always play for Bayern. Everyone gives it their all in training. Anyone who can’t get on with the idea is in the wrong place. It’s something we all try to teach the younger players. There’s nothing that’s more important.”

The situation is thus described by Müller in a tone which betrays that notoriously German lack of humour – a trait which establishes itself at a very early age and is well illustrated in the case of the British couple who adopted a German baby. The baby was totally healthy but he never spoke a single word. As he turned two, three and four, the couple tried everything, taking him to doctors and a variety of therapists who all said he was fine – but he just didn’t speak. Then one morning at breakfast, on his tenth birthday, he suddenly said, “This strudel is a bit tepid, don’t you agree?” The parents were stunned and cried, “Wolfgang! You’ve never spoken a word in your entire life before – we thought you couldn’t speak! Why have you never said anything before?” “Well,” replied the boy, “because until now everything has been satisfactory!”

The Team News

Manager Thomas Tuchel is already a dead man walking at Bayern but, in accordance with their club motto, that will not stop the players from giving their all to try to win Europe’s top prize.

Tommy Heinz, my well informed German sauce, is reporting that the Germans will be without Alphonso Davies, who is suspended for this leg, and Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane (doubt), Manuel Neuer – the captain – and Kingsley Coman, are all set to miss out with various injuries. Coman, who was to replace either Gnabry or Sane as Bayern’s flying wingers, apparently suffered a thigh injury against FC Köln on Saturday afternoon. Oh dear, what a shame, how sad!

It would appear that Harry The Spud will be free to continue making backs for, and aiming elbows at, our defenders in the absence of the clear and obvious red card he should have had last week for his assault on Gabriel. If only there was some sort of instant replay video system to rectify such injustice. What? Really….?!

Whoever plays for The Arsenal, we are going to need to learn fast from the home leg – something the team has shown itself to be very capable of – and defend both wings properly, and a lot better than we did at The Emirates. That task should be somewhat easier if both Gnabry and Sane are indeed unavailable, but total concentration will be the order of the day.

Personally, I would go with a front three of Saka, Havertz and Martinelli, who seems more effective unsettling teams with his pace from the start than trying to get into the game later on. Conversely, Gabriel Jesus, who has had most of his better performances in the Champions League, seems more effective of late as an impact substitute than as a starter.

Whether we defend and counter attack – as we did at the Etihad – or try to catch Bayern cold with a fast start on the front foot, will be interesting to see. Interesting and nerve wracking. Should it end all square, we will have to beat the Germans at penalties. Eeek!

I would go with the following line-up, which will undoubtedly be proved wrong on the night –

Raya
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu
Ødegaard, Jorginho, Rice
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

… with Jesus and Trossard as impact subs, and Partey to come on for Jorginho or Rice if either tires, or we need more direct vertical passing.
Due to the seriousness and intensity of this clash, I have deleted all the German contacts from my phone. It is now completely Hans free….

The Match Officials

It’s quite odd that the choice of match officials deserves a special mention in a football blog but, in keeping with their PGMOL counterparts, foreign referees can have a major bearing on our European fixtures – the Champions League Final in 2006 where Jens Lehmann was hastily and unnecessarily sent off so early in the game; a tie at the Emirates when the Dutch referee was practically Dirk Kuyt’s next door neighbour and denied us everything, all night; and last week when the Swedish referee failed to red card Harry Kane, and was then fooled by Manuel Neuer into refusing Bukayo Saka a last minute penalty. Bitter? Me? You bet!

Anyway, this game against Bayern will be controlled – we hope – by a team of officials from the Netherlands led by Mr Danny Makkelie, and assisted by Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries, who I thought sounded like an ex-Dutch-international player, but it turns out his namesake was a renowned Dutch naturopath. Well, someone might be interested……..

The Holic Pound

Bayern are the bookies favourites to win at 7/5 or 13/10 with the two sources I checked. The draw is 13/5 with both, while an Arsenal win can be had at 15/8 or 9/5, so 2/1 for non-pedants. Good luck if you are brave enough to stake your hard earned on the outcome.

Try to enjoy the game. Hopefully we’ll be here on Thursday morning with lifted spirits and renewed optimism for a major trophy this term. This manager and this team deserve our support for a season of continued improvement – whatever happens.

And sorry for the German jokes. I know – they’re the wurst 😉

Posted in Champions League, Match Preview | 61 Drinks »

Villains Break and Enter to Steal the Points

Apr 15th, 2024 by

For the second time this season Arsenal were left to rue a string of missed chances as we lost to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.

In the first half we were all over them. Saka had Digne on toast and Odegaard found him in behind with a series of balls, none of which we made the most of. On the other side, Trossard played in Havertz but his shot was blocked, and the pair interchanged well without creating enough clear chances.

Havertz was deployed deeper than we have seen recently, starting in midfield behind Jesus in the striker’s role. He had license to run beyond our feisty Brazilian, and Konsa was unsure whether to stay with Trossard on the wing or follow Kai’s clever runs. However, the German’s lack of pace shone through a few times when he couldn’t get away from the rapid Douglas Costa whose speed got him back in position to make some important blocks and tackles.

We played one beautiful, sweeping move which ended with a free header for Jesus at the back post. He headed it down and wide. I love him as a player, but today he highlighted why there has been clamour for a striker; like Havertz, he can score goals, but he is not clinical in front of goal.

We outplayed them comfortably for the whole half. There were moments when Trossard and Jesus sprinted back to nick balls off the toes of Villa attackers, which helped keep our stranglehold on the game.

They had one good chance when Gabriel sprayed an out ball into Zinchenko’s back and Watkins ran through on goal before hitting the inside of the post. It was a let-off, as we could have gone in a goal down which would have been wildly unfair but we had not capitalised on a lot of excellent football. Had we done the same against Bayern, I’d expect us to be losing.

Immediately though we fashioned our best chance, Trossard hitting a shot from 5 yards out that allowed Martinez to make a save when there was a lot the goal available where he would not have reached it. However, unlike some of our other options, Trossard is very good in front of goal, and no-one can score them all, so I don’t want to go in on him for missing this one. Unfortunately though, Captain Hindsight reckons if he’d scored it then we’d have won the match.

I’m sure many of us were worried at half-time that we had been so profligate but the team have given us so much reason to be optimistic there was no need to be unduly worried at half-time. Or was there?

Villa improved a lot in the second half. They calmed down and strung some passes together. We stopped building through midfield, and tried to play longer passes forward, drying up much of the possession in their half that Odegaard had used so well in the first period.

Saka continued to get fouled. David Coote continued to give marginal calls to Villa and yellow cards only to our players. Havertz got one for a reason I could not tell you. I didn’t see anything worthy of a foul, or him get the card, and then a caption came up telling me he had a yellow. Douglas Costa wildly high kicked Odegaard in the chest with a swing that was never going to get the ball. It was not malicious but it was daft. David Coote didn’t think it was worth a yellow. There are many things I do not think David Coote’s refereeing is worth.

Zanniolo fouled, faked and harried his way round the pitch. When not being a petulant tit, he did some good stuff with the ball, and had an excellent second half until he got subbed, seemingly with a slight injury.

Villa had not created lots but as the game began to get tense and both managers made subs, they began to exert some pressure. We put on Tomi, Gabigol, ESR and Jorginho for Odegaard, Jesus, Trossard and White. Benjamin looked like he might have had a little niggle. Let’s hope it is nothing serious.

The crowd tried to get behind the team but even on TV the nerves were becoming palpable.

We defended a few corners but our attacking output had dried up. We really needed to steady the ship in midfield. Much like a European tie, the key was not to concede…

On 84 minutes, we conceded.

It was a crap goal that I don’t want to rewatch to describe it to you. We should have cleared it. Then we should have stopped the cross at source or in the box. We did none of those things and it went through to Bailey, who slotted it in at the back post.

A couple of minutes later and it was truly game over. Watkins ran through, onside, as he was in his own half when the ball was played, and we left him acres to run into. ESR did a decent job tracking back but Watkins did well to hold him off and finish beautifully over Raya, who went down early, although it was the quality of the finish that made the goal, not what the keeper did. Watkins is a player I like a lot. It was a hugely well-taken goal after we had kept him quiet all game. It rather showed us what we’d missed.

We huffed and puffed a bit, bringing Eddie on for an airing, but nothing came of eight minutes of extra time and Coote put us out of our misery.

So, on a day when Poo also lost, what to make of a result that puts City top?

Well, personally, after a run of ten wins and a draw at the champions, I did not expect us win another seven in a row as we swept to the title. It just doesn’t work like that.

Sure, we all wanted the win today, and if we’d finished better in the first half then it was there for us. However, there are always unexpected results at this stage of the season. The pressure does funny things to players and teams. City might win their remaining games and win the league. If they do, then fair enough (obviously I am not suggesting there is anything fair about what City do), sometimes other teams play well, get good results, and we don’t control that.

I would be surprised if they don’t drop more points though. And I quite fancy us to pick up points whilst the pressure is on City. Both us and Pool have lasted barely a week at the top since we reached the summit. Let City play with the pressure whilst we follow in their slipstream. We just need to put it behind us, focus on our performances and ensure we are ready to pounce if they slip up.

All is far from lost. There are plenty of important games still to play.

Bayern are next and a chance to put ourselves three games away from being European Champions.

We are just where we have dreamed of being for years. No-one said it would be easy, but we need to keep the faith – there aren’t any fat ladies singing just yet.

Until next time ‘holics.

Posted in Match Report | 28 Drinks »

This is OUR time.

Apr 13th, 2024 by

On a weekend where we have to hew to our winning ways we play last among the top three, hosting Unai Emery’s Aston Villa Sunday in a late afternoon tilt. We can fully expect Liverpool to decimate Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, and Al-Citeh to crush Luton on Saturday, leaving us in 3rd place at kickoff. Putting three points on the board is therefore essential, but with them having beaten us 1-0 at Villa Park in December, it is not a given. That loss started our last mini-slide of this season, the run of results that culminated with our January loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup: 7 played, 1 win, 2 draws, 4 losses. Fortunately, we had two weeks in Dubai after that…

Aston Villa

Unai is leading Villa in a battle for the 4th place Premier League trophy against the surging little club from Middlesex; even though they play Saturday against the Oilers-upon-Tyne, Villa stands to be in the same position coming into our game Sunday. A loss by the little chickens will only use their game in hand, they’d likely be in 4th on goal difference. Expect Emery to have impressed upon his squad the importance of not conceding early, of watching for the out ball on the break, and, perhaps, on a mid-block of a creative bent to confound our current ability to press and hold teams in their own half.

Villa is also in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, having beaten Lille 2-1 at Villa Park on Thursday. The short turnaround time will challenge their fitness levels, not least because they have an extensive list of first-team absentees. Kamara, Mings, Buendia, and Ramsey are all out for the season; last year the latter three were nailed-on starters, and Kamara played consistent minutes. This year Mings and Buendia have played one game between them; Kamara and Ramsey have played more, but are now unavailable. Cash (hamstring) and Lenglet (knock) are questionable, but I’d be surprised if both were out.

While Emery can call on a relatively experienced team built this laste few months, his midfield is going to be further shorn of Luiz, as he is suspended for two games for amassing 10 yellow cards before Villa’s 32nd game. Watkins, Diaby, Bailey and Duran can be expected up front, McGinn will probably pair with Tielemans in a double-pivot, in front of Konsa and Digne on the corners on either side of Torres and Carlos. Ex-Arsenal keeper Martinez will get the nod in goal. Watkins is their obvious goal threat, as well as their primary source of assists; Diaby, Bailey, and McGinn round out that threat. Hopefully the absence of Luiz’s goals and assists will be telling.

In their last 6 league games Villa has won 2, lost 2, and drawn 2. Very middle-of-the-road. Under Emery they play a variety of formations, focusing on getting numbers around the ball and counterattacking quickly through their wings in front of a high defensive line. Their possession varies by opponent, ranging from 33% against Al-Citeh 70% against West Ham; they were slaughtered by City and drew the Hammers. They beat us in December on a fine goal from McGinn, but we were profligate against the high line they played, and VAR did us no favors.

The Arsenal

We come into the game having had a solid rest after Tuesday’s Champions eague draw against Bayern. While we still have Timber out with his long-term knee injury (hopefully coming to an end soon, in time for the final few games of the season), the only other possible issue is Gabriel, who seemed to be fine after Kane’s assault but might be carrying a knock that could keep him out of the starting lineup. Otherwise we’re healthy and can field a full team.

As has been plastered all over the news Arsenal are unbeaten in the league in 2024. In our last six we’ve won five and drawn last year’s champions, using a press that could crease linen and offensive maneuvers that leave opponents in the dark. This game shouldn’t be harder for us to play than Bayern or Al-Citeh, yet I fear we will let down our guard (despite Arteta’s focused training this week) and will find it tough going. We scored early against Bayern and we let it go to our heads. Are we tougher in the league than that, after such a draw in midweek? Can we maintain our composure, our press, and our lovely interplay after scoring an early goal, and force the Villans to try and play on the front foot? I do hope so.

After calls by some here that I was partaking of too much California green hospitality in choosing my team for the Brighton game, I’ll reach a little further than that in choosing this one. We lacked a modicum of control with Kiwior (who didn’t have as bad a game as all that) against Bayern, and suffered at the hands of a speedy winger, probably one of the best in the game. Jorginho didn’t have a particularly great game; and we were relatively sloppy at times with our passing and decision-making. I suggest we try something with Zinchenko that some have called for, but Arteta hasn’t seen fit to choose for our lineup:

Raya
White — Saliba — Gabriel — Tomiyasu
Rice — Mø — Zinchenko
Saka — Havertz — Jesús

Tomi and White give us offensive threat and solid defense (and I expect Gabriel to partner per usual with Saliba), while Zinchenko can give in to his natural roaming quality and shuttle between Rice and Mø. This will also give Rice a bit of a chance to sit back and breathe, and dictate the game in front of the back four. Martinelli coming on in the 70th minute against a tiring Villa defense has no little appeal, and Jesús’ play versus Bayern brought us back to level on the tie. If Zinny tires there’s Trossard to slot right in. Conventional? Not at all, but I think it has potential, especially given how we’ve been pressing through the midfield, pushing teams back and back and back…one of White or Tomi pushing up making three at the back with Rice means we can really dictate the pace and intensity of play, and have two maestros on the ball with Mø and Zinny. Go ahead, tear it apart 🙂

The Holics Pound

It’s a tough market. We are 2/7 to win outright, and you have to a score of Arsenal 3-1 Villa to break 10/1. Arsenal 3-2 Villa gets you 25/1, though if you think we’ll shut them out you can more than double your money from 4-0 to 5-0 with 14/1 becoming 29/1.

I think we’re in for a tougher game than the bookies figure, but we can certainly win this game. The pressure will likely be on us to keep pace with Liverpool and the Oilers, we’re facing a Villa team pushing hard for Champions League football next year, and there’s always the “Emery comes back to the Grove” factor. If you go to the game enjoy it thoroughly, be loud and proud and let our boys know you’re behind them 100%. It is THIS time of the season where the margins are so small that we fans have to push every ounce of energy towards our team, lifting them and electrifying them to help them over the line. We know you can do it! COYG!!!

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