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Two Giants Fight to a Tie

Oct 22nd, 2026 by

It began with another fiercely early start. We awoke at half four on Tuesday morning to catch the first tube of the day to Heathrow. Whilst we are very lucky to have a direct link to such a major airport, it is still a very painful and tedious 90-odd minute journey across virtually the entire length of the Piccadilly Line. But it would not be the only tedious 90 minute journey we would be subjected to. More on that later!

After a hearty full English breakfast in terminal 2 (just the £56 for two breakfasts and a couple of teas!), it was time to board the plane. It’s a short flight to Bavaria so not too uncomfortable. We arrived at our hotel at about 2pm and after quickly unpacking we set off for Zur Festwiese , which we have previously visited during Oktoberfest. It was slightly less busy on this occasion! Whilst we were downing far too much beer, we got chatting to two Bulgarian Gooners who had travelled from Sofia and had tickets in the home section! It was a nice reminder of how massive our global fan base really is, and the dedication of a lot of these supporters having to pay thousands of pounds to watch our club over land and sea. Much pleasant conversation was had.

After a quick kip, which was much needed, we enjoyed another hearty meal at Augustiner Keller with a friend from back in our native N21 who is living and working in Munich for the year. Another Gooner of course! 

On the day of the game we enjoyed a late breakfast before a few hours of sightseeing. We visited the Jewish Museum which details the history of Jewish people living in Munich and their wonderful contributions to the region as well as stories of the many persecutions to which they were subjected. Very interesting and of course somewhat harrowing at times. Certainly somewhere I’d recommend visiting. 

Pre-game, we met up with friends and enjoyed Wiener Schnitzel (and a delightful apple strudel for dessert) and a stein or two before getting on a very packed metro to the game. As expected, the Arsenal boys were in great voice and the Bayern fans made good hosts as the Germans tend to! 

It really is a bloody long walk over the bridge from the metro station to the Allianz Arena. Its famous bright red lighting could be seen for miles and the anticipation of visiting one of Europe’s most iconic sporting venues was building. We walked up the many steps to the away end in the upper tier where you are often housed on the continent. There was still just under an hour to kickoff so there was time to witness the atmosphere building. 

We named a strong side as expected. Madueke began on the left after his winner off the bench at Forest as Eze dropped to the bench. Bayern were without the suspended Olise as well as Musiala and Kimmich. Of course there was still Harry Kane to worry about. 

We started well but ten minutes in, we suffered a major blow as Saka, who had started brightly, abruptly pulled up with what looked like some sort of groin or quadriceps strain. He looked in serious discomfort and worryingly went straight down the tunnel. I very much doubt we will see him again this side of Christmas. 

Saka was replaced by Eze and Madueke shifted to the right. After both sides traded a couple of decent chances we went ahead midway through the first half. Ødegaard played a sublime defence splitting pass over the top to Eze who ran onto it and finished superbly on his left foot. The goal was initially ruled out for offside but after a painful VAR check the goal was awarded and the away end went wild! Get in!

Our lead was short lived, as ten minutes later Harry Kane played his own defence-splitting pass to the rapid Alphonso Davies, who slotted home calmly on his right foot. 1-1. A fabulous goal but perhaps Timber could’ve tracked his man better.

A half in which both sides traded some decent chances and the second half followed in a similar vein. It looked as though Bruno Guimarães had restored our lead as his crashing header was tipped onto the woodwork by Manuel Neuer but it somehow stayed out. Moments later, David Raya made a similar stop from a towering header from Upamecano. On the hour mark it was time for Harry Kane’s customary penalty. In fairness it was a definite handball from Timber and it may well have been going in anyway. Unsuprisingly, Kane dispatched the penalty with distinction. 2-1 Bayern. 

We responded as well as we could and our set pieces were looking more like the ones we enjoyed in our title winning campaign. On came Gyokeres for Havertz and, to his credit, the Swede made an impact. There was some nice interchange on the right between Madueke and Rice, the latter played a one-two with Gyökeres before slotting home calmly into the corner. 2-2. Timber may have won it late on with a rasping drive but a draw was a fair result with two of Europe’s elite sides played out an exhilarating tie. So much for boring, boring Arsenal! 

Unusually, we were let out of the ground straight after the whistle, but we may as well have been kept in as the queues back to the metro were horrendous. From the end of the game, it took us around 90 minutes to get onto the train which was packed to the heavens. We finally got back to our hotel at 1am, more than two hours after the end of the game. From what we could see, there was essentially one metro station to serve 75,000 people. How the Bayern fans put up with that on a weekly basis I have no idea. So much for German efficiency!

Other than that, it was another great trip. Good food and drink, plenty to see and do and a high quality football match to top it all off. The atmosphere inside the ground was fantastic to witness and be a part of. Even if the stadium facilities weren’t up to scratch, the bowl itself was quite the sight and sound. Certainly one more ticked off the old football bucket list. 

It is testament to how far we have come under Arteta that we can come to these places and compete fully even with injuries. It wasn’t so long ago we were routinely losing 5-1 to this lot. Those days are long gone. If we are to win it this year at last, then we will almost certainly need attacking reinforcements in January. But another deep run should be achievable at least. 

Posted in Match Report | 14 Drinks »

Not another party night in Schwabing

Oct 20th, 2026 by

Remembering Bayern’s (let us use this ubiquitous moniker for FC Bayern München, our august opponents in this week’s Champions League clash) utter domination in German football over the last couple of decades, one can be forgiven to assume that this has always been thus so. Well, quite the contrary, Bayern’s path to sustained excellence arrived through years of darkness and ignominy.

In 1963 when the DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund – German Football Association) created the Bundesliga, it wanted only one club per city, and 1860 München — Oberliga Süd champions that year — got Munich’s place. Bayern were left in the regional league. Under coach Zlatko Čajkovski and president Wilhelm Neudecker, a generation of local youngsters — Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Gerd Müller — won promotion in 1965. Two years later they lifted the Cup Winners’ Cup; in 1969 they were German champions. In a classic storybook fashion, insults became the inspiration.

The journey of German football in general, and Bayern München specifically, is that of an outsider. Football did not enter Germany through either the factory or the athletic establishments, but the classroom. In 1874 the Braunschweig teacher Konrad Koch introduced the game at the Martino-Katharineum grammar school, and a year later he published the first German rulebook — still closer to rugby than to the game we know. English merchants, engineers and students carried it further, into the port cities, Berlin and the commercial towns of the South-West.

There was fierce cultural resistance. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s patriotic gymnastics movement Turnbewegung – which prized collective discipline over competitiveness or individualism – was all the rage, and the passionate followers, including many patriotic minded Germans, derided the “English disease” for its “vulgarity” and “individualism”.

Football, the beautiful game, naturally, inevitably, won its argument at the end. Students and sons of the burgeoning middle class started forming their clubs away from the patriarchal and traditional Gymnastics associations. And post world war the shorter working hours as well as the formation of the new urban leisure culture helped transform formation into a spectator sport. Quite the pity then that so many of the Weimar-era set literature and films focus on the cabaret and the theatre, while young men might have been equally hankering after a well-fought match between FC Nürnberg and VfB Leipzig. A lesser known fact: the Gropius – Itten split in the Bauhaus movement (after which Itten left and Gropius brought in László Moholy-Nagy) has as much to do with a game of football – where the vegetarian-violent Itten almost broke Walter’s neck – as the whole functionalism-individualism difference of opinions. How do I know? I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who had a grandfather, who used to work in the garden of the Gropius residence in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Maybe.

The above paragraph may or may not be historically accurate, it definitely is not recorded anywhere. But Bayern’s foundation and evolution are known to be historically accurate and well-recorded.

For its first half-century, the capital of Bavarian football was not Munich but Franconia, especially Nürnberg. FC Nürnberg was founded in 1900 by young men playing on the Deutschherrnwiese meadow. “Der Club” became the first great power of German football, winning five national titles between 1920 and 1927 and nine in all. Next door, SpVgg Fürth — born in 1903 as a football section of a gymnastics club — took titles in 1914, 1926 and 1929.

In the Bavarian capital, football grew out of the gymnastics clubs and the student milieu around the university and the bohemian, cosmopolitan district of Schwabing – at various times residence of Paul Klee and Thomas Mann – and that iconoclastic spirit was reflected in how the club was born. In early 1900 the footballers of MTV 1879 wanted to join the new national football structures; the club’s general meeting refused. On the evening of 27 February 1900, eleven of them walked out, gathered at Café Gisela in Schwabing, and founded the Fussball-Club Bayern München. The first couple of decades were all about survival and building an identity. Bayern’s rise to prominence came under the stewardship of Kurt Landauer, the son of a Jewish merchant family. Under Landauer and the Austrian-Jewish coach Richard Dombi, Bayern won their first German championship in 1932, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final in Nuremberg.

You don’t need me to tell you what must have happened after that. Landauer was forced out; after the November pogrom of 1938 he was held at Dachau, then emigrated to Switzerland, while several of his siblings were murdered. The regime mocked Bayern as a “Judenklub”. Landauer came home in 1947 and became president again.

Bayern’s famous first three European Cup (predecessor to the current Champions League) final wins might haven’t happened if not for a moment of unlikely inspiration. One minute from defeat in the European Cup final against Atlético Madrid, Georg Schwarzenbeck — a defender who almost never scored any goals — struck from 25 metres to make it 1–1. Bayern won the replay 4–0 two days later and then retained the trophy in 1975 and 1976, beating Leeds and Saint-Étienne in finals. Without that one shot, maybe the Beckenbauer-Müller-Maier generation would now be remembered as Germany’s best team that never conquered Europe. As Noni Madueke proved last weekend, taking shots is essential if winning matches is the goal.

Since then, of course, Bayer has gone from strength to strength, winning three other Champions League trophies (all in this millennium). Their record against English clubs is a mixed one though. Especially if we keep the focus limited to the three most historically consistent and successful English clubs in Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Against Arsenal, Bayern holds the overall advantage, with 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats in 15 matches (goals 31–18), including back-to-back 5–1 wins in the 2017 round of 16 (10–2 on aggregate) and the 2024 quarter-final win (2–2, 1–0), though we won the most recent meeting 3–1 in London in November 2025. Against Manchester United, Bayern have 6 wins, 5 draws and 2 defeats in 13 matches (goals 21–16), and United’s two victories — the 1999 final and the 3–2 at Old Trafford in 2010, which still saw Bayern through on away goals — are the only times they have beaten Bayern. Liverpool are the true bogey team: in 7 meetings Bayern have never won, with 4 draws and 3 defeats (goals 5–11), losing the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, going out on away goals in the 1981 European Cup semi-final, losing the 2001 UEFA Super Cup 3–2 and falling 3–1 at home in the 2019 round of 16. Taken together, that is 14 wins, 12 draws and 9 defeats in 35 matches against the three clubs.

Can we improve our record against them this Wednesday? We are on an excellent run in the Champions League over the last couple of seasons. Our last season’s unbeaten home-or-away – the penalty shoot-out defeat counting as a draw for the match record – record has been extended by two more matches where we had seen off obdurate defending first by Napoli and then by Lille. Both of those two teams had set up in a manner very similar to how most of the teams in the Premier League play against us – deep defensive blocks, all players behind the ball, ceding control and space in favor of cutting out all passing lanes and not allowing any run behind the defenders.

Kompany’s Bayern, at home, will obviously not follow that formula. Many of their players would feel that they have a point to prove after their comprehensive away loss at Arsenal last season. Moreover, the crazy 3-3 draw at the Vikings FK last week means that they will be at their best to ensure no points are dropped at home. Even with Olise (red card) and Musiala (injury) absent, in Kimmich, Karl, Diaz and Kane they have genuine match-winners. With the talisman Neuer out with injury, Jonas Urbig is likely to retain his position in the goal. Kompany’s default formation this season has been 4-2-3-1, with the typical building up from back relying on ball playing abilities of Saliba’s international team-mate Upamecano and the German central defender Tah.

With Tzolis, Hincapié and Saliba still on the path to recovery, we do not have as many options as Mikel ideally would have preferred across all positions. It is somewhat paradoxical, but even though Konsa has been very good and getting better with each match, I think Saliba’s absence is felt the most in the entire structure of our team. While the temptation to retain the Rice-Guimarães connection in the midfield will be strong, one wonders when exactly Declan is going to get that rest to allow him to stay refreshed over the season. Maybe Zubimendi will start at home this weekend at PL, and in this match will be used to see out a positive scoreline. Myles will definitely take the place of Calafiori, and Timber starting with White on the bench.

This is my preferred starting line-up:

Raya
Timber – Konsa – Gabriel – MLS
Ødegaard – Rice – Guimarães
Saka – Gyökeres – Eze

With Max, Kai and Madueke to come in early in the second half if we need goals. Mosquera, White, Calafiori offer robust defensive cover, Zubimendi-Merino valuable midfield options. I am quite certain that Mikel’s line-up will not agree with this one!

If we keep the foundational strengths of our football – resilience, control, calmness and intelligence – consistently applied, I think we will create enough chances in an open match. A highly competitive 2-1 away win will do perfectly.

Come on Arsenal!

Posted in Champions League, Match Preview | 31 Drinks »

Noni wins it as Arsenal labour at the City ground

Oct 19th, 2026 by

Embed from Getty Images

Nottingham Forest away is one of my favourite away days. It isn’t usually for the football. We’ve suffered through some godawful games in the last few years, with the last two being 0-0. But there is something about this old fashioned little ground, built in 1898,  in West Bridgeford (capacity 30,000 or so) just over the bridge by the Trent river, just down from Trent Bridge cricket ground (increasingly a haunt of mine), surrounded by terraced housing and with a storied past. The clubs have very long links as well. We always get a big chunk of the lower tier, which used to be the Bridgeford stand but was renamed the John Robertson stand in May of this year. All the away fans are lower tier, as at the Emirates, and very different to other places I could mention. It all helps the atmosphere.

Another reason is how easy it is to get to for us. It was a day of glorious autumn sunshine as we left St Ives. 90 minutes later we were parking up on the drive of one of the terraced houses just the other side of Ratcliffe road. Into the ground, and a very pleasant sit in the sunshine from our seats by the corner flag as we stared at our phones and digested the early game results. The team news was in:

Raya
White, Gabriel, Konsa, Calafiori
Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Eze

Bench: Meslier, Timber, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Zubimendi, Merino, Madueke, Dowman, Gyokeres.

The teams came out and we were off. That pleasant sun was right in our faces and made it very difficult to see. That was actually a blessing, as the football, from both sides, was awful. Forest dropped back into a very low 5-4-1 block, which was very narrow, with Delap up top their sole attacker fielding long balls from the keeper and defenders, by passing midfield completely. It reminded me a bit of John Beck’s Cambridge United team of the early 90s. We were just stodgy and couldn’t find a way through them. Eze doesn’t seem to be enjoying the left wing and only had one run of note (he was promptly hacked down). Kai was bang off it, no energy or imagination. Saka was double teamed and usually ended up passing back inside to Odegaard or White. 

The crowd started off in a lively fashion. We reminded them that we knew what we are, and that was the Champions of England. They replied that Champions of Europe, we’d never sing that. As one, we instantly replied, in time honoured fashion, Champions of Europe, you weren’t even born. As a traditionalist, I like it when these historical exchanges are reprised. Everyone knows their place. But as the half wore on, both sets of fans grew quieter as the grimness of the fare put before that became apparent. 

We will draw a line under the rest of the first half. At half time, Arteta replaced Eze with Noni to give the team more width. He immediately made a difference, receiving the ball wide and  putting in excellent left foot crosses. On 66 minutes, Arteta made a triple change. Merino for Bruno, Timber for White and Gyokeres for Havertz. 

We immediately looked better. Quicker, more direct. Gabriel headed over from a corner (I’m getting worried about Nicolas Jover. How is Mrs Jover going to feed the children without all those set piece bonuses?). Odegaard laid in Timber on the right, who cut back a lovely ball to Rice who from a great and unmarked position, blazed it over. 

Then, on 80 minutes, it happened. A ball was scooped into the box and headed away. Rice alertly won the second ball and fed Noni on the left wing, right in front of us. He cut inside, into the area, clearly with one thing on his mind and unleashed a powerful right footed shot which took a deflection and went into the top corner (it may have been beating the keeper anyway, it was hit so hard). 

The Arsenal faithful (who were much louder in the second half) went mad. Uber limbs all over. Noni’s song rent the West Bridgeford air. We decided to tell the Forest fans that it was one nil to the Champions, in case they couldn’t see the scoreboard. Now all we had to do was see the game out. 

It wasn’t that easy. My muttering became louder and more intense as we repeatedly pushed forward leaving only a couple of defenders at the back. In the last ten minutes we were caught on the break three (count them) times. Murillo went on a mazy run and we were lucky as he placed his bending shot just wide of the post with Raya beaten. Chris Wood dithered inside the area and Rice made a good block. Finally Delap (who was very good throughout, much better than I had seen him with either Ipswich or Chelsea) was laid in by Hudson Odoi and we were only saved by a thundering block by Ezri Konsa. A corner ensued right at the end of injury time. Their keeper came up. But Michael Oliver blew up for a foul, and from our free kick, blew time. More pandemonium as the team came over and celebrated in front of us. Declan pushed Noni forward to take his bow. 

Noni was a deserved man of the match. He was superb. Vik had his best game bar a goal for us. He won every one of the balls knocked up to them ran with energy and determination, controlled that ball well and laid it off. Konsa and Gabriel were given a tricky game by Delap but defended manfully. We won after really not playing well at all. But we found a way. Despite their lowly position, Forest are not a bad team, as our recent results show. But we found a way. That’s what champions do. Isn’t it?

A fifteen minute walk away from the away end is Trent Bridge cricket ground. Part of Trent Bridge is the fabled Trent Bridge Inn. On the other side of the street lies the Bombay Bridgeford, our favourite restaurant on the Premier League circuit. There a delicious chilled pint of Cobra, some excellent food and warm hospitality awaited us. As we enjoyed our meal, in the packed out curry house, we were able to overhear people in red and white scarves and replica shirts bemoaning those last three wasted chances and, generally, crying into their beer. Shame.

Our car was a gentle stroll away. After another 90 minute run we were home by 9.30. Another excellent away day. COYG. 

Posted in Match Preview | 23 Drinks »

The Garibaldis to Welcome the Mighty Gunners

Oct 17th, 2026 by

Giuseppe Garibaldi landed in Southampton on April 3, 1864. His sojourn of twenty-five days drew out the magnificent contradictions that characterize, I am tempted to say, English society but if I were to be clear-eyed and steely minded I must admit all cultures in degrees large and small. 

He landed at Southampton and then moved to London receiving a hero’s welcome from both the working class and the aristocrats, the political establishments as well as the radicals. He was hosted by the Duke of Sutherland, met with various leaders of the parliaments, visited factories and fishmongers’ halls, and generated reams of celebratory prose in the media. On the other hand, the public enthusiasm drew the ire of luminaries representing both ends of the societal spectrum – Karl Marx, a guest himself, derided the Garibaldi-mania as a miserable spectacle of imbecility while Queen Victoria naturally disapproved the public chaos caused by the celebrations. And the British government, naturally wary of the consequences of such a radicalizing figure mingling freely with hoi-polloi, severely restricted his movements and likely encouraged him to leave for Italy sooner than he might have had in mind.    

While the precise political motives for his visit remain a bit of a historical puzzle, the cultural impact of the visit left its own memorabilia. Specifically, biscuits and football jerseys. 

But even before the great Italian patriot arrived in England in person, he was already an inspirational figure in popular imagination. A Garibaldi music band appeared in Nottingham in 1860, and when a unit of Rifle Volunteers (called Robin Hood Rifles, naturally) were formed in Nottingham, they adopted as their uniform the red Garibaldi shirt. And at the time of his visit, Nottingham factory workers gathered in a local council house to decide on the text of an address which, later, their representative presented to the Italian in London. The address contained praises like “undoing the chains of oppressed nationalities, and helping to sweep away the wrong, and establish freedom”. Words that the mutineering soldiers and farmers fighting against the East India Company on the other side of the globe just a few years earlier would have found deeply encouraging had these Nottingham workers had a chance to meet them. 

In 1865 when the Nottingham Forest football club was formed by a group of amateur players, they adopted the popular Garibaldi red worn by the Robin Hood Rifles and a few other local outfits. Our own red-and-white might have been partially inspired by the red kit of the Nottingham club, as are apparently that of Sparta Prague and Ajax kits. AC Milan co-founder Herbert Kilpin was a Nottingham native and in his early youth had formed a local amateur club called the Nottingham Garibaldi. 

One of the oldest, and likely with the most novelistic of historical ups-and-downs among England’s premier clubs, Forest had experienced dizzying success in domestic and European football in those famous Brian Clough and Peter Taylor years in the mid 70s to early 80s. Since then, barring the occasional runs in the cup competitions they have been mostly a mid-to-lower table first division/premier league team or equally often a playing in the second tier fighting for promotion back to the top. Since their last promotion in 2022, they have ended the PL seasons in positions 16, 17, 7 and 16; they currently sit at 13th – winning one, drawing two and losing three of their six matches. The much respected Austrian Olivier Glasner – after a very successful stint at Crystal Palace, bringing them an FA Cup and a Conference League – has taken over the managerial role from the Portuguese Vitor Pereira at the beginning of the season, and evidently is still finding his way through a squad that has not been built with the greatest of football acumen. They do have a few high quality players like Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangaré, and the highly talented Swiss forward Dan Ndoye who enjoyed a successful world-cup with goals and eye-catching performances. At their own historical home ground, and naturally inspired to be at their best by the visiting league champions, I would expect them to be as difficult an opposition as any. 

Well, so much for the Nottingham reds. How about the greatest red-and-whites (who will likely play in their away blue kits)? 

Arsenal comes into the match with a near flawless record in this young season, looking to defend their Premier League title and more than hoping to win the elusive Champions League trophy, going one step better than our penalty shoot-out loss in last year’s final. This season we have won both our Champions League group phase matches, scoring four and conceding none, and five of our six Premier League matches, scoring 10 and conceding a somewhat uncharacteristic five. 

Three of those five conceded goals came in the away match against a spirited Brighton side who had outplayed us comprehensively on that day. While their performance on that day was exemplary in its intensity and quality, ours demonstrated that rarity of a collective collapse which is something this current Arsenal squad have learnt to stay clear of. Defense that day had cried out for the recovering William Saliba, but then – if you forgive the tautology – we always miss those who are not playing.  

While Wilo slowly recovers from his back issues, first Mosquera and then Ezri Konsa have both filled the gap manfully. If anything, his absence has seemed to impact Gabriel most: he doesn’t quite seem to have found that right balance of aggressive front-footed pressing and calm under pressure. The Gabriel-Saliba partnership is the foundation on which the team is built as not only do they complement each other perfectly giving us an extraordinary defensive solidity, but they are also the platform on which our positionally sophisticated and control-based football is built. 

On a positive note about injuries, both Timber and White are now available, which has rarely been the case over the last couple of seasons, thus offering Mikel the freedom to rotate them and avoid further injury issues stemming from overplaying. Timber’s overall performance and especially the sumptuous flick-and-finish against Lille in the mid-week reminded us all what a wonderful footballer he is, and how much we had missed not only his defensive qualities but his ability on the ball. 

The last (prolonged, and as meaningless as ever) international break has naturally claimed its injury victims. Christos Tzolis – our new Greek winger signed from Club Brugge – has started his Arsenal career with a series of effective performances demonstrating the quality of his decision making and his sharpness on the ball that evidently had impressed Arsenal’s recruiting department, and justified Mikel’s faith in him. He is the kind of “always at least 6.5/10 all throughout the match” type of footballer that Arteta has a natural preference for. While Eze is capable of unforgettable moments and match-winning performances, in comparison he suffers a bit for consistency. I think it is good – actually, essential – to have both of these types of players. Playing as a winger in Arteta’s system requires not just speed and craft, but a lot of nous and footballing intelligence. That’s why Bukayo Saka – even when he may be suffering from relative lull in the creative department – remains indispensable, and maybe sometimes under-appreciated outside the Arsenal faithful, in terms of the balance and structure he offers to the team. His goals this season – all results of clever positioning and striker-like intuition, more than the replay-reel finishes that used to be his hallmark – are a clear sign of his evolution as a player who has accepted the reality of physical injuries and being double-marked by defenders, and finding solutions to impact matches in different ways. 

Along with Konsa and Tzolis, our other newcomer – a favorite villain morphing rapidly into a cult hero – Bruno Guimarães has been the most successful of signings this season, bringing in precisely the qualities that we needed: more verticality from the midfield, ball-winning tenacity combining with ball-playing imagination, and the willingness and ability to finish movements. Rice seems to play with greater freedom alongside him, and Ødegaard seems to feel less burdened by the demands of taking on the role of the main creator. 

If interlull injuries are the tonic motif of our injury woes, pre/post-match routine has lately taken on the dominant note. I don’t think there are any great mysteries behind it – it is simply the consequence of a squad that is highly motivated and maniacally competitive in everything they do. We wanted back the intensity and fierce pride in wearing the Arsenal shirt, we finally have it. It seems Zubimendi – whacked by his good friend and fellow Basque, Merino – should be back soon whereas the Ecuadorian Hincapié is sidelined for a longer period of time. 

With the mid-week trip to Bavaria in mind, my guess (and preference, these two do not always agree with each other) for the starting line up would be:

Raya

White – Konsa – Gabriel – Calafiori

Ødegaard – Rice – Guimarães 

Saka – Havertz – Eze 

Kompany’s Bayern will play front-footed football at Munich, and as such Madueke will be a greater threat behind the defense on the left side. Glasner is not an ultra-defensive coach, and even though they have not started the season particularly well, I suspect Forest will want not simply to stay in their defensive shell, but they would still be much more defensively minded. Against such opposition, I think Eze’s ability to create moments and his improving defensive discipline to facilitate Ricky’s maverick movements will work better than Madueke’s traditional wing-play. 

With MLS, Merino, Madueke, Gyökeres, Timber, Mosquera and Max available from the bench we should have enough quality to either change the course of the match or see out a lead, as needed.  

We will probably start circumspectly, focusing on exerting control and dominating space, and then dialing up the tempo of passing and movements. I love a clean sheet, and this Arsenal team takes a lot of pride in its defensive records. A 2-0 away win will be perfect. 

Come on Arsenal!

Posted in Match Preview | 36 Drinks »

A Lille Better with the Big Boys On the Field

Oct 13th, 2026 by

We should begin tonight’s report with a tribute to Ken Friar who, boy and man, diligently served the Arsenal in multiple roles for 75 years, beginning as a messenger boy, aged 11, in 1945, progressing to managing director in 1983, overseeing the development of the new stadium from 2000 and the move from Highbury in 2006 and finishing as executive director in 2020 with the well-deserved award of the role of Life President. Mr Friar has left an indelible mark on the club and he will never be forgotten. It’s fitting that the Arsenal won their 14th championship for him last season. 

LOSC (Lille) were our visitors on Matchday Two of this season’s Champions League campaign. As expected, Mikel rang a significant number of changes in his starting XI, virtually as predicted by Trev in his Match Preview. Naturally, Raya was in goal. Timber who looked in need of match sharpness on Saturday, started at right back ,flanking our current first choice centre backs Konsa and Gabriel, while MLS reverted to left back to cover the injured Hincapieé and allow Calafiore a night off. Guimarães and Merino manned the midfield alongside Rice and the forward line saw the return of Gyökeres and Eze with Madueke reverting to the right wing after his left sided exertions against Leeds. The bench contained the heavy weights plus four youths.

In the early knockings, it was clear that Lille would adopt a deep block when the Arsenal had the possession rather than exerting a high press. They were content to let us play our way into their half relying on two rows of five to congest the middle and make life difficult for our forwards. A fast break in 6 minutes displayed the pace of their right winger, Bakwa, but the threat was stifled whilst Eze produced a mazy run into their area but lost his footing. A nice cross from Timber seemed to be heading to Gyökeres until the keeper made a desperate interception while falling over his own player. By the 15th minute we were camped outside their box and another mazy run and cut back from Eze gave Guimarães a shot from the edge of the box that was blocked. 

After another Lille foray, Raya nearly rolled the ball out for a LOSC forward but was rescued by Rice. Then a lovely forward ball to the byeline by Madueke from a knock down by Gyökeres was cut back by Timber to Guimarães who fired it past the post. 

At this stage it looked only a matter of time until the back-up forward line scored. Another Timber looped cross found Merino unmarked in front of goal but his header went straight at the keeper. On 22 minutes another rapid breakaway by Lille saw a series of rebounds on the edge of our box ending with theirJapanese forward, Ueda, firing the ball past Raya but after an anxious minute or so VAR deemed him offside due to a ‘knock-on’ by another Lille forward. 

Madueke remained our biggest threat but his crosses were generally too long or too high. Lille looked technically good and frequently played their way out of defence neatly against our press at this stage of the game. On 28 minutes, Merino was booked for a late challenge as Lille played through midfield. Despite our possession, however, by the half hour, we had barely troubled the Lille keeper. Merino’s shot on the spin on 33 minutes went high over his bar and the keeper then comfortably held a MLS cross. Eze gave him work to do with a firm close range shot from an MLS cut back but the goalkeeper was agile enough to prevent Gyökeres picking up the loose ball.

The crowd’s frustration was building throughout the half and by the last 5 minutes, the only noise audible on the TNT broadcast came from the visiting French fans.

A back heel on the edge of the Lille box by Madueke found Timber free but his low ball to a waiting Gyökeres was cut out for a corner. Finally we heard noise from the Gooners in the crowd but two consecutive corners came to nought.

Guimaräes then hit a lovely shot from the edge of the box that the keeper did well to block and then to bounce up and sweep the ball away from the onrushing Gyökeres. The resultant corner was followed by a short spell of activity around their box but nothing came of it and the referee’s  half-time whistle brought a frustrating half to an end.

Half-time: Arsenal 0 – 0 Lille

That first half was a repeat of the frustrating first half seen against Leeds on Saturday with much endeavour, domination of possession and good territorial positions but virtually all the final balls going astray. The Arsenal needed to increase the tempo and achieve more accuracy with that final ball. 

Neither side changed their line-up for the second half.

Arsenal began the second half with a pair of Madueke corners from the right followed by a Rice in swinger from the left but Lille’s big centre-backs dealt with their threat easily. The bright start continued with a series of passes down the right that ended in a Guimarães shot from the edge of the box looping high and wide. Then a sequence of first time passes on the right ended as Timber let Guimarães’ firm pass run under his foot. The crowd was again as flat as the team which prompted Bruno to gesture vigorously for some noise after being fouled but their response was sadly transient. Strangely, unlike their technically impressive play in the first half, Lille kept giving the ball back to Arsenal but the Gunners repeatedly failed to threaten their goal with it.

As the hour loomed, after a nice direct dribble into the box, Guimarães went down in the box under a challenge but the referee, VAR and even Ally McCoist were unimpressed.

The team needed a lift and Arteta acted. Havertz, Saka and Ødegaard were being prepared on the touch line. But, before they could join the fray, a square ball from Madueke found Timber inside the box, his turn took him clear to the right of goal and from a tight angle he chipped the ball over the outrushing keeper and into the net. Did the subs on the sideline provide an incentive?

Arsenal 1 – 0 Lille, Timber 64

The subs replaced Merino, Madueke and Gyökeres. Lille still couldn’t keep the ball. A high press by Timber and Ødegaard regained the ball midway in their half and Guimarães ran onto it, who with a ‘trademark vertical pass’ found Saka, running into the box. Saka’s square ball was met first-time by Eze who fired it sweetly into the net just 3 minutes after the first goal.

Arsenal 2 – 0 Lille, Eze 67

Arsenal were now moving with more pace and confidence. A through ball found Eze whose shot was kept out by the keeper. Then after some intricate interplay on the right corner of the Lille box between Ødegaard and Saka, the captain played a through ball to the bye-line for Havertz who deftly reversed the ball to Saka who stroked it from the edge of the 6-yard box, past the keeper and into the net.

Arsenal 3 – 0 Lille, Saka 71

After this, Arsenal took their foot off the gas, and Lille made virtually their first second-half foray out of defence, which ended when Konsa flung himself bravely to block their shot on goal. But at no point hereafter did Lille look capable of rescuing the game.

Our ball players were clearly enjoying themselves by now and a snap shot by Guimarães which was saved was followed by some intricate interplay before Giroud was warmly welcomed onto the field by all and sundry on 77 minutes. At the same point, White came on for Timber.

On 80 minutes, Eze went down after a challenge from Goffi who caught him on the ankle. However he resumed play without the physios’ attention.and was soon back in action. On 84 minutes, Dowman replaced Eze and took over the right wing slot with Saka switching to the left.

Dowman provided a cameo of his skill with some lovely dribbling in the box after a deft Ødegaard flick and he bamboozled several defenders and deserved more than a blocked shot. Havertz earned a yellow card in added time when the goalkeeper went down in a heap after kicking the German’s outstretched foot as he tried to block a clearance.

Full-time: Arsenal 3 – 0 Lille

In the end, we looked comfortable but the first hour was a slog against a well-organised defence and chances were few. Although Timber scored with a marvellous piece of individual skill before the substitutions were made, there is no doubt we looked a different team after Ødegaard, Saka and Havertz came on. The press was more efficient and led to the second and third goals, the ball was moved more quickly and chance creation was much more frequent. The interplay between Guimarães, Ødegaard, Havertz, Saka, and Eze was a joy to behold and these players clearly enjoy playing with each other, with Rice, Timber and MLS providing supporting roles. Once Guimarães beds in (this was his first 90 minutes) this midfield is going to be deadly as he adds verticality, speed of thought and terrier-like aggression to the mix.

Gyökeres worked hard and with a bit of luck, could have got on the score sheet but remains less involved than Havertz in the same role. Madueke also worked hard and, much like against Leeds, caught the eye in the first half and provided our greatest threat. Merino looked out of sorts and provided the least impressive performance I’ve seen from him.

Job done. Hopefully, no injuries in the warm-down!

RIP Mr Friar. Your boys are doing you proud.

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