Fulham away, every travelling fans favourite fixture of the year. Sunshine, beers by the river, a stroll to the ground through Bishops’ Park, the singing echoing down from the crinkly tin roof of the Putney end. So I was there right? Wrong. Tickets sold out on 35 credits and I have 31. So it was the sofa, Sky Sports and Chris Sutton for me. It was a filthy afternoon, with Storm Daraagh throwing its final fling at the whole country. Wind and rain lashed around SW6.
The early team news showed that big Gabi and Calafiori were still not fit to play. Thomas Partey lined up at right back with Timber switching to the left. Zinchenko was not on the bench. Our defensive resources were getting thinner. Jorghino, Rice and Ødegaard formed the midfield, with Trossard, Havertz and Saka up front.
We started very well and confidently and dominated the first ten minutes. Then a through ball on the Fulham right bypassed Kiwior and Jimenez ran on and scored brilliantly from just inside the area. It was the first time Fulham had been in our half.
An excellent ball from Trossard found the end of a superb run from Rice but he steered it just wide. All the verve and panache of the first 10 had vanished but instead we were playing far too slowly and predictably and after 35 minutes Leno had not had a save to make apart from dealing with corners. Then Saka got one on one with Bassey, jinked to his right and fired in a clever shot, well saved by our former glove butler.
At half time it was 1-0 to Fulham, who had defended well and who had been robust physically (but I think fairly). Our only creative spark had been Saka. Ødegaard had been double and triple teamed, giving him no room for his usual creativity.
We started the second half poorly. Trossard let the ball run though his legs (did he get a shout?) to Iwobi on the half way line. Nothing came of it but we were in danger of sleepwalking to a 2-0 deficit. But on 53 minutes we won a corner on our left hand side. Declan’s usual laser guided in swinging corner was whipped in to Havertz who guided it back across to Big Willy who smashed it in. After an anxious delay for VAR, he was ruled onside and the goal stood. The Putney end roared its approval.
Set piece again!
Set piece again!
Set piece again Ole Ole!
On the hour Martinelli came on for Trossard. ESR and Traore were hooked for Fulham (neither had contributed anything of note). Martinelli won another corner. It reached Partey, five yards out and completely unmarked. He had to score. Dearest reader, he put it well wide, just as he did with a similar golden chance in mid week. The air turned blue in a Cambridgeshire living room.
On 73 minutes we made another two subs, Jesùs for Havertz (who, unusually had had a largely ineffective game) and Merino for Jorgi. I was calling for Nwaneri and on 78 minutes my wish was granted as he came on for Ødegaard, who had taken a couple of crunching tackles. Immediately Ethan made a lovely dancing run which ended with Saka being hacked down by Robinson, who was booked.
Then came the creative moment. Arsenal played the ball around. It reached Martinelli on the left wing who conjured a beautiful cross to the back post where a clearly onside Saka cleverly headed it past Leno. Pandemonium in Cambridgeshire and in the Putney end. But wait! A VAR check was going on for Martinelli who was deemed just, marginally offside. To be fair, it looked the right call on replay. But that moment being taken away from us was the cause of the deep frustration of most of us straight after the game. There is nothing in football like a late winner. Think Henry against United, Vermaelen against Newcastle, Welbeck against Leicester, Nelson against Bournemouth.
We tried to go again but couldn’t. So frustrating! The Partey miss, the marginal offside call! Unlike December ’23 we were comfortably the best team. Two thirds possession, 12 shots vs 2. But we couldn’t close the deal.
So, having slept on it, what are my thoughts? Well, channeling my inner Mike McDonald, I have positives and areas for improvement.
As I say above, we dominated the game but just weren’t clinical enough in the six yard box. However we have scored 15 goals in our last four games. Saka was terrific. We just didn’t get the breaks today. But drastic surgery is not required.
But some tweaks are. Playing Partey at right back does not work in an attacking sense. The usual Saka- Odegaard- right back triangle is denuded by one and makes it much easier to double team them. Play Timber on the right and, if Calafiori or Zinchenko are not available, play Lewis Skelly on the left.
A few weeks ago, I suggested that Jesùs is a busted flush and was roundly castigated in this forum. No, give him more time I was told. Well, he had over 20 minutes yesterday and was utterly ineffective. One out of 6 passes successfully completed. A late half chance where he hesitated instead of throwing his foot at the ball. He is no longer good enough for this team. We need another player in January as an alternative to Havertz as a rotational option, or a sub for days like today. At the same time we must find replacements for the chronically injured Tomiyasu and Zinchenko.
I wish we would shoot more from the edge of the box. That applies particularly to Martin, Rice and Havertz.
So is that the title race blown? Stuff and nonsense. There are 23 games still to go. Liverpool will have their wobble. Does no one remember 1998? We are, fundamentally, playing well.
One last thought. I saw some Gooners cheering on Spurs yesterday. Go and take a bath with carbolic soap. Mate.
Monaco on Wednesday. Let’s thrash them and cement our place in the CL top eight.
Thanks c100, a robust review of a frustrating day.
I agree with almost all of your thoughts / conclusions especially that there is still all to play for in the title race.
Gabi M and Jesus were both ineffective yesterday, and Gabi should never have been offside there for the disallowed goal. I’d start both against Monaco, we will need them playing well this season unless we can find better in January which I doubt.
Cheers C100!
Thanks for a true reflection on the game and our current situation. We will be a lot better with Gabriel back and Timber at right back. With a good chunk of the season over the only other reflection I have is, the form of Martinelli, Trossard and Jesus really emphasises how poor our Summer recruitment was.
A clear-light-of-morning review, C100. It was a very frustrating watch, especially the chalking off what would have been a last-minute winner. Martinelli was as marginally off as Saliba was on. VAR giveth and VAR taketh away.
No getting away from the fact that it was two points dropped.
I have to agree with your assessment of Jesus. He was a statement signing and a tremendous asset on and off the field when the team was in transition, but time has moved on, and Jesus now has to be, too. The issue in replacing him is going to be that strikers are expensive. Anyone with the quality we want will expect to start more often than not.
I also agree about the attacking cost of playing Partey at right-back. He is perfectly competent there, but he doesn’t give the overlaps and support that White or Timber do to Saka and Ødegaard. Ødegaard could not have been cluster-marked as he was if Timber had played on the right. I recall reading that MLS has been injured, so perhaps he did not have a start in him, but his cameos this season suggest he could handle a start. What does it say about Tierney that he cannot get off the bench even with the injury list we have at full-back?
Cheers c100 on your excellent and Faberesque report. We droppedctwo points but recovered one, and I think your assessments of how we need to improve the squad are spot on. Time to move on and to thrash the Monegasques.
Cheers C100!
My celebrations of our second goal in the pub were badly cut by the first image of the dreaded line that left me in no doubt about VAR’s eventual decision.
If we hadn’t ‘scored’ that one, I think I might have been slightly less frustrated (but still extremely frustrated). So, as I feared, what had been ‘too good’ a weekend didn’t end well, though I guess it could have been even worse.
Hopefully, Balogun now fit again (I think? he wasn’t in the squad this past weekend, though he’d come back the weekend before, but perhaps he had a setback) will not come back to haunt us on Wednesday now.
C100
A very sensible and balanced report unlike much of the hyperbole around the collapse of our title chances on December 8th with only 72 points to play for . My Fulham mates felt it was their best performance at the Cottage for years especially defensively .
We are vulnerable if we concede first. We aren’t hugely creative when we are chasing a game but we are superb at controlling matches from the front. But it was a fighting point, away to a team in sixth place and we almost won it . I thought Saka was excellent, Rice worked exceptionally hard and if we’d set in Nwaneri earlier he might have made the difference
We are suffering from squad thinness in some areas mainly because of injuries . Kiwior is nowhere near quick enough to play in this team . A penalty conceded at Bournemouth , skinned by Gyokeres in the few minutes he was on in Lisbon and made to look pedestrian by 33year old Jimenez . Calafiori is Gabriel’s deputy but he is on his fourth injury since joining us . I agree about Jesus . Edu got huge praise when he signed him but C115y were happy to move him and the injury prone Zinchenko on for good money . He is not a good finisher , isn’t very brave and is another who spends too much time on the treatment table We need a striker to compete upfront and a utility defender or two to provide ballast. If Napoli want Kiwior that would suit me fine .
But the season is rich in promise still and Mikel knows .
Re the game at the Toilet Bowl I wanted the Chavs to drop three points ( hard to achieve without the Spuds winning but when they score it is never a nice feeling ) The way it played out I found myself becoming more and more amused as the Spuds struggled and Dr.No sorry I mean Daniel Levy sat watching his fifteenth choice as manager looked more and more ridiculous. Mate . Ange really is a piece of work isn’t he ?
Exactly the match I saw, C100, from a fantastic but fantastically expensive seat (£150) at the front of the upper tier of the Riverside Stand near the halfway line. I had an excellent view of all proceedings and your report mirrors precisely my thoughts on the match. Having improved our team only a couple of years ago, it may be more the further improvement in the rest of the squad rather than physical deterioration that makes both Jesùs and Zinchenko poor back-ups rather than first XI choices. It speaks volumes for their form that neither KT3 nor Sterling were considered at any point in the match either as a starter or as a substitute as we scraped the barrel to field a coherent back four and struggled to win the match. The lack of game changing substitutes (due more to injury rather than to failed purchasing apart from CF) strikes me as the most likely cause of any ultimate failure to lift any of the big prizes. In the second half, I was keen to see MLS or even KT3 brought on at LB restoring Timber to his marauding RB role in support of the hard-working but swamped Øde and Saka with TP5 restored to central midfield to recycle the bullets more effectively. As it was, this time, none of our subs made an iota of difference apart from Martinelli’s offside cross and while Havertz had a relatively unfruitful but busy afternoon, Jesùs’ contribution was derisory and I still can’t understand why he didn’t take that shot. We need to be smarter against smart coaches and their well-organised defences. That was a stumble in the race, not a terminal wound, but we must bounce back promptly and canny reinforcements in January, if the right players are available, could make the difference in May.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m going to take issue with those who are trying to put Martinelli in the same camp as Jesus. I thought he played well yesterday when he came on, gave our left side some much needed balance and bite and produced the ball of the game to put Saka in for a disallowed winner. I’ve also seem some footage which suggests he was unlucky to be offside. He was looking across the line, was onside, when Timber shaped to pass to him. But Timber took an extra touch, which allowed Fulham to step up and put Gabi just offside.
So for me, Jesus out, Martinelli very much in.
Thanks C100 – very fair report from the sofa instead of the stand for a change.
I agree with you about Jesus and Martinelli. I want Jesus back to his best but just can’t see any progress or any way of him getting back there on current showings. Martinelli gets a rough deal on the left – usually double marked because he has no attacking partner on that side. He also had to spend a lot of his time and energy getting back to defend to cover the shortcomings of a too slow Kiwior or a defensively unsound Zinchenko. Calafiori seems to be suffering the long term effects of the very serious knee injury he suffered in Italy. The Premier League will find that out.
The GHF Predictathon Match Week 15 leaderboard has been posted. Be warned: with Forest in fifth, it doesn’t make pretty reading. There is also a bonus five-game form guide.
Excellent report and I wholeheartedly agree with you on almost all points, including on the analysis of Martinelli.
Silva does somewhat seem to have Arteta’s number, although he was aided by a goal from their only meaningful attack, which I put down to Kiwior’s poor positioning. Much like TTG, I think Kiwior is just marking time ahead of a sale. Unfortunately the same has to be said for the collection of perma-injured defenders we have built up in Tierney, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu. Calafiori, as good as he is, is beginning to look like he might be another one. Hopefully, his bad luck will come to an end.
I’ve been a little disappointed with some of the reaction from fans, not in this place, to our performance. Anyone would think we’re in our umpteenth manager in the last 15 years , having neither won nor looked like winning anything, with a CEO/shareholder who has picked each of the managers and yet has evaded responsibility rather in the way an eel evades capture when sought by a one-handed man.
Thanks c100
Despite all the niceties of playing away at Fulham I’m starting to get somewhat pissed off at keep gifting them points and I can only wish that we absolutely slaughter them in the next home game.
Reference Bath @9, what was the point of bringing in Sterling given his contribution thus far? Was Mikel even at the forefront of this decision? If so, why has he had so little gametime?
Maybe our best chance was last season because we’re dropping too many points this time around with increased performances from the bindippers and the Chavs.
UTA.
Some perspective Holics
We are two points behind the Chavs having played six of last year’s top seven away . Fulham were sixth when we played them
Red cards undoubtedly hit us early in the season and we have been ill served by injuries . As far as I can work out Raya is our only ever present and Trossard, Havertz and Saliba are the only players who have not had at least one injury . That’s a big contrast with last season
Undoubtedly to have a real chance at the title we need a productive window similar to two years ago when we brought in Trossard , Jorginho and er Kiwior . If we end up with the current squad with its injury problems it is going to be hard to win the title . But I have faith we will make some positive moves even without a Sporting Director
Coote got the boot. PGMOL will circle the wagons.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c983y2ylev5o
TTG@15: I think even Raya had a muscle injury that made him unavailable for the League Cup game against Bolton.
Does anyone know the difference in the points total for teams played this season to last? I bet it isn’t a lot different.
Ned @17
I was only thinking League games
I suspect he’d not start until later in the League Cup. But it underlines that nobody has been immune from injuries
SP @18
Courtesy of Orbinho on Bluesky the answer to your question is
Arsenal’s point against Fulham means they are now only -3 points overall against last season’s equivalent fixtures.
3 West Ham A (-)
3 Man Utd H (-)
0 Fulham A (+1)
3 Everton H
3 Crystal Palace A
3 Ipswich H
On to the next.
Update after the weekend
-3 Arsenal
-8 Villa
+12 Chelsea
0 Liverpool
-7 Man City
-7 Man Utd
-3 Newcastle
-3 Spurs
If teams replicate last season’s results in their remaining fixtures, Arsenal would win the league with 86 points from City on 84 and Liverpool on 82.
SP@18: If you mean points in the league games this season versus points in the corresponding league game last season, it looks like this (this season’s points first)
v Wolves (H) 3 v 3
v Villa (A) 3 v 0
v Brighton (H) 1 v 3
v Tottenham (A) 3 v 3
v Man City (A) 1 v 1
v Leicester (H) 3 v n/a
v Southampton (H) 3 v n/a
v Bournemouth (A) 0 v 3
v Liverpool (H) 1 v 3
v Newcastle (A) 0 v 0
v Chelsea (A) 1 v 1
v Forest (H) 3 v 3
v West Ham (A) 3 v 3
v Man U (H) 3 v 3
v Fulham (A) 1 v 0
So that’s 23 points this season against the 13 teams we played last season, against the 25 we took off them last season.
C100 : If teams replicate last season’s results in their remaining fixtures
About as much chance as me finishing top of the predictathon.
On the other side, our chances of finishing ahead of City and Liverpool are significantly higher.
I agree with you Ollie – I’m just reposting stuff.
But it does show that folk who are calling the league done and dusted in early December are deluded.
Ah right, I’m with you there, C100.
Interesting
C100 @26, timescale?
There is a typo in my @22. The 25 points from last season should be 26 points. Fat finger.
bath@27: That BBC chart seems to be for this season.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c93gkkxrp9yo
It might be more insightful to measure in matches missed rather than days lost.
>>>>>>>