A cold Saturday in December and that rarest of rarities, a 3pm kick off. All is good with the world. Or so it seemed until around 4.15 pm yesterday when our old friends panic and passivity (thank you, Bath) turned up like Marley’s ghost, very nearly to ruin things.
Even before the game began there were a couple of problems. Timber was nowhere to be seen on the timesheet and then, in the warm up, Calafiori pulled up and had to go and sit with the Sick, Lame and Lazy club, to be replaced on the teamsheet by MLS. If Mikel asked for a full complement of healthy defenders from Santa this Christmas, he didn’t get it. Perhaps he just addressed the letter poorly and sent it to Satan instead. In any case, this meant that we had Declan Rice at right back, not where we want to watch him, but needs must when the devil micturates on your cornflakes. The bench was incredibly strong, welcoming back Big Gabby. In fact, the discussion turned at one point to whether having the name Gabby was compulsory in terms of bench sitting, as we had three of them on there. The only change to the expected subs was the addition of 16-year-old Marli Salmon as now the only actual defender on the bench.
In the first minute, a lofted pass from Trossard was played behind the tree-sized oaf that is Lewis Dunk and Gyökeres forced his way to the ball very well, only for his technique to fail; instead of the delicate lob with his right instep which I think he was trying to pull off, he tamely caressed the ball in the manner of a back pass to the keeper. Not an auspicious start for him. Arsenal had begun breezily enough, with lots of possession and Ødegaard and Saka in particular buzzing around, keeping the ball moving, and moving forward. Saka had a couple of attempts from the right side where was he was, not at all in the spirit of Christmas, torturing the Brighton left back. Then on 13 minutes, the boisterous, well lubricated crowd was rewarded with a superbly taken strike from Ødegaard. The Arsenal press forced the Brighton keeper into a poor clearance which was won by Saliba. The ball bobbled towards Rice, venturing into midfield as is his wont, who headed on to Saka. Gyökeres made a good distracting run, allowing Saka to take time off from providing his Left-Back Torturing 101 course, and pass the ball inside to Ødegaard, who controlled instantly, looked up and hammered his shot into the near post side of the goal, between two defenders, giving the keeper no chance. A laser-guided effort, which we all hope will signal the return of the finishing we know and love.
The game continued in the same vein for the rest of the half, with Brighton playing as instructed by their odious manager, committing fouls, for some of which the referee even managed to award us free kicks. We were well on top and on another day, we would have gone in for oranges another goal or two up. Profligacy, the third P in Bath’s unholy trinity, was our watchword, however. There was still time for a piece of Christmas pantomime, when with the whistle about to blow, MLS played a ball up the left-hand channel for Gyökeres to chase. This he did and touched the ball past the, for some reason, out-rushing goalkeeper, way out of his box and close to the touchline. The keeper clearly saw that he had misjudged Gyökeres’ pace and cleaned him out. The referee gave a yellow but everyone in the ground was frankly expecting VAR to overturn it for the obvious red it was, for a high, late, dangerous, pre-meditated foul. I don’t know how many other criteria there are supposed to be for a red card. It ticked all of the boxes for me. Perhaps the fact that Gyökeres’ touch might have been taking the ball out played a part. You will be unsurprised to hear that I thought it was, yet again, poor refereeing. A view which was echoed by many downstairs at the bar in Block 10 at half time.
The second half kicked off with Brighton making a couple of changes. De Cuyper, the hapless, tortured left back, had decided that he could take no more and was allowed a reprieve from The Rack, to be replaced by Wieffer, who fared little better. Gruda, whoever he was, was replaced by the very quick and troublesome Minteh. Immediately the game restarted, you could see that Brighton had been revved up by the odious German. That said, 6 minutes into the half a deflected effort from Saka went out for a corner taken from the left-hand side of the Northbank by Rice. The viciously inswinging near-post delivery tempted the Brighton forward Rutter into attempting a header, but he succeeded only in wrong-footing his own keeper, planting the ball into the back of the net. That 12th man of ours, Owen Goal, had made another unscheduled appearance. Good!
We seemed to take that as our cue to draw them on, allowing them both more time on the ball and space into which to attack. We still had a couple of decent efforts, one from a typically bustling run and shaking off of a defender by Gyökeres fairly stung the hands of the keeper. However these were becoming more fitful and it came as a surprise to nobody to see Brighton pull one back on 63 minutes when a speculative effort from Ayari on the edge of the box rebounded off the post straight out into the middle of the area, rather than towards the touchline as one might have expected from the angle of the shot, and Gomez hammered home into an empty net. This giving away preventable, even if well taken, goals is becoming as predictable as the scheduling of Home Alone and The Great Escape on tv on Christmas Day. Minteh then had an effort from the right-hand side of the box which was flashing towards the top right of Raya’s goal until the keeper pulled off a save of which the great custodians of the past, Messrs Wilson and Seaman, would have been proud. Moments like this win games and potentially titles. Hincapié then saved Raya’s blushes from a left hand side corner, under which the keeper got stuck and the header from Wieffer was deflected over as a result of the Ecuadorean’s superb effort. A few minutes later, and with the level of edginess and disquiet among both home team and fans becoming more apparent, Mikel made some timely changes, bringing off MLS and Gyökeres for Big Gabby and Jesùs. Both these subs were welcomed loudly, as was Danny Welbeck who came on for Brighton a couple of minutes later. Well played, the Arsenal fans. 10 minutes later the bench was completely denuded of Gabbies when Martinelli came on for Trossard, who had had a good game. If Eze wants to play more than a bit part role, he really has to sit down and look at the effort put in by the two players currently in front of him on the left-sided forward role.
Brighton continued to press for an equaliser and the anxiety level continued to rise, In truth we still had a good couple of efforts, one from Martinelli provided by Saka, who had clearly not tired from his role as Left-Back Torturer General, perhaps ought to have been converted. The subs did give is a bit more control, notably from Jesùs, whom I hope Gyökeres is studying closely, as he was able to win balls against 2 defenders on more than one occasion, which Viktor notably wasn’t. Finally, the referee blew the whistle and the roof came off the ground.
Onward to Tuesday night and the visit of in-form Villa. We owe them for the last-minute defeat we suffered a few weeks ago. I hope Mikel is getting in a pre-emptive request to Santa for some fit defenders. Can someone please make sure it is correctly addressed.
Well done 20th century man. 3 points and onward.
Good report, thank you.
Wenger, among others, said two-nil is a dangerous score line. We need to put teams away. The way we have been playing the last month or so gives the opposition confidence they can get back into the game. At least Big Gabby is back but missing White, Timber, Mosquera and now Calafiori means we have to shuffle the pack to the detriment of the preferred formation, i.e. we need Declan in MF.
Our first 10 are every bit as good or better than Man C’s. The X-Factor is Haaland. He is single-footedly driving them onward. We desperately need one of Jesus / Gykores / Havertz or even Merino to step up between now and May.
A fair reflection of and sharp observations on a game we should have won by a larger margin than 2-1, CER.
My only point of divergence is that I wasn’t surprised that Verbruggen got a yellow rather than a red for cleaning out Gyökeres. An outfield player would have been similarly sanctioned for that tackle, especially on a day when the officials ignored Jesus getting barged to the ground in the penalty area when going for a header.
The importance of Raya’s world-class save from Minteh may loom even larger come the end of the season.
Excellent report on a game that I watched in detail just after seeing Villa get away with a mugging in South- West London. I thought we played very well overall with exceptional performances from Odegaard, Saka , Trossard and Zubimendi in the first half. But the best performance of all came from Declan who was incredible in a position he may never have played before . Gabriel Jesus also toiled manfully and rather underlined the deficiencies of Gyokeres in an energetic cameo . The lift we got from the return of Big Gabi was enormous and we just held on to win a game in which we were overwhelmingly the better side . We need a fit Jurrien Timber for Villa and Gabriel to start and we need to overrun Villa for ninety minutes in the way the Chavs did for 45 yesterday.
TTG@4: Spot on with your flowers for Rice. If he played there regularly, he would surely be one of, if not the best, right-backs in Europe.
That was the game I saw too, CER. Complete dominance for an hour laced with much creativity sadly spoilt by the aforementioned profligacy followed after the hour by too much defensive passivity probably the result of an hour’s full-on exertion. Brighton’s fortunate goal produced only a brief spell of panic and Raya’s superb save, Hincapié’s intervention at the resultant corner and the addition of Gabriel calmed panic somewhat. Nonetheless as in our recent home games, the fragility of our lead provoked palpable tension in the crowd which was ameliorated by Declan’s astonishing gallop down the wing in the dying minutes – the triumph of commitment over exhaustion. Martinelli might have cured the malaise by burying that chance created by Saka but sadly did not. When we fail to convert our chances that is the tension with which we must live.
As already observed, despite dissatisfaction with the overall trajectory of the game, several players were in top form for an hour and there was no lack of effort from anyone: Raya won us the three points with his fantastic save; Rice was fantastic at right back but we did miss his drive through the midfield; Saliba, Hincapié, Zubimendi, Ødegaard and Trossard played very well for an hour; MLS and Merino weren’t quite so effective but get clear pass marks; Gyökeres gets a star for effort but there’s something missing. Gabriel, Jesús, Martinelli each made a difference when they came on and must surely start against Villa when I hope to see Rice restored to midfield to drive us on.
The GHF Predictathon leaderboard for Matchweek 18 has been posted. Only three players improved their scores this week. Were you one of them? You know where to find out…
Nice one CER.
I was at the game, sitting in the lower West Stand. Around me, it was pretty quiet. The 2 ST holders on my right did not join in a single chant all game. Not even after the Brighton goal when the team needed the crowd. They did complain a lot, at one point turning to another regular behind and saying “I swear, this manager is GONE. We see the same thing every week.”
Frankly, I found it rather dispiriting. I’d love it if the Ems was a rocking cauldron that opposition teams feared to come to. But it is a very variable place to play football – occasionally it reaches great heights, but it easily becomes quiet and disgruntled, especially away from the notably raucous areas who are completely different and a great credit to the club. So often yesterday a chant started from behind one of the goals, but the people in my stand, en masse, had no interest in joining in.
I don’t go every week, and I’m not here to judge how paying ST holders watch games. It’s different if you only get to go once or twice a year – you don’t take it for granted but you also aren’t jaded.
I think we’ve got the best squad we’ve had in my lifetime, and one of the best managers in the world. I’d love to be at a game like this and find 60,000 other people willing to sing their hearts out, especially in the tough moments. I don’t like criticising our players during games (after the game is over is another matter entirely, but while the match is on and the result is still undecided then we’re all in it together). Instead, I had people on either side of me who were down on the manager and generally really negative. It doesn’t help the team and it contributes to the nerves on the pitch, so I do find it hard to get my head around. If you aren’t part of the solution then you’re part of the problem, and all that.
In the last 5 mins when we just kept the ball in the corner and played to win a series of throw ins the blokes next to me were screaming their displeasure. Meanwhile, I was more than happy with those tactics. I loved our brilliant football under Wenger, but there’s a bit of me that will always love George Graham’s philosophy above all others. Just be hard, horrible bastards who do whatever it takes to win, and screw anyone who complains it ain’t pretty. Obviously, a mix of both is nice, but we had almost ten years under Wenger where we played nice stuff on our day but lacked the GG steel to win anything. I don’t wanna see it ever again. I like that we are winning by odd goals even though we can’t finish for toffee. If we sort the finishing out we’ll be away, but the idea that what we are seeing is bad is beyond me. We are top of the league after a string of crucial injuries and having scored about 2 goals from 9 Xg in our last four games, which is anomalous enough it won’t continue indefinitely.
I love this team and this manager, and although yesterday was hard work, I loved being at the game and getting to cheer the lads on. I hope we keep winning, and even do so in style, as it’s the best way to get every single fan on board and pulling in the same direction- the direction of major trophies!
UTA!
I watched Gyokeres carefully yesterday and he wasn’t a player who looked different in the flesh to what I’d seen on TV. He makes some good runs which aren’t found, and we don’t move the ball forward quickly enough to make use of him. We also look for Saka habitually instead of Gyokeres, and those two have built up very little relationship so far. When Bukayo has the ball I have little expectation it’s going to end in a chance for Big Vik. By the time the ball has gone wide, the opportunity for a quick pass for Gyokeres to run onto has gone.
On the other hand, he is not as strong as he should be in the challenge. He is awful in the air, almost never winning a contested header. He is not a penalty box striker who finds space, or those crucial half-yards in dangerous areas. And he doesn’t press with enthusiasm, but more out of obligation. Like he wants to do enough to keep the boss off his back, but doesn’t actually want to get the ball. There were a few times that Odegaard and Saka pressed hard only to have their efforts wasted as Gyokeres wasn’t busting a gut to cover his passing lane and instead let Brighton find a simple way out.
So, not great for £60m quid. But, frankly, every issue I saw in his game is exactly what was predicted before we bought him. I don’t really see how he fits in this team. He does nothing useful apart from score goals, so if he isn’t scoring then we are pretty much playing with 10 men (and still winning). I hope he comes good for us but right now I can’t wait to get Havertz back, and I hope Jesus finds his shooting boots. Gyokeres looks like a second choice striker at this level, a potentially useful player, especially in certain situations, but not the goalscorer some hoped he would be.
I should say, apart from his underwhelming pressing, I like Gyokeres’ attitude and if he does score a few goals and get his confidence up then we may well have a different player on our hands. I certainly hope so. It’s definitely far too early to know how his Arsenal career will play out and he’s a hard worker who will be giving his all to be a success. I’m rooting for him!
GSD@8: Amen to that.
GSD@10&11: There is a theory that top international players coming into the PL often don’t hit their stride until their second season. I can’t remember who said that, or whether there is anything to back it up beyond anecdotal evidence, but Calafiori and Timber would support the idea. Maybe we have to pause judgment on Gyökeres until next term.
I do think his Achilles heel is a lack of pace by PL standards, which is exacerbated if we don’t get the ball to him early, especially as he looks more like a bull in a china shop type of nine, rather than a fox in the box, if I may mix the animal metaphors.
Nice that you could get to the match GSD but frustrating for you that you got to sit in such a passive part of the ground. Where I sit in the North Bank Upper is very supportive of Arteta and quite passionate . The lower tier is also very passionate and engaged as C100 and CER can attest .
Your analysis of Gyokeres is very balanced . I’ve tried to think of strikers I’ve watched over the last 65 years who aren’t as good as Gyokeres and I find myself thinking back to the early 80s and the likes of Hawley , Hankin and Whyte . Kaba Diawara wouldn’t have scored in a brothel and the late Fabian Caballero struggled at times but we could name a lot of strikers who were much more talented – the sixties – Baker , Herd , seventies , Radford, Kennedy , Kidd, Stapleton , Macdonald , Sunderland eighties , Woodcock, Nicholas , Smith , Merson, , nineties, Campbell, Wright ,Bergkamp, Anelka , noughties ,Henry ,Wiltord, Van Persie , tens, Giroud , Aubameyang , Lacazette and currently Jesus and Havertz . I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few . I don’t think Gyokeres is anywhere near as good as any of them but he’s our man and we have to get behind him . I suspect we may see Merino , Havertz and Jesus getting in ahead of him by the end of the season but it would be brilliant if he can hit a purple patch .
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Thanks CER, a fair report of the game. It was an annoying goal to give away really but we got the three points and that was the main thing. Good to see Ode back on the scoreboard,
Gabriel back on the pitch and Hurzeler back in his box.
You covered everything very comprehensively there, CER and there are some excellent builds in the drinks.
We were completely dominant until we weren’t on Saturday and the extent of the turnaround was difficult to fathom, although injuries impacting the set-up and balance of the team are primary considerations.
GSD’s “Not great for £60M” sums up the current situation with Gyokeres rather well. I continue to hope that we’ll see a transition to a greater level of striking competence, but I was very pleased to see him depart for Jesus on Saturday and, frankly, can’t wait to see Kai Havertz lead the line again.
One of our players was fouled. A Brighton player kicked the ball away. Ball retrieved for Ode who tried to take the free kick. Same Brighton player stood one yard in front preventing the kick. Ode took the kick, ball bounced off Brighton player requiring the kick to be taken again………..
………at that point I was expecting the ref to call Declan over, send him to the dressing room with a “You give me no choice” explanation. Quite surprisingly, that didn’t happen. Are PGMOL getting soft on us?
@8 GSD, I wonder if there is a stadium which is constantly a rocking cauldron?
My suspicion is that most are like ours, brilliant when the team either plays beautifully or fights super-hard for 50:50 balls or scores with nearly every opportunity. However, when the converse of these is the case, it’s difficult to imagine even the most lilywhite eyed Spud, red nosed Manc or fat bellied barcode singing along happily in a cauldron spilling over with much other than apathy or worse, bile.
Like you I despise the negativity of many who trundle along to the Ems on game day. I cannot even comprehend the notion of Arteta-out as being anything other than a fervent prayer of opposing fans and agree (that when they’re all available) we have our best squad ever.
However, I have to admit to being a careful, focused watcher of the game rather than a fervent noise maker when I go to games. I enjoy the occasional song (we have some really good ones); I clap loudly and shout regular encouragement (I’ve noticed that Martinelli, in particular, heeds my every instruction) but I’m not up for all of “hate tottnum” stuff and let that drift on by while I study the chess board in front of me.
An encouraging perspective in the style of C100
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@7, Ned, relegation fodder pressures don’t sit comfortably with me. Any chance of a ‘behind the scenes’ opportunity to nobble one of the monks and gee my numbers up a bit?
You’ve covered the strikers pretty well there TTG!
Chapman, Mariner and Adebayor sprang to mind.
I realize a comprehensive list wasn’t the point of your post at all
but I have nothing new to add on the Gyokeres debate so….
@18 thanks for the link BtM, a fair summary of the situation. Though as it is pretty much exactly how I see it as well I am not sure my opinion is any way unbiased 😀
@17 Of course once upon a time I was a fervent noise maker. So fervent, in fact, that when Danny Welbeck scored his first hat trick in red and white against Galatasary in a 4-0 CL home win, five very nice Arsenal men in orange outfits resembling Trump era Michelin men kindly escorted me right out of the stadium and onto the concourse above the Armoury. Nice. Sad but true.
The fervensity of my noise making has been substantially subdued since then. As TTG can testify, I’m well behaved and often quieter than a hungry church mouse these days and I’m sure the NHOF is a much better place for the absence of my efforts to inspire a swirling, boiling cauldron inside those hallowed walls.
BtM. Lots of good points. I don’t think we really do ‘cauldron’ style stadiums in the UK. Perhaps more so in Germany or Turkey, but it does rely on the game becoming secondary to some extent, and I’m with you that I do actually want to watch it!
Clapping loudly and shouting encouragement sounds excellent to me. If only everyone did it! I also like a bog standard chant of “Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal”. No frills. The more elaborate chants are great fun, but I care less about them than the principle that people make some positive noise (of their choosing) and support the team in a way the team can recognise as such. That’s it.
There are loads of amazing fans and ST holders. Ashburton Army, for example, always set the tone, although they are far from alone. There are lots of great groups within our overall support, and some sections of the stadium are regularly boisterous and fully behind the team. I love it!
It’s just in some other sections that the mood is different, and I know which I think helps the team more. We all want the same thing, and if the crowd can have even a small influence on results then why not do all we can? If the team play terribly then grumbling about it afterwards is a tradition that has stood the test of time, but whilst the match is on I’m of the opinion that sticking together is best.
Victims Concordia Crescit is our actual motto and it does no harm to remember what it means.
Oh autocorrect. You saucy dog. You’ve done me there. Freudian much?
Victims Concordia Crescit. Indeed.
Perhaps that’s the alternative motto for those whose ‘support’ of a football team is just a cover so they can have something to moan about?
https://gunnerstown.com/arsenal/2025/12/29/little-by-little-positives-needs-hopes-ars-2-1-bha/
CER – excellent, balanced and thoroughly enjoyable report 👍🏻👍🏻
Many excellent drinks above too.
BtM on fire @several places 🔥👍🏻
BtM@19: 🙂
SP@26: Thanks for the McDonald link. His coach’s eye always produces a thought-provoking observation or two, in this case, the importance of Saka’s decision-making and second touch, and MØ8’s lack of improvement over the past couple of years compared to the rest of the squad. His suggestion that Marc Guehi could be signed in January as a replacement for Benny Blanco is also intriguing.
NBN @29 – very intriguing – a left sided centre back for a right back ?
>>>>>>>