Late news, in recent times, seldom seems to mean good news for Arsenal fans. Riccardo Calafiori put himself out of action for 9 games in the warm up and Bukayo Saka was recently placed off games in similar circumstances. After 21CG’s preview hit the cyber press yesterday, Kai Havertz was ruled out with a muscle injury – you would imagine for around 3 or 4 weeks. Do we dare say that these days ? And then today came the news that William Saliba would miss tonight’s game through illness. However, there did seem to be news leaking through that Saka could be ready to play, and Odegaard and Trossard were close but would be assessed nearer to kick off.
In the event the team lined up as –
Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hinkapie; Zubimendi, Rice, Eze; Madueke, Gyokeres, Trossard;
Subs: Kepa, White, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Brentford’s only win against us came back in the days of Covid-19 in the first ever game at their GTech Stadium. The winning goal scored by ……. of course it was, Christian Norgaard!
I swear I spotted Brentford players in our half during the warm up on TV. Well, I thought, they can f*ck off for a start – if only our manager had the nous and the nerve to get out there and let them know right where they stand. Or not. So to speak.
There’s been some clamour for Eze to play more. In an interview before tonight’s game though he said he is very happy with how things are going; that there is a lot more information to take on board when playing for Arsenal as compared to Palace; that their roles are very precisely laid out for them and they know exactly what they all have to do; that some relationships take longer than others to develop; that playing in this team is like playing with ten other “master players”. Basically he is loving his time, it is tremendous fun and it is just what he wants to be doing. So he is happy enough, whatever we fans might be imagining.
Mikel Arteta said in his pre-game Q and A that ; Saliba didn’t feel well this morning; Eze deserves to play; (how do we shut all the title race noise out) We’ve been doing that for 7 months – we are used to it; (are we good enough to live with the best) We know what we have to do and we’ve been doing it very well. (If you really want any more of this profound, fascinating stuff, you could try looking on stupidbloodyquestions.com.)
The game
In the immediate aftermath I’m really not quite sure what to say about that game. I’m conflicted about almost everything that happened. I’m sure some of that is coloured by my allegiance or bias towards The Arsenal and, correspondingly, some isn’t.
I started by making notes and jotting down all the notable bits of play as usual. I noted after just 3 minutes that Brentford earned their first yellow card – doubtless an indication of how they were going to take us on. But then I was overtaken by how I felt about the game rather than its individual moments. As I’m now half watching the post match interviews on TNT with Martin Keown and Peter Crouch, Crouch has just confirmed the observation I was slightly reluctant to make which was that Brentford played very similarly to his old Stoke City side. Very physical, relentless pressure, long balls thrown in, long throws under the bar.
So why the reluctance ? Well, there’s nothing wrong with that approach if that’s your choice. To be clear, Brentford do not foul in the same malicious way that Stoke did but the grappling at set pieces is quite ridiculous and they constantly break up play with low grade fouls, trips and shirt pulls that referee John Brooks was happy to excuse under the pressure of their Britannia Stadium like crowd. It is extremely difficult to play against and I don’t think Arsenal managed to overcome the relentlessness in the first half. We started quite well, took control, lost it for a while and regained it by 35 minutes for the rest of the half without really threatening to score.
Gabriel received a yellow card for winning the ball and still be sliding as Thiago fell over his foot. Gyokeres was given a yellow card for the most minimal of nudges on a Brentford defender’s back while Madueke was downed in the area by two hands on his back but ….. nothing. No card. No penalty – not “enough” contact – just more conflict for me. The quantitive analysis performed by VAR is quite bewildering.
Individually I thought Masquera was again a terrific substitute for Saliba. Eze kept possession well and always looked to move play forwards – although he is still struggling a bit to find his real position in this team. Gyokeres showed much improved first touch and hold up play. Madueke had plenty of the ball but produced little or no threatening end product. We also saw the worst and best of David Raya as he rolled a stupid ball under Declan Rice’s foot which was turned over and crossed towards Thiago’s head. He then redeemed himself with another fantastic save as the striker’s header looked certain to hit the back of the net.
For all the comparison with Stoke, Brentford were well organised as you would expect from a manager who was their set piece coach a year ago. They made it very difficult for us to play and are a menace from corners and long, long throws.
Half time: Brentford 0 – 0 Arsenal
Mikel Arteta replaced Eze with Martin Odegaard at half time and had clearly had stern words to say as Arsenal were chalk and cheese compared to their first half pace and accuracy. Odegaard was very visibly managing the side and the press in a way that Eze simply does not – and is almost certainly not asked to – and was instantly more involved in play.
Jensen was next in the book for Brentford as they continued to foul at almost every opportunity. Just as Arteta ordered Bukayo Saka to put his hot water bottle away and get ready to enter the fray, Madueke rose to send a brilliant header back across Kelleher in the Brentford goal to put us ahead.
Brentford 0 – 1 Arsenal
Our goal definitely poked the bear in Brentford and it took a superb block header by Gabriel to thwart Thiago. Saka had only been on for 3 minutes when Brentford equalised following another long, long throw from Kayode. Odegaard was hurt trying to clear the final header and although he carried on, wasn’t quite the same afterwards.
Brentford 1 – 1 Arsenal
With so much at stake for the Arsenal and a European place in prospect for Brentford, the game became a basketball match of end to end all out attack. Martinelli and Calafiori replaced Trossard and Hinkapie. Mosquera recovered to make a quite brilliant tackle on Thiago before Rice cleared superbly in the 91st minute. There was still time for Timber to race clear and set Martinelli up for the winner but Gabi took an extra touch, Kelleher was able to block the shot and the final chance was gone.
Full time: Brentford 1 – 1 Arsenal
I‘m going to add the rules on grappling at set pieces to the things I no longer understand. Brentford players were whirling into the back of our net at corners and throw ins, grabbing our players shirts and shoving them into the net, off the pitch, and into our own goalkeeper such that he was totally unable to move. At one stage David Raya was thrown to the ground on his back. Why does that result in the corner being retaken rather than a free kick to Raya ? Saka was even stopped in the centre circle by two arms thrown round his chest – again, nothing given.
And that is the source of my conflict. On the one hand, Keith Andrews has taken his resources and built a team with terrific spirit that plays to its particular strengths. That’s great but it requires a strong official to keep things within the laws of the game. John Brooks was quick to hand out cards for very little outside the penalty areas. Inside the areas it seemed to be absolutely anything goes. In the one hand I admire how Brentford have recruited and replaced their two main forwards, a full back and their manager. On the other hand I hate the way they play and I hate the fact we couldn’t beat it.
There will doubtless be more gnashing of teeth tonight on (anti) social media. The media will go to town on the title race which they will claim has been “blown wide open”. We drew a very difficult game away from home. We are still 4 points and GD clear of Man City. There are 36 points to play for. City will drop some of those. And a special mention for Declan Rice – superb throughout.
Take the point. Move on. Win the next game.
Thanks for a speedy and perceptive report, Trev. Your last paragraph is on the nail. I was, though, shocked at your comment about the quantitative analysis performed by VAR. I simply had no idea that it performed any analysis at all.
Thanks Trev, quick, very good and a spot-on conclusion. I must admit I wouldn’t want to watch Brentford every week but they are doing well and are difficult to beat so good luck to them.
I was very happily surprised to see Noni rise salmonistically and nod
one into the far corner – please do that again Noni!
I also agree with Trev about all the grappling at set pieces – of course I accept we ourselves are very far from angels. I thought there was a crackdown this season but actually it has got worse in most matches these days.
To repeat my advisory to Predictathon players from the previous drinks, the current matchweek has been extended to incorporate our rearranged game with Wolves next week, so there won’t be a leaderboard update until after then. Please curb your disappointment…
OM@2: Brentford swarmed Raya on corners unlike any other team has attempted, with jostling pairs of players circling around him. Quite effective, it has to be said. I doubt the refs have seen anything like it before. I wonder if they will be as tolerant once the novelty wears off.
Another thing that struck me was the excellence of Brentford’s long throws. We don’t seem to have developed anyone who can throw the ball in so dangerously.
Superb, Trev. Thank you. Saw the second half and am left both frustrated and relieved by the final result. I trust others will not adopt the Whirling Dervish strategy at corners against us. Heads up! Onwards.
I hope Ode is undamaged.
Cheers Ned. Yep, conflicting thoughts about this match, but perhaps a point there at the moment is not to be scoffed at. As you say, we’re four points clear, and Man City will no doubt drop some more, the way they are playing.
The grappling at corners seemed to reach new levels yesterday, glad it was just not me thinking that.
I do, however, think Madueke did a blatant dive trying to catch the Brentford leg to trip himself to get a penalty (not sure if it was the same incident you mention though, can’t remember that push), could easily (should) have got a yellow.
I agree with Ned @ 4 re: long throws. Our ‘long’ throws as they have been mentioned time and again especially in the meedja, are not particularly long or threatenings. Koyade’s were back to the proper old school, of….well since we mention Stoke, naturally, Rory Delap.
Cheers Trev. Fast and good. What more could we ask?
Our team is physical and we respect every part of the game. I love that. So I’ve got no problem with Brentford’s style at all. They aren’t cynical like Stoke were. They challenge for the ball robustly but not once all night (or indeed when I’ve watched them this season) have I seen one of their players deliberately try to hurt an opponent. The ref was poor. He got decisions wrong for both sides and the two yellows for Gabriel and Gyokeres were ridiculous.
What they did from corners was interesting in that it is basically unrefereeable. You either let multiple fouls go, or you blow the whistle and it’s a toss up whether you award a foul or a penalty. “After review, Arsenal committed 4 fouls in the box to Brentford’s 5. My final decision is free-kick to Arsenal.” Ahem.
We weren’t fluent. They disrupted us. The underlying numbers last night showed we were more likely to lose than win. Although if Rice hadn’t passed to Gyok but just put his foot through it we’d probably have gone two nil up and won from there. As Arteta pointed out, we gave away a lot of stupid free kicks. We kept doing it. Very poor game management for once.
Definitely take the point and move on.
Can’t disagree with anything that’s been said before. My concern with the last dozen or so games is a lack of consistency from our attackers. One game they click the next they don’t. I can’t work out Eze as he’s the one who never seems to click and my hope is he comes good next season. It’s just so frustrating… arrrrgh….
Great time to have an easy FA cup game.
Ollie and Trev.
I don’t think it’s a penalty on Madueke. Not forceful enough contact for that (and I also can’t see two hands in his back if it’s the same incident). But no way is it a dive. A yellow would have been just plain wrong. We see players go down for less contact multiple times a match, often receiving a free kick. The Brentford guy makes a clumsy contact and Madueke (who has overun the ball anyway) feels it and lets it knock him over. That’s straight from the modern wingers handbook. If you started giving penalties or yellow cards for those then every match would end 8 vs 8 and about 4-4.
If the roles were reversed, I’d be furious if we conceded a penalty for the same offence, and I’d never expect an opposition winger to get booked for it. The ref got it right.
Having beaten both Villa and Newcastle away in their two prior games, Brentford came into last night’s match at the top of their game and were always going to present a stern challenge. You captured the extent and nature of that challenge well, Trev. I had hoped to see Eze start and stamp his name on the game, while one happened the other didn’t and his replacement at half time wasn’t a surprise. Odegaard’s introduction and, no doubt, a vigorous talking to at half time, resulted in a different Arsenal at the start of the second half. We managed a goal from, perhaps, an unlikely source and it should have been 2-0 shortly thereafter. By the end I was hoping we’d hang on for a point which we did, but only just.
Still very much to play for. Move on up.
GSD @ 7.
I think you’re right, those corner situations the way they played out are basically unrefereeable.
Think you’re right on @9 too. Real time I thought it was not a dive, the replay gave me a different opinion, but not yellow-worthy works for me too, really, so good refereeing.
Interesting and honest report Trev, of a game that was very hard to describe! I find myself very much in GSD’s camp . In a sense we let the set piece genie out of the bottle when we focused on this area . It was one of the marginal gains we’ve exploited brilliantly but we can’t expect opponents not to try both to negate our set pieces and to develop their own tactics . Their throws by Koyade are extremely hard to defend and even more dangerous than corners because of the trajectory . It is the one weapon we don’t have in our armoury .
That was an incredibly testing game , one you wouldn’t encounter anywhere else in the world . It will be fascinating to see if England are the only team
in the World Cup who try to do it – and what referees allow . I wish we had about another three Declan Rices. He is playing incredibly well and I hope he puts his feet up on Sunday I liked Mosquera yesterday but felt Eze and Madueke ( goal aside ) had no end product. We fanny around too much at the back but it’s hard to break a press that good . Let’s take the point and move on
If any part of the game becomes unrefereeable, we are on a very slippery slope — not that the officiating is on that sure a footing as it is.
I thought Layth’s substack this morning was excellent. If you don’t already I recommend subscribing. https://bsky.app/profile/laythy29.bsky.social/post/3meqkc7e3e22l
Tottenham appoint a manager called Igor Tudor. Why am I thinking of Marty Feldman?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7038301/2026/02/13/tottenham-next-manager-igor-tudor/
TTG@12: World Cup refereeing on corners will be interesting. The laws of the game say referees cannot award free kicks when the ball is out of play (first sentence of Law 12). Custom and practice is that the ball does not return to play at a corner until it is kicked. It is before that happens that most of the jostling and blocking takes place, as it can be done with impunity. All referees can do with the most egregious examples is talk to the players, which is why that is what you always see them doing, never blowing for fouls. Will FIFA’s guidance to its World Cup referees be different, say, to consider the ball being in play as soon as it is placed back on the field in the corner quadrant? If they started awarding free kicks and penalties and negating corners, we’d certainly get a whole new level of controversy.
C100@15: Tudor was sacked by Juventus last October after seven months in charge at the end of a run of eight games without a win. Sounds the right sort of CV for the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Road.
C100@14: Thanks for that link. A very level-headed read. Kellerher doesn’t make the last-minute save against Martinelli, we win 2-1 and get hailed for winning ugly like champions; Mosquera doesn’t make his last-ditch tackle, we lose 2-1 and get vilified for blowing our title bid. The Kipling line about meeting with triumph and disaster and treating those two impostors just the same comes to mind.
They’ve finally charged Rodri for his comments about referees
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2lrdj55zypo
@14 Layth’s piece almost as good as Trev’s. Thanks for sharing, a very fair read.
@16, Ned, I think we already see a different level pf tolerance for our own tactics when we play in CL games, particularly in the away leg. Reasons for fouls being given against us can be difficult to discern and, I suspect, falls into that well known category of “I didn’t like the cut of his jib – it’s a foul”.
Meanwhile, at the other end of Seven Sisters……..
https://tottenhamonmymind.com/
Adrian Clarke:
Many interesting links and lots of common sense posts,
thanks to you all and drinks all round 😃
Things certainly seem grim at the wrong end of the seven sisters rd.
you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.
I enjoyed the Keith Burkinshaw interview from 1982 on the Spurs link.
Surely we didn’t all talk like that back then 😂😂
Thanks fellas – hopefully tomorrow’s game will be less stressful 🤞🏻
OM@25: And when did you last see a manager in a sheepskin coat?
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