In days gone by, while I am not a regular overseas follower of the Gunners, I would have been at this game. I’ve been visiting Ireland regularly for forty years and my liver bears testimony to that. While I was sorry not to be at the game with a lot of Irish friends I’m glad not to be pitching up at Dublin Airport on Friday morning with a hangover for the ages. That is an experience I’ve had far too often.
So I followed a healthier regime today. A five mile country walk with a friend and BT Sport for the match.
The line-up was slightly puzzling – five at the back or four? (It turned out to be a five.) Would Arteta have told the players in advance? And who would be captain? The answer was Mustafi. It’s a bit like being the mascot you have a different one every game.
The match was preceded by a silence for the great Paolo Rossi, another superstar gone far too soon.
Dundalk were fresh from winning the Irish Cup and began energetically. Arsenal didn’t blood anyone from the start but recalled Callum Chambers as one of three centre backs.
We created the first moment of danger as Nketiah rose to a Pepe cross and then Nketiah had a shot blocked as he surged through.
Dundalk retained the bank manager who played at the Grove in goal but he probably didn’t need a day off to play this time. He didn’t inspire confidence but is well placed to give you an overdraft. Arsenal moved the ball smoothly on a saturated pitch and tried to use the flanks (nothing new there). Smith-Rowe operated down the left.
A fine ball from Mari set Nketiah free and he drew a yellow card from Boyle the Dundalk centre back.
In the 11th minute Nketiah blocked a clearance and dinked the loose ball past the keeper for the opening goal. How we wish he would show that alertness in the Premier League.
Dundalk 0 Arsenal 1
Arsenal were proving the ultimate flat-track bullies in the early stages, showing sharpness and a sense of adventure on the ball. Then Mustafi shinned a cross with his wrong leg and Shields of Dundalk skied it over the bar. On 17 minutes we produced a sustained piece of pressing moving the ball neatly and with a precision we have rarely showed in England this season. When Smith-Rowe backheeled to Elneny he drove a superb shot from thirty yards past the bank manager and into the top corner. A superb strike.
Dundalk 0 Arsenal 2
A slick move down the left between AMN and ESR led to a pull- back to Pepe who blazed over from a central position fifteen yards out. Dundalk then struck back in fine style after 23 minutes, Flores completing a give and go and firing a beautiful shot past Runarsson who might just have done better. But it was a fine goal and clearly heartened Dundalk who up to that point were getting a bit of a chasing.
Dundalk 1 Arsenal 2
Pepe looked particularly confident as did AMN playing in an advanced role on the left and combining well with ESR.
A poor touch on 27 minute by Cedric, when in a good position led to him fouling the Dundalk defender and this earned him a yellow card. Shortly afterwards the fussy Croatian referee dished out another yellow to Joe Willock who was deemed to have caught his opponent with a stray arm. Willock despite this was looking assured and confident and was enjoying the extra time the Dundalk players afforded him.
Cedric, keen to emulate Elneny, tested the bank manager with a crisp shot that the custodian made a bit of a meal of and Arsenal gained a corner which they wasted. Given our travails at right-back (at least the ones I think we have), both Cedric and AMN were potentially auditioning for a first-team spot. AMN was doing his cause no harm and he hit a fine shot in the 40th minute from distance which the goalkeeper tipped wide. Nketiah was full of neat movement but possibly lacks the physicality to lead the line.
On the cusp of half-time Chambers saved Arsenal from embarrassment with a brave block as Leahy took aim following an excellent Dundalk cross.
The half ended with Arsenal having shown massive superiority but we had only a one goal advantage because of a combination of Dundalk pluckiness and a sense that we were lacking a serious cutting edge. Nevertheless the speed and smoothness of our movement came as a welcome change after our recent league performances.
Half- time Dundalk 1 Arsenal 2
Would the second half see a flood of substitutions and especially would we see Balogun and Azeez?
Arsenal began the half pressing strongly and with a willingness to stretch the Dundalk side by using the width of the pitch. Our first goal attempt followed a great turn and shot by Nketiah which saw his shot blocked. Dundalk then broke on the left and only an errant last pass prevented them from embarrassing Arsenal.
Of all the Arsenal performances at this stage, possibly it was the underrated Elneny who was having the most effective game and at this stage it was his goal which divided the teams. Fine play by Cedric on the right saw him fire a beautiful cross into the box but we were short of attacking bodies to meet it.
Mari then played an excellent ball forward, not his first and almost put Nketiah in. As the hour mark approached Dundalk were settling into a decent spell of possession and Arsenal’s technical superiority was much less marked.
Around the hour we saw the introduction of Balogun and Ceballos who replaced Nketiah and Elneny. Our two goal scorers were both removed. As they joined the fray the bank manager made a decent save from a free kick from the left by Cedric.
Mari looks very solid but a trifle slow and the number of balls hit up the Arsenal right flank suggested that Dundalk saw this also as a profitable avenue to goal possibly because of Chamber’s rustiness.
Then our third goal arrived. Balogun showed strength and touch to control a high ball in the area and touch it off to Willock whose shot went through the keeper and into the net.
Dundalk 1 Arsenal 3
One sensed that Arteta, who my wife feels could make more of a sartorial effort on the touchline (she’s married to a fashion plate), was agitated by our lack of penetration but it was almost immediately obvious that Balogun’s physicality was giving us a better platform when we built forwards.
On 73 minutes ESR set up Pepe but his ambitious chip drifted wide . Three minutes later we saw Ben Cottrell in an Arsenal first team shirt for his debut. He replaced ESR who had played well.
The impression that Balogun was making was increasingly clear and when on 79 minutes Pepe released him inside the area on the left he finished with coolness and precision.
Dundalk 1 Arsenal 4
After Cedric was cleaned out by Kelly the Irishman was booked and then we saw the debut of Miguel Azeez who replaced Joe Willock in midfield. While one would normally bemoan the plethora of substitutes this was a great opportunity to blood promising youngsters. But then Dundalk scored the first set-piece goal against us this season when Hoare rose to head a free kick from the right past Runarsson. There was again a suspicion that he was slow to react.
Dundalk 2 Arsenal 4
Azeez showed immediate signs of being very comfortable on the ball and looking able to take possession under pressure.
In injury time Callum Chambers was ruled offside when he flicked home following a right wing free kick. It was a narrow but correct decision.
Full time Dundalk 2 Arsenal 4
So what should we make of tonight? It was a comfortable win with some encouraging performances. Had we won 7-0 it would have exacerbated the criticism of Arteta but we did concede two goals to a very average side and it could have been more. It is hard to get too excited as well by scoring four goals against this sort of opposition but we finished the group with an 100 % record and a goal difference of plus 15. I very much liked the quality that Smith-Rowe and Maitland-Niles showed on the left. Balogun is, in my opinion much more impressive than Nketiah who is a trifle lightweight and in a tiny cameo Azeez looked very skilful and composed. I think all four of those players will make a big impact if given the chance.
Burnley on Sunday is a much bigger game than this but we enter it in slightly better heart.
Excellent write up TTG.
And Paolo Rossi. A great gone , as you say much too soon. 64? That’s no age. There’ll be a few drinks had for him in Clerkenwell tonight.
Terrific report TTG. I am so schizophrenic about this team at the moment. The current PL team is truly awful, dull, lacking creativity and fight. And yet the quality and potential of the homegrown talent is so exciting. Tonight we saw Balogun making us think he is the striking future and two more potential stars rolling off the line, Cottrell and Azeez. Surely our club has a great future?
C100
I’m in two minds about whether I’m schizophrenic about this team😃
It’s complicated – there is a massive difference between the Premier League and this level. More massive than we probably realise. But you can only beat what is in front of you…and we did six times . At the same time we were awful in the league. If we blood all the youngsters they will initially come a cropper and it won’t help them. But if we don’t blood them we will lose them.
I rate as likely successful PL players – ESR, Martinelli, AMN, Balogun and on this evidence, possibly Azeez.Saka is already there . I haven’t seen enough of Cottrell. I don’t think Willock will make it because he makes so little impact in the league. Nketiah isn’t strong enough .Most Arsenal fans would put Willock in though .
On another note I pray that Leno doesn’t get injured ! The Icelandic boy doesn’t look like a top keeper to me
An excellent report of an entertaining outing, TTG.
We saw good performances from Cedric, AMN, Elneny, Willock, ESR, Nketiah, Balogun and Azeez. Also good run outs on the way to fitness for Mustafi, Chambers and Marí but they were too porous against a bunch of farmers (is it infectious?). In contrast to last week, Ceballos wasn’t as effective as Elneny. Runarsson doesn’t convince me so as you say, Leno better stay fit. Cottrell didn’t grasp his brief opportunity to shine – he needs more time.
I forgot Pépé. Given that his sole contribution was his lovely pass to Balogun, I’ll give him a ‘pass’ but in truth he was disappointing all the rest of the game. Not his finest ‘hour’.
Lots of personality and entertainment value in that report. What’s not to like? Oh, and I’ll take a 4-2 every week.
As a bit of an amateur numerologist I would note that 4 multiplied by 2 equals 8, not o.
i thought we had bachman-turner-overdrive in the house. even better, we have bt8.
well done, ttg, in the maestro’s timeframe. fair assessments all around. amn, balogun and esr, along with nelson (not sure why he didn’t get a start?) are my pick of the litter. eddie, he just doesn’t have the physicality (as you say), though his eye for goal and for picking off a pass is excellent.
regardless of the competition, i am pleased with the win. and i hope we never need to see xhaka in the league again.
Nelson is crocked
A most enjoyable read, TTG. The gap between Europa League group stages and the Premiership is indeed huge. But the youngsters have to start somewhere.
I would rate AMN as already Premiership quality. He has had 36 Premier League starts, which is nine more than Saka. Martinelli showed enough before his injury to indicate he is, too. ESR certainly looks likely, although I would reserve judgement until he has had an injury free run of league games. Balogun also looks to have the raw material it takes, and he seems to have a presence about him on the pitch, although, again, we should reserve judgement until we see him up against PL defenders. Nketiah should not be written off. There is talent there that I am guessing will blossom fullest in a good team that can create half chances for him to feed off. Azeez is highly rated and seemed in his brief cameo to have that rare knack of creating space around himself. ‘Cotterell looks like on of those ‘water carriers’ that every team needs in midfield. There is also Saliba, who has apparently come on by leaps and bounds of late, and perhaps even a penitent Guendouzi to think of, too.
c100@9, thanks. i hadn’t heard that. at least it’s “just” a clash of heads, he should be good for sunday, or following quickly. just to play around, if they’re available, this is the team i’d like to see start on sunday:
leno
mari luiz gabriel
cedric elneny amn
gabi esr saka
auba (though really balogun, since it’s “only” burnley)
but i suppose that’s not going to happen.
No Tierney, Scruz? Also, Mari is a left-sided CB. It will have to be your chum Rob, Mustafi or Chambers on the right side.
i’d like to see tierney, yes. i was just thinking of getting amn in there. i guess he could be in for mo.
i think the three at the back will do fine regardless of foot, but i take your point. i just worry that none of those three have the game reading to overcome the fleetness (or not) of their feet.
Some long trips could lie in wait in the Ropey League round of 32. Potential opponents:
Antwerp
Benfica
Braga
Club Brugge
Crvena zvezda
Dynamo Kyiv
Granada
Krasnodar
Lille
Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Olympiacos
Real Sociedad
Slavia Praha
Wolfsberg
Young Boys
Who we can’t play, at least until the following round:
AC Milan
Ajax
Dinamo Zagreb
Hoffenheim
Leicester City
Leverkusen
Man Utd
Molde
Napoli
PSV Eindhoven
Rangers
Roma
Salzburg
Shaktar
Tottenham
Villareal
Some decent teams in the seeded half of the draw. Bookies have us fourth favourite behind the neighbours, AC Milan and the Mancs.
Skilfully done TTG. I hope we play
as smoothly as you write against
Burnley.
And thanks Ned for the list of
possible opponents – I’d like
Olympiacos or if not then one
of the Belgian clubs as it’s an
easy trip. Benfica would be good
too as I haven’t forgotten or
forgiven
Made me chuckle, TTG. 🙂 Agree with your observations but I’m less down on Bellerin and Willock than you.
@10, Ned, situation well summarised. I’d like to see Balogun up against PL defenders sooner rather than later.
I think someone needs to be down on Bellerin. When he made a foul throw last season it was simply an embarrassment. He has committed more foul throws in our last several PL matches than we have scored PL goals. In truth, he hasn’t been pulled up for it every time. Most of his throws look like foul throws to me. While his first one was an embarrassment, his repetition of it is negligence. Negligence on his part and on the part of the coaches. That’s a lesson for Under-11s and isn’t an accepatable flaw in a senior pro on several thousand pounds per week. He should be dropped until he has learnt how to do a proper throw-in. The fella probably needs a square meal.
That team @ 11 is totally nuts. With respect.
We were playing the absolute junk that is Dundalk and that mob still scored twice against. Burnley, even a shit Burnley, would destroy that team.
– against
I forgot to finish my sentence, such was my shock at the lineup 🙂
In fairness Cynic I think Scruz is being speculative .
I think the following team might work
Leno
AMN Luiz Holding Gabriel Tierney
Elneny Ceballos
Saka Lacazette Auba
Subs
Runarsson Bellerin Mari Willock ESR Balogun Nketiah
Bath,
We are agreed on Bellerin . He is a highly intelligent boy, one of my friends looks after his finances and confirms that . So you think he’d iron out a ridiculous glitch that is as you say something little lads teams wouldn’t fall foul of . Too much vegan grub in my view
Lee Dixon was on Twitter the other day. He said that if he had been foul throwing, they wouldn’t have spent much time on it in training. George Graham would have said to him “right. You’ve got five minutes to sort it out. From then on, if you do it in a game I’m fining you two weeks wages”.
I think half the trouble is people saying “it’s a ridiculous rule”. It may be but it’s still a rule. Obey it. Get your hands right back behind your head. In colts games the good refs are constantly talking to the kids saying things like “hands behind your head, don’t foul throw”. etc etc.
That’s a bit more like it, TTG. I would still pick Xhaka alongside Elneny and try Ceballos as a 10 and if it doesn’t work, it can be changed.
I don’t like the idea of Lacazette playing as a 10, or wide. If he plays he should be sniffing in the box.
As for Bellerin, not only does he have chocolate wrists, they’re vegan chocolate. As we all know, vegan chocolate is worse than dog chocolate. Which makes only one thing worse. No chocolate.
And even then, most prefer would probably prefer to have none over vegan.
deary me, there’s some grumpy
people in the bar tonight 😁
I expect a similar side to last
week with two changes at
most
Yep, the side that put in a half decent second half shift against the Marshdellers *should* be capable of beating Burnley even though they couldn’t score against the massed ranks of the vile.
If they don’t do the business in the first half then a liberal additional sprinkling of yoof might gee them up for the second half.
I don’t think Ceballos has what it takes to play a ten. His turning circle (which is barely less than that of the QE2, won’t work in such congested areas. He needs he wide open spaces of the deep midfield to make those turns. Frankly I’d have a low threshold to stick ESR in there and see what he’s made of.
C100 @21, it’s not as if it’s difficult!
Excellent summary of the proceedings TTG! Balogun’s cameo was truly enjoyable, as was ESR’s positioning all throughout the match even though he was playing in a somewhat unnatural wide role. Balogun looks already a more complete and versatile number 9 than Eddie whose technical limitations get highlighted in tough PL matches, even though he remains a reliable poacher and one of our most consistent players to press. Let us hope that these opportunities will convince Balogun to extend his contract.
I agree that Ainsley, Joe and also ESR should start getting more chances in PL.
On a different note, it is a little disappointing to see some fine contributors having a little (unnecessary) go at one of our player’s entirely personal lifestyle choice. Let us criticize Hector for his performances as much as we want, but to mockingly imply that somehow his very conscious dietary choices have something to do with it, even if as a jest, I don’t think does justice to the high standard we maintain in this blog. I know now I will be mocked for “political correctness” but that’s fine by me. I myself am an omnivore as i grew up that way and I find it very hard to retrain the body to drastically change diet, and that’s why I have all the more respect for young people like Hector who have very consciously chosen to change their dietary habits from what they grew up with to reflect their deeper awareness about the impact of individual choices on the planet’s ecosystem. As a player he is inconsistent — but may be not as bad as we are making out to be — but as a young professional he is absolutely an inspiration not only to kids but also people older than him.
Dr F. I don’t give a monkey’s what he eats – I’m sure it’s better than Merse’s refuelling habits. But I do care that he can’t take a throw in, always takes a touch before crossing and still gets caught out of position.
Cynic,
Xhaka never starts in any team of mine but I can certainly go with ESR at 10 instead of Laca . Burnley will be a physical game but I remember the fixture last year when Ceballos ran the game .
Interesting question – Xhaka is in his fifth season with us. How many games can anyone remember him running ?
C100
I can imagine George dealing with that situation! He was a very elegant footballer and he’s very good company but he wasn’t someone I would have wanted to get on the wrong side of . I think Btm has played golf with him very agreeably and when he gets to know someone he can be very amusing .
But I once asked him why he didn’t pick Limpar and he gave me a couple of minutes on Limpar’s deficiencies as a human being. I considered myself informed!
I only pick Xhaka as I lack the imagination to pick anyone else if Ceballos goes into the ten, as I would like to see tried. 🙂
As with so many of our young players, I don’t get the ESR love at all. Willock, Nketiah, Nelson, ESR baffle me, beyond the usual enthusiastic day dreaming that always surrounds a youth product.
The last young player that Cynic rated was Chippy Brady. Mind you, he was worried he might just be a flash in the pan. 🤓🤓
Dr. F@26: Well said about Hector’s diet. It is not as if most top-level football players don’t pay a lot of attention to their nutrition, even if they don’t choose to go entirely plant-based.
On throw-ins, casual observation suggests that many PL throw-ins should be penalised as foul throws, even if referees have long turned a blind eye. For example, last Sunday Reguilon, I think it was, got away with making a throw-in with one foot off the ground before Hector was penalised. The desire to keep possesion by throwing the ball to feet is the root cause, I suspect. The laws of physics suggest you should not be able to throw the ball over your head in a downward trajectory.
Cynic@29: There is something of De Breuyne in ESR to my eye, in his movement and his willingness to take on opponents. Whether there is enough of it to make our youngster a PL starter is another matter. He has less than 20 first-team appearances and played barely 90 PL minutes, not enough on which to make any sort of judgement.
Cheers TTG!
Cynic
Some youth products are great players and because we made them we tend to delight in their success. For example – Rice, Storey , George, Armstrong, Kennedy , Radford, Brady , O’Leary , Stapleton , Rix , Adams, Keown, Rocastle, Davis, Campbell, Thomas, Merson, Parlour, Cole , Wilshere , Bellerin , Szczesny, Bendtner ( 😃) , Coquelin .
Note the change in the list and how the number of stars decreases. So if we had three regular first – teamers come through that is a great dividend. Of our current stars what about ESR , Balogun and Azeez? Some young players do come through and it is an Arsenal tradition to breed fine young players
No Saka TTG?
I would humbly suggest that list should have ended at Cole 🙂
I dunno about the current crop but none of them exactly yell BREAKTHROUGH in the way Saka did. He didn’t look out of place when he moved up from Team Thursday to the proper first team, but both Willock and Nelson do. ESR seems to have been kicking around for years waiting for someone to find a use for him, which is unfair I know as he’s had injuries but he feels like old news before the ink’s dry on the paper.
My fear is that if we look at Yoof to get us out of the shit again, we’ll just go deeper into it (and we’re already up to the chin). I’m afraid the only way to rebuild is with hundreds of millions, on proven players. And I doubt we’ll do that because the will is not there.
So… worrying times.
C100
Saka is of course the cream of the crop but he is already in the team and established but he is certainly a huge success already .But mainly I forgot him as I did the list from memory and I am a bit decrepit .
My point to Cynic was that we have a tradition at this club of developing great players through the ranks . That list has racked up over 70 winners medals . If you compare that with Tottenham over the same period what would it be? And what proportion this century?
It’s tempting and easy to be pessimistic about our home developed players . I remember seeing Liam Brady for the first time . You needed to watch him for five minutes before you realised he was special . He had the misfortune of playing in a team that made our current team look like Brazil 1970 . The recovery in that team came through Brady , then O’Leary and then Stapleton . We didn’t have the quality around them that we have now but we were close to the best team in the country a few years later . Things are different now but three or four young players who make it will transform our prospects . I think I named those four yesterday and I’m told Cirjan and Flores might be top ballers too
Someone should teach Hector to do throw-ins like this:
Instead of like this
https://media.tenor.com/images/4705023eea6a0758d6b5925a0e29e348/tenor.gif
I noticed the club has sent a
video to the relevant authorities
showing numerous other PL
players making foul throws without
censure. I don’t wish to be paranoid
but Hector’s persecution is clearly
the work of a fascist cabal of
anti vegan, trendy haircut fanatics
who secretly control football from
their hidden lair in the Carpathians
or possibly the Grampians. The dread
hand of the Illuminati perhaps?
You say that like it’s a bad thing, OM.
Seriously though, what cretin thought that was a good idea? If they’ve really done this instead of simply taking five minutes to teach him how to take a throw-in, they may wish to seek help.
Or let someone else take the throw-ins. It might just work!
Cynic@41: 🙂 and @43: Cunning plan.
Heh @ 40-42.
I am becoming seriously concerned that the era of Arsenal being a club run by intelligent people has now completely ended.
Cynic @43 wins the Inspired Strategy of the Decade Award.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>