This a Goonerholic, as it happened, type report. Not my usual style but no time tomorrow for a more reflective analysis. I’m sure my colleagues in the drinks will provide more thoughtful input.
A Monday night F.A. Cup game on the South Coast. Fratton Park and Portsmouth FC. A game full of history and TH14 hat tricks, as Bt8 referenced in his fine preview. A game against league 1 opposition, albeit one third in that division and pushing strongly for promotion. An easy draw or a banana skin? Portsmouth hadn’t lost at home since September so a few butterflies were about. Especially with Mike Dean as the referee, with no VAR.
The line ups showed a young Arsenal side selected by Arteta. Martinez in goals, Sokratis (not so young) at right back, a debut for loanee centre back Pablo Mari next to captain Luiz, a welcome return for Reiss Nelson, and Martinelli and Eddie up front with Joe Willock pairing with Torriera and Guendouzi in midfield. No Auba or Ozil in the squad, but Laca and Pepe on the bench. Saka started yet again. We really do need Kieran Tierney back asap. Still, Arteta was ringing the changes with 9 changes from the calamitous night in the Europa league last night and six players aged 20 or younger.
Early indications were that we would be under an aerial bombardment. A couple of crosses troubled the make shift defence and Martinez looked far from secure under the high ball. However at the other end Willock was running straight upfield and linking well with Reiss Nelson. Eddie seemed to take an elbow in the face but just a free kick was given.
Guendouzi lost the ball in the centre circle and Portsmouth broke down the left, where Papa was struggling against a lively left winger. The cross was thrown in and Pablo Mari made an important header to clear on the back post. 12 minutes in, Bolton (a well named player) took Torreira man and ball and seemed to injure him badly. Lucas was stretchered off and replaced by Dani Ceballos. Jermaine Jenas (ex Spurs) commentating of course saw nothing wrong.
20 minutes in and Arsenal were showing signs of settling into the game. First Martinelli (to Eddie) then Saka purred into the box and tested the defence and keeper. Reiss Nelson got round the defence and crossed just behind Martinelli. Better Arsenal, better. Guendouzi was hauled down on a break and tried to take a quick one. Mike Dean brought it back twice, so Matty placed the ball dramatically on the ground, taking the piss. Yellow card. Even Jenas thought it was ridiculous.
Right on the point of half time, Ben Close cynically took Ceballos out on the edge of the box. The yellow card remained in Mr Dean’s pocket of course. The free kick went harmlessly into the wall. But there was one last twist in the fourth minute of injury time. We won a corner which was headed away. But the ball was gathered and recycled by Ceballos to Reiss Nelson who swung in a lovely cross to the penalty spot where it fell to, of all people , Sokratis, who met the ball with a sumptuous right foot volley that bolted into the net. One nil to the Arsenal!
48 min. Goal (Sokratis). Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal
Half time. A vital goal on half time against some (ahem) robust play by Pompey maybe flattered us. Some nice touches but we weren’t getting the ball to our young speedsters quick enough. Portsmouth were always looking a threat on the break and from set pieces.
Half time. Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal
The second half began and the Pompey chimes rang out. A real blast from the past. Saka lost the ball weakly in midfield and Pompey broke. Defensively he’s been getting weaker in recent games. Time for a break and a reboot on the training ground for the 18 year old surely?
50 minutes gone and a great Arsenal goal. Reiss Nelson was sprung on the right by Joe Willock who had found space, Cesc like, in midfield, and Reiss just burned off his full back with huge verve. He got to the byline, crossed into the six yard box and Eddie bundled the ball home. Oh my word, that pace. Welcome back from injury Reiss Nelson. Nelson for England?
50 min. Goal (Nketiah). Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal then calmly controlled the game without really threatening a third. Kenny Jacket played his trump (he hoped) bench cards on 65 mins bringing on Marquis, their top goal scorer this season, and Ronan Curtis, their dangerous first choice left winger (not Rebecca Long Bailey or Bernie Sanders J). They didn’t have a noticeable effect.
Saka was having a quiet game for once, but he danced into the area and hit a lovely shot which the keeper tipped over. 12 minutes to go – don’t let them back into the game lads! You got the feeling that one goal for Pompey would get the crowd roaring and could open the floodgates. On 86 minutes Xhaka came on for the hard working Joe Willock, responsible for both “pre assists”. He had done himself no harm at all. AMN got a late appearance for Reiss Nelson injury time.
So who had a good game? I thought Luiz was terrific, and Pablo Marí next to him had an excellent debut. Reiss Nelson looked electric. Martinelli caused problems every time he had the ball. Sokratis is not a right back but my word what a goal to break the tie.
The chants of the Arsenal fans sang out loud and clear, Wemberley, Wemberly, We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wemberley. WHAT DID SHE WEAR?
Full time. Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal
Clean sheet. Controlled the game second half after two great goals. In the quarter final draw. Jermaine Jenas and Mike Dean gutted. That’ll do me fellow Gooners.
damn, that was almost gaffer quick. now to read.
competent and speedy, c1000. don’t know what dean was playing at, excepting to get film time. nelson MOTM, he showed (at least vs. this level opposition) he can do the job.
it was something yellow, and it was may…
>pedant<Paragraph 4 – Martinez for Leno>/pedant<
Otherwise a fine, speedy report.
COYG
fx: Deafening sound of clanger being dropped.
Great stuff and lightning quick
C100 !
You’ve described the game well
and I’ve nothing to add except
it was fitting that Nelson led us
to Victory in Portsmouth 🙂
Excellent and speedy report CM100. Exactly as I saw it. The youngsters showed their mettle. The south coast thugs were kicking them at every opportunity but they kept coming back at them and we can really look forward to this young crop maturing (as long as Saka signs da t’ing) and bringing glory back to Arsenal. Fine debut for Mari and Luiz did show his leadership qualities. Good news that Torreira is ‘ok’ according to a SH report but Ceballos had a far better game tonight than he did against Olympiacos. Another good half-time talk from MA8 too it would appear.
I know you know the words Scruz, but just for the absolute pleasure
What dis she wear?
She wore
She wore
She wore a yellow ribbon
She wore a yellow ribbon in the merry month of May
And when
I asked
Her why she wore that ribbon
She said it’s for The Arsenal and we going to Wembley
Wembley
Wembley
We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wembley!
Naturally, as I sat on my sofa tonight and listened to Jermaine Jeans wimbling on, on BT sport, I was wearing a yellow ribbon in memory of the Guvna.
Nice one Matt. 👏👏👏
Pangloss @ 4
Correct and apologies! Also Willock only had one pre assist, the other was from Dani. Still thought Joe played well.
Express report C100 but it exactly reflected the game I saw . Many years ago some clients took our management team ‘ for a treat’ to Fratton Park . We sat in the dressing room, walked on the pitch and had their very best corporate hospitality. The dressing rooms were tiny and antiquated and I understand they have changed little. The pitch was awful and looked better tonight but the ground is atmospheric and can be a hostile place to play . So it was a potential banana skin – especially with Dean in charge .
It was a good night and there were many plusses. Martinez in goal was rarely troubled . Mari looked very composed as did Ceballos and Nelson was very impressive and incisive . Nice to be first team in the sixth round draw without risking Auba , Hector or Ozil.
No argument with Luiz as MotM
as he played well though it was
2 good near post crosses from
Nelson that won it for us.
Perhaps an agenda of Arsenal’s
MotM was a defender to show
we scraped through? Or maybe
that is too paranoid.
On the second goal I thought
Eddie showed great first touch
and control to take it away from
the defender.
CM100@7
:
👏👏👏👏👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
A profitable seaside jaunt it would seem then. 😆
Great report, c100. Everything but the story of how you figured out where to park the car. ✍️👏🏼
bt8. Just working that out for Brighton away!
Fine and speedy work, C100. Agree with all your shout-outs. Luiz and Mari looked as if they had played together for a while, not that this was their first pairing. Nelson had pace to burn. Martinelli has yet to find a defence he doesn’t want to run at. And his tracking back is inexhaustible.
(If it is pedants night out, then the TH14 hat trick was in a league game; he got a brace in the 5-1 Cup win.)
Arsenal have apparently gone 11 games undefeated on the road since losing at Leicester in Unai Emery’s last away game.
Ned. He only got a brace? Can Mike Dean rule out 16 year old goals?
Speediest match report we this ragtag band of followers are trying to carry on the maestro’s legacy. And a very good one as well. 🙂
Mike Dean, take a bow! It needs some ability to out-Mike Dean Mike Dean himself, but Mike Dean did that today with aplomb. Football’s first ever yellow card for sarcasm. What a record!
Nelson was my MoTM . Not just assists and excellent wing play, good fast passing down that wing.
Martinelli’s attitude and work rate is the best I have seen in an Arsenal youngster. Reminds me of Alexis in his first year with us. Not yet that quality, but that incessant hunger.
I meant “speediest match report since we…”… 🙂
It looks like you are right though. One year later at home against Portsmouth he got a hat trick:
But against them in the FA Cup in 03/04 he got the brace:
Thanks Countryman for most speedy & well written report of the match. After a nervy start and the injury to lt11, we settled into the match and restricted their attack as the game wore on. We even overcame a Mike Dean show where he gave us all his full repertoire of ineptitude.
The goal from Sokratis moments before HT certainly changed the match and we came out in the second half much more confident. Eddie’s well taken goal knocked the stuffing out of Pompey and we controlled & strolled through the rest of the game.
Like others I thought Nelson was MoM – he has come back with a much improved approach and will be a massive asset if this is a Nelson mk 2 we are seeing rather than just a one off performance. Worthy mentions also to the new CB who looked like a good player – albeit against modest opposition, Saka another skilful show, Luiz for marshalling the defence and Ceballos commanded the midfield when he came on for the unfortunate lt11.
Finally Sokratis took his goal wonderfully well but a fullback he is not.
wow, bt8@21, a quincy owusu-abeyie sighting!
Very rare indeed, scruz. Until now about the only time he surprised me was when he was picked as an unused substitute. He had lots of great players keeping him out of the team though.
Looking at c100’s picture of Sokratis, I must say I love his understated goal celebration. Not that I don’t love Auba’s either. Horses for courses, as it were.
6 players under 21 tonight.
MA was very happy with the kids
afterwards talking about how it
was a risk to play them but it
was great to see them still running
and chasing in the 94th minute.
Though things don’t look quite
so good for AMN and Rob just now.
bt8b@17: You know that if he could, he would.
OM@24: AMN and Rob Holding are 22 and 24 years old, respectively. Greybeards compared to most of those on display at Fratton Park.
For a club with centre-back problems, we have an awful lot of centre backs: David Luiz, Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding, Mari, Mapravanos, Saliba and Chambers, plus Medley, Ballard, and McGuinness in the U-23s. Something, or more accurately, somebody, possibly several somebodies will have to give.
Question marks big and small over all
of them Ned. If I had to guess I’d
imagine Rob and Mavro will go first.
If it was me Papa or Mus would
go this summer. I’d keep Luiz,
Mari, Calum, Saliba and one of
Papa/Mus for the first XI squad
next season. I reserve the right
to completely change my mind
between now and May 🙂
Looks a tough road for the U23
guys.
matt, given holding now is where chambo will be next year, i’d keep holding and lose mustafi and mavro.
our depth chart would be any of marí, saliba, luiz, followed by any of holding, papa, and calum (when he gets fit). i can imagine we will de better out of holding once he can start seeing more game time.
scg
I’m not convinced about the
prodigal Mus yet either.
Rob needs more games but
it doesn’t look like MA will
give him them.
And to bore on about our CBs
the other thing is I don’t see
that any of them will really be
wanted by other top clubs.
Well we survived another match against Mike Dean who did his best to weigh the scales in favour of Pompey with his decision making in the first half but whose heart must have been bleeding as Arsenal crashed home two excellent and fortunately totally undisallowable goals to take the tie beyond his influence.
Dean really is a very strange, attention seeking, histrionic and self-important man who appears to want to be the most important person on the pitch. Gwen’s gesture, which I missed in real time, was superb. For those who also missed it, here is how you demonstrate to the referee that the ball is truly dead before you take a free kick:
My thoughts on Dean have already been given both above & on our WhatsApp group. Although we appear to regularly be on the wrong end on many of his decisions, he often
performs the same when reffing other teams – just pure incompetence combined with an arrogant disposition leads to being an absolute tosser and should be nowhere near this level. It’s just a symptom of the awful PGMOL under the auspices of Mike Riley – nuff said.
OM & Scruz: David Luiz, Sokratis and Mustafi have the rest of this season and next to run on their contracts, when they will be 34, 33 and 29, respectively. I can’t see more than two of them being with us next season and probably no more than one of them after that. Chambers’s contract runs to June 2022 and Holding’s until June 2023, at which point they will both be 27. I would think both would want to be elsewhere if they are not playing regularly for us. Of the young loanees, Mavropanos and Saliba are unknown quantities, and we have no hint of what Arteta thinks of them, but both have long-term contracts. Mari, if his loan is converted into a permanent deal, will be part of next season as he is an Arteta-era arrival. The wildcard is if we buy another centre back in the summer. So for next season, I am guessing our centre backs will be David Luiz (who will go on a free after next season), one of Sokratis and Mustafi, Mari, Chambers (as he is a utility player) and possibly Saliba. The rest will be sold or loaned. Ballard, McGuinness and Medley, as you suggest OM, are young enough for another season with the U-23s, but all must be considering finding new clubs.
and holding, ned?
Ned, good summary. I suspect Chambers ACL will bring the curtain down on his Arsenal career. Apparently it was never meant to happen for him with us and he’ll leave as soon as he is fit enough for someone to want to buy him or when his contract expires.
I submit the following clip as representing the key lesson of last night’s game, in memoriam pf our late music director, cba (who would probably have hated it but I know that our superannuated chief mod, SteveT will love it):
In truth it’s a long way short of their best piece of work but at least the lead singer is a ST holder.
You wait ten years for a centre back and then five arrive together. That’s a bit of a flippant oversimplification especially as I’m told we are very keen on Upamecano at RB Leipzig Much depends on if we play a three or four at the back. We clearly have two very good wing backs coming through on the left, Nelson looked just the job today and has played there ( well) before . Can Hector return on the right? Arteta usually favours a flat back four.
At centre back Saliba will definitely come into the squad, Luiz has ( Thursday aside) stepped up since Arteta came and my sense is Marí will join permanently. Holding has been given little chance under Arteta , Chambers will struggle to return , we can wave goodbye to Mavro so Mustafi and Sokratis may be competing for one place especially if we play a conventional back four. Ideally I’d like a powerhouse like Upamecano and we could probably afford him if we could shed Sokratis , Mustafi and Holding .
The emergence of good youngsters means that we could raise modest fees ( and save big wages) from selling Mkhitaryan and Elneny and losing Mesut’s salary would free up a huge amount but I sense he will be here next season .
It’s hard to settle down after major squad upheaval . I could envisage us being prepared to sell Torreira, Xhaka (please) , Auba and Laca ( and possibly Pepe) which means a lot of new , probably young , players will need to come in ( there aren’t many more youngsters ready to call up other than the excellent ESR) . That’s too much change so I suspect we will not change much in midfield , will try to sign Ceballos if the fee is reasonable and if there is major change it will be in the striking department . Eddie and Martinelli may be joined by one other
Mike Dean is the worst. Just the worst. Impossible to overstate how little business he has being on a football pitch in any capacity.
If we all have a personal hell then Mike Dean is in mine. Probably an army of Mike Deans. What a terrifying thought.
Countryman however, with his excellent match reports, would not be anywhere near my personal hell. Cheers.
Forgot Kolasinac . He may be off too.
C100 definitely wouldn’t be in anybody’s personal hell. He is as far from Mike Dean as it is possible to imagine . Watching Chelsea v Liverpool . A fun game and good to see the Mugsmashers start to implode
I still really like Giroud. Top man. If it had occurred to the Chelsea midfielders to try to find his runs he’d be a very effective goalscorer for them. As it is he sits on the bench or feeds on scraps. I was pleased to see the home crowd give him such great applause. They saw what I did- he was excellent tonight.
Liverpoo out.
They have announced the ball numbers for the quarter final round draw of the FA Cup, and Arsenal are ball 8.
Really, I wouldn’t make it up.
Not sure why we need balls though.
bt8
You always need balls to win the FA Cup 😃
Ah, hadn’t thought of that, m’lud. 😉
Scruz@34: Holding? Sold or loaned out.
I thought he was going to be a real keeper when he first arrived, but he has been desperately unlucky with the timing and extent of his injury, which set back his development just as he was getting established in the team. He has missed a season and a half at the age when young CBs need to be playing regularly to build experience. He has not been able to get much by way of an opportunity to impress Arteta; he must be the one person for whom the Phoenix-like resurrection of David Luiz and Mustafi would have been unwelcome.
I also wonder if he seems too amiable and relaxed for Arteta’s taste. We don’t, of course, see him on the training ground, but in his public appearances he comes across as a rather admirably pleasant and well-grounded young man.
I think there is still a good Premiership career ahead of him, just probably not with us. We could probably get 10-15 million euros for him.
you da man, atg.
ned, he’s very amiable, very relaxed, especially with some fish and chips and a couple pints in him. if he is sold i’ll be very disappointed, and will still wear my holding bruised banana shirt proudly. i am hoping he can work his way back in to the team with a proper preseason after this year of stop start.
We’ll see, Scuz. I wish Holding well. But he is probably looking at another season as fifth-choice CB. How long can he afford to wait for his chance?
It’s a whole new world!
Thanks ATG for the seamless transition
And I think I’ll steal the first
50 while all the world’s asleep
No shut eye here, OM.
Ned
🙂
@38 TTG
that is a lot of turnover though
it’s difficult to argue. Selling one
of Laca/Auba is ok but not both
I hope.
It might be easier to list up the
players, excluding the youngsters,
we don’t want to sell !
Matt
The Laca / Auba conundrum is quite difficult . It will be very hard to turn our back on the type of fee Auba will command if we sell him rather than met him run his contract down . For a striker of his quality we might be offered £60-70 million this summer . Financially , having cocked up on Ramsey , Özil and Sanchez we can’t and won’t turn that down . So do you want to go with Laca as your main striker ? He’s currently lost his mojo and it’s a big gamble to be the farm on him . I think I would rather sell him and try to bring in as good a striker as we can on a four or five year contract . Jarrod Bowen would have been perfect . With him, Martinelli, Eddie and the two tyros , John- Jules and Balogun we have some good resources there .
I’m afraid tough decisions are going to be taken and we can’t afford the dithering we saw with Sanchez
TTG@53
If Auba won’t sign a new deal
this summer, which seems unlikely,
then I would certainly sell him
without delay.
I don’t agree Laca is such a big
risk though especially with goal
scoring wide players around him.
That Man City kit looks like a packet of haribo ate too much haribo and then vomited on itself. In a disco.
Bottomham Hotspuds – “Can’t laugh without you!”
Good draw. Tough draw. We’ll need to show some steel.
How big a set of bottlers are they? Lamela and Fernandes took pathetic kicks .
What a gutless team they are . Managed by a dinosaur but not a good looking one like GSD!
The neighbours go all Spursy against Norwich in the penalty shoot-out. VAR should have ruled out both Krul’s saves for being in front of his line when the kick was taken but, that it didn’t, only broadens the smiles. Regardless, the Special Needs One must be already counting his pay-off.
Getting Sheffield United away in the quarters is not the worst draw we could have had. It won’t be an easy game, but it is winnable.
The two Manchester teams should get through and I fancy Leicester to join us in the semis.
Blades away is a tough draw but most of the teams remaining are tough as well. I have a positive feeling for good result.
Man City’s most awful kit ever is like rhubarb & custard.
The Special Needs One now down to any excuse / most be almost down to the end of the list. He simply is a dinosaur footballistically speaking – must be Levy’s most astute signing.
Spuds were rubbish 2nd half and
deserved to lose in my completely
biased opinion.
Ned is right about the penalties
– it wasn’t fair and it was funny 😁 .
Also Krul should have been booked
for his jumping forward antics, just
nonsense and he has previous I
think.
@57 BtM. 🙂
We were woeful earlier this season
away at Sheff Utd. To wipe at least
that stain from our sadly tarnished
escutcheon should motivate any
professional player.
It’ll be a night for tactics, OM. First tactic, develop an antidote to the “Greasy Chip Buttie Song”.
I thought the League game was a classically Emeryesque. I thought Sheffield were nothing more than ordinary and agree that we were woeful.
Second tactic, don’t be woeful. I’m optimistic.
Sound advice that BtM.
On another topic, I read
the PL plan to start a Hall of
Fame kicking off with the
first two inductees. I nominate
Money and TV.
It’d be much more fun if they
opened a Hall of Shame instead.
My favourite PL quote came from Alan Sugar. When the high heed yins decided that no monies would be directed from the fountain of money, the one-armed bandit money machine, the well wealth for the one footed, to the lower Leagues and grass roots of the game, Sugar said “We’re going to piss a f*ck of a lot of money up against the wall on players wages”.
And, hey presto, Alexis Sanchez was on £500k/week for sitting on the bench a the Old Toilet.
But, Sugar, Sugar, this Archie isn’t voting you into the PL HOF. In fact “You’re Fired!” for not arguing your case more passionately and intelligently, Little Lord Rumblethump.
Hall of Fame you say?
I hereby nominate Arsene Wenger for simultaneously stimulating Dennis Bergkamp’s sprightliness AND tilting at the windmill of climate change by eliminating high carbon, high calorific food in the form of Mars bars from The Arsenal team bus and replacing them with celery sticks thereby impeding the ‘House Burning’ and paving the pathway to Invincibility. No brainer.
Coronavirus is expected to make games go behind closed doors soon according to an article in the Guardian
Some of our home performances
this season should certainly have
been behind closed doors.
Out for a drink in Osaka last night.
As I walked in the bar a man hurried
forward to spray my hands with some
sort of antiseptic aerosol. Fair enough
I suppose but I’d rather he’d advised
not to drink the house red.
Torriera has a broken ankle. That is his season finished.
Fractured according to MA
it seems Ned. MA hopes to
have him back before the end
of the season – though I must
admit that seems a bit
optimistic to me.
I suppose Torreira’s injury means
more chances for Guen.
Though it’d be nice to see AMN
get a chance to shine in midfield
before the end of the season.
Hello
Sorry I’m late….
Hello IF !
Just in time for Go Live I think.
MA said AMN had to get his head down and work hard, suggesting an attitude problem. Interesting to see whether he does now an unexpected opportunity has arisen.
IF!
i’m at the warriors raptors game for mrs. scruz’s work group. half full, no one wearing masks in sf. but it wouldn’t shock me if a stretch of games were played, in all sports, behind closed doors. the players are well-regulated, but the crowds… they have so much hand sanitizer being ignored tonight…
Hello ImpFail, your timing is impeccable and it’s great to see your name in print again!
Speaking of coronavirus, I’m sure Osaka Matt is very aware of the situation in Japan but I saw an alarming article on the CNN website about how bad the situation might be there according to the public health authorities. Stay safe, OM and the rest of you. Here is a picture from that article, in Shinagawa rail station in Tokyo, if the technology works out. Masses of people wearing masks if it doesn’t.
The picture worked bt8.
Who are those masked men?
🙂
And thanks for your kind thoughts,
they’re much appreciated.
Just read that Tyreece John-Jules
has also done his ankle and come
back to Arsenal from his loan at
Lincoln. Unlucky for him but he
will get another chance I’m sure.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>