I must admit that at the end of last season I was really looking forward to a complete summer break from football after the exhausting tension and ultimate disappointment of once again finishing second to Manchester C137y. Yes, C115y have become C137y due to the addition of no less than 22 charges of kicking off late in Premier League games over the last two seasons. Quite what advantage they hoped to gain by delaying kick offs by a minute or so in games that could easily have 7-8 minutes of time added on, is anybody’s guess, but inveterate cheats will, you know, cheat, I guess.
There was much to look forward to – Wimbledon, The Open golf, test cricket, the Olympics and last, and very definitely least, The Euros in Germany where we would most likely see some of our best players run pointlessly into the ground by the meta-negative Gareth Southgate.
To deal with the last mentioned first, the Euros actually made me angry, watching poor Bukayo Saka trying to mesh with the head down and hopeless Kyle Walker and a variety of right sided midfielders from Mainoo to Gallagher. Before moving his best attacker of the last two years to left back (!) Gareth Southgate explained his and Saka’s plight – “they were missing Kalvin Phillips”! Declan Rice was our other elite player effortlessly made to look average by Southgate, as he was repeatedly left with no passing options in Southgate’s hotch-potch team formation. How the pair of them must have longed to return to the demanding but carefully planned and constructed methods of Mikel Arteta.
The golf in the howling wind and driving rain of Troon was entertaining – they cover it so well on TV – but frustrating as Rory McIlroy once again faded from contention after a promising start; the tennis was ultimately sad as the quite brilliant career of Andy Murray ground to it’s inevitable end under the weight of two hip surgeries and a very recent operation to remove a cyst from his spine; but then there was the cricket! The cricket saved the day with a quite magnificent test series against the West Indies. If you missed it, you missed out!
However, we are here again because the football’s back!
First of all, huge thanks to TTG for his superb series of close-season articles which are now to be reproduced in The Gooner. If you’ve missed them so far, they are worth tracking back for. Here’s the link to Part 1.
Our season opens against Wolves, those big, dangerous, grey things with lots of sharp, cutting teeth. However, the ones we are playing are black and gold and may not be quite so dangerous as they have just lost one of their sharpest teeth – called Pedro Neto – to a group of apparent madmen in West London who have also, as I write this, just extended the remaining 7 years of Cole Palmer’s contract, to an incredible 9 years. I’m not sure anyone honestly understands what Todd Boehly and Clearlake are up to over there but it will hopefully result in their bankruptcy and disappearance in due course.
Wolves Transfer Business
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs confirmed on Sunday that 24-year-old forward Pedro Neto had completed a £54m move to Chelsea. The transfer is a record sale for Wolves, beating the £47m they earned from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal for Ruben Neves in 2023. Neto, reported in some places as of interest to Arsenal, joined Wolves from Lazio in 2019, and scored 14 goals in 135 appearances. Not exactly prolific for a player who seemed to have an excellent reputation among fans, definitely has great pace but who also has a big injury record to go with it. Wolves have also sold Max Kilman to West Ham for £47.5m, given away Bolla and loaned out Bueno – if they mean anything to you?
So far, in return for the £100m or so of income, they have signed Rodrigo Gomes from Braga, Pedro Lima from Italy and Tommy Doyle aged 22 from Man C137y. They have also taken Jorgen Strand Larsen on loan, a striker from Celta de Vigo. In total, their outgoings are £33m so possibly more action to come from them.
Arsenal Transfer Business
So far (Friday am) we have made only one signing for the first team squad – Riccardo Califiori, the Italian defender from Bologna., and one young goalkeeper from Ajax who has been brought in as one to develop for the future. Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad reportedly edges closer to the entrance at Shenley, while Eddie Nketiah edges closer to the exit. Both remain speculation as yet though. I do wonder if Fabio Vieira is under instruction to keep a bag packed too, whether that is with the idea of getting him somewhere on loan, where he can play more and build up his resilience, or in readiness for a straight sale. To me he doesn’t have the strength for Premier League football and plays so few other minutes, you wonder how he justifies a place in the squad, especially with the emergence of Ethan Nwaneri who looked very comfortable in pre-season.
What do we know for sure about Wolves ?
Well, Wolves fans are known as the Dingles who, for the unfamiliar like me, are characters from the TV soap opera “Emmerdale”, which is strange because the TV series is set in the Yorkshire Dales rather than the West Midlands home of the football club. They seem to have acquired the nickname unsurprisingly from their Midlands neighbours – particularly Villa and West Brom – because, like the TV characters, they are stupid, have few morals, a plethora of wives, even more kids and grim accents. But do not be mistaken. Despite the heavy accents, Wolverhampton is only sometimes (don’t ask, please) officially considered part of the Black Country. That distinction belongs to the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Tipton. The region takes its name from the many local iron working foundries and shallow, 30ft thick coal seams.
The club was founded in 1877 as St. Luke’s F.C. by John Baynton and John Brodie, two pupils of St Luke’s Church School in Blakenhall, who had been presented with a football by their headmaster Harry Barcroft. The area eventually became known as the City of Wolverhampton which over the years was often shortened to Wolves, so having an actual Wolf as their team badge and “Wolves” becoming their official nickname was an obvious progression.
The club’s famous colours, black and gold, are unique in the English League and originate from the motto of the city, ‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’. Black represents the darkness of the industrial area and gold represents the light – “After darkness (black) always comes light (gold).” The colours were changed in 1954 from the original, darker, old gold to plain gold as the club wanted a brighter shirt colour when playing under their famous floodlights – Wolves having been one of the first clubs in Britain to install floodlights in their stadium, also in the 1953 / 54 season.
The only thing I couldn’t remember at this point of writing was the name of their stadium. I eventually gave in and rang Molly, a friend of mine in the Midlands, to see if she could help me out and, luckily – Molly knew !That iconic Molineux Stadium is named after Benjamin Molineux, a successful local businessman. He initially developed the land on which the stadium stands as a pleasure park in the 18th century. The football club bought the ground in 1923 and soon afterwards began work on their new main stand.
The teams
Trying to guess at teams after pre-season and with the transfer window still open can be a fools errand – as I discovered last season when I entered the Predictathon far too early. BUT by kick off on Saturday it will be TOO LATE ! – see the attached note at the end of this piece which will direct you to joining instructions.
If I had to guess I would go with –
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko;
Odegaard, Rice, Havertz;
Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Whatever the starting elevens on Saturday, the final league placings of last season are means for encouragement as we hunt the first win of the new season:
2nd – Arsenal P38 W28 D5 L5 GF91 GA29 Pts 89 GD62
14th – Wolves P38 W13 D7 L18 GF50 GA65 Pts 46 GD-15
The Holic Pound
The average price for an Arsenal win is 1/5, the draw is 73/10 and a Wolves win is 17/1 against. Individual bets for first goal scorer can be found for Havertz at 9/2, Jesus at 19/4 or Saka at 11/2.
Rule changes for this season
1 – From the start of this season the number of substitutes allowed to warm up at the same time has gone up from 3 to 5. This is because 5 subs may be brought on at once.
2 – The Multiball system in use will require 15 balls. If a ball goes out of play and is not easily retrievable, a ball “assistant” may place a spare ball on a vacant cone. They are not allowed to pass the ball to a player (I kid you not!) other than an assistant behind the goal at the end where the ball goes out, who may pass the ball to the goalkeeper. Thank heavens for whoever makes this nonsense up!
3 – Match officials will only start adding time for goal celebrations once they exceed 30 seconds. This is to reduce the amount of time to be added on.
We will also see the introduction of semi-automatic (?) offsides with VAR – and at the Euros there was massive controversy when a player was adjudged to have handled by some football version of cricket’s Ultra Edge. That is beset with so many obvious anomalies I’m not even wasting cyber ink on it here.
4 – There is, however, a new directive to penalise forwards for obstructing goalkeepers especially at set pieces. Hopefully they will also crack down on defenders wrapping both arms around attackers and stopping them from moving. There didn’t appear to be anything about fiddling with the Velcro on the keeper’s gloves, so Benny should be in the clear there.
5 – There are also changes to the handball rule. Again! Something to do with arm positioning, intent, and amount of deflection from other body parts to arm / hand in determining intent. No room for controversy there then!
Hope that saves you all from in-match bewilderment.
Match officials
Referee: Jarred Gillett, Fourth official: Gavin Ward, VAR: Paul Tierney, Assistant VAR: Natalie AspinallKick off is at 15.00 UK time.
There is no UK TV coverage.
Enjoy the game. This could just be the year we do it ! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Reminders from our Holics Ropey League supremo, Osaka Matt, and Predictathon Svengali, North Bank Ned that time is now seriously running out to partake in next season’s premier competitions:
- HolicsRopeyLeague – Last Call for Premier League Managers!
A final call for the HolicsRopeyLeague annual fantasy management challenge!
It’s completely free for a whole season’s fun and everyone is welcome as always
Just two simple rules as below………….
1) At least one Arsenal player in your squad every week
2) No Spu*s players allowed at any time.
- Predictathon entries must be received by 7pm this evening UK time to enter this top competition.
It’s Friday 16th August. It’s THE DAY! GHF Predictathon 2024-25 deadline day.
Sharpen your wits and your pencils, fellas and get your form in by 7pm tonight. One hour before the Manure v Fulham game kicks off. (Come on Fulham!) A donation of at least £25 to Willow is mandatory. As TTG observed in the Drinks, the folks at Willow are delighted to be supported by GHF, so be as generous as your situation permits.
Entry form here. Details by clicking the ‘GHF Contests’ tab at the top of this page.
Have fun!
Thanks Trev. A great start to the campaign. Hopefully we can post a comfortable 3 nil win.
My tuppence worth of knowledge is that Wolves are also affectionately known as the Yam Yams by their Midland rivals. This is because in their distinct black country accents they say yam instead of I am. Anyone talking to a Baggie will note they also say yam, but there you are.
Predictions are in after hours of trying to hack Pangloss’ computer.
Cheers, Trev on this comprehensive and highly enjoyable season and match preview all rolled into one! Not quite as many jokes as I expected but Molly certainly knew. 🤣🤣
COYG
Saw the title, thought ‘puntastic, it must be Trev!’.
And so it is. Cheers Trev! Here’s to a good start to the new season.
Note that the semi-automated VAR is not introduced from the start of the season but after the first (or is that the second? I think it may be, in fact) interlull.
Just to make things easier and completely fair…
One thing that won’t change I guess, is the PGMOL, so….
Cheers fellas !
SP – the Yam Yams indeed ! They also say “yome are” instead of you are. Strange lot 🤷♂️
Bt8 – quality over quantity I decided – when I discovered I’d done most of my Wolves jokes in a previous preview.
Cheers Ollie – infamy at last ! They’ve all got it infamy 😉
Cheers Trev. Lovely stuff. You’ve taken a leaf from the club’s transfer dealings and gone with quality over quantity in the pun stakes. Nicely done.
I’ve been away from the blog and the footy all summer, and it has been a much needed break.
Still, I’m optimistic about the new season and looking forward to us challenging for the top honours.
I was chatting to an entitled Manure fan recently (is there any other kind?) and his efforts to jibe me because his club won an FA Cup despite having a manifestly inferior team to ours rather fell flat… I’d like us to win stuff, but I really like that we are a bloody good side, and it is our strength as a team and club that puts us in the conversation and gets me excited for the new season. Whatever happens, I expect us to play great football and give everything we’ve got. I’ve got a good feeling.
But, whatever happens, I can’t wait to go along for the ride!
VCC
Thanks Trev, a cracking preview to start the season.
My own guess is that Partey starts and Kai is the CF but that is only
because that’s how we started last week. Whoever starts I think
should have too much for Wolves today and SP’s 3-0 looks a fair
shout to me.
And thanks for the last shout on HolicsRopeyLeague
Never been a supremo before 😉
Splendid read, Trev. Front-foot start to the season’s previews.
Thanks, too, for the shout-out for the Predictathon. The clock is ticking down, but there is still time to get an entry into ghfpredict@yahoo.com if you haven’t done so far. We have 20 entries as I write, with a couple of last year’s stalwarts taking it the wire. New players are welcome, too.
https://www.goonerholicsforever.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/predictathon24-25_entry_blank.xlsx
SP@1: at a funeral, I once met a couple of sisters from Birmingham with the richest Brummie accents imaginable. They complained they couldn’t understand a word of their inlaws from Wolverhampton because their accents were so thick.
Should anyone want to delve a little deeper with Trev’s friend Molly (matron!), I commend this history of Molineaux House: http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Molineux/part2.htm
One other rule change this season: clubs will announce their match squad 75 minutes ahead of kick-off, not 60 minutes, to align with UEFA competition rules. Also, I think the handball changes are to give referees discretion over whether to award a yellow card in cases where a player gets hit with a ball with their hands in an unnatural position but didn’t intend to handle the ball. What could possibly go wrong?
The most unnatural position of all for a player’s arms is tucked away behind their back. So what if a ball hits an arm in that position ?
I noticed the Fantasy League selection cut off had gone to 90 minutes before the game.
Used to be an hour.
Most of the actual football rule changes look alright to me. The one for obstructing the keeper will cause controversy in the first few weeks when some marginal decision goals are disallowed but anyway they will stop doing it strictly after a couple of months and things will go back to normal. Good to see the automated offside come in.
Trev,
You’ve got the season off to a flying start with a very entertaining and comprehensive preview with a nice mixture of fact and humour.
I will not be at THOF tomorrow as I am celebrating my golden wedding ( what a lucky girl Mrs TTG is) in a lodge in a wildlife park in Kent with the family. I’ve just finished the first bottle of champagne and am gazing out on a lion ( not a wolf) fast asleep. I am just about to enter the hot tub and attack some more champagne .
First games are notoriously difficult- who remembers the opening of the new North Bank Stand when fat bastard Mick Quinn notched a hat-trick and the game where Norwich came back from 2-0 down at half-time and thin bastard Chris Sutton notched a hat-trick ?That game came after a survey in the newspapers of the time who all predicted the title would go to Arsenal. We are getting a great press billing currently but that will turn to custard if we lose . There was also the game where Anthony Taylor refereed us out of a match with Villa and another where Liverpool put an inexperienced Arsenal defence to the sword in a 4-3 defeat. So first games can be freakish and tricky and we will have to work hard tomorrow but we will do it – eventually.
I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this season but tomorrow should settle our nerves. Now where did I put that champagne ?
Good stuff, Trev. You’ve got the season off to a great start. Can the boys in red and white keep their performances up to your standard?
Many congratulations to TTG and Mrs TTG. I don’t know how that good lady has put up with you for so long! Have a great weekend.
As Ben Fisher wrote in The Guardian’s Wolves season preview, after the transfers of Neto to Chelsea and Kilman to West Ham netted Wolves £94 million, “How they reinvest that money will surely shape whether a top-half finish feels attainable. There is at least a freshness, with Yerson Mosquera, back from a successful loan at Villarreal, and Toti Gomes likely to form a new-look centre-back partnership, while the fizzy winger Rodrigo Gomes, 21, and right-back Pedro Lima, 18, have signed from Braga and Sport Recife respectively.
There is a welcome addition in attack, too: the 6ft 4in Norway striker Jørgen Strand Larsen on loan from Celta Vigo, who Wolves hope will provide the kind of focal point they have missed since Raúl Jiménez suffered a skull fracture in November 2020.”
Sounds like they will be trying to integrate more new players into the team than Arsenal this season.
Congrats, TTGs! Enjoy!
🏅 for Mrs TTG !
Well in Trev. Will we see you at the ground this year?
Nice to see you Ollie. Eurostar platinum membership safely renewed and off to the game tomorrow?
Indeed, C100!
That sound I just heard.
Ned’s gong?
Indeed, bt8. The monks have tintinnabulated to celebrate the closing of the lists.
And what Trev emojied (is that even a verb?) @17.
Thanks all !
C100 @18 – I really hope so. It will depend on when they do my knee and the small matter of getting a ticket.
Based on the bookies’ odds there’s little point in playing the game – just award the Arsenal 3 points and be done with it. However, I have a suspicion it won’t be quite that easy.
The game presents Arsenal with a very good chance to get off to a great start in this campaign. With some tough challenges to come in the ten weeks ahead it’s important to lock these three points down convincingly. Playing TP5 as DM with Havertz at CF will increase the likelihood of that happy outcome.
Ned @21 – I’m sure you can be allowed to emoji as a verb if you’ve already claimed ‘tintinnabulate’.
Evidently to make a clear, crisp ringing sound – although to me it appears more to do with stealing a cartoon dog …😳
🥂🥂 to Mr and Mrs TTG, congratulations to you both on reaching a fine 50 unbeaten, or not of course as the case may be matron.
Many happy returns, TTG on the half century. I’ve been told that only after 50 more years will she let you all the way in, but that’s hearsay of course. 😉
Ned @21, a wise man once told me that there is no noun that a Merkin will not verbize!
Very fine preview Trev for the opening game of a shiny new season.
Worth pointing out that whilst fingers were pointed at the 2 losses at the end of December cost us valuable points in the Title loss last season, what’s forgotten is the points we frittered away at the start of the season in 2 home draws with our neighbors and Fulham respectively, that also came back to haunt us.
As TTG points out, we have history of struggling in the opening home game of the season, even Forest last season was a close 2 – 1 win, even though we were vastly superior for most of the game.
Having said that, we have looked impressive in the 2 recent home friendlies, with fast starts, high pressing and early goals putting us in control.
More of the same on Saturday should be enough to see off a very average Wolves outfit.
A a sidebar,
Interesting to note than the under 21’s kicked off the new season with a comfortable
4 – 2 win over Man Utd tonight, and there was one notable absentee in young Nwaneri.
So i won’t be surprised if he is named on the bench against Wolves.
Whether that is due to a doubt over Vieira’s fitness or not, i don’t know.
I’d prefer it if it’s because he has earned it with his impressive pre season performances.
Trev@24: At least tintinnabulate is in the OED as a verb.
And a very deft and adventurous lift on the Snowy pun.
Pity about Manure getting a late winner but at least Honest Harry amused me by getting booked for diving, he will need to remember now he’s not in England squad the KaneVardy rules will no longer apply.
Ned @29 I remembered the verb from an old French Christmas nursery rhyme, so it felt familiar. I didn’t know it existed pretty much identically in English, mind.
https://momes.parents.fr/chansons-et-histoires/comptines/comptines-de-fetes/comptines-de-noel/petit-garcon-838393
Many thanks Trev for your entertaining and fact filled preview – you have set up the season’s start perfectly.
I hope to see Partey to start in midfield and Havertz at false 9. The only question is whether Mikel chooses Trossard or Gabi M wide left.
The opening games can be more tricky that they seem on paper as teams have to crank up to full steam – some are more prepared than others! If pre season preparations have gone to plan then a comfortable win should be up for grabs -PGMOL officials excepted!
COYRRR
Thanks Trev,
Given the last two seasons and the way they unfolded, every game this year is a must win and games against the likes of Wolves should be solid wins with no nervy moments.
A fast start, early goals and pressure until the end is requisite.
Nothing less than 3-0 will do to set an early marker.
UTA.
Thanks everyone for the kind ones – good to see everyone back.
In a normal season, against fairly assembled opposition, we would have been Champions last time out with 89 points. If we can improve in the areas mentioned in the drinks above, and with a deeper squad, this could just be ………….
In the immortal words of Lone Star Gooner,
MCMBD.
Otherwise, there is no point to the Premier League. It’s not a competition in the present circumstances, it’s a charade. Nor has it been a legitimate competition since the mid-noughties. This season, the most critical outcome isn’t Arsenal’s performance, it’s the judgement of the PL’s Independent Panel.
Coffee from Highbury mug done.
The Arsenal T-shirt done.
Emirates bound.
COYG!
First game of the season, when the hopes and dreams battle the nerves and doubts. It may take going unbeaten to win the league this season, and even that might not be enough.
To Bath’s point @36, not one Predictathon entry assumes that City will be sanctioned, but I note that the bookies have City at the relatively short odds of 16/1 to be relegated. ‘Pool and ourselves are 2000/1.
Ollie@31: It comes from the Latin, tintinnabulatus, so presumably, it followed the well-trodden path of Latin to French to English, even if hardly anyone noticed its journey.
To C100 and all at the game, enjoy the day and cheer the team to a glorious victory.
Makes sense. Cheers Ned. From rainy Paris to sunny London, here I am! A well trodden-path too though maybe not in terms of weather evolution. COYG!
Charles Sagoe Jr has gone on loan to Shrewsbury Town in League One. Charlie Patino, Omar Rekik and Salah-Eddine were omitted from the U-21 squad for the Man U game, so loans or permanent departures for those three seem imminent.
Ned, Predictathon subs now paid – with help from a friend 👍🏻
Cheers, Ollie. Rainy Paris? Was all that sunshine during the Olympics CGI?
I’ve seen a lot of reporting about Arsenal needing to sell to buy players, and TTG was recently complaining about this reporting as we are okay with PSR.
Just to say, I’ve not seen this ‘one in, one out’ policy reported in relation to PSR. It looks like we are fine with PSR, but the club don’t want to keep ploughing money into the squad whilst simultaneously not selling effectively. I’ve got no issue with reporting to that effect, as per Blogs and Gunnerblog.
https://www.threads.net/@gunnerblog/post/C-qFZtRglTh
After a few years of heavy investment, it appears as though selling well is now a condition of further spending. It wouldn’t surprise me if we spent a lot more than we recouped in the end. I don’t think we need to sell £80m worth of player to see an £80m striker arrive (should the right one be available) but neither do I see us splashing big money unless we get serious fees for Nelson, Nketiah, Rambo and maybe Kiwior and/or Partey, Vieira.
With Merino looking close, I still think we have plenty of sales to make, and depending on how well we do that, I think at least one more attacking player incoming too.
Hutchison went to Chelsea, for which we got minimal compensation, but his agents presumably made a packet on.
He, predictably and obviously, did nothing at Chelsea due to inexperience and lack of game time. He got loaned to Ipswich and then went there permanently for £20m.
Chelsea rightly get a lot of stick for their ludicrous transfer policy, but it seems to me that they and Hutchinson’s agents have done massively well here, whilst the player has done okay and Arsenal got shafted.
Chelsea ended up with £20m that should have been ours and that rankles. Especially given there isn’t really anything more we could have done.
When agents convince a player that going to Chelsea is more likely to give you game time than signing a new Arsenal contract, you know they only have their own interests at heart.
But an entirely undeserved windfall like that helps Chelsea and Boehly, whilst an extra £20m of ‘pure profit’ for us would have been hugely useful in this window.
Also, where the hell did these PSR rules come from? Who voted for them? And how the hell have Everton and Forest been penalised whilst Chelsea do what they want?
The league voted not to close the loophole Chelsea used to sell themselves 2 hotels as other clubs presumably want to do similar themselves.
It’s hard to take seriously any set of financial rules that allow this sort of rubbish, nor the clubs that vote for them.
The refs are still abysmal. I’m not looking forward to their innovative and surprising efforts to plumb new depths this term.
One new thing appears to be that they run over to where a player is taking a free kick and themselves kick the ball 3 feet further into what they deem the correct position. Quite what the point of these tiny adjustments is is beyond me.
I suppose they show who is in charge, in the tiniest way possible, which is probably appealing to Webb, a man who is necessarily all about appearances due to his own profound lack of substance.
As the ref turns and runs back into position, the bloke taking the free kick moves it a couple of feet closer to its original position. What a pointless exercise.
Automated offsides can’t come fast enough. Trust PGMOL to introduce them part way through a season, a move typically inept and lacking in sensible groundwork and planning.
Anyway, apart from the financial regulation, the charges hanging over the champions and their own lawsuit against the PL (which is getting very little airtime when it is possibly the most alarming development of the lot), and the disgraceful standard of refereeing, I’m looking forward to the season!
Let’s hope Arsenal can transcend this shitshow and make it a good year, because I’m struggling to maintain an interest in what has become primarily a playground for billionaires and nation states to flaunt their avarice and arrogance.
I’m ready for Odegaard, Saka, Rice and the rest to remind me what I love about our club and the beautiful game.
UTA!
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz.
Subs: Ramsdale, Timber, Calafiori, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Nelson, Trossard, Jesus, Nketiah.
Vieira is off games, since you ask.
Half ton. Why not?
UTA!
Well in Dino👏👏
The team is pretty much as expected. CoYGS!!
Get in!! 1-0 good Kai header from a teasing Saka delivery. Lured SA off his line.
GTFI ya beauty!
1-0 half time. Kind of typical early season game with a bit of rust, and Wolves defending well to be fair to them. Making us work hard to manufacture half chances. A real CF’s goal from Kai.
Havertz scores again
Countless millions down the drain 🤣
You can’t be putting your hands on peoples throats like that
Brilliant 2-0 !! Been a tough second half at times but that helps from Bukayo. Great strike.
Timber looking lively
Playing it out well now, good solid start, happy with that.
That Colombian bloke for Wolves is really a wind-up fucker.
3 points just when we needed it. Can’t be too unhappy with that performance. Only 37 games left to go undefeated. 👍🏼
When Mosquera put his hand on Havertz’ throat and lent his whole weight on him, I naively thought VAR would send him off.
If an Arsenal player did that, I’d be agreeing it should be a straight red card. You just cannot do that on a football pitch.
Except, apparently, you can.
However, it was arguably not the worst place Mosquera put his hand. Reaching round Jesus’ bum cheeks and pulling him forwards from that position would be deemed a sexual offence if you did it in the street. If Mosquera were caught on camera doing that to a woman bending over to tie her shoelace in public then he would be rightly vilified and would expect to face deserved criminal charges.
Quite what makes VAR think it is acceptable on a football pitch is beyond me.
One game, and the refs and VAR have shown themselves unfit for purpose, and furthermore, utterly disgraceful.
We were good.
Partey has quality but he makes mistakes that will be costly if he plays as first choice all season. Zinchenko will be a useful player for us, but won’t be the player we need at LB against more incisive opponents.
Great start by Havertz, Saka and Odegaard.
Generally, it’s great to get three points, a clean sheet and a solid win to start things off. As with last season, we want to grow into the season, not peak too early. Very professional today and all involved should be pleased with a top start.
UTA!
GSD@60: Well said.
The commentator on the stream I was watching said that while Mosquera had his hand on Havertz’s throat, he wasn’t applying that much pressure. So that’s all right, then.
And well in for the half ton, btw.
A solid win. Not without difficult moments but you always felt if we needed an extra gear, we’d find it. We didn’t, which I’m happy with. Waiting for the train back after what’s been one of the happiest days of the summer.
Congrats to the TTG’s, gotta be worth a golden trophy no?
Thanks for the info and the laughs Trev, always a pleasure to read.
Great results don’t always come from great performance as this game showed but I am perplexed as to how no Wolves were sent packing?
Onwards & upwards fellow gooners.
If anyone comes across any 1-20 PL predictions for this season made by professional journalists or pundits, please post a link in the drinks.
That’s a good thought Ned. I will keep an eye out, it’s mostly top 4 / bottom 3 predictions as you know but there must be someone, somewhere……
https://betting.betfair.com/football/alan-shearer/alan-shearers-premier-league-predictions-title-winner-top-four-relegation-and-1-20-standings-140824-1323.html
Found this from Shearer, who qualifies as a pundit to some people I guess
Predictathon guest star/comparison point?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cdrlyg088r5o
Phil McNumpty predictions.
Well done GSD @69 (oo’er matron), I knew I’d seen one but couldn’t remember where. That’s the one!
Thanks, OM and GSD for the 1-20 links. I’ve found a couple more at ESPN, too.
Comparison point, Ollie.
>>>>>>>