Feed on
Posts
Comments

Unsaintly Gunners Looking to Get Back on Track

Dec 11th, 2021 by

The sputtering Gunners enter this home match against the Saints, a team fighting to shake off the specter of relegation, on five days’ rest after the poor display on Monday evening against Everton. Arsenal find themselves desperately seeking a potent goal threat, but also have to tighten up at the back seeing as we have witnessed costly errors more than once in recent matches. The sight of one time marksman extraordinaire Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing an excellent chance to draw the Gunners level with the Toffees as time ran out at Goodison is emblematic of the decline of our former primary goal threat, and the general impotence of our attack.

Manager Mikel Arteta was asked about the club’s inability to score more goals this week, and prescribed these steps to develop a more potent attack: ”encourage the players to take more risks, put the ball more often in the box when we have the opportunity to have more bodies there and start to score the big chances that we have … It’s always a combination, who creates the chances for [the forwards], it’s themselves, it’s the team, it’s the collective capacity for the team to arrive better in conditions in the final third, it’s the numbers in the box, we can look at everything, but the reality is that we need more goals.” No kidding, Mikel.

On the defensive side, the five goals Arsenal let in this week make it 22 goals conceded on the season (1.46 per match) as opposed to the measly 18 goals we scored in those 15 games (1.2 per match). Those are not the kind of numbers that make me think Arsenal will suddenly go on a winning streak but team psychology can change quickly, and it would certainly help if we can recapture some of the positivity we were exuding prior to the disappointing losses at Manchester United and Everton. Our collective psyche since then has hit the skids, but let’s give the lads the opportunity to regain that positivity, see what lessons they have been able to learn, and what bad memories we can leave behind from those two disappointing outings.

Any Arsenal fan can tell you that the team has been setting up in a defensive shell whenever they take a lead, but the shell has soon collapsed. What’s more vexing, the team has been no fun to watch as it tries to hold on without managing any sustained control in the opposition end. It’s reassuring then to know that an Arsenal player can recognize the same pattern. After the Everton game Martin Odegaard admitted the side “stopped playing” after they went into a 1-0 lead. The two key questions are, why does the team regularly do this, and what will Mikel Arteta do to prevent it in future games?

In his comments in the match preview on the club’s official site, Arteta denied that the team sat back to protect the lead, saying “sometimes teams can change their way of playing after conceding a goal, we don’t and we go for the second one and the third one and we’re not gonna change that.” Maybe that’s the intention but it hasn’t looked like it. Hopefully the team will be able to play more confidently in those situations, starting now.

The opposition
Sixteenth-placed Southampton will have enjoyed a full week’s rest after hosting Brighton last Saturday when they conceded a 99th minute equalizer while playing with ten men on manager Ralph Hasenhüttl’s three-year anniversary in charge. Hasenhüttl’s biggest gripe after that game was with keeper Alex McCarthy, who apparently had not told his manager he was struggling with a hamstring injury. Brighton scored the equalizing goal after a Saints defender played Neil Maupay onside as he attempted to cover for the out of position McCarthy.

Saints will rotate their goalkeeper considering Hasenhüttl’s comments — “If [McCarthy’s] not able to jump, we should change him” — after last week’s game. Backup Fraser Forster is injured so Saints signed 40 year old Willy Caballero in midweek, and he is expected to get the nod. Arsenal should expect him to play a blinder. Saints’ center back Mohammed Salisu misses out due to the two yellow cards he received against Brighton. Salisu and midfielder Oriol Romeu are both suspended so Jack Stephens and Ibrahima Diallo are expected to deputise for them. Arsenal’s defenders must watch out for Southampton’s Armando Broja, a young striker on-loan from Chelsea, who last week scored his third league goal in four starts.

I don’t mention it to make the reader feel overconfident about Arsenal’s chances in this one, but Southampton have dropped 71 points in the past three years, 15 more than any other team that has not been relegated in that time; and since the start of 2021, the South Coasters have lost 14 of their 18 Premier League away games. Not surprisingly, Saints have seen quite a turnover of personnel over the last year or so, and personally I had never heard of five of Saints’ eleven who started last week. There is a first time for everything but the Gunners have never lost at home to the Saints in the Premier League. Given some of these oddities, an uninterested observer might even think the Gunners ought to prevail in this one but the proof will only be in the pudding.

Arsenal XI
Gabriel Martinelli, who was finally getting playing time these last few weeks, and doing an impressive job of making his presence felt in the attacking end, is doubtful for this one having picked up a hamstring injury at Everton. Captain Auba, who came on for a late cameo, may be recalled but I don’t see that he has earned the right and would pick Alexandre Lacazette to lead the line. As of Thursday Mikel Arteta was reported to be hopeful of welcoming ESR back to the team, and let’s hope he makes it because his absence was deeply felt against Everton.

Ramsdale

Tomiyasu White Gabriel Tierney

Lokonga Partey

Saka Ødegaard Smith Rowe

Lacazette

The ‘holics pound
2-1 is the score-not-to-ignore for fellas like me who speciously claim to have some idea of what to expect. Saints are likely to put in a performance that’s far superior to their billing, but home cooking could be the key to a modest Arsenal recovery, with Gabriel heading in a corner, and Laca sticking away a late rebound to secure the points. Enjoy the game, ‘holics. Surely it can’t be as bad as our last two outings, can it?

Posted in Match Preview | 59 Drinks »

Drip, drip, drip, drip…

Dec 7th, 2021 by

Arsenal fans everywhere today. All game long. And not cold water…

What a terrible game.

Arsenal traveled to Goodison Park to play Everton for a Monday evening kickoff, in hopes of overcoming Thursday’s “shoot-self-in-foot” loss to Manchester United. Would we play with the alacrity and verve we showed during our recently-collapsed undefeated streak? Or with the ponderous lack of energy we saw far too often in the last couple of seasons? Would our Mikel make progressive choices to start, or at least in substitutions, or would his conservative, “let’s not lose” ethos win his day? And, finally, would our senior players play as though they believed in themselves, or would we see a display rife with indecision and caution?

Sadly, the answers were all too plain as Arsenal were beaten with a last-minute goal by a slightly better team on the day in Everton, 2-1. Not only did our manager choose a team with a glacially-slow midfield, but one that was largely bypassed for most of the game. The sharpness and wit we can show seemed to evaporate with the absence of Emile Smith Rowe (out due to a groin injury), and even Ødegaard’s energy wasn’t enough to compensate for the weight dragging us backward provided by Partey and Xhaka.

Our starters were mostly good on paper, but in reality starting Xhaka and Partey made this game a bridge too far. The front three (Gabi, Laca, and Saka) should have worked well with Mø, and often did, but the lack of positivity and overabundance of caution from our other two midfielders led us back to the Horseshoe Trail. And, as we all know, the Horseshoe Trail is a dangerous trail, on which one far too easily can be bushwhacked. To be fair to Partey, he did try, on a number of occasions, the throughball to release our runners. The hard part is that his execution was poor, and in at least a couple of occasions led to an Everton break.

A minute-by-minute account of this game would be galling. Suffice to say there were some notable moments, mostly on their side:

• In the 21st minute Godfrey went through Saka, crunching his foot with his boot, getting no ball. Referee Mike “See you next Tuesday” Dean demurred from calling aught but a foul.

• In the 28th minute Godfrey (not Grey) and Tomi collided coming up field, and Godfrey (not Grey) ended up landing his boot on Tomi’s face. He took a quick little look at where Tomi was, then turned his head away and put his foot down. VAR didn’t even look at it, and Tuesday Mike again left it unpunished.

• In the 43d minute Richarlison fell over and was given a freekick (kidding, he was thrown bodily by three Arsenal players; sorry, kidding again, he fell over), and then scored a header from the freekick. Sadly for the announcers on the American broadcast, he was just slightly offside, and the goal was rightly disallowed on VAR.

• In the second of two minutes of first-half stoppage time Arsenal worked the ball to KT3 down the left. He sent in a peach of a cross to an oncoming Mø, who sidefooted it just inside Pickford’s post. Lovely goal, lovely buildup, lovely lead going into halftime papering over the cracks of what was, by and large, a dire half of football (from both squads, in all honesty).

• Finally, in the 49th minute Godfrey got his yellow, for taking out Saka very late. He could have broken his foot, and it was clear Rafa had shown his team the Stoke Submanual of Thuggery before the game.

• In the 57th minute Arsenal defended an Everton break well, and while bringing the ball upfield Xhaka put it into touch. Everton came right back, and Doucare went straight through our central defenders; White just kept backing up, rather than playing the man with the ball. Richarlison broke into the box, Doucare hit him with a pass, and Richarlison scored. Again, the goal was struck for offsides on VAR, and again Arsenal were thanking their lucky stars that playing with fire had yet to burn their fingies.

• In minute 63 Xhaka earned his now-standard stupid yellow card.

• Pat Rice was shown, in minute 69, sitting in the stands as cold and rigid as Arsenal’s offense.

• Gordon should have been at least yellow-carded for a heavy slash through Nuno’s shin in the 76th minute. No, nothing was given, not even a foul.

• A terrible return pass from Partey to Nuno on a throw-in led to Everton bringing the ball across the field to Ramsdale’s right, where Gomez had a shot blocked that dropped to Gray. Gray hit his shot off Ramsdale’s fingertips onto the bar, and Richarlison made no mistake with his header off the rebound, beating a prone Ramsdale for Everton’s goal.

• In the 82nd Mø had a snapshot blocked from the top of the box after some nice work, then after maybe our best movement of the night down the right Saka’s cross to Eddie ended up off Eddie’s head onto the post, with the rebound ricocheting off Eddie’s elbow behind the goal, just on the wrong side of the post. Our best chance of the second half.

• We did have one more chance, in the first of 6 minutes of stoppage time, where Mø had another snap shot blocked.

• Everton’s recovery after that block led to the shot of the game, with Gray collecting the ball to the left of goal, stepping inside and lashing a worldie in off the post with his right peg. A magnificent goal in the 92nd minute, a worthy game winner, and cause for me to use language I won’t repeat here.

• With the last kick of the game we saw a dispirited Auba place the ball weakly wide of Pickford’s goal. I’d forgotten he was on the pitch, coming on for Laca as he did in the 85th minute.

It is a terrible, deserved result, to lose 2-1 after a really poor game from Arsenal. Except for the length of his toes, Richarlison could have had a hat trick and we could have lost this game 4-1. It wouldn’t have been an unfair result. It really was water torture to watch, drip by drip. Even hiding behind the couch wouldn’t have helped.

I struggled while writing this to not pin the blame on, and slag only, Xhaka and Partey. Very few of Arsenal’s players covered themselves in glory. I have to give credit to Tomi (who played through Gray’s stamp on his face as though nothing had happened), Mø (beautiful goal, and he did work hard), Saka (suffered GBH at the hands of Everton’s players, encouraged by the inattention of Tuesday Mike), and Ramsdale were effective. KT3 played a variable game, his cross for Mø’s goal was perfect, but he lacked power and penetration down the right, and tired early. The rest of the squad didn’t cover themselves in glory, and at times seemed to be passing the time with their play rather than trying to achieve anything.

Mikel has to sort out his priorities. To paraphrase the great Coach Beard, “if Mikel is willing to let the team (and its fans) suffer because of one player’s feelings, then I don’t know Arsenal should be entrusted to someone that selfish.” If Sambi deserves the bench (for the Liverpool game? Nuno didn’t…) and Xhaka doesn’t, what is that telling our other players? Will Xhaka be Mikel’s Achilles heel? And I like Mikel, and still have great hopes he can lead Arsenal to higher and higher heights. But he has to sort out the midfield, and his priorities.

We return to the comfort of the Emirates to play Southampton on the 11th. Let’s hope ESR is fit and ready to go after a ten-day layoff. But let’s also hope Mikel finds a way to rely on other players (remember who was there and who wasn’t in that 10-game unbeaten streak!) so that Emile’s absence and our lack of midfield quality aren’t fatal to our vibrant, creative, often incisive play…having been bushwhacked by Everton on the Horseshoe Trail, we should be loathe to return there any time soon.

Posted in Match Report | 64 Drinks »

Return to Forever

Dec 6th, 2021 by

After a rather disappointing loss last Thursday in an away ground that has historically been one of Arsenal’s unhappiest, we hit the road again towards the rugged (and I am not talking about the terrain here) North-West in the hope of maximizing the outcomes of our strenuous efforts – my admiration of the away supporters who would be making two weekday trips from London towards the rainier corner of the island is unbounded – and recover swiftly from the bitter feelings of a missed opportunity.

Our Monday night’s opponent has traditionally – given that in the hallowed history of English football the temporal interpretation of tradition can generate endless arguments, let us set the time period of this tradition to the recent past of the Premier league era only – presented a less thorny proposition at home. Even taking into account all of English first division football history, our away record against Everton — 31W, 27D, 42L — is respectable enough, though obviously not as dominant as our home record:  67W, 16D, 17L. Of these thirty-one away victories a good percentage came in the last 25 odd years, but this is where my football history researcher self, lazy and easily bored, gives up further effort and walks himself up to the living room to listen to the recollections of my (unreliable) anecdotal self.

In the recollections come up some away victories of large margins, a 6-1 in 2009 season opener (Denilson forgetting to hide his Brazilian identity, Vermaelen scoring on his debut etc.), a 5-2 in 2017, a few 4-1s in our halcyon days of late nineties-early noughties…

While getting six, or at least four points off Everton in the league season for a long time was a very routine occurrence, last season the Blues from Liverpool had their long-awaited revenge, a home and away victory against (no longer so mighty) Arsenal: 2-1 at Goodison Park and 1-0 at the Emirates. Under the watchful eyes of Carlo Ancelotti Everton had even threatened to finish above Arsenal for the first time since … 1987/88 when they finished fourth and Arsenal sixth (thankfully chimes in the lazy researcher, for such a time period is beyond the grasp of the living room raconteur’s memory). They came quite close, only two points and two positions behind Arsenal who again finished the season on an embarrassing 8th.

Since then, things have changed rapidly, as they always seem to do in the fervid world of modern football. The suave Italian of the perennially arched eyebrows has returned back to the warm certainties of Madrid, and the gruffly Spaniard of pragmatic attitude was chosen by the new ambitious owners of Everton to steady the ship. Rafa Benitez, since his trophy winning days with Everton’s much hated derby enemies, has always been a prime candidate for clubs in trouble to steady the ship. I believe some Arsenal faithful had earlier suggested that possibility too, especially when the fledgling captain of the ship Arsenal was rocking rather dangerously the stormy sea of last season.  However, while Mikel Arteta has improved the quality and consistency of our performances in the league compared to last season, Everton — despite starting promisingly under Benitez with players like Doucouré and Gray impressing — are going through a particularly difficult sequence of results. They have earned only one point from their past five league matches, losing to Liverpool (1-4), Brentford (0-1), City (0-3) and Wolves (1-2), and drawing against some small club from London. They are positioned at 16th in the league table, and are a far cry from the exciting team showcasing the effervescent skills of James Rodriguez or Richarlison, and goalscoring form of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

And that makes them a dangerous opponent because in recent years we have been known to be rather generous in how we help struggling oppositions to find their form when they meet us after a poor set of results. Let us hope Mikel and the team are still hurting from last Thursday’s throwing away of three points and have convinced themselves that anything other than a victory tomorrow would be unacceptable.

Despite their poor run of form and results, Everton boasts a lot of established high-quality players with club and international experiences across all positions, starting from Pickford in goal, Doucouré, Allan in the midfield, Richarlison in the forward line. According to Everton FC website Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina are sidelined. 

Arteta may feel that he had made a few errors in selecting his first eleven and in his substitution choices in the last match and would be desperate to get Arsenal back to winning ways and on the fifth position in the league table. A popular and successful player with Everton from 2005-2011, he of course knows all about the stadium and the vociferous home crowd, and one expects that in his meticulous preparations those details too would be highlighted.

I hope he will also prepare the team to not slow down and drop back once they take the lead. And not give away possession cheaply in the middle of the park, and not to make lunging tackles in our ow penalty box etc.

The club website injury report says Leno is out – which explains his absence from the bench at Manchester – and so is Emile Smith-Rowe. Hopefully Saka has completely recovered and can start the match and play the full ninety minutes at his best.

The starting line-up I would like to see has no place for our misfiring captain – I believe it would be beneficial for Aubameyang to watch the proceedings from the bench for one or two matches – and also has no place for Partey who too may find a bit of time spent on the bench to be inspirational. Though Tavares has performed more or less impressively, with the odd bit of youthful indiscretion mixed in it, this match may also be a good time for our future captain Kieran Tierney to return to the left back position to add leadership in the playing eleven. I would like to see Gabriel Martinelli keep his place and played down the middle of a fluid front three, with Saka on the right and the forgotten man Nicolas Pépé on the left, with Saka and Pépé switching positions as needed. Ainsley has enough experience to go with his new-found focus in the middle of the park, and I would like to see him combine with Sambi Lokonga who has been one of our best players this season. So, my preferred starting line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation:

Ramsdale

Tomiyasu – White – Gabriel – Tierney

AMN – Lokonga

Saka – Ødegaard – Pépé

Martinelli

However, I think to a manager whose job of selecting first eleven has more significant consequences than that of a blog writer’s, this line-up may appear a bit too early in time to be relied on. I think Mikel will choose a more experienced team, in the 4-2-3-1 formation:

Ramsdale

Tomiyasu – White – Gabriel – Tierney

Partey – Lokonga

Saka – Ødegaard – Martinelli 

Aubameyang

A win is a must, and any win will do. I am predicting a 3-1 victory for Arsenal, but a 4-1 or 5-2 or 6-1 will be fine as well (the 7-0 was at Highbury, so not counting that).  Let these new new days be just like the not-so-old old days. 

Happy viewing everyone!   

Posted in Match Preview | 47 Drinks »

Frustration at Old Trafford as failings at both ends of the pitch cost us

Dec 2nd, 2021 by

Arsenal went down 3-2 to United on a cold and ultimately deeply frustrating Manchester night. The game threatened to be forever known for the extraordinary opening goal scored by Emile Smith Rowe after David De Gea had collapsed in the goalmouth. Deficiencies all over the pitch ensured that  wasn’t the case despite some promising and silky football from Arsenal at times and some good individual performances. That many of those performances were from our defenders and yet we conceded three goals suggests the structure of the side needs tweaking.

Tonight the team selection was a surprise. Tavares continued to keep out Tierney, Elneny (amazingly) was picked ahead of Sambi Lokonga and AMN, and Martinelli replaced Saka who was deemed fit enough to take his place on the bench.

This game usually attracts controversy and is rarely dull. Tonight was no exception. Arsenal began it well, forcing three corners in the first ninety seconds and passing the ball crisply between the back and midfield. The lack of a better focal point than Auba always strikes me when we knock the ball long in the air. He rarely wins those duels but one could not fault his workrate or Martinelli’s eagerness. The young Brazilian looked full of pace and intent and was having a good battle with Telles.

Arsenal were pressing effectively and depriving United of good possession and the game was progressing well. All the activity was a preamble to an extraordinary moment in the 13th minute when a United corner was cleared after Fred had trodden on De Gea and as he lay prone in the goalmouth Smith Rowe collected the ball and whipped it left-footed inside the near post. North London pessimists which included me suspected Martin Atkinson, no friend to us, would disallow the goal but as the cameras dissected the incident it became clear that there was absolutely no reason to rule it out. In Ferguson’s day it would never have counted but Michael CarSick doesn’t intimidate referees like Old Purple Nose and (I’m sure reluctantly) the goal was allowed.

United 0 Arsenal 1 (Smith Rowe) 13

United tried to respond forcing Ramsdale to a couple of comfortable saves and Ronaldo almost connected with White’s head and the ball simultaneously as he tried a flashy overhead kick . Arsenal were careless in midfield particularly Partey but a fine pass by Ødegaard almost set up Martinelli who finished poorly. Arsenal sat deeper and were troubled by Sancho on the left although Tomayisu was playing very effectively and White was occasionally distributing the ball quite brilliantly. Just before half time Sancho’s switch to Fred who transferred it to Fernandes gave the Portuguese midfielder the chance to slip the ball past Ramsdale who got a touch but couldn’t prevent the goal.

United 1 (Fernandes) Arsenal 1

It was a goal that might have satisfied the United-loving majority but Arsenal could feel at half-time that the Mancs could have been in the lead without the bizarre circumstances of Arsenal’s opener.

Half-time United 1 Arsenal 1

The second half began with a spectacular save by De Gea from Gabriel from a corner but United took the lead after 52 minutes when Dalot drove forward intelligently and picked out Ronaldo who turned the ball in from near the centre spot. We were opened up easily and needed a quick response.

United 2 (Ronaldo) Arsenal 1

We provided one immediately. The lively Martinelli cut the ball back to Ødegaard who swept it in with his fight foot. De Gea looked slow to respond to the shot to this observer.

United 2 Arsenal 2 (Ødegaard)

Battle was joined and we saw an end to end game. Aubameyang fired in a fierce shot from the inside right channel which De Gea blocked but then the game turned again and Ødegaard who had emerged as a potential saviour blotted his copybook with a poorly judged challenge on Fred and for the umpteenth time United had a penalty against us at the Stretford End. Ronaldo drove it down the middle as Ramsdale dived left.

United 3 (Ronaldo pen) Arsenal 2

We created a number of chances in the last twenty minutes. Two fell to Aubameyang who confirmed the growing suspicion that he is something of a spent force. Saka replaced Smith Rowe, Lacazette and Nketiah came on for Ødegaard and Aubameyang who despite being captain and ostensibly the leader of our attack was not deemed capable of leading the recovery. It seems unlikely that he will start at Everton on Monday. Saka produced two efforts both blocked and I felt he was playing too wide to really hurt United. Martinelli was always lively and enterprising particularly after moving to the left. Tavares was tireless and willing but despite decent possession our midfield two were ineffectual and unreliable going forward.

And so we subsided to a defeat which felt unnecessary and avoidable but which occurred because we were unable to control the game, could not prevent the counter attack and gave away a stupid penalty.

Full time – United 3 Arsenal 2

It is worth reflecting that Atkinson seemed reluctant to give our first goal and didn’t award a clear penalty. He is a poor referee despite his status in the refereeing hierarchy. This may say more about the quality of our ‘top’ referees but every time I see him officiate I’m profoundly unimpressed.

Disappointment is the overriding emotion after that match despite several causes for encouragement. Most of the defenders were effective. White produces superb distribution, Gabriel is solid and reliable and though Tavares lacks the defensive nous of Tierney both full backs had decent games against a team strong on the flanks. Upfront Martinelli showed several flashes of quality and Smith Rowe was always dangerous and willing although he understandably tired. But for these positives there are big negatives. Partey showed yet again he is nowhere near the midfield colossus we hoped we had purchased. No one expected Elneny to make much impact and he did little to surprise us. Upfront Aubameyang is profoundly out of form and doesn’t currently merit a starting place.

As sides develop it is often a case of two steps forward or one back (or vice versa). We must be patient. Top clubs are not built in a day and this team has a chance of finishing fourth at best but is more likely to finish sixth or seventh. That is unless we can recruit in key positions in the January window. Given what we need to really compete that is a challenging task.

Posted in Match Report | 38 Drinks »

Hold the line at 99

Dec 1st, 2021 by

Embed from Getty Images

Thursday evening’s visit to Old Trafford will be the 235th encounter between the two sides. The first, in October 1894, saw Woolwich Arsenal drew 3-3 in League Division Two with the then Newton Heath at their Bank Street ground in Clayton, now the site of the car park for the Manchester Velodrome. 

Let me start with what is at stake today. The Mancs will become the first club to beat us 100 times in all competitions if we lose. This cannot be allowed to happen.

Our record at Old Toilet is not encouraging: 16 wins in 94 visits. Among the 54 losses are the ignominies of the 8-2 in 2011, the 6-1 in 2001, a similar scoreline in 1952 and the 6-2 in 1957. 

One defeat especially sticks in the craw, October 2004, thwarting our attempt to go a 50th consecutive game unbeaten. Van Nistelrooy fired home a 73rd-minute penalty after Mike Riley deemed Rooney throwing himself to the ground, probably not for the first time and certainly not for the last, to be a scything down.

Perhaps Riley was giving Rooney a present on his 19th birthday. He had earlier demonstrated his generosity by handing out free passes rather than red cards when Horseface put his studs through Ashley Cole’s knee, and Rio Ferdinand bowled over Freddie Ljungberg when clear through on goal.

Thunderous affairs

There was a time, not so long ago, well, perhaps longer than I remember, the years blend as they advance, that the visit to OT was a clash of colossi. 

For the best part of a decade, the Guv’nor once wrote, the thunderous encounters between the charges of Wenger and Ferguson would be the most eagerly anticipated clashes on the Premier League calendar, and invariably decided the destination of the Premier League trophy and FA Cup. They hated us and we returned those feelings with a vengeance.

Not so much these days. Scrappy affairs between two diminished sides have replaced the Herculean battles of thought and thew. 

OT was not a happy hunting ground for Arsene Wenger, just three wins in the league and two in the FA cup in 27 visits. He lost 28 of his 60 games against United and 23 of the 49 when Fergie was in the opposing dugout. 
His final trip to OT was in April 2018. A minute into added time, a Fellaini header gave Mourinho’s United a last-gasp 2-1 win against a youthful but spirited Arsenal side lacking several big guns rested for a Europa League semi-final a few days later.

Yet, we have not lost at Old Toilet since.

As a player, Michael Arteta lost on all four of his visits, twice with Everton and twice with us, and was only on the winning side twice in 17 games against United. As a manager, he is one for one.

He had the hex on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with two wins and a draw. The Bilbo Baggins lookalike is no longer at the wheel, having been thrown under the bus after turning the talented players on which United spent heavily for him into less than the sum of their parts. 

Someone who knows what they are doing could turn that motley crew into a formidable side.

Pochettino, a man for a poisoned chalice having previously managed the neighbours, is reportedly favourite to succeed OGS permanently. He seems unavailable until the summer, when his likely replacement at Paris Saint-Germain, Zinedine Zidane, plans to return to work. 

Ralf Rangnick, the former RB Leipzig manager and most recently head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow, will take over in the interim as head coach. That will transmogrify into a two-year consultancy to revamp the club’s football operations that have atrophied since Fergie’s retirement. 

Rangnick is the anointed father of gegenpressing, even if its roots predate him, and the inspiration for a generation of accomplished German coaches, notably Klopp, Low, Nagelsmann and Tuchel. He turned once little-regarded, Hoffenheim and Leipzig, into powers in German football. Previous with non-entities may prove helpful in his new gig. We shall see when the Mancs come calling at the Ems in April.

However, United wait on Rangnick’s immigration paperwork. (Gooners doing God’s work in the Home Office, perhaps.) Michael Carrick will continue as caretaker manager for our game.

The Opposition

Carrick secured a CL win at Unai Emery’s Villareal and a scarcely merited point at the bus stop in Fulham on Sunday in his two games in charge.

Pogba remains a long-term injury absentee, and the game will come too early for the returns of Varane and Cavani. Shaw faces a late fitness test. Greenwood will be available after Covid-19 and Slaphead Maguire after suspension.

Who knows if Rangnick has a say in team selection and formation or whether Ronaldo will again start on the bench? We shall likely see most of the same personnel that mugged the Chavs. Yet, it will be not so much who plays as how they play together.

The Arsenal 

Games against the two Manchester clubs bookend a hectic month with 24 league points and a place in the League Cup semi-finals at stake. Minutes management and fitness will be key in a critical sequence for our season’s success. We need a solid run of wins to have a shot at a top-four finish.

We know Xhaka and Kolasinac will miss the United game (please don’t all weep at once). Saka is a serious doubt, having limped off on Saturday with a hip or pelvic injury. Given the rush of fixtures and nature of the injury, allowing him more recovery time would be more prudent than risking a prolonged absence by aggravating it.

Arteta’s choice would be to replace him one-for-one with Pepe or Gabi keeping Ødegaard as a ten, or to play the Norwegian on the right with Laca as a hybrid nine. His other questions are: who fits like a T at left-back, and should he take advantage of the rotation necessary as December’s fixtures start to come like Aaron Lennon, thick and fast, to ‘rest’ our out-of-sorts skipper?

This is not a game to take lightly; United have plenty of potential match-winners. Thus Arteta will likely start a strong XI.

Ramsdale

Tomiyasu — White — Gabriel — Tavares

Ødegaard — Partey — Lokonga — ESR

Lacazette — Aubameyang

Bench: Leno, Tierney, Maitland-Niles, Holding, Cedric Soares, Pepe, Elneny, Nketiah, Martinelli

The ‘holics pound

The bookies have the hosts as clear favourites. Any Arsenal win offers attractive odds starting with the classic 1-0 to the Arsenal at fourteens, and a realistic 2-1 is available at the same price. 
If you think the defence can hold out, including against Martin Atkinson, who has the whistle for the game and has given more penalties against us than any other team and more than twice as many as for us, then 2-0 can be found at seventeens.

Three points are needed; an away point, the bare minimum. Defeat is unthinkable for a hundred reasons.

Enjoy the game, ‘holics near and far.

Posted in Match Preview | 48 Drinks »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »