During last season we often commented that it seemed a cursed season, albeit one that lasted fifteen months but it ultimately ended in delight and a trophy. Tonight we set out to play a crucial quarter-final on which the immediate future of our club rested. Would we prevail or would the inconsistency that continually surfaces nowadays around this team appear again?
It was frankly a surprising team selection with Willian preferred to Pépé, Lacazette to Aubameyang, and Martinelli confined to the bench despite the absence of Ødegaard. There is a tendency for some Arsenal fans to almost relish failure by some players, and the anaemic first seventy minutes would have had many of the naysayers shaking their heads in despair borne out of a feeling of ‘I told you so’. Rarely can a European quarter-final have proceeded in a lower key for the vast majority of the match. Willian was as ineffective and slow as he usually is, our central midfield had no drive at all and were wasteful in possession and Saka, while brilliant at times, showed naivety in the final third. Part of his problem was the lack of bodies in the box to find. Lacazette was outnumbered and had one of those nights typified by his failure to convert in the second half when in on goal from the halfway line, curling a looping effort against the post .
It was by no means our only dangerous moment either. Saka missed a good chance from the inside right channel in the first half then was repeatedly fouled early in the second half as he ran through on goal, and although it was clearly not a penalty by the letter of the law it may well have been one by the spirit. Willian curved a clever free-kick against the outside of the post and after he was eventually replaced by Martinelli, Gabigol had a fine swerving effort tipped over by the Czech keeper.
The game changed after a belated triple substitution which saw the entry of Aubameyang, Elneny and Pépé, and our Ivorian winger sent through by Auba held off the defender with five minutes to go and turned the ball into the net.
Arsenal 1 Slavia 0- Pépé
There was an obvious and exciting energy and drive about the revised team which had been sadly lacking before and it was hard not to wonder what might have been if we had gone with this team from the start or at least altered things on the hour.
1-0 with a few minutes left it seemed Arsenal would take a decent position to Prague next week but the problem of game management arose again at the end of the match. Slavia had missed several presentable chances earlier and after Leno had made a fine save with the aid of the right hand post in the last minute Slavia levelled the match from the resulting corner after we had failed to deal with a corner – a moment eerily reminiscent of the Olympiakos game last season.
Arsenal 1 Slavia 1 – Holes
It was a cruel moment that will possibly have a massive impact on the result of the tie. Slavia celebrated as the game was already won and Arteta would be well advised to show those celebrations to the players before they step out in Prague next week.
So what conclusions can we draw without the remorseless criticism that floods the Goonerverse after nights like this? I think Arteta picked a very passive starting eleven, the team lacked energy, thrust and drive and though competent Slavia are not the sort of side we should be struggling to beat. The failure to utilise Martinelli denied the team pace and aggression and the ability of Pépé to stretch defenders was immediately obvious when he arrived. Lacazette was hopelessly isolated given this was a home quarter-final of a vital competition. We missed Tierney desperately and while Cedric toiled manfully to fill the breach the Scot’s natural left-footedness would have been a huge asset tonight. It’s easy to become embroiled in negativity but my other concern was the lack of drive from central midfield. The team’s central metronomes, especially Partey, were ticking over very slowly. Partey’s inability to dominate is a concern that is growing by the game.
But this tie is far from over, in fact an Arsenal side who are much more effective away from home and who may be able to add Ødegaard to the mixture are well-capable of victory against this Slavia side. We must begin with the sort of attacking intent we showed against Olympiakos and Benfica and in the league against Wolves, Southampton and Leicester. We must control possession, stretch them especially down their vulnerable right side and we must conjure up the spirit of previous Arsenal sides facing adversity. This tie is not beyond us but the team need belief and Arteta needs to give them the positive mental attitude that will overcome the Czech side.
Let us first get all the soft illusions out of the way: Slavia Prague – more accurately SK Slavia Praha or Sportovní Klub Slavia Praha as they have been known since 1991, in their current incarnation is a considerably dangerous opponent. In their long history since their beginning as SK ACOS Praha in 1892 the club has been renamed altogether ten times. Before beating the soon to-be Scottish Champions Rangers in the previous round, they took care of Leicester quite convincingly in the round of 32.
Since their resurgence in Czech football in the late 1990s – they won their first league title after 49 years in 1996, last winning it in the old Czechoslovakian First League in 1947 – they have made steady progress and in very recent years after the significant investment by the Chinese Sinobo group, which has helped with the reconstruction of stadium and training facilities, the overall quality of their squad, both individually and collectively, have seen marked improvement. In 2019/2020 they won the Czech First League title easily, and in this season’s domestic league they are leading their traditional rival Sparta Prague – the team where one super Tomáš Rosický started and ended his career and where he now operates as a sporting director, I am sure with the same verve and quality that made many of us love him so much in his North London days — by 14 points with 10 games to go, and their overall record this season in the league is 20W, 5D, 0L with a +55 GD.
This season they joined the Europa League at the group stages after losing to the Danish champions FC Midtjylland at the Play-Off round of Champions League qualifying stage. They came second after Bayer Leverkusen in Group C.
However in the previous season Slavia did qualify all the way to the group stages of the Champions League and despite ending at the bottom of group F – Barcelona, Dortmund and Inter finishing above them – they had a couple of draws against Barcelona and Inter, all the more eye-catching as the draws came in away matches.
So, if any of us are expecting the repeat of our last encounter against Slavia Praha at the Emirates – the 2007-2008 Champions League group stages home match, where a very young Arsenal squad thrashed the Bohemians 7-0 – should prepare themselves to be disappointed.
Their recent European performances against Leicester and Rangers demonstrated that Slavia will back themselves to play their intense 4-1-4-1 formation that uses both pressing high up the field and man marking, not entirely dissimilar to the kind of football Marcelo Bielsa makes his teams good at, where the collective is much greater than the sum of its parts. If we can play through the press and our forward line shows mobility to escape marking, as well as accuracy in their passing, we will be able to trouble their goalmouth frequently enough to get a few goals. On the defensive side our decision making and focus in playing from the back will need to be of the highest quality and cannot suffer from the kind of lapses that has seen us concede utterly stupid goals in the league. Slavia has enough quality up front to punish any mistake in playing out from the back, especially in Abdallah Sima who is in excellent goal-scoring form.
But what about us? Last weekend’s horror-show against Liverpool demonstrated, among many other concerns, how much we have started to depend on our two academy graduates Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka, both of whom were sidelined by some lingering injury/discomfort. Thankfully the team news seems to confirm their availability, as well as that of Granit Xhaka who, despite all his well-known limitations and the well-understood need for upgrading his position, remains a significant pivot to our tactical consistency and organizational stability.
But Ødegaard is doubtful as he has been experiencing some problems on his right ankle since his return from the international duty where I think he did suffer from the kind of physical attention a player of his technical ability generally attracts. Even if he misses this game, hopefully he will return for the league match away at Sheffield on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the injury sustained by our magnificent left back in our weekend defeat will keep him out for six weeks. That is a terrible blow not only because Kieran Tierney – in my humble opinion – is now our most important player given the way he mixes technical quality, drive, intensity and leadership (the lack of which from the captain in recent times has been alarming to say the least) in his game, but also because we have no natural left-footed alternative in the left back position unless Mikel is willing to put Saka back in the position where young Bukayo impressed so much at both ends of the pitch last season, even though that might mean some loss of consistency and creativity in the forward line. Cedric is a capable deputy, but possessing a rather weak left foot definitely limits his game in that position, though he uses his right foot intelligently from the left by switching plays at the right time. Mikel may just trust Cedric’s experience and overall tactical maturity enough to play him in that role consistently until Tierney returns.
I sincerely hope that in the forward line we will now start seeing more of Gabriel Martinelli. He is absolutely the kind of player this team is in need of, a modern forward who takes all aspects of his game seriously, plays at the both end with intensity, definitely the most effective presser the team has, and as his ten goals in half-a-year demonstrated last season he is highly capable in and around the penalty box. Even in his short cameo appearances this season he has looked sharp and ready, and I think he has earned his recall in the starting line-up, ahead of both Aubameyang and Lacazette – potential and hunger triumphing experience and reputation to freshen things up as well as to send out a message.
I would also like to see Chambers and Mari playing together in defense in this match, they are both level-headed and are low-risk defenders. Gabriel and Holding both had poor matches against Liverpool and sitting a match out may help them clear their heads. With David Luiz sidelined for much of the rest of the season following surgery they will be needed consistently anyway.
If Cedric is playing as the left back, I would like to see a natural left footer in Pépé to start on the left wing, and he played well enough in the last couple of matches where he started on the left.
My preferred line-up would be:
Leno
Bellerin – Chambers – Mari – Cedric
Partey – Xhaka
Saka – ESR – Pépé
Martinelli
But I think we will see Mikel start with a bit more pragmatic first eleven:
Leno
Bellerin – Holding – Mari – Cedric
Partey – Xhaka
Saka – ESR – Martinelli
Aubameyang
And I will be fine with that, especially hoping for the captain to rediscover his form as well as his infectious joy.
It is a pity that the traveling Arsenal supporters will miss the opportunity to visit or revisit Prague for the away leg. I love Prague – a city of remarkable cultural, scientific, architectural and historical pedigree – especially the way it slips through your fingers whenever you want to hold onto any single essence of its polyphonic charm. From Hašek to Hrabal to Havel, from Kafka to Kundera to Klíma… all these great writers have their Prague remembered and fictionalized (or alluded to in case of Kafka) in what feels like singularly original universes unreachable from one to the other. The Dickensian uber-realism of Jan Neruda probably comes closest to literature as an entirely reliable historical depiction of the city.
Talking about a great city as not only the backdrop but also a living, breathing, loving, lying character in literature, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian London is peerless in its seamless mélange of extremes – the sordid and the sublime, the high and the low, the glitter and the gutter – as all these elements swirl around in a whirlpool of activities, all of which inevitably get pulled towards the magnetic field of 221B Baker Street and its genius resident. But a genius too can be beaten in his own game, especially when undermined by his own hubris.
Irene Adler may have not been a match for Sherlock Holmes in solving crimes, but that didn’t stop her from outwitting him when it mattered most, especially when the great detective was so sure of his own triumph.
If Arsenal approach this match with respect for their opponent, and with complete commitment to doing all the basics of the game with focus and intensity, they will find moments in the game to make their technical superiority count and win this match with a healthy enough cushion. I am hopeful that the team will respond to not just Arteta’s stern words after the pathetic display against Liverpool last Saturday, but also to the call of their own wounded professional pride. The Europa League this season – given where we are in the league table and given the transitional stage of the squad, requiring significant improvement over the course of next few windows – has become extremely important for the club and should be approached with nothing but the best available eleven with everyone demonstrating their very best on every aspect of the game.
I am optimistic that we will see the correct response to the Liverpool defeat, and we will also see the right attitude from everyone who puts on the Arsenal shirt on the field of play tomorrow. Even though a 2-0 win – without conceding a home goal – would be a better result in the overall context of the tie than a 3-1 win, my guess is we probably will concede a goal. I predict a hard-earned but in the end, an assured 3-1 victory for us.
Come on Arsenal!
Meanwhile, a date for your diary: 3 May. The opening event of our celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1970/71 Double features Bob Wilson & Pat Rice in conversation about the road to the League Title.
My Grandmother used to tell me, when I was a wee lad, that “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all”. A fine sentiment Granny, but I fear you never had to write a match report after a 3-0 home defeat. Anyway, moving on, some of you may have noticed the lack of the customary image at the top of this report, it is entirely deliberate since I want no reminder of a game that I will, if Dennis is merciful, forget by this time next week. A picture paints a thousand words it’s said – I promise yesterday was not a game worth anything like a thousand words. Speaking of mercy, I will also spare you a detailed account of the game with instead a brief summary – in the 1st half we were poor but didn’t concede any goals, in the second half we were again poor and did concede some goals.
One of the benefits of writing a day after the game is that it allows time for some reflection and assessment of the team’s performance. It was in that spirit that I decided to apply the famed 3Es Evaluation Framework* to The Arsenal’s 90 minutes yesterday. As you no doubt know the 3Es are Effort, Effectiveness and Entertainment. Taking them in reverse order, I believe that I can award us an E for Entertainment as, with the possible exception of the first three minutes (I was laughing at the ref’s ridiculous barnet), there was at no point anything entertaining whatsoever. Effectiveness next then, and again a well-deserved E is awarded. In Mikel’s words “we gave every ball away, we could not put three passes together”; couldn’t have put it better myself Boss. I assume the plan was to let them come forward and punish them on the counter as we did (effectively) last season, but it is difficult to counter-attack when you don’t have the ball. Finally we come to Effort, and the title of this piece, Gunners Fail the 3Es test, you may have your own opinion of course but I can only give us a D for Effort I’m afraid. As evidence I would cite Laca, in particular, who put in a real chasing shift 1st half. Two Es (no, not that kind) and a D it is.
Moving on from the players, let us get to the managers for yesterday. There was some criticism after the game and I have to agree there was indeed a very poor managerial decision, but, unfortunately for The Arsenal, Klippity corrected his slippity and brought Jota on around the hour mark. Soon enough he did for us and I suppose given the form he’s in we were probably lucky he didn’t start the game. Turning back to The Arsenal and Mikel, who said after the game ‘ At the moment, I’m in shock’, well you and me both Mikel but at least it was Saturday evening for you and you could have the customary large medicinal brandy for shock, it was 6 in the bloody morning for me in Japan.
“You can’t be serious!” some of our astute readers may be thinking by now – well no actually, but to trot out another old saying ‘laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone’. If we would like serious, then I would have to say I don’t think we learned anything new yesterday. When we play poorly teams like Liverpool will tonk us every time. When we don’t pass well, players like Auba and Pepe will look completely ineffective. When we are timid we will get nothing. As it is, I see no point in lambasting all and sundry or any of the individuals who were particularly poor yesterday as there really is nothing that can be done right now other than remember that the same team has produced some very good performances this season. We must move on to the next game with the hope that those same players play like they understand the Europa League represents the one remaining chance of some redemption for this season. Hopefully, we will have ESR and Saka back for the next game, though the latest news is not positive on Luiz or KT unfortunately.
That is about it for this match review (I did promise less than a thousand words) and I hope you will join me in wishing I never have to write another in the same vein! To finish, let me wish you all a decent holiday weekend wherever you may be.
Come ON You Gunners!!
On a lighter note, we can announce that our commemoration events for the 50th Anniversary of the 1970-71 Double will begin on Monday 3 May with a conversation between Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about the road to the title, exactly 50 years to the day from THAT night at the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Road.
If it’s difficult for me to pick up the threads after an interlull that seems to have lasted longer than usual because the ‘International Powers That Be’ have squeezed an extra uninspiring fixture into the fortnight, it must be tough for the boss and the players too. I struggle to recall the momentum that we built up in the weeks before the break only to climb a single place in the table to ninth. However, in the final 55 minutes of the last game against the Spammers we displayed all the drive, verve, interplay and skill that I would like to see all game, every game. That display contrasted starkly with the woebegone, gormless 35 minutes that preceded it and that whole game rather epitomised Arsenal’s season to date.
We come into our home fixture against Liverpool on the back of a record of 11 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats in all competitions since Christmas having scored 34 goals and conceded 20. Not title winning form by any means but an improvement on the first half of the season. However, we have had a recent stutter in our last two games with a last five of DLWWD.
The current champions have made a complete pig’s ear out of their championship defence. Over the same period since Christmas, Liverpool’s record is 7 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats in all competitions, scoring 22 and conceding 21. Their last five may indicate an upturn in form: WWLLW which should focus our minds. Your guess is as good as mine on the impact of the interlull on the form of both teams but it would be nice if we resumed where we left off and were on our game from the first whistle.
Liverpool is one of the few English clubs against whom our record is less than favourable. The first meeting between Woolwich Arsenal and Liverpool took place on 28th October 1893 ending in a 0-5 League Division 2 thrashing at our home ground in Woolwich. While such drubbings have been rare, across all 232 meetings between the clubs we have won 81, drawn 61 and lost 90 (35% wins). Astonishingly, given our relative success, it gets worse in Premiership matches where we have won 16, drawn 19 and lost 22 of 57 meetings (28% wins). Our home Premiership record is of course better, with 10 wins, 11 draws and 7 defeats in 28 meetings (36% wins) but it’s still not spectacular.
This prompted a detour into the archives (I am an amateur archaeologist) to discover whether Liverpool are indeed our bogey team. In Premiership terms they are certainly our least favourite opponent but we have lower win percentages against five other clubs: Brentford, 20% in 10 games, between 1935 and 1947; Burton United, 33% in 6 games, between 1901 and 1904; Millwall, 22% in 18 games, between 1896 and 1990; Oldham Athletic, 25% in 20 games, between 1910 and 1994; Oxford United, 33% in 6 games, between 1985 and 1988. That might slightly temper my enthusiasm for the Bees to gain promotion to the Premiership. Instead I think we should bring back Reading against whom we have notched up an 80% win record in 10 meetings between 1898 and 2013!
Returning to the matter at hand, we sit in 9th place on 42 points, 9 points off 4th place which is currently occupied by a bus stop in Fulham (10 points if you factor in our markedly inferior goal difference). We are currently 7 points off 5th place, the only league position guaranteed to qualify for the Europa League though the FA Cup Winner’s place seems likely to be transferred to 6th place and hopefully the League Cup Winner’s place will go to 7th place when Shitteh smash the Marshdwellers in the final. Our visitors currently sit in 7th place, 4 points ahead of us on 46 points and only 4 goals to the good (our GD is +8) with Everton sitting between us on 46 points with an inferior goal difference of 3 but with a game in hand. Thus, with 11 games to play, a win against Liverpool would be an important step towards securing European football through our league position next season. On the other hand, Liverpool will see a route back into the top 4 being enhanced by winning this match. We should expect both sides to be ‘at it’ (ahem!).
What of the teams? Given their desire to regain a Champions League place for next season, we can expect Liverpool to play their strongest eleven. Hopefully that will still mean they are as vulnerable defensively as they have proved to be so frequently this season, misfiring in midfield and having to rely on a burst of brilliance from their burnt-out front three. On current form, I would identify Jota as their dangerman despite his recent layoff due to injury.
We simply have to choose our strongest eleven too and hope that the dreamlike malaise that struck at the beginning of the last game has dissipated and that our tendencies to individual errors have been eradicated. I think controlled movement of the ball up front and a high press like we finished with at the Council Stadium will serve us well. Sadly, both Saka and ESR (who have both been instrumental in our renaissance this season) sound very doubtful. Perhaps the latter may make the bench. Hence, I would start:
Leno
Cedric, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney
Partey, Xhaka
Ødegaard
Pépé, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
The Holic Pound? The Bookies favour a low scoring draw and history does demonstrate their logic. However, the Arsenal desperately need three points and if we can commence with and maintain throughout the drive we showed against the Spammers then I think we will gain them. So, let’s have the spirit of Anfield from 26 May 1989 and it’s a punt on 2-0 to the Arsenal at 18/1 for the Holic Pound.
Enjoy the match, Holics.
Finally, in case you’ve missed our news, we will be marking the 50th anniversary of the ’71 Double with five special events. Dates will be announced as soon as the match schedule for early May is confirmed.
Fifty years ago in May 1971, the Arsenal played two matches in just six days to win the club’s first league and cup double. The Arsenal took on Spurs at White Hart Lane on Monday 3rd May and on Saturday 8th May faced Liverpool at Wembley.
Goonerholics Forever is commemorating the 50th anniversary of that historic first double with a series of special events commencing in late April.
We are delighted to announce that Goonerholics Forever will host two Zoom conversations between Bob Wilson and Pat Rice in discussion with our very own TTG and C100.
Our first event will be a Zoom conversation between Bob and Pat about the 1970-71 league campaign culminating in that climactic Monday night at White Hart Lane. The Zoom conversation will be accessible through the Goonerholics Forever website in late April.
The second event will be a special blog post on the website comprising memories of that auspicious match on 3rd May 1971 from several members of the Holic community who still remember the evening.
A few days later Goonerholics Forever will post a link to a second Zoom conversation between Bob and Pat. This conversation will focus on the FA Cup run to Wembley and the Final itself on 8th May 1971.
Subsequently another special blog post will recount memories of the ’71 Cup Final at Wembley from some more members of the Holic community.
Our final commemorative event will be an online auction during early May which will be organised through the Goonerholics Forever website. Four items of memorabilia will be offered for bids and all proceeds will go to the Willow Foundation:
A ’71 FA Cup Final replica shirt signed by members of the cup-winning Arsenal team.
A signed copy of Bob Wilson’s autobiography.
Two copies of the ’71 FA Cup Final programme signed by members of the cup-winning Arsenal team.
The Goonerholics Forever team are privileged to have the support of Double Winning Arsenal heroes, Bob Wilson and Pat Rice in producing the Zoom conversations and other members of the cup winning team for the signed memorabilia to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of their ’71 Double.
Goonerholics Forever urges our readers to support the Willow Foundation, the charity founded by Bob and Megs Wilson in memory of their daughter Anna. The Willow Foundation provides special days for seriously ill young adults. Follow the link in the right margin of our website to learn about the important work the Foundation carries out.
If you enjoy these commemorative events and if you can, please click on the logo below to make a donation to support the work of the Willow Foundation.
