{"id":1016,"date":"2020-07-02T16:14:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1016"},"modified":"2020-07-03T17:43:36","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T16:43:36","slug":"the-human-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1016","title":{"rendered":"The Human Touch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Thanks to Son of Dr. Faustus for this image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was around 81st<\/sup> minute of the match.\nAubameyang by then had already scored two goals, both are more results of his\npreternatural ability to sense opportunities than any great flowing move from\nthe team, and as a consummate center forward now again within the touching distance\nof potentially another golden boot award at the end of the season he could have\nbeen forgiven for wanting to stay on, try to grab a likely hat-trick and\nleapfrog Jamie Vardy to lead the scoring chart all on his own. But as his\nnumber came up, and Pepe prepared himself to enter the fray, he left the pitch\nwith smiles after enthusiastically handing over the armband to Xhaka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granit accepted the offer with a huge grin, and a visible\nsense of pride. This little sequence of seemingly ordinary events took place in\nless than a minute, and there was nothing even remotely remarkable about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except that it was not unremarkable, at least not as\nordinary as it might appear if we were to ignore the context. Xhaka, as we all\nremember, had what seemed to have been an irrecoverable fallout with the\nsupporter base and was certainly on his way out of the club. And that fallout\nculminated in the ugliest incident involving any Arsenal captain (and his\narmband) in recent memory.  A player of\nsome very fine qualities if not of the finest athleticism, but also with an\ninexplicable predilection for serious mistakes that cost us points, in the\ndying days of Emery\u2019s increasingly frantic tenure he had become the lightning\nrod for all the criticism that our dysfunctional midfield had earned. But Mikel\nhas, just in a few months\u2019 time, turned around the entire sorry situation to a\nmuch more dignified state that better characterizes Arsenal football club.\nXhaka still makes that occasional mistake, but whereas his strengths are now amplified\nby the team his weakness is handled better. The players have now started to\nbehave on the field as if they truly think that the team is greater than the\nsum of its parts. The actual passages of football and the results do not always\nshowcase that belief, not yet, but the last few months have shown a heartening\ntrend towards seriousness, effort and togetherness by the players that surely\nmust be the basis of the revival. I guess these are some of the non-negotiables\nthat our new manager, and ex-captain, insist on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first home match after the resumption of the league\nunderlined that upward curve of attitude, and even showed glimpses of\ncollective and individual quality, if not the consistency to make results like\nthis more frequent yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day started with a great bit of Arsenal news: Bukayo\nSaka has extended his contract. An eye-catching talent with precocious\nfootballing intelligence, product of the Arsenal academy, and hopefully a key\nplayer in Mikel\u2019s team of all-conquering young Turks in many years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he has been playing non-stop since the restart, Saka was\nrightly rested. So were a couple of other Arsenal youth team products \u2013 Nketiah\nand Joe Willock. Reiss Nelson got his first start since the restart in a front\nthree, with the skipper on the left and Lacazette down the middle hoping to\nremember how to put the ball in the back of the net. Our last season\u2019s player\nof the season is suffering from his driest run in senior football, ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The front three were supported by 4 in the midfield and\nthree in the back. Given our infuriatingly enigmatic senior center-halves David\nLuiz and Mustafi a back three, even against a misfiring Norwich, seemed like a\nbetter choice. They were complemented by Kolasinac on the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfield had a nice balance: the increasingly impressive\nTierney on the left wing-back role, Xhaka the fulcrum, FA cup quarter-final\nhero Dani Ceballos as a more free-floating creative outlet and Hector Bellerin trying\nto rediscover pace and panache down the right.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Bernd Leno is still recovering from an injury sustained\nby the needless challenge off the ball by a no-name talentless hack a few\nmatches back, his very able deputy Martinez started, hoping to keep two\nconsecutive clean sheets in the PL. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a moment of silence for Theo Foley who had\nrecently passed away. Based on recollections and tributes \u2013 some of that in\nthis bar as well \u2013 paid to him, relatively new members of the Arsenal family like\nmyself have recently had the good fortune of learning about not only his\nfootballing contribution as George Graham\u2019s assistant, but the man himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The match started with us dominating down the left with\nTierney positioning himself cleverly in between the lines and driving forward\nat every opportunity. Around three minute an excellent bit of combination play\nbetween Dani and Laca failed to materialize into any genuine scoring\nopportunity. A couple of minutes later a poor clearance from Luiz led to a bit\nof panic for Martinez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now Ceballos had started to pull the strings. Eager to\nboth support the defense and initiate the attack he was positioning himself\nintelligently in our half and after receiving the ball a swift turn \u2013 and the\noccasional pirouette reminiscent of another Spanish player who is now scoring\ngoals and supplying assists for the yellow submarines at the impressively young\nage of 35 \u2013 to drive forward, and then excellent interchanges with Xhaka and\nthe wing-backs creating fluid movements that had Norwich midfield dragged out\nof shape and looking clueless. From one such move Ceballos made a lovely\nthrough pass to Bellerin who made a great run down the right flank to arrive at\nthe penalty box. But Hector failed to produce a cutback or a cross. Only eight\nminutes on the board and we were playing some of our best football this season.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute or so later Auba tested Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul\nwith his trademark right foot curler after a rapid counter-attack down the\nleft. The shot didn\u2019t have quite the placement or power that generally get him\nthe goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We kept on probing. Reiss — even though was not as busy as\nAuba on the left — was pressing effectively and with Ceballos and Bellerin had\nstarted to build a good momentum down the right as well. Around the tenth\nminute he earned a free-kick from which Laca nearly bundled home for our first\ngoal. And a couple of minutes later Reiss used his pace to drive straight at\nthe goal but Krul kicked it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In between two tame headers at the goal \u2013 first by Auba and\nthen by Laca \u2013 both of which came from attacks orchestrated by Ceballos and\ninvolving crisp interplay with first Nelson and then Laca, there was a moment\nof genuine quality from Norwich when their center-half Godfrey rattled Martinez\u2019s\ncross-bar as he was fully beaten by the defender\u2019s thunderous shot from 30\nyards away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the first drinks break we were dominating all the\nstatistics, and a goal or two was surely just a matter of time? It also felt\nlike one of those matches where an enthusiastic crowd at the Emirates (the\nabsence of the support felt amplified by its impressive expanse) would have\ngiven the team that extra bit of edge and determination to make the dominance\ncount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the game had resumed it became clear that Norwich had decided\nto stop Ceballos from playing by bringing him down while he was turning, before\nhe could either skip past or release a pass. That extra physical attention\nearned Norwich two much deserved yellow cards. It was nice to see that there\nstill are referees in the premier league who think that violent challenges\nagainst Arsenal players do not automatically get the benefit of doubt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laca was having a busy game, pressing and helping out in\ndefense. His sharpness in the penalty box has deteriorated alarmingly in the\nlast few months. It is surely a temporary blip, but his demeanor betrayed a\ndegree of self-doubt which Mikel will have to find a way of addressing and\ngetting him back to somewhere close to his best in the next few weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before the 30th<\/sup> minute mark Arsenal crafted\na couple of semi-opportunities. First there was a corner \u2013 our first of the\nmatch \u2013 from which Norwich tried to spring a counter attack that was foiled and\nthrough Laca we tried to relaunch our attack. He was fouled a few yards away\nfrom the penalty box. David Luiz took the free-kick, trying to catch Krul\noff-guard by dropping the ball in front of him but the delivery didn\u2019t have\nenough power or spin and it was an easy gather for the keeper. A little later\nBellerin took a free-kick and his delivery in the box was cleared by Norwich.\nFrom the resulting corner Reiss drove to the byline on our left flank and with\na precise cutback provided Laca a great opportunity to break his barren spell.\nLaca shot wide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had failed to make our first half dominance count and by now it started to feel like one of those games which will turn nervy as it progressed. Then in the 32nd<\/sup> minute Tim Krul seriously underestimated the sprinting pace of Auba as he charged down a back-pass from a Norwich defender, and before Krul could move the ball from his one foot to the other his pocket was picked by our captain and then the ball was slotted coolly in the back of the net. League goal number 50 only in his 79th<\/sup> appearance in the league, the fastest for us in the Premier League era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 32\u2019) – Norwich 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know the general feeling among us supporter base is that he will want to leave at the end of the season for one of the Spanish \u2013 or even Italian \u2013 giants where he can hope to end his career with a few more medals. But is it too optimistic to imagine that watching Tierney, Saka and Martinelli play this season with such verve and quality Auba might also decide that he will be given a playing support \u2013 in addition to the adoration of teammates and love from the Arsenal fan base \u2013 by Mikel that will more suit his goalscoring instincts especially as he starts to lose a few yards of pace? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just five minutes later Granit Xhaka channeled his inner\nAaron Ramsey to arrive late in the penalty box to meet Auba\u2019s perfectly\nweighted pass with an emphatic finish through Krul\u2019s legs. It was the kind of\ngoal that we used to be known for. A pin-point accurate long pass from the back\nby Luiz, Tierney controlling it nicely and passing on to Auba, who waited for\nXhaka to arrive at the penalty box before setting him up.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2 (Aubameyang 32\u2019, Xhaka 37\u2019) – Norwich 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more attack led to Arsenal corner from which Reiss delivered an excellent ball. Norwich hadn\u2019t seen much of the ball but once they did, they found Mustafi in one of his mistake-prone moods. It could simply have been fatigue as he has been playing every match since the restart of the season. From one such foul conceded by Mustafi, the Norwich free-kick (taken by McLean?) drew an excellent save from Martinez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The half ended with a couple of Norwich corners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the second half replacing Mustafi by Holding. I\nthought it was wise of Mikel to not invite any more pressure on Mustafi, who is\none more player whose Arsenal career Arteta has revived with noticeable success\nand any tiredness induced mistake might see him needing to perform one more\nround of revival.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only had we scored two goals in the first half and\ndidn\u2019t concede any, we also had dominated the middle of the pitch. Which has\nnow become as rare an occurrence as a goal from our midfield. Daniel Farke \u2013\nwho I think is too good a manager to not find suitors in the premier league if\nNorwich were to not survive the drop \u2013 tried to address that through his\nsubstitutions at the beginning of the second half. He changed three players and\nchanged the formation to overload the midfield and leave two players up. And\nfor the first twenty odd minutes of the second half this ploy worked as Norwich\nstarted winning the midfield battles and pushed us back further towards our\ngoal. There was not enough quality in their final ball to cause us too much\ntrouble but there were intricate precise passing around our wingbacks and\nmidfield and our pressing game had started to flag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta made a tactical substitution to counter that,\nbringing Willock in place for his good friend Nelson and as a result switching\nto 3-5-2 with Auba and Laca operating more centrally. This minor tweak \u2013 a\npromising bit of in-game management by our young manager \u2013 helped us regain a\nbit more of the control of the match. We were also not playing out from the\nback as much but relying on Martinez or Luiz to spray the ball forward.\nMartinez had shown in last few matches that he is capable of accurate and\neffective long ball distributions. A bit of deliberation before one such\ngoal-kick earned him a yellow card for time-wasting. He remained unfazed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 65th<\/sup> minute Willock combined well with\nAuba and Laca on a counter-attack but missed the eventual attempt at goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a minute later Auba scored his second of the evening.\nFrom our throw-in on our right flank near Norwich penalty box one of their\ndefenders tried to switch the play via a cross-field pass which was wayward\nenough for Auba to interrupt and finish unerringly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (Aubameyang 32\u2019, Xhaka 37\u2019, Aubameyang 66\u2019 ) –\nNorwich 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norwich made a few more substitutions. Mikel brought on\nEddie for Laca who left the field deep in thought. I am sure his teammates and\nthe coaching staff will do their best to help him come out of this funk. I\nthink that for us to end the season strongly we will need Laca at his best,\neven though Eddie is growing impressively from one game to the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also debut for Cedric Soares, a like-for-like\nreplacement for Hector Bellerin. Hector had a solid game. He will need the next\npre-season to regain his pace. He was never the best positional defender but\nthere have been a few signs lately that his tactical acumen is becoming more\nreliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cedric started his Arsenal career promisingly. His touches\nwere sharp, interchanges with Willock and Ceballos positive, he made good\nclearances and covered the flank effectively. And soon that promising start turned\ninto a memorable one: a lovely left-footed finish outside the box to the left\nside of Tim Krul\u2019s goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 4 (Aubameyang 32\u2019, Xhaka 37\u2019, Aubameyang 66\u2019,\nCedric 80\u2019 ) – Norwich 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the game now secured, Arteta made the substitution that\nwe described at the beginning. Pepe came on to likely produce one piece of\nmagic. However it was Eddie and Joe who with their tireless pressing and\nmovement carved out an opportunity for Joe whose right foot curler missed the\ngoal by a few inches. Until the very end Willock and Nketiah kept on running at\nNorwich defense; they were stopped by couple of yellow-card worthy challenges\nwhich, miracle of miracles, did actually get the deserved cards. In 91st<\/sup>\nminute Eddie, in the middle of such a driving run, was pulled back by a Norwich\ndefender. The resulting free-kick was a perfect opportunity for Pepe to notch\none more goal. His shot flew away rather uncharacteristically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though this Four-nil was a result much deserved the\nnext few games will definitely tell us more about the progress made by our team\nunder Mikel. Our last PL season ended pathetically where the paucity of ideas,\nstructure and coherence in our game were exposed mercilessly by Wolves and\nLeicester in our run-in, our next two opponents this season and both are above\nus now in the league table. Our team is still noticeably unbalanced with some glaring\ngaps in quality in key positions, and to end the season strongly we will\ncontinue to need Arteta to build upon on the team ethos and work ethics to\nmaximize the impact of the scattered bits of excellence we now have. The\nfootballing world doesn\u2019t expect much from the team in the rest of this season,\nwe fans have been through way too much in the last few years to even dare to hope\na positive set of results, but it is fair to say whatever be the results of\nthose remaining matches we should expect to see the team demonstrate the\nqualities of the collective that Arteta is determined to use as the foundation\nfor the long road back to the top.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was around 81st minute of the match. Aubameyang by then had already scored two goals, both are more results of his preternatural ability to sense opportunities than any great flowing move from the team, and as a consummate center forward now again within the touching distance of potentially another golden boot award at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1016"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1041,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016\/revisions\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}