{"id":10448,"date":"2024-12-09T11:49:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10448"},"modified":"2024-12-10T19:40:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T19:40:49","slug":"a-frustrating-afternoon-at-the-cottage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10448","title":{"rendered":"A Frustrating Afternoon at the Cottage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fulham away, every travelling fans favourite fixture of the year. Sunshine, beers by the river, a stroll to the ground through Bishops\u2019 Park, the singing echoing down from the crinkly tin roof of the Putney end. So I was there right? Wrong. Tickets sold out on 35 credits and I have 31. So it was the sofa, Sky Sports and Chris Sutton for me. It was a filthy afternoon, with Storm Daraagh throwing its final fling at the whole country. Wind and rain lashed around SW6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early team news showed that big Gabi and Calafiori were still not fit to play. Thomas Partey lined up at right back with Timber switching to the left. Zinchenko was not on the bench. Our defensive resources were getting thinner. Jorghino, Rice and \u00d8degaard formed the midfield, with Trossard, Havertz and Saka up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started very well and confidently and dominated the first ten minutes. Then a through ball on the Fulham right bypassed Kiwior and Jimenez ran on and scored brilliantly from just inside the area. It was the first time Fulham had been in our half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An excellent ball from Trossard found the end of a superb run from Rice but he steered it just wide. All the verve and panache of the first 10 had vanished but instead we were playing far too slowly and predictably and after 35 minutes Leno had not had a save to make apart from dealing with corners. Then Saka got one on one with Bassey, jinked to his right and fired in a clever shot, well saved by our former glove butler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At half time it was 1-0 to Fulham, who had defended well and who had been robust physically (but I think fairly). Our only creative spark had been Saka. \u00d8degaard had been double and triple teamed, giving him no room for his usual creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the second half poorly. Trossard let the ball run though his legs (did he get a shout?) to Iwobi on the half way line. Nothing came of it but we were in danger of sleepwalking to a 2-0 deficit. But on 53 minutes we won a corner on our left hand side. Declan\u2019s usual laser guided in swinging corner was whipped in to Havertz who guided it back across to Big Willy who smashed it in. After an anxious delay for VAR, he was ruled onside and the goal stood. The Putney end roared its approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set piece again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set piece again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set piece again Ole Ole!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the hour Martinelli came on for Trossard. ESR and Traore were hooked for Fulham (neither had contributed anything of note). Martinelli won another corner. It reached Partey, five yards out and completely unmarked. He had to score. Dearest reader, he put it well wide, just as he did with a similar golden chance in mid week. The air turned blue in a Cambridgeshire living room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 73 minutes we made another two subs, Jes\u00f9s for Havertz (who, unusually had had a largely ineffective game) and Merino for Jorgi. I was calling for Nwaneri and on 78 minutes my wish was granted as he came on for \u00d8degaard, who had taken a couple of crunching tackles. Immediately Ethan made a lovely dancing run which ended with Saka being hacked down by Robinson, who was booked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the creative moment. Arsenal played the ball around. It reached Martinelli on the left wing who conjured a beautiful cross to the back post where a clearly onside Saka cleverly headed it past Leno. Pandemonium in Cambridgeshire and in the Putney end. But wait! A VAR check was going on for Martinelli who was deemed just, marginally offside. To be fair, it looked the right call on replay. But that moment being taken away from us was the cause of the deep frustration of most of us straight after the game. There is nothing in football like a late winner. Think Henry against United, Vermaelen against Newcastle, Welbeck against Leicester, Nelson against Bournemouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tried to go again but couldn\u2019t. So frustrating! The Partey miss, the marginal offside call! Unlike December \u201923 we were comfortably the best team. Two thirds possession, 12 shots vs 2. But we couldn\u2019t close the deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, having slept on it, what are my thoughts? Well, channeling my inner Mike McDonald, I have positives and areas for improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I say above, we dominated the game but just weren\u2019t clinical enough in the six yard box. However we have scored 15 goals in our last four games. Saka was terrific. We just didn\u2019t get the breaks today. But drastic surgery is not required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some tweaks are. Playing Partey at right back does not work in an attacking sense. The usual Saka- Odegaard- right back triangle is denuded by one and makes it much easier to double team them. Play Timber on the right and, if Calafiori or Zinchenko are not available, play Lewis Skelly on the left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks ago, I suggested that Jes\u00f9s is a busted flush and was roundly castigated in this forum. No, give him more time I was told. Well, he had over 20 minutes yesterday and was utterly ineffective. One out of 6 passes successfully completed. A late half chance where he hesitated instead of throwing his foot at the ball. He is no longer good enough for this team. We need another player in January as an alternative to Havertz as a rotational option, or a sub for days like today. At the same time we must find replacements for the chronically injured Tomiyasu and Zinchenko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish we would shoot more from the edge of the box. That applies particularly to Martin, Rice and Havertz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So is that the title race blown? Stuff and nonsense. There are 23 games still to go. Liverpool will have their wobble. Does no one remember 1998? We are, fundamentally, playing well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last thought. I saw some Gooners cheering on Spurs yesterday. Go and take a bath with carbolic soap. Mate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monaco on Wednesday. Let\u2019s thrash them and cement our place in the CL top eight. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fulham away, every travelling fans favourite fixture of the year. Sunshine, beers by the river, a stroll to the ground through Bishops\u2019 Park, the singing echoing down from the crinkly tin roof of the Putney end. So I was there right? Wrong. Tickets sold out on 35 credits and I have 31. So it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448"}],"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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10448"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10451,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448\/revisions\/10451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}