{"id":10647,"date":"2025-01-13T12:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T12:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10647"},"modified":"2025-01-15T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T05:47:08","slug":"dry-january-consistency-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10647","title":{"rendered":"Dry January; Consistency; Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Well, this month is certainly dragging. A somewhat sobering footballing week, or so, was rounded off by an extra time defeat against probably the worst Manchester United team in 35 years, reduced to 10 men for 65 minutes. It was almost enough to have me reaching for a post-match pint. Fortunately, I was able to call upon a similarly stoic, bloody-minded willpower to that which allows our team to refuse to compromise and give up on a chosen course of action. For them, a determination to build slowly, at times painfully so, attempting to grind out games through employing the \u201cDeath of a Thousand Sideways and Backwards Passes\u201d stratagem. The temptation to think that, perhaps, both of us would be better falling off our particular wagons, is great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rose out of the bowels of the earth at Arsenal tube at 2.30 pm to discover that Calafiori was out injured, again, and Lewis-Skelly would be in his place. Rice and Partey were rested with Merino and Jorginho in their places. Arsenal lined up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timber Saliba  Gabriel  Lewis-Skelly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard Jorginho Merino<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jes\u00f9s Havertz Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal started well, dominating possession and territory. United started as they meant to continue with a series of fouls of varying degrees of snideness which the referee was happy not to call for bookings. One of the Block 10 Magi made the point that they were playing very much as Ferguson\u2019s early 2000\u2019s teams did against us, very physically, relying on the generosity of the officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 18th<\/sup> minute, Arsenal had a goal disallowed. Timber played a through ball. Martinelli was in an offside position, but The Obelisk tried to cut it out and in doing so played the ball to Martinelli who finished with aplomb. Now Maguire definitely tried to play the ball. Lineker on the half time punditry went through the rules for such a decision where the player doesn\u2019t control the ball and deflects on for a goal, which were: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The ball has travelled a short distance<\/li>
  2. The offending player doesn\u2019t have a clear view of the ball<\/li>
  3. The ball is moving quickly<\/li>
  4. The direction of the ball is unexpected<\/li>
  5. The offending player had limited or no time to coordinate his body movement.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Well, none of these applied to the situation here. Next week we will see a similar decision go the other way. The only thing consistent about PGMOL attitude to what are, after all, laws of the game not guidelines, is the inconsistency with which they apply them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arsenal continued to pile on the pressure without really looking like we would score. On a few corners, the degree of manhandling, of Gabriel in particular was ridiculous. In Rugby, you cannot tackle or hold off the ball. How has this been able creep into the game? Who thinks this is okay? On 28 minutes, Martinez quite cynically elbowed Jes\u00f9s off the ball. This received the correct sanction of a yellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the 37th<\/sup> minute, Jes\u00f9s was taken off after seemingly catching his studs in the turf after fouling Fernandez. There might have been some sympathy for the latter were he not such a rat in human form. Jes\u00f9s was stretchered off, hands over his face. It looked serious. Sterling took his place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Martinez clogged \u00d8degaard from behind on 46. Free kick but no second card for Martinez. The Surrey-based hordes treated us to one of their comical renditions of \u201cSame old Arsenal, Always cheating.\u201d Oh, the irony!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Half time: Arsenal 0 Man U 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 48 minutes, Dalot took out Lewis-Skelly with an ugly tackle on the edge of the box after a clever run in behind by the central midfielder repurposed as a left back. Dalot was rightly booked.  Three minutes late, Gabriel slipped while deputising in the left back role and Garnacho was able to sprint forward and pick out Fernandez on the edge of the box to hit a smart finish into the net giving Raya no chance.  Until this point, United had done nothing of note and it took considerable good fortune for them to do so.  Two minutes later, Havertz had a bad, bad miss from 6 yards.  Hitting the target was the minimum required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arsenal 0 Man U 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 58 United broke, after the referee allowed Hojlund to elbow Gabriel in the face on the half way line while protecting the ball.  This resulted in Gabriel going down holding his face. When was the last time a referee ignored a player holding his face on the floor and didn\u2019t stop play?  Having not given a foul, the referee then sent Gabriel to the touchline for what I presume to be a blood injury. Did the referee think he had cut himself shaving?  I don\u2019t want unwarranted decisions going in our favour. I just want consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A couple of minutes later, Dalot was sent off for an out-of-control studs up lunge on the half way line. Dalot plaintively appealed to the referee with the sweet smile of a Saint. Garnacho then impeded the free kick being taken, and the referee simply asked for it to be taken again.  It mattered not. Gabriel scored the equaliser after a clever Martinelli cross came down to him to hammer via a slight deflection past Bayindir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arsenal 1 Man U 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 68 minutes, a dancing run into the box by the effervescent Sterling released Havertz who went past The Obelisk, showing all the customary fleetness of foot we have come to expect for club and country, and fell. Every season of Strictly Come Dancing requires the compulsory leaden footed oaf to laugh at. It can\u2019t be long before Maguire receives his invite. There was contact. The kind of contact we are often told by the \u201cexperts\u201d means it\u2019s a penalty.  BBC comms couldn\u2019t wait to cast doubt.  Consistency?  That doesn\u2019t live here anymore. Some handbags then followed, as United players tried desperately to antagonise Arsenal players into reacting in a failed bid to even up the numbers. Arsenal players, most internationals, ought to have recognised this for the sort of \u201cprofessionalism\u201d it was and walked away but were drawn into a number of confrontations. Ugarte clearly made contact with his head on Havertz. Had there been VAR, he ought to have been given a second yellow. Then again, with VAR it might have gone the other way. Consistency.  Gabriel was booked. So was Havertz. Go figure! Bayindir made a very good penalty save. This was not going to be Arsenal\u2019s day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The pretty much invisible Merino made way for Rice on 72 minutes and 6 minutes later he could have put Arsenal into the lead when his header, from a fabulous, chipped cross from \u00d8degaard was placed a touch too close to the keeper. On another day it would have nestled in the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was now relentless Arsenal pressure and United threw on 3 subs, taking off a couple of booked players and the diamond elbowed Hojlund and injecting some energy. The game then dragged towards the inevitable extra time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On 86 Amad went down in a skirmish and rolled off the pitch. Arsenal looked to take the goal kick, but the referee decided, presumably, that he needed to ensure Amad wasn\u2019t on the pitch receiving treatment. Of course, the linesman, with whom we are led to believe referees are in contact over microphone, could have told him this. No. He needed to run from the half way line back to the player to check, preventing the goal kick. I have never seen this before. It was odd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Full Time: Arsenal 1 Man U 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We pressured. It didn\u2019t happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Result a.e.t. and Pens:  Arsenal 4 Man U 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After the game, Arteta tried to put a brave face on it in his press conference. It wasn\u2019t really convincing. His repetition of how proud he is of his team and how we had dominance had echoes of the dog days of Wenger. It\u2019s all very well winning the possession stats, but the nature of the performances doesn\u2019t pass the eye test. So much of it is sterile possession. The football is painfully slow and laboured for the most part. For heaven\u2019s sake, on the BBC commentary even Shearer, who is to tactical understanding what fish are to bicycles, spotted this. Gone is the free-flowing football, with almost telepathic understanding between players enabling quicksilver breaks. In has crept a blend of conservative, at times stultifying, ossified football; a seeming determination to ensure that we are at all times defensively secure before launching attacks, resulting in opposition being able to pull 10, at times 11, behind the ball. When he first arrived, he had to put pragmatism ahead of style, as he dealt with the dross and the ne\u2019er-do-wells he had been bequeathed. But this team now is to a man his. I don\u2019t have the answer. Perhaps the more tactically astute of you do. But something in the way we approach games needs to change.  What doesn\u2019t need to change is Arteta in the role of manager. We are all frustrated at how this season is turning out. We are not playing the football we expected and, I believe, the manager wants to play. But you don\u2019t throw the baby out with the bathwater. This place tries to live up to the outlook of its namesake, the incomparable \u2018Holic.  It benefits hugely from being staffed by people who share this outlook and who in many cases have seen a lot both in life and in football. That provides the benefit of perspective. In football as in life, things don\u2019t always go your way. We are defined not by our successes, but how we deal with our disappointments. There are people currently calling for the manager\u2019s head. The benefit of perspective is that it allows you to remove yourself from the detail and look at the big picture.  That big picture is rosy. It is now down to us, as supporters, to rally round and dig in.  This is turning into a difficult month. Let\u2019s show a bit of guts and back our team and club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Phew! It\u2019s enough to make a man turn to drink. Almost! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Well, this month is certainly dragging. A somewhat sobering footballing week, or so, was rounded off by an extra time defeat against probably the worst Manchester United team in 35 years, reduced to 10 men for 65 minutes. It was almost enough to have me reaching for a post-match pint. Fortunately, I was able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"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\/10647"}],"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\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10647"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10652,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10647\/revisions\/10652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}