{"id":11625,"date":"2025-08-16T12:34:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T11:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11625"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T10:40:16","slug":"will-viktory-be-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11625","title":{"rendered":"Will Viktory Be Ours?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Invincibles PL trophy courtesy of Arsenal.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Welcome Back!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very warm welcome back to one and all as this weekend sees The Mighty Arsenal set out once more on that ol\u2019 Oregon<\/s> Premier League Title trail. It\u2019s a familiar trail that has yielded up the ultimate reward 13 times in our storied past, but seen us fall just short on our last three title tilts. Is No 14 on the way? Well, just for those of a superstitious nature\u2026 the last time we were 2nd three seasons running we won the double the very next season. That was of course at the turn of the 21st<\/sup> century under the legend that was, the inimitable Arsene Wenger. Can Mikel Arteta, the legend that will be, and his newly improved merry men emulate that oh so enjoyable season? Yes, we can! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word from our Leader and a word on our Captain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or at least that is what I think and more importantly what Mikel thinks. When asked if we have the potential to win he responded: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, especially the consistency that we’ve shown in the last three years. The margins, we know how small they are, we know the competition as well has increased the level, with recruitment, with another year together and we’re going to have to win\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly MA and what I would expect our leader to say. Talking of leaders, the other interesting thing to come up in the presser, for me, was the confirmation of Martin \u00d8degaard as captain again for this season. According to Mikel on the Arsenal.com site:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked them to vote for the captain and I got the result yesterday. By a mile, by a big, big 100 marks, everybody’s choosing the same person, which is Martin \u00d8degaard, which is the most clear sign that you can have, how they feel about who has to be their captain to defend, improve and win the matches that we want to win\u201d<\/em>  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did wonder why we would even have such a vote but the press were actually useful and asked just that question!Apparently,one driver for having the vote was that a few experienced leaders had moved on and Mikel wanted to see who the team and staff thought of as leaders now. It is certainly encouraging to see Martin held in such regard especially after what was seen as a challenging season for him personally but anyway with vocal players like Big Gabi, Declan, Kai and now I imagine the ex-Brentford captain I think we are well supplied with leadership. Of course, N\u00f8rgaard may not be a regular starter with Zubi having begun his career so smoothly to date but I do think his experience will be very useful in the squad and particularly as a closer over the last 10-15 minutes of games we are leading. We have the manager, we have the leadership on the pitch and now we have the squad, I don\u2019t know about you but I like our chances this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On then to our first game of the season, a once testing away trip to Old Toilet<\/s> Trafford has become somewhat less daunting of late as a dense and pleasingly persistent miasma of failure has hung heavy over the little Manures. We will certainly be hoping to add to the gloom by taking all three points as they are exactly the sort of mediocre mid-table shower that we should be winning against home and away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But who will start? I think the who may be easier this week than in weeks to come as the starting XI was largely outlined by Mikel himself last week in the win over Bilbao. Last season the XI that started against Lyon in the Emirates Cup was the same XI that started the first game of the season against Wolves. I see no reason to believe, given the fitness of all concerned, that Mikel will not do the same again this season. That leaves us with the XI as below <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Timber Saliba Gabriel Calafiori<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zubi, Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, \u00d8de, Gabi M<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viktor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the efforts of Mr Berta and friends, we now have a vastly stronger bench to back them up to a degree that very good players will not even be substitutes. No doubt some players will be moving on in the next few weeks and, once they do, I think we will hopefully have the numbers and balance of youth and experience about right for this season.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s new in 25\/26? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As TTG and Bath have already covered our new arrivals very well in the last couple of posts I won\u2019t go into any detail except to say, \u201cWelcome to The Arsenal\u2026\u2026.now win everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunderland, Burnley and Leeds are back. In general, I feel it\u2019s not great to see the newly promoted sides go straight back down but I am willing to make an exception in the case of Leeds. Along with the change of ground for Everton, it will make for several new treks north for our away support but they appear a hardy and cheerful bunch and no doubt they will be well up for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been the usual handful of rule changes and a new campaign announced by everyone\u2019s favourite panto villain Howard \u2018Wicked\u2019 Webb. The new campaign, driven by input from the clubs, is that referees \/ VAR will look to punish excessive grappling \/ blatant obstruction at set pieces more this season. \u2018Wicked\u2019 assures us this isn\u2019t the usual August \/ September thing (OH YES IT IS!) and will be implemented across the season and will probably cause an overall increase in the number of penalties by the end of the season. In theory, and given consistent application, this should favour us of course as we have more offensive than defensive set-pieces. Hahahahaha, I must be off now to my Dreamworld home in SweetCandyFloss Lane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the rule changes relate to giving the keepers 8 seconds to release the ball once they have it to hand and awarding a corner against them if they tarry too long. Referees will apparently warn the keeper in advance of a 5 second countdown. A keeper who is calm under pressure will be handier than ever. Another change will be bookings for players other than the captain who speak to or more likely rant at the referee in an untoward manner. Though these rules will no doubt provoke much disgruntlement once the PGMoL get their clumsy, inconsistent little hands on them I personally like the reasoning. Keeping the game moving and having respect for officials are no-brainers to me \u2013 and I hope that Mikel has ensured our players are well-briefed so we at least have a fighting chance as the hordes of ignorant barbarians pore over the hill<\/s> tv review screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This review is already, I must admit, too long and so I have decided to bullet point a brief message of encouragement and advice to our friends in Surrey<\/s> Manchester this time as honestly there is little new to say about them\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • To The Glazers, Edwards the former Sporting Director, and now Sir Tax Dodger \u2013 thanks for your enduring failure since Red Nose left. I salute you. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    • To the new signings \u2013 Sesko, Mbeumo et al. Run, you fools. Run!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      • To the manager Ruben Amorim, a kind word – given the poverty of his defence, I seriously considered him for the First Tin Tack nomination but I think he is better than little Scottie Parker.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        In other words, rubbish last season, might be slightly less rubbish this season as I do honestly rate Mbeumo and MA clearly rated Sesko, but let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The Score<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        At last, we have finally meandered to the nitty gritty of the result. I am looking forward to games in future where we gonzo it out with our new squad and play for example Kai on the left and only Rice or Zubi behind, shred some unfortunates and get 4-0 up in 20 minutes, always good to see the opposition crowd heading out nice and early! However, whilst I would be happy to see us absolutely compost Manure at home, mostly for the confidence it would give us and the punch in the gut it would give them, I think we should be realistic. It is the first game of the season, away from home, and with new players to embed in key positions. Given those circumstances I would be very happy with a calm and authoritative 2-0 win, no fuss and goals for Viktor early and Kai 2nd<\/sup> half. Three points and move on to the bigger games to come seems to be the ticket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Finally then, I would like to say have a safe and happy trip to those of you lucky enough to be going to the game and to wish the rest of us Happy Viewing wherever we may be and whenever we may be watching <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Welcome Back!! A very warm welcome back to one and all as this weekend sees The Mighty Arsenal set out once more on that ol\u2019 Oregon Premier League Title trail. It\u2019s a familiar trail that has yielded up the ultimate reward 13 times in our storied past, but seen us fall just short on our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625"}],"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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11625"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11646,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11625\/revisions\/11646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}