{"id":11965,"date":"2025-09-24T22:49:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11965"},"modified":"2025-09-27T17:51:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:51:38","slug":"why-do-these-oiks-boo-saka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11965","title":{"rendered":"Why do These Oiks Boo Saka?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Our debut in this season\u2019s Carabao Cup involved a trip to the Potteries to play the \u2018other team\u2019, Port Vale, whom we haven\u2019t played for 27 years. Then we struggled through a goalless home draw, a replay (remember those?) at Vale Park, extra time and a close-run penalty shoot out in the 1997-8 FA Cup third round and went on to win Arsene Wenger\u2019s first Double. In the days before match day there was much speculation in the Goonersphere as to the team Mikel Arteta would pick for this match. Sunday\u2019s match against the Creative Accountants had delivered yet another injury with Madueke sustaining a knee injury that forced his replacement at half time and his further absence for tonight and a couple more months. As if this wasn\u2019t enough, we also learnt this week that Hincapi\u00e9, who has played a mere 5 minutes for Arsenal since his late signing, has a groin strain that will keep him out tonight and for a few weeks longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many have suggested that this match is an opportunity for Martinelli to start down the middle hoping he could reprise his epic bursts behind defences and goals against Athletic Bilbao and the Creative Accountants. However, that was not how the coach saw it, but Eze got a chance to play in his favoured \u2018ten position\u2019 with Nwaneri at his favoured \u2018eight\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Saliba Mosquera MLS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nwaneri N\u00f8rgaard Eze<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka Merino Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, Sky couldn\u2019t find a Gooner for the panel and burdened us with ex-Spud Jaimee Redknapp and ex-Spud & ex-Vale Michael Brown. Plus c\u2019est la m\u00eame chose!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third tier outfit started with energy and directness as did the travelling Gooners who were in good voice while the locals betrayed their kinship with Stoke-ites by booing Saka whenever he was on the ball. The flurry of local activity lasted 5 minutes after which we established dominance of both possession and territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 7 minutes, Martinelli, at the left edge of the Vale box, found MLS inside the box and the youngster\u2019s back-heel to Eze left our new man the simple task of passing the ball into the bottom corner for his first Arsenal goal. Four minutes later, Nwaneri\u2019s curler from the right edge of the box was deflected past the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pattern of persistent interchange emerged with Saka and Nwaneri swapping roles on the right  supported by White\u2019s overlaps and Martinelli and Eze doing likewise on the left supported by MLS\u2019s underlaps. Meanwhile, Merino mainly patrolled the centre though occasionally appearing on the right, showing delicate footwork while making probing passes into the box for darting runs in behind while N\u00f8rgaard provided an outlet when necessary and recycled the ball well. After 20 minutes Arsenal had made 211 passes versus 21 by Vale but had not come close to extending their lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vale had an exciting moment when their \u2018Gabriel’ darted behind our defence to receive a lofted ball and bear down on Kepa who anticipated the pass and cleared it before the linesman raised his flag for a questionable offside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very crisp series of passes between Saliba, White and Nwaneri that took the ball from box to box came to naught but a sweet pass from Merino from the edge of the box to Eze eight yards from goal was met with a firm shot that drew a good save from the keeper on 35 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Port Vale persisted with the occasional flurry and won their first corner on 39 minutes. There was a free header misdirected downwards then a brief melee in our box before it was cleared but the crowd was lifted and there were a couple of minutes of pressure which called for our defenders to show their mettle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT: Port Vale 0 – 1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first half was professionally executed with 78% possession but all that ball yielded only five shots at goal and a mere two on target. Despite Arsenal\u2019s dominance and occasional slick moves, the game felt somewhat underproductive and short on goalmouth action and excitement. We could certainly have moved the ball more quickly. Could we liven things up in the second half?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vale had clearly been told that they were showing us too much respect and they became more combative physically in the second half.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half began with brief excitement at both ends, a long throw from Vale followed by a breakaway by Martinelli surging over the halfway line to meet a ball from Saka only to be tackled by the Vale keeper as he reached the ball. Then Saka was trodden on by a Pottery thug called Headley (who had been manhandling him all game) and jangled all Gooner nerves as he lay prone thumping the pitch in frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spell of intricate interplay as the hour approached ended in our first shot at goal of the half from Nwaneri but it was blocked on the edge of the box. Max Dowman then became our youngest ever player in the League Cup when he replaced Saka on 62 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next attempt on goal came from an impressive long throw from N\u00f8rgaard in the 67th minute that found its way to White 30 yards out and his effort cleared the bar by a wide margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 70 minutes Gy\u00f6keres and Gabriel came on for Merino and White with Mosquera moving to right back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home team were certainly more involved in this half and Mosquera\u2019s square pass across the front of his fellow defenders to a Vale forward lifted the crowd again but our defence stifled the danger swiftly. Kepa then repeated the error as his pass to Nwaneri went to a Vale forward whose shot from 25 yards just cleared the bar. Our playing out from the back was looking less successful as a result of Vale\u2019s second half pressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dowman flicked a lovely ball behind the defence for Gy\u00f6keres to run onto but his shot was blocked by a lunging defender as he bore down on goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 80 minutes, Trossard and Rice replaced Martinelli and Eze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belgian duly scored his \u2018super-sub goal\u2019 in the 85th minute with a crisp shot from the edge of the box after slickly taking down a high ball from Saliba to make the space to shoot. Trossard again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trossard then produced a through ball for Gy\u00f6keres to chase which he did at pace and the Swede forced a Vale defender to concede a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dowman provided a few moments of excitement with some dancing dribbles and a deft flick to Rice but the goal he and we craved didn\u2019t come. A Nwaneri shot from the edge of the box after a Dowman shot was blocked, warmed the keeper\u2019s hands with 30 seconds to go and then the game was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT: Port Vale 0 – 2 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was a routine, if rather unexciting victory for Arsenal. Port Vale proved obdurate opponents particularly in the second half in which their more aggressive posture prevented Arsenal achieving the dominance they had enjoyed in the first half. Nonetheless, there were no really alarming moments. A win is a win and several players who needed game-time will have benefitted from the outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the whole piece we had 81% possession, eleven shots on goal with four on target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa wasn\u2019t really tested and apart from one dodgy pass that was intercepted, looked comfortable with the ball at his feet. Ben White looked lean, hungry and sharp but clearly couldn’t go 90 minutes; Saliba showed his usual calm dominance and was comfortable throughout; Mosquera looked comfortable both at centre back and when switched to right back – bar his dodgy square pass; MLS was quietly authoritative both with and without the ball and deserved his clever assist. N\u00f8rgaard had a very competent and comfortable first start and will have benefitted from gaining a full 90 minutes in his legs; Nwaneri gave a confident and competent performance without too may sparkling moments; Eze was involved throughout, took his goal well and might have had more – his interaction with his new teammates appears to be becoming more intuitive. Saka was manhandled throughout but still  made a significant contribution to our attack, threatened in possession and will have benefitted from the game time – as long as he has avoided injury; Merino\u2019s deft touches, silky passes and interplay kept us moving and he constantly made himself available at both ends of the pitch; Martinelli was a regular threat, made a lovely pre-assist and might have scored himself. Gabriel and Rice stiffened our resistance as Port Vale tried to get into the game while Trossard sealed the win with a trademark goal and looked lively – was he feeling a hammy at the end? Hope not! Dowman added a bit of sparkle to proceedings and gave Saka an opportunity to put his (rather bruised) feet up for half an hour. Gy\u00f6keres got a short run out but limited opportunities to shine, though he did threaten the goal twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just one question – why do these oiks boo Saka?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Job done! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s Brighton at home in the next round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our debut in this season\u2019s Carabao Cup involved a trip to the Potteries to play the \u2018other team\u2019, Port Vale, whom we haven\u2019t played for 27 years. Then we struggled through a goalless home draw, a replay (remember those?) at Vale Park, extra time and a close-run penalty shoot out in the 1997-8 FA Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"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\/11965"}],"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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11965"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11986,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11965\/revisions\/11986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}