{"id":11979,"date":"2025-09-27T17:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11979"},"modified":"2025-09-28T21:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T20:54:18","slug":"the-arsenal-must-edge-it-on-tyneside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11979","title":{"rendered":"The Arsenal Must Edge It on Tyneside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And so to St James’ Park, where Geordie Arabia will host us for the second of Sunday’s Premier League fixtures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has not been a happy hunting ground for Arteta. The only away ground where he has lost more games as a manager is the Oilands. The solitary victory in our last five visits came on the day after Coronation Day in May 2023. It was also the only one of the five in which we scored: Martin \u00d8degaard in the 14th minute from 30 yards out, and a Fabian Sch\u00e4r own goal in the 71st. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The skipper’s goal took him to 15 league goals for the season. With Gabriel Martinelli already having put that notch in his tally stick, it was, remarkably, the first time that two players had scored at least 15 league goals for the club in a season since John Radford and Ray Kennedy for the 1970-71 double-winning side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolwich Arsenal’s first trip up north ended in a 6-0 thrashing by a Newcastle team still smarting from being put in the Second Division of the Football League despite applying to go straight into the First. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a showery final day of September 1893, in what was their third and our fourth league game, Toon’s centre forward, Willie Thompson, and inside left, Joe Wallace, scored hat-tricks for the hosts. ‘The Woolwich team were no match for their rivals’, reported the Sporting Life. St James’ Park had a notorious slope in those days. Four of Newcastle’s goals came in the second half when they were attacking ‘down the hill’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have visited the history of our hosts, their ground and their hinterland on several previous occasions. I would particularly commend you to Bath’s previews of the corresponding fixtures from last season<\/a>, and the one before that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will add only that, when St James’ Park had opened 13 years earlier on a patch of Town Moor, then much larger than it is today, local butchers still grazed their future sales on the pitch, which was near the city’s gallows, hence the stadium’s Gallowgate end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speculation about relocating to a new 70,000-seat stadium in Leazes Park, which sits on the land between St James\u2019 Park and the remaining part of Town Moor, has resurfaced. New chief executive David Hopkinson, who is replacing cancer-struck Darren Eales, has reportedly been discussing funding options with the club’s owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (80%) and the Reuben brothers (20%). The Bloomberg financial news service reported on Wednesday that the club had also been talking to potential external investors about a \u00a31 billion debt and equity package, aiming to move into a new home by 2028, a somewhat optimistic target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

They are brutes. Other b words are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howe’s heavies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eddie Howe has stuck with his preferred 4-3-3 at home this season despite switching to 5-3-2 for away games. In the glove-buttling department, Nick Pope is likely to continue to keep Aaron Ramsdale, formerly of this parish, on the bench. In front of him, it gets ugly: Trippier and Livramento at full back and Dan Burn and, in the absence of the injured  Sch\u00e4r, one of Sven Botman, the bad boy from Badhoevedorp, or Malick Thiaw, bought from AC Milan in the summer for \u20ac35 million. The midfield should be Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimar\u00e3es: Uglier yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recently acquired 6′ 6″ \u00a369 million man, Nick Woltemade, who, given a crimson cape, looks as if he could do a decent impression of a cardinal from Monty Python’s ‘Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition’ sketch, will lead the line in Yoane Wissa’s enforced absence through injury. However, he is more of a number 10 than a number 9, and like our own VG and Sesko at the Red Mancs, he is still finding his place among his new teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woltemade will be flanked to his left by Anthony Gordon, returning from suspension, and, on the opposite wing, Anthony Elanga, signed from Forest in the summer, partly in anticipation of Alexander Isak’s departure, or Jacob Murphy, who is nursing an Achilles heel problem but is available for this game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those likely to get walk-on parts as the game progresses are Harvey Barnes, the two Lewises, Hall and Miley, a local lad who received good notices for his performances against Bournemouth and Bradford City over the past week, and Joe Wllock, another formerly of this parish. Howe will also have two more defenders, Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth, to bring on when he decides to go full Pep with a back five or six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Ramsey, who arrived from Villa in the summer in exchange for \u00a343 million, also has a sick note from Matron. Nor will another summer recruit, Martin Mark, be on the pitch. Yet he will be heavily involved. He is the highly regarded set-piece coach hired from FC Midtjylland. His match-up with Nicolas Jover could decide the game, especially as Newcastle, for all their defensive — how shall we put it, sinew —  have struggled to score this term with Isak gone and Gordon suspended for three of the five league games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I can’t see Arteta doing anything but start his strongest available starters. Gabriel Jes\u00f9s, Kai Havertz, Noni Manduke and Piero Hincapi\u00e9 are definitely out. \u00d8degaard is a maybe, but Bukayo Saka will be available, Arteta says. I suspect the skipper may come off the bench rather than have his shoulder ripped apart early doors by what one local newspaper columnist euphemistically calls Newcastle’s ‘tall strapping lads’. Thus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Merino, Zubimendi, Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, Gy\u00f6keres, Eze<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howe rotated heavily for the League Cup in midweek. Only two of the team that won the trophy last season started against Bradford City on Wednesday. The holders breezed past the League One side more easily than we dispatched Port Vale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, Carabao Cup form is an unreliable guide. Overall, it has not been a sparkling start to the season for the Geordies \u2014 one win in five, three draws and a loss to the Scousers. However, St James’ Park is always a tricky trip. The Toon Army, having been taunted by Bradford’s travelling faithful \u2014 ‘2-0 up and still you don’t sing’ and ‘where’s your famous atmosphere’ wafted down from the clouds where the away fans are put \u2014 will be up for our visit. And they really don’t like Arteta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My general theory on how to win the league (beat the bottom half home and away, and the other nine at home, and secure at least a draw away) suggests that a point on Sunday would be a satisfactory, if not optimal, late afternoon’s work. However, having lost at Anfield and drawn at home with City, bringing all three points back down South is now the order of the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s doable \u2014 if we get 90 minutes of football rather than wrestling. Howe has told his team to bring their ‘edge’ to the game. An intense and fiery match is in prospect: a hard-fought, classic 1-0 to the Arsenal, I reckon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy the game, ‘holics, far and wide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And so to St James’ Park, where Geordie Arabia will host us for the second of Sunday’s Premier League fixtures. It has not been a happy hunting ground for Arteta. The only away ground where he has lost more games as a manager is the Oilands. The solitary victory in our last five visits came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11979"}],"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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11979"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11991,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11979\/revisions\/11991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}