{"id":12436,"date":"2025-12-14T16:12:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T16:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12436"},"modified":"2025-12-19T18:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T18:38:52","slug":"if-you-cant-be-good-be-lucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12436","title":{"rendered":"If you can\u2019t be good \u2013 be lucky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When I originally put my name down for the report for this match, I was intending, as usual, to be in my place on the North Bank, even though 8pm on a Saturday night is far from my favourite time to go to a football match two hours from home. However, in attending an active health class (oh the irony), I managed to trap a nerve (the femoral nerve for those of a medical disposition) in my back which rendered me off games as my walking (and driving) is severely constrained while it heals. So I transferred my ticket to Trev, who had laid his healing hands upon me, but now will probably never talk to me again after I sent him to this dreadful performance late on a cold Saturday night. So I watched the TNT coverage from the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the game, most Gooners were predicting a goal fest for the Arsenal. Top vs bottom and Wolves with only two points, heading firmly towards being the worst premier league team ever. At last an easy game, we crowed. To add to this sense of superiority, we were at last getting players back from injury. The injury list at kick off was a relatively short one, consisting of Havertz, Gabriel, Dowman and Mosquera. Arteta picked a strong team, with a very strong bench and promised to go \u201cfull gas\u201d from the beginning. Reader, he lied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya, White, Saliba, Hincapie, Timber,  Zubimendi, Eze, Rice, Martinelli, Gyokeres, Saka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subs: Arrizabalaga, Odegaard, Jesus, Trossard, Norgaard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Lewis -Skelly, Merino<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a bit of a surprise to see Timber picked at left back over MLS, but he had played most of the game against Bruges mid week. Calafiori was suspended for this game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So off we went and \u2026nothing. The first half was undoubtedly our worst 45 minutes of football this season. Wolves of course went with a low block, just as expected (well what else could they do?) and aimed to hit us on the break. The game never found a rhythm, being broken up by Wolves players collapsing every time they were brushed by one of ours and the goalkeeper taking ages over each goal kick (again totally normal and expected), plus some pretty tenacious defending. Our passing was all awry, failing to find each other and, above all, being painfully, unacceptably, slow. Saka appeared to be our only true outlet for creativity and threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However we made chances. Timber missed a header and appeared to take it off Gyokores\u2019s head. Martinelli managed to butcher an undefended header three yards out somehow. Saka beat his man and slid in a delicious low ball to Gyokores who was on his heels in the six yard box and missed a tap in. Martinelli had another chance but blazed wide. Even our corners were coming to nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it was from one on those corners, after 27 minutes, that found all ten of our outfield players within 20 yards of the opposition penalty area. Hee-Chan was loitering in his own half inside the centre circle and was found with a quick long ball and he was in and one on one with Raya. Three of our players chased him down but he still got his shot away, comfortably saved by Raya. The chase back had banjaxed Bennie Blanco\u2019s hamstring and he came off for Lewis-Skelly who slotted in at left back, moving Timber to the right. Later, in another rare attack, Hincapie slipped, letting in Larsen, but he recovered well and blocked the shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dreadful, dreadful half of football from The Arsenal. Wolves and their 3000 travelling faithful (and all credit to them for selling out their allocation late on a Saturday night to support this team) were ecstatic. Only Manchester City had kept us to zero goals in the first half this season. For those in the ground, I\u2019d be interested to know what those on the terraces were saying. I can guess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my astonishment there were no changes at half time. And we continued in the same way, knocking in crosses and winning corners but all to no avail. We still had not had a shot on goal or forced a save. So on 60 minutes the cavalry were sent on. Trossard, Merino and Odegaard for Martinelli (who had a stinker), Eze (who was completely ineffective) and Zubimendi (who looked very pissed off at being hooked). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We began to look better. Trossard and Odegaard had shots saved or slipped just by. Then on 72 minutes we won a corner on our right. Saka took it and hung in a beautiful inswinging corner high to the back post. The Wolves keeper, Johnstone, clawed at the ball and finger tipped it onto the post, from whence it rebounded onto him and into the net. A comedy goal, reminiscent of Emi Martinez at Villa a couple of years ago. One nil to the Arsenal. Now, surely we would relax and put them to the sword?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No we did not. Instead we slipped into a low block of our own. From the 80th<\/sup> minute on I was imagining a late equaliser flashing into our net as we not only ceded possession to Wolves, but possession in our half. No semblance of a front press. Instead we put 11 men behind the ball and hacked it away only to find Wolves players. Jesus was brought on for the largely ineffective Gyokores. Then in the 88th<\/sup> minute it happened. Mane swung a cross into our area. Arokodare got in front of Hincapie and flashed it into our net. The nightmare of last season had happened again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we started playing again. We poured forward and bombarded the Wolves net. In the 92nd<\/sup> minute we got the ball out to Saka on the right. He half beat his man and swung in a cross. Jesus challenged for it but Mosquera (the Wolves Mosquera) got his head to the ball and it flew in. Another own goal. Redemption. We managed to play out the remaining minutes and, somehow, had won. Three very valuable points after the Villa defeat but a truly awful performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards Arteta seemed genuinely angry, first at the missed chances in the first half and secondly at the supine way we tried to defend the 1-0 lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka was the stand out player for us by a long chalk. It\u2019s difficult to pick out any other performances as being worthy of praise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a long run of games every three days, we seem to have picked up the habit of playing poorly (Chelsea, Sunderland, Villa, now Wolves). We now have a week off before we go to Everton next Saturday in another 8pm kick off. A week of working on the training pitch and trying to pick the right mix I the team to play against a low block. Because we will face many another in the rest of this season. We must play quicker with more pace and precision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorry Trev. I know you stayed until the end, so at least you had the balm of a late winner to enjoy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I originally put my name down for the report for this match, I was intending, as usual, to be in my place on the North Bank, even though 8pm on a Saturday night is far from my favourite time to go to a football match two hours from home. However, in attending an active […]<\/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\/12436"}],"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=12436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12440,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12436\/revisions\/12440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}