{"id":1285,"date":"2020-08-31T11:01:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T10:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2020-09-02T21:05:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T20:05:31","slug":"first-success-of-the-season-in-our-second-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1285","title":{"rendered":"First Success Of The Season In Our Second Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lifts the trophy (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the traditional curtain-raiser \u2013 if you\nhaven\u2019t yet read Bathgooner\u2019s excellent previous post about the fascinating\nhistory of the erstwhile Charity Shield, or Community Shield as it is known as\nnowadays, and Arsenal\u2019s dominating records in it, I really must bring your\nattention to it \u2013 for the upcoming domestic season approached the general mood\nin the Arsenal fan-base was at best apathetic. Despite our immensely enjoyable\nFA Cup heroics just earlier this month, we were going to play the league\nleaders who not only had finished their season 43 points and seven positions\nahead of us, but also coming into this match had one extra week of preparation.\nThe general agreement was that even though a surprising and morale-boosting win\nto kick off what we all know will be a key season for Arsenal and its rookie\nmanager would be wonderful to witness, even a decent performance without being\nembarrassed and most importantly without any injuries to our players will do\njust fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days back the players, at least some\nof them, had a little match practice behind closed doors at home against MK Dons.\nThere was a welcome return to the pitch for Bernd Leno in that match, and a\nvery first appearance in Arsenal colors for William Saliba, the former\nSaint-Etienne defender who despite yet to have turned twenty have already shown\nenough promise to become the type of powerful, fast, ball playing defenders who\nare now considered essential ingredients of any successful team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Leno nor Saliba were in the\nstarting line-up for the match against Liverpool, but both were on the bench.\nEmi Martinez, who was consistently magnificent towards the end of the last\nseason in both league and FA Cup since taking over the goalkeeping duties,\nstarted in the goal. In front of him was the defensive trio from the FA Cup\nfinal \u2013 David Luiz flanked by Kieran Tierney on the left and Rob Holding on the\nright. Mikel chose to use the 3-4-3 formation that he had preferred in the\npost-reopening stage of the last season, and one suspects the transition from\nback three to back four will take time with David Luiz being a key variable in\nthat transitional equation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four men midfield too was designed with\na now familiar tactical shape, albeit with a minor variation in the personnel\nentrusted to make it work. Ainsley Maitland Niles back in his left wing-back\nrole that he had played with admirable guile and discipline in our last two\nWembley outings, and Hector Bellerin his counterpart on the right. However, the\never-present Granit Xhaka in the middle of the pitch was now accompanied not by\nDani Ceballos \u2013 who we all hope will return back to the club he seems to have\ngrown a genuine, and well reciprocated, love for \u2013 but the nearly forgotten\nMohammed Elneny, returning back from his loan stint in Turkey. Elneny doesn\u2019t\noffer the kind of close control and verticality that Dani had started to\ndemonstrate, but in a game where we most likely were to play without the ball\nfor long periods of time a double pivot of Xhaka and him we hoped may prove to\nbe functional enough.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elneny had joined Arsenal in the winter\ntransfer window of 2016, and so Arteta must have had formed a very clear idea\nabout his strengths and weaknesses based on training ground and match\nexperiences in the second half of that season before Mikel announced his\nretirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Pepe and Lacazetter were unavailable \u2013\na very well-deserved extended holiday or more likely in quarantine after\nreturning back? \u2013 so the youngsters Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah deputized in\ntheir places. But both of them had now started games for us, especially Saka\nenjoying a stellar breakthrough session culminating in being chosen as the\nsecond best Arsenal player of the season, and both were more than capable to\ntrouble Liverpool defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno and Saliba were joined in the bench by\na few more of our excellent academy graduates (Nelson, Jo Willock and Emile\nSmith-Rowe), with veterans Kolasinac and Cedric sitting next to them. We of\ncourse use such words as \u201cbench\u201d and \u201csitting\u201d metaphorically, it was all a\nmasked and socially distanced congregation of colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Finally, our captain, the \u00fcberstriker, the talisman,\nPierre-Emerick Aubameyang starting on his now customary left wing. There are\nwords being still written about how that is not his favorite position, and we\nmay very well see him down the middle at some point in the season — provided\nhe does really extend his contract and stays at the club, it is not done until\nit is announced on the club\u2019s official site \u2013 but he has been an example of not\njust elite goalscoring excellence from that position but also a very\nprofessional tireless work ethics and discipline in doing his defensive duties\nwhenever necessary. The kind of examples that an Arsenal captain is expected to\nlead by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first minutes of the game conformed to\nthe pattern everyone was expecting. Liverpool were attacking in numbers and we\nwere defending deep. There were a couple of early clearances from our penalty\nbox \u2013 one from Luiz and a more colorful one from Tierney which he miscued\nenough to require an alert Martinez to need to come forward and gather the\nball. We were defending well enough to not offer them a shot at our goal, but\nthe ball rarely left our defensive third and we were conceding fouls. Just\naround the sixth minute from a free-kick Van Dijk scored a goal which was\ncorrectly ruled out for offside. Just past the 10th<\/sup> minute lark\nMilner headed over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute or so later we produced a piece of\nscintillating football. Liverpool forwards were pressing high and to support\nthem their defenders moved up to hold a very high line. We played through their\npress expertly with Martinez, Elneny, Holding and Bellerin all involved.\nBellerin smartly forwarded the ball right onto the path of Saka who then moved\nhimself intelligently in that little uncertain space between the touchline and\nthe middle of the pitch which the defensive midfielders and fullbacks most\nstruggle with. With the focus of the entire defense on the right side of our\nattack Saka brilliantly switched the attack with a marvelously accurate long\nball right at Aubameyang\u2019s feet. Auba darted in quickly, moved the ball further\nto his right and scored with a sumptuous curling shot beyond the outstretched\nleft hand of Allisson. Whereas the build-up and playing from the back through\nthe press, Saka\u2019s assist and Auba\u2019s exquisite finish were all world class,\nspecial mentions should also go to Ainsley and Tierney who with their\nsupporting movements created enough confusion in the Liverpool defense to give\nAuba that extra moment of decision making. AMN ran down the middle to the edge\nof the penalty box like a goalscoring central midfielder would do, and Tierney\nmade his trademark overlapping run outside of Auba. This was a goal that was\nwell-constructed in its design, and executed flawlessly with such courage and\ncreativity that it sent a wave of inspiration through the team to drive them to\na series of fluid counter-attacking moves that on another day could have\nresulted in one or two more goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aubameyang\u2019s joyful celebration was included\na respectful homage to the recently, and untimely, departed actor Chadwick\nBoseman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12\u2019) \u2013 Liverpool 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were playing in our away shirt for the\nnew season, less red-and-white (which is the home shirt\u2019s business anyway) but\nmore of a white-and-red design that supposedly represents the hallowed marble\nhalls of Highbury. Leaving behind the raging discussions about the sartorial\naesthetics to more qualified people (Bellerin?), all I could think of is that a\ngoal like that truly, and proudly, represents the pinnacle of Highbury days in\nour recent history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 17th<\/sup> minute from one such\ncounter-attack Saka fed the ball with a precise cut-back to Nketiah on the edge\nof the box. Eddie had positioned himself perfectly but his shot was well saved\nby Allisson. A little bit more power and placement in the shot and Eddie could\nhave had a goal to his name. The attack was driven by Xhaka who carried the\nball all the way to the edge of the box before finding Saka with his pass. It\nwas pleasing to see him execute well this aspect of a modern central midfield\u2019s\ngame that has never really been his forte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten minutes later, again from a\ncounter-attack Saka found Eddie who had both space and time to move the ball\nfurther forward, but chose to take a leaf out of his captain\u2019s book and tried\nto bend the ball into the top corner but his shot failed to trouble\nAllisson.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool was still dominating possession,\nbut had failed to yet register a shot on target. We were defending well not\njust in numbers in and around the box but also in how we defend the space\nbetween the midfield and the penalty box. Maitland-Niles and Tierney in tandem\nprovided a masterclass of positional defending, constantly switching roles,\ncovering for each other especially when one of them moved forward to join the\nattack, harrying and hurrying Salah every time he got near to the ball on our\nleft side. It did help that they were facing a relatively inexperienced player\nin Williams as the right fullback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our right side Bellerin and Holding were\nplaying well enough to contain Mane and Firmino, but they were not successfully\nstopping Robertson from sending crosses into the box. Around 39th<\/sup>\nminute, Bellerin and Elneny had to be alert to make clearances in quick\nsuccession from dangerous looking attacks down our right side. Liverpool earned\na series of corners but didn\u2019t really threaten our goal from any of those.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continued to look lively in our\ncounterattacks, especially down our left. Saka and Maitland Niles both were\nallowed to send inviting crosses into the box. Just before the half-time\nBellerin was fouled as we were moving through another quick attack. From the\nresulting free-kick, taken superbly by Saka, David Luiz almost got to the end\nof the delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half ended with us leading by our\ncaptain\u2019s fantastic strike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second half started with a similar pattern\nto the first half, but Liverpool pressing more aggressively and moving the ball\nfaster compared to the first half. Our strategy remained same, defend with\ndiscipline, defend the spaces, and launch counter-attacks. From one such\ncounter-attack around the 50th<\/sup> minute the increasingly impressive\nAMN shot over the bar.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute later Firmino \u2013 a consistent\nscorer of goals against Arsenal \u2013 shot wide. A few minutes later Auba moved\nthrough the gears with the ball at his feet and tried to set Saka up for a goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had started to tire and around 56th<\/sup>\nminute Emi had to make an excellent save. A minute later Milner saw the first\ncard of the match for fouling Eddie with a dangerous challenge. Liverpool\nlooked desperate for an equalizer. And they brought in a couple of substitutes.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel made his first substitution at the 58th<\/sup>\nminute, bringing in Cedric for a tiring Bellerin. We were conceding more and\nmore of the possession to Liverpool, and in their desperation they were willing\nto push the boundary of what is considered acceptable physicality in a match\nlike this: Keita flew in with a high boot on Eddie but escaped being carded.\nEmi made a save from a Minamino shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure on our tiring defenders\nfinally brought Liverpool a goal on 73rd<\/sup> minute, with Minamino\nscoring from a close range after the ball bounced off a few players in a\ngoalmouth melee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12\u2019) \u2013 Liverpool 1\n(Minamino 73)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commentators suggested that Arsenal may\nnow lose concentration and concede more goals. Given how the game was now\nshaping up it wasn\u2019t an entirely unreasonable assumption. However, the reverse\nhappened. The team found an extra bit of inspiration to start attacking again.\nThe game was now less one-way and more open. On 81st<\/sup> minute Emi made\nanother superb save from Mane. A little after Saka, Eddie and Tierney were\nreplaced by Willock, Nelson and Kolasinac. \nCouple of minutes later AMN made an eye-catching clearance against Mane\n\u2013 who had now switched sides with Salah and attacking down our left \u2013 chasing\nhim down from an advanced position and catching up with him. Cedric was busy defending\non the right side as Robertson was still sending dangerous deliveries into our\nbox. However, Cedric showed quality on the ball as well in our attacking third,\nsending a tantalizing cross that Willock despite timing his jump correctly and\nhaving only Allisson to beat, headed wide. Nonetheless, it was gratifying to\nsee the position he took. We are no longer blessed with a collection of\ngoalscoring midfielders who attack the box. Willock has the potential to become\none such player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game ended shortly thereafter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12\u2019) \u2013 Liverpool 1\n(Minamino 73) FT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s how we shared the 2020\nCommunity Shield with Liverpool, both Arsenal and Liverpool thus winning it 16\ntimes each. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, that didn\u2019t happen. Just like last\nyear\u2019s event, this season\u2019s Community Shield winner too was settled in penalty\nshoot-outs. Liverpool took the first penalty kick and they scored 4 from their\n5 and missed one. Arsenal players took five cool, composed, high quality\npenalties — none of those were even close to being saved by Allisson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Arsenal scorers were, in the chronological\norder: Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Cedric, David Luiz, and Aubameyang. Liverpool\nscorers were: Salah, Fabino, Minamino, Curtis Johnes. Their youngster Rhian\nBrewster hit the ball off the bar. A mildly amusing irony was noted by keen\nobservers that Brewster was brought in the game to replace Wijnaldum most\nlikely to avoid a repetition of last year\u2019s Community Shield event which too\nLiverpool lost on penalties where Wijnaldum missed his shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12\u2019) \u2013 Liverpool 1\n(Minamino 73) FT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 5 \u2013 Liverpool 4 On Penalties <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot can be read in this performance and\nresult. But the wiser thing probably to do is to not read much at all. Except\nthat it demonstrated that the definite progress in our individual and\ncollective game that we had started to notice last season as Mikel found more\nand more time and opportunity to put his stamp is on a consistent upward curve,\nand that this is an exciting time to be an Arsenal supporter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we supporters of course have\nlittle clue in the complexities of the club\u2019s financial situation and the\ndifficult dance to meet the needs for improving the squad while balancing the\nbudget, but based on their performances alone (and not just potentials or\naffections for the club even though those things should matter too) Emi\nMartinez and Ainsley Maitland-Niles \u2013 who celebrated his birthday with a man of\nthe match performance, and then celebrated more later by learning about his\ncall up to the England senior squad — must surely stay at the club. Right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the traditional curtain-raiser \u2013 if you haven\u2019t yet read Bathgooner\u2019s excellent previous post about the fascinating history of the erstwhile Charity Shield, or Community Shield as it is known as nowadays, and Arsenal\u2019s dominating records in it, I really must bring your attention to it \u2013 for the upcoming domestic season approached the general […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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\/1285"}],"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\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1288,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}