{"id":14529,"date":"2026-10-03T16:23:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T15:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14529"},"modified":"2026-10-06T11:58:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:58:19","slug":"the-season-so-far-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14529","title":{"rendered":"The Season so Far"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This extraordinary interlull – a three week break, just weeks into the season has massively interrupted the flow of the club game. There has been the extra hiatus caused by the C114y scandal, but before that broke we\u2019d actually played some football! Including the Community Shield, we\u2019ve played seven games, winning six. Sadly, the one most in our minds was the most recent one – the Brighton debacle. We were interested in soliciting views on how our readers felt that things had gone so far. An audience of Holics is as fair and balanced as you get and we asked several of our regulars what they thought of the season so far. We\u2019ve solicited opinions from Ollie, Gunnersaurus Stunt Double and Noosa, so it will be a very international review of events so far ! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began by asking how they viewed our form so far: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have we begun the defence of our title? Better or worse than you expected?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ollie<\/strong> <\/em>– I am a demanding chap after last season and the transfer window, so the Brighton result changed my view from \u2018as expected\u2019 to \u2018slightly worse\u2019. I will caveat this with \u2018but perfectly fine\u2019. Especially as, penalty incoming or not, I am not convinced 115 can continue their current charmed life, in the same way (but in a different style) Liverpool couldn\u2019t last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noosa<\/strong> <\/em>– I\u2019ve never thought of us as defending our title. That kind of suggests that it\u2019s ours to lose whereas to my mind every season starts anew, with likely different challenges this time around. We simply have to win it all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two points more than at the same stage last season would suggest we\u2019re off to a good start, although the Brighton game, hopefully a bad day at the office, now gives pause for reflection, which I hope is not lost during the three-week interlull. I\u2019m sure that Arteta and his team will find the answers should other teams try and replicate Brighton\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ongoing concern is how we satisfy some of our senior players with both starts and minutes, Merino, Zubimendi, Eze spring to mind. I\u2019m interested in how MA manages this moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSD<\/strong> – <\/em>We\u2019ve begun our title roughly as expected. Dropping away points at Villa or Sunderland was possible, but we did enough to get the wins. Brighton was just an awful day at the office. It happens! But 12 from 15 points seems about right, and we\u2019ve played much as expected. Although, even though we have not scored as often as I\u2019d like, we\u2019ve looked more fluid than I thought we would so early in the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think we are playing more attractive football this term? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noosa<\/strong> – <\/em>Yes and no. Some nice stuff against Citeh and Coventry, grinding it out against Villa and Sunderland, at times against Chelsea and clearly not against Brighton. A real mixed bag and, Sunderland penalty apart, no goals from set plays which is a surprise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attractive football is good \u2013 winning is better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSD<\/strong> – <\/em>I definitely think we are playing more attractive football and I think there is plenty more to come. I\u2019m excited to see us score more heavily than we have so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ollie<\/strong> – <\/em>It was certainly my hope that we would. And overall (again excepting Brighton\u2026), I would say yes, a little. Helped in no small part by a fully fit again and confident \u00d8degaard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think of the new signings? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSD<\/strong> – <\/em>I\u2019m very impressed with Tzolis, extremely happy with Konsa, and think Bruno could be just what we need. And even though he\u2019s not close to the first team at the moment, I like Meslier and think getting him on a free is shrewd business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ollie<\/strong> <\/em>– Very encouraged by Tzolis, positive play and contributions. Can still improve but promising, especially for the price we paid, which counts as \u2018bargain\u2019 these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruno G has shown what he can bring with progressive passing, and shots, that fantastic Sunderland shot was both a relatively \u2018unusual\u2019 Arsenal goal and massively important in the context of the match. Brighton showed his limitations though, but let\u2019s hope he gets fully fit and sharp and stays fit after fitful beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did we sign anyone else? Meslier, I guess, but he hasn\u2019t yet played. I don\u2019t count Hincapi\u00e9 as a new signing. Very happy with Konsa. He is no Saliba, but high quality, and as the on\/off repeated injuries to most of our defenders show, was also a very necessary signing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noosa<\/strong> – <\/em>I wasn\u2019t bothered either way that we missed out on Vinicus Jr, there were plus and minus points in my opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tzolis seems a solid workhorse although I wish he\u2019d go outside more. I think that Rogers would have been an upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konsa is a solid buy who needs to keep developing a stronger relationship with Gabriel \u2013 both standing off for two Brighton goals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In respect of squad depth now, lack of minutes suggests that Viktor has fallen out of favour in which case a new striker may be required to better challenge or complement Kai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Benny Blanco and Timber continue their now long-standing injury woes a new right back may be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think we still lack, if anything, in any positions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ollie<\/strong> <\/em>– Speed and precision at the front. Despite his erratic end product, Martinelli offered an outlet in some situations that I don\u2019t think we have anymore (I know Havertz is, in fact, deceptively quick, but he has a different position\/game). Losing both Trossard (you could consider Tzolis being the equivalent, if slightly less technical replacement) and Martinelli felt one too many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noosa<\/strong> – <\/em>Precision, of course I mean, more of a ruthless goalscorer, something it is not abundantly clear (IMHO) Gy\u00f6keres won\u2019t be in this team. Brighton may have been a collective failure of multiple individuals, but that miss from Havertz confirms he\u2019s not quite lethal either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSD<\/strong> – <\/em>I\u2019d still like to see us get a top left-winger. And a new striker. As a squad, we lack pace, so definitely more of that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has particularly impressed you this season ? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GSD<\/strong> <\/em>– I \u2019m sure I won\u2019t be alone in singling out Martin \u00d8degaard. I wrote in the pre-season about how I would like to see the captaincy transitioned to Rice this season. If \u00d8degaard maintains his form (which easily guarantees his place in our first eleven on the biggest match days) then I\u2019ll row back hastily on my previous assessment. He looks the player I feared we\u2019d lost, and I bloody love him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noosa<\/strong> – <\/em>Raya, again, although with a couple of brainfades thrown in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice, again. A surprising number of minutes already given previous exertions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most importantly, we\u2019ve got our captain back. We are simply a better team when M\u00d8 is in form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ollie<\/strong> <\/em>– Calafiori. Maybe my new favourite player. I just like his slightly chaotic style, the way he pops all over the place, being skilful enough to make it count in the opposition half too. I hope he stays fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLS. I know it\u2019s a crowded area but I hope he can now play regularly in midfield. Proper Gooner too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard? Yes, definitely, though in his case it is more a return to the form we knew from a couple of seasons ago or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now hoping for an injury-free interlull and the squad feeling refreshed and hungry for the next run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TTG<\/em><\/strong> – We are living through an extraordinary period both in terms of the strength of our own club and the incredible upheaval that we are likely to see in the Premier League this season . Our status as champions is massively satisfying to contemplate but as the Brighton defeat showed we are in a very challenging league and need to maintain standards . A three week interlull has not helped continuity or helped the season to develop a rhythm. When Premier League football resumes, it will be interesting to see what happens on and off the pitch. We are most grateful to our three correspondents and hope that, when football resumes, the Arsenal can drive forwards towards success both domestically and in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This extraordinary interlull – a three week break, just weeks into the season has massively interrupted the flow of the club game. There has been the extra hiatus caused by the C114y scandal, but before that broke we\u2019d actually played some football! Including the Community Shield, we\u2019ve played seven games, winning six. Sadly, the one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14529"}],"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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14529"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14555,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14529\/revisions\/14555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}