{"id":1482,"date":"2020-10-04T18:40:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-04T17:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2020-10-09T19:48:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T18:48:30","slug":"blades-blunted-in-second-half-purple-patch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1482","title":{"rendered":"Blades Blunted in Second-Half Purple Patch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We welcomed Sheffield United to the Grove this afternoon\neager to regain league momentum after Monday\u2019s setback at Anfield. Our team\nselection was a slight surprise. Granit Xhaka who quite undeservedly receives\ndogs abuse from some posters (\ud83d\ude03)\nwas left out and Nketiah replaced Lacazette upfront in the centre.  It looked as if we were playing four at the\nback in something close to a 4-2-3-1 but the switching of Tierney and Saka made\nit hard to determine this. Sheffield United\u2019s new signing from Liverpool, Rhian\nBrewster was not signed in time to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game kicked off in a drizzle that created a midwinter scene\nand the pitch was clearly sodden. This created the first incident when Gabriel\narguably underhit a ball back to Luiz and Burke robbed the dilatory Luiz who\nwas slow to react and tugged the striker\u2019s shirt. Leno had a superb starting\nposition and sorted out the problem with a clearance and may have diverted attention\naway from greater scrutiny on Luiz. Certainly his slowness to react put one in\nmind of the disastrous Kola passback at the Lane which he failed to deal with.\nLuiz was lucky and his first half performance was riddled with casual body\nlanguage and slowness to react to danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Arsenal\u2019s dangerous moments (and there were precious\nfew in the first half) came down the left where Tierney and Saka combined well\nand the Scot was always keen to swing in a cross. Aubameyang played a delicious\npass to Nketiah after five minutes but the young striker\u2019s control was\ndisappointing and the chance passed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheffield United are not easy on the eye but grew into the\ngame largely because Arsenal did not impose themselves at all. We moved the\nball slowly in midfield almost as if it was a homage to Xhaka (who may after\nall be acting under orders!)   We have added the long throw to our armoury (at\nleast from the left) where young Tierney hurled in a couple of dangerous balls\nand this was our primary attacking move in the first thirty minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sky graphics showed a very left-sided bias in our build-up and\nalthough we saw a couple of relatively timid efforts by Nketiah we weren\u2019t\nbuilding any pressure and although the Blades were just as stilted in their\nbuild-up Leno flapped unimpressively at a left-wing cross under pressure and\nwas in this old-timer\u2019s view lucky to see a Sheffield United player penalised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of a horrendous first period was Aubameyang\npouncing on a poor Ramsdale clearance and firing a great shot which the keeper just\ntipped over. A scissor kick from Auba aside the half spluttered to an end with\nSheffield United much the happier side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half Time \u2014 Arsenal 0 Sheffield United 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half opened in much the same way as the first\nended but on 53 minutes an incisive pass from Ceballos in the inside left\nchannel just evaded Aubameyang .Whether that galvanised Arsenal or whether it\nwas the introduction of Pepe for the subdued Nketiah on 57 minutes we saw a\ncomplete and decisive change in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 60 minutes Elneny broke forward for the first time and\nAubameyang\u2019s return pass was picked up and crossed by Bellerin for Saka at the\nfar post. There was little pace on the cross but Saka produced an excellent and\nprecise header into the top left-hand corner despite the cover on the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 Sheffield United 0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having waited an hour for some attacking quality we waited\nonly three more minutes for some more. Pepe ran at the Sheffield defence from\nthe right wing going past two defenders and at full speed placed a precise low\ndrive in off the left-hand post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2 Sheffield United 0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It was exactly the\nsort of quality goal Arsenal signed him to produce and very good to see. Having\nplayed twice since Sheffield had last turned out the Gunners understandably took\ntheir foot off the gas but looked relatively comfortable as they passed the\nball around in midfield and regularly turned it back to Leno in goal. I suspect\nLeno touched the ball as much as anyone in the Arsenal team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Wilder who had  brought on McBurnie for Burke went for broke and introduced Billy Sharp giving them effectively three big strikers supplemented by Fleck whose defelckted goal (geddit) had  brought them a lucky equaliser in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their physicality and effort and Arsenal\u2019s relatively defensive approach enabled them to apply some fairly unsophisticated pressure. McBurnie produced their first effort of the match , comfortably saved by Leno in the 77th<\/sup> minute but with around five minutes to go a determined run by Baldock allowed him to feed the ball to McGoldrick and he hit an excellent left-footed shot past Leno. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2 Sheffield United 1 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That cued a degree of panic in this viewer especially as we\nhad to endure a number of corners and long throws from the Blades but we\nmanaged to keep our goal intact despite Ramsdale coming up for the last couple\nof set pieces and the game ended with Arsenal breaking on a Sheffield goal\nwithout a keeper in place . Lee Mason, no fan of us in the past and exceptionally\nlenient in his treatment of the persistent fouling of McGoldrick pissed on our\nchips by blowing the whistle. The goal we may have scored could have given us\nthe title at the end of the season! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we go into the blessed interlull having secured 9 points\nfrom four games and this season have only lost once at Anfield on Monday\nagainst a brilliant Liverpool side. Satisfactory progress particularly as we\nhave also eliminated Leicester and Liverpool on their own grounds from the\nCarabao Cup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So are we happy? Are Arsenal fans ever completely happy? What\nhappens in the transfer window before 11pm tomorrow will determine our mood. On\nthe positive side we are much better organised and much harder to beat but we\nstruggle against the low block at home and in four halves at home we have only\nplayed remotely well in one. Concern has been expressed about Arteta\u2019s mindset\naccusing him of dull football and there is certainly a lot of handbrake being\napplied at the moment but I have enormous faith in the Spaniard tempered only\nby concern that Edu shows little sign of being able to sort out the balance and\ncomposition of the squad and we desperately lack creativity in our midfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are many plus points. Those who say that we are\ntotally dependent on Aubameyang\u2019s goals might care to note that he has only\nscored once so far and I will be calling him into my virtual  office tomorrow to discuss his continued\npresence in my Fantasy League team! We are sharing the goals around and we are\nmuch better organised in possession and defending set pieces. Gabriel is\ncalmness personified and Tierney is, in my view, one of the very best left backs\n(wing or full) in the Premier League. Leno would not have been my choice as\ngoalkeeper over Martinez but he is a fine keeper and Saka is a gem (albeit one\nwho is still relatively unpolished) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Thomas would come to the Partey tonight I would be much\nhappier because our midfield is pedestrian and Willian has only impressed\nagainst Fulham but we have started soundly and as Arteta\u2019s coaching impacts\nmore on the team we should improve. But that improvement without better quality\nin midfield will have a ceiling that is probably below where we would expect it\nshould be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football is changing this season. It is much more attacking,\ndefensive mindsets are eschewed and games are much more open. Given this\nsituation our better organisation should stand us in good stead but we may\ngenuinely compare poorly to our rivals in terms of flair and attractiveness and\nwe can expect that the hypocrites in the media who criticised us in the past\nfor our fragility may soon be bemoaning our dullness. It is a price I am quite\nprepared to pay this season particularly as I have so little respect for the\npundits!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We welcomed Sheffield United to the Grove this afternoon eager to regain league momentum after Monday\u2019s setback at Anfield. Our team selection was a slight surprise. Granit Xhaka who quite undeservedly receives dogs abuse from some posters (\ud83d\ude03) was left out and Nketiah replaced Lacazette upfront in the centre.  It looked as if we were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"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\/1482"}],"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=1482"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1544,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482\/revisions\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}