{"id":2002,"date":"2020-12-18T21:15:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T21:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2020-12-20T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T16:38:10","slug":"gunners-seek-shiny-stroke-to-sidestep-gooey-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2002","title":{"rendered":"Gunners Seek Shiny Stroke To Sidestep Gooey Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Images by Tony McArdle – Everton FC<\/a> and Peter Cziborra<\/a> via gettyimages<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As if the last month has not been tough enough, Mikel Arteta\u2019s first anniversary in charge is set to be marked by the test of Carlo Ancelotti\u2019s fifth-placed Toffees, kicking off a holiday week including Tuesday\u2019s home League Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City before a Boxing Day derby at Stamford Bridge. The Goodison Park clash will be 15th-placed (!) Arsenal\u2019s third of six games in 17 days leading up to the end of 2020.  
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Arteta was appointed head coach on the 20th of December 2019, when he made a statement that remains as pertinent now as it did then: “I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn\u2019t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture.\u201d 
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In the weeks after Unai Emery\u2019s November 2019 sacking, Ancelotti was often mentioned as the likeliest choice of the more seasoned alternatives, but Arsenal rolled the dice and hired Arteta in his first position as head coach while Everton hired the seasoned Italian the following day. In 12 mostly positive months under Arteta, Arsenal have won the FA Cup, the Community Shield, and shored up their leaky defence, but this season their attack has become increasingly ineffective. Arsenal are on a distinctly dismal run of Premier League form, taking only two of the last 18, and five of the last 27 points on offer with the narrow win at Old Trafford standing out as the only positive outlier in that stretch.  
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Attacking midfielders Mesut \u00d6zil and Matteo Guendouzi, it seems, are among the players who failed to bring enough responsibility, passion or energy in Arteta’s eyes, but capable reinforcements are required in their absence. As Art de Roche wrote December 11 in The Athletic, \u201cArsenal\u2019s main hindrance on the domestic front has been the progression of the ball from the middle third of the pitch to the attacking third. Since switching to a back four after November\u2019s international break, there has been a disconnect in the midfield.\u201d  The Gunners have only managed to score two goals in their last six matches, and eleven goals in thirteen games overall, with the latter figures outranking only the three bottom clubs in the league table.  Our strikers haven’t been getting the service they need, and they haven’t been ready to pounce when occasional chances have arisen, so every Arsenal fan wants to see multiple replications of the sight of Bukayo Saka running at defenders and creating space for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s excellent goal against Southampton in midweek.
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The opposition <\/strong>
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In August and September the media were proclaiming Everton a great success, and Ancelotti as this year\u2019s miracle worker.  After an alarming stretch in and around November when the Toffees won only one of six games, they took a massive six points from their last two fixtures, at home against Chelsea and away at Leicester.  Ancelotti\u2019s team selection against Arsenal must take into account the need to keep players fresh for the Toffees\u2019 quarterfinal Carabao Cup tie against Manchester United next Wednesday.  Maybe Everton will take Arsenal a bit lightly with one eye on Wednesday\u2019s match but I doubt it, unfortunately.
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Everton\u2019s revamped midfield has featured Summer signings Allan, Abdoulaye Doucour\u00e9, and playmaker James Rodriguez, the former Real Madrid gal\u00e1ctico who tallied his entire season\u2019s haul of three goals and three assists by October 17, but due to injury was not in the squad for either of Everton\u2019s big wins this past week.  Gylfi Sigurdsson replaced James and created nine chances which was more than any other player in the league over the last two matches. Sigurdsson scored and Calvert-Lewin won the winning penalty kick against Chelsea last week, and the Icelander is expected to continue in this one.  Starting left-back Lucas Digne, who has provided four assists, has been missing from the squad due to injury for Everton\u2019s last four league games, and against Chelsea they brought in 23 year old right back Jonjoe Kenny alongside Keane, Godfrey, Mina and Keane, who are all listed as center backs.
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Everton\u2019s winning goal at Leicester was scored by Richarlison, the ex-Watford player who has two goals and three assists, but their biggest threat has been 23 year-old Dominic Calvert-Lewin who has an amazing eleven goals and one assist in thirteen league appearances. Arsenal must avoid allowing Alex Iwobi to make it consecutive matches that an ex-Gunner has come back to bite after TW14\u2019s Wednesday exploits at the Grove.  As Allan is currently injured, Andre Gomez has joined Doucoure to form an effective ex-Watford contingent in midfield.
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Team Discipline<\/strong>
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On Wednesday Gabriel became the latest Arsenal player to be sent off after accumulating two yellow cards in quick succession. Last weekend Granit Xhaka was sent off for grabbing a Burnley player\u2019s throat.  Any relationship between Gabriel\u2019s untimely dismissal, Xhaka\u2019s continued foolishness, and Nicolas Pepe\u2019s November 22 red card is for the reader to determine, but Pepe will at least be available for selection at Everton after his three-match suspension. With three red cards in their last five league games, it should be quite obvious that Arsenal cannot expect to move up the table until players stop getting sent off so frequently.
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Team Selection <\/strong>
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Bernd Leno has continued his solid performances and should keep his place in the Arsenal goal.  In central defence, Gabriel is suspended so David Luiz should take his spot. Despite nearly scoring a wonder goal Rob Holding didn\u2019t play his best game against Southampton, but is likely to stay in the team on the right of a back three with the Brazilian in the middle and Kieran Tierney on the left, with wing-backs Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on their flanks. 
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Mohamed Elneny and Dani Ceballos should form the central midfield pairing, as Granit Xhaka serves the second of his three match Premier League suspension. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka, and Alexandre Lacazette are my candidates to line up in a flexible front three.
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Leno<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding  Luiz  Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellerin  Maitland-Niles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elneny  Ceballos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka  Lacazette  Aubameyang
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The Holic Pound<\/strong>
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If an Arsenal player is going to get a red card in this game the most likely candidate to incur one has got to be David Luiz, who should be substituted immediately if and when he gets cautioned by the way, but this could be a featured area of interest for punters.  As to the score, I can\u2019t see Arsenal doing much better than a 1-1 draw so you might consider casting any unwanted earnings that way.  Of course I would be ecstatic to be proved wrong if this is the week we break through with a fistful of gorgeous goals but I\u2019m not really holding my breath. 
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Enjoy the game \u2018holics.  Don\u2019t blink at the good parts, and keep those cheers coming.  
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As if the last month has not been tough enough, Mikel Arteta\u2019s first anniversary in charge is set to be marked by the test of Carlo Ancelotti\u2019s fifth-placed Toffees, kicking off a holiday week including Tuesday\u2019s home League Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City before a Boxing Day derby at Stamford Bridge. The Goodison Park […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002"}],"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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2009,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}