{"id":2081,"date":"2020-12-27T07:45:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T07:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2081"},"modified":"2020-12-27T10:31:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T10:31:02","slug":"a-breath-of-fresh-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2081","title":{"rendered":"A Breath of Fresh Air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The moment that in my mind encapsulated the essence of Arsenal\u2019s doldrum-shaking, cobweb-removing, well-deserved victory against Chelsea came around 61st<\/sup> minute. Tierney made one of his signature runs down the left flank and delivered a high quality cross in the middle of the box. Gabriel Martinelli \u2013 surrounded by Chelsea defenders — controlled the ball superbly, set himself up for an overhead kick which he went on to execute with acrobatic precision. The shot \u2013 which was on target and placed well towards the left corner — required a save from Mendy. But there wasn\u2019t enough pace to really trouble the Chelsea goalkeeper. The moment came immediately after that when Gabi was visibly furious with himself for not making this opportunity fully count. It was a delightful display of elite attitude that has been missing through much of the Arsenal team for a while now. (One might even be tempted to say an elite attitude missing through much of the club at every level.) This was Martinelli\u2019s first PL start since his return from long injury, the team was already winning 3-0 to which he has contributed significantly until then. Yet there was not an iota of self-satisfaction, no posturing about \u201csee how cool that was\u201d, no resignation to the fact that such attempts are extremely difficult to score from. Just pure desire to excel at every single action for every single minute he was on the pitch.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That type of positivity, ambition, and drive has been\nsingularly lacking this season. And by their performance today the young Turks\nof Martinelli, Tierney, Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe demonstrated just how much of\na difference that attitude makes. Whereas Tierney and Saka have been the only relatively<\/em>\nconsistent performers of Arsenal team this season \u2013 maybe Gabriel and Leno too\ncan get honorary mention in that category; Partey simply hasn\u2019t played enough\nyet \u2013 this was the first start in PL for both Gabi and ESR, and yet the quality\nand intensity of their performance brought all the more focus to the paucity of\ncreative abilities from their more illustrious colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though I had approached the match with the customary\ntrepidation with which we have taught ourselves to face watching Arsenal in the\nleague nowadays, once the team was announced I started to feel a bit more\nanticipation and excitement than what I was expecting to resign myself to. Even\nthough Gabriel, Partey and Aubameyang all were absent for one reason or\nanother, both the 4-4-1-1 formation and the first starts for both Martinelli\nand ESR at least promised something new, something more adventurous. The rest\nof the starting eleven looked reasonable enough. Mari was the natural\nleft-footed replacement for Gabriel in defense. Xhaka, as expected, got back\nhis (questionable) automatic position after serving a three-match ban for one\nmore needless red card.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellerin \u2013 Holding \u2013 Mari \u2013 Tierney <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka \u2013 Elneny \u2013 Xhaka \u2013 Martinelli <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ESR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacazette <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hector was given the captain\u2019s armband.  And I must say throughout the match he lived\nup to the leadership expectations. Saka more often than not plays on the left\nbut whenever he has been asked to play on the right, he typically makes his\nability to deliver precise crosses with his left foot from an inverted winger\nposition count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal started brightly with a quick attack down the right flank. Hector\u2019s cross in the first minute was semi-cleared by Chelsea defense and Martinelli, though attacking the middle of the penalty box well didn\u2019t anticipate the drop of the ball accurately enough; his attempt at goal was not on target. A first minute attempt to score! The excitement deepened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bright start continued with ESR combining well with Gabi\nand Tierney down the left. Inspired by such display of attacking intent Granit\nXhaka found himself the farthest forward on the left and we witnessed the\nrarity of a Xhaka cutback from the by-lines. From which we earned our first\ncorner at the 5th<\/sup> minute. We took a short corner and Saka\u2019s\npromising cross from the left side was well dealt with by Chelsea\u2019s expert\ndefensive duo in Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of minutes later Chelsea made their first foray\ninto Arsenal half, a raking diagonal cross evading everyone including a Timo\nWerner who found himself with some empty space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 8th<\/sup> minute ESR demonstrated a neat combination of steel and craft \u2013 dropping deep in the middle of the pitch he expertly held off challenges by two Chelsea players to come out with the ball and then earned his team a free-kick.  A minute later Pulisic ran through our midfield and then at our defense, but it seemed that the defensive set-up was acutely aware of the possibility of the talented American dribbling at ease past defenders and they packed the line dense enough to block him. Moments later Gabi showed his defensive strengths on the left flank, dropping deep, winning possession and turning past two Chelsea players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now Chelsea had started to see more of the ball. And a hint of tentativeness crept back into Arsenal\u2019s game. Xhaka made a typical last-ditch tackle that gave Chelsea a freekick from a dangerous position, and Leno was relieved to see Mount\u2019s excellent effort clipping the outside of the post. Couple of minutes later Holding \u2013 who had mostly a very good game, as he has known to do against Chelsea :–) \u2013 panicked a clearance right onto the path of a Chelsea player in Arsenal penalty box, but Hector saw out the danger by expertly defending against Werner.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 16th<\/sup> minute Pablo Mari received Arsenal\u2019s first yellow card for somewhat clumsily bringing Kovacic down to stop against a counterattack. I thought the anticipation of the danger was top notch by Mari, but not the execution of the tackle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were pressing noticeably better, and not just by the\nrelentless Gabi who was often the trigger. There was a well-planned\norchestrated pressing that Laca, Saka, ESR too were executing pleasingly well.\nSometimes Xhaka or Elneny will move up vertically in a darting run to stop any\nfree sidewise rotation of the ball.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacazette was dropping deep to create an overload in the midfield and Chelsea was finding it hard to pass through or release their fullbacks. On the 19th<\/sup> minute, from such an overload Laca expertly stole the ball from two Chelsea players but Elneny failed to spring the counterattack which was opening up with Tierney, ESR and Gabi already on their way. Rather it was Chelsea who found a bit of an extra space and Werner drove inside from the wing with the ball at his feet. Holding made a perfect tackle to deny Werner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of minutes later Holding\u2019s defensive partner managed\nto clear away a tantalizing cross from Chelsea\u2019s right flank that Tammy Abraham\nalmost got to the end of. From the resultant corner Zouma jumped above everyone\nbut headed over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next few minutes there was a flurry of activities in\nfront of the Chelsea penalty box. Lacazette and Martinelli combined well but\nGabi eventually found the Chelsea defensive line too resilient to drive past.\nXhaka tried one of his long-distance shots which was blocked by Chelsea\ndefense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 25th<\/sup> minute came our most promising attack yet. Saka and Lacazette together pressed expertly, forcing a turnover by Chelsea in their own half. Hector picked up the ball and drove straight into their penalty box. ESR ghosted in with a perfectly timed run into the box \u2013 reminiscent of Aaron Ramsey \u2013 but couldn\u2019t quite get his feet sorted out for the close-range effort on goal offered by Hector\u2019s precise cutback. Gabi picked up the ball and attempted a shot from the tight angle, the shot was on target but easily blocked by the Chelsea defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Dixon and his fellow commentator Arlo White jokingly\nreminisced about Arsenal\u2019s 94-95 season when even all the way into March\nArsenal were still just five points away from the relegation zone. Lee wasn\u2019t\nentirely convinced that if Arsenal were to find themselves in such a position\nat the sharp end of this season, they have enough leadership now to actually\nsurvive the scare. But I got a feeling he was playing a little bit to the gallery.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now the match entered a 50-50 stage where both teams were making advances into the opposition box. For us Tierney and Martinelli increasingly were combining well, ably supported by  Smith-Rowe who was showing an awareness of space that must have drawn encouraging bravos from a few Arsenal players past and present \u2013 watching the match in their drawing-rooms — who were known for their preternatural ability to discover or create pockets of space to operate from.  From such a combination we earned a corner on the 31st<\/sup> minute. From the corner \u2013 taken by Saka from the left side \u2013 the ball was kept circulating by Arsenal players and Xhaka found himself with a bit of time with the ball on his feet. He spotted Tierney\u2019s run and provided a delightful defense-splitting pass to find him. Kieran drove with ease into the penalty box past James, who trying to nick the ball away from Tierney\u2019s fit clipped his left heel. Penalty! VAR did a review, but Michael Oliver\u2019s instant decision stood. There really was no complain from the Chelsea defense and the replay was clear in identifying the foul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In absence of Aubameyang and P\u00e9p\u00e9 (and if I may say so, one\nAinsley Maitland-Niles whose coolness probably overshadows the superb technique\nof his penalties), Lacazette was the natural option to step up. He sent Mendy\nthe wrong way and scored his fourth PL goal of the season with a clinical\npenalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 34\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, Gabi and ESR were rotating their positions quite well\nwith a surprisingly good understanding of each other. Martinelli sent a couple\nof quality crosses into the box that were well handled by the Chelsea defense.\nOn the other end of the pitch Holding defended well on the ground against\nWerner, and Mari made an acrobatic clearance from just outside the box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elneny, despite the odd mistake in passing, was playing with attacking intent and in tandem with Xhaka was providing a higher degree of verticality than what we have learned to expect from them. Mo worked well with Hector in the right side of the midfield to keep possession which allowed Saka to run at the defense. Saka was brought down by Kant\u00e9 just a few yeards outside the penalty box. We took a quick corner before the wall was formed but a retake was needed. With both Laca and Xhaka focusing intently on the ball while Chelsea was busy setting up the wall, Xhaka was the one to eventually take the kick and he executed it perfectly. He has scored a few goals for us like this: the freekick had the right combination of power, spin, swerve and dip as it nestled in the top right corner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Arsenal 2\n(Lacazette 34\u2019, Xhaka 44\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half-time ended with Arsenal again attacking down the left\nand Martinelli trying to drive through the defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second half started with Chelsea bringing in Jorginho and Hudson-Odoi for Kovacic and Werner. We were unchanged. We started on the backfoot with Chelsea throwing bodies forward in search of an early goal. Bellerin cleared a cross with a great defensive header. Then Elneny and Holding combined to defend well on the ground in the penalty box and Pulisic and Co. tried to thread through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 52nd<\/sup> minute Rob made a rare mistake but fortunately his bad pass across the defensive third wasn\u2019t punished by Chelsea. Leno showed good readings on a couple of crosses to come out and catch early. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this initial pressure by Chelsea at the start of the second half Arsenal started to move forward again and from our first foray in the Chelsea penalty box Saka scored a sumptuous goal with his right foot. The formation of the attack was quite pleasing too. Hector moved up the flank secure in his knowledge that Elneny is covering for him. Meanwhile ESR had moved towards the right corner whereas Saka drifted inside. Hector passed the ball to ESR who found Saka in some space with his pass. Saka chipped the ball with his right foot over the goalkeeper\u2019s head onto the post and in the net. The commentators simply couldn\u2019t accept that Saka might have meant it and their theory was that it was a cross that fortunately turned out to be this world class finish. However, it looked to me that neither Laca nor Gabi was anywhere close to the far post for Saka to attempt such a deep cross, there were likelier options if Saka wanted to set his teammates up, and the dip on the finish seemed to be quite intentional. In any case it was a fantastic goal by a fantastic young talent.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (Lacazette 34\u2019, Xhaka 44\u2019, Saka 56\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea\n0  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea was throwing tantalizing crosses into the box, but our defense dealt with the flighted balls well. And not just Holding and Mari \u2013 whose height and physicality came in handy \u2013 even Lacazette joined in heading clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by ANDREW BOYERS\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then came Martinelli\u2019s overhead kick attempt \u2013 mentioned at\nthe very beginning \u2013 at the 61st<\/sup> minute, and at this time it looked\nlike we may be able to score one more goal. And we almost did a few minutes\nlater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 64th<\/sup> minute ESR controlled the ball well on the right side of the midfield and following a quick sequence of passes Tierney found himself with space to attack down the left. He cleverly delayed the release of the ball that allowed Gabi to position himself dangerously. Once Tierney delivered his cutback Gabi made space for his shot through the Chelsea defense. The slight deflection on the shot made the save easier for Mendy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after that ESR was replaced by Joe Willock,\nanother of our Hale End graduates. It was a performance of class, poise and\nintensity by Smith-Rowe and he now deserves to be a serious candidate for a\nfirst eleven role in our league matches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 66th<\/sup> minute Xhaka defended well anticipating the path of a cross and calmly cushioning a headed pass back to Leno. A minute later there was another half-chance on the Chelsea end. After Lacazette put Saka through by a delightful one-touch pass, from Saka\u2019s delivery into the box Joe hit over the bar from an acute angle but with only the keeper to beat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 69th<\/sup> minute P\u00e9p\u00e9 replaced Martinelli after an outstanding, scintillating performance on his return to the league starting line-up. Let us hope we can keep him fit, and his energy and attitude inspire the rest of the team, especially those who are in dire need of inspiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea wasn\u2019t looking much threatening as our defense and\nmidfield combined well to cut off Pulisic\u2019s mazy runs or passing lanes for him\nand Mount. They were increasingly reliant on crosses and corners and our\ndefense did just enough to put off Thiago Silva and Abraham to head on target\nfrom such deliveries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 83rd<\/sup> minute Lacazette nearly earned himself a well-deserved second goal. He pressed superbly to force Mendy into a missed pass which Laca intercepted, set himself up and attempted a curler towards the top left corner. Mendy atoned for his mistake with a fine flying save.  A slightly more confident Laca I am sure would have attempted a chip over the goalkeeper\u2019s head. He played very well the whole match, pressing intelligently and tirelessly, dropping back to link up in the midfield, creating fast transitions from midfield to attack, passed well in all areas of the pitch, and a second goal earned by diligence would have been fitting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mendy\u2019s save earned us a corner. After the ball was cleared\nfrom the corner Elneny crashed a thunderous shot against the crossbar and then\nRob\u2019s goalbound attempt was blocked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A minute later Chelsea scored their goal as from close-range Tammy Abraham converted a quality cross. Leno had no chance. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but VAR decided to overrule the assistant referee\u2019s offside decision. It was a true 50-50 and had we dropped points because of that decision we probably would be spending more time talking about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (Lacazette 34\u2019, Xhaka 44\u2019, Saka 56\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 1\n(Abraham 85\u2019) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

P\u00e9p\u00e9 on the left wasn\u2019t displaying the kind of connection\nand understanding Gabi had with Tierney. And he would do well to learn to press\na bit more aggressively. He was merely competent in his 20-odd minutes compared\nto the intensity of Gabi or Saka in the two flanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 91st<\/sup> minute Mari made a clumsy challenge in the box to take Mount down. It was a clear penalty. Up stepped the Brazilian-Italian Jorginho, and Leno \u2013 unimpressed with Jorginho\u2019s unique penalty routine \u2013 judged the direction perfectly and pulled off a smart save low to his left. Leno has been an excellent goalkeeper for us, and in last two seasons he has earned us quite a few points. If we had conceded a goal at that time with 4-odd minutes still to go this could have turned into a very disappointing day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 92nd<\/sup> minute Mustafi came on to replace Laca, who had an excellent overall game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last action of the match came through one more corner\nkick from which P\u00e9p\u00e9 won the challenge in our penalty box, spun around and\nmoved forward sensing a free run at Chelsea goal and was brought down\nimmediately, almost at the same time the final whistle was blown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us hope the performance and the result were as much of a tonic to the squad as those have been to us the supporters. I don\u2019t quite believe that Arteta actually really thinks some of the things he has been saying about too many things going against us for nearly two months now. I am sure he knows we have played well below our potential on paper, and whatever be the many reasons for the woeful performance and results might have been, some changes were evidently necessary. Whether the personnel changes today were forced on him by circumstances or whether they were purely courageous, progressive moves by him is in my opinion a moot point as long as he absorbs the lessons of those changes. There is no alternative to creativity, goalscoring ambition, intensity and willingness to take risks to create chances. Martinelli starting his first league match of the season had more shots on target in 70 minutes of football than his much more illustrious and experienced compatriot in nearly a dozen matches. That is a damning statistic. I am sure in the next 48 hours many such statistical revelations will be made which will all but prove what we saw with our naked eyes: the technical quality combined with a tireless intensity provided by Martinelli, Saka and ESR (and to be fair, also by Laca in this match) against Chelsea far surpasses anything we have seen from our frontline until now, and that reality should find its way through not only the considerations of the manager for the upcoming matches, but also the considerations of the club about how to move forward in the coming days. Who all should stay and who all should go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a sequence of \u201cwinnable\u201d (on paper) matches coming\nup. And I think they would be all the more tricky now because there is always\nthe banana peel of complacency around the corner for Arsenal of the current\nvintage. Mikel and the squad will now have to do absolutely whatever it takes\nto win those matches and hopefully move Arsenal up the table to a little bit\nmore tolerable position. If they need inspiration, they can always watch the\nrecording of this match. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The moment that in my mind encapsulated the essence of Arsenal\u2019s doldrum-shaking, cobweb-removing, well-deserved victory against Chelsea came around 61st minute. Tierney made one of his signature runs down the left flank and delivered a high quality cross in the middle of the box. Gabriel Martinelli \u2013 surrounded by Chelsea defenders — controlled the ball […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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\/2081"}],"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=2081"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2094,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions\/2094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}