{"id":2221,"date":"2021-01-22T15:29:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T15:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2221"},"modified":"2021-01-23T16:19:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T16:19:51","slug":"arsenal-vs-southampton-or-shrewsbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2221","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal vs Southampton (or Shrewsbury)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Credit: David Price<\/a> \/ Contributor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been almost normal lately, after our recent run of better results, if not always better performances, to state that \u201cthis could have been a different report had we not beaten ……….\u201d. (fill in the name of your favourite victim).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well this could have been a very different report had Shrewsbury beaten Southampton on Tuesday evening. I was, in fact, very much hoping that Shrewsbury would triumph and therefore be the subject of this preview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why ? Because Shrewsbury would have provided the perfect opportunity to link our next FA Cup tie with the other most important event of this week – the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how are they linked, I hear you asking ? Oh, yes you are ! (That season may actually have finished now, I realise \ud83d\ude09) Ok, the link is a complicated one but bear with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Shrewsbury famous for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Shrewsbury has played a part in Western intellectual history, by being the town where the naturalist Charles Darwin was born and brought up. I am very pleased about this because it provides the perfect excuse to weave in another little story about another kind of Darwin. It involves the famous, or infamous, Darwin Awards which, for those who don\u2019t know, are handed to people who commit exceptionally stupid acts, whereby they inflict fatal injuries on themselves. This particular instance involves one of Joe Biden rival, Donald Trump\u2019s warriors, who attacked the White House on 6th January brandishing a taser gun. Our, er, hero set the weapon off accidentally and shot himself in the testicles – a feat which caused him such pain that he died from the resulting heart attack. There are no words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we are supposed to not be discussing Shrewsbury, which is also home to the Ditherington Flax Mill, the world’s first iron-framed building, which is commonly regarded as “the grandfather of the skyscraper”. So had we conceded the first goal of the game, we could have found ourselves with a tower block to climb, if not a mountain. And so, there were so many reasons to have wanted us to be playing the Shrews, or Salop, which is their correct and the most uninspiring nickname I think I\u2019ve ever heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club is nicknamed Salop, meaning \u2018from Shropshire\u2019 the county in which Shrewsbury is located. In 1972 it became the official county nickname but has been that of the football club for some years. Salop is taken from the Latin translation of \u2018Floreat Salopia\u2019 – flowers or thrives with Shropshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrewsbury play in blue and amber, colours which are not exactly unfamiliar to the Arsenal in the FA Cup, although the League One club\u2019s strip is more a vertical stripy ensemble. They used to play in League One at Gay Meadow, nestled by the side of the River Severn, but times change and they now play in League One at New Meadow by the side of the railway line which runs from the west of London, past Shrewsbury and on to Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we are playing Southampton, but I wrote all this in advance, knowing I had a week in which a year\u2019s accounts had to be done and both daughters had to be accompanied to lengthy medical appointments, though nothing serious, thank goodness. Having made all the effort, I\u2019m damned if it\u2019s all going in the bin. File it under general disinterest and move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southampton seem a less interesting, if more testing opponent, particularly as they will also be our next opponents in the Premier League, a mere 3 days later and again at the St Mary\u2019s stadium, and you wouldn\u2019t want to be reading all about them twice, now would you ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theo Walcott, old favourite \/ pantomime villain, – oh, yes he was ! – is down there now, having returned to the place of his footballing naissance. It would be fun to see him toughing it out with Kieron Tierney, a man who actually eats iron girders for breakfast and skis in the Cairngorms, but only if it\u2019s cold enough, wearing only his underpants and with his lift pass stapled to his forehead. Will either of them play though ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being \u201conly\u201d the FA Cup, that is the question. Personally, I hope we go with a strong side. Winning is a habit and we should want to keep our current run going – plus continued presence in the cup competitions is good for morale and does give a chance for the squad players to be involved, should we face weaker opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how do we attract this weaker opposition – something we don\u2019t seem very good at ? The answer is balls. Either get someone to warm up our ball in the draw – the traditionally favoured method – or get them at the last minute to swap our numbered ball with that of Totteringham – they seem extremely good at attracting very much weaker opposition. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from Theo, they have proverbial thorn-in-our-side, if seemingly nobody else\u2019s, 33 year old Shane Long, who usually gets subbed on to score one of his two goals a season against us. He must surely be getting past it though, being Long in the tooth an\u2019all. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also have Danny Ings, another returnee to the south coast where it all started for him at Bournemouth in 2006. I\u2019m not too worried about him as we all know \u201cIngs ain\u2019t what he used to be\u201d, as this fella tells us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3D3MA-0Ob1goI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, it\u2019s Fings ! – still works for me though \ud83d\ude09 It seems his future at Southampton may be in doubt, as the player wants to play in the Champions League. He\u2019s 28 years old now, so it\u2019s probably now or never, but if the club courting him again turns out to be Totteringham continuing their interest of last summer, it\u2019ll most likely be never. On a serious note, Ings has been suffering from Covid-19 though, was missing from Tuesday\u2019s side and is unlikely to feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main Southampton threat is likely to come from James Ward-Prowse, whose party piece is the long range free kick, one of which finally defeated Shrewsbury in Tuesday\u2019s replay. I somehow still think of him as a youngster in the Southampton team but he is 26 now – where does it go ? – and has played 250 games for them. Surprisingly, he has only recorded 26 goals though, a touch under a goal every ten games, so if we can avoid giving free kicks away around the edges of our 18 yard area, he may not be such a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southampton last won the FA Cup on 1st May 1976, beating Manchester United 1-0 in a shock victory as they were in the old Second Division at the time. They have never won it since. We, of course, have lifted the trophy a record 14 times, including wins in 2014, 2015, 2017 and a debut season victory for Mikel Arteta last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

League form may not count for much in the Cup but, if it does on this occasion, we are in for a close fought match. The Saints sit one place above us in 9th after a strong start to the season, and have scored 26 times, conceding 21. We have scored 23 times and conceded 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Teams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t appear to have any new injuries following the Newcastle game, so the sick room card school will be down to just two players, limiting possible games to Snap and Beat Your Neighbours – and it\u2019s always good fun to do that !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani Ceballos has a tight left calf and will continue to be assessed and tested before the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pablo Mar\u00ed has a mild right calf strain and is hoped to be back in training next week – so out for Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southampton were without Danny Ings, Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu, Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo and Mohammed Salisu for the game against Shrewsbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, manager Ralph Hasenh\u00fcttl says, \u201cmaybe on Saturday,\u201d of potential return dates. \u201cThe earliest return will be Ingsy, then Moussa maybe, with Ori and Reddy also in this group. Then maybe Jannik, but that can be in February, and Salisu is still longer out with a muscle injury\u201d. I would guess, on that basis, that we can expect to see Ingsy, Ori, Reddy and all the resty, fit and er, Reddy to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfielder Will Smallbone, who I have to confess I have never heard of, has incurred an ACL injury, so will be out for many months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team selection will be interesting, especially as it\u2019s a cup game and we face the same opponent in three days time in the league. I thought Soares did very well against Newcastle and could get the nod over Bellerin, who hasn\u2019t been at his best for a while. Tierney might be rested to protect his fatigued calf, which can only really mean Maitland-Niles in at left back. Holding could be protected ahead of Tuesday too. This is probably our best chance of a trophy this season but I do think Arteta will go with a \u201ccup side\u201d.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Soares Luiz Gabriel AMN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willock Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a guess, and also protects Partey, Saka and ESR but it could easily be miles out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our record against Southampton in the FA Cup is P5 W4 D1 L0 GF11 GA2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Premier League it is currently much closer and the proximity of the two teams is reflected in the odds on offer this weekend. Paddy Power are offering 2\/1 on a Southampton win, 23\/10 on the draw, and 13\/10 on an Arsenal victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you fancy an early punt on us to retain the trophy, you can get between 9\/1 and 12\/1 as we are 5th or 6th favourites, depending on where you look.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kick-off is on Saturday 23rd January at 12.15 (UK time). TV by BT Sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referee is Peter Bankes, 4th official is Graham Scott, VAR is David Coote – just in case you care.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy the game, \u2018Holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been almost normal lately, after our recent run of better results, if not always better performances, to state that \u201cthis could have been a different report had we not beaten ……….\u201d. (fill in the name of your favourite victim). Well this could have been a very different report had Shrewsbury beaten Southampton on Tuesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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\/2221"}],"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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2221"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}