{"id":2243,"date":"2021-01-25T20:58:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T20:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2243"},"modified":"2021-01-28T00:37:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:37:48","slug":"a-half-of-two-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2243","title":{"rendered":"A Half of Two Games?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<center><a id='nzWodcD3Tolml3T-MUTPdA' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/79039690' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'nzWodcD3Tolml3T-MUTPdA',sig:'pHLi0xlzg5jRILWyN19nQeY9nqM2eoZeiFZPmv2h0s4=',w:'594px',h:'471px',items:'79039690',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><p>George Graham celebrates after scoring as Charlie George rushes in with his congratulations, 1972<\/center>\n\n\n\n<p>After Saturday\u2019s FA Cup loss to Southampton we, as Arsenal supporters, can be forgiven a moment\u2019s dismay at our inability to stick at least one by the Saints in the cause of holding on to the cup.  And given we play the same team in the same place on Tuesday, I suggest we keep that dismay to just this moment, and if the squad is feeling it to do the same.  Our rotated squad was not quite good enough to beat their nearly full-strength squad, though Southampton\u2019s lone goal wasn\u2019t anything but a fluke.  In the league I expect our best 11 to be out there, largely rested, dismay set aside, hungry to put the Saints to the sword.  Southampton are without two players who started on Saturday, losing Walker-Peters and Bertrand to injuries (supposedly), in addition to seven others who were already in sickbay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to it, essentially, being half-time at St. Mary\u2019s, Arsenal have finally rung the bell on a major change, with Mesut \u00d6zil leaving the team permanently to Fenerbahce in the S\u00fcper Lig.  He leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of many, yet we should wish him well and give him thanks for the good things he brought to the team.  Had he continued his pace from the first 3 1\/2 years at the club (3 FA Cup victories, most assists and chances created in the League) we could have considered it value for money\u2026as it is, his failure to perform prevented him from even <strong>seeing<\/strong> the pitch for most of the last year.  So, thanks, Mesut, but\u2026you were in no way value for money in the second half of your tenure at Arsenal.  Best of luck with your future on the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where does this leave us ahead of tomorrow\u2019s match?  We saw how Southampton\u2019s pressing played the Xhakneny (\u00a9 GSD) axis out of the game, forcing us to play around or only ponderously through the midfield.  Likewise the lack of inventiveness from Willian and P\u00e9p\u00e9 up front left our forwards without service, without hope, and without goals.  We saw how the substitutions of Partey, Saka, and Lacazette gave us hope in the final 45 minutes Saturday, though it came to nought.  Our injuries are limited to Mar\u00ed and Ceballos, the latter expected to be a matchday decision Tuesday.  The biggest question is, will we have Aubameyang available for selection?  He left the club due to \u201cpersonal reasons\u201d prior to kickoff on Saturday, and it is unknown at this moment if he will play.  The longer we don\u2019t hear the more we have to hope Auba and his family are ok; we know they have the full support of the club, whatever the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What will the lineup for Arsenal look like tomorrow?  With Willian, Pepe, and Nketiah having shown their quality on Saturday, I expect at most they will rest on the bench, if not miss the squad altogether.  Tierney is clearly recovered, having time to play naked in the snow for the cameras (not really, he was celebrating \u201cauld Robbie\u201d wearing shorts and a practice shirt, though I daresay he\u2019d\u2019ve worn flip-flops if he could have gotten away with it).  The biggest questions are in defense and just forward.  Who pairs with Partey, Xhaka or Elneny?  Do we play Bellerin or Cedric?  A single question hovers over the front four, that of Auba\u2019s availability.  In his absence I think Lacazette will get the start, flanked by Saka and Martinelli, with Smith Rowe hopefully performing magic in the hole.  Thus do I expect to see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Leno<br>Bellerin &#8211; Holding &#8211; Gabriel &#8211; Tierney<br>Elneny &#8211; Partey<br>Saka &#8211; Smith Rowe &#8211; Martinelli<br>Lacazette<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bench:  Ryan, Luiz, Cedric, Xhaka, Willock, P\u00e9p\u00e9, Nketiah<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Holic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Arsenal\u2019s case it does seem, at least through the latest fine run of form that ended Saturday, a better offense in front of a good defense leads to success.  The workrate of Smith Rowe, Martinelli, and Saka ahead of the calmness of Partey and the endless energy of Elneny mean our defense shouldn\u2019t see some of the shots against it that could have spelled our doom ahead of their lone goal.  I think we could end this \u201csecond half\u201d of the two games with a 2-0 win, courtesy of Laca and Martinelli.  That\u2019s available at 12s, and if you think we\u2019ll let in a goal but keep the same difference that\u2019s available at 19s.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wherever you are, however you watch, enjoy the game.  COYG! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images George Graham celebrates after scoring as Charlie George rushes in with his congratulations, 1972 After Saturday\u2019s FA Cup loss to Southampton we, as Arsenal supporters, can be forgiven a moment\u2019s dismay at our inability to stick at least one by the Saints in the cause of holding on to the cup. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"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\/2243"}],"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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2243"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2285,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243\/revisions\/2285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}