{"id":2569,"date":"2021-03-14T21:28:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T21:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2021-03-16T23:41:06","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T23:41:06","slug":"we-won-they-lost-get-over-it-mourinho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2569","title":{"rendered":"We won. They lost. Get over it Mourinho"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"EW5o_0IvThB2cpw6OQ2ZjQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1307055437\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'EW5o_0IvThB2cpw6OQ2ZjQ',sig:'cdg4C-b-kcORF4b-rp_Uao3ar8C_EDeh4jC8f160LzE=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1307055437',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><em><u>Warning notice &#8211; this is a biased, bitchy and very one-sided report<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is an alternative title that I thought about using to reflect the impression that it seemed to me Sky wanted to convey of this game. It is &#8220;Referee robs Tottenham of victory after Lamela brilliance lights up the North London Derby&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I decided to go with the first one largely because it was true, hurtful to Tottenham (never a bad thing) and because I detest Mourinho\u2019s attempt to manipulate the media &#8211; an exercise in which the media (particularly Sky) seem quite complicit. I\u2019m not going to mention Mourinho by name again in this report. He was outcoached today, he managed to get a team including some extremely talented players to be stultifyingly negative and above all&#8230; he lost!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal fans dread this game before it occurs. I\u2019m led to believe S***s fans do too. I had butterflies all afternoon not helped by a poor result in the T20. The stakes are high and pre-match imaginings are always exaggerated. The news that Aubameyang would start from the bench because (as we subsequently found from the Ornacle) he turned up late, again, for a team meeting, was greeted with a mixture of woe and disbelief. It just goes to show that diamond encrusted watches don\u2019t tell the time any better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our line-up was similar to the Leeds game and so was our start. Go figure as Scruz and Bt8 might say. Some observations from the selection were that: Luiz really is a fixture in this team; Cedric is really pushing Hector hard for a starting place and Partey and Xhaka is the preferred pivot in midfield. I would guess Arteta really does want to keep \u00d8degaard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our play throughout the first half was generally excellent. We pressed high and energetically, moved the ball well, often with some terrific long passes from side to side &#8211; take a bow Luiz and Gabriel and our left flank was exceptionally productive as Tierney and ESR tore them to shreds. I form a lot of my opinions on players based on how much bottle and quality they show in the biggest matches. This game is big because it\u2019s them, not because they are a good side. The first half underlined the fact that they aren\u2019t. Our superiority on the left was largely because Bale couldn\u2019t be arsed to track back, probably pining for the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro where he does most of his best work&#8230; with a five iron. What a shameful performance he gave today, looking utterly ridiculous with his nancified top-knot. This left Docherty unable to stem the raging tide that was Tierney and ESR along the left. I understand we looked at Docherty as a right-back option in the past but decided he wasn\u2019t a good enough defender. We got that one very right on this evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the first half-hour the game was incredibly one-sided. Our fears about Tottenham cutting us apart on the transition were unfounded because they very rarely had the ball and if they did it was deep in their own half. We moved the ball fluently, quickly and intelligently and waited for the inevitable to happen. Sadly the inevitable wasn\u2019t what we wanted. ESR rapped the post from twenty-five yards and Lacazette was indecisive a couple of times as we switched the ball across goal. Later in the half an ESR cut-back was dummied (or missed ?) by Lacazette and Cedric rattled the post after being pushed off balance by Lucas Moura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of their big threats was Son, a regular Nemesis of ours, but he pulled a hammy after about 25 minutes and was replaced by another loathsome Tottenham show pony, Lamela. It was almost inevitable that in their first attack of any substance the ball fell to him to execute his trademark Rabona &#8211; trademark because he did it about six years ago (once) and it crept past the unsighted Leno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Tottenham 1 &#8211; Lamela (fluke) 33 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am surprised Sky did not try to extend the half-time break so they could eulogise over it. Hearing other people\u2019s orgasms is never very comfortable (unless you are directly involved in proceedings) and I found myself embarrassed by the ridiculous overhyping by Redknapp, Jones and Dawson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a flashy show-pony\u2019s trick totally against the run of play but we didn\u2019t let it throw us off our stride and after C\u00e9dric rattled the post the brilliant Tierney, basking in the balmy 9 degree heat skipped through again on the left and \u00d8degaard\u2019s effort from his low cross deflected past Lloris &#8211; shame<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 1 Tottenham 1 &#8211; \u00d8degaard 44 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Norwegian is becoming a machine having scored in our last game and he had a fine half, working hard and intelligently. S***s were incredibly lucky to be on terms at the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second half was better balanced but we were still well on top. Saka had been replaced at the interval by Pepe (a Fantasy League point dropped for me) and his control and athleticism were to prove decisive. He controlled a Lloris clearance on 64 minutes and immediately found Lacazette in the inside left channel. Lacazette seemed to have sliced his shot (well he did slice his shot) but he was just about to be cleaned out by the useless Sanchez whose flailing leg caught him around the waist. &#8220;Penalty!&#8221; I cried, and Michael Oliver showed his improvement as a referee by agreeing with me. Lacazette hit a superb low penalty into the right-hand corner to give us the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1 &#8211; Lacazette (penalty) 64 minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As many will know my eldest grandson decided to move to the dark side and he has spent much time showing me rabonas a la Lamela. Apparently even before Lamela\u2019s flukey goal he said to his Dad ( who is responsible for his move to the Scummers) that the Argentinian was heading for a red card. His prediction became reality on 76 minutes when he fended off Tierney high and potentially dangerously and collected a second yellow card after a poor tackle had given him his first. In my opinion Lamela should not be allowed to touch Kieran, he is unworthy and that constitutes a red card in itself in my view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we thought that, that was that, (is that enough thats?) we were wrong. It wasn\u2019t that, in fact it was far from that and the butterflies and sweating resurfaced all over the Goonerverse. Kane ( ex- Gooner as Trev reminded us in his excellent preview) decided to carry the rest on his shoulders, was narrowly offside after a headed \u2018goal\u2019 and went very close on a couple of occasions. The last fifteen minutes seemed an eternity but we survived and we have the bragging rights in North London. So off you go and brag Holics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would praise all our players today but I thought ESR, \u00d8degaard and Cedric were immense and Tierney was utterly outstanding. I\u2019d like to buy him a replacement Tesco carrier bag for his phone and Ipad as a Thankyou!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the &#8216;story&#8217; of this game becomes a referee who gave the game to Arsenal, the media has much to answer for. It should be that a new young progressive coach outthought a biased old has been who will soon oversee an internal implosion which will see his club lose the ground that it gained under Pochettino. As if I could care less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a good night to be a Gooner !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Warning notice &#8211; this is a biased, bitchy and very one-sided report There is an alternative title that I thought about using to reflect the impression that it seemed to me Sky wanted to convey of this game. It is &#8220;Referee robs Tottenham of victory after Lamela brilliance lights up the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","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\/2569"}],"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=2569"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions\/2583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}