{"id":302,"date":"2020-02-17T00:48:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T00:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/goonerholics\/?p=302"},"modified":"2020-02-17T00:48:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T00:48:44","slug":"the-lessons-they-learned-in-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"The Lessons They Learned in the Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Dr. Faustus, the younger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was supposed to write this match report from a hotel room in India, in the middle of the dark night, my creativity fueled by sleeplessness, drinks, and a long day of visiting friends and relatives that despite sapping physical energy \u2013 or maybe, because of that \u2013 tends to light up the imagination. Bereft of such natural stimuli, a couple of untimely shots of espresso are my inspiration in this grey Boston afternoon. Also, an ecstatic eight-year-old boy who has been doodling cartoon of his heroes, Auba and Laca, reenacting their inimitable handshake, the drawing further decorated by a stick figure of D\u00fabravka lying helplessly inside his own goal. And, of course, an inspirational<\/em> second half performance from our beloved The Arsenal.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days before we were talking about what (he wanted to know) I remember to be our best performances at Emirates. The come-from-behind 2-1 win against that<\/em> Barcelona vintage \u2013 one of the greatest club teams in history \u2013 in 2011 was at the top of my list. Coincidentally that match was played on 16th<\/sup> February as well. That team of promising young Turks never really achieved anything memorable at the end of season, and soon afterwards for one reason or another most of them had left the club and the club entered a new phase, not relying entirely on young talents but carefully and judiciously adding established players: a few glamorous effervescent talents of world football (\u00d6zil, Alexis) as well reliable, and intelligent professionals who are less of world stars but no less valuable. Of the latter type, Mikel Arteta was the perfect example. As a player he was an excellent leader even before he was made the club captain, and his intensity, commitment, seriousness, intelligence \u2013 all ably supported by high quality technical abilities and tactical awareness \u2013 had helped the club to get out of an alarming little phase of footballing chaos and continue its reputation as a progressive, creative footballing team that had helped to attract talents like Cazorla or \u00d6zil or Alexis later, and we had enjoyed three FA cup successes in quick succession, continued champions league football and the metronomic regularity of St. Totteringham\u2019s Day. Arteta the captain had shown such a genuine love for club and had embraced its values with such wide open arms that it had felt inevitable when he left that he will be back one day patrolling the touchline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I personally was fine with that stature of our club \u2013 an attractive football team winning cups, playing in Champions League, making incremental progress towards winning the league back again. But of course football, like life, doesn\u2019t move in a continuous upward curve and the ones that can respond to the inevitable downward slopes with patience, fortitude, and intelligence, and then fight for their core values while remaining open to necessary changes are the ones who eventually come back up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last three years have been the longest few in my Arsenal supporting life. A lot has really happened off the field and irrespective of how we may individually feel about each of the decisions being made by the club one thing was becoming clear that as a football team we were falling headlong into a dysfunction that very swiftly went from alarming to catastrophic. Forget the results: the football was unwatchable. Unwatchable for the entirety of the match, match after match. No creativity, no shape, no structure, no spirit and no discipline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In matters Arsenal I choose\nto be an optimist, so I have been encouraged by how Mikel had gone about\nreversing the trend. With iron hands in velvet gloves approach towards his\nplayers, an uncompromising demand on commitment, discipline and work-rate, and a\nfootballing vision that carries the imprints of his two great mentors in Wenger\nand Guardiola he has been able to inspire a few halves or good performances\nsince he joined, but a result like today\u2019s was absolutely necessary to convince\nthe players themselves and then transmit that belief fully to the supporters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team selection was\ncurious, but not inexplicably so. Steve Bruce\u2019s Newcastle was expected to play\nwith two deep banks of four players, so having Ceballos \u2013 in the post-match\ninterview Arteta praised Dani had apparently \u201ctrained like an animal\u201d \u2013 linking\ndefense into attack and moving the ball fast vertically instead of a\ntraditional deep-lying protector in Torreira made sense. Laca\u2019s recent wretched\nform in front of goal meant sooner or later he will miss out on the starting\nline-up. But it was unexpected to see Nketiah down the middle whereas most of\nus would have probably played Martinelli on the left and Auba down the middle. Probably\nMartinelli was being saved for the important Europa match where being the away\nteam he will have the space to attack in front of him and his directness and\npace will be more of a threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the team, from left to right: Leno; Saka, Luiz, Mustafi, Bellerin; Xhaka, Torreira; Aubameyang, \u00d6zil, Pepe; Nketiah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half was a slow affair, where despite us having majority of the possession there was neither incisiveness nor any genuine quality in the final third. Newcastle defense was well-organized and balls moving slowly and\/or sideways didn\u2019t create too much of an alarm for them. Ceballos and \u00d6zil both were enjoying a lot of possession but there was not enough movement off the ball for them to open up spaces. Rather, the first real goal threat came from Newcastle around 14 minutes when a cleverly taken corner resulted in a deflected shot off Ceballos\u2019 head that Leno had to jump acrobatically towards his left to save. The awareness that the team cannot just wait for things to happen and they need to force the issue may have clicked on a few players\u2019 mind then and there was an increase in intent. Saka, not for the first time this season, looked the liveliest and the likeliest to make something happen. Around 20 minutes he cut inside and his rasping shot flew over the bar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a few exchanges of corners, including an excellent one by Pepe from which  a more alert David Luiz may have had a chance to work the goalkeeper. Arsenal was structurally solid and kept their defensive shape and discipline for the most part \u2013 though in all fairness it was a relatively easy thing to do as the only genuine threat came from the mercurial Saint-Maximin who was giving Bellerin a harder time than Hector had probably expected \u2013 except for an unnecessary pull-back in the middle of the pitch in a truly Xhaka-esque manner by none other than the man who probably invented the art of needless yellow cards, Granit Xhaka himself. But credit to him for not repeating any more moments of thoughtlessness in the rest of the match, and being not only neat and tidy on the ball but also imaginative in the second half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Mason \u2013 the eight-year-old\nquips that he looks like an overgrown baby; sorry Lee the primary school\nsarcasm is brutal :–)  \u2013 was easily\nbuying into the theory that wispy Dani is pushing and tackling the large unit\nof Saint-Maximin so much that every-time they came together Newcastle earned a\nfoul. Hope Dani doesn\u2019t get into his head that he has some kind of a magical\npower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the attack was not quite coming together there was a good link-up play between \u00d6zil and Nketiah from which Nketiah\u2019s effort flew straight to D\u00fa<\/span><\/span>bravka. Ceballos with his nifty little turns, ability to suddenly accelerate and good close-control \u2013 reminiscent of the irreplaceable (at least, not yet replaced) Cazorla \u2013 maintained a measure of control over the middle of the pitch which was allowing \u00d6zil to float between the two banks of defenders and picking up ball in spaces. I think this is the first time in this season Mesut \u00d6zil could play as Mesut \u00d6zil, thriving in the ambiguity of space and using the positional discipline of defenders and defensive midfielders against themselves, and not having to continuously drop deeper to pick up the ball brought out the occasional luster to his game which has been missing for a very long time.  We are probably never going to see the \u00d6zil of 15-16 season again but maybe in this (most likely) swansong of a season he can leave behind more indelible memories.  The half ended with a promising moment: a great free-kick by Pepe that was saved finger-tip by D\u00fabravka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The half-time break felt\ninterminable as the TV pundits on the studio were being a tad bit too critical\nof what has been until then admittedly a blunt attack, but more so because of\nthe repeated showing of some irrelevant club in North London winning away at\nmighty Aston Villa with a last minute goal. The eight-year-old was half\nresigned to one more draw, and as the teams appear back on the TV screen his\nplea of just scoring a goal touched both my heart and nerves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team started the second\nhalf brightly. I guess just like it happened in the Leeds match the team was\nreminded at the break that they have a responsibility to live up to their\nabilities. An excellent move down the right by Pepe led to what seemed like an\neasy chance for Nketiah who somehow managed to hit the cross-bar from point\nblank range. Pepe was growing in the game and it was noticeable that there has\nbeen a conscious tactical tuning to the team\u2019s attacking play: instead of using\nthe right side merely as bulwark and\/or decoy and asking Pepe to cover the\nentire right side and hence use him primarily in the role of defending from the\nfront while the left side creates the chances, Pepe as a creative winger was\nbeing ably supported by both Nketiah coming out to his right and Hector\noverlapping. Xhaka had by then assumed his customary \u201cleft back\u201d role, pushing\nSaka forward and essentially using Nketiah and Auba as a strike partnership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increased tempo and an improved movement off the ball led to our first goal around 53 minutes. Pepe floated in an accurate but otherwise innocuous looking cross which Auba attacked over the head of their right back and headed back across masterfully into the goal beyond the outstretched left arm of D\u00fabravka.  In post-match interview Auba confessed he has been practicing that particular header. He doesn\u2019t score many headed goals, this particular route can become another productive avenue for him, especially given that he will generally outjump most right backs even if he starts behind them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second goal was a thing\nof beauty. Auba and Saka exchanged passes down the left and Saka found himself\nnear the by-line with two defenders around him, a classy nutmeg through the\nlegs of one and then his pin-point cutback curled emphatically by Pepe\u2019s left\nfoot. Interestingly Mustafi of all people was actually in the penalty box at\nthat time and whether that was intentional — to create diversion as Pepe\nattacked the empty space quickly to reach the ball even before defenders could\nrealize what was happening \u2013 or not, it worked beautifully. 56 minutes, we are\nup 2-0, and Pepe (unfairly criticized in my opinion as I think he will become a\nhighly effective and productive player once he becomes familiar with the league)\nwith a goal and an assist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the second goal the\nteam started to show signs of uncertainty. They are still carrying scars of awful\nthings happening earlier in the season and were visibly unsure about how\nexactly to approach the rest of the game. However, the coolness of Xhaka, Luiz\nand Mustafi (despite a couple of stray passes), and truly wonderful control of\nball and tempo by Ceballos slowly helped us back regain the domination. In\nbetween Newcastle fashioned out a few good moves, including a very impressive\nSaint-Maximin hitting the bar after a great run. Leno was beaten and, on\nanother day, it could have ricocheted off to a defender or Leno into the goal. But\ngiven what the team has been through they deserved a little bit of good fortune.\n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the team started to control the game again Saka went on a mazy run and was almost through to the penalty box but a collision of legs left him in the heaps. He was probably marginally more to blame for the coming together. But it once again showcased his prodigious talent. With cotton wool in one of his nostrils, he was back on the pitch relieving us all of any potential injury fears. Around 82 minutes Ceballos was replaced by Torreira. He left the field among ringing applause of appreciation. I am one of those who think if Real Madrid sanctions it we should get him on a permanent basis. The class, the ability, the quality are all there and he is quite the fighter.  Around 85 minutes Nketiah was replaced by Lacazette. The boy said hopefully he will score a goal today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which he did. But before that he provided a neat assist to someone else who also needed a goal very much. For all his technical abilities, awareness of space, and ability to move away from his markers Mesut \u00d6zil doesn\u2019t score enough goals. Even in his pomp he was happier providing the assist than scoring and I remember Arsene openly cajoling him in public interviews to take more shots himself. He has scored quite a few memorable goals for us but just like his assists his goal scoring too has dropped off vertiginously in the last couple of years. As mentioned earlier he played a lot more like the old Mesut \u00d6zil today \u2013 not just in all those touches and glides which never deserted him even in the bad days but more in creating opportunities in the final third with Ceballos providing him the midfield foundation so that he can afford the unpredictability of his movements without costing the team defensively \u2013 and the cute finish that slipped past D\u00fabravka brought a visible smile of joy and relief to his face. He likes those unconventional \u201cdropped shot\u201d finishes, sometimes they don\u2019t work at all and I am not convinced today it worked fully, but just enough to put D\u00fabravka off. After scoring the goal Arteta took \u00d6zil off so that he could leave the field with standing ovation. Willock came in for him with just a few minutes to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it happened. Around the fifth\nminute of the stoppage time, Lacazette, our player of the season last year,\ngoing through the most barren patch of his entire career, always working hard\nbut every single missed opportunity visibly draining away his self-confidence,\nfinally scored a goal. Another excellent move down the right with Willock feeding\nPepe who provided a simple cut-back to Laca from which he scored. It was a most\nun-Lacazette like finish. He doesn\u2019t score many from scuffed shots or tap-ins,\nhis shots in or around the penalty box are almost always emphatic. This one was\na somewhat hilarious exception: he miskicked his right foot shot on his left\nfoot and the ball looped and spun straight into the top corner. His elation,\nshared by everyone in the team, and the collective release as they celebrated jubilantly\ntogether was a joy to watch. That camaraderie is what often makes the difference\nbetween success and failure in a team sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 4 \u2013 Newcastle 0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goals: Aubameyang (assist Pepe), Pepe (assist Saka), \u00d6zil (assist Lacazette), Lacazette (assist Pepe). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an Arsenal fan had spent\nthe last year or so in a silent meditation retreat and he was treated to this\nresult after his first day back joining the human chaos, he will take it as just\nanother day at the Emirates. As it should always be. Arsenal, with those players\nplaying together in attack, should more often than not have results like this\nat home. But the rest of us shouldn\u2019t easily forget the ineptitude of last one\nyear and should not take this for granted. I am certain that the Arteta\nrevolution will gather momentum and the team will continue to get better, but\nwhenever the occasional bad performance and bad results come about, we should still\nstand by the team and the manager, and not forget that for nearly the entire\nspan of 2019 this team\u2019s performance was no better than that of a relegation\ncandidate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we go on a run in PL,\nEuropa, and FA cup now? If the team can resurrect something tangible from this\nseason then it will be proudest moment of an eight-year-old boy\u2019s Arsenal supporting\nlife. And we all can start believing that we are back, or on our way back,\nwhere we belong. We belong among the best not because of any misplaced sense of\nentitlement, but because this is a club that, despite everything that has\nhappened in recent past, champions and represents the best values of the game\nthat we all love: creativity, camaraderie, discipline, harmony. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was supposed to write this match report from a hotel room in India, in the middle of the dark night, my creativity fueled by sleeplessness, drinks, and a long day of visiting friends and relatives that despite sapping physical energy \u2013 or maybe, because of that \u2013 tends to light up the imagination. Bereft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302"}],"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=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}