{"id":3207,"date":"2021-05-07T14:26:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T13:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3207"},"modified":"2021-05-08T05:52:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T04:52:50","slug":"what-now-muchacho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3207","title":{"rendered":"What Now, Muchacho?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"rAHwgWA1TxxDFOu1by_e0Q\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1316684848\" 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:'rAHwgWA1TxxDFOu1by_e0Q',sig:'1I03jAr0IRcVcClnofbyQMj99Jao-RJ-lv93E7I7PFg=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1316684848',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>Well, where do we begin?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a long story. \u201cBegin at the end,\u201d is a good axiom in such circumstances. We drew the home leg of the Europa League semi-final last night. We are out of that competition. Sitting in 9<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;place in the league, we now have little prospect of European football next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a season replete with patchy performances and gaffes, with inconsistency being our only consistency; after a series of \u2018season defining games\u2019 in both the Premier League and the Europa League, we faced yet another \u2018season defining game\u2019. To add spice, or is it irony, this \u2018season defining game\u2019 was against our former coach who came to a sticky end just 18 months ago. GSD summed it up neatly in the preview, as a result of Leno, Saka, P\u00e9p\u00e9, Lady Luck and Emery\u2019s familiar caution (putting Coquelin on for an attacker at HT in the first leg) the tie was still in our hands and at the final whistle we would either be \u201cthe mutt\u2019s nuts or a dog\u2019s dinner\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the team was announced, it was clear that Tierney wasn\u2019t fit enough to start and Xhaka was likely to continue at left back. However, injury to the latter in the warm-up meant that our first-choice left back started. It looked like a \u2018front foot\u2019 team, lining up in a 4-1-4-1: Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Mar\u00ed, Tierney; Partey; Saka, \u00d8dengaard, ESR, P\u00e9p\u00e9; Aubameyang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had hoped for a vigorous start with attackers bringing the game to Villareal and pressurising their defence and especially their dodgy keeper. It was not to be. We started in that all too familiar sluggish mode and handed the initiative to the opposition. Within 5 minutes, Leno had to leap to push away a Chukwueze shot from his left. Early on, it was clear that Partey was having to cover a lot of ground as the solitary holding midfielder because \u00d8degaard and ESR pushed forward when we had possession. In consequence there were acres of space for Pedraza to run into before setting up Chukwueze who was providing Villareal\u2019s main threat. In this early period our main strategy seemed to be a long diagonal ball to Saka wide on the right who regularly found his progress blocked by three opposition players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our first shot on goal was a long looping pass-back from Partey from wide on the left that forced Leno to leap to prevent a spectacular own-goal. For those with long memories think Tommy Gemmell\u2019s spectacular own goal over Bobby Simpson playing for Scotland against the USSR circa 1967-8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A disappointing aspect of this first half was the lack of a high press from the Arsenal forwards giving Villareal defenders ample time on the ball and opportunities to construct their attacks. On the other hand, Villareal\u2019s high press made it difficult for us to play out from the back and the out-ball options for players stuck in our corners were minimal. As the first half approached its halfway point we had had a short spell of Arsenal pressure driven by ESR from the left but we had achieved no service whatsoever to Aubameyang centrally.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 22 minutes, after yet another ineffective attempt to pass our way out led to loss of possession, Parejo bought a dangerous free kick from Partey on the edge of our box. Parejo\u2019s free-kick cleared the wall, looked to have beaten Leno but fortunately cleared the bar as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This seemed to wake us up. After a driving run from Bellerin the ball broke to Tierney whose shot from 25 yards flashed well wide. A spell of Arsenal pressure led to a corner on our left from which the ball finally reached Aubameyang on the right side of the box. His volley with the outside of his right foot curled beautifully through the traffic but struck the keeper\u2019s right post rather than nestling in the far side of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal then seemed to have a stroke of luck. Chukwueze had hitherto been a significant danger leaving Tierney in his wake on break-outs and pulling Partey and or Mar\u00ed out of the middle (making me appreciate Xhaka&#8217;s covering work behind Tierney from left midfield). Chukwueze suddenly collapsed to the ground with no one near him and after treatment was stretchered off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had hitherto done little to deserve such luck with a markedly disjointed performance and P\u00e9p\u00e9 at his most left-footedly frustrating, regularly slowing play down and tentative in movement and decision-making. In truth, our whole build-up play was too ponderous and allowed Villareal to get organised defensively. Our opponent had locked-up the central route, lured us into either flank and then smothered us effectively when we got there. After 30 minutes, in our most important match of the season, we had achieved one attempt on goal, none on target (if you ignore the Partey effort saved by Leno). In contrast, Villareal were pressing high to impede our progress, happily playing the ball round us, breaking quickly and getting numbers forward at speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villareal tested Leno from a tight angle on his left then ESR drove through the middle, found Aubameyang on the left of the box in a position from which he regularly curls the ball inside the far post. However, his right foot shot was blocked by the keeper and although the ball then bounced through his legs, he unfortunately recovered it. Mar\u00ed deflected a shot just past Leno\u2019s post then on the resulting corner Albiol had a shot blocked at the far post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The half ended with some nice interplay on the left from ESR, P\u00e9p\u00e9 and Tierney but, as too often, the cross was blocked for a corner which was effectively dealt with by the Villareal defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A frustrating first half had seen the opposition comprehensively manage our attack and force us into unproductive activity on the flanks. We had produced precious little goalmouth action. Surely, we would be more effective in the second half?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HT: Arsenal 0-0 Villareal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martinelli had an extended warm up during the break but there were no changes at the start of the second half. However, we did start with much more urgency and worked the Villareal defence and goalkeeper more in the first five minutes of the second half than we had in the whole first half. An early cross from Bellerin produced a feeble flap from the Villareal keeper and the ball fell to ESR at the edge of the 6-yard box. His inventive dink over the prone keeper and defenders deserved better than to glide just past the far post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet our flaws continued to threaten to sink us. Overplaying in midfield, an already tired looking Partey unnecessarily turned the ball over, leading to a two man break against one centre back and Leno. Fortunately, Moreno produced a weak effort that Leno gathered gratefully. That was a Get Out of Jail card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten minutes into the second half and the game was getting stretched. Frankly, it looked like kids playing \u2018next goal the winner\u2019 except of course, Villareal didn\u2019t need to score to win the tie. Partey was looking very tired \u2013 he\u2019s never produced 90 minutes of energetic play in an Arsenal shirt but the demands of being a solitary holding midfielder covering all that ground seemed unsurprisingly to have sapped his energy by the early second half. Once again, he gave away possession in a dangerous position, this time on the edge of our own box with a bizarre miskick. Fortunately, it came to nought but shortly afterwards Leno had to touch away a threatening cross-shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the hour approached we were looking generally less energetic and the \u2018hand-brake\u2019 was back on. We had lapsed back into sloppy turnovers and no coherent passing moves. Our haplessness seemed almost to be epitomised by a heavy back pass from Holding leading to a heavy touch from Leno who landed on his backside hastily clearing it under pressure from an opposition forward. By now we weren\u2019t even getting crosses in any more (unproductive though they had hitherto been) as the defenders in yellow became even more effective at suffocating our wide men with numbers. Meanwhile the central route remained firmly locked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martinelli was brought on for a by now anonymous \u00d8degaard on 66 minutes in the hope that he would provide the penetration that was hitherto absent. He took the wide left position and P\u00e9p\u00e9 switched to the right with Saka dropping back to left midfield. At 70 minutes, a Saka free kick from wide left was headed over by Holding who shortly thereafter headed wide a curling right-sided P\u00e9p\u00e9 cross from the edge of the box. On either side of the latter Partey had two efforts on goal from the edge of the box. Amazingly neither struck Row Z, the first decent effort being deflected for a corner, the second only a kick on a defender\u2019s foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With 15 minutes to go it all felt rather desperate. Martinelli fired a cleared corner well wide from the edge of the box. Then came the moment when, if you like, the fates deserted us. We broke swiftly out of defence and Aubameyang met Bellerin\u2019s cross in front of goal. It wasn\u2019t a perfect header but the ball looped past the keeper and spun onto the far post. Sadly, the ball then spun out rather than in and the ball was cleared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 80 minutes, Lacazette and Willian came on for Aubameyang and Tierney with Saka dropping back to left wing back and Willian taking a left midfield position. Nice work on the right led to a deft chip from ESR to Lacazette in the centre of the box but he ended in a crumpled heap with a foul awarded to the opposition. Willian then produced a nice chip from the left into the centre of the box that forced a defender to head for a corner which sadly came to nought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With three minutes left, hope sprang eternal as I thought of those epic last minute goals that Arsenal have scored in the past to take the fat out of the fire. However, I also thought of my dear old Dad\u2019s wise words to a similarly hopeful teenager in a similar circumstance in the 60\u2019s: \u201cThat team has been trying to score for 87 minutes. What makes you think they\u2019re going to score in the last 3 minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Willian cross into the box was picked up by Lacazette who immediately bumped into Martinelli with the ball breaking to Bellerin whose firm shot was blocked. Shortly thereafter, P\u00e9p\u00e9 picked out Bellerin with a cut-back from the bye-line but another firm shot was blocked by Coquelin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 90 minutes, the master tactician Unai Emery made two defensive substitutions and Arteta replaced Bellerin with Nketiah. In the 5 added minutes, Leno had to sprint out of his box to clear a long pass to a runner in yellow. The game then wound down to a soggy end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FT: Arsenal 0-0 Villareal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In answer to the question in GSD\u2019s preview. It was a dog\u2019s dinner. Even then there were so few strands of meat that it would have been quite unpalatable to a red-blooded canine. This was our sixth consecutive home game without a win and we had produced only 2 shots on target and just 4, including a penalty, across the two legs!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either our ex-coach out-thought our current coach or we have recaptured our pre-Christmas inability to create chances and Villareal simply took advantage or it\u2019s a bit of both. We certainly looked lost at times. Villareal engaged us high up the pitch and we often couldn\u2019t get out. On the occasions we did they directed us into the flanks and with increasing success blocked the cross or took the ball back. They effectively blocked passes to Aubameyang who as a result had only 14 touches in 80 minutes. Whenever they took the ball back, we rarely put the Villareal defenders under pressure giving them ample time to construct attacking moves. When Villareal moved forward it was clear that Partey was isolated and was being asked to cover too much space. I increasingly began to appreciate Xhaka&#8217;s contributions as this game progressed.  Our midfield simply didn\u2019t have the right balance with \u00d8degaard and ESR neither offering protection for the back four nor pressing enough further forward. Basically, Villareal dictated the way the game evolved both when they had possession and also when they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the culmination of a very disappointing season and several years of astonishing decisions at the top. This season we have broken so many unwanted records that I have lost count. We are not in transition. We are heading for the wilderness familiar to fans in the 60\u2019s and early 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are left only with questions about the club to which we have individually hitched our hopes and tribal identity because of its values, its style of play or our own family\u2019s traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the owners appreciate their responsibilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do they or we have the patience to allow our tyro coach to continue to learn on the job?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the owners dispense with the coach, do we trust their ability to appoint people who are good at their jobs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really don\u2019t know the answers to any but the third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE ONE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven\u2019t yet watched our exclusive video of Bob Wilson and Pat Rice\u2019s conversation about the \u201970-71 League Campaign, click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>\u201cEpisode One: We Won the League at White Hart Lane\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video oncontextmenu=\"return false;\" controls=\"\" controlslist=\"nodownload\" preload=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ghf_ep1_league_at_whl.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, watch here:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wJDv-LBxMnY\">Episode One: We Won the League at White Hart Lane<\/a>\u201c<\/strong>&nbsp;(on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you\u2019re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For the fans&#8217; perspective of that historic campaign, <strong>click the image below<\/strong> to read our recently published blog.  And, as well as <em>sharing your own<\/em> <em>reminiscences<\/em> about that famous night at the Lane, do let us know what you think of Episode 1 of The Conversation in the Drinks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3115\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-05-at-13.13.31.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-05-at-13.13.31.png 644w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-05-at-13.13.31-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-05-at-13.13.31-75x42.png 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>THE AUCTION<\/strong>: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/auctionitems-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2891\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia&nbsp;<strong>is now open for bids!<\/strong>&nbsp;For full information, please visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?page_id=2492\">The Double\/Willow Auction<\/a>&nbsp;tab above.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just a taste\u2026the lots offered are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lot 1<\/strong>: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham &amp; Charlie George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lot 2<\/strong>: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham &amp; Charlie George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lot 3<\/strong>: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham &amp; Charlie George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lot 4<\/strong>: Bob Wilson\u2019s autobiography, \u2018Behind the Network\u2019 signed by Bob Wilson &amp; Ars\u00e8ne Wenger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"534\" height=\"154\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/image.jpeg 534w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/image-300x87.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/image-75x22.jpeg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Well, where do we begin?&nbsp; It\u2019s a long story. \u201cBegin at the end,\u201d is a good axiom in such circumstances. We drew the home leg of the Europa League semi-final last night. We are out of that competition. Sitting in 9th&nbsp;place in the league, we now have little prospect of European [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"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\/3207"}],"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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3207"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3272,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions\/3272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}