{"id":3810,"date":"2021-08-21T18:46:26","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T17:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3810"},"modified":"2021-08-23T09:54:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T08:54:04","slug":"inching-towards-an-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3810","title":{"rendered":"Inching Towards An Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On an early Spring morning \u2013 twenty-fifth of March to be precise \u2013 in Saint Petersburg one Major Kovalev — who is of an inferior rank but happy to have others think of him as a major and in any case such distinctions can easily get blurred in the real world of imagination \u2013 wakes up to a startling realization, which soon turns into a frantic desperation, that his nose has somehow slipped out of his face. And nose here is not a signifier for such secondary things like sense of smell, or danger, or intuition; but the actual anatomical part of Kovalev\u2019s face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later out in the streets, covering his flattened face by a scarf, Kovalev finds his renegade nose to be sauntering around as a high ranked state councilor and cannot quite articulate his demand with sufficient authority to force a reunion with his face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately the life of an Arsenal supporter watching the team in action on matchday has not been entirely dissimilar to Kovalev\u2019s experience of looking at the mirror on that fateful March morning in Saint Petersburg. The team is wearing red-and-white \u2013 or yellow, or electric blue, or \u2026 in any case something that has the Arsenal name and crest on the shirt \u2013 and contains players that we recognize as Arsenal players. They are playing football, the game we love, and now and then are creating momentary sparks of recognizable brilliance. But overall, the nose is missing, and we look for it. The seeking starts with hope that soon turns into frantic desperation. And sometimes, to our horror, we see the nose dressed up in our opposition\u2019s jerseys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The current transfer window has been one of Arsenal\u2019s best in terms of incoming players. Not because of the number we have signed but because of the clear and concrete strategic planning towards squad building that has evidently informed each signing. No more chaotic attempts to bring in established stars (sometimes past their prime) in desperate hope of getting back to the Champions League but both a genuine acknowledgment that the squad needs to be patiently rebuilt and a willingness to do the hard work outside and inside the training ground towards that goal. It is too early to say whether the pieces so painstakingly being assembled will eventually fit together to create the kind of seamless whole that is reflected in matchday performances that the supporters can get behind, irrespective of the results which the more reasonable section of the fanbase accept may take a while to return to the top level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let us also humbly accept that the less reasonable \u201cwant everything right now\u201d segment of the fans are numerous too, as is the case with all big clubs, and their passionate demand for the immediate improvement in results creates its own pressure which again is an expected force in the dynamics of a club as widely supported as ours.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in the coming weeks and months, Arteta and his coaching staff have a complex array of multitudinous challenges: build a footballing identity to create a platform for the group of impressive young talents to be able to express themselves and grow together; optimally leverage the experience and expertise of the senior heads, most notably that of the captain, Aubameyang \u2013 getting him back to his goalscoring best is a key prerequisite for us to be able to end this season with a noticeable improvement in the league positions \u2013 but in a manner that serves the footballing identity. All this while staying true to the strategic direction to be able to make tactical tweaks to matchdays to sustain (and hopefully achieve) a challenge for the Champions League positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defeat in the opening game \u2013 which, now that the events prior to that match have come to light, we can agree was rather unfortunate and one might even say unfair — creates that bit of extra pressure going into this weekend\u2019s London derby against the reigning European champions.  Last season saw us win against Chelsea home and away in the PL for the first time since the Invincible season, and before that Mikel had famously guided us to a win against them in the 19-20 FA Cup final. In his fledgling managerial career he has shown that he can set up his teams tactically against superior opposition and earn victories by playing to the strength of his squad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aubameyang has completely recovered following his positive COVID test results last week, and even though Mikel suggested in his press conference that captain Auba\u2019s participation will be determined by how he feels in training today, I think for a game of this importance and the fact that we didn\u2019t score any goals in the last match, we will see him start. It seems that \u00d8degaard has been unable to obtain his visa in time to be selected for this match. Had he done so, I thought he was likely to start down the middle with Emile Smith-Rowe as the left inside forward. On the right side the choice is between Saka and P\u00e9p\u00e9 and Mikel will need to balance the temptation to start Saka with the need to let him have a bit more rest since his Euro heroics so that as the season progresses we get more out of his superlative talents. Had both Martin and ESR started, the technical security provided by them would allow for P\u00e9p\u00e9\u2019s mercurial talent on one flank, especially given \u00d8degaard\u2019s ability to get the best out of Nico. But if Saka is back to his best in training and completely fit, I think Mikel will opt for his consistency. As \u00d8degaard isn\u2019t eligible to play tomorrow I think we will see Saka on the right wing and P\u00e9p\u00e9 on the left (a position he played well enough in a few matches he started there). The defense and central midfield will most likely remain the same, but I won\u2019t be surprised to see Holding ahead of Pablo Mari. Even though unlike his Spanish colleague Holding is right footed, he has played on the left side of the defense before and played well.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My predicted line-up (without \u00d8degaard):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Chambers \u2013 White \u2013 Holding \u2013 Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lokonga – Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka \u2013 ESR \u2013 P\u00e9p\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aubameyang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect Gabriel Martinelli to play an important role coming on as a substitute in the second half \u2013 most likely to relieve Saka or Aubameyang \u2013 and press the Chelsea defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel is likely to focus solely on earning the points from this match and will drill his team into highly customized tactics suitable for the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. I would expect a cagey match with us relying more on counter attacks. With the fans returning to the stadium a fighting performance from the team may create the kind of feedback loop between the players and the supporters that lifts the team in a big game like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My prediction is a hard-fought 2-1 victory for the mighty Arsenal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy viewing everyone! And to those going to the stadium, the rest of us are looking to you to cheer, support and lift the team. :–) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major Kovalev\u2019s nose \u2013 in events shrouded in mystery, as Gogol interjects \u2013 first appears inside his barber Ivan Yakovlevich\u2019s morning bread, and the panicked barber finally manages to dispose of the nose in the River Neva. As the rumors and innuendos about Kovalev\u2019s wantaway nose grow, suddenly, in events equally shrouded in mystery, a policeman captures the nose dressed as a councilor, and returns it to our hapless major. But his desperation doesn\u2019t end so easily as the nose no longer fits on his face and simply slides off. Until, one fine April morning, again through events shrouded in mystery, the nose is back in its rightful place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe one fine match day in the coming months, we too will find to our delight that Arsenal\u2019s missing footballing identity is firmly back in its place, via events shrouded in mystery. However, unlike in the real world of an imaginary Saint Petersburg, in our imaginary world of a real Arsenal, where no events can be shrouded in mystery, the return of the nose back to the face will be long and painstaking surgery, one stitch at a time. But that doesn\u2019t stop me from dreaming of the days when Arsenal will again be synonymous with fluid, progressive, attacking football. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Nikolai Vasilyevich doesn\u2019t have a monopoly on dreams\u2026 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On an early Spring morning \u2013 twenty-fifth of March to be precise \u2013 in Saint Petersburg one Major Kovalev — who is of an inferior rank but happy to have others think of him as a major and in any case such distinctions can easily get blurred in the real world of imagination \u2013 wakes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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\/3810"}],"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=3810"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3827,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions\/3827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}