{"id":3928,"date":"2021-09-11T10:11:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-11T09:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3928"},"modified":"2021-09-12T12:13:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T11:13:18","slug":"the-razors-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=3928","title":{"rendered":"The Razor’s Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I must admit that it is very hard to resist the temptations of wondering how significant this fourth weekend of the 2021\/2022 Premier League season is going to be for the next stage of the Arsenal football club. The league, or, far more relevant to us (nowadays), the much coveted trophy of a Champions League spot, may not be won in the first weekend of September but anything less than three points would make the challenge look dispiritingly difficult staring up from the bottom of the league table. For a club with an already deliriously vocal (albeit minority) segment of the fanbase who thrive on incessant negativity in an ever amplifying feedback loop of resonance with a press not known to be kindly to Arsenal (in times both good and bad), anything other than a convincing three points at home against a newly promoted team, especially given what had transpired in the first three matches, is likely to create an atmosphere of toxicity around the club that would most likely claim a victim or two. Despite the fixity of purpose and confidence in the long-term vision — and self-confidence that they themselves will be fully trusted to execute that vision — exuded by Arteta and Edu in their latest communications, I am certain that they are also aware of how sometimes results, and results alone, matter in football. The knee-jerk reaction to results \u2013 especially in the pressure cooker of modern-day top-level football \u2013 is neither rational nor salubrious to psychological health, but tens of millions of people around the world maniacally following a group of athletes kicking around a spherical object from one side of a field to another is in itself neither a rational nor an emotionally healthy phenomenon. Just like most human pursuits of pleasure. Probably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wanted uninterrupted peace in your life, you wouldn\u2019t be passionately following football, let alone Arsenal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is to their credit that both Arteta and Edu fully accept the maddening reality of their jobs and aren\u2019t looking for easy excuses or sympathies. And I myself would support them \u2013 while freely but constructively expressing my criticisms of their words and actions \u2013 as long as they are in their respective roles guiding Arsenal back into the upper echelons of English and European football, for I believe they do have the best intentions and while they both are evidently learning on the job, they have both demonstrated the possibility of their own growth in their respective current roles. Would their respective evolution be swift and efficient enough to satisfy the delicate balance of achieving short term results while moving steadily towards the long-term vision? I wish them the best, for if they are successful so would be Arsenal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are in need of perspectives about the fluctuating fortunes of a football club, our opponents this weekend provide a fascinating case study. One of the \u201cyo-yo\u201d clubs of English football in recent years, even though they had earned their first promotion to the top tier of English football only as recently as in 1972, since then they have dropped down and come back up with an uncannily consistent periodicity. Relegated in 73-74, promoted back for 75-76; relegated in 80-81, promoted back for 82-83; relegated in 84-85, promoted back for 86-87. In the premier league era, they have been promoted altogether six times, all of those coming in this millennium, often spending only one season in the Championship before coming back up, as they did for this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years we have enjoyed good performances against Norwich and scored possibly one of our best ever team goals, Jack Wilshere finishing off a mesmerizing string of passes exchanged with Cazorla and Giroud. There have also been memorable finishes from Ramsey in recent years, including a spectacular volley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta had played with both Jack and Aaron, and I am sure he hopes to see that kind of inventiveness and skills from his midfield players. And we hope to see that flair and creativity, hope for that sheer joy of watching our favorite team play to be back in our Arsenal supporting lives. Hopefully starting this weekend\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the latest report all players away on international duty seem to have returned more or less unscathed. Though Emile Smith-Rowe is suffering from illness (which is not COVID – phew!), and Sambi Lokonga may have picked up a niggle while playing for Belgium. Gabriel and White \u2013 obviously Mikel\u2019s first choice center-half pairing \u2013 both seem to be fit and have enjoyed some time together in a closed-door practice match against Brentford. Partey too has fully recovered, and a lot is expected from him this season not only as the midfield maestro but also as a key leader of the team guiding the young talents around him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If ESR is still recovering from illness I don\u2019t think Mikel will take any risk with him. Even though our new (\u201cversatile\u201d, to quote Mikel) and ambipedal right back signing Takehiro Tomiyasu arrived safe and sound \u2013 after a starring role in helping Japan to beat China in World Cup qualifier \u2013 and obtained his work permit, I suspect this match will come too soon for him and the highly talented Hale End graduate Ainsley Maitland-Niles will get a chance to make his case once more, hopefully shaking off any remnants of the positional uncertainty that has held back his Arsenal career. If Sambi is fit I think AMN will start at right back, but if Sambi needs to recover from any niggles AMN will take the midfield pivot role alongside Partey and Chambers will play at right back. Guessing (hoping too) that Sambi is fit, and guessing that Mikel will not risk ESR at all, my predicted line-up would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMN \u2013 White \u2013 Gabriel \u2013 Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sambi \u2013 Partey   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

P\u00e9p\u00e9 \u2013 \u00d8degaard \u2013 Saka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

While Lacazette, Martinelli, Eddie and\/or Balogun would provide attacking options from the bench, we might see \u201cTomi\u201d coming on as a sub later in the game to help see the match out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norwich play positive, slick football built on moving the ball fast through the lines, and credit to Daniel Farke that they never really try to focus on stifling the opposition. I think this will be an entertaining match with Arsenal making their attacking superiority count. It would be great if Arsenal can win by a big margin to recover a bit from the depressing -9 goal difference, but I think this will be a much more closely fought game for that to happen and my prediction is Arsenal winning convincingly but by a narrow margin of 3-1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy viewing everyone! Come on Arsenal!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I must admit that it is very hard to resist the temptations of wondering how significant this fourth weekend of the 2021\/2022 Premier League season is going to be for the next stage of the Arsenal football club. The league, or, far more relevant to us (nowadays), the much coveted trophy of a Champions League […]<\/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\/3928"}],"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=3928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3941,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions\/3941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}