{"id":4093,"date":"2021-10-21T15:22:45","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T14:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4093"},"modified":"2021-10-23T12:56:31","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T11:56:31","slug":"heroes-and-villains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4093","title":{"rendered":"Heroes and Villains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/2694479\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:92.42424% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2694479?et=THaxVOj4TuZLWruQsFX2Bw&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=g4hmRAvkXvyiLc8hbXX8L7d0IyYVooN6RnjPSPKwhOI=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"549\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday evening football returns for the first time since the ill-starred opening day of the season at Brentford.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, you will not expect me to start any preview by dwelling on anything so recent.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So cast your mind back to the October of 1904.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That month, our Friday opponents, Aston Villa, were only our third top-flight visitors. Flush from our first Division One victory over Wolves, we saw off the illustrious Villains 1-0. Billy Garraty, like his descendant Jack Grealish, an England international, led Villa&#8217;s line. For those of you keeping score at home, Garraty was Grealish&#8217;s mother&#8217;s mother&#8217;s mother&#8217;s father.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bill Gooing was our centre-forward that day. His prolific scoring in Division Two had been instrumental in our promotion and thus making London, not Birmingham, the southern frontier of the Football League&#8217;s top flight. However, his winning strike against Villa would be the only Division One goal of his 48 for Woolwich Arsenal, then a club record for career goals.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gooing would make just six further appearances. Finding himself second choice to newly arrived Charlie Satterthwaite, Gooing left for Southern League Northampton Town midway through the season. There he was briefly a teammate of one Herbert Chapman. He hung up his boots later that year, possibly because of injury, given he was only 31-years old.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 1904-05, Villa was fading as the imperious force of Victorian football with five Division One titles and three FA Cups. Yet, regardless of its setback in Plumstead (avenged at Villa Park on Boxing Day), it was still formidable enough to finish fourth in the league and win a fourth FA Cup.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, there has been the odd title and cup, most notably the European Cup in 1982. However, only three of its 15 major championships and trophies were won more recently than a century ago. Even counting five League Cups, a quarter of a century has passed since it last won silverware.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After relegation at the end of 2015-16, Villa returned to the top flight for 2019-20 following a takeover by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens. Sawiris is an Egyptian billionaire who made his money in construction but is not in the Gulf wealth class. Edens, an American, made his in private equity but is a borderline billionaire with a fortune of less than $2 billion.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, Villa has shown ambition and aspiration without delivering on either, finishing successively 17th and 11th.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Opposition<\/strong><br>It goes into this game in 13th, a place and a point behind us. They arrive off a demoralising 3-2 defeat by Wolves in the West Midlands derby, squandering a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the close season, manager Dean Smith strengthened his squad by bringing in Emiliano Buendia from Norwich, Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen, Danny Ings from Southampton and Ashley Young from Inter Milan, all paid for by selling Grealish to the Middle Eastlanders.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That quartet joined the previous season&#8217;s trio of acquisitions, Ollie Watkins from Brentford, Bertrand Traore from Lyon and, of course, Emi Martinez, formerly of this parish.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like us, Villa shops in the \u00a330-something millions and under aisle.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smith has fashioned his arrivistes into a 3-5-2, with young Ruud Gullit lookalike Tyrone Mings anchoring a back three in front of Emi. Matt Targett and Matty Cash play as the perpetual motion wing-backs the formation demands with Brazilian Douglas Luiz, the industrious John McGinn and Buendia or the 20-year-old Jacob Ramsey manning the supply lines to Ings and boyhood Arsenal fan Watkins upfront.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Smith needs to find a way to fit his creative players, Buendia, Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore, into the side and address the failure of the Ings-Watkins strike partnership to click.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After successive losses, Smith could revert to the 4-2-3-1 with which he took all six points off us last season or the 4-1-4-1 he also used. Watkins would play as the lone striker, a role that better suits him, in front of some combination of the fit-again Bailey, McGinn, playing a more advanced role as he does for Scotland, Buendia and Traore. Douglas Luiz would pivot the midfield ahead of a back four.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa will be a danger from set-pieces. Only the Mancs and the Bindippers have a better record in that regard this season. However, Villa&#8217;s away form in the league has been poor, except for a win at Old Trafford. They have lost at Watford, Chelsea and the neighbours. We must hope the dyspepsia from travelling southeast again prevails.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arsenal<\/strong><br>We shall need more intensity and, yes, consistency (h\/t, Dr F.) against Villa than we displayed on Monday evening.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his press conference ahead of the Villa game, Arteta said,&nbsp;<em>If we play 4-3-3 the way we played the first 20 minutes [against Palace], we win the games, but if we start to play the way we played the following 20 minutes, it doesn&#8217;t work, because again, that is a transition game and we don&#8217;t have the players to do that when we play in that formation.&nbsp;<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parsing that as best I can, he appears to be saying we lack the specialist DM or a defensive-minded CM needed to make his favoured 4-3-3 work \u2014 a lacuna frequently noted in this fine establishment. That player is not Partey, but plays alongside him. Xhaka is the closest we have, of which I will say no more.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arteta&#8217;s faith in his way of playing will not falter. Based on no evidence beyond sticking a finger in the air, I will speculate that Maitland-Niles will start in order to provide more defensive solidity alongside Partey. This would free up KT3 to attack more and \u00d8degaard to play as a true 8, not a false 6. The team&#8217;s shape would morph back and forth between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 in a game that is likely to be fought out in an overcrowded midfield. Our visitors will have five there whatever formation they play.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Saka a racing certainty to be unavailable, having still not yet descended from whatever orbit McArthur booted him into on Monday night, and assuming the other unspecified knocks Arteta mentioned will be shaken off, this would be my expected line-up:&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Partey, Maitland-Niles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">P\u00e9p\u00e9, \u00d8degaard, Smith Rowe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Aubameyang<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arteta may have other ideas, including starting Lacazette, moving Auba out wide, and dropping \u00d8degaard, whom he has taken off in the 60th-something minute in the past two games, or the inconsistent P\u00e9p\u00e9 in a more recognisable 4-3-3. Alternatively, he could play a midfield of AMN, Partey and Lokonga to keep ESR in the front three. Who knows? Clearly, not me.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Something to ponder before kick-off: If Emi had stayed as our no 1, would Ramsdale now be at the club, and, if he was, who would be between the sticks for us today?&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The &#8216;holics pound<\/strong><br>The bookies favour a low scoring home win. Form and history are on their side. We have struggled to score in the league this season, and October games between the two sides have mostly been low-scoring affairs. In only four of the 21 fixtures has one side scored more than twice.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The classic 1-0 to the Arsenal is available at eights and 2-1 at nines\u2014both skinny odds but on realistic outcomes. So, hoping for an evening when we click with flair, panache and energy, I will plump for 3-1 at 16s.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After two draws, three points are essential\u2014time for heroes, not Villains.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, &#8216;holics near and far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Friday evening football returns for the first time since the ill-starred opening day of the season at Brentford. Yet, you will not expect me to start any preview by dwelling on anything so recent. So cast your mind back to the October of 1904.&nbsp; That month, our Friday opponents, Aston Villa, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"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\/4093"}],"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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4104,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093\/revisions\/4104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}