{"id":4532,"date":"2021-12-31T23:45:48","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T23:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4532"},"modified":"2022-01-02T12:12:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T12:12:24","slug":"geworfenheit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4532","title":{"rendered":"Geworfenheit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Much of grown-up life is spent in a state of perpetual perplexity. Being bewildered by the things done to us and the things we choose to do, the freedom \u2013 a freedom that is our essential condition, a freedom that was bestowed upon us without our approval, so to speak — of having to give our life shape and meaning at every waking moment makes us, now and then, run away into the sweet certainty of unchoice, into the comfort of rituals. Rituals built on myths ancient and modern, myths necessary to keep us in just enough harmony.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual football calendar with its comforting cadence, its pleasing predictability is a modern ritual, a ritual that also fulfills our deep need for battles and heroes, our thirst for relatable myths. Being thrown into the world with our eyes mostly closed by the blindingly ferocious light of life, we find in football \u2013 just as we find in other passions of love, art, music, literature, science, pursuit of knowledge — a reliable pair of eyewear to look at the world without becoming completely blind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And deep inside we realize how so very existentially crucial this passion is, how strongly it binds us to our fellow beings and how much we need that bond, and we find within us a surprising indefatigability to fight for that ninety minute of rituals, however unfavorable the surrounding conditions might be.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal prepares for the first premier league match of the 2021 calendar year with the limitations of the pandemic-enforced isolations and absences. Just because this is not a fate uniquely suffered by our club \u2013 all teams living through personnel uncertainties while doing their best to keep the ritualistic certainties going — makes it no less strange.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manager Mikel and a few other members of his coaching team are self-isolating. While Sambi, Mari & it seems Ainsley Maitland-Niles too are all back from their own quarantine periods, the right back incorporated of Tomiyasu, Cedric and Chambers are all still unavailable. Among four of our AFCON participating expected-to-be-absent players only Aubameyang has left to join his Gabonese teammates (and one suspects he wasn\u2019t available for selection just yet anyway), whereas Partey, Elneny and P\u00e9p\u00e9 have all remained back one is given to understand until January 3rd<\/sup> and hence allowing them to be available for the New Year\u2019s Day lunchtime home game. Even though only one of them is likely to start, having two experienced players \u2013 each with their specific qualities — on the bench in a match against the best team in the league has its benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our opponents are flying high and based on the current league standings and the recent performances of other title competitors, it appears that they are on their way to retain the premier league title.  Our recent record against Manchester City, especially in the league, has been horrendous, with last five results being 0-5, 0-1, 0-1, 0-3, 0-3. In between Mikel \u2013 in his debut season and on the way to our record setting 14th<\/sup> FA Cup \u2013 had of course guided Arsenal to a famous semifinal victory against his mentor-and-friend Pep, a counterattacking 2-0 in an empty Wembley in July 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our last two league victories against Manchester City came consecutively in the calendar year of 2015 but spanning two different seasons.  A Santi Cazorla masterclass saw us winning 2-0 (a penalty by Santi, and a typical Giroud header) away in January 2015, and in December of the same year we had beaten them at home 2-1, Theo and Olivier (again) on the scoresheet with YaYa threatening to ruin the day by a late goal.  In that December match our forward line was Theo, Giroud and Joel Campbell(!) \u2013 with Rambo and Mesut on their midfield roles — and their front three were David Silva, De Bruyne and Aguero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Arsenal\u2019s recent record against City is mostly very gloomy, we have some reason for optimism looking at our home record on January 1st<\/sup>. We are unbeaten in our last 11 home matches on the New Year\u2019s Day, winning 9 and drawing two, a record that goes all the way back to a time before premier league in 1985. Our last league loss on January 1st<\/sup> was in 2015, away at Southampton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recent mini-run in the league \u2013 winning the last five with keeping a clean sheet in the last four of them \u2013 included some enjoyable attacking play, and admirable defensive solidity. We scored a few lovely goals, showcasing the individual abilities of our young talents as well as demonstrating a growing attacking chemistry within the team. That level of individual performances and team cohesiveness would be the minimum requirement if we are to get something out of this game, and then we would need some exceptional individual moments both defensively and in the attacking third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Mikel will be kicking every ball and shouting at the television from the confines of his living room (I fear for the sofa), his assistant the Dutchman Albert Stuivenberg will be in charge on the sidelines. In his career as an assistant coach, he seems to have always played the role of the calmer foil to the easily animated big personalities like Van Gaal or Mikel. Whenever things go wrong and Mikel wildly gesticulates, his inscrutable expression gives nothing away. It would surely be unnatural for this team to not hear the passionate polyglot directions from the sideline all throughout the match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think tomorrow we will see a spirited performance by the boys in the famous red-and-white, and if the team starts well, the growing connection they are forming with the Arsenal faithful will create that positive feedback loop that can inspire a team to overcome superior oppositions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we will start with the same eleven as the last match. We would surely miss Tomiyasu down the right, and probably this is the only area where Mikel and his team may want to make some changes, for instance pushing White back in his familiar central defensive position and bringing Ainsley in as a right back. But I think that is unlikely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Partey \u2013 Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka \u2013 \u00d8degaard\u2013 Martinelli <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacazette<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think most Arsenal fans would be happy with a draw and a point. A continuation of the winning streak \u2013 however unlikely that might be — will help us put some more distance from the chasing pack for the fourth position, and as importantly would give us a genuine confidence boost for the remainder of the season. I am hoping for that rare league win against City, it has been a while!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all a healthy, joyful and prosperous 2022!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much of grown-up life is spent in a state of perpetual perplexity. Being bewildered by the things done to us and the things we choose to do, the freedom \u2013 a freedom that is our essential condition, a freedom that was bestowed upon us without our approval, so to speak — of having to give […]<\/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\/4532"}],"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=4532"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4536,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532\/revisions\/4536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}