{"id":5058,"date":"2022-03-18T19:22:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2022-03-19T18:15:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T18:15:10","slug":"mustering-a-mastering-of-mere-mortals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=5058","title":{"rendered":"Mustering a Mastering of Mere Mortals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"ji2miVaZRGdhzu4juXIGFQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1295315248\" 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:'ji2miVaZRGdhzu4juXIGFQ',sig:'XBDZSvI0ETAawSd72DwzLcMrb-p9CZb-n1L78Jqr54U=',w:'498px',h:'594px',items:'1295315248',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>The mighty Gunners now face their third match in six days in Saturday\u2019s lunchtime fixture at Villa Park.&nbsp; Until their midweek defeat by Liverpool, Arsenal had taken all 15 points on offer with five straight wins against mostly mid-table opposition.&nbsp;&nbsp;Prior to each of those five matches I asked myself \u201cWill this game be our banana skin?\u201c; and I\u2019m asking the same question today but seeing as Arsenal managed that stretch so well there has got to be cause for a modicum of guarded optimism.&nbsp; That said, the Gunners will need to prove from the start that they have not lost their winning mentality after being bettered by one of two Premier League clubs that are in a league of their own.&nbsp;&nbsp;But Arsenal must also show their durability to an extent they have not had to do recently, seeing as Cup defeats and Covid-related postponements gave them lengthy lulls between games at the start of the year.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the 30 days preceding the Brentford match on February 19 Arsenal played only two times, which I would suggest is not the best way to build team stamina.&nbsp;&nbsp;On the other hand, if Mikel Arteta saw evidence of tired legs against Liverpool, any inclination he might have to rest players will be tempered knowing that the Aston Villa match is critical to his team\u2019s chances of finishing in the Champions League positions, and a two week international break follows before Arsenal play at Crystal Palace on April 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gunners won the reverse fixture in late October by 3-1 with goals by Partey, Smith Rowe and Aubameyang.&nbsp;&nbsp;Needless to say they will not be able to rely on the Gabonese for any attacking firepower this time.&nbsp; Villa put up little resistance on the day, responding only with a late consolation goal by Jacob Ramsey.&nbsp;&nbsp;October\u2019s game marked the first time in four matches that Arsenal managed to score a goal let alone take any points against the Villans, so the banana skin potential is there for all to see.&nbsp;&nbsp;In three previous league meetings Arsenal were bested by a composite score of 0-5 including the 0-3 home loss in November 2020 when a Saka own goal resulted from consecutive Willian giveaways and a passive Arsenal defence.&nbsp;&nbsp;Needless to say, Arsenal will not have Willian at their disposal this time either, and Saka will be playing right wing.&nbsp; Quite an improvement overall I should say, and hopefully one that proves vital on the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Opposition&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the Villans returned to the Premier League at the start of the 2019\/20 season, the nearly perennial top-flighters have played Arsenal five times and emerged victorious thrice.&nbsp;&nbsp;Exactly how Villa managed to deny us 9 of 15 points remains something of a mystery.&nbsp;&nbsp;One possible explanation is that former manager Dean Smith must have been a genius, but the Villa brass must have thought otherwise because Smith was given the sack in November with the club sitting 16th in the table.&nbsp; After Smith\u2019s sacking one Villa fan\u2019s remark was: \u201cif your club relies on a single player for success then you weren\u2019t in a good situation in the first place.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;That player was Jack Grealish, the talisman of Villa\u2019s first two campaigns back in the Premier League, but he departed last Summer for the greener pastures of Manchester City.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is fair to say the attacking creativity of Grealish was an important aspect of Villa\u2019s success over the last few years so they may have been likely to struggle somewhat this season but it seemed harsh when Smith was sacked after only 11 league games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steven Gerrard, Smith\u2019s successor, was given a three and a half-year contract through the summer of 2025, and gave the club a decent new manager bounce by winning 12 of the first 18 points on offer, with the two losses coming against Liverpool and Manchester City.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The 41-year-old Liverpool legend spent three and a half years at Rangers where he began his managerial career in 2018 after retiring as a player in 2016.&nbsp;&nbsp;Last season Gerrard guided Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years but his loyalty to club and city was proved paper-thin when he jumped ship a few months later.&nbsp;&nbsp;More than a few Villa fans may fear he could move again if offered the Liverpool job when Jurgen Klopp decides Merseyside\u2019s attractions have waned.&nbsp; But Gerrard does seem to have improved Villa\u2019s performances.&nbsp; Prior to his appointment in early November, Villa sat just two points above the relegation zone, and the club were without a win since September, but they have moved up seven spots in the table with Gerrard in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa last played six days ago at West Ham where they lost 2-1.&nbsp;&nbsp;Three days earlier at Leeds, goals from Coutinho, Cash and Calum Chambers helped the Villans to a 3-0 victory, which combined with their two prior wins against Southampton and Brighton gave Villa an impressive streak with nine goals scored and none conceded.&nbsp; But their recent form is not all positive: In mid-February they gathered just one point in nine with a 3-3 home draw with Leeds and consecutive 1-0 defeats to Newcastle and Watford.&nbsp; The Villa defence at West Ham featured 36 year old Ashley Young at left back as an 8th minute substitute for Lucas Digne (who suffered a hamstring strain), Calum Chambers and Tyrone Mings at center back, Matty Cash on the right, and Emi Martinez in goal.&nbsp;&nbsp;John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Coutinho formed the midfield, with Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins at forward positions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ramsey scored a late goal after Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buend\u00eda replaced Ings and Luiz but they were unable to complete the comeback from their two goal deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 29 year old Coutinho has been a boost to the Villa attack with four goals and three assists in nine appearances since his January signing from Barcelona.&nbsp; Gerrard was effusive in his praise of Chambers who was signed from Arsenal in the January window, saying: \u201cHe\u2019s been class, on and off the pitch (and) a real pleasure to work with.\u201d&nbsp; For the last several games Calum has been playing in the center-back role that was handled the rest of the season by Ezri Konsa, but I have to say it would be fun to see Gabi roasting Calum like a slab of Brazilian steak, leaving him pounding his fist into the turf after slipping in desperate retreat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arsenal XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikel Arteta did not make any January signings and has not varied his starting eleven in recent memory, so it is difficult to predict that Saturday will be the day he alters his pattern of sticking to what has been successful.&nbsp; Therefore I expect we will see the same faces we have seen recently.&nbsp; Nicolas Pepe might be tapped to replace Bukayo Saka one of these games of course, but we haven\u2019t seen it yet so these are the likeliest of suspects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">C\u00e9dric&nbsp; White&nbsp; Gabriel&nbsp; Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Partey&nbsp; Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka&nbsp; \u00d8degaard&nbsp; Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Lacazette&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The holics\u2019 pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seeing as we were held goalless by Liverpool, and ten other clubs have conceded fewer goals this season than Aston Villa\u2019s 39, the odds seem to favour Arsenal putting a couple into the net so I am predicting Arsenal to prevail with their organs intact at the very least, and, what\u2019s more, to achieve a narrow 2-1 victory.&nbsp; Please let it be so, those with the power to do anything about it. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which reminds me to mention that the referee will be Andy Madley, whose place of birth was Huddersfield (where all the referees come from, I believe).&nbsp; Show us your biceps after you\u2019ve awarded us a penalty, Andy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, \u2018holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images The mighty Gunners now face their third match in six days in Saturday\u2019s lunchtime fixture at Villa Park.&nbsp; Until their midweek defeat by Liverpool, Arsenal had taken all 15 points on offer with five straight wins against mostly mid-table opposition.&nbsp;&nbsp;Prior to each of those five matches I asked myself \u201cWill this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"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\/5058"}],"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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5058"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5081,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058\/revisions\/5081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}