{"id":6378,"date":"2022-07-21T06:55:50","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T05:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6378"},"modified":"2022-07-24T08:12:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T07:12:00","slug":"thunderbolts-and-lightning-at-times-very-frightening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6378","title":{"rendered":"Thunderbolts and Lightning.  At Times Very Frightening."},"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.com\/detail\/1410005532\" 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:82.65993% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1410005532?et=MCpawdvBTwVWqRb_U9On1Q&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=OtsEeBzg95pMZ_JvR7vmlynZZecd5BbwrMPGxqtYsNQ=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"491\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This is just a quick little review of Arsenal&#8217;s friendly against the Orlando City Lions in their home at Orlando, FL&#8217;s Expedia Stadium.  The game was delayed by about an hour past its 1630 start time, forcing almost everyone hoping to watch it in England to seek their dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We started with a lineup that is very clearly the second string, in most spots:<\/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 &#8212; Holding &#8212; Mar\u00ed &#8212; Tavares<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Mo&#8217;Neny &#8212; Sambi &#8212; AMN<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">P\u00e9p\u00e9 &#8212; Nketiah &#8212; Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excepting the first ten minutes, and then much of the second half, seeking their dreams was a good plan for Arsenal fans watching.  Due to the delay I turned on ESPN+ and the game just as Gabigol passed to Sambi in their box.  Sambi passed straight back to the Brazilian running across the box.  Gabi shaped a shot towards the back post, but it was cut out brilliantly by the back of the Orlando defender straight into the near corner of the net, completely fooling his keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 1-0 Orlando (Martinelli, 5&#8242;)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Orland seemed to use this to grow into the game, and after much uninspired play from Arsenal they punted a second long-ball that was well-gathered by their midfielder Facundo Torres, who did well to beat both Tavares and Mar\u00ed and rifle a shot into the bottom corner of Ramsdale&#8217;s net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 1-1 Orlando (Torres, 29&#8242;)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Orlando had the best of the first half, outshooting and outpassing Arsenal, and generally playing well enough they were good value for the halftime score of 1-1.  Arsenal were relatively insipid and disappointing, though there were some good performances.  Gabi was solid, Holding was slow and got turned but was generally solid, Sambi did well in midfield (on both sides of the ball) and Eddie worked hard with little to show for it.  And a word on Tavares.  He played some lovely stuff, but is a completely mixed bag:  great footwork followed by a wayward pass, running yards to pick off the ball then shooting into row z when he got the chance.  I really don&#8217;t know what to make of him, hopefully if he is loaned to Brighton it will winnow out his chaff so he can take his next chance in red and white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were the obligatory substitutes at the start of the second half, with White coming on for C\u00e9dric and Gabriel for Mar\u00ed in defense, M\u00f8 for AMN, Jesus for Martinelli, and Turner for Ramsdale.  Instantly our offense clicked better, and our defense snuffed out chances higher up the pitch, and prevented Orlando from getting beyond our defenders with the long balls over the top.  In the first minute Jesus had a shot on goal saved by Orlando&#8217;s keeper on a pass from Tavares, one of two or three shots Jesus had saved in the opening 15 minutes of the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 60 minutes Arsenal brought in another raft of subs, with Saliba, Saka, Xhaka, and Partey replacing Holding, P\u00e9p\u00e9, Sambi, and Mo&#8217;neny.  As with the half-time subs this group tightened our play even more, and we started playing with a real intent; I don&#8217;t believe Orlando got a real sniff of our goal from then until the end of the game.  And six minutes later we had our second goal.  After some nice interchanges Jesus shot while falling down, the ball bounced off their defender to a perfectly-placed Eddie who stroked the ball into the bottom corner of the net.  A perfect poacher&#8217;s goal.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 2-1 Orlando (Nketiah, 66&#8242;)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We continued our assault on their goal, forcing saves or blocks on shots from Jesus, Tavares, and Saka.  In the 80th minute we cycled the ball deep back to Partey, who worked it up the left through Xhaka, Nelson, Tavares, Jesus, and M\u00f8, who passed it across to Saka inside their box on the right.  He held it up then flicked a well-weighted pass to the oncoming Nelson, who first-timed it into the goal with his right foot from just inside the penalty spot.  10 passes (might have been one or two more prior to Partey picking up the ball in our defense), 29 seconds and using much of the width and breadth of the field: trust the process.  Artetaball at its finest (against, admittedly, a bang average-minus Orlando team, especially in the second half).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 3-1 Orlando (Nelson, 80&#8242;)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And really, that was it.  We had a couple more attempts from Xhaka and Nelson, but once the third goal went in the game ran out of steam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ended up with these players on the pitch:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Turner<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">White &#8212; Saliba &#8212; Gabriel &#8212; Tavares<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Partey &#8212; M\u00f8 &#8212; Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka &#8212; Jesus &#8212; Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I strongly doubt Tavares and Nelson will be with us, and I am less and less inclined (especially if the incoming Zinchenko forces him to the bench) to get rid of Xhaka.  Partey made only one mistake I saw, driving us from the defense into attack with some nice passes and dribbles.  M\u00f8 was both captain and conductor, Saka was a live wire and deserved a goal, and Saliba was composed and regal in what has to be his starting position for the season.  If we can get left back sorted, and Tomi can come in (though White did well in this game I remain unconvinced he&#8217;s better than C\u00e9dric long-term) and stay uninjured, we could have a pretty strong first team with a decent-enough second string (so long as we don&#8217;t have to play them all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now the team has to survive the lightning, heat, humidity, and Orlando&#8217;s other savo(u)ry delights ahead of Saturday&#8217;s game against Chelsea.  COYG!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images This is just a quick little review of Arsenal&#8217;s friendly against the Orlando City Lions in their home at Orlando, FL&#8217;s Expedia Stadium. The game was delayed by about an hour past its 1630 start time, forcing almost everyone hoping to watch it in England to seek their dreams. We started [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378"}],"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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6378"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6406,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions\/6406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}