{"id":6399,"date":"2022-07-24T08:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T07:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6399"},"modified":"2022-07-31T12:24:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T11:24:41","slug":"blowing-away-the-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6399","title":{"rendered":"Blowing Away the Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Conventional wisdom advises that the extremes of pre-season performances and results be faced with, if not quite the stoicism of a sage (for no sage would voluntarily raise their blood pressure in a balmy summer evening), at least with a degree of measured nonchalance.  But conventional wisdom is also a complete killjoy, so I decided to immoderately, unwisely, ecstatically celebrate the mighty red-and-white thumping an old (and rather dislikeable) enemy with a performance of breathtaking physical intensity and footballing savoir-faire in a hot and humid Florida night. Yes, this performance and result may \u201cmean nothing\u201d at the end of the season, nonetheless it was a memorably joyful display that hinted at tantalizing possibilities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t seen the full match and just want to see the highlights and skip the rest, I suggest that if you can manage to carve out ninety odd minutes from your schedule to see the full match recorded you will find the experience to be worth your time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The starting line-up included the new face of Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Ukrainian international captain, having just recently joined Arsenal from Manchester City, following the same steps taken by his good friend Gabriel Jesus who has already shown us the kind of superlative technical abilities and elite professionalism the club is trying to bring in to move us to the next level. The versatile newcomer started in left back, whereas White started on the right in a 4-2-3-1 formation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsdale <\/p>\n\n\n\n

White \u2013 Saliba \u2013 Gabriel \u2013 Zinchenko <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partey \u2013 Xhaka <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

G.Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we don\u2019t sign any other players in this transfer window, I suspect this would be our first choice starting line-up while Tierney and Tomiyasu are still recovering. If both are fit, it will be a toss-up between Saliba and White in the right side of the central defense, while Zinchenko is likely to play the left-sided 8 role that Xhaka now holds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea fielded mostly the same familiar faces, with a few additions that have somehow managed to up their annoyingness quotient even higher. A few of them, for some inexplicable reasons, decided to gleefully hack down any and all Arsenal players from the get-go. I guess the change of ownership hasn\u2019t yet really transformed the culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal started with a high tempo, pressing from the front in well-orchestrated patterns and moving the ball quickly and vertically. In defense Saliba and Gabriel complemented each other well, maintained positional discipline and appeared comfortable in possession. Saliba stopped a Chelsea counter-attack with a precise and clean tackle and from the resulting Chelsea corner Martinelli won possession and ran down the middle of the pitch \u2013 rather reminiscent of his memorable goal against the same opponents at their home in the Premier League \u2013 in a blistering counter-attack and released Saka. A peak-condition Saka would have surely scored from that opportunity, but this time Mendy blocked his goal bound attempt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zinchenko appeared well at ease with the formation and his teammates, showing great control in tight spaces, combined well with Xhaka and Martinelli on the left and once released Saka with a sumptuous cross-field pass. Physically, he did not look as sharp as the rest of the Arsenal players and was beaten by the pace of James a couple of times down their right wing, which is only to be expected as he joined the squad a few days back, after starting his pre-season late following his participation in world cup qualifiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Jesus, since his first minute in an Arsenal shirt in this pre-season, has indicated that he means business.  His movement, close control, understanding with \u00d8degaard, Martinelli and Saka and then his relentless front-foot pressing in tandem with his fellow Brazilian was troubling the Chelsea defense to no end. Such a concerted Arsenal press forced a mistake from the Chelsea defense and Xhaka pounced on the loose ball and unhesitatingly set Jesus up with a lovely slide-rule pass. Jesus finished with an imperious chip over the advancing Mendy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (G. Jesus 15\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal kept the pressure up, the forward four superbly assisted by Partey and Xhaka in the midfield. It was noticeable how progressively and quickly both were willing to pass after winning possession \u2013 they both were winning most of the 50:50 challenges — and how much of a natural understanding of the half-spaces they have grown into. Their sharpness may have been highlighted more because of Chelsea\u2019s relative sluggishness, which might simply mean that these two squads are at different stages of pre-season preparedness and nothing more, but it was highly noticeable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second goal came through an eye-catching combination of technical abilities and physical sharpness. We won possession high up the field, Martinelli drove at the box with the ball, swiveled around to make space and then set up \u00d8degaard \u2013 who had made a disguised run into the box — with a clever pass that Martin finished crisply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2 (G. Jesus 15\u2019, \u00d8degaard 36\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the second goal Chelsea enjoyed a stretch of possession but without offering any significant threat to trouble Ramsdale. There was a cross that deflected off Zinchenko to loop up in the air and our goalkeeper had to scramble to ensure safety. Towards the end of the first half another flowing Arsenal move saw Partey attempting one of his trademark long-rangers \u2013 and keeping with the spirit of positivity, I must say match by match these attempts are inching closer and closer to the goal! It feels that once one of those goes in he would be scoring a few each season. This effort just curled wide. Just before the half-time whistle Mount\u2019s excellent attempt from the edge of the box crashed against the far post, Ramsdale was completely beaten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea made a few changes at the beginning of the second half whereas we only brought in Nuno Tavares for Zinchenko, whose debut in an Arsenal shirt promised much. I hold a somewhat contrary opinion about Nuno compared to most of the Goonerverse. Even if Tierney gets back to full fitness before the season starts, I think we should still keep him and not let him leave on loan. In Europa group stages he can be a difference-making player with his aggression, physicality and attack mindedness. His defensive frailties are tactical and positional, not technical, and hence can be coached out of his system; especially with Zinchenko more likely to ply his preferred midfield role in Arsenal colors Nuno may yet get the opportunity to contribute significantly. Tavares played rather well in his forty-five minutes in this match, keeping his focus defensively and a few times progressing rapidly with the ball in speedy counter attacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea looked better in the second half, playing with more purpose. The needlessly crunching challenges continued, and Mount earned a yellow card for his tackle on Partey. Jesus drew a few fouls because of the sharpness of his movements and quick feet, and around 56th<\/sup>minute Mikel decided to bring in Nketiah for the Brazilian. Eddie kept up the intensity and pressing, but earned an unnecessary yellow card for not allowing a quick restart by Chelsea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third goal came from a curious combination of high technical quality and a bit of good fortune. Saka enjoyed a bit of luck down the right to skip past his marker, and from the resulting attack Martinelli\u2019s fierce shot was palmed away by Mendy. Xhaka then displayed a delightful bit of control and technique to keep possession of the ball in the air before releasing a powerful right-footed volley that was again saved by Mendy but this time Saka was close by the finish from the rebound. VAR, if it were present, might have chalked the goal off for a potential offside by Saka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (G. Jesus 15\u2019, \u00d8degaard 36\u2019, Saka 65\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel rang the changes around the 70th<\/sup> minute.  Turner replaced Ramsdale \u2013 whose distribution was inconsistent throughout the evening \u2013 and Elneny came on for Partey.  P\u00e9p\u00e9, fighting (or not) for his Arsenal career, replaced Martinelli to play down the left. Another member of our Brazilian contingent, young Marquinhos from S\u00e3o Paulo, replaced Saka. Cedric took on the right back role which White had performed with consummate ease.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinelli had played seventy minutes of non-stop, high quality, high intensity football with a rapidly growing tactical sophistication that must have pleased Mikel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a pinpoint cross-field pass Tavares released Marquinhos who was brought down by a Chelsea player who received a yellow card. A few minutes later, Nuno himself, on one of his rampaging runs, drew another yellow card as Ampadu was forced to bring him down. Soon after captain \u00d8degaard saw a yellow for a tired tackle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was likely the indication for Mikel to make the final set of changes. Maitland-Niles came on for Xhaka, who I thought had a very influential game. And Sambi replaced a superb \u00d8degaard, who especially in the first half combined scintillatingly with Gabriel Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think Sambi has all the tools to become a world class midfielder. His technical abilities and tactical awareness are top notch, and without overly relying on physicality he smartly uses his quick speed over short distances to good effects. He can get overwhelmed and starts committing mistakes under pressure, but the psychological maturity will come with age and experience. He has been consistently good in the pre-season and this cameo appearance was no exception. In a somewhat advanced midfield role he combined well multiple times and once released Nketiah with a perfect through ball only for Eddie to be fouled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eddie was clattered once more following quick combination play around the Chelsea penalty box. Sadly P\u00e9p\u00e9\u2019s excellent free-kick was saved by an acrobatic Mendy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final passage of play saw Cedric curl in a perfect cross from the right. Sambi was left completely unmarked in the box and he guided a cushioned header inside the far corner past an outstretched Mendy. This was Sambi\u2019s first goal in an Arsenal shirt and the joyous reception he got from his teammates offered an insight into the spirit inside the camp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 4 (G. Jesus 15\u2019, \u00d8degaard 36\u2019, Saka 65\u2019, Sambi 92\u2019) \u2013 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards in the interview Mikel was rightly cautious about not reading much into the performance and result. It is of course his job to look at this evening\u2019s happenings through a more realistic prism. But for supporters like us, especially those of us who refuse to be easily seduced by the charms of cautious pragmatism, performances like this \u2013 even if it is in a pre-season \u201cfriendly\u201d \u2013 indicate a clear evolution that we can all stand behind.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 ——————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Petri<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team at Goonerholics Forever send their condolences to the family and friends of Maria Petri, Arsenal fan extraordinaire, who will be missed by thousands of match-going Gooners and whose support for the Arsenal was second to none. Maria was an example to us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conventional wisdom advises that the extremes of pre-season performances and results be faced with, if not quite the stoicism of a sage (for no sage would voluntarily raise their blood pressure in a balmy summer evening), at least with a degree of measured nonchalance.  But conventional wisdom is also a complete killjoy, so I decided to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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\/6399"}],"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=6399"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6431,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6399\/revisions\/6431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}