{"id":6842,"date":"2022-10-24T00:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T23:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6842"},"modified":"2022-10-27T10:08:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T09:08:56","slug":"hurricane-arsenal-blows-out-on-south-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6842","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Arsenal Blows Out On South Coast"},"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\/1435867335\" 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:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1435867335?et=-CL1x8ypQ1tkA1rybWEoFg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=sDyPSOoxOISC9ZWioA1jIpjPs2j09-rhrXpYH-_FM8E=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As I had not yet attempted to write a match report, previews being more my thing, I thought in midweek I\u2019d better do a bit of research on our upcoming opponents so they weren\u2019t all a complete mystery to me on match day.&nbsp;Saints manager Ralph Rabbit-(little)Hutch has significantly shuffled his pack at St Mary\u2019s in the wake of two 0-9 defeats, which he has so far survived. They must really like him down there on the south coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In midweek Bournemouth were playing out from the back and while the quality wasn\u2019t there, there were similarities to ourselves in the way they played, albeit they used the long ball a lot more than we do in the attacking half of their game. Southampton had no answer to it, other than to hit long balls out of trouble from almost anywhere on the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bournemouth only failed to run up a small cricket score because they simply do not have anything like the quality of our own forwards. So with no sign of an organised press to prevent us playing our way out from the back, and no more hint of any plan of attack in midfield, I was anticipating a much more comfortable afternoon than we endured at Elland Road last weekend.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saints, despite a lot of plaudits after their 1-0 win, appeared to me a shapeless, rudderless outfit and I was definitely left rubbing my hands at the prospect of \u00d8degaard, Saka, Jes\u00fas and Martinelli running at that defence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The snide BBC reporter pre-match today, asked Mikel Arteta if the fact that Arsenal are currently top of the league means they are the best team in the country. His question was met with the calm logic I\u2019m sure he expected and he hopefully felt quietly put in his rather stupid place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team was unchanged from the eleven that started at Dirty Leeds, as predicted by GSD in his preview, with Tomiyasu resuming at left back and Ben White on the right &#8211; we should know by now that it will be \u2018all White on the Right\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was much talk of banana skins amongst the fans as St Mary\u2019s has not been a great hunting ground for us in recent years, but The Arsenal started brightly and only 45 seconds had elapsed when Martinelli received a great long ball from Ben White, but his pass found Jes\u00fas in an offside position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two minutes later Jes\u00fas was fouled from behind for the first time by Southampton\u2019s No 6, Coletta-Car. From the free kick Xhaka played the ball out to Saka on the right and his brilliant cross evaded Gabriel by a whisker right in front of goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lovely, swift passing move then ended with Xhaka belting a shot into the keeper from a tight angle on 6\u201930\u201d, and a minute later we saw the first consequences of Arteta\u2019s demand for a tough mindset in his players. Martinelli landed heavily on his shoulder after going up for a header with Lycano, but while recovering on the floor he was hauled up by the same shoulder in order to \u201c get on with it\u201d. Within seconds he fed \u00d8degaard centrally who unfortunately dragged his shot wide from 20 yards with most of the goal unprotected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 10 minutes we were ahead. White collected a return back heel from Saka and pulled his cross back to the onrushing Xhaka, who rifled the ball into the net with his newly discovered right foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Southampton 0 &#8211; 1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was 21 minutes before Southampton earned their first corner. After the initial clearance Saints\u2019 Joe Aribo received a sweet ball in, but his legs turned to jelly and he was left with egg on his face as he scuffed the ball to Aaron Ramsdale. (Old\u2019 uns &#8211; ask the kids if you don\u2019t get the \u2018sweet\u2019 jokes). Arsenal were purring and continued to create chances with some great football.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 28 minutes Bakayo Saka, following a threatening run, appeared to be tripped in, or on the very edge of, the penalty area. While many Gooners hoped to see Mr Robert Jones point to the spot, he actually produced a yellow card and waved it, to everyone\u2019s amazement, at Saka for what he considered to be simulation. Everyone, including Smudger and the TV commentator were completely befuddled by the decision which, we were informed, cannot be reviewed due to the endlessly confusing and ridiculous rules that govern VAR.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An odd sequence of six corners to Southampton and two more scoring chances spurned by Martinelli and Jes\u00fas meant that when the Saints went trapesing in at half time, they found themselves 1-0 down to a slick and classy, if wasteful Arsenal, and no doubt fearing the worst for the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half Time: Southampton 0 &#8211; 1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>In fact, this turned out to be the classic game of two halves. After the interval, Arsenal seemed to find it impossible to recreate the pace and sharpness of the first 45 minutes. Southampton were doing a good impression of Stoke, utilising long balls, long crosses and long throws &#8211; I quite expected to see Shane Long make a reappearance for them. Their determination was personified by No 6, Coletta-Car, who one assumes has been training with the England Rugby Union squad, such was his repeated hauling down of Gabriel Jes\u00fas, an act encouraged by the total leniency of Mr Jones. One such dispossession of our No 9 led to the passage of play, admittedly a neat one, which saw Stuart &#8211; one of a production line of Armstrongs down the years at Southampton &#8211; pass the ball past Ramsdale into the back of our net on 65 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Southampton 1 &#8211; 1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eddie Nketiah and Kieran Tierney were brought on at 70 minutes, while Theo Walcott, with a truly criminal hairdo, came on to little or no effect for Southampton. The remainder of the game saw Tierney felled at the Saints\u2019 goal post, but Mr Jones continued to be unimpressed, \u00d8degaard netted from Tierney\u2019s cross which was correctly adjudged to have gone out of play, but wait &#8211; there was, after all, follow up to the blow to Tierney\u2019s throat. Set piece coach Nicolas Jover was so angry about the whole thing that he was booked for dissent, or some such, by the curious Mr Jones, who seems either unacquainted with, or unconcerned by the actual rules on foul play. Theo Walcott did earn a place in his notebook though, not for his outrageous Barnet, but &#8211; you\u2019ve guessed it &#8211; simulation. This is one offence that Mr Jones is very keen on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The five added minutes saw Lyanco booked for Southampton, when he retaliated to Nketiah&#8217;s version of the Coletta-Car haul down, by trying a ridiculous double head butt which happily missed it\u2019s target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so a game which started in such brilliant style petered out to our first draw in 27 games, dating back to January. It was the first time we have lost points from a winning position this season. At best we are almost unstoppable. You can see in our play what Mikel Arteta was demanding in the All Or Nothing series, when he said the players needed to memorise a pattern of numbers that would relate to our play. That positioning makes our press both possible and effective. It also facilitates the quick, one touch, \u201cinstinctive\u201d passages of play which leave opposing midfields chasing shadows.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The number of games in such a short space of time is catching up with us though. Mikel says he has been working with 15 or 16 first team players this month. He is going to need the much anticipated January transfer activity if we are to sustain our challenge. Two cup competitions will be added to the schedule in January. Interesting and testing times.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now though, we are two points ahead of Manchester City after eleven games played. That means we are top of the league, say \u2026..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images As I had not yet attempted to write a match report, previews being more my thing, I thought in midweek I\u2019d better do a bit of research on our upcoming opponents so they weren\u2019t all a complete mystery to me on match day.&nbsp;Saints manager Ralph Rabbit-(little)Hutch has significantly shuffled his pack [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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\/6842"}],"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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6842"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6862,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6842\/revisions\/6862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}