{"id":7256,"date":"2023-01-08T18:18:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T18:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7256"},"modified":"2023-01-10T18:04:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T18:04:46","slug":"and-now-for-something-completely-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7256","title":{"rendered":"And Now For Something Completely Different \u2026.."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So after the Winter World Cup, a break for some players of six weeks or so, then three Premier League games condensed into nine days, it\u2019s time on Monday evening for something very old and very traditional. No, not TTG, but the FA Cup or, as it\u2019s referred to in the Tottenham trophy cabinet, the Sweet FA Cup., \u2018cos it\u2019s that long since there\u2019s been one in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our 3rd Round tie away to Oxford United has come at a convenient time for our squad, which has been tested to the limits of Mikel Arteta\u2019s confidence by three hard league games and a number of injuries in key areas – namely across our attack. I am unfortunately old enough to have been present at too many cup upsets to imagine that Arsenal will consider this game a foregone conclusion, but we should realistically be able to rely on a high proportion of squad players to see us through to Round 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stats<\/strong>
Oxford sit in 14th place out of 24 in League 1 and after 24 games in that division, have amassed 29 points, winning 7, drawing 8 and losing 9, with an overall goal difference of 2, having scored 29 and conceded 27. There is nothing to choose between their home and away form, so they cannot and we shouldn\u2019t regard their home Kassam Stadium as any kind of fortress. If you\u2019re going to the game by car, the venue is also known as Grenoble Road. They clearly have a feel for the exotic in Oxford – the ground is actually named after it\u2019s owner and former chairman of the club, Firoz Kassam. If you are one of the travelling faithful, you have been very lucky, or very deserving, as the ground holds only 12,500 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxford\u2019s only success in cup football came in their most elevated era in 1985-86 when they beat Queen\u2019s Park Rangers 3-0 in the final of the League Cup, not far off a hundred years after the club was founded in October 1893 as Headington United. They played in a number of minor leagues before changing their name to Oxford United in 1960 and being elected to the Football League in 1962. \u201cBig\u201d Ron Atkinson holds the record for most games played for the club – 560 times between 1959 and 1971.They have never won the FA Cup but Oxford University won the competition in 1874, taking over from Wanderers who had been victorious in the previous two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast Arsenal, of course, have won the competition a record 14 times and even in the latter Wenger years saw success in 2014, 2015, 2017 and in Arteta\u2019s first season in 2020. We have played Oxford twice in the FA Cup and beat them both times, in 1963 and forty years later in 2003, at Highbury, when a certain Dennis Bergkamp scored his 100th goal for the Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxford won the League Cup tie between the two teams in 1984 at their old Manor Ground, and also beat us 3-0 there in May 1986 in the old League Division One. I have to say I have no recollection of them being in the top flight of the league, but indeed they were, between 1984-85 and 1987-88. Our record wasn\u2019t actually particularly great as we Won 2, Drew 3 and Lost 1 of the six encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal<\/strong>
All this, if history is any indicator, should mean that Arsenal can trust a majority of squad players to see them home in this one. Emile Smith-Rowe is reportedly back in full training and will hopefully play some part. He will be a huge and welcome boost to the attacking half of the team after months out following groin surgery, but I would be surprised to see him play more than a half, or 60 minutes at most, and everything will be crossed that he can avoid any referred muscle problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reiss Nelson could also be fit but the thing that set my heart racing while looking up \u201cfootball London\u201d was the news that Gabriel Jesus had posted another update on his injury, which would give a \u201cmassive lift\u201d to Arsenal fans. I speed read my way through the article to find out exactly what this revelation was going to be. Well, the \u201cmassive\u201d news is that, after last week\u2019s update, Jesus no longer needs crutches to walk ! Good news indeed, but on that basis I think we are unlikely to see him playing any part on Monday evening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some people want Mikel Arteta to rest the entire first eleven, I think we will see some familiar faces lining up. If we are taking the competition seriously, expecting additions over the next three weeks to bolster the squad for later rounds, I would rather see a slightly stronger side establish a lead that would allow the youngsters to be subbed on later in the game, than a disjointed, inexperienced team struggle, followed by a twenty minute charge of the light brigade at the end. We have, after all, six days recovery time before the North London derby on 15th January, and Arteta may prefer to keep some game rhythm going in the players legs than give them a twelve day break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stab at the team might be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turner; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xhaka (Elneny), Lokonga, Vieira; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson (Marquinhos).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On another note – RIP Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli sadly passed away with pancreatic cancer on Friday at 58 years of age, far too young for one of football\u2019s good guys. By all accounts a humble, fun loving, decent man, liked by everyone – except Martin Keown who tried unsuccessfully to intimidate and incite him with \u201ca certain type of introduction\u201d (\ud83d\ude0f) – a failure that no doubt irritated Keown but earned Vialli his great respect as, in Martin\u2019s words, \u201che was far too clever for that\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In case anyone hasn\u2019t heard it, there is also the story of Vialli\u2019s first game in charge for Chelsea, where he had been installed to try to overhaul Arsenal\u2019s 1-0 lead in the two legged League Cup semi final of 1998. His pre-match talk included a glass of champagne to get all the players relaxed ! Strength and conditioning coaches might like to note that it worked as they went out and won !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that Oxford\u2019s fans are becoming increasingly unhappy at the club\u2019s mediocre performances. At the end of their last home match, a number of \u00a31 coins were thrown onto the pitch. Police are still trying to find out whether this was an act of hooliganism or a takeover bid. \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holic Pound<\/strong>
I have omitted the betting odds for this very unusual game as I would imagine there would be next to no value on any positive outcome for the Arsenal, and in these difficult times, and especially after Christmas, nobody except TTG would have any money left to gamble with anyway !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re going to the game, good luck finding one of the 2,000 unreserved, first come first served parking spaces (that is true). If you\u2019re not, the tie is on ITV1 in the UK, kick off 20.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referee for this game is David Coote, the fourth official is Michael Salisbury, and I can find no mention of *VAR at all. If you are reassured by any of that – good luck ! I\u2019m beginning to despair of finding a referee who turns in a fair and consistent performance, and who doesn\u2019t want to be the star of the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And really finally \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*VAR will apparently be in use in the 3rd Round only at ties hosted by Premier League clubs. That amounts to nine altogether. The rule book for this season\u2019s competition states: \u201cThe Association reserves the right to select any match in the Competition Proper, at its absolute discretion, in which VARs will be used.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there you are. Perhaps the most surprising thing about that is that the words \u201cThe Association” and \u201cit\u2019s absolute discretion” all appear in the same sentence! The least surprising thing is that it makes no nod whatsoever to consistency in officiating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever happens with refereeing decisions in this game, I hope the club has been well briefed with regard to the expected standards of behaviour. The players must not protest if they see, for example, a team mate being pulled to the ground by the neck, in the area, and no penalty given. If the opposition manage to keep the ball dead for an entire half of the match with play acting and time wasting tactics, the manager must not show his annoyance and frustration. And, travelling fans, if we win, please do not celebrate as though we have just \u201cwon the Champions League\u201d. It\u2019s better to file quietly out of the ground like nothing has happened, than pay some respect to the opposition by showing that you are elated to have beaten them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only players, managers and fans of other clubs – think, for example, of Klopp, Guardiola, Ferguson and Mourinho\u2019s Chelsea – are allowed such indiscretions (ooh, that word again) without sanction or a week\u2019s discussion across the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know we\u2019re getting good when they all start moaning about us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy, Holics !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So after the Winter World Cup, a break for some players of six weeks or so, then three Premier League games condensed into nine days, it\u2019s time on Monday evening for something very old and very traditional. No, not TTG, but the FA Cup or, as it\u2019s referred to in the Tottenham trophy cabinet, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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\/7256"}],"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=7256"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7270,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7256\/revisions\/7270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}