{"id":7687,"date":"2023-04-02T21:29:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T20:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7687"},"modified":"2023-04-08T08:46:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T07:46:27","slug":"thoughts-and-feelings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7687","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts and Feelings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As a failed professor of philology in Basel university once observed, thoughts are shadows of our feelings \u2013 darker, emptier and simpler. The paradox that he had to resort to an aphorism \u2013 which is but an articulated expression of thought — to convey his feeling about thought\u2019s innate limitations was probably the kind of stressors that pushed him from the edge of harmless eccentricity to an inner world beyond the grasp of ordinariness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While trying to accurately articulate my sense of elation, joy and a lack of that gnawing anxiety — which is otherwise so distinctive of a football fan\u2019s daily existence \u2013 in following Arsenal this season I have often found myself lost for words. There is a genuine sense of celebration in how the team have played through the inevitable highs and lows of a season, have weathered difficult moments in matches, have come back with a sense of purpose and determination after a loss or draw, and even when the opposition had put up a stern test on days when we started slower than usual, they somehow found a spark of inspiration \u2013 collective or individual, collective and individual \u2013 to stamp their authority by winning the right moments. Watching us play, anticipating the matchday, discussing the performances after each match with fellow Arsenal fans spread around the world … it has been an exhilarating few months, and I don\u2019t take a moment of that for granted. This has been an extraordinary season, and irrespective of how this season ends or how the future seasons unfold with this team under Mikel, I will always remember the sheer pleasure of following Arsenal in 22-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home match against Leeds \u2013 after an international break that thankfully didn\u2019t see Arsenal squad pick up any newer injuries, though players like Thomas Partey or Bukayao Saka might have benefitted more from getting rests \u2013 started with the away team demonstrating a resilient defense of low blocks which are now de rigeuer <\/em>of visiting teams at Arsenal, complemented by the frenetic pressing and speed on transitions that were more of a reminder the whirlwind football of the Leeds under Bielsa. Arsenal had started a bit slow and circumspect, and it felt that they were patiently finding their way back to the groove that had the home crowd singing and dancing in the last match before the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The starting eleven was mostly as expected but with the surprise of Saka being given a rare break, sharing the bench with his academy friends Emile Smith-Rowe and Reiss Nelson. Eddie Nketiah was still recovering from the ankle injury that have kept him out for a few weeks already. Saliba\u2019s back injury hasn\u2019t healed enough over the last two weeks of rest \u2013 the young Frenchman had withdrawn from the France squad to recover \u2013 and while along with Tomiyasu\u2019s season-ending surgery this makes us a little light on the defense, Holding has enough experience and quality to deputize, especially with Gabriel \u2013 who has been superb all season, in tandem with Saliba at the heart of the defense but also covering a large area on his left allowing Zinchenko to reinterpret the left-back role in a variety of novel ways \u2013 on his left and Benjamin \u201cBenny Blanco\u201d White as a right back playing some of the best football a right back can play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Partey \u2013 Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Jesus, starting for the first time since his unfortunate injury in the winter World Cup, was greeted warmly by the supporters. Whether he scores goals or not, by now Arsenal faithful have realized that he always brings a rare combination of work ethics, professionalism, and technical quality that gives the team a cutting edge even when things aren\u2019t otherwise going well. In his absence we have coped admirably well \u2013 Eddie Nketiah performed well beyond expectations and Leonardo Trossard has been a revelation since joining us in January from Brighton \u2013 and his return should make us even more unpredictable and dynamic in the attacking third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leeds had enjoyed the better attacking moments in the opening 15 minutes of the match, young Summerville particularly impressing with his pacy runs and ability to spin behind the defense with one touch passing. Ramsdale needed to make a save or two, and on the other end Martinelli had an effort blocked in the penalty box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the game progressed Arsenal started to dominate possession, control the spaces, and recognizing the danger the speedy front four Leeds possess in transition Arsenal players overloaded the midfield with captain \u00d8degaard dropping deeper and connecting the players, keeping control of the tempo and looking for rapid switches to find the front players in space. Jesus and Martinelli started to exchange positions and passes, and Trossard taking up various pockets of space to dynamically accommodate the two Brazilians to play their brand of more direct football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Arsenal goal came from such a combination. Jesus attacked the defense on our left side with ball on his feet and as he twisted past Ayling \u2013 former Gunner and a member of the 08-09 double winning academy team \u2013 the Leeds defender caught the Brazillian\u2019s knee with the studs of his outstretched legs. As clear a penalty as they come — even VAR couldn\u2019t possibly have overturned that decision. \u00d8degaard held on to the ball and gave the impression that he would take on the penalty duties in absence of Saka. But he was simply protecting it for the Brazilian center forward who stepped up to slot it coolly down the middle after sending Meslier to his right. His first goal for Arsenal since October, and the entire squad \u2013 playing eleven as well as the bench \u2013 came together to congratulate him. Afterwards at the end of the match Arteta elaborated how much his teammates love and admire Jesus for his humility, desire, hard work and how much of an inspirational figure he has become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Jesus 35\u2019) \u2013 Leeds 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal brought in a measure of sharpness and speed in our play that have been missing until then. And quickly after the second half started our quality and unpredictability in the attacking third helped us extend the lead. After a buildup involving Zinchenko and Xhaka, Martinelli manufactured a sliver of space for himself on the left side of the Leeds penalty box and sent in a perfect fizzing cross past the entirety of the Leeds defense for Benjamin White to ghost in and finish clinically \u2013 like the striker he could have been if he wanted to, one assumes \u2013 through the underside of the bar. It was the second goal of the season for our right back, and I come from a school of thought (feelings?) that insists that the best teams in the world always have fullbacks contributing with crucial goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2 (Jesus 35\u2019, White 47\u2019) \u2013 Leeds 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that goal Arsenal fully asserted their dominance and started to play with the signature verve and creativity that this team has formed a good habit of playing with. The third goal was an exquisite piece of art. Jesus, positioned on the right wing, fizzed in a delightful pass to Trossard who had taken up a central position at the edge of the penalty box. The Belgian cushioned the ball forward and moved away in a slanted run towards the far post while Jesus came into his vacated spot. Trossard delivered a cutting ground pass that the Brazilian then homed in with a classic striker\u2019s finish from the outside of his boot. A fantastic return for Jesus, and let us hope he just carries on from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (Jesus 35\u2019, White 47, Jesus 55\u2019) \u2013 Leeds 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel made a couple of protective substitutions after that around the one-hour mark \u2013 brining in Jorginho for Partey and Saka for Jesus. Trossard moved back to his nine-and-half role and Saka took his customary right- wing position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, just a degree of complacency might have crept in our game at this time and the defense was slow to react to a rapid Leeds move down the middle. Kristensen\u2019s shot deflected off Zinchenko to fly past the wrong-footed Ramsdale into our goal. Even though the original shot was goal bound, if not for the deflection one suspects Aaron would have saved it. He was not happy about losing the clean sheet once again and he had every right to let his displeasure be known to the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3 (Jesus 35\u2019, White 47, Jesus 55\u2019) \u2013 Leeds 1 (Kristensen 76\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Leeds had seen a slim ray of hope in that goal \u2013 and wanted to test Arsenal\u2019s nerves in the dying stages by somehow scoring one more goal \u2013 it was quickly extinguished by our fourth goal that was simple, beautiful and beautifully simple. \u00d8degaard found himself with a bit of extra time with the ball on his left foot. He looked up to see Granit Xhaka making a late run straight down the middle of the two Leeds central defenders who looked puzzled by Granit\u2019s excitedly waving raised hand; by the time the realization dawned on them of what was going to happen, it had already happened \u2013 Martin put in a cross that given that much time and space he can probably deliver with his eyes closed, Xhaka finished into the top corner with a flawlessly executed header. It was reminiscent of Aaron Ramsey goals, and white Xhaka is never going to be the kind of goalscoring midfielder Rambo was, he has shown enough times in this season that \u2013 as Mikel often mentions that if you believe you can score goals and get into the right positions you do score goals \u2013 he now has a few new effective tools in his box to continue to surprise us with the kind of contributions that no one has ever expected of him. Before Mikel, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 4 (Jesus 35\u2019, White 47, Jesus 55\u2019, Xhaka 84\u2019) \u2013 Leeds 1 (Kristensen 76\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta brought in Tierney, ESR and Vieira for Zinchenko, \u00d8degaard and Xhaka. The team saw out the rest of the match professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this recapitulation of another enjoyable matchday outing was started with some words from the mad Saxon in Torino, let us finish this with one of his favorite phrases: amor fati. To be honest, it is rather easy for the Arsenal supporting soul to love their fate when goings are this good. In the weeks to come we might be offered a much sterner test. But whatever may happen, let us continue to love the fate of being an Arsenal fan, especially as we look around and see the rest of the clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria Concordia Crescit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a failed professor of philology in Basel university once observed, thoughts are shadows of our feelings \u2013 darker, emptier and simpler. The paradox that he had to resort to an aphorism \u2013 which is but an articulated expression of thought — to convey his feeling about thought\u2019s innate limitations was probably the kind of […]<\/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\/7687"}],"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=7687"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7694,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7687\/revisions\/7694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}