{"id":8410,"date":"2023-09-26T19:03:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8410"},"modified":"2023-09-27T22:16:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T21:16:36","slug":"time-to-end-the-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8410","title":{"rendered":"Time to End the Drought"},"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:510px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/947621710\" 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:66.47059% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/947621710?et=lzflWOlWS4FIMvvCxUGnXg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=SqRJQezts9AfmFB7X6KyRGuIzSOWn33KNZbwWl5O-Q4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"510\" height=\"339\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>To take it seriously or not to take it seriously, that is the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the last couple of years, Arsenal have been on an upwards trajectory. From narrowly missing out on the top four with the youngest squad in the division, to nearly topping the financial juggernauts, Manchester City, for an unexpected title. Much was expected of Arsenal this season, and it still is. But Mikel Arteta&#8217;s side remain without major silverware in just over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That may not seem like a long time, and it is true that this club has endured far more barren spells in its history. But the time has now come for them to lift some metal again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The League Cup is without doubt at number four out of four in Se\u00f1or Arteta&#8217;s list of priorities this year, as it is for all our rivals. But it is a trophy that is there to be won. A trophy we have not won since 1993 as part of a domestic cup double that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wenger regularly used this tournament as a chance to blood some of the youngsters to varying degrees of success. We made the final on three occasions under the Frenchman, losing all three. All were painful for various reasons. In 2007 a 17 year-old Theo Walcott put a young Arsenal side in front against a Chelsea team of star-studded superstars in Cardiff. However, in the second half Abou Diaby did his moral duty as a human being by kicking John Terry in the head. The lengthy stoppage in proceedings caused Arsenal to lose momentum as Wenger&#8217;s young side were denied by their long term nemesis, Didier Drogba. Future losses at the hands of Cities Birmingham and Manchester ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Normally I am rather dismissive of the League Cup but this year I feel differently. We really ought to win something. Winning the title feels unlikely even at this early stage, as does the Champions League. There&#8217;s always the FA Cup after Christmas but who knows, mid-season silverware might prove to be the catalyst going into the final few months of the season in which we hope to be in the thick of the title race as well as the latter stages of the Champions League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it is not as if we do not have sufficient depth to put out a second-ish string team and still come out on top against a solid mid table outfit in Brentford. If I were Arteta, I would revert to Ramsdale in goal as the cup &#8216;keeper. The back four selection will be interesting given a number of our back up defenders can play in numerous positions. Personally I would be inclined to play at least half our first choice backline. Perhaps something like, Tomiyasu on the right, supported by Saliba, with Kiwior as his partner and Zinchenko on the left? Despite our growing injury list that is just one of a number of combinations Arteta can go with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The midfield will be an interesting one, both Rice and Partey are almost certain to miss out, so we could see a rare start for Jorginho, perhaps anchoring a three man midfield with Vieira and Havertz on either side with one of those two playing in a slightly more advanced role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the front three, I would like to see Eddie up top flanked by Nelson on the left and Smith Rowe on the right. A nice combination of pace, and trickery with a poacher down the middle. Perfect for a cup tie against strong opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game will not be televised live in the UK but I am sure it will be in almost every other country in the world so it could be a torrid night in what I&#8217;m sure will be the first stream-hunting session of the season for a number of our readers. I will be one of them so fingers crossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for my prediction, it will be a very physical game against a side who, despite missing their most dangerous player in Ivan Toney &#8212; who may well be one of us in a few months &#8212; remain technically and tactically very strong and well adaptable to changes in circumstance. I am going for a hard fought, but deserved 3-1 win for The Arsenal. Eddie, Nelson and Vieira on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images To take it seriously or not to take it seriously, that is the question. For the last couple of years, Arsenal have been on an upwards trajectory. From narrowly missing out on the top four with the youngest squad in the division, to nearly topping the financial juggernauts, Manchester City, for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8410"}],"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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8415,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8410\/revisions\/8415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}