{"id":917,"date":"2020-06-15T11:41:22","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T10:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=917"},"modified":"2020-06-18T01:50:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T00:50:32","slug":"manchester-city-vs-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=917","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City vs Arsenal"},"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.co.uk\/detail\/1248776154\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.498314% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1248776154?et=-gxmBuOPTR9RHeyd6mmICA&amp;tld=co.uk&amp;sig=fXrK_ORLvq68IbkpE-9AOgORiaEjf7H6d4Ij-p_Fu0Q=&amp;caption=false&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"395\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mighty Arsenal, the rip-roaring Gunners, the one proper team in London are back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BUT \u2026\u2026 that opening exclamation is about the only predictable thing there is to say about an actual football match being played again in the English Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there is one other predictable thing &#8211; the game is away from home, on a Wednesday night, in Manchester, making it nigh on impossible for away supporters to get home. Except it won\u2019t. Because there aren\u2019t any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In case anyone is reading this in the archives years from now, this is the year 2020 in the time of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Many people believe that football shouldn\u2019t be happening again yet at all, given the tragic death rate that has hit the country. Well it is Jim, but not as we know it (ask someone old, kids &#8211; they\u2019ll know \ud83d\ude0f).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a serious note, I hope this finds everyone reading this fit and well, and may I offer the sincere sympathies of everyone connected with this still new site, to anyone who is still unwell or has suffered personal loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why no fans? Because this virus spreads faster than Jose Mourinho ruins young players, and large gatherings of people are banned. It seems that despite originally stipulating that the season\u2019s remaining games would be played at neutral grounds, behind closed doors, to nullify home\/away advantage and prevent travelling hoards from reinfecting the country, or home hoards from gathering in pubs close to the grounds, this fixture will now be played behind closed doors at the Emptihad Stadium in Manchester. Given the anticipated strange atmosphere, this appears to be a huge advantage to City, as they will be used to playing in front of those particular empty stands every other week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The politics of why this is happening are well enough known &#8211; basically, money &#8211; but the reality of a game on TV with no fans, will be interesting for viewers and players alike. Will there be real intensity on the pitch ? There will probably be a fair bit off it, as TV directors and sound men with canned crowd effects and photos of massed stands, developed in cooperation with EA Sports FIFA 20 (ask someone young, oldies &#8211; they\u2019ll know \ud83d\ude0f), try to convince us that something approaching normal is happening out on the grass. They might even be able to drown out the insufferable co-commentators who have become the bane of the latter day TV match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For The Arsenal, the Restart \u201cpre-season\u201d has been fairly mixed. On Saturday 6th June, the first friendly resulted in a 6-1 win against Charlton Athletic, behind closed doors at The Emirates, with goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emmerich Aubameyang, Eddie Nketiah (3) and Joe Willock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Wednesday 10th June the team was back in action, again behind closed doors at The Emirates, this time losing 2-3 to Brentford. Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette were again on the scoresheet for the Gunners, but Brentford twice came from behind and grabbed the winner in the 88th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Had we won, it would have been another encouraging indicator for the upcoming Premier League matches. As we lost, it was obviously purely and simply a fitness exercise and the result was totally unimportant!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This Man City fixture has, in recent times, become one of contrasts. A team owned by the multi-billionaire Sheikhs of Abby Dabbly (cheers BtM!) who give them everything their celebrity manager of the day desires &#8211; currently running at a total of around \u00a31,500,000,000 &#8211; versus a team owned by an American multi-billionaire who gives his rookie, but hugely promising manager absolutely nothing. Sure, times are difficult and unprecedented and financial hardship will be widespread, but it is worth noting that Arsenal remains the only club to have negotiated, or forced, their players to take a pay cut due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We mustn\u2019t be ungrateful though. We have benefited in the past from City\u2019s petrodollars, as they sought to relieve us, at show-off prices, of Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, Bacary Sagna, Samir Nasri and last, but very much least, Emmanuel Adebarndoor, meaning that they paid for quite a lot of our stadium, if not all that much of their own &#8211; courtesy, unnecessarily, of a generous local authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This particular Celebrity vs Rookie contest is also one of Master vs Apprentice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pep Guardiola vs Mikel Arteta. The boss of the current Champions with his galaxy of expensive stars, versus the newly appointed manager rebuilding with youth, a club almost wrecked by the previous incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I should say that I am extremely happy with our choice. A young manager who clearly loves and respects our club and is ready to build and fight in the circumstances he has chosen. If we can\u2019t buy the best, we at least now have a manager \/ head coach who is able to connect with and develop the best young talent we can gather. Mikel Arteta does seem to have won the trust of his squad very quickly, as evidenced by the immediate improvements in commitment, work rate and team spirit when he took over. He was also clearly integral to the players accepting that required cut in wages, which was perhaps surprising so soon after taking the reins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there, in the absence of the normal current cut and thrust of the season, we have the not very ancient and very modern history of this particular fixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial period of Project Restart (ugh) is going to be fraught for any club without a very deep squad. After the first two weeks of the restart in the German Bundesliga, the injury rate was 250% of normal. That, for The Arsenal, with our history of injuries and many young players in the squad, is a worry and something that will take careful management, insofar as these situations can be at all second guessed. Four of our long term injured will hopefully have benefited from the long layoff and be as prepared as could be reasonably hoped to go again. They are Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney and Lucas Torreira &#8211; in case you\u2019d forgotten them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for team selection, anyone\u2019s guess is a good\u2019un. None of the players will have any form as such, after such a long layoff, so it will be interesting to see whether the boss decides to opt for as much experience as possible, or go for a young and adventurous \u201cfresh start\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bernd Leno is a cert to start in goal and Bellerin is the obvious choice at right back. Personally, I would like to see Pablo Mari in the middle &#8211; he doesn\u2019t have Premier League experience but he did spend three years at Manchester City, and must have a good idea of their personnel and tactics. If he and David Luiz can\u2019t be shoehorned in together, then Sokratis Papastathopoulos (just because I can) should probably start on the right of centre, if he can avoid another Greek tragedy (even though I shouldn\u2019t \ud83d\ude0f). If Kieran Tierney is fit again, his inclusion would allow Bakayo Saka to move forward into his preferred more attacking role. I can\u2019t wait to see how creative this terrific prospect can be playing on the wing, considering what he has done from emergency full back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of it is anybody\u2019s guess. My own preference would be to see Lucas Torreira in a proper defensive midfield role, with someone a bit more mobile than the hereto seemingly indispensable Granit Xhaka. Joe Willock, Dani Ceballos and Matteo Guendouzi are the obvious choices, so it depends whether security or adventure take priority in the manager\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of them I would unleash Nicolas Pepe, Mesut \u00d6zil and Bakayo Saka to supply Pierre-Emmerich Aubameyang, in the middle, up top where he belongs (there\u2019s a song there somewhere, I\u2019m sure), with a youthful and exuberant Gabriel Martinelli waiting to explode off the bench, along with Reiss Nelson and a probably, in that case, grumpy Alexandre Lacazette. Rob Holding and Emiliano Martinez would provide the defensive cover, given that Calum Chambers is still out with his long term injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Premier League has confirmed that teams can use up to five substitutes, with up to nine named on the bench instead of the usual seven. However, in order to avoid endless delays or time-wasting, there will still only be three occasions plus halftime when a substitution may be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In reality, the team could be anything, with so many games coming as thick and fast as Aaron Lennon (feel free to insert the name of your own least favourite speedy, not very good, probably winger, here). You would have to think the boss will want to put his best side out against his former master, but we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City team ? Come on, really &#8211; who cares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Saturday 13th June, News Now was reporting that City should have their entire first team squad fit and available for selection, including their long term injured such as Aymeric Laporte and goalkeeper Ederson. It would be the first time this season that Pep Guardiola has been able to field his strongest eleven &#8211; how entirely typical that the opportunity should arise against The Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not going to pretend to have a clue who Guardiola will choose, especially in these circumstances, but as long as Kyle Walker finishes up losing and very upset, I\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It turns out that there is one more predictable element to this game &#8211; namely the referee. That honour goes to Manchester born Anthony Taylor, a firm favourite with all Gooners! For those interested in such details, his assistants will be Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, and the fourth official will be Martin Atkinson. What could possibly go wrong?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The VAR will be Stuart Attwell, who is beginning to look puzzlingly like Graham Poll \u2014- insert your own jokes here \u2014- and his assistant will be Stephen Child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s going to be a very strange experience on Wednesday evening, but an interesting one nevertheless. Our reactions to the result are probably, at this stage, unknown even to ourselves. To me, this feels more like a disjointed prelude to next season, than the finale of the current one &#8211; but it is an opportunity to get behind The Arsenal again and hopefully have a good laugh at the Spuds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sorry not to be able to match the standards set by the ever greatly missed Guvnor, but I will take the liberty of using his typical sign off &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, Holics! At least there won\u2019t be any problems getting home!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images It\u2019s back! The mighty Arsenal, the rip-roaring Gunners, the one proper team in London are back! BUT \u2026\u2026 that opening exclamation is about the only predictable thing there is to say about an actual football match being played again in the English Premier League. Well, there is one other predictable thing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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\/917"}],"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=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":940,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions\/940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}