{"id":9188,"date":"2024-02-17T08:22:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T08:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9188"},"modified":"2024-02-18T10:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T10:00:01","slug":"hadrians-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9188","title":{"rendered":"Hadrian’s Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Unless one was exceptionally enthusiastic about learning the long and colorful history of English football, for a non-English Arsenal fan \u2013 drawn towards the great London club by the magnetism of their football in the final years of the previous century \u2013 the name of Burnley was very unlikely to bring any sign of recognition for the first decade or so of following Arsenal. I first learned of Burnley Football Club when the premier league schedule for the 2009-10 season was published, the Lancashire side returning back to the top flight after thirty three years of absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon enough the awareness turned into a nearly visceral distaste for the club, their players, their supporters and most likely their manager. While Owen Coyle \u2013 a self-proclaimed Wenger devotee, who soon moved to Bolton, and eventually was charged with young jack Wilshere\u2019s development on loan \u2013 earned Burnley the promotion into EPL, the club solidified their tenacious presence in the top division at the hands of Sean Dyche, who demonstrated a remarkable fondness for antediluvian footballing ethos that prided itself on blurring the boundaries between the beautiful game and fatal combat that would not have been misplaced in the battlefields of Roman Britain where the Brigantes of Northern England fought valiantly against Gnaeus Julius Agricola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially at their home in Turf Moor \u2013 continuously in service since the foundation of Burnley football club in 1883 \u2013 Dyche\u2019s horde, egged on by the bloodthirsty crowd that carried in their voices an atavistic hatred for anything and anyone south of the Hardian\u2019s Wall, would merrily go about scything down anyone showing the temerity to express their creative instincts. Unfortunately for us, the Arsenal team of those years no longer had the \u201cfight fire with fire\u201d stalwarts of Ars\u00e8ne\u2019s Highbury days, but a young side brimming with technical excellence whereas lacking the streetwise brio needed to overcome the threat on their lives and limbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least that is retained in my memory as the primary impression of the recent encounters against the toughies from Turf Moor. However, memory can be deceptive. Our PL results away at Burnley have been, in the chronological order: 1-1, 0-1, 0-1, 0-1, 1-3, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1. There have been 21 matches \u2013 including PL, FA Cup and League Cup \u2013 between these two clubs in this century, and the head-to-head record stands at: Arsenal won 15, drew 4, and lost 2 matches. One 2-0 loss away at League cup in 2008; one 0-1 home loss in PL in 2020. In the process Arsenal outscored Burnley 37-12. So, despite the lasting impressions of those northern encounters, Dyche and co. were nowhere near the bogey team the painful memories of those matches may influence us into believing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, one must admit that the intrinsic unpleasantness of Burnley\u2019s football has been more than replaced by the progressive, attacking football philosophy of Vincent Kompany. A skillful ball-playing defender \u2013 irrespective of his unfortunate club affiliation, I have always admired the players, just as I did with YaYa Toure or Sergio Aguero \u2013 he has completely transformed Burnley\u2019s football style, and brought them back into the PL on the strength of free-flowing football. It naturally took Kompany \u2013 a first time manager at this level \u2013 some time to get his team to become truly competitive at PL where the margins of error are nonexistent and the gap between the result and the performances are often determined by turning moments where concentration, discipline and experience matter as much as quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are currently fighting to avoid relegation, sitting at the 19th position at the league table. However the form since the turn of the year has been steady, and the results in PL have started to improve: 1-1 and 2-2 home draws against Luton and Fulham, and 3-1 losses away at Manchester City and Liverpool, where the team had given an impressive account of themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winter break had evidently helped to refresh the legs and minds of the Arsenal squad as well. In the first 4 PL appearances of this new year we have beaten Crystal Palace 5-0 at home, Nottingham Forest 1-2 away, Liverpool 3-1 at home, and West Ham 0-6 away. 14 goals scored, 2 conceded. If we beat Burnley in Saturday afternoon\u2019s encounter then it would be the very first team in PL history Arsenal will win the first five games of a calendar year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, a victory this weekend will also maintain our momentum in retaining relevance at this season\u2019s fascinating three-way fight for the league title. Based on Mikel\u2019s interview comments \u2013 if he were ever to get bored with the mad mad world of football management, a politician\u2019s career waits for him \u2013 I think we can safely guess that at least some of the previously injured players are likely to return to the squad this weekend. But I think he won\u2019t risk starting any of them, given the midweek away tie at Porto in the Champions League, but also given that the last starting eleven surely deserve their chance to play together again after last weekend\u2019s scintillating performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White \u2013 Saliba \u2013 Gabriel \u2013 Kiwior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard \u2013 Rice \u2013 Havertz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Enjoy the game everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on Arsenal!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unless one was exceptionally enthusiastic about learning the long and colorful history of English football, for a non-English Arsenal fan \u2013 drawn towards the great London club by the magnetism of their football in the final years of the previous century \u2013 the name of Burnley was very unlikely to bring any sign of recognition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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\/9188"}],"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=9188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9194,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions\/9194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}