{"id":9357,"date":"2024-03-30T09:24:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T09:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9357"},"modified":"2024-04-01T09:40:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T08:40:39","slug":"learning-to-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9357","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It has been more than 12 years since Ars\u00e8ne Wenger had publicly raised certain concerns<\/a> about the financial mechanics of squad building of our opponent this weekend. A lot has happened in the world of football since then, but his questions have remained unanswered. And true to the profound capacity of the human race to become complacently well adjusted to any new reality, we all seem to have become inured to a kind of unfairness that should strike as deeply antagonistic to what is considered to be the inviolable spirit of all sporting competitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against such a backdrop of heavily tilted landscape, this young Arsenal team\u2019s assured march \u2013 characterized by a joyful \u00e9lan that carries within itself the promises of a memorable future \u2013 into the center stage is all the more impressive. Since the start of the new year, Arsenal\u2019s Premier League results have been nearly as eye catching as the performances: 5-0 (h), 1-2 (a), 3-1 (h), 0-6 (a), 0-5 (a), 4-1 (h), 0-6 (a), 2-1 (h) \u2013 eight consecutive victories, with a positive goal difference of 29 (33-4).  In the four away games the goal difference is 18 (19-1).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statisticians \u2013 or Ned\u2019s monks, if they feel like spending a minute or two away from their scholarly pursuits in the lesser pleasures of remembrance \u2013 will be able to confirm or refute my claim, but I feel that no team in PL history has ever gone through an eight game streak quite like that. I won\u2019t say in the history of English football, for I have learnt over the years (again, thanks often to those aforementioned monks and their flawless memories) that however outrageous a piece of footballing statistics might appear, English football in its rich history has already seen everything. :–) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically unmatched or not, these results have propelled Arsenal to the top of the premier league table, with ten games to go, helping them to recover from their Christmas time malaise, and maybe equally importantly have inculcated a degree of self-belief and confidence that are as important an ingredient for success as the quality of football in this final stretch of the seasonal marathon. Last season, around these days of early Spring Arsenal\u2019s title challenge started to collapse as an injury depleted, inexperienced squad could no longer keep up with the physical and emotional rigors, while a more generously lubricated machine sprinted expectedly away to the finish line.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manchester City, contrary to what some football commentators have been saying, I find is no less of a team compared to last season. There have been some changes in their squad, but the overall quality, depth, variety are as strong as ever, and if anything there is just a bit more nous about when and how to time the season defining performances. The fact that both Arsenal and Liverpool are fighting with them in such a tight race to the top says a lot more about those two teams\u2019 unique strengths \u2013 different though those are from each other\u2019s \u2013 and I think whatever the league table may end up looking like at the end of the season, Arteta\u2019s Arsenal is on an upward trajectory and is on a journey that we fans find it a privilege to be part of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recent results against City in the league have been wretched to say the least, especially since Guardiola took over. Arteta \u2013 since he left Pep\u2019s coaching team to return to his beloved club \u2013 has not kept it a secret how much he considers the level of City as the bar his young squad must aspire to, calling the current City even \u2018best of all times\u2019. Somewhere in that mixture of true admiration and hyperbole meant as inspiration to the team, there is also a detectable hint of his fiercely competitive spirit. One of his most admirable qualities \u2013 at least to this scribe \u2013 is his relentless pursuit of excellence, and not settling for being second best to any one. And, however respectful he might be to his friend and mentor, one suspects that defeating the most decorated manager in football history to the league championship will bring him an extra measure of satisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal has already beaten City twice this season already \u2013 at the curtain raiser of Community Shield in August, albeit on penalties, and then in a fiercely competitive 1-0 home win in the league in October \u2013 and a victory away at City this Sunday will bring us our first league double against them since the 2007-08 season, when a solitary Fabregas goal gave us a 1-0 home win in August, and later in February Eduardo and Adebayor combined for a 1-3 win away. Our last away win at City came in the January of the 2014\/15 season, when a Santi Cazorla masterclass earned us a memorable 2-0 victory with Giroud adding to Santi\u2019s early goal scored from penalty. Arteta, the new club captain for the season, was absent from the matchday squad due to the injuries which plagued his last couple of seasons at Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that we have been able to avoid any injury scares in the last international break \u2013 and let us hope it remains so for the rest of the season. However, it is not clear if any of the three injury-enforced absentees from their respective national teams \u2013 Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel \u2013 are fit enough to play this weekend. Mikel, as is his wont, gave nothing away in his pre-match interview.  All three are, when fully fit, guaranteed starters in a match of this importance, and one suspects not all of them will start this match on the bench. Before the international break Martinelli\u2019s injury was likely the most severe one, and his position is also likely the one that can be most effectively compensated by either Jes\u00f9s or Trossard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zinchenko and Kiwior \u2013 our two first choice left backs \u2013 both must have returned energized from the internationals by their respective nation\u2019s successful qualification play-off campaigns to participate in this summer\u2019s Euros. Whereas Kiwior played each minute of Poland\u2019s two matches, the Ukrainian captain was substituted after 76 minutes in their first match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas he didn\u2019t even appear until the 64th minute against Iceland in the second match \u2013 Ukraine winning both by 2-1 after conceding the first goal.  The fact that in a match of that importance Zinchenko was not considered fit enough to start, indicates that he will likely not be risked by Arteta this weekend, especially given Kiwior\u2019s good form for both club and country, and given the packed schedule ahead.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key decision for Arteta about the starting eleven would be whether to play Rice \u2013 joining over the international break the ranks of great Arsenal luminaries who have also captained the English national team \u2013  in a deeper #6 role, or start Jorginho there and play Rice as the left sided #8, a position where he has really started to flourish on both sides of the game. Jorginho\u2019s technical savvy and ability to control the tempo may be a great asset in an away match of this importance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kai Havertz carried his superb goalscoring form for Arsenal to his national team, and I think his clever hybrid positioning, physicality and his rediscovered calmness in front of goal makes him a more natural starter in the center of the forward line in this match. Especially so if Martinelli is not fit enough to start, with Jes\u00f9s bringing more of the full-throttle relentlessness on the left. If Tomiyasu and White are both fit and ready, Ben is likely to start on the right, and the versatile Tomi can be relied upon to sub any of the four defensive roles later in the game if necessary or, if we are winning comfortably, even to offer an extra presence to see out the match.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My predicted starting line-up:<\/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 Jorginho \u2013 Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka \u2013 Havertz \u2013 Jes\u00f9s     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does feel like one of those season defining matches that brings with it the weight of expectations as much as anxieties of imponderables. However, pragmatically speaking, whatever the result of this match, we will still be very well placed in the league table, with nine more games to go. A win will of course be fantastic, but a draw would be a very good result as well. A loss on the scoreline may feel unrecoverable, especially immediately after the match when easy narratives of foregone conclusions are bandied about liberally in the punditry saturated media, but I think as long as the team plays to its true potential and learns from the experience, this is a match from which we can only grow forward.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

It has been more than 12 years since Ars\u00e8ne Wenger had publicly raised certain concerns about the financial mechanics of squad building of our opponent this weekend. A lot has happened in the world of football since then, but his questions have remained unanswered. And true to the profound capacity of the human race to […]<\/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\/9357"}],"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=9357"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9362,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9357\/revisions\/9362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}