{"id":9446,"date":"2024-04-13T06:53:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T05:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9446"},"modified":"2024-04-15T07:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T06:00:15","slug":"this-is-our-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9446","title":{"rendered":"This is OUR time."},"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.com\/detail\/2148253730\" 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:64.47812% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2148253730?et=lARpGq9uRj1UFfbIkfBfFg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=IJOHvwmDN8GsasjhkcCyFToo7qkt09Zlw_OS8mFea28=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"383\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On a weekend where we have to hew to our winning ways we play last among the top three, hosting Unai Emery&#8217;s Aston Villa Sunday in a late afternoon tilt.  We can fully expect Liverpool to decimate Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, and Al-Citeh to crush Luton on Saturday, leaving us in 3rd place at kickoff.  Putting three points on the board is therefore essential, but with them having beaten us 1-0 at Villa Park in December, it is not a given.  That loss started our last mini-slide of this season, the run of results that culminated with our January loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup:  7 played, 1 win, 2 draws, 4 losses.  Fortunately, we had two weeks in Dubai after that&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aston Villa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unai is leading Villa in a battle for the 4th place Premier League trophy against the surging little club from Middlesex; even though they play Saturday against the Oilers-upon-Tyne, Villa stands to be in the same position coming into our game Sunday.  A loss by the little chickens will only use their game in hand, they&#8217;d likely be in 4th on goal difference.  Expect Emery to have impressed upon his squad the importance of not conceding early, of watching for the out ball on the break, and, perhaps, on a mid-block of a creative bent to confound our current ability to press and hold teams in their own half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villa is also in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, having beaten Lille 2-1 at Villa Park on Thursday.  The short turnaround time will challenge their fitness levels, not least because they have an extensive list of first-team absentees.  Kamara, Mings, Buendia, and Ramsey are all out for the season; last year the latter three were nailed-on starters, and Kamara played consistent minutes.  This year Mings and Buendia have played one game between them; Kamara and Ramsey have played more, but are now unavailable.  Cash (hamstring) and Lenglet (knock) are questionable, but I&#8217;d be surprised if both were out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Emery can call on a relatively experienced team built this laste few months, his midfield is going to be further shorn of Luiz, as he is suspended for two games for amassing 10 yellow cards before Villa&#8217;s 32nd game.  Watkins, Diaby, Bailey and Duran can be expected up front, McGinn will probably pair with Tielemans in a double-pivot, in front of Konsa and Digne on the corners on either side of Torres and Carlos.  Ex-Arsenal keeper Martinez will get the nod in goal.  Watkins is their obvious goal threat, as well as their primary source of assists; Diaby, Bailey, and McGinn round out that threat.  Hopefully the absence of Luiz&#8217;s goals and assists will be telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their last 6 league games Villa has won 2, lost 2, and drawn 2. Very middle-of-the-road.  Under Emery they play a variety of formations, focusing on getting numbers around the ball and counterattacking quickly through their wings in front of a high defensive line.  Their possession varies by opponent, ranging from 33% against Al-Citeh 70% against West Ham; they were slaughtered by City and drew the Hammers.  They beat us in December on a fine goal from McGinn, but we were profligate against the high line they played, and VAR did us no favors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We come into the game having had a solid rest after Tuesday&#8217;s Champions eague draw against Bayern.  While we still have Timber out with his long-term knee injury (hopefully coming to an end soon, in time for the final few games of the season), the only other possible issue is Gabriel, who seemed to be fine after Kane&#8217;s assault but might be carrying a knock that could keep him out of the starting lineup.  Otherwise we&#8217;re healthy and can field a full team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As has been plastered all over the news Arsenal are unbeaten in the league in 2024.  In our last six we&#8217;ve won five and drawn last year&#8217;s champions, using a press that could crease linen and offensive maneuvers that leave opponents in the dark.  This game shouldn&#8217;t be harder for us to play than Bayern or Al-Citeh, yet I fear we will let down our guard (despite Arteta&#8217;s focused training this week) and will find it tough going.  We scored early against Bayern and we let it go to our heads.  Are we tougher in the league than that, after such a draw in midweek?  Can we maintain our composure, our press, and our lovely interplay after scoring an early goal, and force the Villans to try and play on the front foot?  I do hope so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After calls by some here that I was partaking of too much California green hospitality in choosing my team for the Brighton game, I&#8217;ll reach a little further than that in choosing this one.  We lacked a modicum of control with Kiwior (who didn&#8217;t have as bad a game as all that) against Bayern, and suffered at the hands of a speedy winger, probably one of the best in the game.  Jorginho didn&#8217;t have a particularly great game; and we were relatively sloppy at times with our passing and decision-making.  I suggest we try something with Zinchenko that some have called for, but Arteta hasn&#8217;t seen fit to choose for our lineup:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Raya<br>White &#8212; Saliba &#8212; Gabriel &#8212; Tomiyasu<br>Rice &#8212; M\u00f8 &#8212; Zinchenko<br>Saka &#8212; Havertz &#8212; Jes\u00fas<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tomi and White give us offensive threat and solid defense (and I expect Gabriel to partner per usual with Saliba), while Zinchenko can give in to his natural roaming quality and shuttle between Rice and M\u00f8.  This will also give Rice a bit of a chance to sit back and breathe, and dictate the game in front of the back four.  Martinelli coming on in the 70th minute against a tiring Villa defense has no little appeal, and Jes\u00fas&#8217; play versus Bayern brought us back to level on the tie.  If Zinny tires there&#8217;s Trossard to slot right in.  Conventional?  Not at all, but I think it has potential, especially given how we&#8217;ve been pressing through the midfield, pushing teams back and back and back&#8230;one of White or Tomi pushing up making three at the back with Rice means we can really dictate the pace and intensity of play, and have two maestros on the ball with M\u00f8 and Zinny.  Go ahead, tear it apart \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Holics Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a tough market.  We are 2\/7 to win outright, and you have to a score of Arsenal 3-1 Villa to break 10\/1.  Arsenal 3-2 Villa gets you 25\/1, though if you think we&#8217;ll shut them out you can more than double your money from 4-0 to 5-0 with 14\/1 becoming 29\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think we&#8217;re in for a tougher game than the bookies figure, but we can certainly win this game.  The pressure will likely be on us to keep pace with Liverpool and the Oilers, we&#8217;re facing a Villa team pushing hard for Champions League football next year, and there&#8217;s always the &#8220;Emery comes back to the Grove&#8221; factor.  If you go to the game enjoy it thoroughly, be loud and proud and let our boys know you&#8217;re behind them 100%.  It is THIS time of the season where the margins are so small that we fans have to push every ounce of energy towards our team, lifting them and electrifying them to help them over the line.  We know you can do it!  COYG!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images On a weekend where we have to hew to our winning ways we play last among the top three, hosting Unai Emery&#8217;s Aston Villa Sunday in a late afternoon tilt. We can fully expect Liverpool to decimate Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, and Al-Citeh to crush Luton on Saturday, leaving us [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"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\/9446"}],"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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9446"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9453,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9446\/revisions\/9453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}