{"id":9638,"date":"2024-05-20T00:05:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T23:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9638"},"modified":"2024-05-24T08:51:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T07:51:07","slug":"we-won-the-honest-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9638","title":{"rendered":"We Won the (Honest) League"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“We love you Arsenal, we do!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A club that has a tradition of doing things the right way, the honest way, the honourable way but was in disarray on and off the field appointed a brilliant young manager who then built a team that is easy to love and that plays wonderful football. That team has broken records this season, winning more Premier League games than any previous Arsenal team and letting in fewer goals than any other Premier League team this season. This Arsenal team has finished the 23\/24 season with 89 points, one point less than the Invincibles of 03\/04, though winning more games than the Invincibles, and have finished above every other English club without a stain on its financial record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media omert\u00e0 has finally begun to fragment and the reputation of a club with 115 charges (!) of alleged financial misdemeanours is tarnished, despite cease and desist letters to all and sundry and the endeavours of expensive lawyers to impede due process in the Premier League’s efforts to hold them to account. Surely, a club innocent of any transgressions would not have led the PL panel through a maze of legal obstructions but rather, would have attempted to clear up the ‘misunderstanding’ as soon as possible and volunteered information rather than withheld it. The Premier League can legitimately be criticised for not completing their process before the beginning of the 23\/24 season as the charges were publicly revealed (after many attempts to obstruct even this) in February 2023. However it is clear that many, many obstacles were deliberately put in their way and are still being put in their way. That is not remotely the behaviour of an innocent party. If the PL can finally complete the process they started several years ago and prove their case, this will be, at minimum, a huge reputational disaster for every person, cheerleader, accountant, lawyer and owner associated with that tarnished club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without doubt, that club has amassed a hitherto unparalleled collection of playing talent and depth of squad but that is not unrelated to their alleged misdemeanours dating from 2009. Their cheerleaders may claim that they have broken many records but as Brian Clough said to the Leeds United players during his brief tenure at Elland Road, “…as far as I\u2019m concerned, the first thing you can do for me is chuck all your medals and all your caps and all your pots and all your pans into the biggest fucking dustbin you can find. Because you\u2019ve never won any of them fairly. You\u2019ve done it all by cheating.\u201d I’m sure Ronnie Biggs and Lance Armstrong celebrated their erstwhile successes before they felt a hand on their shoulder. Enjoy the mirage while you can, chaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would rather support a club with a proud history of honest competition than one with foundations built on sand and success built on alleged ‘creative accountancy’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, to the final game of the season. This game against Everton was the culmination of an extraordinary run of games by this Arsenal squad since their winter break in Dubai. Ironically Everton’s position in the table would have better reflected their ability and threat had they not had 8 points deducted for exceeding the permitted overspend over three seasons by some \u00a320 million. Swift justice in their case and, I understand, a discount for co-operation. On the field the Everton team proved to be the image of their coach: tough, obdurate, well organised and difficult to break down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all over them like a rash from kick off with a high energy, high press attack but the goal just wouldn’t come. Highlights included a thumping header by Tomiyasu, after 6 minutes, from the far side of the six yard box that flew across goal but went wide of the post, a left footed shot by Rice after 12 minutes, from the centre of the box, that sadly lacked power and was an easy save for Pickford and a brilliant dribble by Martinelli into the Everton box from the right, where he had started in place of Saka, ending in a firm low shot that Pickford blocked and spilled, but the rebound was taken off Martinelli’s toes by an Everton defender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Everton were not without threat. In the 22nd minute they won a free-kick in a dangerous position 25 yards out after a stupid foul by Partey which struck the Arsenal wall and rebounded to safety. Then, in the 32nd minute, the persistently mobile Calvert-Lewin hit Raya’s right post from close range then struck the rebound into the side netting. That reprieve was transient as Partey committed an unnecessary foul 25 yards in front of goal which earned him a yellow card. Sadly, this time Gueye’s free kick struck Declan Rice and looped into the top right corner of Raya’s goal rather than away to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowd and the team responded magnificently, the former cranking up the noise and the team pinning Everton back. Three minutes after Everton had taken the lead, \u00d8degaard danced his way to the by-line and cut the ball back through the crowd for Tomiyasu to stroke it into the left side of Pickford’s goal from near the penalty spot. The crowd was even louder for the remaining 4 minutes of added time – I think it was the loudest I’ve heard a crowd at the Grove – but sadly the North Bank couldn’t suck the ball into the net. The half ended with a shot from the edge of the box from Partey that just missed the top right corner of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had played well, defended strongly, probed, shot frequently and dominated the half with 14 shots, 4 on target and 4 corners, against Everton’s 4 shots, 1 on target and no corners but ended it slightly relieved to be back on level terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We looked very silky on the ball around the opposition box but I thought Partey looked rather a weak link during our attacks, slowing the ball’s forward movement and failing to see penetrative passes. My daughter must have felt likewise as, as the half drew to a close, she asked, “Has Partey checked out already?” To be fair, he improved slightly after the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half Time: Arsenal 1-1 Everton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half saw wave after wave of Arsenal attacks with \u00d8degaard the master conductor and Martinelli a major threat from the right putting multiple balls across the goal or playing cutbacks that persistently proved elusive to the other attackers. Soon after the restart, a Havertz header from the centre of the box just missed the left side of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before the hour mark, Gabriel was clattered from behind by Doucour\u00e9 as he took the ball forward in our half for which the Everton player received a yellow card. It was far from our seats but it looked to me like he was nowhere near the ball and lucky to get a yellow. Five minutes later Gabriel went down and was replaced by Zinchenko with Tomiyasu moving into the left centre back position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things livened up in the last half hour. On 63 minutes, Raya made a decent Hollywood save, leaping across his goal to catch a shot from Calvert-Lewin that was heading towards his top left corner from the opposite side of the box. Two minutes later, Tomiyasu had a header from an \u00d8degaard cross blocked then Havertz hit Pickford’s left post with a header from a Martinelli cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It began to look like one of those days when we just couldn’t buy a goal but Rice lifted the crowd with an imperious dispossession of the ball carrier when three Everton forwards broke free towards our goal. He later got a card for a tactical foul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 69 minutes, the crowd were lifted by the appearance of Jurrien Timber and Emile Smith Rowe for Ben White and Thomas Partey respectively and none of our subs looked out of place in this silky machine. We were continuing to probe Everton’s rugged well organised defence and shot after shot was blocked – Pickford being extremely lucky to sit on a close range shot from \u00d8degaard that almost squirmed under him. Meanwhile, Jurrien Timber linked well on the right flank and had the nous to end another Everton breakout with a crunching tackle in the centre circle for which he received his first card of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 78 minutes, Gabriel Jes\u00f9s replaced Leonardo Trossard who had had a relatively quiet second half and this added energy to our left sided attack. When Smith Rowe’s bouncing shot from the left of Everton’s box struck the bar it reinforced the thought that this wasn’t going to be our day. As did the late decision that the ball had gone out for touch in a move that saw Havertz dance with the ball through the Everton defence and fire it into the net, only for the goal to be disallowed. Kai Havertz was then booked for a foul and Pickford was finally booked for persistent time wasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this Arsenal team kept going, kept fighting for and regaining the ball, kept probing and kept shooting. And then it happened! Jes\u00f9s nipped in front of an Everton midfielder to claim the ball, just inside the Everton half, passed it to \u00d8degaard who, running into the box, as the keeper and a defender came out to close him down, either sclaffed it or executed the sweetest touch to, somehow, roll the ball gently across the six yard box to Havertz who smashed it into the net with aplomb. VAR surprised us by insisting that Michael Oliver review Jes\u00f9s’ dispossession of the Everton midfielder with an allegation of handball. Bless him, the referee saw the ball hit the arm above the sleeve line, stuck to his guns and awarded the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little of consequence followed as the game drew to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Time: Arsenal 2-1 Everton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a fully deserved victory but there was a somewhat subdued atmosphere at the end and many of our players collapsed to the ground at the final whistle. That’s not really a surprise as they have expended much energy to finish top of the Honest League which sadly does not yet bring medals or a trophy. Our players, the manager and his coaching staff should be very proud of their achievements this season and we should be equally proud of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal players then did the customary lap of appreciation and more fans stayed for this and cheered them more loudly than I have seen on previous such occasions. Speeches from Mikel Arteta and Martin \u00d8degaard preceded the lap of appreciation, were very upbeat and promised further improvement and a renewed challenge next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bring it on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love you Arsenal!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We love you Arsenal, we do!” A club that has a tradition of doing things the right way, the honest way, the honourable way but was in disarray on and off the field appointed a brilliant young manager who then built a team that is easy to love and that plays wonderful football. That team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638"}],"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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9638"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9651,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638\/revisions\/9651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}