Today it is my great pleasure to write a report on our first\nwin in months, securing us the three points we so desperately needed. It is a\nmarker of our disjointed return to football that I enjoyed this rather\nunderwhelming match so much but at this stage I would have been glad of a lot\nworse as long as we won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening ten minutes were quiet, until Auba was put\nthrough via a Tierney long ball for a chance he should have scored but which\ncannoned off the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mustafi had already seen a yellow for a daft challenge way\nout on the right wing. He really has no sense of when he needs to commit.\nHearts were in mouths when the excellent Saka went down on 15 mins but\nthankfully he resumed play without any ill effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 20 mins we went 1-0 up courtesy of a howler from the\nSouthampton goalkeeper Jack Mcarthy. The ball was played back to him and he\nmade a gift of it to the relentless Eddie Nketiah who followed it up to pass\nhome his second league goal of the season on what was a good performance from\nthe young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our own keeper Martinez had a solid game despite not being\nput to work as much our defence usually ensures. He made his first save after\n25 minutes and despite spells of Southampton pressure would have been\nreasonably happy with the protection offered to him by Mustafi and Rob Holding,\nwho earned the nod from Alan Smith for Sky Sports Man Of The Match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two were augmented by Kieran Tierney who at times\nfilled in as an auxiliary centre half. This was an interesting tweak to our\nformation as it meant Saka played a more wing back role, patrolling the entire\nflank, with Auba ahead of him in an inside left position. When Tierney switched\ninto his usual left back slot we saw Saka push up and Auba drift inside further\n(into Eddie\u2019s territory) so they were not constantly stepping on each other\u2019s\ntoes. In principle I think this nod to Total Football might be a good tactic to\nhave up our sleeves, provided we keep hold of the players involved, although\nEddie and Auba will need a bit more practice and communication to both stay\nopen in space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The match had started out fairly evenly but after our goal\nwe got on top, albeit in a low-key kind of way. Southampton progressed the ball\nforwards reasonably well without creating any good chances. They had some joy\ndown our right where Bellerin was not at his best, although he made a couple of\ngood challenges and, despite having lost a half yard of pace, he is still our\nquickest defender. Danny Ings was their main threat and midway through the half\nhe controlled a ball over the top with a touch that God would have nodded\napproval at, although, unlike Ings, he would have found a finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We never really looked solid in midfield where we had only\nCeballos and Xhaka instead of our usual three (this so we could accommodate\nSaka, Auba and Nketiah, as mentioned above, with Pepe on the right). Xhaka\nadded some solidity and security whilst the lightweight Ceballos showed some\nnice touches that counted for less than the times he went missing. He is a\nfrustrating player. He has great technical skill but he does not take\nresponsibility on the pitch for every action and so lacks consistency. It is\nwell known that our midfield needs work so I\u2019ll simply say that a better team\nthan Southampton would have taken us to task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just before half-time we got a glimpse of what Pepe can do\nwhen a lucky deflection (Note: NOT a pass from our midfield) put him through\nahead of his fullback. He played a gloriously weighted pass into Eddie\u2019s path\nonly for the young man to fluff his lines with a poor attempt at a shot. Auba\nhad also been well placed for the pass. This brought Pepe\u2019s quiet half to an\nend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is wasted in this team. By the time he was subbed after\ntwenty minutes of the second half he had received 8 passes. I\u2019ll repeat that. 8\npasses all game. None of them were behind his fullback and it is pointless to\nplay him passes along the centre line, when he has the entire opposition team\nbetween him and the goal, and then complain he does not do enough. This issue\ncomes straight back to the slowness and lack of vision of our midfield. If we\nhad vintage Cesc in this side Pepe would be scoring 15 leagues goals a season\nand assisting the same again. None of which means that Pepe always does\neverything he could, he is no Martinelli in his approach and I personally was disappointed\nthat it does not look like he used his three months of lockdown in his home gym\nadding some much needed physical strength to his upper body, but he is the most\nunderutilised player in our team as we just give him none of the service he\nthrives on. It is like having an exquisitely sharp sushi knife and giving it to\nthe kitchen porter to slice the spuds with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saints started the second half brightly but the first\ngood chance fell to us when a long ball from Martinez got Auba in only for the\ndefender to cut out his pass to Eddie for a tap in. Close. He ended the day\nwithout scoring for a fourth league game in a row, a first in his Arsenal\ncareer, but no-one could say he was not well into the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bellerin and Pepe managed to combine for once as the record\nsigning pulled a lovely cutback for the Spaniard who saw his shot blocked. Ings\nand then Redmond both had decent chances soon after and on another day we could\nhave conceded. Fortunately we did not, even when the old enemy Shane Long\nforced an excellent save from Emi, although I suspect he might have been VAR\u2019d\noffside if the net had bulged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laca, Kola, Willock and AMN came on at various points for\nEddie, Tierney, Pepe and Ceballos. Of those I simply cannot see what Kola adds.\nThe fact that he makes exactly the same mistakes as when he arrived shows a\nstruggle to learn or adapt that I don\u2019t think will be appreciated by Arteta,\nfor all that he seems a solid professional. We rejigged our formation and although it gave\na disjointed impression we seemed to have bodies in the right place to keep the\nSaints\u2019 uninspired if workmanlike attack at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five minutes from time Jack Stephens saw red for fouling\nAuba when he was through one-on-one. This law is rubbish. The challenge was not\nmalicious or dangerous, he had to attempt it, he was unlucky not to make\ncontact, and I think red cards in these situations are not good for the game.\nOn this occasion his punishment was confounded when Willock side-footed home\nthe rebound after two quickfire efforts from Lacazette. The game was safe and\nplayed out quietly apart from a great headed chance for Laca at the death which\nhe failed to connect with properly. His lack of form is a worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we took the points, both goals came via our academy, we kept a clean sheet and we have something to build on. Although we have plenty to work on it was a job well done yesterday and we can celebrate that today. Enjoy it Holics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will end with congratulations to Liverpool who have deservedly won this weirdest of league seasons after an outstanding string of top performances. And a reminder to everyone reading this that there is still one, and only one, Invincible team ever to grace our league. By far the greatest team the world has ever seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n