{"id":9932,"date":"2024-08-18T12:34:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9932"},"modified":"2024-08-23T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T15:06:17","slug":"all-roads-lead-to-number-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9932","title":{"rendered":"All Roads Lead to Number 14"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It\u2019s so good to be back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, so this was my third visit to the Emirates in the last ten days but the Emirates Cup, despite all its glory and prestige, is no match for the big kick-off itself. Since mid-May I have been sat on a park bench twiddling my thumbs eagerly awaiting the resumption of proper club football. I thoroughly enjoyed the Euros, but nothing beats the buzz of watching The Arsenal up close and personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made sure I got to the ground around 90 minutes early as I decided to attend the pre match party in block 25. During the week the famous Ashburton Army had announced on their socials that the concourse outside B25 was the place to be to grease up for kick off so that is where I headed. Pints were thrown (that seems to have become the fashion in recent years (can\u2019t say I\u2019m a fan) and a jolly old sing song was enjoyed by all. The usual renditions of \u201cAllez Allez\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019ve got super Mik Arteta\u201d did the rounds as well as a couple of chants I had not heard of previously. I suppose this is the place in which many new chants are conceived and I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll catch on swiftly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow, I managed to damage my sunglasses in the melee which meant I essentially had to watch the entire game with one eye which I suppose means we probably played twice as well as I thought. First up, Pedro Neto-less Wolves were in town. Zinchenko was handed a start after a solid pre-season, whilst Calafiori and Timber were on the bench. Partey partnered Rice in midfield and Havertz was given the nod up front. Could the German continue his fine form from the second half of last season? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, yes, he could. Following a low-key start from both sides, the deadlock was broken on 25 mins. Saka found space on the right and swung in a pin-point cross towards the six-yard box. Jose Sa came and didn\u2019t get there as Kai rose highest to nod home to get The Arsenal up and running in 24\/25. A lovely cross and a lovely header. The way in which the goal came about reminded me of \u00d6zil and Giroud a little. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolves came close to levelling up on the half hour as Hwang swung in a cross from the right and new signing, Larsen saw his header well saved by David Raya. It was an impressive stop because Raya had already taken a step one way and very quickly had to adjust his feet to push his body in the opposite direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We strolled through to half time without much fuss. The second half began in a similar vein as Arsenal appeared to be playing at a similar tempo to the first half of last season. We did what we needed to do and nothing more. It did leave us encountering a couple of hairy moments though, particularly when Saliba uncharacteristically gave the ball away on the edge of the box but thankfully, Cunha fired a tame effort straight at Raya. Meanwhile \u00d8degaard saw his long-range drive well saved by Sa and Partey fired a yard or so wide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We really needed a second goal to kill the game off and on 74 mins we found it and, in some style. Havertz fed Saka on the right who jinked inside, hesitated as the \u2018keeper and defender geared up for a far post shot, but Saka fooled most in the stadium when he opted for a thumping near-post drive. He followed this up with a celebrational shrug in front of the North Bank as if to say, \u201cwell what did you think I was going to do? Miss? Nah\u201d, as his adoring fans applauded his genius. He really is quite good this Saka fella. He might just have a decent future in this old game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From that point onwards, Arsenal were incredibly comfortable. Timber came on for the final 20 minutes meaning our new Italian would have to wait a little while longer for his competitive Arsenal debut. But it\u2019s always good to see Timber on the pitch. Given his injury a year ago he is essentially LANS for this defence. Adding Timber and Calafiori to what is already the league\u2019s least porous defence is a very enticing prospect. There was one more chance for Wolves as Sarabia\u2019s volleyed effort from the edge of the area was again well saved by Raya as The Arsenal kicked off their campaign with a \u2018run of the mill\u2019 win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were one or two hairy moments but in the main Arsenal were quite comfortable and never really looked like conceding at any point. In an attacking sense we were still a little rusty in some respects but that\u2019s nothing that can\u2019t be re-oiled with more minutes in the next couple of games. We have Villa away next week and coming away with three points will be some task but the players will be a lot sharper following a very physical 90 mins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 You will probably have noticed I\u2019ve deigned not to mention Mosquera\u2019s assaults on Havertz and Jesus, both of which somehow went unpunished, and that is because I am sick and tired of talking about these referees\u2019 incompetencies which often overshadow the actual football and that\u2019s what we are all here for. I think my silence echoes the sentiments of many of us here. I will be visiting Supersavers later to fix my sunglasses and I expect to see Jarred Gillet there getting his eyes checked. If not, I may have to arrange an appointment for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, a good day\u2019s work and it was great to bask in the N5 atmosphere once again as The Arsenal start as we mean to go on for the next nine months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always forwards\u2026..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s so good to be back. Ok, so this was my third visit to the Emirates in the last ten days but the Emirates Cup, despite all its glory and prestige, is no match for the big kick-off itself. Since mid-May I have been sat on a park bench twiddling my thumbs eagerly awaiting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"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\/9932"}],"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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9932"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9936,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9932\/revisions\/9936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}