After disastrous defeats to Everton and City and a disappointing draw at home to Brentford, Arsenal has fortunately rebounded with two huge away wins at Villa and at Leicester today with a 1-0 victory. Arsenal have extended their lead at the top to 5 points and gives us room to breathe while City playing Bournemouth in the coming hour.
All things considered, Arsenal seemed to have somewhat stabled and righted the wavering ship, games against Everton midweek and Bournemouth are prime opportunities for Arsenal to pick up points and put pressure on City.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
- Leicester was dreadful. Leicester who still has so much to play for in their quest to not get relegated were objectively poor today, considering the circumstances of playing at home, with the league leaders coming into town, and they just stood back and soaked all the unnecessary pressure. Arsenal playing teams that dive into a low-intensity low-block is my favorite type of team to play. They offered no staggered pressing at all to switch things up like Brentford did, they had no cohesive strategy whenever they did win the ball which left Kelechi ridiculously isolated between Gabriel and Saliba, just an all-around disaster from Leicester, not complaining by any means, just saying the biggest driver to Arsenal’s 1-0 victory.
- Martinelli rollercoaster continues: In the first half, this man was driving me crazy. Every decision he made, was the wrong one. As a right-footed LW, he seems satisfied with just going down the line to play on his weaker foot, not even giving the defender an inkling of doubt that, you know, he might want to get on his right to wrap a right-footed shot at their shit keeper. Just maddening, as well as the few times the ball got stuck to his feet when we were intricately playing around the box and he just fucked it up. But to be consistent with what he has done all year, he gets us that all-important goal to solidify the 3 points with a devastating run for the easy finish. Just an enigma for me right now, but as long as he is scoring, I won’t say a word.
3. Trossard proving his worth: The biggest call of the prematch was Arteta opting for Trossard over Eddie through the middle, for various reasons I suppose, Eddie has pretty much played every match since the World Cup break and our form the past few weeks hasn’t been amazing by any means so some sort of change up top seemed appropriate. And Leandro didn’t disappoint grabbing a wrongly disallowed goal and a sumptuous assist.
His quick feet, his use of both feet, and his technical ability make him a perfect fit with what we have going on now in our forward line. I’d like him to be a bit more direct at times but all things considered, he’s been an astute signing by the club and one we needed for this title run-in.
4. VAR is useless again: I mean what an absolute joke. Trossard’s goal was wrongly disallowed because Ben White was holding onto Danny Ward, which is fair if you read what I just wrote cause that is an obvious foul. But VAR is missing two things here: the fact that Danny Ward didn’t even put up a front or even try to get away from Ben White’s hold should make it to where the goal stands. If Danny Ward is going to put no effort to get away from Ben White as a grown man, then idk what to tell you. It would be different if it was a shove or tackle to the ground, or jumping into Danny where he doesn’t have a chance to react, this was a 5 second long hand holding that Danny Ward allowed because he’s shit but when we capitalize on it, it’s our fault, such a joke.
The next VAR mishap had Saka rugby tackled in the box with no penalty given for whatever reason. The only two valid reasons could be that Craig Pawson is a dumb sack of shit, (very plausible) or that VAR in the PL continues to be one of the biggest disappointments that human kind has produced in the last 100 years and we still let it have some say in our daily lives for whatever god knows reason. Just an absolute farce. It’s tiring have to play extra men week in and week out as an Arsenal supporter. SMH
5. Xhaka replacement in the summer is very much needed: Love the guy and he has served us well this season and for most of this Arsenal tenure, but we need to find a starting 8 this summer if we want to progress as a team. No shade to Xhaka as it is not his fault, we are asking him to do a job he is 100% not all the way suited for but works tirelessly for the team which I love, it’s just that the final ball and decision making from him these past few weeks has not been good enough and for someone to take up the positions he does, it’s not good enough for what we need going forward. He’s closer to a 6 then an 8 but we have him up next to our forwards for most of the game.
6. Gabriel is our best CB at the club: All the love to Saliba as I think the partnership of him and Gabriel are the best in the league at the moment but my goodness, Gabriel has been exceptional these past few months and I think has become the first name on the team-sheet for us. His ball playing has improved dramatically, his tackling has been on-point, he hasn’t lost his head in a long long time (knocking on wood), just an absolutely tremendous few months for our colossus at the back.
7. Jorginho proving me wrong: I misunderstood you Jorginho. He right now is showing way more to his game than what he had at Chelsea. It seems that Arteta’s style of play has suited Jorginho tremendously as he has been given the license and freedom to play more line-breaking passes than when he was at Chelsea. He has his limitations physically and it showed towards the end today but on the ball, he has been close to perfect for us, combining well with our forward line and keeping the ball moving with line-breaking passing.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Ramsdale: 7/10 – If he didn’t play today, I think we still win 1-0
Ben White: 7/10 -He was fine
Saliba: 7/10 – Handled Iheanacho well
Gabriel: 7.5/10 – Monstruous
Zinchenko: 7/10 – Very good today
Jorginho: 8/10 – Probably my MOTM, slightly over Gabriel
Xhaka: 6/10 – Missed on a few final balls
Ødegaard: 6/10 – Worked hard
Saka: 6/10 – Not at his usual best
Trossard: 7.5/10 – slotted in well at our false 9
VAR: negative infinity
Featured image credits: EPA
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