GoonerKent

Arsenal – Leicester Reaction

Get in fellas! I’ll have to admit, it is weird not having to complain about this team in recent weeks and the better part of this season. It means that I’ll have to develop a personality that doesn’t revolve around Arsenal being shit but I’ll take that trade if it means Arsenal keep playing like this. An early goal from Thomas Partey and a converted penalty from Laca gave us the comfortable 2-0 win at home against Leicester. As straight-forward a win that you’d like to see from the boys especially given the tough tasks ahead against Liverpool midweek and Villa away next Saturday. This game takes us a point above United with 3 games in hand but those games in hand don’t mean a thing if we aren’t able to take points away from those games.

PREMATCH/FIRST HALF – Mikel went with the same team that has gone on this 4 games unbeaten run with Tomiyasu being replaced by Cédric with Emile Smith Rowe nursing an injury on the bench. Leicester went with a somewhat rotated lineup from their Europa Conference League clash on Thursday against Rennes with Daka, Tielemans, Ndidi and Justin stepping aside for Iheanacho, Maddison, Mendy, and Pereira. The match started and we were out guns blazing. Xhaka was stepping into that advanced role in possession with Ødegaard taking up the half spaces to receive the ball. Arsenal won a corner in the 11th minute which subsequently led to Martinelli playing a delicious ball into the near post that Thomas Partey nodded in for the 1-0 lead. One of the biggest breakthroughs this season is Martinelli’s set piece delivery as you would think you’d want him attacking these crosses. Leicester let in another set piece goal which is the 14th time they allowed a goal from a set piece this season according to Statman Dave.

Leicester City have conceded 14 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, no team has conceded more.

Partey provides a dream start. 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/E2MzZUSPV8
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 13, 2022

Renato Sanches Szn

Arsenal’s astonishing form to this point in the 2021/2022 season has caused Arsenal fans to salivate on the possible transfers that could take us closer to the likes of City, Liverpool, and Chelsea. When going through our current starting XI going into next season, the two glaring improvements we need to make is at the striker position which I have wrote numerous blogs on potential replacements but also on the Thomas Partey partner in the center of the pitch. That role is filled with Granit Xhaka currently with Sambi-Lokanga as the immediate replacement coming off the bench. Granit Xhaka has been fine this season and has brought a stability that comes with someone that has the experience he does however when you play with Xhaka, you must deal with Xhaka tax. The Xhaka tax comes in many shapes and sizes, most of it being with untimely red cards and decisions that have cost us countless points over the years.

With all that being said, Thomas Partey has been exceptional for us as of late and will need an improved partner in midfield to take us closer to where we want to be in the Premier League table. My number 1 target to fill that role and to replace Xhaka would be in the shape of a 5 ft. 9in. 24-year-old Portuguese right-footed CM who plays for Lille ( I am aware he had to come out due to a muscle strain against Saint-Etienne yesterday) (I am also aware that Milan and Maldini have claimed his services after this season but I am going to still write his blog regardless in hopes Edu can work his magic). Renato Sanches is everything I love in a modern day “8”. A player who is dynamic, press-resistant, athletic, but also possesses the ability to combine with teammates while covering every blade of grass on the pitch. I don’t feel like I am asking for much haha. Renato covers all those requirements while still very young which matches up with the young core Arsenal are trying to build. Even though he hasn’t reached his full potential that we all projected after the 2016 Euros with Bayern signing him up before the Euros that year, his performances with Portugal at the past Euros and Lille have brought back all the hype. Let me go into what Arsenal but probably Milan can expect to see from Renato Sanches coming into next season.

PRESS RESISTANT: I went into this same characteristic in the Thomas Partey blog but I am just obsessed with this ability. Being able to dribble or pass out of the press in the midfield areas is such an underrated characteristic that gives teams a massive advantage if able to find players who can do it. Renato Sanches does this for fun, dribbling himself out of pressure, bouncing off of defenders, using his athleticism to get past plffayers is something Arsenal can use from midfield. Martin Ødegaard isn’t as dynamic in those areas and Sambi hasn’t shown that ability in an Arsenal shirt yet. Having a player who can get the offense started from a deep midfield position from someone that is not Thomas Partey will be crucial going into next season as smart teams next season will man mark Thomas Partey out of games when we are in possession.

The poise in these areas is something most teams don’t expect and can open opportunities and mismatches going forward.

Arsenal – Watford Reaction

Absolutely get the fuck in fellas. Arsenal did their best to make the match by letting Watford back in but a solid performance away from home saw us see out Watford 3-2. Goals from Ødegaard, Saka, and Martinelli saw us through in a somewhat comfortable manner. This result is a massive 3 points considering our fixture list coming up. Arsenal feel like a double-edged sword for me at the moment with every win comes more pressure, and with more pressure comes increase sadness if they mess this up. Looking at the table, we are the clear favorites for that 4th position at this point. It’s hard not to get excited to be in this position we are in currently but as Arsenal fans, we know better than to get our hopes up with this team. Future Kent can deal with whatever Arsenal does to me later, right now, let’s just be happy that we aren’t United fans.

PRE-MATCH/FIRST HALF: Mikel went out and out with the same team that started against Wolves with ESR and Tomiyasu being the notable players not in the squad today. Watford had more changes with Joao Pedro and Cucho Hernandez coming in for Josh King and Ismaila Sarr. The match started with Watford heaving it up and you could clearly tell that Ben White and Gabriel were switched off. Watford then were able to play Emmanuel Dennis through for a goal 18 fucking seconds in however Tierney “cleverly” made sure he was in an offside position. Thank fucking goodness, almost had me unwell not in a minute into the game. Then a couple minutes later Cédric, Saka, and Ødegaard sweetly combined to put us ahead with one of the nicest flicks you’ll see coming off the Norwegian’s heel.

Thomas Partey Remontada

In early December 2021, Thomas Partey in an interview with Sky Sports rated his season as a 4/10 at that point explaining how his inconsistency has caused him to struggle a bit with him needing to contribute more to the team. If there is any characteristic I appreciate in a human being, it’s self-awareness. Thomas telling the media and fans around the world that he has been shit compared to his world class standards lets us all know that we can be more honest in the way we live everyday. For example, I can admit that I care too much about this dumb sport and it is almost to the point of pathetic how I let this team’s performance affect, but credit to me for admitting that. Anyways, ever since Thomas gave the honest assessment of his season to that point, he has been close to flawless for us. His performances have had everything Arsenal fans expected from our £45 million mediocentro from Atlético Madrid. Since he made those comments to Sky Sports in early December, the only time Arsenal lost in the league was to Man City who we outplayed on the day with Partey putting in a MOTM performance and had me in tears how good he was on that day.

Thomas Partey at his absolute best is our calm, composed, regista in the center of the park. Turning away from pressure, pinging diagonal balls out wide, winning tackles, and breaking the lines with his passing or dribbling etc. are all skillsets that Thomas possess that makes me happy and not want to gauge my eyeballs out when watching Arsenal. This in-form Thomas Partey can all simply be summed up with one word: CONFIDENCE. Nothing more and nothing less. I’m a simple man, a center midfielder who can turn away from pressure to start attacks is a kink of mine. Thomas at his best for these past few months has helped us beat the press through body feints and a sense of poise we haven’t had in the center of the park in years as shown below:

Nico Pépé Time

After looking at the busy transfer period before the 2021/2022 season, even though it is early, we can count on a good amount of transfer busts across the Premier League from Romelu Lukaku, Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho, Emi Buendia, etc. Despite Arsenal’s successful transfer window this season with Ben White, Tomiyasu, Ramsdale all playing a pivotal role in Arsenal’s place in the standings at the moment, it is fair to say our most expensive transfer of all time Nicolas Pépé can be deemed a “bust” as well. It might be harsh to say that for someone who scored 10 league goals last season (16 goals in all comps) and had double digit goal contributions the year before, but for the price tag we spent to get him, he should be contributing more, fighting for team of the season honors etc. With that being said, our run-in to finish the season in Top 4 with our lack of depth could be Nico Pépé’s make it or break it time with Arsenal, as his contributions or lackthereof could be the reason why we are playing on Tuesdays/Wednesdays next season or Thursdays (kill me immediatley if this is the case). Here are the reasons why this is the case (why Nico is important, not why Europa League makes me not want to live):

Useful right foot: As magical of a left foot and stroke he has, what alarmed me in his debut season with us was how reluctant he was in using his right foot, making him very easy to defend that initial season. What I think greatly improved his goal-scoring output last season through goals/assists last season was becoming more unpredictable with the threat of this right foot. My favorite goal last season was Wolves away when he absolutely destroyed Semedo and Neves while finishing off with a powerful right footed shot as shown below:

Here Pépé megs Semedo playing on the left-wing for a change

He then gives Neves the same treatment he gave Semedo

Pépé lasers a finish with his weak foot to give Arsenal the lead

Arsenal-Wolves Reaction

Let’s gooooooooooo!!! 3 points are all that matters and the boys got the job done today. This match had typical Arsenal screwing it up when the pressure is on at home, the crowd gets all amped up, and then Arsenal usually would find a way to fuck it all up. But today, not sure what deal Arteta made with the devil but the opposite happened. It wasn’t pretty, it was sloppy, it was damn ugly, it made me not want to live for most of the game, but we made it out with 3 points and moving onto the next match. Arsenal nabbed a goal in extra-time to take us past Wolves at the Emirates with a score of 2-1. With Spurs losing to Burnley yesterday and Wolves fighting for top 4 with us, this match ended up being a 6 point swing between us and Wolves as you can see from the league table before this week’s matches:

And now after….

TOP 4 OR BUST

Despite United and Spurs grabbing victories this past weekend, don’t get it twisted, we have nobody to blame but ourselves if we do not nab that 4th spot for this Premier League season. Let’s have a clear look at the table after the Sunday games:

Despite people ridiculously salivating over Spurs win over a mistake-ridden City side, 4th place still goes through the Emirates Stadium. I know people like to not put pressure on these “kids” at Arsenal and attacked Thierry Henry for stating similar sentiments on how Top 4 is a must this season for Arsenal. But whether people like it or not, the situation is the situation and United and Spurs screwing up has put us in the driver’s seat for that 4th place. Our games in hands, lack of other cups/competition makes it a clear that Top 4 is the only acceptable option at this point of the season.

Arsenal-Wolves Reaction

LET’S GOOOOOOO. What a stupid soccer match. This team never fails to raise my blood pressure but somehow pulled off a 1-0 win over Wolves at the Molineux Stadium through a Gabriel goal in the 25th minute. Such a massive 3 points by Arsenal away from home while also keeping a clean sheett.

PRE MATCH/TEAM SELECTION – The team selection was just about what I expected barring Cédric coming in for Tomiyasu. ESR found himself on the bench but only due to Arteta going with the XI that he has preferred for the past couple of months. Wolves came out with their expected with their keeper Jose Sá being their standout player up until this point of the season with their manager doing quite a decent job with the team in his first season in Bruno Lage. Also, every game against Wolves reminds me that Daniel Podence is a footballer and then I always wish he was on our team only for that day as he always shows up against us.

Arsenal Season Player Ratings (so far)

As we go into the business end of the 21/22 season, Arteta and Edu have put all their chips on the current squad to carry us to the end. As much as I admire the sentiments, anyone with a brain knows that the only reason that happened was cause we ineptly couldn’t find any player for the right price, putting our eggs in baskets (strikers) we didn’t have any chance of getting. Regardless, I’ll rate out of 10 how all of our remaining rostered players performed in the first half of the season:

Aaron Ramsdale: 8/10 – solid shoutout for player of the season so far, the team totally changed when he was introduced as a starter and seems to have made the defense stronger with his leadership. Struggled a bit in the last month.

Kent: 8.5/10 – pretty solid for dealing with this team and knowing inevitably that they are going to let me down. Relentless consistency despite the team hurting him for years and years. Some could say he should stop and support another club.

Arsenal letting me down off the pitch

Just fucking shit. Edu Gaspar and Mikel Arteta have become masters at letting go of our dead weight for almost no return value and just refuse to get the requisite players into the club when we need them. Somehow we have pleasantly found ourselves in a position pushing for a Top 4 place this season. And in typical Arsenal fashion, the only business we did was finding ourselves an American center defender from the Kroenke owned Colorado Avalanche who might not ever make an appearance for the club. You can’t make this shit up. We let Auba, Kolasinac, AMN, Chambers, Flo Balogun, Pablo Mari, all go and brought in no replacements or enhancements to the squad for this season. In principle, letting all those players go out is fine cause none of them were influential to our season up to this point but not signing ANYBODY that can help us this season is just incompetence and negligence of the highest order. In a world where I took over Arsenal, I’d have built a time machine and fire Arteta in 2019 when we lost to Leicester last season at home, but if I took it over now, I’d give him the end of the season to make top 4 to save his job and then fire him if he didn’t. That will not happen of course cause the Kroenkes for some reason have some ridicilous amount of loyalty to a guy who accomplished much less than Unai Emery who did way more for the club in half the time.