Tag: Ben White

Ødegaard shutting me up (Arsenal – Bournemouth Reaction)

I’m not sure how to react or act to Arsenal right now. After the first three weeks of the season, I usually have countless things to complain about Arsenal by now but I have got nothing. I am what the adults would say, “in the mud”. 3 games and 3 wins from the Gunners to start the season and at the moment we are Premier League Champions. Arteta put out the same squad that has started the season and they did not let him down with a 3-0 thrashing of newly promoted Bournemouth. Easy game, easy win, and easy weekend for everyone supporting this cursed club.

THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:

  1. Gabi Jesus changes everything. Comparing him to Lacazette last season is not fair to the Frenchman. Gabi runs, he passes, he passes then run, he can play with his back towards the goal then runs forward. It’s just a sight to behold. What he did for the first goal to bring the ball down while shrugging off a defender and then to evade several defenders before laying it off to Martinelli is just outstanding. He also picked up an assist on the second goal and had a goal overturned due to a tight offside call. He’s been more than we all could imagine, he’s been absolutely perfect. I love him

2. Ødegaard shutting me the hell up. With Arsenal getting off to a flying start to the season, I felt some players were not quite at it from the start and Ødegaard was one of them for me. I expected more from him and then today happened, and he shut me up quickly and well. Two goals to get this account started this season with an assist as well that was tightly overturned to GJ9. To be fair, Bournemouth displayed optional defending in the first half, which gave Ø so much space to operate. He will obviously have to keep it up against the big boys but couldn’t ask more from him today.

3. Saliba is perfect. There is nothing more I could say about this kid. Anything more and I’d get in trouble with my girlfriend. He’s an absolute rock at the moment at the back. He’s composed, he’s tidy, he’s strong and he’s only 21. And to top it all off, he pulls off an absolutely ridiculous goal with his weaker foot in the top corner. No idea where the hell that came from but I’d see it every week no problem.

4. Bournemouth are not good. They got ran around by City last weekend and after watching today, that makes total sense. They were at home and you’d expect them to come out sort of like Fulham against Liverpool. It was nothing close. They sat back, let Arsenal play around with the ball and just like that, they found themselves 2-0 down quickly and could never recover. They offered no resistance to the Arsenal midfield and defense which let them pick out passes and holes between the lines. Just an abysmal performance and has relegation candidate written all over.

5. Arsenal still needs a proper test. I won’t even utter any words that resemble Arsenal challenging for the title. But….. we do look like Top 4 candidates. You can only win against who you play and after the Leicester defeat today, our strength in schedule looks suspect. But…. Arsenal teams in the past would have gotten 4/9 points after these first 3 games and we all know that. I’ll take the wins when I can but I still got my eyes out for when we play the big boys.

6. Our depth is crazy right now. For us to be able to bring on Tomiyasu, Tierney and ESR from the bench is wild. If things go our way here and there, we do look like we have a proper team that can challenge for the Top 4 and the Europa League. I still hate the Europa League and that we are in it, but I’d rather give our squad players more playing time to keep the morale up as the season goes on.

7. I am still not over with how last season ended. I finished the Arsenal: All or Nothing documentary and I have nobody but myself to blame. I knew it would piss me off to see us choke the season away in a documentary format and it did more than that. To just see the player’s reactions to the games in the locker room and at training just ticked me off. Just lifeless chokers they were man. I won’t question the manager and the team for not caring but after rewatching how flat we were against Spurs and Newcastle, it’s hard to argue otherwise with so much at stake. They just need to win the title this season to make up for it. We have Fulham at home next week, 3 points and nothing else.

Featured image credits: Reuters

Twitter credits: NBC Sports

My love for Gabi Jesus is never-ending (Arsenal-Leicester Match reaction)

After getting off to a blistering start in a 2-0 victory over Palace last Friday, there was always a possibility of a letdown. Growing up an Arsenal fan, this was always something you knew would happen instead of Arsenal keeping up the positive momentum into something more. And these guys have proven me wrong and shut my ass up again, in the Emirates debut for the team, we went out and slapped Leicester up and down North London in a 4-2 victory that should have been way worse. We were absolutely dominant from the start. There were a few slip ups here and there, but all in all, a comfortable victory.

10 THOUGHTS

  1. Gabi Jesus is more than anybody has expected. He runs, he scores, he passes well, he runs after he passes, he wins the ball in the air. He has done it all for Arsenal at the moment and I don’t know what will happen if he isn’t here. The first goal, where he chips the ball to the far post is just world-class.
That is a man in form right there

Look at this pass from Ramsdale and Gabi Jesus bringing it down with his head and then subsequently sending Jonny Evans to retirement. What a hat trick that would have been. Not only did he bag the goals, but he also got himself 2 assists as well. Just an all-around performance from our star man. The best performance from an attacking-player I’d say since one of the Alexis Sanchez hat trick games.

2. Martinelli has made himself a sure-fire starter. I’d think of benching Saka or Ødegaard over Martinelli at this point. He’s a menace whenever he has the ball, he is a menace when he is defending. He just doesn’t stop and I love it. Two goals in two games had Wesley Fofana on skates the whole match. With all the talk of Arsenal signing another winger, Martinelli has made a point for sure that his spot isn’t up for grabs.

3. Saka and Ødegaard need to step up. The Brazilians Gabi Jesus and Martinelli have gotten off to a blistering start. Ødegaard more so than Saka need to step it up a bit. The sharpness that the two Brazilians are playing with is lacking dramatically with Saka and Ødegaard at the moment. Nothing drastic needs to change, just a notice out to those two that they are falling behind a bit. Ødegaard also needs to be careful as Fábio Vieira is waiting out in the wings to take his place.

4. Granit Xhaka, our left-sided 8 for the season? I have been calling out for a while that we needed a more athletic 8 to insert into Xhaka’s spot but he has been objectively terrific this season. Outside of the blip with Fofana yesterday, he has been immense. The Aaron Ramsey runs into the box, the connection with Zinchenko and Martinelli, etc. I wish he had more athleticism to his game that would circumvent his slowness at times but he’s more than fine at the moment.

Got a goal for himself for his efforts as well

5. Zinchenko-Xhaka-Martinelli wrecking havoc – our left-sided attack has been absolutely amazing so far. With Zinchenko tucking inside into the midfield, Xhaka pushing into the box, and Martinelli out wide, teams have not been able to cope with that so far as opposing players seem lost on who should go with who. It’ll be interesting to see how this fares as teams get more and more tape on us, but so far, it is clear that our left-sided part of our attack has been more threatening and sprinkle in Gabi Jesus , it is a handful right now for everybody.

6. Saliba is still the greatest ever – naturally, there was more luck that would go against Saliba as how things work. Despite the own goal, he bounced back nicely and looked assured for the rest of the game. Ben White was also absolutely terrible in the build-up to Leicester’s first goal, he needs to at least challenge Justin for that flick on and just terrible luck from Saliba to try and cut out the flick.

7. Ramsdale is a bit fortunate – a huge reason why Ramsdale is our keeper and not Leno is for sure his aggressive and progressive style of play. He plays a high line and loves to come out to receive but also to defend and almost got caught out for the Vardy dive. He was smart and pulled out of the tackle and the ref did well to consult with VAR to negate the Leicester penalty. But he needs to be way smarter when coming out for those 50/50 balls. Also letting a goal through your legs isn’t great. Not totally his fault but not a great look.

8. My Jamie Vardy luck might actually be turning around. He owns me. Jamie Vardy owns me and I know there is nothing I can do about it. He won the 2015/2016 title over us. It feels like he damn well scores in every game he plays against us. He has 11 goals. Just a fucking pain in my ass for years. But…. it seems that things could be turning around. He got a penalty taken away due to VAR which years ago wouldn’t have been called off. And it was his header that let Gabriel Jesus get his second goal.

He very much still owns me but yesterday gave me back some of my fight in this rivalry with Jamie Vardy.

9. Tierney and Tomiyasu waiting in the wings. It is interesting that two of the subs we made yesterday were bringing on Tierney and Tomiyasu. Two guys who definitely think they should be starting. I’m all for competition within the squad and interested to see how Arteta uses them going forward. At the moment, it feels like Arteta can’t change with what has been working but we will see.

10. I am just waiting to see when Arsenal fuck me – Not sure if it will be next week or next month, but it will happen and I will lose my mind over it and will not be rational. You can’t blame me for feeling like this and being pessimistic. But these guys will do it, not a matter of if, but a matter of when. (Please don’t screw me Arsenal).

Featured image credits: AP

Twitter credits: Grimanditweets, NBC Sports, SHA3WAZA_2

Arsenal 2022/2023 Preview (Defenders) – Saliba might be the best defender in the world

OUTLOOK: Going into this season, I was somewhat worried about the defenders/injuries that Arsenal was carrying into the season, but a French blessing in the shape of a William Saliba fell into our lap and now I can’t be more excited to see what our back line looks like with him. Despite the injuries to Tomiyasu and Tierney coming into this season, the arrival of Saliba has pushed Ben White out to RB with Tomiyasu out which affords the ability to not have to play Cédric. Saliba-Gabriel have created a formidable duo that looks as good as any in England especially given their age profiles. Zinchenko looks to have the left-back spot now with Tierney struggling to cope with injuries. Through the Sevilla and Chelsea friendlies to go along with the win against Palace, I imagine we keep this back 4 intact til things break down but you have to love the depth and flexibility we have right now when everybody is back, a huge problem we had last year that messed with my sanity.

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TOP OF THE LEAGUE

A year ago, Arsenal opened the Premier League up with a 2-0 loss to Brentford which unquestionably made me want to end everything. Today, the boys opened the Premier League again and showed out. We fought through a tough Crystal Palace team to nab the 2-0 win and help maintain my sanity to start the season. There was a positive aura around the Arsenal squad heading into the season with an undefeated preseason record as well as the smooth transition with all of our signings, none more-so than my Brazilian hero Gabriel Jesus. I wasn’t feeling great going into the match as the last time we went to Selhurst Park, we were emasculated and I haven’t recovered.

PREMATCH: Arteta selected starting XI he selected against Sevilla and Chelsea (Ramsdale – Ben White – Saliba – Gabriel – Zinchenko – Thomas – Xhaka – Ødegaard – Saka – Martinelli – Saka). Tierney made it back into the squad but looks like he is in the outside looking in with the arrival of Zinchenko.

THOUGHTS: Arsenal came off the blocks hot with Martinelli and Gabi Jesus leading the charge. Palace looked a bit rusty and hesitant to start the match and we used that to our advantage. Every time we got the ball in the first 30 minutes, the Xhaka-Zinchenko left-sided partnership was running Palace with Zinchenko pinching into the midfield and Xhaka pushing up. Palace were not able to cope with the left-sided overload. Gabi Jesus also had himself a first-half, almost winning goal of the season by dribbling the Palace team before having his shot blocked and Martinelli scuffing the rebound.

Wins and muscles the ball off Schlupp, megs Doucouré, and sends Andersen back to Denmark all in one play.
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