GoonerKent

Clown show at the Emirates again (Arsenal-Fulham reaction)

My life is an utter joke supporting this god-damn team. Back in the friendly confines of the Emirates, everyone is back and fully healthy, and then leave it to Arteta and Arsenal to absolutely stink up the joint with a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham. Not sure how I will make it the rest of the season, we are only 3 games in folks.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:

This Kai Havertz experiment needs to end yesterday: Never made sense when we bought him, didn’t make sense when we played with him through the pre-season, and it still doesn’t make fucking sense why we bought this brother 3 games in. If you are Arteta, why the fuck, would you completely change our style of play to a guy who doesn’t create value in possession, doesn’t have elite goal-scoring prowess, and doesn’t combine well with the rest of the team. We have absoltely shoe-horned him into a side to the detriment of Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko and Gabriel etc and many others. It isn’t a fucking accident that we almost immediately were more threatening and dangerous when Havertz left the pitch. Martinelli looks a completely different player when Havertz is on the pitch vs. somebody he can combine with such as Fabio Vieira. If you wanted someone to dilly-dally and float through a game, Havertz is your guy, but when you are trying to chase City for a Premier league title chase, don’t get me started on what Arteta and company were thinking of bringing this guy to the club. Pep must have been choking himself to death from laughing when he saw Arsenal go in and splash that mich money over this guy. United next week, stop playing around and put Partey-Rice-Ø in the midfield.
Saka and Martinelli also stinking up the joint: What Saka must have been thinking when he just gave Fulham a goal out of absolutely nothing.

FULHAM TAKE THE LEAD IN THE FIRST MINUTE! 🚨#ARSFUL on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/vQELkRPbFg
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 26, 2023

No one was even close to the ball. You’d like to think Saka rebounded after this but that would make too much sense for one of your best players to step up after a dreadful mistake. Him and Martinelli made Tete and Robinson look like perennial defenders the way they let them defend them. Martinelli, I’ll give more defense too cause he had absolutely nobody to play off of, Saka had no excuses for the horror show that ensued afterwards.

3. Partey-Rice-Ø midfield is the way forward: This experiment with Partey at RB to be our inverted fullback also needs to be stopped especially with Zinchenko back and fully healthy. I could see what Arteta was trying to do by putting Partey at RB to help get Havertz into the team but its not great, it is way different putting a midfielder into a defensive role than it is the other way around with Zinchenko being a midfielder turned into a LB. Arteta needs to put his pride aside and just admit he completely fucked up the Havertz deal and go back to what made us unstoppable last season, White-Saliba-Gabriel-Zinny at the back, Partey-Rice-Ø in the midfield with Saka-Martinelli-Jesus leading the line. Havertz and Fabio can give us a different look if needed but no way should we be toiling with Havertz in our starting XI. Think about it, This Arsenal team took were on pace for 100 points halfway through last season with a stellar squad and this season, to shoehorn Havertz into the squad, he has benched one of the best CBs in the league in Gabriel, moved Partey to RB which means Zinchenko can’t play. Just absolute madness

4. At the end of the day we probably deserved a draw and nothing more: Fabio did well to combine with Martinelli to create a penalty and the cross was sublime to take the lead but the build-up in that second goal had Saka absolutely fouling Bassey with one of the dirtiest plays every, very similar to what Ramos did to Salah in the CL final in 2018, and we played on and scored. We got away with one against VAR but Fulham then went on and equalized with 10-men afterwards. At the end of the day, our performance didn’t deserve a win but we definitely didn’t deserve to score that 2nd goal the way we did.

We better be working towards peaking in the back half of this season cause today was not it (Arsenal – Palace reaction)

As someone who knows firsthand that nothing is guaranteed in this god-forsaken league, I’ll take the 3 points where I can get them every day of the week and twice on Sunday but lord have mercy have we got away with it today. It wasn’t pretty, but Arsenal scraped by a tough Palace team to pick up a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park. Flashback to when Arsenal opened up last season at Selhurst Park to open the season, it was champagne football from Arteta’s men and today it was nothing close. It wasn’t the worst and there is a sense of overreaction but I will explain why I am so frustrated with today’s wack performance. With it being two games into the season, I’ll take 3 points every single time but willing to trade performances over results this part of the season for sure, all that being said, here were my thoughts on the match:

Not at our absolute best but we take it one game at a time (Arsenal-Forest reaction)

With Arsenal getting as close as we did last summer, the record signing Declan Rice stepping into our midfield, and highly touted Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber arriving at the Emirates, there is a lot of hype and pressure around Arsenal and their title credibility and deservedly so. Arsenal should only be thinking about overtaking City this season and any thing less than 2nd would be failure. With all that said, 3 points anyway they come is the mantra til we get everyone settled into the squad and it wasn’t pretty but Arsenal scraped over the line to collect our first win of the season over Forest with a score of 2-1. We weren’t at our scintillating best, we had our moments of brilliance, got bailed out a few times but fought well to collect the 3 points and move onto Palace next week.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:

Arteta lineup for the season? With the positional versatility that our new signings bring the squad, there has been a lot of speculation of how the team would play this season, Declan Rice at the 6, Havertz at the 8, Partey replaced, Timber at RB and Ben White out, Timber at LB, Havertz at striker, we could go on and on about Arteta’s plan for the squad and I think we got our answer today: Arteta will mix it up quite often throughout the season. A lot will probably depend on our opponent, if we are at home or not, who is in form, tactical preference etc. The smart bet was to assume we would play like we did against City at the Community Shield, Ben White-Saliba-Gabriel-Timber across the back, Thomas with Declan, Odegaard Martinelli Saka and Havertz leading our line. Swap Jesus for Havertz and that is probably our strongest lineup but Arteta had other plans today with Partey slotting in at inverted RB, Nketiah coming into the team with no Gabriel. I can guarantee that Arteta will bring Gabriel back into the squad next week and with Timber coming down with a knee injury, who knows how Arteta will line up against Palace.
Saka and Martinelli had their moments: Forest started out with a sturdy back 5 and an organized shape that was tough to break through. BUT this is why someone like Martinelli is invaluable to the squad, with Forest in their deep blocks of 5, Martinelli got the ball with momentum and took it on himself to take on two Forest defenders, back heel a ball into Eddie who did well to take on his defender and get the ball past Turner:

BRILLIANT skill from Gabriel Martinelli to set up Eddie Nketiah’s goal! 🤩 #AFC

📺: @peacock pic.twitter.com/khwmysZmOY
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 12, 2023

We don’t really have a player like Martinelli in the squad

There's nothing like a BANGER from Bukayo Saka! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OFv20KvXjV
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 12, 2023

Saka who was lively from the start did well to get on his left foot and curl a unstoppable strike top bins, more of that please from both of them this season.

3. Our left hand side might be an issue in possession: Not sure if it was a tactical decision but the bulk of our possession was hammered down our right with Thomas-Odegaard-Saka dictating a lot of our play down the right flank. We will have to wait and see if this trend occurs but it definitely creates a technical imbalance when we aren’t able to sustain possession and build-up from the right. Declan Rice isn’t the same player as Thomas on the ball, Saka> Martinelli and no Ødegaard type player on our right, that could change with Zinchenko slotted into our team but it was definitely noticeable how much we chose to play down our right flank. That being said, Martinelli was dangerous everytime he ran at Aurier so if Arteta wanted to keep the left side direct and our right to be our source for possession for the rest of the squad, so be it. I prefer more balance but will have to wait and see how we play in the next few weeks.

4. Kai Havertz is who he is at this point of his career: It’s hopeless to think he will change at this point, he comes from the Ozil family tree, technically brilliant, will come in and out of his games, massively frustrating, will have his moments but man, not sure if we can use him in big matches and in tough away grounds. When we play like we did today, Havertz just floated into the open space and I am not sure he or we knew where he was supposed to be in buildup. He wasn’t totally convincing today but will have to wait and give him and Arteta time.

5. Injuries already: Gabi Jesus and Zinchenko having injury niggles is not ideal but now with Timber going down, makes you thank God that Arsenal were efficient in their defense signings as we have Tomiyasu and Kiwior who can back up the LB position in the meanwhile. Didn’t make sense how when Timber went down the first time, we still kept him on. Definitely a black mark on the Arsenal training staff and depending on how bad his injury turns out to be.

6. Declan and Thomas Partey: Our best team has these two in there, Declan can run for days and Thomas on the ball is our best deep lying playmaker. When we needed to see the game out, it was nice seeing those two controlling the midfield. Need to get Timber/Zinny healthy so we can let the two of them cook.

7. Still had a glimpses of last season with us having troubles closing out a 2-0 game – need to put out foot down the throats of our opponent’s necks smh

Player Ratings:

Ramsdale – 7/10 – nothing he could have done for the goal, solid

Thomas Partey – 7.5/10 – Technically brilliant, got caught a few times, showed his age, still pivotal to the team

Ben White – 6.5/10 – Nice to see him play more centrally, got caught out a bit on their goal but it was a mess from the whole team tbf

Saliba – 8/10 – Rolls Royce

Timber – 7/10 – Was good up until the injury, need him back

Declan Rice – 8/10 – Grew into the game, was too conservative at the start but was more expansive as the game went on. Total engine though

Kai Havertz – 6/10 – It’s like watching Ozil, floating in and out of games like a butterfly

Ødegaard – 7/10 – didn’t contribute to the goals but you can tell his influence is all over the team. technical brilliance

Saka – 8/10 – First half unplayable, second half playable

Martinelli – 8/10 – Nobody like him in the team

Nketiah – 7/10 – If he keeps scoring, I will shut up

Tomiyasu – 7/10 – Did well when he came on

Trossard – 7/10 – Same as Tomiyasu, hard done not to start

Gabriel – Not on long enough to rate

Haaland/City – 0/10 – Chill the fuck out pleaseeeeee

Arsenal ticket team – 0/10 – get your shit together

Kent’s mental wellbeing -7/10- fine for now, need to keep collecting the 3 points

THE PRESSURE IS GETTING A BIT MUCH (Arsenal – West Ham reaction)

We needed this one, we needed this one so bad. Arsenal coming into today had a chance to go 6 points clear with City’s game in hand (76 vs. 70). It’s not much but it would provide some cushion before our clash with the them next week but bad stuff here, bad stuff there, sadness over there and Arsenal now finds themselves 4 points clear with City having a game in hand and I am not sure how much I can take. Arsenal away from home against relegation fodder West Ham squandered a 2-0 lead to share points with those clowns. For the longest time I have been preaching we have everything left to play for but at this point, I’m not sure I believe that.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:

I’ll finally admit that the pressure is real and I am barely hanging on: We have been finally giving people what they want, Arsenal have answered 99% of their critics and have passed every obstacle with grace but this looks like to be a step too far at the moment. Losing at Everton, dropping points at Southampton away and Brentford at home, squandering a 2-0 goal lead at Anfield and now this, it’s a bit much than I can handle and unfortunately, it looks like the same could be same for Arsenal. Everything is still in our hands but will take me awhile to get over this one cause we needed it. We were cruising through the first 30 minutes, almost a carbon copy of the Liverpool fixture with two quick goals from Jesus and Odegaard with sublime buildup and then not sure what else I can say. We give up a dumb penalty, West ham fans get into the game to support their team, they get an ridiculous over the top goal and now I find myself speechless and hurting.

The correct Premier League Team of the Season 21/22 and any other one is wrong

This article is the sole place where you will find the definitive team of the season for the 2021/2022 Premier League season. Any other list is wrong, including the official one from the PFA.