Tag: Jesus

THANK GOODNESS THIS DAMN SEASON IS OVER (Arsenal-Wolves reaction)

Maybe next week, maybe next month, I can reflect positively on what Arsenal achieved this season but seeing what the Arsenal social media team has put out as it pertains to glancing over the negative performances with positive meaningless fluff videos, none of the players apologizing or acknowledging how they bottled this season away, Arteta talking about how we are going to go back at it next season, it just makes my skins crawl. I’m not really blaming anybody because anybody would try to focus on the positives over the negatives, that is human nature, but the way the club and players, in my opinion, haven’t come out and acknowledge how they messed up doesn’t sit right with me. Instead, they are going to give these happy end of the season posts, thank the fans, all that BS after we smashed Wolves 5-0 to end the season and act like everything is good. All I ask for is some accountability from the club, players, and manager.

Nonetheless, Arsenal rolled over a very poor, lethargic Wolves side to finish the season in 2nd place on 84 points, a remarkable achievement with no context and when comparing against prior seasons, but with how we choked it away, it definitely will be something that will not go away anytime soon.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:

  1. XHAKA Farewell: I’ll keep all my thoughts on the season for another post and focus on what happened today, with Xhaka quietly announcing today will be his last game for the club, there is not a better way to say goodbye than with two goals to close his account as an Arsenal player. It is a shame he will not be with us next season when we play Champions League football as he was one of the main players that stuck through the tough times for this moment, but he is going to a wonderful manager in Xabi Alonso at Leverkusen with a country/league he is comfortable playing in, nothing but respect to the great Granit Xhaka. It wasn’t pretty, it got bad at some points, but he worked his ass off always, showed that he cared about the club and always stood up and took on responsibility when he didn’t have to. What a guy, Granit Xhaka.

2. No team shows up like last-game-of-season-Arsenal: These guys are shameless man, when the lights are off, and pressure gone, these guys have the audacity to smack 5 past Wolves and act like the past two months have not happened, you gotta laugh, otherwise you will cry. Xhaka had himself two goals, Saka with a delicious finish to the far post, Gabriel with a backpost header, Kiwior squeezing in a goal at the end, just shameless. Arteta went and put out Thomas Partey in a back 4 and it worked today but didn’t last week. Who knows if it would have saved our season ultimately but it would have saved us from not having to see Rob Holding back out there as an Arsenal player, that is for damn sure. All things considered though, Wolves were embarassing today.

3. Today’s game didn’t matter so will save all my thoughts on the actual season for next time.

PLAYER RATINGS:

Ramsdale: 8/10 – Didn’t have anything to do if I am not mistaken when it comes to saves

Thomas Partey: 8/10 – Much more comfortable today than last week, probably lots of random factors that come into that, but had more of his brilliance and influence on today’s game.

Ben White: 7/10 – He was good

Gabriel: 7/10 – So was Gabriel

Kiwior: 7/10 – Got himself a goal, not sure where he fits in long-term but his skills on the ball is something to behold.

Jorginho: 7/10 – Played a wonderful ball to Trossard for our 4th goal

Xhaka: 10/10 – What a guy

Saka: 6/10 – Had a wonderful goal but can’t get these past few months out of my head with him, needs to make it up next season.

Odegaard: 7/10 – What a season from him.

Trossard: 7/10 – Picked up two more assists today, what a signing he has been for us, will be massive next season when we are competing in both the league and the Champions League

Gabriel Jesus: 7.5/10 – had a goal to sign off his first season with us, will need much more from him next season.

New Arsenal Jersey: 6/10 – The jersey itself is fine, I hate the gold shoulder stripes, I’m more old-school about it with any bold gold markings on a jersey should be saved for titles, not anniversaries.

Wolves: 10/10 – Literally went out and there and didn’t give a fuck, I gotta respect it.

Arsenal boys showed up, but seems a little too late given how it seems impossible to drop points for City

Wow, forgot how much I hate Newcastle and their obese fans. A year ago last year, they were wholly responsible for knocking us out of the Champions League places after bullying us up and down the pitch at St. James to get a 2-0 win over us and fully sending me down a spiral of depression.

Earlier this year, they played us to the most 0-0 draw at the Emirates which an absurd amount of timewasting, fouling, complaining etc. Credit to them, they left the Emirates with a point but karma is such a bitch. Newcastle to their credit, have been tearing up the league since their Carabao Cup final loss to United and have bullied and punished teams in their backyard. Today, the Arsenal boys stood up for themselves and shithoused and fought out a 2-0 win away at St. James. Not much has changed in the title run with City refusing to lose, but at the end of the day, all we can do now given our recent mess ups is to keep the pressure so we move onto the next week.

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:

  1. We might have got away with one but sometimes, that is how things go: Literally from the get-go, Newcastle had banged a shot off the post and had a close-penalty shot with Bruno G. having a clear shot on goal form the top of the box. It felt like deja-vu from last year with their fans right on top of us with their players running free right through our midfield. Joe Willock also had a clear shot on Ramsdale and puts up a terrible attempt and shoots right at him and had another one in the second half when Xhaka puts in a game-saving tackle to keep the shot out of the net. Joelinton had a clear header in the box after a Zinchenko disasterclass that hit the post. Despite the 2-0 win, it felt like we got away with one, sometimes that happens but we just remember to count our blessings cause another day, this could have been compeltely different.
Continue reading “Arsenal boys showed up, but seems a little too late given how it seems impossible to drop points for City”

WE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE LOST (Arsenal – Southampton reaction)

Arsenal drew 1-1 at St. Mary’s to Southampton and I do feel ill. You can say that it is a good thing that I feel like this as we lost to this team last year at St. Mary’s and all things considered, this is a game we probably would have lost last season. Anyways this is a game where we absolutely dominated in the first half with Southampton not even coming close to touching us then in the second half, inexplicably falling apart and giving up the 3 points. We were more than fortunate to get the 3 points against Leeds last week which probably evens things out for us to pick up a draw today, however, the performance in and of itself makes the draw so frustrating as it was 100% 2 points lost instead of 1 point gained. We have Forest next week at home, which basically means 3 points or Kent questions everything.

THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:

  1. PLEASE PLAY TIERNEY AT LB – I love love love Tomiyasu more than anybody but can we please stop experimenting with a RB at left-back and instead play our left-footed international LB. Just like last week, Tomiyasu is just so easy to press and defend at LB as he will always look to go inside or backward with no threat down the left flank, not his fault, it is just how it is. Arteta went with the same starting XI that played against Leeds and Liverpool but he needs to see the light with Tierney. No excuse to see it next week against Forest.
  2. NOBODY NEEDS A GOAL MORE THAN JESUS – the performances are there, he is doing everything we need, except scoring goals. The opportunities are there, they are just not cleanly coming off him. He seems to be scuffing and hurriedly taking his chances. He also doesn’t get nearly the service he should be getting from Ø but that is a completely separate discussion I will have later.
  3. THE REFEREE TODAY WAS ABYSMAL – Essentially, our players got outwardly mauled today in the 18 yard box and nothing was done at all.

Continue reading “WE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE LOST (Arsenal – Southampton reaction)”

We lost a game and I am not having a mental breakdown…..yet (Arsenal-United Reaction)

We lost to United 3-1 at Old Trafford and I am in the mud. We came to Old Trafford, played our brand of football, dominated most of the game, and still lost. It very much so felt like a classic Arsene Wenger – Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola – OGS game where Arsenal/City play the better quality of football, dominate most of the possession and due to pieces of naivety and collapses in concentration, they lose the match to the more clinical/ruthless United side. This isn’t a Kent mental breakdown like our game against Spurs and Newcastle last year where we were utterly useless and toothless, but more so disappointed with the result and content with the performance. We MUST get 3 points against Everton, I will have a mental breakdown for sure if we get anything less than 3 points.

THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:

  1. Disappointed with the result, content with the performance: I mentioned it earlier but the Arsenal performance was more than fine, especially for a young team going into Old Trafford as league leaders. For large parts of the game, we were the much better team, we had better spells of play, had nice passages of one-touch football, pressed well whenever we lost etc. After the first 10 minutes, I would say form minute 10-60, we played them off the pitch, even when going a goal down. *Insert dumb United fan telling me to look at the scoreboard. But at the end of the day, all that matters is who puts the ball in the back of the net and that is what United did and we didn’t. They caught us on the break, and we had lapses in judgement which cost us as all 3 of their goals were basically tap-ins. United were ruthless and clinical, credit to them, but the 3-2 scoreline might be a bit harsh with the type of football Arsenal produced. Somtimes you play well and you lose, that happens in sport and that is what happened today. If Arsenal played this United team 10 times, I’d say we beat them 6-7 times, this was one of those days where United were the better team and that is okay. I’m proud of how the team played, but we need to shore up some lapses in judgement defensively if we want to take that next step, the football is there, we just need those final touches offensively and defensively to take that next step.
  2. VAR continues to own me: In the 13th minute, Ødegaard clips the back of Eriksen’s foot which causes him to lose the ball to Saka who controls the ball and plays in a delicious pass to Martinelli for the left-footed finish. Now in clear time to me and many others, its a clear foul that Ødegaard puts on Eriksen, no question about it. However Tierney for whatever reason, mostly him being an incompetent fool, doesn’t call it which allows us to counter and get a goal. VAR however intervenes, calls back the goal due to a foul and 0-0 is restored. That is such a sick joke and is not how VAR should be utilized. When VAR calls down to Paul Tierney to look at that foul, it already puts it in his head that Paul made a mistake. And 9/10, referees are going to overturn their decision if VAR tells them to look at it again. VAR should be there to give the referee another perspective on his original decision, not to completely change it. Only if it is a clear and obvious foul/occurrence should things be reversed, since Tierney made that decision to not call the foul, there wasn’t enough in it for me to overturn the original call. There needs to be a complete overhaul on how VAR is utilized for decisions that do not pertain to offside. Also, Yes I am 100% salty and biased.
  3. Lapses in judgment killed us: Gabriel has got to make that tackle or foul and stop the play, no way should he have left Arsenal exposed like that for the first goal. On the 2nd United goal, we should have played it out defensively more, not been so keen on getting the 2nd goal and gave United an opportunity to hit us on the counter. The 3rd United goal, we had 20 minutes left to get a tying goal, no way should we have been so high to get that 2nd goal as well. Just a bit naive on how we approached the game in important moments left us exposed.
  4. United were ruthless: They had 3 chances to hit us on the counter and scored all 3 times. Credit to them, and they won the match. Whether it is a credit to ETH or Arteta’s naiveness, we will see as the season plays out.
  5. Everton is all that matters: Us losing a match at Old Trafford isn’t a problem, it is just how we respond at home to Everton this weekend. 3 points is a must and the only thing that is acceptable next weekend.
  6. I miss Thomas Partey: and we need to get his injury recorded sorted out, ridiculous how often this man gets injured. No way should he be getting hurt during training. Figure it out Mikel and Edu. He should have been playing this match.
  7. Fábio Vieira time to show out on Thursday: Vieira had a slight cameo against United for 20 minutes but I am excited to see how he fares this Thursday in the Europa League. Might be a decent reinforcement in the middle of the park with Thomas and Elneny out.
  8. Please win this Sunday against Everton for my livelohood

Featured image credits: Getty images

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

Gabi Jesus to save Arsenal?

(Disclaimer: This won’t be a complete Gabi Jesus analysis blog because I’m weary that Gabi Jesus and team are using Arsenal to get a new contract at City)

Reports have come out this past week about Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus being linked to Arsenal for this upcoming season with discussions apparently continuously ongoing for the past few months according to transfer guru David Ornstein.

Now there are lots of factors that go into this Gabriel Jesus transfer with many of them being speculative. It’s not lost on me that the game right after the news drops about Gabi Jesus being linked to Arsenal that he goes on and scores 4 goals against Watford. Lmao, Gabi Jesus saw the Arsenal rumors break out and was like”Nah fam, I’m too good for Arsenal”. You can’t make this shit up lol.

All that being said, the things are going for Arsenal on making this transfer actually happen:

  1. We need a CF badly – now whether Gabriel Jesus is the CF we need, I am not totally convinced, I am a huge fan of the player actually which I will talk about in a future post but not sure if he is the type of ST we need. Regardless we do need a CF prototype to lead our line.
  2. Haaland coming to City – now if the City front line wasn’t already crowded with stars, this Norwegian behemoth coming to Man City basically pushes Gabriel Jesus out of Pep’s plans for sure. Gabi Jesus is currently finding it hard to get playing time, imagine what it’s like when Haaland comes in to town.
  3. London>Manchester – We are reportedly are willing to offer close to double what he is making now. I am not naive enough to think that City can’t do the same but why would they when Haaland is coming in to the PL as the highest paid player? No reason for City to put that much resources into a player that won’t be more than a squad player for them in the future.

Now here are the reasons why this transfer won’t materialize:


1. We are still Arsenal – until we make the Champions League, we are irrelevant as a club in European and World football. Why would Gabi Jesus take his talents to a shit show in Arsenal in a World Cup year? You could argue the guaranteed playing time would help him to make a crowded Brazilian pool but is it worth it at a club like Arsenal? Time will tell but I wouldn’t blame him if he and his team wasn’t convinced by the direction Arsenal are going in as a club.

2. Using Arsenal as leverage – the recent example of Vlahović using Arsenal as a catapult to his move to Juventus from Fiorentina is a great reason why Gabi Jesus’ team put out the Arsenal rumors. Vlahović used us like the mid-tier club that we are to get Juventus to pay him the money that he wanted. With Gabi Jesus’ contract coming at the end of the 2023 season, it is the time where teams make moves on players, whether to extend or find a transfer to get value out of the player before his contract expires. Arsenal are the perfect club for Jesus to use to get the contract he wants, we are big enough to where it will get dumbasses like me talking, but not enough to where Jesus will actually come.

3. Other suitors – Now despite the possibility of some truth to the Jesus to Arsenal rumors, at the end of the day, Gabi needs to do what is best for his career at the age of 25. At the age of 25, this will probably be the most expensive contract in his career and it needs to be with the right club, competing for the appropriate competitions with his next contract most likely not coming til his age 3o season.

4. I never get what I want – the most important reason why this transfer won’t happen is cause I usually never get what I want as it pertains to transfers or happiness when it comes to Arsenal. I have spent years and years on us missing out on Luis Suarez, Benzema etc, why would this work out any different? Now granted Gabi Jesus is nowhere near the quality of the two examples I named but the point still stands. I actually really do admire the qualities Gabi Jesus possesses and feels that he got a raw deal at City. Pep planned for him to take over from Aguero when Pep arrived at City but Aguero strengthened his grip on the striker position with Jesus unable to influence the Spanish manager. Despite not being a guaranteed starter, I do feel that his output of 93 goals/46 assists in 203 apps are decent numbers for a player that was utilized the way he was at City. Now is he what I had in mind for a striker like Osimhen, Tammy or Darwin, no, but I would be excited at the prospect of him at the Emirates for sure which means this move will not happen.

Featured image credits: PA Images

Video credits: NBC

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