Tag: Martinelli

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 Preview 2022/2023 (Forwards) – Gabi Jesus Szn

Imagine a professional football team that tried to achieve Champions League football with a center forward that couldn’t run, jump, or move in any capacity. God Bless Lacazette, but that is what Arsenal tried to achieve last year. The combination of Auba, Laca, and Eddie Nketiah last year through 38 PL games accounted for 13 goals. 13 motherfucking goals. 37 year old Cristiano score more himself in a disoriented United squad. Salah had more than 13 himself halfway through last season. It is quite literally a miracle that we were one result going our way from making the Champions League. To the club’s credit, Arsenal have gone on and acquired the services of Brazilian International and multi Premier League champion Gabriel Jesus to lead the line and the change has been nothing short of drastic.

CENTER FORWARD/STRIKER: If you look at the numbers Gabi Jesus produced during his time at City, they may look underwhelming at first but he had a lot of extenuating factors that played against him. The stubborn Aguero refusing to give up his spot, an absolutely crowded front line, and lack of consistent game time hindered Gabi’s time at City. Gabi Jesus spent a good amount of time on the wings and was in charge of tracking back like any winger is asked to do which is something Pep appreciated from him however, that greatly hindered Gabriel Jesus’ chances for goals. At Arsenal, we go as far as Gabi takes us. He’s our star man and what our transfer window was based off of. It’s on him, management and the team to get the best out of him. In just a few games in preseason and against Palace, you can just see the quality oozing out:

He calmly brings the cross-field pass down with his chest and proceeds to pass and then RUN into the box to follow his pass and get the goal. I’d have to end myself before Lacazette did such a thing last season. This goal also shows the flexibility that Gabi provides in being able to play on the touchline if need be, for example if we need to team him up with Eddie for a goal and he has to float out wide.

This passage of play against Palace also shows the all-action footballer that Gabi Jesus is as he muscles Schlupp off the ball, megs Dourouré, and then sends Andersen back to Denmark all in one run before getting his shot block. Gabriel Jesus was absolutely everywhere in the first half against Palace and was extremely unlucky to not have a goal to his name for his effort. He fell off a bit in the second half but so did the rest of the attacking line as Palace grew into the game. He hasn’t seem to fully find a connection with Ødegaard and Saka yet but for the sake of Arsenal, we need them to find something if we want to achieve greater things than last season. 30+ G/A contributions should be the standard for Gabriel Jesus if he stays healthy and I don’t see why he doesn’t reach it. he looks sharp, he’s moving well, he just needs to opportunities. Oh and we also signed Eddie Nketiah to another deal to be our backup striker/CF. I would rather us have let him go after this contract ended personally as I don’t rate him highly but since we were dumb enough to not move him out with time left on his contract, Arsenal probably felt obligated to extend him due to not handling his contract situation efficiently.

WIDE FORWARDS/WINGERS: I will absolutely never give up on Nico Pépé even though his time at the club is more than done it looks like. Arteta doesn’t seem too eager to give him any playing time despite the wages and transfer fee he commanded. I don’t think Arteta has treated him well or given him the fairest chance but in his defense, Pépé hasn’t fully taken his chances despite scoring 10 goals in the 2020/2021 season on limited starts. I’d like to find a way to get a front line of Pépé, Saka, and Gabriel Jesus a chance to grow but we will see. At the moment, it looks like Saka’s and Martinelli’s positions out wide. In a time where the best wingers are getting close to and more than 20 goals a season, we are going to need more end product out of the two of them. Saka did fine last year despite him creating so many chances and messing up the final ball. Martinelli absolutely needs to get 20+ G/A in the league if he wants to be our starting RW. His respectable 6/6 G/A in the league last year came off only a half season being our out-and-out starter but will need more from him. ESR is the forgotten man at the moment as he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. In the first half of the season, he was like a bat out of hell scoring all the goals he did with his timely arrivals to the box. Having him rotate with Martinelli or off the bench would be dope, we just need him to be healthy. Absolutely can not have the #10 shirt Arsenal wasted to a bench/rotation/injured player. Reiss Nelson is still at the club as well and should be loaned/sold off by the end of the window. Love you Reiss.

Featured image credits: Premier League

Twitter credits: NBCSportsSoccer, arsenal_video

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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Bernardo Silva Regen? The Fábio Vieira post

On June 16th, while Arsenal twitter (myself included) was clamoring for Arsenal to sign Gabriel Jesus, Youri Tielemans, Raphinha, and Lisandro Martinez, literally anyone to revive the squad, these sneaky mofos in the middle of the night came to an agreement with Porto for the transfer of creative Portuguese midfielder Fábio Vieira to Arsenal for €40 million.

Have I heard of him? Nope. Does he have a great hairline? Yep Is that all that really matters in the end? Absolutely

As crazy a fanbase as Arsenal Twitter is, it is unreal business from Arsenal to keep this deal under wraps and out of the public eye. Up until that point, I had watched 0 minutes of Fábio Vieira highlights or matches but I definitively had enough just from reading one tweet to come to the conclusion of him being the best Portuguese in the Premier League coming into next season lmao (includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, João Cancelo etc.) Without a doubt. As highly touted as Fábio is coming from a Portugal, a player with his profile as a creative left-footed midfielder feels oddly similar to a player we already have in Martin Ødegaard, so what can we expect from him and how will Arteta use him?

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We still out here breathing (Arsenal-West Ham reaction)

Results over performances. Results over performances. Results over performances. 3 words to live by at this point of the season. These guys man… 6 points off West Ham this season and Arteta continues to prove me wrong, you love to fucking see it. Two goals form our center backs for a 2-1 victory over West Ham at the Olympic Stadium?!?!? By any means necessary and keeps us on pace with Spurs in the race for Top 4.

At the end of the day, the May 12th game between Arsenal and Spurs will more than likely decide who gets 4th place HOWEVER if Liverpool beats Spurs next weekend, the NLD becomes a game where Arsenal just has to not lose and will also, in turn, assist my blood pressure levels. Don’t get me started on the possibility of catching Chelsea for 3rd place but one scum team at a time. Elneny and Rob Holding were the two standout performers for me on the day. I am still not sure the starting XI that we put out there is one that is fighting for Top 4 but here we are.

Aaron Ramsdale has been holding down the fort despite his recent struggles in the net. Tomiyasu has been fighting calf injuries all season long. Holding is an Arsenal cult hero but has been involved in Arsenal’s recent struggles for the past few seasons. Gabriel is my Brazilian left-footed lover. Nuno is my favorite Portuguese in the world who I love to hate and hate to love. If Elneny gets us to Top 4, I might have to pick up an Egyptian Citizenship. This Granit Xhaka love story at Arsenal would win an Academy Award. Ødegaard might be the best Norwegian player in the world (including Haaland, Im kinda joking but also kinda not). Saka is a starboy. Martinelli never stops running. I won’t say a bad word about Eddie until I see how our season ends.

You love to fucking see it boys, get innnnnnnn.

Featured image credits: Premier League

Video Credits: NBC

Arsenal – Liverpool Reaction (Premier League)

If you made a carbon copy of our 2nd leg in the Carabao Cup semifinals against Liverpool, you’d come up with the exact same match today. Arsenal came up short today in what is very common against Liverpool as of late with a score of 0-2 with goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino being the difference. There is just a gulf in class between the two sides that we can’t overcome at the moment. In no way shape or form did Arsenal play poor today, there was just a better side on the other side and I can live with that. I predicted a 3-1 loss to Liverpool so a 2-0 scoreline feels pretty much expected with how things turned out. Liverpool are just more experienced and composed in these big-time matchups compared to us. One could say Liverpool didn’t play that well today, if you looked at Jürgen Klopp’s reaction throughout the match, he never looked please at all and they still were dragging our asses up and down the field. Everytime we looked to pose a threat, they were able to snuff out all of what we were trying to create offensively and smartly chose their moments to press and hit us on the counter when it seemed fit.

Table Outlook:

With all that being said, I think even Mikel Arteta at his core would’ve nailed this game as a loss, especially with a Liverpool team that has everything to play for in obtaining the league title. Arsenal still controls their destiny but matchups with Chelsea and Spurs away are not a given but it is more than what I could ask for going into this season so I’ll take what I can get despite this loss.

PREMATCH-FIRST HALF: Mikel put out an unchanged side from the team that beat Leicester on Sunday which was expected. I mentioned that I wouldn’t have minded if he switched to a back 3 for this game but don’t blame if for going with the lineup that has got us to this point. My hypocritical ass would have been the first one to come for him if he switched things up and it didn’t work. Klopp benched Salah for today’s game which was a surprise but when you have Jota, Mané and Luis Diaz leading your line, you’ll probably be just fine. The game started with Liverpool retaining a good amount of the possession. Arsenal then grew into the game and would say had most of the chances for bulk of the first half. Martinelli was having his way with Trent down the left flank just like in the Carabao Cup ties and was our main source of threat in the first half as shown below:

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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.

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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.

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