My biggest game of the year, bar none. Out of the 38 games we play all season, Spurs away is the most important for me. Winning at that stadium just gives me joy that only Old Trafford away kind of rivals. And for us to do it today, the way we did, the first time in that shit new stadium they have, has put me in heaven. We went 8 points clear after a 2-0 demolition of Spurs in their toilet bowl stadium. Just from start to finish, it was an Arteta masterclass. The boys came out guns blazing which has become an Arsenal staple this season with champagne football with high intensity and pressing. In the second half, we were defensively superb with Spurs growing into the game and Arsenal not giving an inch defensively, winning all our duels, putting our bodies in front of shots. Almost would have thought Spurs would have had a better chance if Harry Kane played.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Arsenal players won their matchups all across the pitch: We started our regular starting XI of Ramsdale, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Thomas, Xhaka, Ø, Saka, Martinelli, and Nketiah and credit to them all, they all won their respective matchups. Gabriel and Saliba had Kane all tied up in their pockets, Saka had Sessegnon on strings all game at RW, to be fair to Ryan, he was trying to get up as much as he could to help the Spurs attack but since we were able to put them through a spin cycle of possession, there was so much space for Saka to operate like this goal right here:
Zinchenko was dragging Kulu all over the pitch, almost seemed he had Kulu as a RB with Zinchenko’s positional flexibility. Thomas and Xhaka pushed aside Højberg and Sarr like they weren’t there. It was just a masterclass by the Arsenal lads all over the pitch.
2 points dropped and we move. Arsenal was held 0-0 to3rd place Newcastle at home and it feels like a crushing loss. Yes, I am a bit emotional about the match now and might be a bit dramatic but you have to win the home games. You gotta win your home games if you want to win the league or are serious about winning it. I don’t care against whom, when, or the weather, you just have to do it. I’ll get into the details later but I thought the Arsenal performance was solid with everything that was on the line. We dominated most of the possession, were industrious in the middle of the park, worked hard defensively, just maybe lacked a bit of precision going forward which can be up to a lot of reasons. All in all, we take the point and we move on to the FA Cup before our match against Spurs on 1/15.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
I will be dramatic about this but understand we are perfectly fine: Given the boys’ circumstances and performance, I am proud of them. They stood up to the Newcastle clowns and gave them all they could handle, credit to Newcastle for getting the draw they played for but it wasn’t for lack of Arsenal effort, and at the end of the day, that is all I can really ask of as a fan. We got a point that could be valuable towards the latter end of the season and the performance, which I emphasize repeatedly, will average out for most of the season, so simply said, we play like that, we most games. If you just go off the simple statistics, the boys fought their asses off against an organized opponent and fell just short of the elusive goal. Chin up, head up, we move.
2. Horrendous officiating: Andrew Madley had himself a game and made sure that his presence was felt throughout (which isn’t a good thing for an official). I also had no clue Bobby Madley had a brother, why in the hell are we hiring siblings from an incompetent referee? Makes no sense. Anyways, Arsenal were robbed of 1.5 clear, stonewall pens. Are they penalties in that a team deserves to have a spot kick 12 paces out? Probably not. Are they penalties that are given in 2022/2023? absolutely yes.
I mean what are we doing here? How blatant can we get. This is not even the controversial one
Ødegaard and Nketiah were both booked for shirt pulls / blocks to stop counters tonight, yet Dan Burn tried to rip Gabriel’s shirt off as the ball was coming towards him, and VAR said no penalty. #Arsenal were playing against 12 men tonight. #ARSNEW
Xhaka then got by his defender before putting in a cross that goes off Jacob Murphy’s arm. Is it harsh? Maybe, does it suck for Newcastle to give up a penalty in the 95th-96th minute? Sure Do I give a shit? Absolutely fucking not, call that handball, I have seen that foul being given 10 times over the past few years, its a hand ball in the penalty box, its a handball in the center circle, its a handball in my house, you call that every single damn time, I don’t care where. I also loved the Arsenal players hounding Madley after the no-call, yeah its petulant and annoying but who cares, nobody is going to give you a pen, sometimes you have to ask and yell for it, it worked for United for years under Fergie.
Like what is the point of VAR if we are missing errors like that? (I am 100% bias and can feel and type whatever I want lol).
3. Newcastle are now on the list: These guys were by far the most annoying team we have played this year, that includes Spurs/Scum, United, and Chelsea, my triumvirate of hated teams). They fouled, they parked the bus, they defended as if their lives depended on it, and to their credit, it worked. They got the point they wanted, the point they played for, and the point they deserved. They were a pain in my and Arsenal’s ass all night. Every chance they got, the midfield of Bruno G, Willock, and Longstaff put their body into Odegaard, Martinelli and Saka. Add Joelinton to the mix, and you have him, Dan Burn, Botman and Schar defending crossess, imagine trying to win a header off those giants. They were a nuisance to play against all night and they have been that way for all teams all season long. 6 matches on the bounce they haven’t allowed a goal and you can easily see why that is the case. Just a crazily annoying and frustrating night watching that match from an Arsenal’s fan perspective but credit to Newcastle, they were good. Also add in Nick Pope’s brilliant keeping.
4. Off the mark a bit offensively for the fellas: After our four-goal onslaught against Brighton, we weren’t as precise against Newcastle and that is where the margins lay between the two results. We scuffed some shots here and there, some of our incisive passing was off, Eddie’s shot a bit wider goes pass Nick Pope, Martinelli’s crossing was a bit off.
5. Thomas Partey and Zinchenko were imperious tonight: I thought these two were outstanding, everytime we needed to get a grip on the match, they seemed to always find the ball at their feet. Thomas, I felt outmuscled and outplayed Bruno G and the Newcastle midfield. Zinchenko felt like another CM on the pitch considering the areas he picked up and you wouldn’t be able to tell he was a LB. Just magnificent they way we used him as an outlet to relive pressure in possession. We need to keep these guys healthy going foward.
6. This game is crying out for transfers in attack: Arteta used only one sub in a game where we needed a goal for an RB (Tomiyasu for Ben White). In a game where we were desperate for a goal, Arteta rightly or wrongly didn’t trust any of our offensive subs to make a difference (mostly a shot at Fábio Vieira). With Gabi Jesus and Reiss Nelson out, ESR doing lord knows what with his injury, we need to make a transfer this window to solidify our squad depth. Mudryk sounds like the answer but this game was definitely the wake up call we needed for our title apsirations.
7. FA Cup on Monday, total rotation, please! This Monday we have Oxford United in the FA Cup. I expect total rotation if possible, Turner in for Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Holding, Cédric (if he isn’t sold to Fulham), Tierney all in, Lokonga and Elneny in, Marquinhos and Vieira in as well.
Player Ratings:
Ramsdale: 6/10 – Didn’t have a lot to do all game. He had one bad moment where he almost cost us a goal, but to his credit, he has cut that shit out mostly this season, just can’t let it happen again.
Ben White: 7.5/10 – He impresses me more and more every time I see him play RB. Just a pleasure to watch defending and is getting better and better going forward. Newcastle had nothing on him
Saliba: 7/10: – Much better today
Gabriel: 7.5/10: – Dominant, should have won us a pen and almost had a goal himself.
Zinchenko: 8/10 – Imperious
Thomas Partey: 8.5/10 – My MOTM, love this guy, we can’t lose him
Xhaka: 7/10 – Grew into the game in the 2nd half, created a pen that wasn’t called
Ødegaard: 6/10 – Not at his best
Saka: 6.5/10 – gave Dan Burn the runaround, just wouldn’t come off.
Martinelli: 6.5/10 – provided a good outlet, was his direct self all game, just wouldn’t come off.
Eddie Nketiah: 7/10 – I thought Eddie played his ass off all game, not as good as Gabi Jesus, of course, but the man put it all out there for us. Proud of him.
We are in a title challenge. I’ll say it again, we are in a title challenge. I won’t say it with sarcasm, I won’t say it with a “but”, I won’t say we will win the league, but damn it we are fighting for the title with 13 games played. Arsenal defeated Chelsea at the Bridge 1-0 and it was the most dominant 1-0 battering you will ever see this season. We were all over them from the start, just dominating them in their own backyard, Thomas was running the show, Saliba and Gabriel had Auba in their pockets (Auba just had 8 touches in the game), Ben White parenting Mason Mount, just spectacular performances all around from the boys.
Zinchenko came back at a perfect time: Zinchenko came back at a perfect time when Tomiyasu took a knock this past Thursday. I would have been fine if Tierney was asked to play instead but seeing Zinchenko back at his best despite the weeks off through injuries was a sight to sore eyes. Arteta came came out with the same XI everywhere else and we didn’t skip a beat. Ø I think and Saka at some parts were below par in spurts but all in all, can’t complain with how Arteta started the match.
Thomas Partey is our best player: He just is. He was magnificent today, picking the right passes at the right time. Played his part defensively when he needed to. Nothing gets me more excited in sports than he plays his reverse passes. He was just perfect today in all aspects of his game. When Thomas Partey is at his best, I feel fully confident in the team. He gives us a freedom to be aggressive as long as we know he is patrolling things in the midfield. Just a spectacular performance from our best player.
3. Auba cracks me up man: Aubameyang, this clown had the audacity to come out with those Sky Sports adverts and say dumb stuff like it’s “Nothing Personal” and then goes out and puts a performance where our defense held him to 8 touches in 64 minutes.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in BT Sports’ advert for Chelsea vs. Arsenal on Sunday: “Arsenal, nothing personal. I’m back. I’m blue. I’m ready. Let’s go.” #afcpic.twitter.com/7pb27mcu3b
Honestly, I don’t have ill will towards Auba since he did so much for us when he was here, but you can’t help but laugh at this stuff man. 8 touches all game, did Potter even select the guy today? Just a weird performance from him considering all that was on the line for him.
4. William Saliba, Gabriel, and Ben White are full of heavy pockets: Mason Mount, Auba, Sterling, and Kai Havertz all need to come out of our boy’s pockets now, it’s getting embarrassing. Just dreadful from their attacking players but masterful from our boys at the back. I still am examining if we were that good at the back or if Chelsea were that anemic going forward. They didn’t have a sniff towards Ramsdale. They had the rare counter but they really didn’t generate any real passage of play or cause Ramsdale any trouble. Any type of deep cross they had, the our men sniffed that stuff out easily. Just amazing stuff from the boys and proud of them but they need to let the kids out of their pockets now.
5. Gabriel Jesus will come good: I’m the first to rag on an Arsenal player if he is not performing to acceptable standards but this isn’t one of those cases. He hasn’t scored but I won’t acknowledge that cause he’s perfect and is doing everything else correctly. 🙂 Also since I am in such a good mood, I won’t come for Ø.
6. Arteta-Ball back in full force – There were a few passages of play where the boys were just straight messing with Chelsea, you love to see it.
7. Need to finish the rest of the games off strong before the World Cup: We have Brighton in the EFL Cup, and Wolves next weekend at the Molineux Stadium. It’s never easy going there as we have seen in the past few years but they are fighting relegation which will be an interesting twist from past encounters. I expect Arteta to rotate as much as he can midweek against Brighton and go with our best XI against Wolves. At this point, every game is a must win to keep up with City so let’s hope the boys finish it off strong. It does feel weird to not complain about anything but here we are, straight vibing. You love to see it.
3 points and we move really fast back to North London and don’t look back. My goodness, saying Arsenal stole 3 points today is putting it very kindly. We stole the 3 points, paid the ref, hit Leeds in the balls without them looking, and got away with a hit-and-run as we made that drive back to London. Arsenal survived Elland Road with a 1-0 win against Leeds to keep us 4 points clear at the top of the table through a well taken Saka goal. By the skin of our teeth, but if you have any aspirations at the end of the season, you need to take 3 points when you are not at your best which today was for sure. We just can’t make these performances a habit and get back to our own dominating football that we started the season with. Leeds were all over us that second half and actually impressed me with their inability to score with the great chances they created in that half. Just mindblowing but we move.
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
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.
Ramsdale’s 60-70 yard passes are becoming a real attacking option, not sure how Jesus doesn’t convert this chance into his hat-trick, but our threat is so evident now.pic.twitter.com/5uBlnD2QyY
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.
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.
Gabriel Jesus is there at the back post and he has a brace in the first half!
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).
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.
A position that has not driven me to want to drown myself in bleach over the past few seasons has been the guys in between the sticks. Bernd Leno-Emi Martinez-Aaron Ramsdale have all been respectable goalies and competent players at their respective positions for Arsenal teams that have finished outside of the Champions league. Our #1 coming into this season is Aaron Ramsdale and he has that position locked down as any position can be at Arsenal at the current moment. The classy and underrated Bernd Leno is getting sold to Fulham in the coming days which has opened up the backup role to American Matt Turner. As things stand, Aaron Ramsdale will get all the Premier League games barring injuries as well as the Europa League knockout games. There might be a decent chance Matt Turner gets the Europa League knockout games if he performs well but the easiest way to put it, in any high leverage game, you can bet Arteta will give Ramsdale the spot. Matt Turner will serve as a FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and Europa League group stage games which should give him some momentum going into the World Cup.
Mikel Arteta just like his former boss Pep, yearned for a ball-playing goalkeeper to start our attacks and if that is what he is looking for, he more than got that in Ramsdale. The way he is able to pass out of pressure was something I was not expecting when he came into the team. He sometimes gets us into trouble with his risky passing, but the reward outweighs the risk when he pulls it off. As a shotstopper, I believe Bernd Leno surpasses Ramsdale as Ramsdale struggled dramatically towards the tail end of the season to get his hand to anything. It felt like Aaron Ramsdale was just a passion-merchant late last season with his performances largely begging for more secure hands in goal. He yells a lot and celebrates a lot after saves, which I don’t mind, you just gotta make the saves you are supposed to save which he struggled with in April and May. Aaron needs to play with that swagger he has, he just needs to ride that line better and appropriately lead the back line.
Gets beaten so cheaply at the near post
Regardless, he is our guy going into next season and it could be way worse. Hopefully Matt Turner can provide enough push for Ramsdale to stop playing like an asshole. Aaron Ramsdale has every motivation to play well and push for that England #1 spot if Pickford struggles. The same with Turner, I expect nothing but perfection from the Arsenal keepers going into this season with the World Cup looming (it won’t happen but gives me room to complain).
Kent’s confidence on Arsenal’s GKs: 8/10 – good enough going into next season, I have much bigger things to worry about. Just need Ramsdale to not play like an asshole and spaz (Jordan Pickford vibes if you know what I mean).
