What can I say at this point? These guys won’t just stop winning games, just a relentless machine at the moment that looks scarily obsessed with grabbing the PL title. Arsenal finished off 2022 with a bang with a 4-2 win against Brighton on the South coast. With Newcastle and City dropping points today, Arsenal find themselves 7 points clear at the top of the PL standings with 16 games played. Still a lot of football left to play this season but Arsenal don’t look closer to dropping any points compared to their rivals for Top 4. Arsenal opened the match scoring 66 seconds in and then scored about 100 seconds into the 2nd half and didn’t look back. Things got eerie towards the end of the match, but we took all 3 points at a tough away ground and now have great momentum with our clash with Newcastle on 1/3/2023.
My biggest nightmare coming into this match is that all 0ur form up until the World Cup would wash over with a 6 week break. We lost Gabi Jesus to an injury, maybe our players returning to the World Cup would be too exhausted, and maybe it would take a game or two for our starters to get back into form, just so many variables up in the air that we could not afford with Man City on our ass. And damn straight, the boys picked up right where they left off with a resounding 3-1 over West Ham at home.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
This Arsenal team is built different: We went 0-1 down through a marshmallow-soft pen and even at that point, I was still 100% confident that we would get 3 points. From the first whistle, Arsenal asserted their dominance over West Ham. I was very shocked with how West Ham approached this game but it is a credit to Arsenal and Arteta up until this point of the season where teams need to sit back against this Arsenal team. Even though we went down 0-1 at half time with a pen against the run of play, Arsenal came out like gang busters in the 2nd half and ran West Ham off the pitch with 3 goals to complete our performance, what a win.
Ødegaard keeps proving me wrong: If there was anybody that we needed to step up, it was Martin, no World Cup with the rest of the front line at the World Cup in Qatar, we would need him to lead us through his energy and passing and that is what he just did.
Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good, Ødegaard with the “assist” to Saka
With West Ham sitting in such a low block for the majority of the match, Ødegaard to his credit put the onus on himself to create something for us through his passing and movement.
First Premier League start of the season ✅
First Premier League goal of the season ✅
Eddie Nketiah doing just fine replacing the injured Gabriel Jesus in Arsenal's XI. 💫
The assist from Martin here is Ozil-like, such a deft touch and terrific from Eddie to roll Kehrer for the goal
I have been on Martin Ødegaard for much of the season for his performances away from home, but so far, this guy as shown up repeatedly for us as our captain and deserves nothing but credit from me and for me to shut up.
Objectively one of the worst attempts I have seen from a professional keeper. To be beaten like this at your near post is just appalling and embarrassing at the same time.
4. Seeing Wenger celebrating an Arsenal goal had me emotional:
I have seen this clap from Wenger numerous times over the years, and it felt nostalgic to see it come from him again. First time back at the stadium since he left as Arsenal manager and I am happy for him that he got the reception he deserved.
5. Eddie Nketiah stepped up when we need him most: Everybody outside of the Arsenal fan base got what they wanted and it was “How Arsenal would fare without Gabriel Jesus?” Last season, towards the back of the season, to no fault of Eddie, we faltered and lost our Champions League spot with him leading our line. This season, the squad is way more revamped with most of our players much better than where we were last season, by default, Eddie should be better as well and it looks like we didn’t skip a beat with Eddie and no Gabi Jesus. However, it was only one game against a struggling opponent, with tougher games against Brighton and Newcastle coming up, Eddie will need to keep it up to keep Man City off our ass.
6. Transfers are 100% needed in January: For us to make a competent challenge in both the Premier League title and Europa League title (Thursday-Sunday turnaround), reinforcements are needed in January. Most likely, we need one in attack and one in midfield. In defense, we are set with Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Ben White, Tierney, Zinchenko rotation. With Gabi Jesus going down and ESR not back yet from his injury, we are a Saka, Martinelli, Ødegaard injury from being in deep shit. The Mudryk fella from Ukraine would be a suitable transfer in for a decent price, nothing more than $40m. And we also need midfield replacement like Tielemans from Leicester. If Xhaka and god forbid Thomas Partey went down, Elneny and Lokonga wouldn’t be up to speed for the things we are competing for.
Featured image credits: Getty
Twitter credits: CBS Sports Golazo, Ao7er, VIP Arsenal, nickvann1987_, oneofakindESR
There is no point in being shy about it anymore, no point for Arsenal fans to be humble about it, no point to bring in any caveat and flat out just say that Arsenal is in this damn title race and we are not going anywhere. City dropped points to Brentford at home, which left the door wide open for Arsenal to go 5 points clear with last-place Wolves. Arsenal went on to 2-0 resounding win at Wolves and assured us being 5 points clear going into Boxing Day. I am not completely sure what is going on to be honest. I am not sure how to react as I have based my personality on Arsenal being bad and with us dominating the league at the moment, this is all surreal to witness that these clowns have turned it around like this.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
We all know our best XI: Ramsdale-Ben White-Saliba-Zinchenko-Thomas-Xhaka-Ø-Saka-Martinelli-GJ is our best XI going forward. We can make changes here and there depending on fitness and matchups but in the biggest matches, this is our best XI to get us to where we want.
Ø shutting me up again lol: lmao I called him out the past few weeks to pick up the slack during this stretch and then he goes out and scores two away goals lol
Who else but the skipper Martin Odegaard to put Arsenal into the lead!
I’ll just keep shitting on him all season long with the understanding I am doing it as a jinx and for Ødegaard to actually score goals in big moments.
3. Thomas Partey is everything to us: Thomas Partey is freedom for us. His skill and mastery allows us to play the way we want. He lets Saka, Martinelli, Ødegaard and company run around like fucking madmen cause they know they got their big brother Thomas Partey keeping everything in check. I say it every week but he is our best player and do not want to think about where we would be if we didn’t have him.
4. This team is different: Despite our dominance on the ball in the first half, nothing fell to us to get us the deserved lead however there was always a feeling I had deep down that we would get that goal, not a matter of “if” but a matter of when. That is infinitely times more than what I could say for past Arteta teams, this fixture last year we crawled to a 1-0 win and this year was a true dominant 2-0 pounding to bring us 5 points clear. The change is drastic from this year’s team to last and we can only hope to keep it up after the World Cup.
5. The World Cup could not come at a worse time for us: We are the team in-from in the country and this damn joke of a World Cup just has to come and ruin it for everyone. For the Arsenal player’s sake, I hope they get everything they want when representing their country at the World Cup but I hope so much that they stay healthy and fit for the 2nd half of this season. Praying Southgate stays an idiot and doesn’t play Saka (Lmao also Southgate won’t play Ramsdale or White, which is a massive joke but we will let his loss be our gain). If Tite wants to be annoying and play Richarlison instead of Gabi Jesus and Martinelli, not my problem (Gabriel M. not getting called up is also a joke). If Deschamps is blind and doesn’t start Saliba, be my guest. If Ghana get eliminated early but Thomas Partey is healthy and fit, I’d pay for that. Xhaka, Tomiyasu, and Turner will probably be our for sure nailed on starters at the World Cup.
6. Shut up about Gabriel Jesus: Funny how people are obsessed with Gabi’s goal-scoring record or lack there-of, “this is why Pep let him go”, blah blah blah. He is literally the main man of the team that is 5 points clear at the top, you can all sit down and shut up.
An apology from me to Mikel Arteta will be coming soon.
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.
After the disappointing 2-0 defeat to PSV in Europa League play where we got absolutely battered, we needed a team to turn over and Forest was the perfect team for that. Leeds away and Southampton away were dreadful performances so it was nice for us to bring out a 5-0 demolition on relegation fodder. We still have everything to play for with Chelsea coming up next weekend who will be looking to rebound from a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Brighton.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Arteta picking Tomiyasu today paid off but he has Forest to thank. I have been harping for weeks now that Arteta needs to put Tierney at LB but Tomiyasu was brilliant today so can’t say anything about that today. However, Forest were so pathetic going forward and didn’t press us at all which gave Tomiyasu acres of space to operate and didn’t feel any pressure in possession. If the Forest manager, Steve Cooper, had any competence, he would’ve forced Tomiyasu as the basis for their press which is what Leeds and Southampton did to trouble us and get us off our rhythm. Much easier said than done when Leeds and Soton were at home but regardless, Forest just played into our hands fortunately by sitting back and trying to hit us on the counter. The rest of the lineup spoke for itself with everybody playing well. Next week will be interesting with the game being at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, my guess is he will pick Tomiyasu for defensive purposes, but nobody is a bigger advocate than me on us needing to insert Tierney before it costs us.
Thomas Partey masterclass. First off I understand it was last place Forest, but Thomas Partey was by far the best player on the pitch and played like a Top 5 CDM in world football today, 2nd clearly behind Rodri. His long ball passing was on point all day, he made the right passes at the right times, the tempo of his passing was perfect, he scored a peach of a goal. Just an all-around performance from our best player to get us back on track. We absolutely need him to produce something similar against Chelsea since their midfield depth is lacking at the moment, need him and Xhaka to run things at the Bridge next weekend. Love this man
Almost carbon copy of his goal against Spurs, you love to see it
3. These are the performances title challengers put in over a 38-game season. 100%, you can’t expect teams to put in performances like this, 5-0 demolitions, but sometimes, when you see relegation fodder at your home stadium, you just need to put up a whacking to send a signal out to the league that you are for real, this was 100% one of those games to get us back on track but also to let the league know that the Leeds and Southampton were blips rather than being permanent.
4. The goals will come for Gabriel Jesus. It is more than fair to say that Gabriel Jesus is going through a cold patch with goals but damn it the performances are there. It just sounds like I am making excuses for the guy, which I am, but he’s tracking back, he’s getting assists (2 assists today), he’s working his ass for the team. It’s all there except for the finishing, some could argue it is the biggest part, I am not but some will, but he will get there. I am calling it now, my man Gabriel Jesus is getting a brace against Chelsea, it is coming, I feel it. Just give him 90 minutes with Trev and Thiago and it will put Gabriel Jesus back on track as our talismanic striker.
5. REISS NELSON, GO OFF KING. My boy Reiss Nelson, proud of the kid. When Saka went off for an injury, I was pissed cause it felt like Eddie Nketiah was coming on but too everyone’s shock, he chose to bring on Reiss, and it did not disappoint. Credit to Mikel for getting this decision spot on, cause Reiss was perfect, providing two goals and an assist in just over a half of football.
Great from Reiss to read the passage of play and get in front of his man at the front post for the clever finish
Not sure after this match, why Mikel hasn’t given him more in the Europa League games, but my word if he keeps this up, this is the depth we needed with a World Cup looming, happy for Reiss cause he hasn’t had many opportunities and happy he hasn’t let this one pass him by.
6. This thing where the referees let defenders and opposing players kick Saka for fun with no repercussions is the most annoying thing going on in football and needs to stop now. If the Premier League and English FA had any hope for England in the World Cup, it is keeping their best player fit and healthy, not as target practice for neanderthals like Steve Cook.
7. God bless Pablo Mari and glad he’s doing alright after the horrific events in Milan.
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:
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.
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.
THE REFEREE TODAY WAS ABYSMAL – Essentially, our players got outwardly mauled today in the 18 yard box and nothing was done at all.
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.
I am going to be so insufferable and need somebody to humble Arsenal quick cause I am FEELING myself. Arsenal got rid of our Klopp voodoo curse and pulled out a 3-2 win at the Emirates over Liverpool. Klopp has essentially owned me and Arsenal since he stepped foot in England, you can say since Klopp arrived at Liverpool, this was the first time we have convincingly beaten him over 90 minutes in a football match. Just outrageous but we managed to pull it off today. Two goals from Saka and a early one from Martinelli carried us to victory despite Liverpool able to peg us back twice.
It’s tight at the league’s top, but this victory puts us back on top. We are well entrenched into this “title” race as long as the standings say so but more importantly, it more than entrenches us into the Top 4 race as we are all on stand-by with Haaland wrecking City to the title. THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
My guy Tomiyasu is back – Arteta went with pretty much the same XI that has carried us this season in the league except for one huge change, at LB with Zinchenko out due to injury, he selected RB Tomiyasu at left back instead of Tierney. Huge call by Arteta which would cause controversy anyway it turned out and it turned out in his favor today. Tomiyasu absolutely pocketed Salah from the start. Salah basically went missing for the duration of match and a search team is absolutely needed to find his whereabouts. Just a tactical masterclass by Arteta using the defensive-minded Tomi to keep an eye on Salah knowing full-well Tomiyasu has experience playing as a left-sided CB for his country 🙂 . Happy for Tomi, his performance today made me think that whenever we play a match, he is part of our best XI, not sure where he belongs, but it definitely on the pitch.
Martinelli is a problem – Every chance Martinelli got, you could see him wipe his tongue across his face as he knew it was time to feast on poor Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Not even a minute into the match Gabriel Martinelli outs Arsenal on top!
Martinelli’s pause on Arsenal’s 2nd goal sent Henderson and TAA back to Liverpool as it completely took them out of the game and left it on a plate for Saka to finish. Every time we needed a consistent threat, Martinelli was there for the call, whether it be Gomez, TAA, or Henderson, he cooked them all. It was so bad, Klopp subbed out TAA at halftime (he said it was cause of injuries, probably wasn’t), subbed off the RCB (Matip) , and subbed on another CM for coverage. What a game for Martinelli.
3. Thomas Partey Masterclass – outside of Rodri, is there a better CDM in the league? I thought he was brilliant, especially in the second half. We do not have one individual who can do half of what this man does for us. His timing and pacing of his passing just keep us ticking and going all match long. He did everything required to keep us on top throughout the match, making tackles, resisting their press, pinging balls out wide that you wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t pay attention. I just love this man so much. Just watch this comp and admire his greatness. I want Arsenal staff at his beck and call 24/7. I want all of his needs attended to at all times of the day. When he eats, when he dresses, when he goes down the stairs, we must all come together to make sure Thomas stays healthy for the whole season cause without him we are hopeless.
4. Calm down – When we scored within the minute, you could feel the buzz throughout the stadium and that transferred to the players undoubtedly. However, that only hindered our performance as we were all gas no brakes when we should have slowed down and our stamp into the game. Too many times after we got out to the 1-0 lead, we were just directly feeding our front line instead of building our possession through the midfield. This allowed Liverpool back into the game and getting the deserved goal to draw level at 1-1. Too many times when Thomas received the ball and had no support from Xhaka and Ø as an outlet which then would cause him to play back to the defenders who would then hoove the ball forward. Just played right into the hands of Liverpool which allowed Henderson and Thiago time and space to operate despite being in poor form this season. There was s glimpse of that naivety that ran its ugly head during the United game, we were able to counter with a second goal before the half but we need to see these moments better in future games. To be fair, we were much better in the second half, when we asserted our dominance, you can tell, the midfield trio of Ø, Xhaka and Thomas get more involved within the game, Martinelli and Saka get isolated onto their defenders etc. We were a better team throughout the full 90, just need to see the tough moments out better.
5. Martin Ødegaard confuses me – He had that minor injury right before the international break which hindered his form a bit but there were times throughout the game when I felt like he went missing. Especially in the first half where Liverpool grew into the game, we needed to find our playmakers to take the sting out of their momentum but he was nowhere to be found. However he played the sumptuous ball to Martinelli on the first goal. He will have moments of pure brilliance out of nowhere but its the consistency throughout the match where I feels like he goes missing at times. As our captain we need him showing for the ball and putting his stamp on the game, I don’t care if he loses it, we need his touches on the ball regardless cause more times than not, his touches on the game are pure quality.
6. Gabriel man, I don’t know what I am going to do with this guy – This guy man, he is straight out of a Six Flags amusement park, a damn roller coaster. He takes you through all the emotions. He will have moments of pure madness, gives the penalty away against Spurs, gives the goal away against Fulham etc. but then he will turn around and produce brilliant moments such as his goal against Fulham to win the match and then his dummy to set up Saka. Just an absolutely mad player that isn’t healthy for me. He got away with a questionable hand ball today as well in our box.
7. Rotation is key right now for Mikel – with the Europa League games coming hard and fast, that means the Thursday-Sunday cycle is well and truly on, so he needs to start resting players like Martinelli, Gabriel, Xhaka (maybe or maybe not) in order to preserve our player’s health through this busy part of the season. The back four I’m not too worried about as we have Ben White, Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Saliba, Zinchenko, Tierney and Holding for four spots. It’s the midfield that worries me as Sambi is the only replacement we have when Xhaka and Thomas goes down. I’d like for him to try a Sambi- Fabio pivot during the Europa League games, see if he can cut it as a deeper 8. The front 3 speaks for itself as we have Marquinhos and Reiss now back into the fold for our wide position with Eddie backing up Gabriel Jesus.
8. Got my eyes on you Jordan Henderson – Undoubtedly, this is the game of the year so far in the Premier League. Emotions were running high for both teams. There are rumors circulating of an incident between Gabriel and Jordan Henderson that had racism stemmed in there, whether it’s true or not, who knows but hopefully more details come out in regards to it.
Jordan Henderson’s exchange with Gabriel Magalhaes during today’s game, what do you think he has said? #lfc#afcpic.twitter.com/osqVAIaPc9
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Please win this Sunday against Everton for my livelohood
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:
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
SUPERB footwork from Gabriel Jesus in the buildup to Odegaard's first of two goals.
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.
