Saka out with an illness, Saliba out indefinitely, Tomiyasu out for the season, Man City battered Liverpool 4-1 earlier today, not what you want to see as an Arsenal going into this Leeds game but we handled them with a second-half onslaught to take us back to 8 points clear with a game in hand despite all those things going against us with a 4-1 win over relegation fodder Leeds. Gabi Jesus got back on the scoresheet with two goals, Trossard got himself another assist, Xhaka got a goal, Thomas Partey didn’t get injured and I didn’t have to suffer through a roller-coaster of a game. All to play for with 9 matches left, 9 cup finals, let’s do it fellas.
In our best Drake and Future voices: “What a time to be alive”. This team man, I swear, is going to be the end of me, good or bad. This team’s belief in all their matches, the relentlessness, and the refusal to give in, is incredible. And they showed it again today with a comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 over Bournemouth at the Emirates. Just incredible scenes to fight back in a must-win game. I have been preaching all year you can’t lose your home games if you want to win the title and these guys did their best to fuck it all up to the league’s worst team. Can’t really explain how, can’t really explain why, they just did it again in 90+ plus minutes, the third time in the 2023 calendar year, Arsenal secured a winner in stoppage time to keep their 5 point lead at the top of the table.
After disastrous defeats to Everton and City and a disappointing draw at home to Brentford, Arsenal has fortunately rebounded with two huge away wins at Villa and at Leicester today with a 1-0 victory. Arsenal have extended their lead at the top to 5 points and gives us room to breathe while City playing Bournemouth in the coming hour.
Table: Arsenal have now extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points, albeit perhaps briefly, as Manchester City travel to Bournemouth this evening, with kick-off moments away. #afcpic.twitter.com/nXVbcOFLOO
All things considered, Arsenal seemed to have somewhat stabled and righted the wavering ship, games against Everton midweek and Bournemouth are prime opportunities for Arsenal to pick up points and put pressure on City.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Leicester was dreadful. Leicester who still has so much to play for in their quest to not get relegated were objectively poor today, considering the circumstances of playing at home, with the league leaders coming into town, and they just stood back and soaked all the unnecessary pressure. Arsenal playing teams that dive into a low-intensity low-block is my favorite type of team to play. They offered no staggered pressing at all to switch things up like Brentford did, they had no cohesive strategy whenever they did win the ball which left Kelechi ridiculously isolated between Gabriel and Saliba, just an all-around disaster from Leicester, not complaining by any means, just saying the biggest driver to Arsenal’s 1-0 victory.
Martinelli rollercoaster continues: In the first half, this man was driving me crazy. Every decision he made, was the wrong one. As a right-footed LW, he seems satisfied with just going down the line to play on his weaker foot, not even giving the defender an inkling of doubt that, you know, he might want to get on his right to wrap a right-footed shot at their shit keeper. Just maddening, as well as the few times the ball got stuck to his feet when we were intricately playing around the box and he just fucked it up. But to be consistent with what he has done all year, he gets us that all-important goal to solidify the 3 points with a devastating run for the easy finish. Just an enigma for me right now, but as long as he is scoring, I won’t say a word.
Deep down, all Arsenal fans were waiting for this moment, when our backs are against the wall against a team we are undoubtedly better than player for player. Everytime this season, we have been able to back it up and collect the 3 points but this wasn’t meant to be at one of our bogey grounds, against 19th place Everton at Goodison Park. We haven’t won at the ground since Alexis Sanchez and Ozil were on the team and looks like we have to wait for next season to lift the curse as they nicked us 1-0 to stall our lead at the top of the table, through a Tarkowski back post header off a corner, kill me.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Where does this put the title? Don’t panic. This match halts our title league aspirations for sure, keeping us 5 points ahead of City but games like these were bound to happen. What we can’t do is panic as there is so much football left to play. We have City twice, City at multiple points throughout this season have looked vulnerable to dropping points this season as they actually drew Everton first time they played this season. Too early to panic, just take care of our business and we will be fine.
Dreadful in attack today: Outside of Saka, I thought Martinelli, Ødegaard and Nketiah were absolutely dreadful today. Everton came in playing with a brand new manager and the new manager bounce is always possible but at the end of the day, champions win against 19th place opposition no matter the circumstances and these 3 were terrible today. Not once, maybe Eddie on one dribble in the second half, did they take responsibility for any attacking pressure to Everton, it was just lifeless from all 3 of them as Saka throughout the match did put Mylolenko in a body bag, he just didn’t get the support from his teammates.
Xhaka may be feeling tired? Xhaka today was also someone today that stood out today as being absolutely useless. Every opportunity he picked up the ball in the half-spaces between Martinelli and Eddie, he gave it away. Because if our inability to retain possession properly, Everton were able to counter Thomas and Gabriel/Saliba at ease with Zinchenko and Ben White also isolated high up the pitch. We may need to look to give him a rest or he needs to get his shit together for Brentford next week.
Gabriel has become our best CB at the club: Saliba will get all the plaudits for how good he has been in his first season and Ben White has been tremendous at RB but Gabriel as of late has become a monstrous colossus at the back for us. His ball-winning, ball retention, aerial duels, etc. He does it all for us at the moment. Many many times he was isolated onto Dominic Calvert-Lewin and every time he bulled the englishman and he’s pretty much taken care of every opposition he has come against. Maybe its the motivation on missing out the Brazil World Cup team, but he has been our best defender the past few months, fully deserving of this new contract extension.
5. Trossard might need to start next week against Brentford over Martinelli: not permanently, but just to rotate our squad a bit and give us a new look going forward. I have been on Martinelli the past few weeks on being too-one dimensional in our fluid attack and things haven’t gotten better. We were able to put paper over the cracks with Martinelli’s goals but that well seems to have dried up dramatically and maybe a new change of pace up top might be the answer for the time being.
6. Bounce back against Brentford at home and take care of City and we are back on track: Lot easier said than done for sure, but time to man up. Put up or shut up time for the boys, you’d wish it wasn’t prompted after losing at Everton but that is the position we find ourselves in, time to put things right these next few games.
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.
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.
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 the United loss over Labor Day weekend, it was always going to be interesting how we’d respond, and thank goodness we played a sorry Brentford team today, winning the game 3-0 at Brentford. I’d usually wax lyrical about how much quality we had going forward, how we dominated from the start, etc. but Brentford were so bad, I’m not even sure if Arsenal played well today. Zinchenko and Ødegaard missed out due to injuries but Tierney and Vieira stepped in and kept the train going. I’ll take the 3 points for what they are for sure, keeps us in pace with the Top 4 and the league, and puts us in the right direction before the International Break.
Brentford showed everybody what not to do against Arsenal. Usually, I’m the first to tell people if Arsenal were shit or not shit, never giving the other team acknowledgment on an Arsenal game but my word Brentford were terrible. These guys came into the game on the top half of the table respectively but played like relegation fodder. They smoked us last year to open the regular season with a 2-0 drubbing and you’d think they would look to replicate that game if possible. In our faces, winning their individual battles, pressing from the start, using the crowd to energize them. But they did the opposite, they sat back instead of getting in our faces, showed us WAY too much respect and tried to hit us on the counter. The problem with that is, once you concede early, which they did through a Saliba header, it puts all the onus back on you to get on level terms and they never coped with it. Arsenal never got out of 2nd gear, but we never had to, Brentford’s midfield was nonexistent, defenders stagnant, attackers isolated. Just a shit and weird performance from a usually respectable Thomas Frank side.
2. Gabriel Jesus is back to his dancing and goal-scoring ways. It was an 8/10 performance from Gabi, consistent with how he has performed and carried us this season. He could have had more as well with just a little more time and quality on his 1 on 1 opportunities but I won’t complain about his performance, just so much quality on his header for our 2nd goal.
It’s a splendid ball from Xhaka to find Gabi, but how Gabi had the strength in his neck to divert the ball back across the face of the goal is sickening. Just unreal from my #9. I love him.
3. Saliba is still the greatest to ever do it. Besides adding Ivan Toney as one of his victims, he scored another unreal goal, this time straight off a corner with a flicked header. The goal angle is absurd and makes no sense when you look at where he was on the front post. Adding another goal to his legend.
William Saliba scores and the the away end is singing! 🎵 #AFC
4. The medical and physio staff need to get their shit together. Gary O’Driscoll, Arsenal’s head of medical services, and his staff need to sort this crap out. I am tired of seeing these last-minute updates on how Zinchenko and Ødegaard missed out due to calf injuries suffered in training. Tomiyasu missed the second half of last season with a calf injury as well. We all know Thomas Partey is always a liability to get hurt. Gabriel Magalhães and Gabi Jesus both spent time down injured at different points of the game, like bruh, this club and staff need to do something about these non-contact injuries, unacceptable at this point.
5. Ødegaard, come outside, we need to have a chat. With Martin missing out due to an injury, stepped in Fábio Vieira who delivered a 30-yard stunner to open his account at Arsenal. Something I have been annoying about all over this site is how Ødegaard doesn’t shoot enough for himself or the team, well here you go dude, you weren’t in the game and we didn’t skip a beat away from home. Vieira had a relatively quiet first half but his goal came right after half-time and put the game to bed. Obviously Martin is still our guy in the 10 spot but he should keep an eye out on this Portuguese guy lurking for his spot.
Arsenal go up 3-0 thanks to this fantastic goal by Fabio Vieira!
Just a beauty from outside the box. Love this guy already
6. Our next two games are Spurs and Liverpool at home and 6 points is the only acceptable result. I honestly have butterflies thinking about Spurs at home. We have to win, we have to win, we have to win. A draw at home to Spurs, and you might as well off me at this point cause I don’t have the strength to live if we don’t win. Yes, I am overexaggerating and being dramatic, but I don’t give a damn, I unfortunately put too much time and thought into these clowns and they better not let me down when Spurs come to town.
7. Absolutely love Arteta using Toney’s tweet from last season as motivation still. Here is the timeline:
I absolutely love the shit-talking from the boys, just need them to keep that same energy with the big teams. Please don’t let me down.
8. Xhaka is my captain. For obvious reasons, he could never be our captain but we all know deep down, he runs this team. Not as a slight to Ødegaard as he is not a natural vocal leader, and that is not a bad thing. Watching the Amazon documentary just made it uber clear that Xhaka runs the locker room. He is the first to call the boys out when we have been terrible, he holds himself accountable as well, he is dependable (most of the time), and is always available for selection. He got the armband today, and if I had it my way, he’d be our captain full-time.
I also know that I went on and on about how we needed a Xhaka replacement this past summer but now I can’t imagine life without the guy. At the moment, he has gotta be the first name on the team sheet and has proved to be irreplaceable for the team at the moment, on and off the pitch. Xhaka has pretty much bitch slapped me and told me shut up. Good for him. Credit to me for admitting I was wrong on the guy.
Twitter credits: NBC Sports, Amazon, Gabriel Magalhaes 🙂
OUTLOOK: Going into this season, I was somewhat worried about the defenders/injuries that Arsenal was carrying into the season, but a French blessing in the shape of a William Saliba fell into our lap and now I can’t be more excited to see what our back line looks like with him. Despite the injuries to Tomiyasu and Tierney coming into this season, the arrival of Saliba has pushed Ben White out to RB with Tomiyasu out which affords the ability to not have to play Cédric. Saliba-Gabriel have created a formidable duo that looks as good as any in England especially given their age profiles. Zinchenko looks to have the left-back spot now with Tierney struggling to cope with injuries. Through the Sevilla and Chelsea friendlies to go along with the win against Palace, I imagine we keep this back 4 intact til things break down but you have to love the depth and flexibility we have right now when everybody is back, a huge problem we had last year that messed with my sanity.
