What a match, what a performance, when everyone kept asking questions about when this Arsenal team would slip up, they do it again. This time, with a 3-2 victory over an in-form United team at the Emirates, bring some revenge from the defeat they handed us at OT in September. This match had everything, lead switches, world class goals, shit goals, last minute goals, it 100% felt like an old-school United/Arsenal match that we haven’t been able to see in years when both teams were dominating the league. I’ll go into the details from this match, but Eddie’s last minute tap in to give us the victory kept us 5 points clear of City with a game in hand and served as a platform to improve upon during this busy February-March stretch when the Europa League games come in.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Not the best match from the starting XI but they showed heart when it mattered most: The hallmark of this Arsenal team all season was the blistering and relentless pace we set from the start, especially at home and it seemed that way for the first 5 minutes but United were able to weather the storm much better than other teams. Thomas, Ben White and Martinelli all in my opinion were not at their best. Both CBs did fine given the enormity of the match, Ødegaard and Saka played well, Eddie was incredible and Zinchenko just continues to impress me. We won’t always be at our best, but all that matters is that we get the 3 points when it does happen and that’s what happened today. This Arsenal team though, they are built different. They took the lead through a Rashford goal and hit us back to 2-2 with a shit clusterfuck of a goal and every single time, we responded just like we have for the most of this season, which is why we are where we are.
Our best players didn’t show up today but the rest of the squad was able to pick up the slack: Thomas Partey, the one who I have relied upon all season and in my opinion, our most important player, came up a bit short this game, gave the ball cheaply a few times, and Rashford did him in to take the lead at 1-0. Ben White’s touch was off from the start, which is quite unfair from the high standard he set for himself this season which is part of the reason Tomiyasu replaced him at halftime. Martinelli’s limitations have become quite clear more and more as this team excels. I think its quite clear he is the weak link in our starting XI now and why we went so hard for Mudryk this window. Not entirely his fault, just think he has become too one-dimensional. Ramsdale with a complete howler for their second goal. BUT for all those mistakes and dud performances, Saka, Eddie, Zinchenko, Ø, Trossard all stepped up for the lads which cements our position in the league table and why this Arsenal is so different from past teams.
I have no words for Saka anymore: There have been many players that have improved and caught the league’s eyes this season such as Ø and Martinelli but the one constant, one shining light from the past shit seasons, has been Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s own Bukayo Saka. Just an insanely world-class goal when we needed it most. This boy keeps impressing me week in and week out. Our starboy.
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.
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.
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.
I do not really know how to process what is going on right now. I can’t complain about anything Arsenal are doing right now. My only personality usually is complaining about Arsenal but I can’t do that. They play well, start fast and score goals. Legit the 3 things I only want in life. Arsenal has started the league campaign winning 5/5 games and sitting firmly atop the Premier League standings (Yes, I understand City is right on our ass but let me have today). We found Aston Villa in terrible form and it showed tremendously as we dominated them in a 2-1 victory. Villa were terrible, we were awesome for the most part and find ourselves ready to hopefully bring United back to Earth this weekend.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Gabi Jesus has been the best player in the league this season not named Haaland. He was absolutely splendid tonight. Despite the short rest, he was energetic throughout, going out of his way to get involved in the game, and just absolutely destroying Mings and Konsa throughout. Gabriel Jesus has absolutely mastered the timing of his shoulder budges as multiple times throughout the night he bodied the much bigger Mings and Konsa off the ball using his lower body of strength. He was rewarded for his work with a goal off the spaz (Emi Martinez). I love him. I can easily say outside of my girlfriend and immediate family, the most important person in my life right now is Gabriel Jesus.
Another plus on the night was him getting in the head of the clown that is Emi Martinez
2. I straight up might be cheering for Brazil in the World Cup. The performances of Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, and Gabriel have gotten me pretty much a shoo-in to cheer for the Seleção this winter in Qatar. Gabriel Jesus is self-explanatory as I am essentially in love with him at this point. Martinelli has played so well this season that he has essentially made Emile Smith Rowe irrelevant at the moment and essentially made Pépé go back to France. He got his third goal of the season and has cemented himself at the time being to the starting XI with his energy and goal output. Gabriel has formed a formidable duo with Saliba at the moment. Despite his blunder last week against Fulham, he responded immediately with a goal of his own to win us the game.
3. Ødegaard owns me at this point. Especially in the first half, he was absolutely magnificent. He was on another level, everything we did in the dominant first half went through the Norwegian. He ran his balls off to get his foot on the ball, and he showed himself to Sambi as an outlet and was the outlet for every attacking player that sensed some sort of pressure. My Captain 😉
4. Despite the 1-0 scoreline, we could have scored 10 in the first half, we were a different class. The best part of this Arsenal squad this season is how fast we have become at starting matches. In every game this season, we have come out and put our stamp on the game from the start, dominating possession, and relentless pressing to make sure we got the ball back. I do not think that Ramsdale had to touch the ball with his hands or had to make a save in the first half. We just need to make sure in these spells of dominance, that we make it count with multiple goals and balance out that energy to ensure we keep it up for 90 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
5. I am biased and I don’t understand how Ramsdale wasn’t fouled on this goal. Was Ramsdale supposed to knock Kamara out, was he supposed to run over Kamara? I don’t understand. Kamara was essentially inhibiting Ramsdale’s movement on that goal. Robert Jones and VAR are clowns for letting that goal stand. Ramsdale should have done better for sure but a foul is a foul. Ramsdale next time needs to put a defender between him and the other team or just truck the player on the other team as the keeper usually gets the benefit of the doubt on those plays.
6. Cédric got called for a penalty for touching Son last season but nothing was called for Mings performing a WWE move on Saka, what a sick joke from VAR and the officiating.
7. John McGinn is such a cunt. With Sadio Mané in Germany now, John McGinn has to be the clear leader in the league for the dirtiest player. He’s such a dirty cunt, the way he goes into tackles so late with an extra cleat or body barge to make sure he gets a hold of everybody that goes up for a tackle against him. Such a bastard really.
8. Tomiyasu looks really good, like really good. If Arteta wanted to insert Tomiyasu into the starting lineup, I wouldn’t mind. Obviously, it is tough for Arteta to switch anything up with how well we have played with White-Saliba-Gabriel-Tierney/Zinchenko but Tomiyasu offers us something White doesn’t going forward. I am not saying he has to make the change now, I’m just saying Tomiyasu looked solid.
9. I absolutely feel for Ollie Watkins for being stuck in Saliba’s pocket all night. I watched all 90 minutes of this game and can’t remember one thing that Ollie Watkins did. Like I can’t tell you one thing that he did, which just shows you how well our Rolls Royce of a defender in Saliba shut him out. Just amazing.
10. I’m sick of Thomas Partey being injured. We need to sign reinforcements in this window badly if Thomas is out for an extended period. Can’t be cheap in the window and rely on our young players to carry us through, we need depth at midfield and a winger with the departure of Pépé.
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.
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.
