Arsenal (2) 3 FC Bodø/Glimt (0) 0

Europa League, Group Stage Matchday 2 of 6

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Thurrsday, 6th October 2023. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) Matt Turner; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka (c); (Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar) Marquinhos, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba, Cédric Soares, Reiss Nelson, Karl Hein, Catalin Cirjan, Matt Smith.

Scorers: Eddie Nketiah (23 mins), Rob Holding (27 mins), Fabio Vieira (84 mins)

Yellow Cards: Granit Xhaka

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 49%

Referee: Harms Osmers (Germany)

Assistant Referees: Robert Kempter (Germany), Dominik Schaal (Germany)

Fourth Official: Robert Schröder (Germany)

VAR Team at UEFA HQ, Nyon, Switzerland: VAR Robert Schröder (Germany); AVAR Ovidiu Hategan (Romania)

UEFA Referee Observer: Nuno Parreira De Castro (Portugal) 

UEFA Delegate: Vilmos Szabó (Hungary)

Attendance: circa 50,000

For tonight’s match, Mikel Arteta has made eight team changes from the last gameh against Tottenham Hotspur last Ssaturday. After a fabulous win for the boys in the aforementioned North London derby, they should be fired up for this evening’s game here at the Emirates against our Norwegian visitors.

Arsenal started off the proceedings reasonably casually, it has to be said. However, the early stages of the match were spent in the visitors’ half and we appear to not have too may issues in finding our players as our passing looks crisp and accurate. After five minutes, our first real chance came as Eddie Nketiah ran forward, cut in and then curled a lovely shot just wide of the far post from about twenty yards out. Granit Xhaka found Kieran Tierney down the left wing; he crossed and it was deflected out to Fabio Vieira, who controlled the ball nicely on his chest and hit a half-volley which just nicked the top of the crossbar. We are just sinply stroking the ball around with confidence, awaiting for a chance to score, which must surely come soon. After some unlucky misses from Eddie Nketiah and Granit Xhaka, the former hit the back of the net after twenty-three minutes. We counter-attacked at pace and Gabriel Martinelli found Kieran Tierney in space; he immediately hit the far post with an excellent shot from a tight angle, only for the waiting Eddie Nketiah racing quickly to sweep in the rebound. Four minutes later, we grabbed a second goal when a poor Fabio Vieira corner was kindly headed back out to him. He whipped in a nice sweeping cross which Rob Holding headed into the bottom corner superbly. After the second goal, we kept up the pressure, and after thirty five minutes, Gabriel Martinelli lobbed the ball to Granit Xhaka, whose drive is tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper, and as the minutes were ticking away towards the half-time whistle, we are in complete control of this game with not too many issues at all, it has to be said. Three mintues before half-time, Granit Xhaka pointlessly received a yellow card for handling the ball when he slipped over, and on the cusp of half time, Fabio Vieira almost made it three from an excellent Granit Xhaka cutback and it curled just wide of the post. After just a minute of injury time, referee Harms Osmers from Germany blew the whistle to bring matters to a close for the first half.

Just after the restart, two chances appeared for us, merely thirty seconds into the game. Granit Xhaka’s drive was parried by the keeper and Marquinhos headed the rebound wide. Arsenal then allowed Glimt to come back into the match with Hugo Vetlesen’s shot from about twenty yards forced Matt Turner into an easy enough save. The visitors are starting to get things together, and after Matt Turner made a superb save from Amahl Pellegrino, Just before the hour mark, Mikel Arteta made a triple substitution with Gabriel Martinelli, Granit Xhaka and Marquinhos being replaced by Gabriel Jesus, Martin Ødegaard (who received the captain’s armband from Granit Xhaka) and Bukayo Saka. The difference was obvious, as the substitutes breathed new life into the team, who flagging a wee bit, to be fair. Gabriel Jesus is shaking up matters, with his off the ball running and inspirational play. Kieran Tierney was replaced by Ben White with twenty minutes of the game remaining, and just after he stepped onto the pitch, a Glimt attack was allowed to continue (despite a clear offside call) and Ulrik Saltnes eventually shot over the bar before the linesman’s flag goes appeared. Martin Ødegaard slotted the ball to Eddie Nketiah with a perfect pass; he took a couple of steps, casually took a couple of touches, saws the ’keeper off his line and his subsequent shot flew over the bar. With ten minutes of the game remaining, Eddie Nketiah was replaced by Reiss Nelson, and three minutes later, we finally scored our third goal of the night, and what a goal it was, too! Gabriel Jesus received the ball from a throw-in and moved and swerved past two defenders with quick feet before pulling the ball back to Fabio Vieira, who lifted a shot into the roof of the net from six yards. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the boys came back looking for more goals, and Reiss Nelson suddenly cut in and almost scored his first Arsenal goal since 2020 (which was against another Norwegian side in Mølde) but his shot was blocked, which was a shame. On the ninetieth minute, Glimt looked like he was about to score with Ulrik Saltnes trying his best but Matt Turner saved and the loose ball wass cleared off the line by Rob Holding. The three minutes’ injury was a simply matter of containment and the boy cruised to a comfortable win tonight.

Tonight’s victory means that Arsenal have attained nine wins from ten games from all competitions this season, and we have kept ouir first clean sheet at the Emirates since a 2-0 Premier League victory against Leicester in March. Everyone did well tonight, and from what we can see, nobody picked up any silly injuries before the Liverpool match on Sunday afternoon. Should be a cracker! Lastly, young Eddie Nketiah is the first player to score in four successive European starts for Arsenal since Lukas Podolski in December 2014. Looking good.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday, 9th October at 4.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

Happy Thursday. And Happy Europa League Day.

Tonight is a sell-out at the Emirates, which considering the competition and opponents is fantastic.

If you are a season ticket holder and planning on not going, please ensure you post your ticket on the TX.

Yes, you might not need the £13.58 you will get for the ticket, but by selling it allows another fan to go.

The most expensive ticket for tonights game is £18. Junior Gunners is £4.50 for the family enclosure.

A lot if said about how expensive football is these days. And the media manipulate those tables to bash Arsenal’s season ticket prices. Little is said when Arsenal massively discount tickets for the League Cup and Europa League.

So to repeat, if you are not going, SELL YOUR TICKET. It will probably be bought by a student, someone studying locally. Maybe even going to their first game. By you selling, it gives the next generation a chance to go.

Moving in, I think we will see a much changed team tonight with Liverpool on the horizon Sunday afternoon.

Expect Matt Turner to be in goal, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney in defence. Cedric Soares is also back to full fitness and Rob Holding will be given a run out.

I would not be surprised if Mikel Arteta rests Ben White, William Saliba and Gabirel; playing Tomiyasu at centre back.

Albert Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira will both get a start in the place of Thomas Partey and Martin Odergaard.

With Emile Smith Rowe out injured, and the likes of Charlie Patino, Miguel Azeez, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand and Marcelo Flores out on loan, Arteta has a bit of conundrum for the last midfield spot.

Does he look towards the academy – Matt Smith, Cătălin Cîrjan or even Ethan Nwaneri. Or does he go for Mr Reliable Granit Xhaka?

There is also the option of going 343- playing a back 3 of Tomiyasu, Holding, Tierney. Cedric and Lino Sousa as wing backs and just Sambi and Vieira in the middle. This might be too much change though.

I think we will go for Xhaka for that bit of experience, and get him to play a bit deeper than normal alongside Sambi rather than his new advanced position – with him getting further forward if we begin dominiating play comfortably.

Marquinhos and Eddie Nketiah will be two of the front line, with Reiss Nelson potentially making up the XI. If Artets opts for 3 at the back, the front 3 stay the same.

Predicted XI:

Turner
Soares Tomiyasu Holding Tierney
Sambi Xhaka
Nelson Vieira Marquinhos
Nketiah

Final couple of thoughts: Just heard on the radio that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored last night for Chelsea. I had actually forgotten he played for them.

And I wonder if Omari Hutchinson is watching on tonight wondering “what if?”.

Whilst he is yet to get a minute of senior time with Chelsea (I still find it odd / egotistical that he was holding a shirt with 7 on the back, then got given the number 56), his repalcement at Arsenal – Marquinhos – looks set to make his 3rd appearance of the season for the table topping Arsenal.

Enjoy the game tonight. And remember to sell your ticket on the TX if you are not going.

Keenos

Morning Arsenal.

October and top of the league. It feels good. Although I don’t expect us to stay there as we haven’t really played a top team yet.

We might be above Man City right now but I think even the most optimistic of fan would still expect them to win the league.

They don’t even look like they are out of second gear yet and are brushing opponents aside with ease.

The WhatasApp chatter over night was “what do we need to do to beat them to the title?”

My answer was simple – increase our wage bill by 50%.

Long time followers of the blog will know that I am a big believer of that, on average, the more you spend on wages the higher you finish up the table.

Manchester City reportedly spend around £355m a year on wages. We spend “just” £244m

If you go through Manchester City’s starting XI, almost every player is “a level above” Arsenal’s:

• Ederson > Ramsdale
• Walker > Tomiyasu
• Dias > Saliba
• Laporte > Gabriel
• Cancelo > KT
• Partey = Rodri
• Gundogan > Xhaka
• KdB > Odergaard
• Saka = Silva
• Foden > Martinelli
• Haaland > Jesus

And this is replicated in the key replacements:

• Ortega = Turner
• Stones > White
• Ake > Holding
• Phillips > Elneny
• Grealish > ESR
• Mahrez > Vieira
• Alvarez = Nketiah

Now this blog isn’t a debate of who is better individually, but who is better as a whole. And no one can deny that Manchester City have a better starting XI and better squad then us.

To compete with them we need to improve our starting XI. And with that comes spending more wages.

Now improving the XI is not just about signing better players, but developing our players to be better.

Take William Saliba.

He could us quickly becoming one of the best central defenders in the league. He would not be out of place in Manchester City’s XI. He is reportedly on just £40k a week.

Compare that to John Stones (£250k) and Ruben Dias (£180k).

If we want to keep Saliba, eventually we will need to pay him those sort of wages.

Bukayo Saka is another example.

He is already one of Arsenal’s highest earners on £120k a week – Jack Grealish earns £300k and Bernardo Silva earns £150k.

Whilst I think Saka will sign a new deal, we will not keep him more than a couple of years longer if we do not pay him what he would command at Manchester City.

We also need to improve the XI by continuing to sign better players.

Martin Odergaard is brilliant, but is not Kevin de Bruyne. Gabriel Jesus is no Erling Haaland, Gabriel no Amyeric Laporte and Granit Xhaka that level below Ilkau Gundagon.

I am not saying they are bad players. They are just not as good as their City counterparts. And it is why City spend 50% more on wages than us.

And then this is represented through the “2nd XI” as well.

Stones, Nathan Ake, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are all better than Ben White, Rob Holding, Mo Elneny, Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira.

Now shit your eyes and imagine for a bit.

Imagine we bought a central defender better than Gabriel, and then White and Gabriel were our 2nd choice CB pairing. You’d argue they are on par to Stones and Ake.

Or imagine we went out and signed Rafael Leao – in turn relegating Martinelli to the bench. Martinelli v Grealish. That’s par.

Or we went and found a better attacking midfielder than Martin Odergaard. Someone who is as good as de Bruyne (easier said then done). We’d then be talking about Odergaard v Mahrez.

Now this isn’t to say Arsenal are a bad team. We are not.

This is all about how we compete longer term with Manchester City – and the only way we do that is by improving the players in the 1st XI, which in turn improves the squad. But that costs money.

On 2019 (pre-Covid) we generated around £340m. We made a £32.2m loss. So it is clear that if we want to match Manchester City’s wage bill (£355m) we need to begin increasing revenues.

A return to Champions League football and the new Adidas deal will be small steps towards that. But we have a long way to go.

We might compete with City this year. We might be “best of the rest”. But to be long term competitors, we need to be increase that wage bill.

Have a good Wednesday.

Keenos

One of the most iconic pictures of the Euros. We are bringing it back on a sweatshirt ahead of the World Cup #England #Arsenal #Sakahttps://t.co/JdnwFj2ha1 pic.twitter.com/6aTU8Hkahn

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) October 4, 2022