Category Archives: Arsenal

Arteta right in shuffling the pack despite League Cup exit

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Out of the League Cup again. A competition that is coming up to 30-years of us not winning.

I have always had a love hate relationship with the competition.

On one hand, it is a trophy, a trip to Wembley. On the other, it is the least important of the 4 trophies we are chasing and if you do not win it, you have just added more games to an already heavy schedule.

The best comment I read on or exit was “for Arsenal, it was one of our least important games of the season, for West Ham, it was their most important”.

And this translated on the pitch as we put out a nearly full 2nd XI whilst West Ham put out their strongest – Gabriel and Ben White are the only two man gauranteed a start for us week in week out.

I do enjoy watching their bi-polar fans. They really are a rollercoaster to watch on social media. Probably the most reactionary fanbase out there.

When they lose a game, everything is doom and gloom. The stadium is horrible, Moyes awful and should be sacked, the players not good enough. Win a game and it is a cauldron of a stadium, Moyes masterclass and the team is better than last year.

For clarity, the London Stadium is the worst in the Premier League. It is not a football stadium. It is an athletic stadium that they play football in.

“Champions of Europe, you will never sing that” sums them up. Winning a European trophy does not make them Champions of Europe. And if it doesn, we have won 2 in our history.

They will claim that chant and talking about West Ham being massive is “just banter”, but I think some of the Mockney boys genuinely have delusions of grander and think they are a massive club.

Lsot against Brentford on Saturday, and it will be back to doom and gloom and calling for the managers head in Essex.

Meanwhile, we march on in our title race.

Between the October and November international breaks, we have played / are playing twice a week. 7 games in 21 days. West Ham is the least important fixture on this list:

Saturday: Chelsea (A)
Tuesday: Sevilla (A)
Saturday: Sheffield United (H)
Wednesday: West Ham (A)
Saturday: Newcastle (A)
Wednesday: Sevilla (H)
Saturday: Burnley (H)

Now yes, West Ham have a similar workload to us, but they have been shuffling the pack in Europe – a week ago Moyes made 7-changes as his team lost away to Olympiakos.

Moyes chose that game to give his first team a break, we decided the League Cup will be the best.

If we beat Newcastle on Saturday at St James Park, then the League Cup sacrifice will be worth it.

I feel like the League Cup this season will be won by one of those mid-table teams – Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham. They are the sides that are not looking at top 4 so can take the minor competition more seriously. It might also be their best chance to get into Europe next season.

We have bigger fish to fry, and join Manchester City and Totteham out of the competition. I wonder when was the last time that the quarter finals of the League Cup did not contain any of the top 3 in the Premier League?

The fact that Newcastle is tomorrow shows why it was important to shuffle the pack on Wednesday. We all would have moaned had Bukayo Saka et al played, and one of them picked up an injury.

On to Newcastle…

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: West Ham 3 – 1 Arsenal

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West Ham United (1) 3 Arsenal (0) 1

Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) Fourth Round
London Stadium, London E20 2ST
Wednesday, 1st November 2023. Kick-off time: 7.30pm

(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Jakob Kiwior, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Fábio Vieira, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho (c), Kai Havertz; Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard.

Substitutes: William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Cédric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny, Karl Hein, Declan Rice.

Scorers: Martin Ødegaard (90+5 mins)
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 71%

Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Darren Cann, Sam Lewis
Fourth Official: Sam Barrott
Attendance: c.62,000

Gabriel Jesus will not feature in tonight’s match at the London Stadium because of a hamstring injury, and midfielder Thomas Partey is also absent with a muscle injury. Our captain Martin Ødegaard is again likely to be rested as he recovers from a hip problem, but he is fit enough to command a place on the substitute’s bench, and Jorginho will be wearing the captain’s armband tonight in his absence. Of course, there is no VAR available for the Carabao Cup until the semi-finals of the competition.

As is the case with many a cup match, it was a nervous start from both teams tonight. We certainly had the best of the early exchanges, although the home side had an early chance to open the scoring when Lucas Paqueta put a through ball into the path of Jarrod Bowen, but fortunately it overshot straight into the arms of Aaron Ramsdale. We won a free-kick over on the left wing when Kai Havertz was brought down, and the subsequent free-kick which was taken by Reiss Nelson was headed towards the West Ham goal, only for Lukasz Fabianski to tip it over the crossbar for a corner, which sadly went nowhere. After just fifteen minutes, the home side took the lead when a Jarrod Bowen corner was met awkwardly by Ben White, who accidentally headed it into his own net; but on the other hand, camera replays have clearly shown that Tomas Soucek had a hold of Aaron Ramsdale’s shirt before the goal, which would have been disallowed had VAR been in operation tonight. The goal woke us up somewhat and we snapped back at West Ham with several good chances from our strikers. Although we were under pressure at times, we remained calm and resolute with crisp passing and good movement both on and off the ball. A Ben White header from a Reiss Nelson free-kick was tipped over the bar by Lukasz Fabianski for a corner which, although was good, was easily cleared by the West Ham defence. After former Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos won a corner after running with the ball into our penalty area, Jarrod Bowen’s corner was cleared easily, but there appeared to be an argument between Aaron Ramsdale and Tomas Soucek which was quickly neutralised by the referee. After a Reiss Nelson shot which was blocked from twenty yards, Kai Havertz headed wide from the resulting corner which was disappointing. Eddie Nketiah blasted a ball over the crossbar from close range, and as half-time beckoned, our attacks intensified, but we were unable to find a way through the West Ham defence, so as referee Simon Hooper blew the whistle for the hiatus, we were left wondering how we could turn this around in the next forty-five minutes.

We kicked off the second half of this Carabao Cup fourth round tie, with the expectation that we can get something out of this match here at the London Stadium tonight. However, we were almost two goals down when Jarrod Bowen ran through on our goal, but Aaron Ramsdale managed to get a hand to it, and fortunately Ben White was on hand to clear the danger. A couple of minutes later, a long ball caught out our defenders, but found Mohammed Kudus who placed the ball past Aaron Ramsdale to score the home side’s second goal. West Ham are on the ascendancy now, looking and hunting for a third goal and in doing so, putting our defenders under pressure. From our point of view, the match was starting to go flat, and so eleven minutes after the restart, Declan Rice and Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Jorginho and Oleksandr Zinchenko in order to try to make a difference and salvage something from this match. Just before the hour, we were three goals down when Jarrod Bowen struck a ball that bounced off Jakob Kiwior’s thigh and ricocheted off Aaron Ramsdale’s right arm and into the net. Obviously, the home side’s tails were up now, and it is going to have to be something special for us to get any kind of result here tonight. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka replaced Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson after sixty-six minutes to bring something different to the forwrd line for the remainder of the game. The introduction of the new players meant that it had given us scope to move forward and score, but the home side proved difficult to break down, despite some very good passing moves from our chaps. Eddie Nketiah was replaced by Martin Ødegaard with eleven minutes of the match remaining, and although we were finding our players well, there was no end product. It was truly not happening for us tonight. Martin Ødegaard hit a decent shot from distance, but Lukasz Fabianski easily picked it up. During the five minutes injury time period, we continued to press the home side, and right on the end of the game, Martin Ødegaard hit a low shot past Lukasz Fabianski and into the back of the net, to at least save our blushes a little bit; but too little too late. The referee blew the final whistle a minute or so later, and were were unceremoniously ejected from the Carabao Cup.

An awful evening overall for us, despite seventy-one per cent possession and very little or no end product to mention. At times we looked flat, uninspired and lost, and yet at early points in the match we looked as if we could get a result at the London Stadium, but as the match wore on, we slipped further and further behind, and as the goals went in, we found it nore and more difficult to raise our game and despite bringing on some top substitutes, the match looked further away from us than ever. We just have to pick ourselves up and get a result at the Emirates aginst Newcastle United late on Saturday afternoon, otherwise there will be some serious questions asked. Just one of those nights. Most disappointing

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: Newcastle United at the Emirates on Saturday, 4th November at 5.30pm (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

Arsenal and Declan the clear winners in Rice deal as West Ham the only party not to improve

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I remember when the transfer finally went through, West Ham fans responded with utter bitterness.

“Not worth that”
“We have had their pants down”
“£20m too much, thanks for the help Pep”

A little more than 3 months on and I think it is quite clear that Arsenal got themselves a brilliant player, for a good price, and it was a great move for Declan Rice.

With Rice in the team, Arsenal have improved dramatically.

Rice has also improved in his time at Arsenal. You will find very few now debating against him being World Class. West Ham, meanwhile, have gone backwards.

Arsenal improvement

A lot has been made this season about how Manchester City had a drop off when Rodri was out suspended. Arsenal were the same in previous seasons when Thomas Partey was out.

Partey has started just two Premier League games this season and Arsenal have not missed him. The reason is Declan Rice.

The Ghanian was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League last season. Declan Rice is the best midfielder in the Premier League this season.

Partey’s issue has always been his fitness, his ability to play 40+ games a season. Rice is more durable and has more to his game.

When we beat Manchester City in the league, Rice played a dominant role in central midfield. He has quickly become a moder-day Ruud Gullit.

In defence, Rice and Partey are not too disimilar, but it is when our backs are against the wall Rice rises to another level.

Probably due to his conditioning from a young age playing for someone like West Ham, Rice finds another gear when the team are looking to defend a lead and need someone to drive the ball forward. He reminds me of Roy Keane the way he takes responsibility of a game.

Rice can dominate and dictate a game in its closing 30-minutes that PArtey was unable to do so.

His positioning is excellent and he knows when to clear upfield, when to play a short pass and when to drive into space. Partey did not always have their clarity in the closing minutes.

Sevilla was the perfect example of this as we held on to a 2-1 win. I am not sure we do that with Partey.

This is not to say Thomas Partey is a poor footballer, just the Rice is now a level above. And much of this is due to the Englishman’s self-improvement since joining The Arsenal.

Rice improvement

I do not know why it is so controversial to have the opinion that Declan Rice has improved since joining Arsenal.

Yes, it has only been 2 and a half months, but that highlights just how quickly Rice has picked up the way we play and his hunger to learn.

Rice was very good at West Ham. One of the best midfielders in the league. But now? I would argue he is the best in the league. And Ithink only bitter Hammers would disagree (despite last year them claiming he was the best!).

Playing with better players has taken Rice to the next level. He no longer needs to be Superman on the pitch. He is surrounded by World Class talents such as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, comapred to average journeymen like Jarrad Bowen and Lucas Paqueta.

Rice looks calmer at Arsenal than at West Ham due to his understanding that he does not need to be bother the defensive and attacking match winner. He is learning that he does not need to drive forward with the ball everytime he gets it. He looks calmer and due to that his decision making is much improved.

The only area where Rice has not improved this season is in “ball recoveries” – basically tackles and interceptions. But this is due to him playing for a vastly different team that does not require him putting in 10-15 challeges a game.

Rice is losing posession less, passing more, and completing more passes. He has become so consistent. So reliable.

West Ham go backwrds

Against Everton on Sunday, West Ham were bullied in midfield.

The Hammers started the season well, and the recruitment of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Álvarez looked good business.

Alongside Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta, the quartet looked to be a solid midfield and some made the argument that West Ham’s midfield was stronger than last year. But it is a mid-table midfield and so it is no surprise that they are now mid-table.

Rice took their midfield to another level, capable of World Class performances. A one man midfield. Without him, West Ham’s midfield now looks fairly average.

West Ham fans tried to pull the wool over everyones eyes by saying stuff like “Rice was holding back Tomas Soucek. The Czech midfielder was always better and is now back to his best”. Three defeats in the row have led those same fans to now demand he is dropped. Rice was undroppable.

With just one win in their last 6 games, I think it is clear and obvious that West Ham are missing Declan Rice.

Tonight, I expect Declan Rice to not play. Only Ben White and William Saliba have played more minutes than him for The Arsenal this season.

Saturday’s game against Newcastle is vastly more important than the League Cup v West Ham. Rice will be given a rest ahead of the bigger game.

The likes of the League Cup or European Conference League are designed for those smaller clubs to dream of a little bit of minor success. They are good additions to the calendar. But for bigger sides they can be an inconvenience.

Arteta will shuffle his pack tonight, Rice will be left out, and the main target of this week is to awake Sunday morning top of the league.

UTA.

Keenos