With injuries mounting up and Champions League football back at the Emirates, I fully expect us to play a complete changed XI tonight against Brentford. That will give the opportunity to 3 teenagers to make their bow for the club.
Here is who I predict could start…
Reuell Walters
It has felt like teenage defender Reuell Walters has been on the cusp of making his debut for a couple of years. It is incredible that he is still just 18!!!
A central defender turned right back, he has spent 3-years in our academy learning the inverted role.
Has a game not to dissimilar to Ben White, expect him to line up at right back tonight.
Lino Sousa
On the opposite flank to Walters will be another 18-year-old fullback – Lino Sousa.
Recruited from WBA last season, Sousa is thought of so highly by the club that they decided not to recruit to replace Kieran Tierney in the summer.
Another highliy rate fullback – Joel Lopez – was released last summer following Sousa’s acquisation. Lopez was the regular left-back for the U23’s and 3 years Sousa’s senior.
Amario Cozier-Duberry
With injuries mounting up in attack, I can not see Mikel Arteta risking Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketieh or Bukayo Saka ahead of Bournemouth.
All 3 getting a rest will see Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson get a start.
I expect Nelson to play on the left wing, and Smith Rowe to get a start as one of the Number 8’s (I think the other will be Jorginho with Elneny behind). That leaves the right wing.
Jack Wilshere described Cozier-Dubberry as “unplayable” and someone that “can make things happen”. Big things are expected for him in the future, and a League Cup run-out will allow Arteta et al to establish exactly where his development Cozier-Dubberry is.
Two more to keep an eye on
Ethan Nwaneri made the news last year when he made his Premier League debut for The Arsenal at just 15-years-old, ironically against Brentford. His career stalled (if you can say that about a 16-year-old) last season due to contract wrangling. In the end he agreed a new deal.
Our top scorer in the Premier League 2, despite only being 16 and a midfielder, he is hugh talent.
Expect him to be on the bench as Arsenal look to give game time to senior pros like Elneny and Jorginho.
Whilst Nwaneri gets a lot of the hype, some feel that Myles Lewis-Skelly might go on to have a better career at Arsenal.
A central midfielder capable of playing in both defensive and attacking roles, the youngest has both the technique and workrate to make it to the top. Expect Mikel Arteta to be keeping an eye on him with the path to the first team squad potentially opening up if Elneny, Jorginho or Partey depart next summer.
Following our draw to Spurs, we are now 4 points behind Manchester City after just 6 games. This has led many an armchair critic to claim that Arsenal have had a slow start to this season. But that is just not true.
Let’s get some perception on how poor our start to this campaign has been…
Unbeaten start
P 6 W 4 D 2
We are averaging 2.33 points per season. Over a 38 game season, that is the equivalent of 88 points.
We are one of 4 teams that is still unbeaten this season, yet the only ones having the “slow start” thrown at them.
When you consider Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea have all lost 3 times, I do wonder why the focus is on us…
Last season
After 6 games last season, our record read: P 6 W 5 L 1. A total of 15 points.
We were rightly praised for our quick start last season, but half a dozen games in we are just a single point behind where we were at the same stage 12 months ago.
Does that mean that 14 points from 6 games is a slow start, whilst 15 points from 6 is a great start?
And if we did have 15 points from 6 games, we would still be 3 behind City and only in 4th place!
Man City the Great
The reason we sit 4 points behind Manchester City is not because we have been poor, but because the Champions have been perfect.
6 wins from their opening 6 games puts them top of the tree.
Last season, Man City won 14 points from their opening 6 games. So had we had the same start last season as this, we would be level with them at the top of the table.
It is no shame to be behind a team that wins their first 6 games.
Tottenham
Football can be a funny old game at times.
The same pundits making the claim that Arsenal have had a slow start this season are also high in praise of Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham’s brilliant start to the season.
We both sit on the same points – 14.
Interestingly, Tottenham also got 14 points from their opening 6 games last season. Has Ange really improved them that much?
Case for the defence
We have also been criticised for being poor defensively this season.
6 goals conceded is one less than we did last campaign at the same stage. Only Liverpool (5) and Manchester City (3).
So have Arsenal had a slow start? Or is it just the usual suspects trying to manufacture a toxic atmosphere at negativity amongst the fan base to make money off our perceived “downfall”?
Keenos
We continue to grow our Arsenal inspired shin pads collection…
On the store are some fantastic bespoke artwork shin pads, as well as personalisable kit shin pads
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Fábio Vieira; Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus.
Scorers: Romero (27 mins own goal), Bukayo Saka (53 mins, penalty)
Yellow Cards: Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz, Eddie Nketiah
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 47%
Referee: Rob Jones
Assistant Referees: Lee Betts, Wade Smith
Fourth Official: Michael Salisbury
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Paul Tierney; AVAR Harry Lennard
Attendance: 60,156
Derby Day again! Today we welcome our “friends” from the other side of the Seven Sisters Road for the first North London clash of the season. Of course, Thomas Partey is still absent with a groin injury, and if we are victorious this afternoon, it means that we would remain undefeated after six Premier League matches for just the second time in the past sixteen seasons, which is certainly something to aim for.
Shortly after kick-off, Yves Bissouma was almost caught out in possession by Gabriel Jesus near his own penalty area, and if the ball had been just a few inches away, our man would surely have opened the scoring today.
The visitors had some early chances, and then at the other end, Eddie Nketiah tried to get in down the left wing, but Micky van de Ven slid in and pinched the ball off our man, sadly.
A few minutes later, Gabriel Jesus nipped in around the back of the visitors’ defence to meet a chipped ball in to him and he steered his angled effort towards the goal; goalie Guglielmo Vicario dived to his left and pushed the effort aside.
Destiny Udogie quite rightly received a yellow card for a bad tackle on Bukayo Saka, and immediately afterwards, our captain also received a yellow card from referee Rob Jones, after he appeared to have said something to him.
After the quarter of an hour mark, Eddie Nketiah got in down the right-hand side after a poor back pass from Destiny Udogie, but the ball was at a tight angle and he could not find a way past Guglielmo Vicario.
After twenty-seven minutes, we opened the scoring when Bukayo Saka moved into space from the right wing and hit a lovely shot that took a deflection off Cristian Romero and flew past the Spurs goalie and into the net.
Just after the restart, Bukayo Saka sent Fabio Vieira away down the left wing, and his cross to the back post was cleared by Micky van de Ven, and then, amazingly, James Maddison appeared to be asleep after receiving a pass from his own goalie on the edge of the penalty area; Gabriel Jesus just took the ball from him and fired a shot over the visitors’ crossbar from close range, when he really should have scored.
Bukayo Saka made some space for himself, jinking and turning the Spurs’ defence, before passing it to Martin Ødegaard, whose firm shot was picked up by the Spurs’ goalie.
Seven minutes before the break, Son Heung-min pulled back the ball, which was met in the middle of the penalty area by Brennan Johnson, who thought he had equalised the scores with a low shot, but David Raya dived across the goal to make an excellent one-handed save.
Four minutes before the break, the visitors equalised through a simple shot by Son Heung-min and although we brought the match to the visitors for the rest of the first half, we went into the break honours even.
Incredibly, Mikel Arteta made two changes at half-time; Jorginho and Kai Havertz for Declan Rice and Fábio Vieira (one injury, one tactical), and with the slight change of shape, the second half will be one mighty interesting encounter.
Five minutes after the restart, there was controversy when Cristian Romero clearly handballed, which was immediately referred to VAR; the referee Rob Jones went over to the pitchside monitor to check and gave the penalty to us, quite rightly so. Bukayo Saka made no mistake from the spot!
Less than a minute after the restart, Son Heung-min grabbed the equaliser after a silly mistake by Jorginho; Kai Havertz was booked shortly afterwards for a tackle on the Spurs goalscorer.
Both teams were actively now chasing every ball, looking to capitalise on every half-chance. Eddie Nketiah received a yellow card for a challenge on Guglielmo Vicario and a minute or so later, our hearts were in our mouths when Dejan Kulusevski found Son Heung-min behind our defence, but thankfully his shot hit the side netting.
Reiss Nelson replaced Gabriel Jesus with thirteen minutes of the match remaining, and despite some clever football, we did not appear to be able to unlock the Spurs defence.
A strong Reiss Nelson shot that led to a corner was headed away by Micky van de Ven for a second corner, which was cleared by the Spurs defence.
We were constantly pressurising the Spurs defence as the match entered the final phase, but Bukayo Saka went down to the ground after an awkward tackle, thankfully he managed to carry on playing. Just after it was announced that there was to be ten minutes injury time, a Bukayo Saka shot from distance was pushed away by the Spurs goalie for a corner which was again pushed away for yet another corner that turned out to be a wasted chance.
Bukayo Saka was replaced by Emile Smith-Rowe with four minutes left on the clock, and relentlessly we brought the match to Spurs, looking for more goals, but it was not to be as the match finished honours even.
No doubt that the neutrals viewing today’s match will have enjoyed it, but we must look at it as a game of missed chances and regrettable mistakes.
For us it was an afternoon of frustration, which was not helped by Declan Rice’s injury which caused him to miss the second half, and the glaring miss by Gabriel Jesus in the first half when it looked like it was easier for him to score than it was to not hit the target may well have cost us dear.
Many lessons learned today for everyone; let’s hope those lessons are heeded in the future.
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: Brentford at the GTech Community Stadium on Wednesday, 27th September at 7.45pm (Carabao Cup). 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
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 