Earlier this week in the WhatsApp group I made a prediction:
“Football to stop for 2 weeks from Monday; then return to no crowds for 2 weeks from the new year. We are going to miss going Spurs again.”
I was ridiculed. When asked for my source it was “Dan Sports News”. It was just a guess.
But today we have taken a step closer to that prediction.
There is an emergency Premier League meeting scheduled for Monday where top of the agenda will be an immediate cancellation of all games for 2 weeks.
The plan will be put suspended all games for a 2 week circuit break; giving teams to time to recreate the Covid bubbles that allowed football to return at the height of the pandemic.
Football will then return after New Years Day. With the first round of games after the break being the FA Cup 3rd round.
At the same time, the UK Government are also planning a two week circuit break lockdown after Christmas. This will likely begin on Monday 27th December.
This will involve a ban on major events and indoor mixing. Pubs and Restaurants will be out door only.
The circuit break lockdown will end on Sunday 9th January. A week before we are due to play Tottenham.
History throughout this pandemic, however, indicates that we will not immediately return to normal.
Post-lockdown, the restrictions will be lifted slowly.
It is likely that they will follow the same procedure as last time. In football terms this means games with lower capacity and no away fans.
A last minute Christmas gift for a last minute goal
So whilst fans will begin going to games again from 10th January, it will not be full stadiums nor will travelling fans be accommodated. I would expect this to go on for at least 2 weeks so they can “study the data.”
This means we will not see full stadiums and away fans at games again until February.
We play Tottenham on 16th January.
If all of the above comes true, and I think it will, it will mean we will miss out on playing at Spurs’ new stadium for the 4th consecutive year.
Delays to opening the stadium meant it was not ready when we played them for the 2018/19 season.
It eventually opened in April 2019, after we had played them that year.
In 2019/20, the game was scheduled for the second half of the season. Covid hit and it took place with no crowd.
The 2020/21 fixture took place in December just as crowds were returning. Restrictions to just 2,000 fans meant no away tickets were available – although a few Arsenal fan heroes did secure themselves tickets in the home end.
So if the January 2022 fixture is back behind closed doors or in front of a limited audience away fans will not be welcome.
It will mean that we will unlikely pay our first visit to the new Tottenham Stadium until 2023 – 5 years after it was due to open.
Had you asked me 12 months ago where Arsenal need to strengthen, the left hand side would have been near the top of the list.
Bukayo Saka had spent much of his Arsenal career on the side, but had just begun to play ahead of Nicolas Pepe on the right hand side.
We had seen Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moved out there in an attempt to accomodate both him and Alexandre Lacazette, but it was a move that gave us goals at the sacrifice of creativity.
Gabriel Martinelli was a prospect but was injured, and I questioned whether he was a winger or a striker – and Mikel Arteta and his coaching team had begun spending a lot of time during his rehabilitation getting him to focus on playing through the middle.
Emile Smith Rowe had performed well in Arsenal’s Europa League group fixturesbut did not start any of Arsenal’s league matches in October or November.
The left hand side was clearly a problem area.
12 months on and I am entirely comfortable with the two men competing to play there.
For much of the season, Smith Rowe has been one of the first names on the teamsheet.
He got his chance as a number 10 on Boxing Day 2020 and has never looked back.
The arrival of Martin Odergaard saw him compete for the central position throughout the back end of last season. Then this season he was shifted out left to accomodate the Norwegian.
That move has seen him score 6 goals in 10 games from the left hand side – as well as 3 assists.
As a youngster, he was veyr much a winger. Although the feeling was he would end up as a 10 as his career progressed.
Smith Rowe reminds me of Robert Pires.
Pires had to play left due to the presence of Dennis Bergkamp in the squad.
Playing on the left wing, Pires was a danger cutting in on his right foot. He would also spend a lot of time inside left adding extra creativity in the middle and freeing up space for Ashley Cole to bomb into.
Smith Rowe is cut from a similar cloth.
Whilst he might be playing on the left, he spends a lot of time more centrally combining with Odergaard and Saka – who also comes in from his right hand side position.
The space left by Smith Rowe is then taken by Keiran Tierney. The Scotsman then provides the width and has the space to run into and delivery his crosses.
Then backing up – and competing with – Smith Rowe is now Gabriel Martinelli.
It feels like the attempt to convert the Brazilian to a striker has been put on hold; potentially indefinitely.
Martinelli plays a bit more on the edge in comparison to Smith Rowe.
He does not tend to get involved as much in the build up, is not as good a passer but is more direct.
The Brazilian has 2 assists and a goal in the last 4 games.
Smith Rowe and Martinelli compliment each other well.
They are similar enough that Arteta does not need to change the shape or style of the team to accomodate one or the other. Whilst distinct enough that they both offer opposing full backs a different challenge.
At 21 and 20-years-old, the pair will only improve. And will drive each other forward as they compete for a place in Arsenal’s starting XI.
Both player is also versatile enough that they provide cover elsewhere – Smith Rowe is Odergaard’s cover at 10 and Martinelli is an option upfront.
Add Tierney and Nuno Taveras and we should not need to be investing in our left hand side for some years.
Focus now switches to the right hand side.
New beer mats Bottle openers New beer mat prints Bar runners
Nicolas Pepe is clearly out of favour with Arteta, with Saka the first name on the team sheet.
Next summer what we need to do is find a right winger who is happy and capable of covering Saka.
That would then also free up Saka a bit more to play centrally if Odergaard is out – either Smith Rowe or Saka would drop inside to cover the Norwegian with their corresponding understudy taking their place on the wing.
The alternative would be to sign Odergaard some competition in the middle and then he moves out wide to cover Saka (or Martinelli switches across).
It is probably too early for the likes of Omari Hutchinson or Salah Oulad M’Hand to step up into a prominent first team position next year, although I would expect both to be involved in the League Cup and begin appearing more on the bench.
Arsenal have been running their eye over American Dantouma Traore in the last 2 weeks.
The 17-year-old plays for KSE owned Colorado Rapids so a transfer is likely. But he would probably need at least a couple of years in Arsenal’s youth team before he is ready step up; taking into account he is currently on loan to Colorado Springs Switchbacks who play in the American second tier.
It is likely Traore will sign for the club, but as he does not turn 18 until June he will be unable to join up with the club until then.
A deal to keep an eye on could be Raheem Sterling.
The Englishman has struggled to reach the heights of 2019/20 when he socred 31 goals for Manchester City and has been in and out of the league leaders starting XI this year.
At 27-years-old he might be ready for a return to London and a new challenge.
Sterling would come straight into Arsenal’s starting XI – probably on the left hand side. This would then see Martinelli shift over to the right as Saka’s cover.
Either way, a blog which started with me saying I was happy with our left hand side has concluded that we should sign a left winger!
Saka, Odergaard, Sterling, Smith Rowe, Martinelli. I would be happy with that going into next season.
Keenos
Inspired by this week’s re-release. I designed this bottle opener for the @KOMerchants
Wednesday, 15th December 2021. Kick-off time: 8.00pm
(4-4-1-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Martinelli; Martin Ødegaard; Alexandre Lacazette.
Substitutes: Emile Smith-Rowe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pépé, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Arthur Okonkwo.
Scorers: Gabriel Martinelli (47 mins), Emile Smith-Rowe (87 mins)
Yellow Cards: Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 57%
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
Fourth Official: Peter Bankes
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Chris Kavanagh; AVAR Sian Massey-Ellis
Attendance: 59,777
If we can chalk up another home win tonight, in this white-hot London derby atmosphere, then our subsequent victory will see us leapfrog our visitors (as well as Manchester United), and attain fourth position in the Premiership; of course, our opponents tonight, West Ham United, will also demand success as they too, wish to advance further up the table as well. Either way, we can expect an exciting match here tonight, we can all be sure of that!
Before tonight’s match, everyone in the stadium gave a minute’s applause in memory of 1971 “double” winner, Ray Kennedy, who passed away recently. The match started off with both teams treating each other rather gingerly in the early stages, with very few tackles being committed by either side, and passes going here, there and everywhere. After a free kick conceded by Thomas Partey, the visitors eventually fired the effort high and wide, and within a minute or so, it was our turn for a free kick to be awarded, when Alexandre Lacazette was fouled by Declan Rice. Granit Xhaka’s shot bounced off the West Ham defensive wall, and then the first incident of the match happened, when it looked like Kieran Tierney was elbowed by Vladimir Coufal; referee Anthony Taylor decided nothing was too bad, and gave a free kick to us which went nowhere sadly. The match started to pick up a bit after these early incidents, and we started to dominate the match, playing a good, strong, high-press game. Anthony Taylor went over to the Arsenal bench to speak to the backroom staff over an infringement, and in this close contest, Michail Antonio went to the floor after grappling with Thomas Partey, in which the West Ham striker came off second best. And still we kept coming forward; Bukayo Saka went down in the visitors’ penalty area, when he drew back his left foot to shoot on goal, but he caught Arthur Masuaku in the process. Neither player was injured badly, and our domination continued. Just before the half hour mark, we had a penalty appeal denied when Alexandre Lacazette went down in the West Ham penalty area after getting contact with the ball, and although the match was a bit over-spirited at times, Arsenal were certainly the best side on the pitch at this point in the game. We were fortunate not to be one goal down, when totally gainst the run of play, Pablo Fornals curled a long range effort from the edge of the penalty area that just went by Aaron Ramsdale’s left hand post, and this incident merely spurred the visitors to wake up and bring the game to us, with Arthur Masuaku shooting side of the Arsenal goal, thankfully. With five minutes of the first half remaining, a massive sliding block from Craig Dawson prevented Martin Ødegaard scoring, but the ball fell to Kieran Tierney, who whacked a twenty yard effort that Lukasz Fabianski tipped onto the bar. This is now our best period of the match so far; Alexandre Lacazette’s shot was pushed away by Lukasz Fabianski, then Gabriel Martinelli followed up but with the West Ham keeper scrambling to his knees to apply pressure he shot wide. No goals at half-time, but lots of intelligent, exciting play from our chaps.
Arsenal kicked off the second half, and within a minute of the restart, a good movement saw Bukayo Saka blast the ball over the bar. A minute later, we scored the opening goal of the night when young Gabriel Martinelli made a move and charged on to collect Alexandre Lacazette’s neat pass before stroking a precise, low shot into the bottom corner of the West Ham net. A superb goal. This certainly inspired us, and we came forward, hunting, looking for more goals. The visitors tried to catch us on the break, but Jarrod Bowen’s shot was tipped away by Aaron Ramsdale shortly afterwards. Alexandre Lacazette was brought down just outside the visitors penalty area, and a well-taken free kick was taken by Martin Ødegaard that was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski, who dived correctly to his left hand side, after which Gabriel Martinelli was booked for a pointless infringement on the West Ham goalkeeper. The visitors then had a period of bringing the match to us and made several spirited attempts to score, all of which failed, thankfully. Emile Smith-Rowe replaced Martin Ødegaard after sixty-four minutes, and a minute or so later, we had a penalty awarded to us when Vladimir Coufal brought down Alexandre Lacazette; the West Ham man received a red card, and Lukasz Fabianski saved it! With the visitors down to ten men, Arsenal now had a significant advantage, not just with numbers, but tactically as well. Hearts were in our mouths when Takehiro Tomiyasu headed the ball back and past Aaron Ramsdale, but coolly, our goalkeeper recovered to pick the ball up with no problems at all. With fifteen minutes of the match remaining, Gabriel was unlucky not to score, when his acrobatic scissor kick sent the ball inches wide of the post, and after a superb movement, Bukayo Saka was desperately unlucky not to score when his left footed shot was blocked by a West Ham defender. Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Eddie Nketiah with eight minutes of the game remaining, and suddenly, the visitors were putting us under pressure desperately looking for a goal. It mattered not, as with three minutes of the match left on the clock, we broke at speed and Bukayo Saka found Emile Smith-Rowe, who cut inside and fired the ball the other way into the bottom corner for our second goal of the evening. Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Nuno Tavares, and almost immediately, West Ham were awarded a free kick just outside our penalty area for an infringement by Thomas Partey. The wall did its job and the danger passed. In the five minutes’ injury time, we had one or two opportunities to grab a third, but the match ended with a two-nil win for Arsenal.
Tonight, all in all, the chaps did very well indeed. We were by and large the dominant team out there tonight, and at times, it looked as if they were going to get three or four goals from open play, but hey, it was a great result, and tonight we are fourth in the Premiership. Now, who would have thought that was possible back in “Bloody” August? There were some outstanding performances tonight; Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli were truly exceptional, and Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu were excellent too. Let’s see if we can continue this winning formula at Elland Road late on Saturday afternoon, and to go into the Christmas period being fourth in the Premiership (and semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, hopefully), would be a fabulous Christmas present for us all. We’ll see.
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: Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, 18th December 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.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 