Be careful what you wish for I
David Raya, what a keeper.
In recent years, not only have we had to heard from some Arsenal fans who Aaron Ramsdale was treated unfairly (but they never say Bernd Leno was treated unfairly), we also had to hear some crying about how we sold the self-proclaimed “best keeper in the world”.
Emi Martinez is a decent keeper, but he has never been top, top level.
Villa fans like to claim he is the best in the world, and point to him winning the World Cup in 2022 as their proof. But winning a World Cup does not make you the best ever! I also laugh that they celebrate Martinez’s exploits with Argentina as if they were their own victories. I guess that is what happens when you used to be a big club but have just 2 League Cups in 42 years to your name.
Martinez is a flamboyant shot stopper. A little bit Hollywood. He is also fantastic at saving penalties, and made their extraordinary last minute save in that World Cup final. But he has never had the consistency to be the best in the world.
At Arsenal, there were always concerns about his concentration and how often he let he shots he really should have saved. This is still a huge downfall of his game.
Martinez should have saved against Thomas Partey. It was not a difficult save to make. And for whatever reason Martinez went with two hands when it should have been one. It shows his poor decision making.
Throughout a season, Martinez will let in 5 or 6 similar goals. Shots that he should have easily saved but has let them squirt through. It is just not highlighted as he does not play for a top club.
If Martinez played for Arsenal, and we lost 2-0 to Aston Villa with him conceding that, it would have been analysed post game, and BBC would have done a montage of similar errors over the last 12 months.
At the same time, David Raya had yet another solid game. He pulled of some unbelievable saves whilst doing the basics well.
Last season, Raya kept the most clean sheets, winning the Golden Gloves and was named in the PFA Team of the Year by his fellow pro’s. This season he has made match winning saves against both Wolves and Villa. He is an unbelievable keeper.
Raya is a level ahead of both Martinez and Ramsdale. Let’s stop wishing for Arsenal keepers of past when the present one is arguably the best in the league!
Be careful what you wish for II
Against Wolves, Kai Havertz had two chances that were not easy. But some fans reacted like they were simple chances that “a proper striker would have put away”.
One chance was on Havertz’s weaker right foot, when he tried to bend it into the top corner and it went wrong. It certainly was not an easy chance on a players weak foot.
At the time, I made the point that I had seen Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and others miss that exact chance on their weaker foot – it either goes horribly wide, or is an easy save for the keeper as the forward has gone for placement over accuracy.
Neither chance missed by Havertz was as simple as fans made out. And whilst I do not look too much into xG, we had an xG of 1.63 in the Wolves match, scoring 2 goals. Had Havertz scored both his “easy” chances, we would have scored 4, despite the xG being just 1.63. The one Havertz missed wide, the statisticians put down as it being 40% chance of scoring.
Aston Villa have a proper striker in Ollie Watkins.
In the first half, he should have put Villa 1-nil up, but scuffed wide with the goal at his mercy.
And he topped that off in the second half by not burying the diving header with Raya on the ground.
Yes, it Raya was exceptional in how quickly he got up and flung himself at the ball, but you would expect a striker to be able to put that header wide off to give the keeper in chance.
Now I am not saying Watkins is a bad striker. He is fantastic. But my point is even “proper” strikers miss chances. And as Ian Wright used to say, no one remembers the ones you miss if you score. Unless, of course, you are Kai Havertz.
Be careful what you wish for III
For a long time now Everton have been the worst run club in English football.
Whilst their fans act like the Premier League and the “Red Cartel” are conspiring against them, the blame on their demise should go to those running the club.
When Farhad Moshiri sold his Arsenal shares and bought Everton, he begun to splash the cash. That led to Arsenal fans crying that it should have been us benefiting from Moshri’s friend, Alisher Usmanov’s ill-gotten gains, and it was only a matter of time until Everton replace us as part of the “Big 6”.
Roll on a few years and Everton are bottom of the table and look set to be in the relegation battle for the fourth season in a row.
They have no money, are struggling to pay the bills, have had to take out 100s of millions of pounds in loans to pay the wages, and are basically fucked.
Sean Dyche spoke post-game about how he had been told there was no money to spend. And it is not because of PSR. It is because Everton are on the brink of administration. and this despite selling £70m+ this summer.
In recent years, Everton have spent too much on players, too much on wages. They are the worst run club in England. And their fans have to take the blame for acting like it is everyone else’s fault, rather than shining the light on their owners.
In their strive to remain liquid whilst building the best stadium outside the top division, they have failed to invest in their academy. That means that were they to go down, they would have to sell the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite for cheap and they would not have much in their academy to come through.
If they go down, administration will hit them like a freight train and I would not be surprised if they get relegated from the Championship. They will then mimic Leeds United and not be back for over a decade.
Be careful what you wish for, Arsenal fans.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 