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Keenos
2 for 1 on our #Arsenal 'Highbury Heroes' beer mats
With such a big game tomorrow, today feels like a bit of a lull day.
The Conor Benn v Chris Eubank Jr. has certainly contributed to there not being much to do today. Benn has probably ruined most of our weekend plans.
The void in anything meaningful happening has been filled by moaning fans.
We are top of the league, top of our Europa League group, 9 wins from 10 and just won 3-0 on Thursday. But some fans have spent the last 24 hours moaning about Mikel Arteta’s substitutes.
In thr 58th minute against Bodø/Glimt, Arteta took off Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli for Martin Odergaard and Gabriel Jesus.
This has led to the Arteta-boo-boys crawling out from under their rocks, complaining about why Arteta would “take a risk bringing on senior players”.
For those with a low football IQ, lets work through it.
Xhaka and Martinelli played around an hour, Odergaard and Jesus played half an hour. This is clearly Arteta sharing the work load, ensuring no player gets close to entering the “red zone”.
If he left Xhaka and Martinelli on and they picked up an injury, the same people moaning about the substitutions would moan that they were not substituted.
“But he could have bought on kids” the incels cry.
First 15 minutes of the second half, Bodø/Glimt had taken some control.
In the first half, Arsenal had 11 shots agasinst Bodø/Glimt’s 2.
The first 15 minutes of the second half Bodø/Glimt had 4 shots. Arsenal ZERO.
Bodø/Glimt were dominating the ball, whilst it felt like the Arsenal players had lost intensity.
So lets say Arteta took Xhaka and Martinelli off to rest them for Liverpool. But decided not to bring on the experience of Jesus and Odergaard. His other midfield options were Cătălin Ionut Cîrjan, Matt Smith and Reiss Nelson.
We also took off Marquinhos at the same time as Xhaka and Martinelli.
Had we bought on the trio of youngsters and not regained control of the game, we would have continued to invite Bodø/Glimt on.
And what if with the momentum they were gaining they went and scored? Made it 2-1? It would then be squeaky bum time. And those moaning that we bought experience on to replace Xhaka and Martinelli would then be moaning we had bought youth on.
As it happened, Jesus and Odergaard immediately increased the intensity of the team, which led us to regain control.
Following those subs, we were back in full control of the game without really being out of 2nd gear. We got the 3rd goal and it was good night Vienna.
On a side note, I maybe would have done bought on Odergaard and Martinelli, but then bought on Nelson for Marquinhos. But we won and Bukayo Saka did not really exert himself so I am not going to complain.
The last big name to come on was Ben White.
Kierant Tierney was coming back from his latest knock.
The Scotsman played 17 minutes against Tottenham and exactly 70 minutes against Bodø/Glimt.
This was clearly a planned substitution as we looked to slowly rebuld Tierney’s fitness ahead of the Liverpool game – with Alex Zinchenko potentially out it was important that we did not overexert Tierney.
My issues with the moaners is whatever the scenario in-front of them, they would have moaned.
Had Arteta left on Xhaka and Martinelli, and one got injured, they’d have moaned
Had Arteta put on the inexperienced youngsters and Bodø/Glimt scored, they’d have moaned
Had Arteta bought on experience to regain control of the game, they’d have moaned (and did).
Some fans hated Arteta as a player, never wanted him as a manager, and every now and again that mask slips and they show their true selves.
If you are moaning the day after we won 3-0 and sit top of two leagues, then maybe it is you that has the problem?
In other news, I see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is being linked to PSG.
If he does move to the French side in next summer (it won’t happen in January as you can not play for 3 clubs in a single season), it will be his 4th club in 16 months.
Some will still moan about his departure from Arsenal (incidently the same people who moan about substitutions after a 3-0 win); but potentially 4 clubs in 16 months will justifiy Arsenal’s decision to dump him.
Enjoy your Saturday. Use the lull to get some chores done. And UTA.
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
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 