Arsenal were completely right not to give the ball back to Watford on Sunday.
“Oh but you’re an Arsenal fan so yo uare always going to say that”. And you are right. But then it is also not just me saying it.
Ashley Williams on MOTD2 gave a brilliant analysis of the situation.
The Watford player lost the ball in the middle of the park, went down and stayed down. It is a tactic players often use in the hope that the referee will stop play, and therefore stop the attack.
The ref, rightly, did not stop the play and Arsenal played on. We had no duty to kick the ball out as the Watford player was clearly not injured.
Watford won the ball back and Danny Rose, under pressure near his own corner flag, rolled the ball out of play.
This was not an action to allow his team mate to get treatment. It was an action to try and relieve pressure.
Rose’s hope would have been that by putting the ball back, the ball would be returned to the Watford keeper and pressure would be relieved.
But as Rose put the ball out of play, the “injured” Watford player was already up on his knees and getting up.
Rose realised he made a mistake and started shouting at his team mate to “stay down” so that the physio would come on and give him treatment. Had he done so Arsenal would have given the ball back to Watford.
But instead the “injured” Watford player stood up and started jogging.
At this point it was clear and obvious to everyone that Rose had not put the ball out to allow his team mate to receive tratement but to try and halt an Arsenal attack.
Arsenal new what was happening, did not give the ball back, and a few phases later scored the only goal of the match.
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If he had the ball near Arsenal’s corner flag and a team mate was down near the halfway line, would he put the ball out of play or continue with the attack?
I think we all know that he would ignore his stricken team mate and would do his best to put the ball into the box.
Players only seem desperate to put the ball out of an injured team mate when they are defending, not attacking.
What Arsenal probably should have done is put the ball straight back out of play, near the corner flag, for a Watford throw in then boxed them in. That would have been the fairest scenario.
But as soon as that Watford player is up and clearly not in need of treatment, then it is “game on” as Ashley Williams stated.
Mikel Arteta was spot on that in years gone past Arsenal were a little naive.
Under Arsene Wenger, I used to get frustrated about how quick we would put the ball out of play, even in attacking positions, as soon as an opponent was slow getting up.
Countless times I have screamed “play on” at Arsenal players. Because it always ended the same way – the opponent getting some fake treatment and the ball back with our goal keeper.
I am all for players putting the ball out when a player is actually injured and in need of treatment. But we know 95% of the time a player stays down in the hope of getting play stopped.
Hopefully Arsenal have set a standard that the rest of the league will follow.
Stop giving the ball back when an opponent puts it out of play as a defensive tactic.
(4-4-1-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Nuno Tavares; Bukayo Saka, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Emile Smith-Rowe; Alexandre Lacazette; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Kieran Tierney, Martin Ødegaard, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli.
Scorers: Emile Smith-Rowe (56 mins)
Yellow Cards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Albert Sambi Lokonga, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhães
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 61%
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Beck
Fourth Official: Martin Atkinson
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR James Mainwaring
Attendance: 59,833
Today’s match will mark the one hundredth game under Mikel Arteta’s tutelage, and what could be a better way to celebrate, with no other than a victory here at the Emirates in a Sunday lunchtimeclash? Arsenal are starting with the successful 4-4-1-1 formation again (which saw its debut in the victory against Leicester City last week), and it is good to see Kieran Tierney on the bench today after recovering from his ankle injury, with the only obvious absentees being Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka, through injury, of course.
After an extremely moving Remembrance Day ceremony involving the managers of both clubs laying wreaths in the centre circle on behalf of the fallen of both world wars which involved the Last Post being played by a solitary trumpeter, we kicked off proceedings on this rather chilly November day in North London. Right from the start of the match, we imposed our will on the visitors by pressing them back deep into their own half. We had a great chance to open the scoring within five mintues of the start when Albert Sambi Lokonga was presented with a golden chance, but instead, he slotted the ball to Alexandre Lacazete, who could not quite get a hold of it, so the visitors managed to clear easily. Bukayo Saka put the ball into the net a couple of minutes later, but unfortuntely it was deemed to be offside, and although it was disappointing, we did not appear to let it break our stride. Our passing was crisp, and our shooting accurate, as our domination became obvious for all to see at this point in the game. Five minutes after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received our first yellow card of the day, Albert Sambi Lokonga received our second for a silly altercation with Juraj Kucka, and the subsequent free-kick that was awarded to Watford petered out into nothing. The match levelled out for a while with the visitors looking accepting of the fact that we were the stronger side on the day, and patiently we returned to the business of the hour with comfortable possession and incisive attacking movements. Just before the half hour, Takehiro Tomiyasu received our third yellow card of the afternoon after a clumsy tackle on Ismaila Sarr, and after yet another botched Watford free-kick, we regrouped in order to continue to take the game to the visitors, who appeared to be more intent on stopping us scoring, rather than attempting to open the scoring themselves. Danny Rose made a ridiculous and heavy-handed challenge on Alexandre Lacazette in the penalty area; referee Kevin Friend awarded the penalty, and although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shot was perfectly placed, goalkeeper Ben Foster dived the right way and kept the shot out of the net. This incident merely served to fire up the Hornets, and they started to become more of a competitor at the Emirates this afternoon, with a goalscoring attempt by Juraj Kucka going inches wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s right-hand post. Just before the break, Gabriel was unlucky not to score with a powerful header, and despite some inspired and physical play from both sides, the half-time whistle blew with honours even.
And so the visitors kicked off the second half and although it was a slow start, the signs were good. Albert Sambi Lokonga had a superb shot on goal from outside the penalty area, which was saved by Ben Foster within a couple of minutes of the restart, and on the touchline, the animation in Mikel Arteta’s movements became obvious to all, as he encouraged his players to keep applying the pressure onto the visitors. Emile Smith-Rowe was unlucky not to score when an inspired effort was cleared by the opposition defence, and as the match became scrappy the visitors’ tactics of stopping us at all costs only served our collective frustration greater. Eleven minutes after the restart, and for the third match in a row, young Emile Smith-Rowe opened the scoring with a blistering low shot that had the beating of goalkeeper Ben Foster all the way, after some sterling work by Ben White. The goal certainly woke the stadium up, with the crowd vocally encouraging the team to go on and score more goals this afternoon. The visitors were also energised, as it was Arsenal’s turn to soak up pressure, as Watford tried to break through our midfield to attempt to score. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was desperately unlucky not to score after trying to meet a high, curling ball from the right-hand flank viathe trusty boot of Bukayo Saka after sixty-seven minutes, and just seconds later Alexandre Lacazette was substituted for Martin Ødegaard and the game continued onwards. Our substitute was instrumental in getting the ball into the Watford net, (courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang), but it was denied for offside, and with fifteen minutes of the match remaining, we started to look very comfortable indeed. After some clever play in and around the Watford penalty area, Emile Smith-Rowe blasted the ball over the bar from close range after seventy-seven minutes, and just after Gabriel received our fourth yellow card of the day for dangerous kicking, Watford came close to scoring when Aaron Ramsdale misjudged the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area, and fortunately Joshua King placed the ball into the side netting, which was a truly hair-raising moment. Mohamed Elneny replaced Emile Smith-Rowe with five minutes of the match remaining, and with the visitors going down to ten minutes after a rough tackle on Nuno Tavares by Juraj Kucka, we intensified our desire to secore a second goal. In the six minutes injury time, Albert Sambi Lokonga came close to scoring with a blistering shot that was pushed away by Ben Foster, and as Gabriel Martinelli replaced Bukayo Saka with a couple of minutes of the match remaining, the name of the game appeared to be one of containment now, as the game ebbed away to its conclusion, which was a superb home win for us.
Blimey. How about that then? Ten matches unbeaten, and three games on the bounce as winners! And, as this is being written, fifth in the Premiership as well. The team are playing with renewed confidence, and they all look happy plying their trade under Mikel Arteta these days. too. Mentioned in dispatches today are the magnificent performances by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who completely dominated the midfield; Ben White, who is growing in confidence with every match; Emile Smith-Rowe, who, pound for pound, must surely be the finest young player of his generation in that position and the rejuvenated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is becoming an indispensible member of the team. After the international break next weekend, the following three Premiership matches are Liverpool (away), Newcastle United (home) and Manchester United (away). Dare we dream?
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 Anfield on Saturday, 20th 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.
Our 2nd set of Arsenal beer mats are now available
Today’s plan is to get the garden “winter ready”. That involves giving the grass one last mow, getting rid of all the fallen leaves, wash down the patio and lock up the garden bar. Goodbye garden. I will see you in March.
Whilst we are talking about gardens and garden bars, our friends over at KickOffMerchants.com have just released their second set of Arsenal beer mats. This set is inspired by some Highbury Heroes.
Anyone that bought their first set will highly recommend them as a cracking Christmas present.
So we do not play tomorrow which is why today will be a good day to get any chores done.
A 2pm kick off against Watford. Great.
I hoped that the silver lining of no European football would be more 3pm Saturday games. how wrong was I.
We are 10 games in and have had just two 3pm games – home to Norwich City and away to Burnley.
Of the next 11 games already announced for TV, only Southampton at home and Norwich City away are 3pm kick offs (not sure what norwich have done to upset the TV companies, but can we follow their lead – just without the relegation?).
That will be 4 games out of the first 21 that have been at 3pm Saturday this season. It just is not good enough.
It has been a quiet week for Arsenal news. The biggest story is Emile Smith Rowe’s omission from Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
I actually feel sorry for Southgate when it comes to naming his squads because due to the strength in depth England currently have, players will miss out and fans of their clubs will be offended.
The likes of Smith Rowe, Aaron Cresswell, Mason Greenwood, Ben White, Jarod Bowen, Ben Johnson, Lewis Dunk, Fikayo Tomori and Connor Gallagher might all feel miffed that they missed out. Their form certainly put them into contention.
And looking on social media, fans of the clubs they play for are collectively angry about their omissions. but the simple fact is Southgate can not select anyone.
Take centre backs.
Above I have named White, Dunk and Tomori. All have been good this season. But Southgate was never going to select them all. At best it would have been one (with Conor Coady missing out). But that would still leave fans of the other two annoyed.
Likewise in the attackign midfield position. It is an area of the pitch England are strong.
Smith Rowe, Greenwood, Bowen are joined by Jesse Lingaard and Jadon Sancho to miss out.
In the squad are Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.
Southgate can not select a 35 man squad, and it makes more sense for the likes of Smith Rowe and Gallagher to play with the U21s and get game time, rather than just do training sessions with the senior team.
Smith Rowe has an outside shot of making England’s next World cup squad. But he needs to keep up his current form. His omission should be used as a motivator to continue puttin gin the effort.
Personally, I am happy that England are now at a stage where players are no longer being selected off a run of 5 or 6 good games.
The last bit of Arsenal stuff has happened with the first meeting of the Arsenal Advisory Board.
The move is a postive step and hopefully gives fans a bit more of a voice. whether it is enough to stop a future European super League incident is yet to be seen.
I have seen some criticise the make up of the board. Labelling it as “filled with white men”.
Let’s remember that it is down to the supporters groups involved to submitt a representative; not for Arsenal to pick and choose who the supporters groups should put forward.
Interestingly, one of the biggest critics of the board make up focused on the lack of women; questioning how men could make decisions on womens football.
Two things come to mind.
Firstly, the site in question has a “womens football” section. Both writers are white men. Maybe they should sort out their own “diversity” first?
Secondly, why do you have to be a woman to have an opinion on womens football? The best women’s football journalist out there at the moment is Tim Stillman of ArseBlog.
Without knowing those involved on the advisory board, we should not comment on their experience of supporting the womens game.
Finally a little something that passed me by.
Former Arsenal youngster Ryan Garry was named as head coach of the England U18s at the end of September.
Garry made his first Arsenal starting appearance in the very first match of the 49 game unbeaten run against Southampton (6-1, Jermaine Pennant and Robert Pires hat trick).
His career was blighted by injury and he was forced to retire at 27.
Garry spent a bit of time coaching Arsenal’s youngsters before taking a job in the England set up.
We wish him a lot of luck in his coachign career.
Right, I am off to do the garden. Wrap up warm. Drink plenty of coffee. And have a good day.
Keenos
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She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 