Happy Monday…

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Morning all and happy Monday. And what a happy Monday it is.

Life feels good being an Arsenal right now.

That horrendous start to the season where we lost 3 games in a row and conceded 9 now seems a lifetime away.

We are now 7 unbeaten in the Premeir League and 10 unbeaten in all competitions following victory away to Leicester City.

It was not just the wins against Leicester, Aston Villa and Tottenham, it was the manner of those wins.

They are a glimpse into what Mikel Arteta is doing. How he wants us to play. How he is building us in his vision. It shows what we can do when things click.

But we are not there yet.

This season will be a rollercoaster.

In that 10 game unbeaten run, there were horrid performances againsr Brighton and Crystal Palace. Draws where we could have lost.

It shows that we are still building, still improving.

We are 6th in the league, just 3 points off of 3rd.

For many people, the minimum requirement for Arteta this season was battling for top 4. Despite that start to the season, we are in the race for it.

The next 5 games make interesting reading.

Next Sunday we face Watford at home before an away trip to Liverpool after the international break. We then face Newcastle at home before a double header of away trips to Manchester United and Everton.

It is those last two fixtures which will show us where we are going this season.

I do not expect us to get anything against Liverpool, whilst we should get 6 points from Newcastle and Watford. It is Everton and Manchester United where we will learn if we are top 4 competitors.

Both sides have been similar to arsenal this season – some great performances and some poor. Ole and Rafa have also come under pressure from fans in the same way Mikel did earlier in the season.

They key difference at the moment is it feels like we are on an upward trajectory (3 wins in last 5 games whilst the pair are both struggling for form (both 1 win in their last 5 games).

Regardless of what happens, it is just nice that there is an air of positivity around the club again.

And the Monday is made even better with what is happening with that lot up the road.

Rumour doing the rounds is Nuno will be sacked today.

That will be 2 managers and 1 caretaker manager that Arteta has seen off; which is on the back of Arsene Wenger seeing off 11 managers, countless caretakers and David Pleat about half a dozen times.

Some will say “Tottenham are showing they are clinical and will not accept a manager having them in 8th whilst we stuck with Arteta”. Those same people wanted Nuno ahead of Arteta as Arsenal manager…

Enjoy your Monday…

Keenos

Edu BBQ’ing humble pie for his critics this Halloween

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Over the summer Edu got a lot of abuse from many Arsenal fans.

They criticised him for liking a BBQ and having one too many holidays. They claimed he was out of his depth, that he did not really know what he was doing.

We had massively overpaid for Ben White, despite having William Saliba at the club – who his detractors would point out was the superior player.

We let Matteo Guendouzi go on loan to Marseille whilst spending big on Albert Sambi Lokonga.

And the worst deal of the summer was bringing in Aaron Ramsdale – he had been relegated 3 times in the last 3 seasons.

Only Arsenal, under Edu, would sell Emiliano Martinez for £17million and buy Ramsdale for £30million.

Of course, they under estimated the Martinez fee (it was £20million) and over estimated Ramsdale’s (£24million rising to £30million). but these sort of people never let the facts get in the way of their narrative.

What Edu did was bring in players of a certain profile.

All under 24 years old. All with plenty of experience despite their age. And all with the right attitude.

In the last few years, looking out to in the Arsenal squad has always looked disfunctional.

Too many cliques. Too many players with poor attitudes who down tools at the first sign of the manager putting the pressure on.

When Arteta took the job, he spoke about his ‘non-negotiables‘ at Arsenal. These were respect, commitment and passion. But he came into a squad with too many players who did not have that respect, commitment or passion.

There has been a huge overhaul of players since Arteta came in. Players sold, new contracts handed out, new signings made.

This is now his squad, built alongside Edu. And it is starting to become clear and the players that have joined Arsenal – and those who have been kept – have fallen into line with what Arteta demands.

No one typifies the “new Arsenal” more than Ramsdale.

I have never known a player to get so much abuse before he had even joined the club.

Fans were throwing their toys out of the pram left, right and centre. Some even going as far as saying they would “abandon the club” if Ramsdale joined. There people are not fans. They are hangers on.

Ramsdale has been colossus since he joined.

In the battle between Martinez and Bernd Leno for Arsenal number one, Ramsdale came up on the rails to take it by 8 lengths.

He is not only clearly the best keeper at Arsenal but also one of the best keepers in the Premier League.

His save against Leciester City was one of the best seen in a while (although he did get a tad lucky with the rebound coming off his knee). He is clearly a fantastic shop stopper.

Ramsdale also dominates in the air.

At corners he commands his area, comes out and claims the ball. Catching, not punching.

Knowing you have a keeper that can dominate at set pieces makes defending so much easier.

Ramsdale’s distribution is amongst the best in the league. Maybe not yet on the level of Ederson but he is getting there.

The passes along the ground into midfield have transformed the way we play out the back. If teams press high, he by-passes the opponents and gets the ball into midfield.

He never stops talking. Barking out demands. A voice at the back.

And he is also a character.

When Leicester City fans were giving him a bit of jib, he gave it straight back joining in their chants.

It reminded me of Kevin Pietersen in Sydney when he joined in with the Barmy Army songs about Mitchell Johnson. You have to have some self confidence to do it.

When we signed him, we spoke to Sheffield United fan Arty Bianco and he kept telling us that he is a great lad, a great character.

And great lads, great characters seems to have been the order of the summer.

You get the feeling Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Martin Odergard are also great lads, great characters.

As are Gabriel, Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.

The attitude of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also seemed to have changed this season as well. And with that his form.

He seems to be more energetic. Less sulky. And I think that comes from the positive influence of those around him.

Edu was highly criticsed over the summer. I hope this Halloween he is serving up a huge portion of humble pie to those that criticsed.

Feel free to leave your apologies in the comments below.

Keenos

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MATCH REPORT: Leicester City 0 – 2 Arsenal

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Leicester City (0) 0 Arsenal (2) 2

Premier League

King Power Stadium, Filbert Way, Leicester LE2 7FL

Saturday, 30th October 2021. Kick-off time: 12.30pm

(4-4-1-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Nuno Tavares; Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Emile Smith-Rowe; Alexandre Lacazette; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Martin Ødegaard, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Mohamed Elneny, Sead Kolašinac, Gabriel Martinelli.

Scorers: Gabriel (5 mins), Emile Smith-Rowe (18 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 38%

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistant Referees: Simon Bennett, Dan Robathan

Fourth Official: Robert Jones

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR Sian Massey-Ellis

Attendance: 32,209

We all recognise that today’s match at the King Power Stadium will be a difficult one, hence the change in formation. Again, we have both of our main strikers on show right from the start, so it will be interesting to see if we can punch a hole through the Foxes’ defence, utilising this attack-minded formation, and along with a powerful four-man midfield, it should all make for an interesting Saturday lunchtime clash.

After a moving Remembrance Day ceremony involving both managers laying wreaths in the centre circle on behalf of the fallen of both world wars, we kicked the match off in earnest, showing intent by taking the game to the home side in the early stages. After just five minutes, we scored the opening goal, courtesy of Gabriel. Shortly after a first Arsenal corner was kicked out for a second, Gabriel rose to meet the high delivery to flick his header past Kasper Schmeichel and into the net. This early goal fired our boys up, and both Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were desperately unlucky in not scoring a second goal for us shortly afterwards. The home side looked a little all at sea, almost nonplussed after our early strike, and they seemed to be having issues in getting themselves together against a very confident Arsenal side. Our confidence paid dividends, when after eighteen minutes, we grabbed a second goal when Alexandre Lacazette looked like he wass going to shoot in the penalty area but the ball ran away from him. Jonny Evans’ clerance was poor and Emile Smith-Rowe was on hand on the edge of the eighteen-yard box to neatly slot the ball into the back of the Foxes’ net. We were completely dominating the match at this point of the game, with every man playing their part and confidently knowing their role within the system. Aaron Ramsdale was called into action after twenty-six minutes, when he dived at the feet of Youri Tielemens to deny the home side a scoring opportunity; and again a minute or so later, he pushed a dificult shot from Kelechi Iheanacho past the right-hand post to show everyone what a fine goalkeeper this young man truly is. Leicester City’s game plan appears to be one-dimensional, in as much that they are attacking us straight down the middle of the pitch, a move which our defenders are finding it a comfortable process in dealing with this particular simple tactic. The match started to level out, and although both sides had their chances, it mostly came to nothing in the midfield areas. Incredibly, three minutes from the break, a James Maddison free-kick was superbly saved by Aaron Ramsdale, and although Jonny Evans followed in, Thomas Partey managed to kick the ball away to save the day. Incredible drama. The two minutes injury time brought no more action, and so we went into half-time deservedly two goals ahead.

The home side kicked off the second half, and suddenly the match became more intense and quick with both teams challenging with gusto and vigour. Ben White and Nuno Tavares at the back were excellent in their positioning and tackling, and it was their quick thinking on several occasions that prevented the Foxes from scoring, as the home side started to assert themselves in the first quarter of an hour of the second half. Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Martin Ødegaard after fifty-seven minutes, but the substitution was not enough to stop the home side from increasing the pressure on our goal; Aaron Ramsdale was abolutely immense today, throwing his body in front of each and every shot from the Leicester City forwards. A sterling performance by the young man between the sticks. Time after time our defence was placed under intense pressure at the mid-way point of the match, and every time they stood up to be counted in order to deny the home side the oxygen of a goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nearly scored a valuable third goal when Kasper Schmeichel saved from him from close range, and shortly afterwards Bukayo Saka was also very unlucky not to score when his mid-range shot went skywards. The match started to get rather scrappy now, with one or two unsavoury incidents here and there, which saw free-kicks being given liberally by referee Michael Oliver, followed by entries in his book with the yellow card being shown on a couple of occasions. After Martin Ødegaard went to ground following a bad tackle, Bukayo Saka was replaced by Nicolas Pépé with just six minutes of the match remaining. The match started to lose some of its previous fire and fury now, and with two minutes of the game remaining, Emile Smith-Rowe was replaced by Sead Kolašinac in order to shore up the defence in the dying embers of this battle. In the five minutes’ injury time, our game management was the difference between the two sides, and we kept our heads to take three points back to North London, and now fifth in the Premiership table.

All things being equal, a fabulous performance by all concerned. Aaron Ramsdale was truly magnificent today, a world-class performance from a goalkeeper that will surely grow in stature from now on. Arsenal looked good, played with confidence and are now nine matches undefeated across all competitions; we left the King Power with no injuries and no bookings, add to that the players adapting very well to the 4-4-1-1formation (which oscillated between that and 4-4-2 at different times during the match) then you have a recipe for sucess. Keep going lads, you’re 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: Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday, 7th November at 2.00pm (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.

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