Is everyone have a zen morning? No Arsenal yesterday, so was a chilled Saturday made better by that Tottenham result.
It does not seem long ago that Arsenal were losing at Fulham, and social media was awash with Spurs fans claiming that they were I the title race and Arsenal would struggle to make top 4.
Three months on and we sit top of the league, whilst that lot up the road are 5th.
Media darling Ange Postecoglou is now being exposed as being the average manager we all knew he was – it is all well and good pointing to his achievement in Japan and Scotland, but the English Premier League is a different kettle of fish.
Spurs fans really have overhyped an average manager and average players. I saw one put out his combined Arsenal / Spurs 11 and it contained just 3 Arsenal players (Raya, Rice and Saka).
Despite Tottenham conceding 18 goals more than us, he had the entire Tottenham back 4! Sergio Romero and Micky van de Ven are basically FIFA pace merchants, and they have a pair of full backs that can not defend.
Yestersay’s defeat has Arsenal 11 points clear. By my math we probably only need 3 more wins to ensure St Totteringham’s Day returns again!
All flights and hotels are now booked for Munich. Anyone else on the 11:50(ish) out of Heathrow on the Tuesday, flying via Frankfurt?
I picture and entire plane of people getting off at Frankfurt, then doing the internal change to Munich. They might as well leave us on the plane for an hour grounded, re-fuel and continue the journey.
I see that Ivan Toney has once again spoken about his desire to leave Brentford this summer. The more the fella speaks the more I do not want him.
Yes, saying he could go Real Madrid was tongue in cheek. But when a player is constantly talking openly about the door being open to depart in the summer you have to question their mentality.
Toney should be concentrating on playing football, scoring the goals that would keep Brentford in the Premier League and secure him a spot on the plane to Euro 2024.
Clubs these days care as much about character as ability, and I imagine everytime Toney speaks, another Head of Recruitment ends up wiping his name off the whiteboard. My bet is he will end up at Tottenham or Manchester United. They are the sort of clubs that will be desperate for a striker regardless of character.
Another one we will unlikely move for this summer is Pedro Neto.
I like Neto, but have never been fully on the hype train. He always came across as inconsistent and his injury issues worried me.
The Portuguese winger has now been ruled out for the rest of the season. His injury record does not make pretty reading.
One reason why we are top of the league this season is due to having a squad that has remained fairly fit.
We still have a handful of players (Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Partey) who cannot be relied upon. But on the whole we have avoided losing key players for any length of time.
If we are looking to recruit another winger, it has to be someone who is able to stay fit and ready to be called upon. There is no point spending £50m on Neto, only for him to miss half the season injured.
Neto has been on the clubs watch list for a few years now, and we were close to launching a bid for him a couple of summers ago. Injury stopped us progressing our interest back then, and his latest issue means a move is now highly unlikely.
Enjoy your Sunday. I am off to the tip to get rid of some old tyres!
Keenos
Thinking of designing a new set of Bukayo Saka shin pads
It was always going to happen wasn’t it? In yesterday’s blog, Bayern Munich were my 2nd least favourite potential opponent. Only Manchester City below them. So we go and get Munich, and then if we beat them it is Manchester City.
Even though they were my least attracted trip abroad, the flights and hotels are already booked.
As always, airline prices jumped straight after the draw, and we are paying £230 return via Brussels. Go the week later and you can get return flights direct to Munich for just £61…
It is probably the worst Munich team in decades, but they are still a danger.
10 points behind Bayer Leverkusen, it is unlikely that they will win the Bundesliga. I would not be surprised if they rest players in the league and go all out for the Champions League.
Ben White
Two bits of Benjamin White news in the last few days.
The first was his new contract. Well deserved. The second was the news that he was making himself unavailable for England selection.
On the contract, the way White continually rises to the challenge shows what sort of player he is.
Signed a central defender, he was shifted across to right back to cover the injured Takehiro Tomiyasu. He never complained and just got his head down and did what Mikel Arteta demanded of him. When the Tomi returned, the Japenese right back did not walk straight back into the first team.
Then this summer we signed Jurrien Timber. White has since taken his game to another level which shows he is the sort of player that is not scared of competition.
White is one of the leaders of the team and, unlike Tomiyasu, his fitness can be relied upon – incredibly he has never missed a game through injury for The Arsenal.
And all this brings into light the issues with England.
Arteta and his coaches will be much more demanding of White than Southgate and his goons. If White has risen to the challenge of Arteta, and our manager backs him, then you have to ask what actually happened on that England camp.
I also find the criticism of White to be a little odd.
One of the loudest critics has been Stan Collymore. The woman-beater pitches himself as a mental health advocate, yet has spent the last 48 hours piling on Ben White for his decision.
The other biggest critics are Liverpool fans. You know them fellas that spout “Scouse not English”. You would think they would back as player deciding not to play for England. But instead the accuse him of letting their country down. It just shows they are a fanbase with zero morals. But that is nothing new.
At the end of the day, it is Ben White’s career. If he decides that he does not want to play for England than that is his choice.
North London Forever
Love this from Gabriel Jesus…
Gabriel Jesus singing along to Arsenal’s pre-match anthem, @LouisDunford’s ‘The Angel’, before kick-off against FC Porto on Tuesday night. ❤️
I saw an article yesterday about how “European football has thrown Arsenal’s fixtures into chaos”.
The article began by mentioning that the Aston Villa game would now be moved from Saturday to Sunday due to them now playing in Europe on Thursday. This game always had an * against it for this reason, so it is not like this is something the club knew nothing about.
It is the norm for teams playing on Thursday to have their games moved to the Sunday. A real non-story.
But the article continued pointing out that we have to re-arrange the Chelsea game, and potentially the Wolves game, and how this will create end of season conjestion.
Liverpool and Manchester City are both in the exact same position in terms of potentially re-arranging league games due to the FA Cup. And in-fact they will have more congestion than us if they remain in the completion. Likewise Liverpool will have every Saturday game after their Europa League matches moved to Sunday. Yet it is only Arsenal who get the negative press over fixture chaos and congestion.
It just shows again that Arsenal are the most newsworthy club in the world, whilst no one really cares about Liverpool on Manchester City….
Enjoy your Saturday.
Keenos
Thinking of designing a new set of Bukayo Saka shin pads
Arsenal (1) 3 Liverpool (1) 1 Premier League Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU Sunday, 4th February 2024. Kick-off time: 4.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli. Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Reuell Walters
Scorers: Bukayo Saka (14 mins), Gabriel Marinelli (66 mins), Leandro Trossard (90+2 mins) Yellow Cards: Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba, Jakob Kiwior, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 43% Referee: Anthony Taylor Assistant Referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn Fourth Official: Craig Pawson VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR David Coote; AVAR Tim Wood
Attendance: 60,374
Unfortunately, Thomas Partey has suffered a setback in his bid to return from a thigh injury, and Takehiro Tomiyasu remains on international duty with Japan, but although Gabriel Jesus appears to be fit after a minor knee issue, he does not feature in today’s line-up. However, this afternoon’s match against our old rivals Liverpool, like so many others recently, is a “must win” situation, difficult as it will be.
The Premiership leaders will not come to North London to make up the numbers, they are coming here to win, aggressively and decisively if need be; it is up to our boys to stem the tide of their advance and gain a distinct advantage here today, to send our intentions to the rest of the Premiership that we are not merely contenders, but worthy winners of this illustrious trophy in May.
A very speedy start to the match, as expected, and within a minute Diego Jota chanced a run on our goal, but thankfully, David Raya was on hand to collect the ball fairly easily. Bukayo Saka cut in from the right, and as he bore down on the Liverpool goal, Joe Gomez robbed him of the opportunity to open the scoring.
The atmosphere here was absolutely electric today, and both sets of players were feeding off the excitement of the supporters. The first ten minutes of the game was played in the visitors’ half, and after a Liverpool attack, quick thinking by David Raya saw him throw the ball out to Gabriel Martinelli, who ran the whole length of the Emirates pitch, and although he was being furiously chased by Cody Gakpo, he crossed the ball for Bukayo Saka, who headed wide of the goal from close range.
A couple of minutes later, we opened the scoring when Kai Havertz ran through the Liverpool defence and found himself on a one-to-one with Alisson, with whom he shot straight at him; the rebound landed to Bukayo Saka, who easily scored from about ten yards from the goal. The goal certainly changed the overall dynamic of the match, with more determination from our boys and Liverpool trying to figure out a way to stop us from scoring even more goals.
Martin Ødegaard had a shot blocked from close range as we hunted actively for a second goal, and as our players were causing endless problems for the Liverpool defenders, their frustration was there for everyone to see. Joe Gomez earned himself the first yellow card of the day when he pulled back Kai Havertz as he ran through the middle of the pitch, and although the resulting free kick went nowhere, the confidence in our players was impressive, to say the least.
Gabriel managed to fend off Cody Gakpo, whose weak shot went into the welcome arms of David Raya, and although the visitors had a corner awarded to them shortly afterwards, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner kick was easily neutralised by Gabriel, who was playing excellently this afternoon.
Ben White was shown a yellow card for taking too long over a free-kick; let us hope that he does not get a second one awarded to him in this game, otherwise we could be in trouble at the back. After a short break in play whilst referee Anthony Taylor had his smart watch fixed, and shortly afterwards, Gabriel whacked the ball downfield to Gabriel Martinelli, who quickly passed to Kai Havertz but sadly no Arsenal striker was anywhere near the six-yard box when he crossed the ball. With seven minutes of the first half remaining, Gabriel Martinelli sped by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cody Gakpo too easily, so Ibrahima Konaté cynically brought him down.
The resulting free-kick saw a great attempt by Gabriel to score, but Alisson managed to save it somehow. After yet more pressure on the Liverpool goal, Declan Rice had a shot blocked, the ball looped into the air and Kai Havertz (who knew he was offside) had a weak shot saved by Alisson before the linesman’s flag was raised. William Saliba did well in clearing the ball from a Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, and during the injury time period, the visitors unjustly scored the equaliser when after a complete mess up, the ball got bounced around like a pinball and accidentally came off Gabriel’s feet for the Liverpool goal. Such a shame, as went into the break with a draw on the scoreboard when by rights, we should have been in the lead. Such is life.
For the second half, Jakub Kiwior replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, and straight from the restart, Luis Diaz had a shot blocked before Alexis Mac Allister fired wide of our goal from thirty yards, and then after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross was headed away, Gabriel Martinelli tried to launch a counter-attack but Ibrahima Konaté beat him to the ball, sadly. Our captain had a superb shot on goal which was deflected by Ibrahima Konate for a corner, which was cleared by the Liverpool defence.
The visitors were playing with more confidence this half after their messy equaliser at the end of the first, and after Ibrahima Konaté was rightly booked for a foul on Kai Havertz, the resulting free-kick found the head of Gabriel, who headed it narrowly wide of Alisson’s goal. Gabriel received a booking for a silly infringement on Cody Gakpo, and a few minutes later, after Declan Rice ran through the middle of the field, he slotted the ball to Bukayo Saka, whose left-footed shot bounced off a defender for a corner, which was contained by the visitors.
After a long-range shot by Luis Diaz was saved by David Raya, we came forward and then a penalty claim by us when Kai Havertz clashed with Alexis Mac Allister was denied by the match officials with twenty-five minutes of the game remaining. We scored our second goal of the afternoon when we played a long ball down the pitch; Virgil van Dijk left it to bounce but Alisson did not quite get there. Alisson completely missed the ball and Gabriel Martinelli simply rolled it into an empty net from about fifteen yards.
Jakob Kiwior received a yellow card for a silly tackle on Diego Jota and with nineteen minutes of the game remaining, there was still all to play for, despite us being in the driving seat.
With fifteen minutes of the match remaining, Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Leandro Trossard, by which followed a period of Liverpool putting us under pressure, but we held firm. After receiving treatment for an injury, Bukayo Saka was replaced by Reiss Nelson and with our fresh legs on the pitch now, the visitors were starting to fade and flag a bit to what they were ten minutes previously.
With six minutes left on the clock, Martin Ødegaard clipped a ball into the penalty area and although Jakob Kiwior was unmarked, near the penalty spot, his header went straight into the arms of Alisson.
A real turning point came when Ibrahima Konaté cynically shoved Kai Havertz as he tried to go past him. Of course, he collected his second yellow card of the game and he was sent off for his trouble. Liverpool looked like they lost their heads when, on the ninetieth minute, Darwin Nunez was booked for dissent after being fouled by Gabriel.
During the seven minutes injury time, the visitors were all over the shop, and with just minutes left of the match, Leandro Trossard’s shot from a tight angle somehow went straight through Alisson’s legs to finish the match in our favour.
This victory today puts us in second place, just two points behind Liverpool, which is fantastic. A well-deserved victory, special mention must surely go to the exciting Gabriel Martinelli, a constant threat to Liverpool (as well as a goalscorer), whilst the incredible Declan Rice was absolutely imperious in midfield. We controlled the first forty-five minutes, and although the first period of the second half belonged to the visitors, we stood firm and showed great character to get back into the match, and take the game to Liverpool. The belief was there, the courage to take the game by the scruff of the neck and grab three points was just both breathtaking and superb to see. Looking good. Well done chaps!
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: West Ham United at the London Stadium on Sunday, 11th February 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
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 