Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Arteta to rest and rotate in the FA Cup

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Morning all.

Drawn against Oxford United away looked a cracker of an FA Cup tie.

A team who we had not travelled to since 1988 in the old Division One. A side we had not played since 2003. And less than an hours train journey from Paddington.

The buzz was real, but I also foresaw the future, turning to a mate and saying “bet we will be Monday 8pm”.

And as predicted, it was moved.

Instead of it being a cracking away day, it quickly became a a horror show.

Oxford’s Grenoble Road stadium is one of those built next to a roundabout in an industrial park outside the city. Think Reading and Stoke.

It is 4 and a half miles from the station – a 90 minute walk or a bus journey back.

Under these circumstances, we would usually find a pub local to the stadium, let the crowd die down before jumping in a taxi. But with the evening kick off, that is not really an option.

That last train I can get back to mine from Paddington (I live on the London / Essex borders) is 00:17. I would need to get the 22:32 from Oxford and hope there are no delays.

So rather than it being a decent away day – if it happened lunch time or mid-afternoon on the Saturday or Sunday – it is now a horror show. And once again shows that TV companies do not care about travelling fans (and the criticism of the Super League was just content for them!).

With Manchester City away in the next round (if we get through), I would expect a 4:30 Sunday kick off. Will struggle to get a train back from Manchester with that time.

The opening games of the season have already proved a lot of frustration for travelling fans.

With no title in 20 years, the FA Cup has been Arsenal’s safe space.

Since we last lifted the league, we have won 5 FA Cups, including 4 of the last 9 trophies.

But with us sitting top of the league, and inching ourselves towards the “favourite” tag, are we right to now put the FA Cup on the back burner?

The League Cup has often been a place to play a second team. Whilst we are top of the league, the FA Cup should be sacrificed.

The 3rd round tie against Oxford is sandwiched between the home game against Newcastle and next weekends big London derby.

Even a second team should be able to get us through Oxford – the League One outfit sit 13th in England’s 3rd tier.

I expect Matt Turner to be given a run out. He was fantastic at the World Cup and needs to get consistent game time incase something happens to Aaron Ramsdale.

Right back will be Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese international has struggled with injury since joining and lost his starting place to Ben White.

At left back, it will be whoever Mikel Arteta is not playing against Tottenham. Kieran Tierney will probably get the nod for Oxford.

Rob Holding will start. I think he will be partnered by William Saliba.

The Frenchman has made a few mistakes recently and is suffering from a bit of a World Cup hangover. I think that is due to losing a bit of sharpness from not playing. I would start him so that he can continue blowing away those cobwebs.

Thomas Partey is out most important player right now. We need to manage his playing time. Keeping him fit for the Premier League is the priority. Mo Elneny will start in midfield.

Fabio Vieira will also come in for Martin Odegaard.

I actually feel sorry for the Portuguese midfielder. He has become a victim of Arsenal’s success and has barely had a sniff. Some are labelling him a flop, or “jury’s out”, but it is not his fault.

Albert Sambi Lokonga will also start, replacing Granit Xhaka.

If fit, Emile Smith Rowe will come in on the left. He could be an important player in the second half of the season.

The other two attacking positions are up for grabs.

Reiss Nelson is out injured, and surely Arteta will want to give Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah a weekend off.

If he decides to play none of the 3, that will mean Marquinhos comes in on the right and potentially Kido Taylor-Hart up front.

I can see a case for playing Nketiah, who has not played much. But Arsenal can not afford for him to pick up an injury with Jesus out.

The other option could be to give Martinelli an hour down the middle.

We should get through Oxford with the team above. And then it will be interesting to see how we manage work loads as the FA Cup continues (4th round weekend of 28/1) and Europa League restarts (in March).

If we are continue topping the league, both the cups will be pushed aside.

Predicted XI:

Turner
Tomiyasu Holding Saliba Tierney
Elneny
Marquinhos Vieira Lokonga SmithRowe
Martinelli

Keenos

So Toon pegged us back. It’s no nail in the coffin.

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In the aftermath of our admittedly disappointing draw to Newcastle, some have wondered whether our apparently fragile and temporary table position has started to slip. Having missed a chance at going ten points clear, we now sit just eight above City pending their match at Stamford Bridge after which our lead may have shrunk to as little as five. Clearly, we should consider looking to the heavens to see if the sky is falling or, alternately, if pigs are flying. 

It’s easier to suspect the former idiom after we’ve dropped points for the first time since 23 October and just third time all season. Is this then the first wobble that portends a deeper fall? From our point of view, it’s easy to let those old feelings of doubt creep in. After all, for as high as we’re flying, we’ve spent the last decade or dreading what felt like inevitable collapse, be it an unfortunate early goal conceded, a horror tackle, or an epic, disastrous defeat. We’d watch as players on the pitch let their shoulders slump and chins drop. We’ve only had a few precious months to exorcise years of existential dread; it’s normal to feel murmurs of that same dread.

How to dispel them? Let’s drag out that latter idiom. Ever since we rose to the top of the table, various pundits (especially of the Mancunian variety) have held that Arsenal will win the Prem when pigs fly. However, they’re trying to have their cake and eat it while talking out of two orifices at once. On one hand, they’re touting Newcastle as a serious contender for a top-three finish at a mininum. On the other, they’re crowing about how this draw strikes a fatal wound to our own campaign. It can’t really be both. Sharing a point with a top-three rival is…normal if not preferable. If it had been, say, relegation fodder like Everton that came in and snatched a draw, that would be a different story—but that’s such a laughably unimaginable scenario that one wonders why I’d even mention it. 

The reality then is that  this result does offer some legitimacy to Newcastle’s status  but does not much away from ours. Only one club have beaten Newcastle, and that was away to Liverpool. This draw marks the sixth straight clean sheet Newcastle have kept, and they barely did so on Tuesday. Had we been just a bit sharper, especially in those first 15 minutes, or if Madley had remembered that he liked punishing shirt tugs (which he booked Nketiah and Ødegaard for in the first half), we might have come away with a comfy win.

Newcastle played like they were Pulis-era Stoke with a bigger budget. Those are the kinds of tactics that used to intimidate and unsettle us. This squad, however, is made of sterner stuff, greater conviction, and deeper desire. For as young as they are, these players rise to challenges. Conceding a goal seems to anger them. I suspect that dropping points at home with inspire them that much more. It’s almost a pity that we have to wait almost ten days to properly show how we react to setback.

Jon

Jon Shay manages his own blog, Woolwich 1886, and you can find him on Twitter at @LeftLegOLiam

Keep calm and trust the process

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The fact the third best team in the Premier Lesgue this season turned up to our gaff, put XI behind the ball, defended their 18 yard box and played for a draw shows how far we have come under Mikel Arteta

It was not too long ago that the likes of Wolves, Brighton and Swansea would turn up to Islington and think “we can get a win here”. Those days are over. And with that comes another problem.

“Low block” is one of them newish buzzwords in football to describe a team that sets up 451 and defends deep. The better you are, the less interested teams are in attacking you.

As the second half of the season roles on, less teams will become interested in attacking us, and more will defend deep. And it is up to Mikel Arteta and his players to work out how to unlock a stubborn lock.

The Newcastle result was by no means a disaster. Some (as they always do) have gone OTT with their negative analysis.

I have seen some pundits say “the top teams work out how to win these games”; insinuating that Arsenal are not a top team.

This season, Man City have drawn with Newcastle, Aston Villa and Everton, lost to Brentford.

Last season, City got 93 points, they drew 0-0 at home to Southampton. They also drew away to them. They lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace., and drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park. They also drew 2-2 away to West Ham. You can not expect a team to win every game.

Newcastle are the 3rd best team in the league this season. They are a strong, well built, highly organised outfit. They set up to firstly not lose games, and the try to take their chances to win. You can see why they have lost just once this season. And the drew against us was their 8th in 18 games this season.

They have taken points against Manchester City, Man U, Spurs and Chelsea. Liverpool are the only team to have taken 3 points against them – and they needed a 98th minute winner.

I saw them described as “Burnley Arabia” which made me chuckle. Maybe a little too much. They are better than that. But Howe certainly has them playing in an efficient manner, doing what they need to do to compete. Probably closer to Atletico Madrid than Burnley.

So 0-0 at home is not a disaster. But it also does not mean that we couldn’t (or can’t) improve.

The game highlighted our lack of attacking options.

With Gabriel Jesus and Emile Smith Rowe out injured, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka played the full 90.

In games like this, it is often a substitution that changes things. A pair of fresh, fast legs in the last 20 minutes that finds that gap. It is clear why we are chasing Mykhailo Mudryk.

You also have to ask whether Arteta could have been braver with his substitutions.

He made just one change – Ben White for Takehiro Tomiyasu. Fabio Vieira was an unused sub on the bench.

Could Arteta have thrown the Portuguese on for Granit Xhaka with 20 to go? See if he can create something?

I do think Arteta missed a trick. And he showed last season that he does not always trust those on the bench to come on and make a difference. I would say game changing subs when we need a goal is something he can improve on.

Of course, football is easy in hindsight and had we been given that penalty, or Eddie scored when one on one, we’d be celebrating a hard fought win – “the type of games champions win”.

It ended up 0-0. There will be some over analysis. But we are still top of the league. Won 14 out of 17. And that Newcastle game was the only one we didn’t score in.

Our 100% home record is now over, but we move on.

Oxford United in the FA Cup next (I expect a hugely changed team) before Spurs in a week.

Man City are still favourites and the result on Tuesday is just a little reminder of how tough this league is.

Keep calm. Trust the process.

UTA

Keenos