Morning all.
Mikel Arteta was true to his word, he made changes for last night’s EFL Cup match against Brentford. Mind you, he had little choice really because of the umber of injuries we as a club currently have.
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Gabriel, White, Kiwior, Jorginho, Havertz, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Sagoe Jr, Nketiah.
Subs: Hein, Odegaard, Jesus, Cedric, Elneny, Zinchenko, Cozier-Duberry, Sweet, Walters.
Of all the youngsters involved in training, I didn’t expect it to be Sagoe Jr to be given a start but by all accounts, he did more than ok. As did Aaron Ramsdale, although personally, I’d expect nothing less. I can’t buy into all the criticism which has been fired his way. Within 8 minutes, we were ahead through Reiss Nelson and that’s how it remained.
Mikel Arteta on Smith Rowe’s fitness and game:
He did [pick up a knock] but it wasn’t because of that, we had to manage his minutes. His load has seen a big spike in the last two weeks as well, and he was struggling to finish the game, the same with Reiss. He’s (ESR) very versatile, you can see when he’s running with the ball, the capacity he’s got to combine in short spaces, arrive in the box. He’s got different qualities to the other attacking midfielders, he’s great to have him, we need him at his best, and now he’s starting to get some rhythm and minutes which is really good for the team.
I’ve watched the briefest of highlights but enough to see that both Nketiah and Nelson could have scored a couple of goals each at least and Ramsdale made a couple of fantastic saves. The Arsenal fans who travelled were singing our keepers name throughout.
It’s great we’re through, if for no other reason than keeping players who haven’t been playing regularly, match fit. ESR and Nelson needed those minutes, as did Jorginho, Tomiyasu and Kiwior. At least now, they’ll get more minutes too in the next round, if not before. Training serves a purpose, of course it does but being on the pitch is what a pro footballer needs to stay at their best. It’s another opportunity for Sagoe Jr, or perhaps another academy player.
After the match, the draw for the next round was made and another trip across London was the outcome for Arsenal. David Moyes and his West Ham team await.
Pep Guardiola has been moaning about Newcastle Utd’s tactics last night because as he believes, his players were kicked to defeat. He moaned during the game, picked up a booking for doing so but I don’t think he can moan about the rough stuff when his own players have been known to dish it out. Either that or cheat of which both are equally as bad. For once though, the officials weren’t on his side. Newcastle v Man Utd in the next round should be another fiercely contested battle.
It’s back to the Premier League this weekend with a trip to the South Coast to face Bournemouth, a club which is yet to win a League fixture this season. Their points have come after drawing at home against West Ham and Chelsea and away at Brentford.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico,
An early goal and a clean sheet, what more could anyone ask?
I was amused to read that Nicolas Jackson,s goal against Brighton last night won him his club’s Goal of the Month award. Inevitable I suppose, as it’s the only goal Chelsea have scored in September. Their next game is October 2nd. 😉
Morning Cicero. Ha ha re Jackson.
Really pleased for the guys who played last night. Brentford was never going to be an easy game so to win with so many changes is positive.
I’ve a feeling Arteta has been protecting ESR as he did Martinelli and we are soon to see more of him.
In his after match comments Arteta said ESR was not fit enough to last ninety minutes and that he is being protected. I think you are correct with the Martinelli comparison.
I’ve thought that for a while Cicero. He’s too good for Arteta to simply ignore him. Similar with Nelson who has also had an injury hit career.
Full match fitness comes with playing matches and there is the problem . We have Bournemouth away this week end followed by a trip to France . I personally would prefer to see ESR than to watch a totally inept Havertz who is kind of Pepe mark 2 . a millstone on our budget and round our neck.
If Martinelli , Trossard and Saka are unavailable then Nelson gets his chance and his minutes will increase too . Exciting times for our Hale End graduates and good for the ones waiting in line too.
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Ditto re ESR v Havertz. I still struggle to understand how anyone at Arsenal though giving Chelsea £65m for him was a good idea.
Reports claim Arteta is worried about the amount of injuries building up, well that’s what happens when you don’t rest players and show trust in the players on the bench. I would also look at our fitness coaches and our training ground to see if anything needs changing as we have had injury problems going back to Wenger days.
Morning guys
New post up