Morning all.
It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were closer to the relegation places than the top four. Now though, we’ll be sitting in 4th place when the big fella dressed in red and white, starts climbing down chimneys. Last season, a real star was born. We knew he was good but since he was given a start on Boxing Day, he’s never looked back. This year, another star has been born and like Emile Smith Rowe, we knew he was good but now he’s much better than good. Gabriel Martinelli has been fantastic since the day Mikel Arteta finally brought him back into the team. The two of them, together with Bukayo Saka, have to be one of the youngest, yet most exciting attacking unit in the Premier League.
The two old men in the team had a say in both of Martinelli’s goal. Lacazette with the first, Xhaka with the second. The Frenchman had a small say in Saka’s goal too as far as confusing the Leeds defence goes but the finish was all about our number 7. And a slight deflection perhaps. The fourth was a thing of beauty. Smith Rowe nicked possession from Leeds on the left, played the ball to Odegaard, who headed towards goal. Smith Rowe made his run into the box and Odegaard found him with a little chip which fell just right for our number 10 to hit first time.
I read that Arsenal had 11 shots on target during the first half, the most by any side in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League match since Opta started registering such statistics in 2003-04. Yes, since our Invincible season. We should have gone into the break leading 5-0 at least. Some people are never happy eh? Me I mean, and Mikel Arteta:
Unfortunately, we didn’t score more. I think we had some big big chances but that’s what I like, the way we played, we came here and we imposed ourselves and we really wanted to play. That’s something we have to improve on because in the second half when the game is there, we didn’t do it as well and with the consistency that we need [to for] where we have to get to.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Leeds Utd weren’t very good but that’s not Arsenal’s fault. Mikel Arteta’s players still had to turn up in the right frame of mind to get the job done and that’s exactly what they did. It was another game of two halves really. The first showed how good Arsenal can be, the second, I’d like to think because of preserving energy, our performance went a bit flat.
Ben White has a bad habit of going to ground when he really doesn’t need to and did it again yesterday, giving Leeds Utd a chance to pull a goal back from the penalty spot which they duly accepted. Nice try Aaron Ramsdale but all his fist pumping and back slapping of White, wasn’t going to fool Andre Marriner. “Game on” said the Sky Sports commentary team. As if! Smith Rowe came off the bench to replace Saka and as said, made it 4-1.
Overall though, I thought we were very good and as much as Leeds had their struggles with injuries, Arsenal have had their own problems on the road against sides who’ve previously been playing badly. Yesterday though, after Leeds started brightly, we really did click. As said, we have a great combination of players up front who can cause any defence problems but put a ruthless striker into the mix and our goal tally would soon increase. Ideally, Flo Balogun will go out on loan after Christmas and become that player. One of them anyway as if Lacazette goes, Eddie too, I think we’ll need more than one.
The game was marred by an idiot or two who during the first half were throwing racial abuse at the Arsenal bench where Pepe and Tavares were sat. Rob Holding told the fourth official and as a result, one man has already been arrested. I imagine other arrests will follow. I hope they can be put before a magistrate before Friday and have their Christmas lunch behind bars.
Lastly, rumours are rife that both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sambi Lokonga were left out of the squad because both tested positive for Covid-19. I’ve not seen anything confirmed or denied by Arsenal as yet.
Sunderland up next in the League Cup.
See you in the comments.
Arteta on why London Colney had to be deep cleaned earlier this week…
Pure precaution. We had some cases in the staff and we wanted to prevent any issues. Everybody that we’ve seen around us had a few cases and the cases have risen, so we wanted to protect our people and Gary [the club doctor] and the medical staff made the right call to close it for a day, make sure that all the tests from everybody was negative and make sure that when we’re back, everybody is safe.
On Sambi Lokonga having Covid and whether there’s anyone else…
We have another player as well, Pablo has Covid, so unfortunately they will be out.
Morning Rico and All
Rico no problems this time,
I not taking any think away from the win, I enjoyed the first half of Leeds match but the second half no so much we seemed to slow down instead of going in for the kill to really help our goal difference.
Xhaka is dam lucky he could have so easily had picked up 2 yellow card in 2 minutes, some times he just does not think, this is were we need a good captain to pull him aside and settle him down, the other thing I have noticed starting to creep in is our time wasting.
All we need know is Man u to loose one match and Tottenham to loose 2 straight
Good morning Rico, I’ve just put a comment on yesterday’s post could you copy it onto today’s please?
Cicero comment.
Good morning all, excellent chicken korai and a couple of pints of Kingfisher, my wife was driving, and I was ready to watch the final thirty minutes. Fantastic!
Martinelli two, Saka one and ESR one is indicative of what youth can bring, all are only twenty years old with a wonderful future there for the taking.
The only downside to the match was the injury to Tomiyasu, I hope it’s not serious as he’s become a mainstay of our defence.
With our next game at home to Sunderland on Tuesday Arteta can afford to ease the load on the players who have done so well over recent games, Hopefully there will be no more Covid cases and the knocks and injuries suffered will have cleared up in time for the away fixture at Norwich on Boxing Day.
Morning Geoff, Cicero, all.
A very kind man fixed it Geoff.
Agree re Xhaka, when red mist comes over him, he’s a liability.
Cicero, Tomiyasu suffered a muscular injury according to Arteta. He’s been struggling all week. Err, why risk him then?
Thanks Rico. 👍
Arteta on the importance of timing and patience with Martinelli…
“Well, we see the player every day and we know where the player has to be to be able to appear in the right frame, and then sustain that level into the season. We’ve started to use Gabi more and more when we thought that was the case. There’s no point exposing a player even when there’s a lot of opinions that it has to be done because it won’t be beneficial for the player. And in the end we are here to protect the player and develop the players that we have in the best possible way. We judge every day with what we see and I’m really happy with him and the way he’s performing.”
I know I’m one of the worst for suggesting player x, y, or z should be playing so perhaps I need to keep my thoughts to myself. 😆
Perhaps he doesn’t trust Cedric, Rico. Still Tomiyasu can sit out the next two games without causing too much disruption.
Morning Rico. An excellent win. We could have expected Leeds to improve in the second half and they did, just as we dropped a bit. I heard a podcaster suggest that Ben White has dropped off in a similar way to Gabriel last season at around the same time. . His daft tackle would suggest there might be something in that . Plus his reluctance to play out quickly. He seems permanently locked in an internal debate about what to do with the ball. I’m sure Arteta will talk to him about it but he might need a rest. Xhaka could do with a reminder of his responsibilities too. That tackle could bring a red next time.
There’s a lot to like about this team at the moment and I’m loving what Odergaard is doing. That pass for the 4th goal was superb.
Proactive by the club Rico, well done them!
The EFL have said that they won’t be suspending any time soon and I don’t think that the EPL should either, every club has enough players to put out a competitive team if they want to, either that or play three games a week in April and May, the choice is yours?
Everyone else has to soldier on, we can’t all have a few weeks off, I’m quite sure that all the Members of Parliament, be they Commons or Lords, will be having a normal Christmas, just as they probably did a year ago. I mean if they thought it was safe enough to have a party in No.10, or parties, then I guess it’s safe now that we’re fully vaccinated?
It’s a young team developing and needs the older heads to set examples which certainly Lacazette does . However I don’t know if Xhaka thinks that he’s the hard man protector but he is more likely to cause trouble than prevent it .
Ben White quite reminds me of Mustafi the way he tackles on the floor and his runs into midfield where a loss of possession leaves us exposed need to be cut out until we get a midfield that is not so prone to giving it away.
Personally I would like to see Holding there when we play a team that uses a powerful ( put it about forward ) as I think he is more suited in that direction.
Having said that , we are on the edge of something .We have a young group of forward players with extreme talent which kind of reminds me of the Graham era , Merson ,Rocastle , Davis , Thomas . All we need now is a Midfield defensive group to go with it and with Tomi , Gabriel , Tierney , Lokonga , Tavares , Partey and of course Ramsdale we are on our way.
What about Chambers and AMN though Cicero?
then I guess it’s safe now that we’re fully vaccinated?
And thereby hangs the tale though Kev , I heard on the radio a few days ago that a third of people in London are completely unvaccinated,
“”The proportion of the population without a single jab is three times higher in London than in the rest of the country.”” ( LBC from the Metro .)
It must be a petrie dish of virus there and whilst it seems that vaccination has a steadying effect , whilst so many are vunerable in so tightly knit areas the ” we are not safe until everyone is safe ” comment applies here just as much as in the third world.
Happy blessed Sunday Rico, All,
It was one of the most exhilarating performances of the season against a mentally weakened team that’s short of first team regulars, and we literally overrun their defence! Yea with more ruthlessness, we could have been out of sight by halftime. But again arsenal’s profligacy Infront of goal stood out, especially Saka & Laca.. However these two made up for their misses with a determined all round performance..
In the second half, as Rico mentioned earlier, complacency in possession crept in, inviting unwanted pressure on our defence, and resulting in that poor tackle from Benjamin White! Also think that Leeds took advantage the gaping spaces left by Tomi’s substitution..However ESR put the icing on the cake with that top notch run and finish.
All in all, Arsenal duly utilised the opportunity well to stay in the top 4.
There’re still alot of improvements needed though and If Arsenal’s the poor mentality of old against big teams is eradicated, then Arteta’s process has demonstrated an ability to possibly to blow away any team with some of our displays..
Morning Adam. We certainly look as if we’re heading in a better direction although I’m not getting carried away yet. Norwich will present a tougher challenge I think. Agree re Odegaard, he’s really making an impact now.
Agree Kev, no point in closing the door after the horse has bolted. And I too think the season should continue as long as it’s safe to do so. If Xhaka hasn’t be3n vaccinated though, I’d tell him to stay at home until he is.
Potter, I’d like to see Holding back alongside Gabriel and with Tomiyasu possibly injured, play White there. Unless he’s close to red zone.
Kyalo , I have to agree re Saka although it seems somewhat churlish to criticise , but he must learn to put his foot through the ball when he shoots . Too often he telegraphs a side footted effort which gets saved or cut out on the way . No doubt they work in the training 5 a sides but when you see ESR and Martinelli scoring with powerful shots , you can’t help wondering how many goals Saka would get if he followed suit.
the other way to build numbers up of people vaccinated for Covid is for the scientist to come up with a nose spray or tablet form for people who can’t have needles.
Glad to here that the club took action straight away by closing the grounds down for a day and giving them a full clean, better to Loose one day then any person getting sick.
let’s play as many games as we can just incase they have to close the season near the end of the season.
Hi Kyalo, but we scored four which is a vast improvement. Games like yesterday are all about confidence building imo. The more we win away from home, the better we’ll get at it as more belief goes through the team.
Potter, I noticed one example of Ben White’s propensity to move forward yesterday, as he approached the halfway line Tomiyasu, who was outside him dropped back to provide cover. To a lesser extent Martinelli also dropped back, on occasions, when Tierney went forward. It seems to me that the coaches have instilled some basic tactics in the team at last.
May be we should drop Saka for our next match and start ESR as I said awhile ago I recon ESR is fast becoming more important to this team than Saka is at the moment, in the future I recon these 2 will play well together. but at the moment Saka seem to be making a few mistakes lately, I don’t know if it’s the pressure getting to him or he is just trying too hard.
@potter, very true hope he (Saka) keeps improving on his shooting, Actually Odegaard has a similar shooting issue IMO.
@Rico, fully agreed, well said about yesterday’s win, you’ve made me see the other side of the coin..
I had to flick that coin too Kyalo. Lol
I don’t think it’s the needles Geoff, it’s what in the vaccine. Although I suspect many anti fax folks talk about it in the pub whilst having a G&T and a cigarette. Lol
Pepe too, they go for precision over power.
According to Eurosport a short while ago, 3️⃣ more positive cases of COVID-19 registered by Chelsea this morning
🚫 But Thomas Tuchel’s request to postpone #WOLCHE has been rejected by the Premier League
@Rico how did you leave Partey out😊
He never hits the target Kyalo lol
Let’s hope that AFCON will be his training ground and when he comes back, he’ll have perfected the art!
If it goes ahead..
Yea Rico, because on present evidence during this plandemic, nothing is guaranteed!
Exactly and other countries are beginning to ban travel from the Uk.
Xhaxa should have been sent off on the 2nd foul; in the 1st (due to misconduct it was yellow; in the 2nd, it was direct red). He supposed he would be replaced soon, but Arteta kept him on the field. A risk.
If Balogun comes out in January (which is good for him), leaving Auba.
The penalty was idiotic. With the result as it was, an entry like that, the probability of being a penalty is high. On the other hand, it revives the opponent. Naif..
We are playing with more joy.
Good results today..
Could have been different at the Lane . Kane should have been sent off on 20 minutes and Jota should have had a penalty . But Tierney ( the ref ) was a rabbit caught in headlights and the England captain syndrome took over VAR were in hiding and didn’t come out until they handed Liverpool a red card for a clumsy but dangerous looking tackle near the end .
Nice to see Liverpool getting on the end of poor decisions but why was it Tottenham that got the advantage.
Didn’t watch #LFC #TOT but was actively following the livescore and live tweets. An overwhelming majority were of the opinion that, up until Liverpool’s 2:1 lead, Tottenham could easily have been out of sight by then, for they’d wasted lots of clear cut chances!
Me think that, whatever Conte is doing at Tottenham, it seems to be working..
Having said that, I glad that Tottenham lost 2 points in a game they could have won had they taken their chances..
#stilladvantagearsenal
Rico I was thinking more the people who suffer with serious needle phobia.
Can anyone remember when their was so many teams coming into Christmas that are on minus goals.
Agree, how Kane got away with his challenge I really don’t know. Yesterday was just one of many matches which highlighted how poor and inconsistent the officials are in England. When will the PL do something about it is the question, or, do they even want to?
Geoff, I realised.
Morning all.
New post up now