Morning all.
It’s been quite a couple of weeks for Arsenal. A thumping of Leeds, a trip to Italy, to chasing shadows against Manchester City. Another trip, this time to Greece where in a very tough game, we secured our place in the last 16 of the Europa Cup and then a long journey to The King Power Stadium to face an inform Leicester City at noon yesterday. You know the club, the one which the media gush over most weeks.
No sooner the frost thawed, Mikel Arteta announced his team which consisted of six changes to the one which played on Thursday. Eyebrows raised in certain corners no doubt but these guys are only human and none are Forrest Gump.
In came Willian, Mari, Pepe, Lacazette, Cedric and Elneny. Out went Odegaard, Saka, Gabriel, Aubameyang, Bellerin and Ceballos.
The football pundits gave us little chance with our strongest eleven, certainly the BBC, so with a weakened team, our chances of getting a win were even less. However, it turned out that our weakened team was too strong for Leicester City.
We started in the worst possible fashion, gifting Leicester the opening goal. A mix up between Willian and Xhaka ended up with Tielemans in possession and he just fan at our defence. As he moved forward, Mari moved backwards. Xhaka couldn’t catch the Leicester player and instead of cutting across, Elneny ran back towards his own goal. Anyway, Tielemans rifled the ball past Leno and I thought we were done for. After all, we weren’t exactly playing well before going behind.
Well, how wrong was I. Every single player woke up and started playing. Willian had the best game yet since his move from Chelsea and Pepe was causing all sorts of problems on the right, so much so, the only way Leicester could stop him was by committing fouls.
When Pepe went over in the box, Paul Tierney didn’t hesitate to blow his whistle and point to the penalty spot. VAR intervened, Tierney took another look at the incident and changed his decision. Rightly so in my opinion.
Arsenal carried on though, with plenty of energy and determination. The ball was played forwards far more often than it went sideways and we looked dangerous. Pepe had a shot blocked, Willian shot wide and then Leicester cocked up a chance to set Vardy up. Just after that, we equalised.
Pepe was fouled out on the right, yet again, and this time Thomas was booked. Willian whipped in the subsequent free kick which was good but the header from Luiz was incredible. Brave, strong and clinical.
Just as the first half was coming to an end, Pepe sent a cross into the box which appeared to hit Ndidi’s arm. The game continued whilst VAR reviewed the incident. Another look at the pitch-side monitor for Paul Tierney but this one was given. Rightly so again. Lacazette stepped up to send Schmeichel the wrong way. Arsenal were in the lead.
2-1 soon became 3-1 when Pepe tapped in from close range after we’d won the ball in midfield. Pepe, Odegaard and Willian were all involved in the buildup with the Brazilian supplying the assist. Before the game ended, Tierney saw his ferocious left footed shot miss the far post by a whisker. Aubameyang and Partey hit one just wide too.
I thought we were good, after conceding that is. Cedric, Willian and Pepe didn’t disappoint and neither did Xhaka. In fact no one did, not really. The referee did though as I felt he was far to lenient. A few elbows were flying around during the match, most in the direction of our player’s faces. I did however chuckle at Xhaka’s reaction after catching one in the face. Talk about mistaken identity.
Anyway, a really good three points with a much better performance. Just hope the injury to ESR isn’t serious.
Now the players can enjoy a well earned week off.
See you in the comments.
Thanks for the post Rico, a good run down on the match although I think it’s notable that Leicester lost two players during the game, the impressive Harvey Barnes who if rumours are correct will now need an operation and key defender Jonny Evans, both to soft tissue and I’d guess fatigue related injuries. It’s worth noting that Leicester were one of the 10 clubs that voted against the 5 subs and it’s also not notable to see that they currently have 8 players out injured.
The stupidity and short sightedness of that anti 5 subs vote is I believe hurting those Luddite clubs more than those with the bigger squads who’ve been able to rotate more whilst not forgetting that those clubs with the bigger squads also inevitably have extra european matches to negotiate.
Every major league in Europe have the 5 subs, UEFA competitions have the 5 subs, even the Football League have the 5 subs.
But no, the Luddite group led it seems by Aston Villa thought they knew better and now most of them have squads that are in crisis and we still have at least 10 weeks of football left, good luck with that…
Morning Kev, we were winning before they went off though, or at least I thought we were… lol
Agree re the five sub rule, to reject it was naive. As I often say though, you reap what you sow in life so I have no sympathy for clubs who are struggling with injuries if they voted against the rule.
After all, no one felt sorry for Arsenal when we had injuries.
Yeah I know Rico but I thought that Leicester in general looked tired whereas we looked fresher and fitter, so I guess that Arteta deserves credit for handling his squad better than Rodgers and that might benefit us in these last 10 weeks.
That’s true Rico, it’s amazing to see that Arsenal have only one player injured, ESR, what a turnaround in fortunes and I guess a big well done to our medical team for that as well as the coaching team.
Morning all.
Kev, your comments about injuries really should make us stop and realise this is why Arteta keeps rotating.
It may well pay dividends later in the season, but time will tell.
Yesterday was a victory for VAR.
Shame another 50 shockers will go by til the next one 🙂
What a win, and what a performance.
What we must hope for is these little glimpses of such quality increase in their regularity.
That’s the true sign we are headed the right way.
I got muddled on the ref’s surname and our own Kieran. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 So when I read that Tierney went to look at the monitor I was sort of…..Oooyyyy. what’s happening here??
Then it dawned upon me that you were talking about the ref. silly me
I thought the ref actually had a good game imo.
Kev…..Leicester must rue that decision against 5 subs. I would have voted in its favour……because I think of my players first and foremost. The thing is that the clubs who voted against it are the ones who will in the long run need it most. Its exactly like parents’ day in a school….the parents who turn up are those parents whose kids dont need any help while the ones who need help most dont even bother.
The Leicester goal should have been avoided. However Mari and Elneny were like rabbit in the headlights…….it should be the player nearest to the ball who has to take on the defender. Xhaka was giving chase but we all know how slow he is and Tielemans is not a slow coach. Elneny, as you rightly pointed out went back to his position rather than cut across (and this is a case of rabbit in the headlamps moment) while Mari backed off just to keep the defensive line when he is supposed to move across. Had he done so it would have exposed Luiz if the latter did not move forward, Soares then would have had to move forward. But Mari decided not to break lines and adhere to the defensive formation. Imo that was totally wrong……Elnany should have cut across while Mari should have moved forward. Luiz should have done so as well while Soares would still have given us a three men defence in front of goal.
The problem arose when Xhaka and Willian got themselves into a tight situation and lost the ball. Tierney was still further up the pitch (match fatigue is settling in and he needs to time to recover) so that area was not defended well. KT03 is human afterall not a Flash Gordon. If one were to observe the defence during the moment when Xhaka gave away a pass one can see that the distance between Mari and Luiz was quite big. Soares was at an angle with Luiz further up on the opposite side. So they were not square. This is what I referred to yesterday morning….they need to practice and concentrate when we lose possession, their place and where they need to be. Seeing them running back is nothing short of farcical, Elneny, as I said adhered only to his place instead of cutting across while Soares and Luiz were out of shape. Had they been in shape they would have nullified Tielemans who would then have to cut it back or cross the ball.
I hope Arteta points it out to them in training.
http://arsenalist.com/f/2018-19/leciester-goal-1-0-2021-02-21.html
Unlikely in my book , but if we go all the way to the Europa league final , we would have 19 games in 63 days . Near enough one game every 3 days . Rotation is going to be the name of the game .
The matches are coming thick and fast and after Burnley with the two Olympiakos matches we have Spurs and West Ham in 10 day period.
Then comes a 3 game international period before we play Liverpool and no doubt Southgate will have his eyes on Saka and ESR just to make sure that they don’t get their rest.
No-one said it would be easy.
See this goal by Auba – Ozil combination against Leicester…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNePnJUQTek
And see yesterday’s Willian – Pepe combination…… very similar
http://arsenalist.com/f/2018-19/goal-pepe-1-3-2021-02-21.html
Except this time its on the other flank. Both of them came from fast breakaways though.
Good Morning to the Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Rico – A fair summation of the game.
I was dubious about the game when I saw our team’s lineup (six changes), but when Leicester opened the scoring so early in the game I was ready to rip my hair out – another obvious defensive error. Our team has generally lost most of the games where the opposition the scoring, especially so early in the game. Credit to the team though, they pulled up their socks and proceeded to play good football. They are starting to play more directly and with more pace when the opposition allows and this is beginning to pay off.
The major positive of late, bar the occasional defensive lapse, is that all of our players are working hard and contributing to the team effort. Pepe is starting to show his class more consistently and Willian had his best game since he signed for us. The only real negative was EMS going off injured. I just hope it is nothing serious. All in all a positive sign for the future for we need to be in Europe next season.
I agree they looked tired etc Kev but I don’t feel sorry for them a jot. Not after the way they were kicking Pepe and flinging elbows around.
Sorry that should have been ESR not EMS.
Agree Scott, shows that VAR isn’t a problem, just the idiots operating it.
Morning Cg.
Me too re the lineup although, without sounding arrogant, I expected it. What I didn’t expect though was to see Willian and Pepe work hard, nor Xhaka. I know Mari will be criticised for their goal but afterwards, I thought he did really well. Especially the shepherding of Vardy to stop him scoring.
Scott – Spot on regarding rotation and injuries, but I wonder about team cohesion when we are constantly copping and changing. Although rotation does give players a break and keeps them from getting stale if left riding the bench for extended periods.
Yes Rico, and that’s always been my issue with it.
Use it where it can help, leave it out for the rest.
Mari was superb for all but a few seconds.
I know I go in about it, but that’s the lot of the defender.
Play brilliantly for 89 minutes and 55 seconds, make one error and that gets more attention than everything else he did.
AND get paid less that attacking players, generally speaking 🙂 🙂
Having watched it a few times more , if anything had Luiz got back on the line he would have stopped it. I don’t think thast we can blame anyone in particular 3 players could have done things differently . it was a collective mess up.
Isn’t that similar for all players though Scott, an error which leads to a goal stands out, as does a missed chance which seems easier to score than not.
Or four Potter, could Leno have not done better?
Rico, strikers get off way lighter than defenders, in general.
If any of our defenders had fluffed their lies as often as Auba this seasons, well they’d be at Schalke 😉
Forgot to mention Ødegaard and his contribution.
He had some sublime touches that just reeked quality.
There is a superb footballer in that lad!
Let’s hope he falls in love with North London!!!
Scott – “…There is a superb footballer in that lad!
Let’s hope he falls in love with North London!!!” Amen to that, but I doubt Real will sell him unless they are offered silly money or they get into financial difficulty.
“Barcelona CEO and former president Josep Maria Bartomeu arrested as Nou Camp is raided”;
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1403992/Barcelona-CEO-former-president-Josep-Maria-Bartomeu-arrested-Nou-Camp-raided
Now isn’t that a shame? It couldn’t happen to a more deserving candidate. Great team, but a horrid club.
Hi CG,
Ødegaard has been at Real for 6 years and barely played, so for whatever reason, he is far from a starter there.
Player power is a massive factor these days, so you just never know.
I hope he grows into the squad and digs his toes in to stay with us.
I’m not so sure Scott, Lacazette, Pepe and Aubameyang have had their fair share of criticism this season. Certainly on here. Mind you, which players haven’t. 😂
Scott – You may well be right – I hope so, but I wont be holding my breath.
Rico, the difference is a striker misses a sitter, scores a goal later and we win 1-0, he “wins us the game”.
If he misses a sitter, a defender has an absolute clanger and we lose 1-0, the defender cops it, where at some point during the post game discussion, you’ll read something about the missed chance, but only after the error costing the goal has been replayed to death lol
I’m not either, CG lol
It’s more hope than confidence.
Scott – This season we all live in hope.
With that I’m off. These noon Sunday kickoffs (4 a.m. my time) upset my schedule. I hope next season’s game times return to normal.
Oh, I don’t feel sorry for them Rico, not at all, its why I keep on banging on about the 5 subs, by trying to be smart arses Leicester and co have created more problems for themselves and now they’re paying the price with a knackered team and a host of injuries, so no, no sympathy from me mate.
Point taken Scott. I don’t though. 😜
I know Rico…….
Kev, ya have to love irony hahaha
This season is either one to remember, or one to forget lol
Not for one minute did I think you did Kev. 😜
Hi Rico and all well said Rico, I didn’t think we would win, and the first 10 mins had me worried, but then we settled and for the first time in a while we played attacking football and cut back on the back passing, which I recon had Leicester on the back foot, and we never looked like loosing, The best part was the referee not falling for Vardy’s diving act.
Hope fully ESR will be back from injury soon.
Hi Geoff. Probably because Vardy ‘has previous’ If were going by a Peter Walton’s way of thinking…
I’m an open book Rico… 😁
Yes Scott, I do love a bit of irony and I’m waiting for Aston Villa to cop an injury crisis, they’ve been lucky so far but as the main drivers, as I understand, behind the no vote for 5 subs it would be a beautiful irony if their season fell apart on the back of a rash of injuries.
Yesterday was the first time I’ve felt the so called second string haven’t weakened the team,as said they looked fitter and fresher than Leicester too,so credit to Arteta for that.The media are always talking up what a good coach and tactician Rogers is,nice to see him taken to school.
Looking at the league table now,we have now beaten four out of the top six.
Ha ha Kev.
I saw a League table for post Christmas results and we sit 4th. Bearing in mind the Wolves fiasco, I’d say were either improving or the rest are are getting worse. Lol
2.25 Limey. Well said.
Afternoon Rico and the House
I see that tUefa have changed the spuds europa game
so they are at home on the Thurs before they play us .
It should be the other way round.
Rick, it’s because Arsenal are the holders of the FACup, therefore we take seniority and Sp*urs have to switch, the downside is they don’t travel before the NLD but hopefully we can do a job on them anyway and then Zagreb can knock then out of Europe.
Afternoon Rick. Shame re the Europa fixture, I’d rather we were away in the second leg.
Evening Rico and The House
Its been a very Chilly and long day in Kent.
It seems every one has been checking up on me to see if
I was feeling the strain of being a carer.
I asked all of them did you see the game yesterday
end ed the conversation full stop.
Kev I see that Paul Lambert has left Ipswich
He played a big part in arranging Mark Mcguinness to join on loan.
I hope his departure will not mean he will not get as much playing time.
Yes Rick, I think that happened also to Matt Smith at Swindon after their manager got the sack and that led to Smith moving onto Charlton although he’s still not starting enough games for my liking, it’s going to be a massive summer for Smith, McGuinness, John Jules, Olayinka, Ballard and Clarke because Arteta might bring one or more of them into his squad rather than spend on new signings elsewhere?
Bonjour everyone
It seems that Christian Gross of Schalke is regretting signing Kolasinac and Mustafi……..seeing that they are two senior ringleaders who got him sacked.
I wonder if those two together plus Ozil were the moles who were leaking everything to the press about our club plus being toxic with the players around them when still at Arsenal.
Devil, I read that, but then, Schalke have had 4 managers in 12 months so I dare say there’s a bugger problem then those two guys.
It makes sense that they could’ve been an issue at I our club.
We know Kolasinac was tight with Ozil, and maybe Mustafi was too, as the three are Muslims so it stands to reason they’d be connected.
Kolasinac never lived up to expectations, but Mustafi was a different player under Arteta, so I was surprised he was let go until reading this……..trouble behind the scenes explains it.
Certrain issues we will never get to know them Scott. We dont know what goes on behind the scenes, we dont know the arguments petty or serious ones, we dont know who gets on well and who dont. That those three were close it was never in doubt as they even used to go out together (when they were attacked by robbers they were together at least two of them) so its a no brainer.
I never liked Mustafi, though I must admit I was impressed by Kolasinac especially as he was built like a tank. But it never worked out. Ozil was marmite to me…one moment I liked him and one moment I did not.
I am highly glad that they are gone. and hopefully Kolasinac will be sold in the summer as he still has till 2022 with us
Yep, best they’re gone for all parties.
I would be quite happy to let Kolasinac leave for a nominal fee, maybe even give him a free as long as Arsenal don’t have to pay up his contract. In our favour is his wife, she won’t want to return to the U.K. so that gives us some leverage.
Lacazette it seems, is leaving in the summer, so he’s going to play out the rest of this season in the shop window, I think financially it makes sense to move him on and for us to get a decent fee for him also the better he plays the better for both.
Yep, this summer looks to be about bringing down the wage bill even more and I’m on board with that.
Morning guys, new post up now.
Win win for us Kev if Lacazette plays for the shop window. Aubameyang too.
If Lacazette goes that leaves us with Auba , Martinelli , Nketiah and anything the youth team can throw up. It will tell us a lot about the future whether we buy a replacement or not .