Morning all.
Aston Villa battered Man City on Wednesday night in all bar the scoreline. The home team notched up a massive 22 shots on goal compared to Man City’s 2. Admittedly, only 7 of Villa’s 22 were in target but even so, that’s pretty impressive against the club tipped to win another League title. For what it’s worth, I don’t think they will in fact I’d go as far as to suggest this could be Pep’s first potless season. If we can’t win the League, my money would be on Liverpool. Maybe even Villa if they carry on performing the way they are now but that’s the thing, can they? Can we or Liverpool? No one knows but sometimes, injuries/suspensions to key players can make a big difference.
Last night, Newcastle Utd were thumped 3-0 by Everton and Totts were beaten at home by West Ham.
That’s the beauty of football though this season though, no fixture is easy and not one club is running away from others. Arsenal are in the mix for a second season running and that’s how I hope it stays.
One thing is for sure, Mikel Arteta’s team has to be a lot smarter against Villa at the weekend than it was against Luton on Wednesday night. There’ll be many little battles going on within the game I’m sure. Martinez against his old club, Watkins being an Arsenal fan. Not to mention Luiz and Tielemans who were heavily tipped to become Arsenal players. There’s Chambers too but I’m not he plays much for them these days. Lastly, it’s Unai Emery v Mikel Arteta, the man who ultimately replaced him at Arsenal. When it comes to experience, Unai Emery is way ahead of Mikel Arteta. Both are reported to be managers who prepare well. Who watch video after video of the opposition before a game so as not to miss the finest of details. It should be a cagey game if both sides play at their best.
We’ve had some great matches and results at Villa Park in the past which Arsenal.com has looked back on.
December 31, 1988 – Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal. Alan Smith, David Rocastle and Perry Grove with the goals.
April 17, 1995 – Aston Villa 0-4 Arsenal. Ian Wright and John Hartson with a couple of goals each.
March 17, 2002 – Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal. Edu and Bobby Pires with the goals in a tight game.
September 20, 2014 – Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal. Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck and an own goal gave us a comfortable win.
February 18, 2023 – Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal. Still fresh in all of our minds I’m sure. Within five minutes we were behind to an Ollie Watkins goal but Bukayo Saka equalised soon after. Coutinho made it 2-1 just before halftime. The second half was both brilliant and hilarious. Oleksandr Zinchenko scored his first Arsenal goal to make it 2-2 and then in added time, Jorginho smashed a shot from distance which hit the woodwork, the ball rebounded, hit the back of Martinez and went in. Brilliant. Martinez is a fantastic goalkeeper but he’s no longer ours so every mistake he makes against us, I enjoy. Before the end of the added time, Gabriel Martinelli made it 4-2.
Catch up in the comments…
Nice post Rico, that was a great day at Villa Park last season. I can imagine another high quality encounter with hopefully the same result.
Thanks Kev, it was one of my favourites of the season. A repeat would be perfect. 😂
Should this result no go for us , it should not create a full on wrist slitting episode . Villa are a good team and they do have a good manager and even if they narrow the gap on us we will as you say still be in the mix and probably that would not be a bad thing .
Being out in front makes you a target , how many races are won with a late run ? Sometimes it’s better to be in the pack and come strong at the end.
Agree, last season proved that, other title winning seasons too.
There comes a moment when a decision has to be made. For Arteta that moment is now, stick with Raya or twist with Ramsdale. Is it better to “rest” Raya to spare him more humiliation should he have another game, against Villa, as poor as the one against Luton or let him start again in the hope that it will be all right on the night and his confidence will be restored? The alternative is to select Ramsdale and hope that his rustyness and enthusiasm do not combine to create more problems. Dropping points no matter who is in goal will give the media a very large hammer with which to beat Arteta. Even if we take all three points the discussion will continue to rumble on to the delight of the media as a whole.
Glad I’m not making that decision, although I don’t think I’d have looked at Raya in the first place. Height alone would have stopped me.
And he’s not particularly confident with the ball at his feet either.
“When it comes down to the goalkeeper, he [Cana] has a big say on how we are going to implement our methodology,” Arteta said Cana was mainly responsible for Arsenal signing Alex Runarsson, Pavon replaced Woodman who had been put in charge of the goalkeeping department in 2018 when Gerry Peyton left the club. Inaki Cana Pavon then joined in 2019 and it seems his relationship with Mikel Arteta could be pivotal in the decisions being made.
It is now being claimed that the decision to let Woodman go was made after Bernd Leno complained about Pavon, asking for Woodman to be allowed to coach him. Their source said that the German keeper ‘does not rate’ Pavon and that was the reason that he was told to leave the club.
So it seems that Pavon not only got rid of Woodman but also Leno and now is working on Ramsdale.
Pavon’s contract is up at the end of the season , what are the odds that he gets an extension.?
These comments come from Arseblog and Daily Cannon ,
There does seem to be a connection between smoke and fire.
I hope he goes. Get a proper keeper coach in the door.
And of course Paton was Raya’s coach at Brentford before he was poached by Arsenal. Influence, bias and influence are everything, as of course is vitriol! Think Iago!
Oh and one certainty is that we will see Raya between the sticks. A loss is definitely on the cards imo.
Morning Rico and all
Should be a good match tonight, and now Arteta has been banned for 0ne match, Hopefully the players will use it to fire them up and come away with a good win,
At the end of the year we will see if Arteta likes Raya over Ramsdale, the million dollar question will he keep or send him back.
Wavy, sorry you were stuck in moderation overnight.
I can’t see Raya being dropped to the bench. Once Arteta makes his mind up on a player, that seems to be it.
Morning Geoff, all.
Good morning all.
Perhaps Raya will have a back problem, picking the ball out of the net three times can do that to you. 😉