Morning all.
Erik ten Hag was seriously cheesed off in his post-match interview with Sky Sports yesterday. The referee and VAR lost his team three points.
I thought we played a good game but everything went against us. You saw the game, it’s not offside, that is the wrong angle, then a penalty on Hojlund, we concede a goal and that is a foul on Jonny Evans. I think this is a real step forward and I am happy with the performance. We are now compact, very good defending in high and lower block, we break like the first goal. Calm on the ball and I see definite room for improvement and see how we go forward and miss some passes forward that we could have hurt them more.
All I have to say about that is I’m glad I’m not a Man Utd fan these days. How many passes back to Onana? Ridiculous and unimaginative that’s for sure, especially when the ball ended up being hoofed up the pitch in hope. I agreed with what Theo Walcott said at half-time, our forwards could have pressed him and the Utd defence in general, a lot harder.
I enjoyed seeing the return of our big Brazilian in central defence and Zinchenko at left back. Martinelli did too I’m sure. Before Rashford gave Utd the lead with their first chance, Havertz had a golden opportunity to put us ahead but he totally fluffed his lines. It was a bad miss which will no doubt play on his mind. He needs a moment of good fortune in front of goal, a deflection off his backside would do, just to get a goal. Up the other end though, he got his body in the way to stop a Utd shot heading towards Ramsdale’s goal. But, it was his misplaced pass which led to Utd’s goal.
We were behind for less than a minute. The finish from Odegaard was brilliant, the build up play, excellent, especially the inch perfect pass by Martinelli to his captain. .
The talking points:
Anthony should have been booked for kicking the ball away after Taylor awarded us a free kick. The Arsenal penalty shout which was given by Taylor but overturned after a VAR and pitch side monitor review. Rightly so I thought. A Utd penalty shout was waved away from the start and a subsequent VAR review was over in seconds. On 90 minutes, Utd scored a second goal after Jesus lost possession in the middle of the pitch. At first it looked good but was ruled out after VAR concluded it was offside.
The Emirates came alive, more so when 8 minutes of additional time went up on the board. By this time, Jesus, Vieira, Nelson, Tomiyasu and Jorginho were on the pitch. All played their part in what followed. 6 minutes into the 8, Saka whipped a corner across the box. Rice was waiting behind everyone. He controlled the high ball, with his chin he said later, then took his shot. Onana was beaten at his near post and Arsenal were 2-1 up. I’m sure VAR had a quick check on the Gabriel v Evans pushing and shoving but it was nothing. The icing on the cake came shortly after when Arsenal broke away – a perfect ball from Vieira to Jesus and the latter was off. He stopped for a split second, left Dalot on his backside, then calmly slotted the ball past Onana and into the back netting.
I’m not going to go into tactics, I seldom do because managers these days seem to make the game more complicated than it needs to be. Formations, xG, inverted full-backs – it’s all double Dutch to me really but I do know that whatever position Havertz is playing in, he’s struggling. Vieira looks a totally different player to the young Premier League novice we saw last season and Nelson looks a dangerous and exciting player to have on the pitch. ESR is yet to show what he’s made of this campaign and Trossard is waiting in the wings too. As for Gabriel, back with a bang I reckon. I thought Tomiyasu did well too.
A great result although if there’s a criticism, we should have finished them off earlier than we did.
Catch up in the comments..
Morning Rico
Great fun yesterday. Arsenal controlled the game and deservedly won.
Eric ten Hag was more like Derek ten Hodgson with those tactics. Imagine watching that boring sh!te all season? They won’t like that at Old Trafford.
10 points out of 12. Decent start to the season. Don’t understand all the moaning…
Good morning Rico and what a lovely one it is, the early morning mist has almost cleared and the sun is shining with just a hint of a breeze. The season of mists an mellow fruitfulness is here and three points from yesterday’s match complete feel good factor for me.
Sour grapes from a Manchester United manager? Well that’s not exactly a first is it?
Arsenal have been called many things over the years, from The Bank of England team to The Invicibles but now another name springs to mind The Never Give Up Team.
I’m still buzzing. 😉
Newcastle on 3points after 4games, Chelsea on 4points, Man Utd and Aston Villa on 6points, early days but all those 4 clubs were expected to exert pressure on Arsenal this season, or that’s what the media ‘haters’ predicted and hoped for.
I’m not finding this seasons brand of football as uplifting as last seasons sparkling all-action product, but maybe that’s the squad and coaching staff growing and learning how to win when we’re not at our best?,
Great photo Rico and a very precise post, right on point.
Maybe it was my imagination but there were times when I noticed a pass from Odegaard to Havertz was on and especially a pass from Martinelli to Havertz, but those passes didn’t materialise and I wonder if his team mates lack some confidence in our tall, laconic German, he certainly is a man of subdued emotions, when Odegaard scored he was far behind the play a not exactly busting a gut to join in the action, as the ball hit the net and Martin and his team mates celebrated Kai gave a fist punch, just a slight understated one but maybe that’s him and we have to get used to that because I can’t see him turning into Zinchenko any time soon?
A beautifully weighted, accurate pass from a rejuvenated Pablo Vieira helped put the icing on the cake, what a difference a strong bench makes…
Remind us how many games Havertz has played for Arsenal, Kev?
Time and patience required.
Imagine if the Arsenal fan base had treated Bergkamp & Henry like this? From memory they took quite a while to click.
That’s true Pete, but neither Bergkamp or Henry had that cross to bear, the cross of being an ex-Chelsea player with all the history of the recent dross we’ve taken from them. Coming from Inter Milan or Juventus doesn’t carry the same stigma does it? But yes, time and patience as has been the case with Vieira.
Morning Pete, Cicero, Kev, all.
Best we’ve played this season I reckon. 😂
I’m not convinced Havertz is going to click. There’s just something about him which seems off. Hope I’m wrong of course. After the break, I hope he’s benched so when he does come on, hopefully in a winning situation, he’ll relax a bit more.
I loved seeing Jorginho race onto the pitch after Rice scored. Team player.
Morning Rico and all.
Like you said Rico our best performance this season so far.
Both teams had a chance to snatch a late winner, but the difference was, we went for the win and they played for the draw
Hi Geoff, understandable really from Utd as they were away. Their new striker would look much better in an Arsenal kit. Lol
Struggling to understand the criticism of Havertz. 4 games isn’t a good measure of any player. He needs to the end of the season at least.
Yes, he came from Chelsea, but so what? Sol Campbell came from Spurs and did pretty well.
Is it because he is German and he’s keeping an English lad out of the side?
What a finish. Play players in their correct positions
It was noticeable Martinelli was transformed.
I read an interesting thing about Havertz and Pepe – their goal returns are virtually identical, Pepe seems to have no value at all ( I’m still hoping he goes to Saudi Arabia)
I am prepared to give Havertz time to prove himself but not as a first team pick all the time . If it turns out that Vieira , Trossard , ESR , Nelson are more productive then they should get the shirt and he will have to work for it.
I worry that if he keeps getting picked and keeps fluffing his lines then we will pay heavily for it at some stage.
I don’t think it’s anything to do with nationality Pete. From what I’ve seen of him he’s either totally lacking in confidence or he’s just not able to play the way he needs to.
Nothing to do with nationality for me either. He’s a PL proved (kind of) player who should in my opinion be having a big impact on the game. £65 million gets quality imo, not a player who needs time to settle..
Probably end up cancelling his contract Limey but like you, I hope Saudi takes him on.
Pepe besiktas?
In Saudi Arab close at 7th September
It doesn’t matter where a player comes from, it’s what they do on the field that counts.
As Potter said, until Havertz settles in a bit more, why not give someone else a go after all haven’t, they deserved a chance.
I Reckon Pepe is waiting for Arsenal to pay him out and let him leave for free, as a payback for Arteta freezing him out.
Pepe to Besitkas for a “nominal” fee.
Pay £76 million for an out and out flop and then almost have to give him away to get his wages off the books. Let’s hope “lessons have been learned” and Arsenal never get caught out like this again.
Oh! Wait a minute, £65 million on an ex-Chelsea forward…….😕
Pepe had some good moments and scored some excellent goals but he just couldn’t cut it under Arteta and so Raul’s parting gift to us and no doubt his account is on his bike to the Turkish Superliga. Liverpool had it right when they were bidding against us and pulled out when the fee went above £50m, even that in retrospect was excessive.
At the time though, I bet their weren’t many Arsenal fans who weren’t excited at the prospect of Pepe playing for Arsenal. Just like many footballers over time, they fall victim of a manager’s sacking.
New post up by the way.