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What constitutes a successful signing? Is it the number of goals they score, the assists they make, the clean sheets they keep? Or, is it, in fact, the impact they have on the fans? The probable truth is that the status of every signing is nuanced and varies in the mind of each individual fan. We all have our own opinions on whether we rate a player or not. I can think of a few Arsenal players I’ve watched over the years who I didn’t rate at all yet the general consensus over player x was that he was a particularly good player more often than not. 

We have the signings whom everyone rates, the Ødegaards and Bergkamps of this world, and then we have the Nicolas Pépés and the Mustafis whom we prefer to block out of our memories because remembering their performances makes you want to eat a sack of cement. But there is a category of signings that carries more nuance and perhaps polarises opinion among the Goonerverse. This is what we will be exploring today.

I suppose when determining the success of each signing there are a few factors we ought to consider. Perhaps the most important is the price tag. When you make any transaction, you are looking for value for money. On the surface, a new winger who scores ten goals a season would appear to be a decent signing. But when this winger cost £72 million then you want a bit more than that. I suppose some players become a victim of their own price tag which I’d imagine is difficult for them to accept because no player decides not decide his own price tag. But football is football and business is business. The two are very much intertwined. 

But enough waffle. Let’s get down to it. The first player we will be looking at is the Gallic God, Olivier Giroud. Now I’m sure many of you, namely CER, will be thinking “21CG, what are you smoking? Of course, Giroud was a successful signing!” and I completely understand that POV. He is certainly an interesting player to dissect and truthfully, I do think Giroud was exceptionally good at what you’d expect him to be good at. His hold up and link up play was excellent; he was a huge threat in the air and his highlights reel will demonstrate that he was the scorer of a number of outrageously good goals. I suppose we better look at the numbers which tell us the Handsome French Bastard notched 105 goals in 253 appearances. That works out at roughly a goal every 2.4 games. So, no disgrace certainly but I don’t feel that would be enough for a club which supposedly had title aspirations. Giroud cost around £10 million to bring in from Montpellier in 2012 which even then, in fairness, was not an obscene amount of money. But he did undeniably miss a lot of sitters (Monaco in 2015) and many of those would prove to cost us dear. He was not a 20 goal a season striker although I will concede he wasn’t a million miles off that mark.

With Giroud I always felt he would’ve been more effective as a 2nd choice striker, coming off the bench perhaps when we needed a goal, giving us a different outlet when we needed to pump balls into the box towards his magnificent barnet. Just imagine we had signed Aubameyang a couple of years before we did, and were able to utilise Giroud as an impact sub… 

I strongly suspect that if that had materialised, there wouldn’t have been a Lestah “fairytale” in 2016 and it instead would’ve been us lifting number 14 with Giroud being praised to the heavens for his invaluable contribution to the cause. That would’ve been nice. I think with Giroud you must take the facts into account. Was he a prolific, clinical striker? Not especially. But has he not been effective for every side he has played for? Without a doubt. This is a player who has won trophies with every club he’s been at which I think often gets overlooked. Pre Arsenal, he won the Ligue one title with much unfancied Montpellier where he was the league’s top scorer. Quite a remarkable achievement it must be said. In N5 he won three FA Cups, assisting Ramsey’s winners in 2014 and 2017 as well as scoring against Villa in 2015. He won another FA Cup with Chelsea as well as both the Europa League and Champions League whilst at Stamford Hut. That does sting but you can’t knock it. He then won Serie A with Milan and then there is the small, insignificant World Cup victory with the French for whom he is remarkably their all-time record goal scorer. He is a player I have probably criticised more than most over the years, but his CV certainly contradicts many of my criticisms. 

So, my Giroud Verdict? I must confess, when I began planning for this article and drew up the players I would be looking into, my first instinct was to place Giroud into the unsuccessful category. However, the more I have thought about it I have decided to change my mind. I said at the start of the article, value for money is the most important thing and with Giroud I believe we certainly got that. I think it’s possible many of my previous criticisms of him stem from the fact he went on to enjoy success with one of our biggest rivals which shouldn’t have a bearing on the success he had with us. No unconscious bias here. I do hope David Coote, Howard Webb and the rest of the merry men from PGMOL HQ are reading this. I digress. Whilst Giroud wasn’t exactly universally popular amongst the fan base, the majority appreciated the qualities he brought and over a century of goals in five and a half seasons, whilst winning a few trophies along the way has ensured that in the years and decades to come Giroud will likely be remembered quite fondly by most of the Arsenal family. You just can’t hate a man with a perfectly chiselled jawline and a head of hair so perfectly maintained it was enough to drive even Super Mik green with envy. 

21CG verdict: Successful signing (just about)

The next man on the agenda is a player who perhaps polarised opinion amongst Arsenal fans like no other. A no-nonsense, (well there was a fair bit of self-inflicted nonsense from him in fairness) tough tackling, all action midfielder. I am of course referring to a certain Granit Xhaka. Signed from Borussia Monchengladbach for a hefty £35 million back in the sweet summer of ’16, Granit spent seven years in N5 before returning to the Bundesliga with Leverkusen the summer before last. He spent most of his years with us playing the deep lying 6 role, in which he often struggled at times. He developed a very unwelcome habit of giving the ball away in dangerous areas, a habit which often cost us. A real concern that Xhaka never really managed to shake off was his discipline. In 225 PL appearances, Xhaka was shown 4 red cards and 57 yellow cards. This equates to approximately a card every 3.6 games. In all fairness to Xhaka two of those reds came in his first season so he was only sent off twice in his final five seasons. 

Interestingly, all his dismissals were straight reds. His first two were both alleged ‘studs up tackles’ in the opposition half, and if you watch them back, I think the majority of you would agree that most players would receive a booking and a booking only. I say “most players” because Xhaka arrived at the club with a reputation of a player with discipline issues. In 58 Bundesliga games for ‘Gladbach, Xhaka received 4 reds and 18 yellows which equates to a card every 2.6 games. That is quite a hefty record and one you would assume the club was aware of. However, I would say that if you watched Xhaka regularly, which we all did, you probably wouldn’t think he was a dirty player. The English media did seem to enjoy lambasting him, he was once branded a “brainless idiot” by none other than Gary Neville. Takes one to know one, eh Gary? This was clearly something that affected Granit. He was certainly a vocal character both on and off the pitch and in an interview, he hit back at the media pointing out that “this is football, not ballet.” I think he did have a point.

But the real low point of Xhaka’s time in N5 was surprisingly non card related. Upon his substitution in a home game vs Crystal Palace in October 2019, a game in which he was booed off by the fans, he hit back by quite blatantly telling us to f*k off. Not a great look but it wasn’t exactly unprovoked on Xhaka’s part. To make matters worse, he had recently been appointed club captain in the infinite wisdom of then gaffer, Unai Emery. He was quickly stripped of the captaincy and not seen for a number of weeks. A short while later, Unai was given his P45 and after a few weeks of Freddie interimming (don’t think that’s a real word and now I’ve typed it out I can see why), Super Mik came to Granit’s rescue. We don’t know exactly what Arteta said but we do know that Xhaka had his heart set on a move away (I seem to remember a move to Inter being on the cards at the time) and “his bags were packed”. But whatever Arteta said, it worked as Xhaka stayed and ahead of the 22/23 season, he was shifted further forwards into the left 8 position. We were not seeing the same Xhaka, this was clearly a completely reformed player. Xhaka’s new role helped him add goals to his game as well as being able to enhance the game of many of his teammates. By being moved up the pitch Xhaka’s lack of pace was less apparent and when he did give the ball away it tended to be in the final third as opposed to the edge of his own penalty area.

He turned things around to such an extent that many fans wanted him to stay on. Before his final game for the club, it was basically settled he was off to Leverkusen and his send off was quite remarkable. He scored a brace in a 5-0 win over Wolves and there were raucous chants of “Granit Xhaka, we want you to stay”, ringing round Ashburton Grove. He was clearly somewhat moved by the reception, but I think he’d had enough of London life and the vulturous, often repulsive English media. He never publicly apologised for his outburst, but I suppose his upturn in performances was kind of an apology. But was one exceptional season enough to make up for six very mixed and error strewn campaigns? I wouldn’t say so personally. And was his £35 million fee really value for money? For me it’s a ‘no’ but he’s far from the worst signing we’ve ever made. I never imagined being a little sad when he left and that’s testament to the strong-minded character of Granit Xhaka. He will always be welcome back in N5, but I remain scarred by some of his earlier performances and I don’t think I’m alone in that regard. 

21CG verdict: unsuccessful signing but not a “flop”

Thirdly and finally, we have a mercurial talent, perhaps the last truly great number 10 in football, a former club record signing, I am of course talking about Mesut Özil. Again, in many people’s eyes, Özil’s Arsenal status requires no questioning given the ridiculous level of talent he possessed. This is certainly a player analysis that requires context and a certain amount of nuance to determine how successful Özil’s time with Arsenal really was. This is one I’m sure will spark a good deal of healthy debate in the drinks. Here we go.

First and foremost, I have been watching Arsenal for just over 15 years now and I’ve been a season ticket holder for 14 years, a privilege I certainly do not take for granted. I have seen some great players don the famous red and white strip in that time and in terms of pure talent, Mesut is the finest Arsenal player I’ve had the pleasure of watching in that time. He truly is one of the finest players we’ve ever had in 138 years of rich history and tradition. In total he was an Arsenal player for seven and a half years, but his final appearance came ten months before he departed so for the sake of fairness, I will call it seven years. Özil’s first two campaigns in North London provided plenty of evidence of his stupendous ability to pick a pass, we just didn’t see it often enough. I will put this down to adapting to the physicality and pace of the English game as well as adapting to a new country in which he was not initially comfortable with the language. But there’s nothing wrong with that and it certainly wasn’t down to a lack of effort despite what some of the troglodytes in the media said about his application. It was true that he had a languid running style which often made him look a bit lethargic when he actually covered more ground and made more sprints than most. 

But it was Özil’s third season in which we finally saw the absolute best of him on a weekly basis. By the end of 2015, the German had amassed a staggering 16 PL assists with half the season to go. It looked for all the world that Özil was going to smash Henry’s record of 20 PL assists in a season. But Özil only accrued three more assists and ended the season on what was still a hugely impressive 19 assists. Unfortunately, our then annual February-March dip would prove fatal for our title challenge as we rather embarrassingly finished ten points behind plucky little Lestah in second place. Not that Özil’s performance levels dipped. He was still creating chances and key passes at an otherworldly high rate. I would argue it was down to the collectively poor finishing and downturn in form of the likes of Sanchez, Giroud and Walcott. But no one was in any doubt about the sheer quality of Mesut Özil. 

Over the next couple of years Özil could generally be relied upon to perform at a high level consistently. 16/17 was his most fruitful season in front of goal and a good few times a season he would produce a goal/assist or a cheeky bit of skill that was so outrageous even the opposition couldn’t help but admire Özil’s elegance. His unique finish away to Ludogorets in the Champion’s League where he flicked the ball over the ‘keeper then sent two defenders for a Doner Kebab before passing the ball into an empty net and THAT performance at home to Lestah in 2018 were just two reminders of his class. And Özil also won four FA Cups playing in three finals, being an integral part of all those winning campaigns. He is indeed our most decorated player post Highbury. 

But upon his bumper £350k a week new deal in January 2018, it seemed Özil’s magic was waning. His output levels decreased, and he seemed to let a lot of games pass him by with little influence. In fairness Özil was never the type of player to take a game by the scruff of the neck, that was more in Alexis’ ballpark. But those moments of magic he used to produce became increasingly few and far between. Shortly after Arteta’s arrival Covid hit and Özil was allegedly the only Arsenal player to refuse to take a 12.5% pay cut to help with the Club’s finances during that difficult period. He reportedly paid Gunnersaurus’ wages after the T-rex mascot was furloughed by Arsenal. (In fairness, if you’ve seen Gunnersaurus’ feeble attempts to save the Junior Gunner’s penalties at half time in every home game, you will understand why the club made that decision.) but Arteta deemed this to be an act worthy of exile from the first team squad. He did not appear for the first team following the resumption of the season and was not even registered for the Premier League or Europa League squads at the start of the 2020/21 season. Özil’s final Arsenal appearance proved to be the 1-0 win over West Ham on March 7th, 2020. Perhaps it was fitting that one of his final acts in an Arsenal shirt was to provide a cushioned headed assist for Lacazette to win the game. Mesut and the club came to the agreement to cancel his contract and pay out the rest of his wages as he departed meekly on a free transfer to Fenerbahçe in Turkey. 

It was a sad and depressing end to Özil’s Arsenal career. He really ought to have achieved so much more with Arsenal. But despite that he will still look back on a career that saw him win cups in England and Germany and Spain, the La Liga title with Real Madrid and most notably, the 2014 World Cup with Germany in which he started every match for an exceptional Germany side where he was undoubtedly one of the players of the tournament. For me he was one of, if not the finest playmaker of the 2010’s. Perhaps his one regret was not achieving a league title with Arsenal and how his time with us ended. It was a sour end to what was ultimately a sweet and fruitful career for both club and country. It is no secret that Özil experienced his fair share of off the pitch controversies but we are assessing his footballing abilities and achievements here so it wouldn’t be fair to include these here. 

Whilst Özil didn’t achieve as much as we had hoped or expected when we smashed our club record fee to sign him in 2013, I would argue that he provided us with enough magic to prove himself as a successful signing. If you had asked me two or three years ago, I almost certainly would’ve given you a quite different answer, but time is the most powerful healer of wounds as they say. Quite simply, I would’ve paid to watch Özil tie his shoelaces, he was that good. Perhaps the true marker of how good/successful a player is/was for your club is measured by how they make you feel when they play. Özil was a true joy to watch, and it was a pleasure to have him at Arsenal for the majority of his time in N5.

21CG verdict: successful signing but should’ve achieved more.

I hope this article filled an Arsenal shaped hole in yet another interminably dull Interlull, and I look forward to much healthy debate in the drinks below. You might agree with much of what I said, you might think I’ve been too harsh or lenient on certain players, all opinions are welcome. As always, happy reading and I hope this whets your appetite for the rollercoaster ride we will no doubt be embarking on starting on Saturday with a classic 3pm appointment with Nottingham Forest. Lastly, I would like to apologise for any Granit Xhaka related PTSD episodes my article may have caused you. 

COYG!!!

Stamford Bridge is in the strangest location for a football ground. A few weeks ago, I was walking through what I described as “the mean estates of Tottenham.” Well, SW10 is a whole different animal. I always drive to football, mainly because, living in the country, it’s cheaper (for two), takes the same time and is far more comfortable than crowded tubes (the queue at Fulham Broadway is off the scale and you are cheek by jowl with Chelsea supporters). So, using my usual parking space App, I found an excellent parking spot at the Chelsea Design Centre, just off the Kings Road. It was a gentle 20 minute walk to the ground (and I walk slowly, with a stick). It really gives you an idea of what living in this part of London is all about. Instead of housing estates, or terraced housing, we walked past art galleries, chi chi restaurants and furniture shops where the answer to the question “how much is that?” was “if you need to ask sir, you can’t afford it”. Most football grounds are in working class, or what used to be working class areas. Not Chelsea. 

The strangest thing is that you can’t see the ground until you go through the turnstile. No floodlights, No stands, nothing. To get to the away supporters turnstile you go past two massive five star hotels until you get to the gate pictured at the top. Once inside, as we were very early, we made the mistake of buying a pint as we watched the early game. £7! Holy Mary. Much hilarity amongst fellow Gooners at Tottenham handing a first win of the season to Ipswich at the Toilet Bowl. My old Dad (RIP) would have said “that’s stopped them farting in church” using an old London expression for being disrespectful. 

Into the stadium proper and once again we are in the penultimate row in the Shed Upper, over the corner flag. But in the bus stop you seem much closer to the pitch than at Newcastle or West Ham. The seating is also comfortable and safe rail seating, with an excellent view. 

The teams were in and to the relief of Gooners everywhere, both Rice and Ødegaard started. The first half was cagey and fairly even. Palmer tested the reflexes of Raya early and Neto (who had an excellent game) was giving White a torrid time with some very tricky wing play. Gusto should have scored from one cross. Neto is very one footed however, but that left foot is a wand. Then we thought we had scored. Saka was sent tumbling, resulting in a free kick. Rice took it very quickly and Havertz was away in the box, slotting it neatly past Sanchez (who didn’t have the best of games). Tumult in the Shed! But then the dreaded VAR, unlike the Lino, gave offside. Looking at the pics afterwards it was very close but Havertz’s left foot was just off. 

One more big chance before half time. Saka made a trademark run across the 18 yard line and got off a shot which was blocked. It fell to Martinelli on his left foot close in on goal and he really should have scored but struck it straight at Sanchez who saved it. Goalless at half time and both teams creating chances. 

HT : Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal 0

Our Captain had gently played himself in throughout that first half but in the second half he was back to his dominant best, circulating in the inside right slot, pressing, making  passes, being progressive, working well with Saka, White and Partey. On the hour, he created the chance that led to our goal. He was involved three times just outside the box on our right before he made the space to arc in a fabulous left footed cross to an onside and unmarked Martinelli who controlled it with his left foot before smashing it in with his right past Sanchez’s near post (again, not great goalkeeping). This time absolute limbs in the Shed Upper and only the rails prevented me from tumbling down the rows. Get in!

Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (Martinelli 60)

We continued to dominate but ten minutes later Chelsea were level. Neto spotted some space outside our penalty area, drove into it (someone should have gone to him, but no one did) and smashed in a great left footed shot inside Raya’s left post. A goal somewhat reminiscent of Ødegaard’s goal at Newcastle two seasons ago. Arteta seemed rather irritated by that goal afterwards.

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (Neto 70)

From then on it was all Arsenal. I was disappointed to see Martinelli come off because I thought he was having a fine and effective game. Saka and Rice, both carrying knocks, were subbed off. But we kept up constant pressure on the Chelsea area and were unlucky (or wasteful) not to score. Trossard in particular is finding it hard to shoot straight at the moment. Right at the end we seemed to have a great chance when Saliba, on the left wing of all places, was found by Ødegaard. He knocked in a great square ball which seemed destined for a Havertz tap in. But Trossard lunged in, off balance, and put it wide. Watching it back on MOTD, I think Saliba was offside so we were spared a celebration to no avail.

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (FT)

The away support, as usual, was magnificent. I know I always say that but they really were, aided by a crinkly tin roof above us. Singing and supporting the whole game. Havertz’s and Gabi’s songs got lengthy airings but there were two new ones that I really enjoyed. The first, I thought, was a witty piss take of the PGMOL. I think, but am not completely sure, that this was after, at Cucurella’s urging, Oliver booked Havertz for bleeding.

It’s all about you

It’s all about you

Michael Oliver

It’s all about you!

The second is Jurien Timber’s new song , which I really like, and think will catch on

Ohhh eh oh, We’ve got Jurien Timber

Ohhh eh oh He’s our Dutch defender

Ohhh eh oh he never gives the ball away!

I thought we made huge progress in this game and were the better side, especially in the second half. Much of that was due to the return of our Captain, clearly MOTM for me. Chelsea are a clearly improved side from last season, with pace to burn. I was impressed with Neto and Gusto, but I though we closed down Palmer very effectively in the second half. We’ve now played Villa, Spurs, City, Newcastle and Chelsea away. They all have to come to the Emirates after Christmas. I still think the title is on. 

Going home, Google Maps removed itself from my bad books after Preston (where it failed to avoid road works on the M6) with a very scenic run through my home town from Chelsea. Along the river, past the lit up Chelsea Bridge, Sloane Square, Belgravia, Hyde Park Corner, Park Lane, Marble Arch, past Lords Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood and finally home at 9.30pm.

Next game, high flying Forest at home. On to the interlull. Good time for a reset. 

“Meet me at the bus stop in Fulham” is not the most romantic or enticing invitation. It’s not a patch on “Meet Me in St Louis” though that city has declined significantly since the era in which the movie was set. Nor indeed is it as beguiling as “Meet Me at Our Spot”, “Meet Me at the Surface”, “Meet me at the Table’ or “Meet Me at the Lake”. But there we are! We have an assignation at the bus stop at 4.30pm on Sunday 10th November that we must honour.

It’s not as if we haven’t had fun there previously. I have fond memories of an 89th minute Winterburn pile-driver to win 3-2 in 1997, a 1999 Kanu hat trick in the last 15 minutes to win 3-2 after trailing 2-0 and a van Persie hat-trick in a 5-3 victory in 2011. Our last victory at the Bus Stop was in November 2022, when Gabriel slid the ball into the net at close range from a Saka corner, our third successive victory at that venue for the first time since the seventies. Last season, we made an exhilarating late recovery from a two goal deficit that was the result of a soft penalty (Kavanagh awarded it, for the ball brushing Saka’s arm as he leapt for a header, after being called to the monitor – déjà vu?) and a fluky Mudryk cross-cum-shot that beat Raya in one of his early starts for Arsenal prompting widespread but ultimately unnecessary angst about his height. We drew level with a 35 yard cracker from Rice on 77 minutes followed by a deft back-post touch by Trossard from a wicked Saka cross on 84 minutes and could well have gone on to win it. 

We have played the Chavs at the bus stop 95 times in several competitions: the Football League Division One, FA Cup, League Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League. Including our first visit ending in a 1-2 reverse for Woolwich Arsenal in 1907, we have won 32 games, drawn 31 times and lost 35 times. This is a respectable record and not in any way a record that makes one want to sing along with Elvis – though, by several accounts, Mudryk would happily join the chorus. However, these numbers conceal a phenomenon that is now the subject of an as yet unconsummated series of charges. If we split the Premier League era into three periods: Before Corruption, the Russian Mafia Money Years and Post Abramovich we find a different pattern:

Before Corruption: 5 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats

Russian Mafia Money Years: 3 wins, 2 draws and 9 defeats

Post Abramovich: 2 wins, 1 draw and no defeats

The overt and covert shenanigans of Abramovich and his henchmen changed the landscape of the Premier League, transformed a club that was previously a music hall joke and paved the way for the Sheiks of Araby with their creative accountancy that distorted England’s competitive landscape even more dramatically. These misdemeanours were called out by Arsene Wenger in the noughties but his warnings fell on deaf ears. Cash clearly talked louder. We now await retribution with bated breath. It certainly made a difference: a club that previously had a solitary first division title  (under Arsenal legend Ted Drake), 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 2 UEFA Cup Winners Cups to its name prior to the injection of Russian money then went on to win 5 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups and 2 Champions Leagues.

In anticipation of this preview, I decided to watch the Chavs’ Europa Conference League tie against a team named after the man who built the ark, not an inappropriate opponent for a club that spent the last few windows acquiring at least a pair of every sort of player ending up with a squad of over forty players for incoming new coach Enzo Maresca to sort into sheep, goats and those who weren’t getting near the grass because he just didn’t fancy them. 

In the Noah game, the ex-Lesta coach made eleven changes from the team that drew 1-1 at the Old Toilet last weekend, resting his entire first team and playing fringe players such as Felix, Fernandez and Mudryk and a bunch of senior academy players. The opposition didn’t amount to much (I don’t think they would have survived the Great Flood), were 4-0 down in 20 minutes and I didn’t learn very much before I switched to the Manure match and then decided to watch paint dry.

To be fair, Maresca has transformed the assortment of misfits that Boehly had collected on a series of very expensive whims and is clearly not only a man who knows the kind of players he likes, ruthlessly banishing those he doesn’t like, but is also a good coach, taking the club that most expected to be a mess into fourth place after ten Premier League games. Coming into this match, they have an identical record to the Arsenal, with five wins, three draws and two defeats but have scored three more goals (20, the third highest in the league) and conceded one more goal (12, seventh equal fewest) but have failed to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since 21 September. At the Bus Stop, in the Premier League, they have beaten Brighton 4-2 and Newcastle 2-1 and drawn 1-1 with Palace and Forest while losing their opening match 2-4 to C130y. They also have a string of impressive away victories, notably at Wolves 6-2, Wet Spam 3-0 and Brighton 1-0.

Out of possession, Maresca tends to play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, evolving into 3-2-4-1 when the ball is regained. One fullback, usually Gusto, inverts into midfield to overload the centre and the defence links to midfield with quick, short passes to create dynamic forward momentum while the two 8’s push forward to attack the opposition. Palmer, their most consistent creator, missed training on Tuesday due to a knock but seems likely to be fit for Sunday. Maresca has played Palmer as a right sided ’10’ rather than as a winger and he has thrived there by cutting inside from the inside right channel onto his left foot to shoot or, against an opposition committed to a high back line, playing through balls from deep to release a runner.

Sanchez has established himself as first choice keeper. Gusto has taken the right back slot during James’ prolonged absence and the latter returned at left back against Manure but the club captain was criticised recently by Maresca for a lack of leadership qualities. Cucurella may return at left back against us. Fofana and Colwill are clearly Maresca’s first choice centre backs. Caicedo has been outstanding as holding midfielder and was partnered by Fernandez until recently when Lavia has been preferred. Fernandez played 45 minutes against Noah on Thursday, captained the side and made three assists so may have a late role in Sunday’s game while Lavia had his feet up and will probably start.

The Chav coach currently relies on a consistent attacking set up with Jackson as central striker supported by Palmer and with Madueke and Neto on the wings sidelining expensive acquisitions Nkunku (£52m, 1 start) and Felix (£46m, 0 starts) who generally warm the bench alongside Mudryk and Sancho. All these players have pace and the wingers start wide and dart goalwards, thriving on Palmer’s passing range and threatening the space behind defenders. Frequently, Jackson will drop deep dragging out his marker to create space for a winger or a midfielder to run into.

When possession is lost, they immediately counter-press energetically with their midfield overload before dropping into a 4-4-2 block. Caicedo, whom Maresca has restored to the impressive form that interested us at Brighton, leads the club’s stats on duels and ranks top in the Premier League for tackles. He is is often joined in the midfield press by either Gusto or Cucurella both of whom rank in the PL top twenty for defensive duels.

We can expect to have to work hard to penetrate their organised transition and defensive block meanwhile our defenders will need to be alert to their swift forays behind our defensive line. A significant disadvantage may be the unrewarded, heavy shift that our first team had to put in against Internazionale on Wednesday that will have taken a great deal out of them mentally and physically in comparison with the Chav first team who all had the full week off in which to prepare for our visit.

Our last two games have felt rather like ‘Groundhog Day’ and the absence of Martin Ødegaard appeared more telling in these games than in previous matches. Massed ranks of large, determined and most pertinently, well-organised defenders proved an almost insurmountable obstacle to an Arsenal team lacking the energy, drive, guile and creativity that Martin Ødegaard brings to the space between the opposition midfield and defence. We haven’t been as abject as some would have it and there’s no doubt that our performance at the home of the top team in Serie A, who have yet to concede a goal this season, was better than our performance at Newcastle. But for some bad luck on the penalty front and some great blocks by Milan defenders we would have taken at least the point that our performance deserved. Nonetheless, the arc of ennui reappeared, we kept lumping crosses for their monsters to repel and the lack of a disruptor in the box and swift movement and creativity was significant in the end. Hopefully, a Chelsea defence that has conceded 12 goals in 10 matches will prove more accommodating.

As ever recently, we approach this game with injury concerns. Declan Rice who missed the Milan game, apparently has a broken toe, has not trained at all by the time of Mikel Arteta’s Friday press conference and will have a late fitness test. Even should he pass that test, he will clearly not be playing at 100%. Kai Havertz came off in Milan with blood streaming from a head wound after a collision. Hopefully that is merely a superficial gash (the scalp bleeds like a stuck pig) and there are no concussion issues. Merino was subbed at half-time in Milan and MA8 said he had not been feeling well the day before the Milan match and his half time removal was precautionary. Hopefully he has thrown off the lurgy if he is required to replace or play alongside Rice.

It was a huge morale boost to see MØ8 take the field on Wednesday, albeit for only 5 minutes but I do not expect him to start this game. The only selection issue is, in his absence, who will comprise our starting midfield trio. Actually, this shows that our team is scarily predictable, making life easy for opposition coaches who merely need to double or triple mark Saka and Martinelli to neutralise Arsenal’s attack. Hence, I would select Ethan Nwaneri, on the basis of his poise and robust appearances to date, his unfamiliarity to the opposition and the unpredictabilty that his movement and control brings to our attack. My team is therefore:

Raya

White Saliba Gabriel Timber

Nwaneri Partey Rice/Merino

Saka Havertz Martinelli

After our harvest of one point from our last three Premiership games and consecutive defeats in the last two games, this feels like a ‘must-win’ especially considering the gap to the league leaders. It’s certainly a must-not-lose and with yet another Interlull coming up, the prospect of festering over another defeat is intolerable. Coming at the end of a difficult run of games, I suspect that our weary players may have to be content with a hard-fought 1-1 or 2-2 draw though the bookies have us as slight favourites at 6/4 with the draw at 13/5 and a home win at 15/8. Nonetheless, as ever recently, this Holic Pound is going to Ukraine.

Enjoy the game Holics, from whichever global vantage point you are viewing.

GO WIN, ARSENAL!

Mystic Ned’s predicted team in the San Siro was spot on and saw us kick off with Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Merino, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli. Amongst others, Ødegaard returned to the bench with Nwaneri, Jorginho and Jesús, but still no sign of Calafiori. Rice, of course, was out with his foot injury incurred at Newcastle.

Twenty one years after our famous 5-1 victory in the San Siro our own ClockEndRider and son, 21CenturyGooner were among the travelling faithful and were completing a heroic trio of attendances in the last eight days in Preston, Newcastle and Milan. Watch out for their on the spot, atmospheric report in the drinks once they’ve had time to get body and soul back together – more likely in a pub than their recently under utilised beds! They reportedly went for dinner in a Milanese restaurant before the game, They were warned by the manager to “choose carefully from the menu because the waiters have hidden bombs in tins of Alphabet Spaghetti. If they go off, it could spell disaster.”

First half impressions ………….
The first half started alarmingly when, from the first Inter attack, Denzel Dumfries crashed a shot against the crossbar after 1’ 45” with Raya rooted to the spot. Arsenal struggled to get hold of the ball for the first ten to fifteen minutes but then gradually took control and dominated possession for the remainder of the half. Too much of that possession though went backwards and forwards round the U-bend of Despair and progress forwards was far too slow.

We had a series of corners from the right hand side which were delivered well by Saka but none of our usual set piece attackers could carve a clear opening. Gabriel and his marker were both yellow carded after some pushing and shoving when the Inter defender decided to end round one by having a sit on the floor and looking very offended by his rough treatment. We did manage to knock Dumfries into the Inter net but he had unfortunately omitted to take the ball with him.

From one nice move across the pitch Martinelli crossed towards Merino who was cleaned out by a double punch to the head by Inter goalkeeper Sommer. There was a check for a possible penalty but this is Arsenal so no penalty awarded. However, the same player, Mikel Merino, was the victim of a shocking penalty decision against him as the half drew to a close. As another Inter player fell too easily to the ground, the Romanian referee awarded him a free kick. As the ball was swung into our penalty area, the forward in front of Merino stretched a leg upwards and deflected the ball into what I thought was the perfectly normally positioned arm of Merino as he moved to balance himself behind the attacker. The ball travelled at speed all of two feet into Merino’s hand and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. After a negative check for a possible offside the penalty was confirmed and Çalhanoglu scored straight down the middle as Raya dove to his left.

Half time: inter 1 – 0 Arsenal

The second half saw the immediate introduction of Gabriel Jesús for Mikel Merino. It was clear that we were trying to up the tempo of our play as Martinelli shot into the side netting, shortly before sending over yet another corner which only found Saliba’s back as it glanced wide of the post. Saka continued to probe, Havertz curled a lovely shot towards the top corner which was just palmed clear by Sommer but generally the pattern of the game was set.

Arsenal dominated possession and continually found their way into the Inter area but just couldn’t create the clear chance they needed. Inter brought on Thuram, Barella and Mikhitaryan on the hour it it wasn’t until 81 minutes that Arteta sent on Zinchenko and Nwaneri for Timber and Trossard. Nwaneri was busy and looked to carry the ball well and very much in the style of his mentor, Ødegaard who made his own long awaited return on 89 minutes after Kai Havertz was forced off with a bloodied face following a clash of heads with Bissek. Nwaneri made a lovely turn past his marker on 96 minutes only to shoot high over the bar. A shame for the 17 year old on his Champions League debut, but even at his young age he does provide drive and impetus through the middle which we have been sadly lacking. Jesús tried a nice run and shot on 98 minutes which was blocked and greeted the referees final whistle.

And so …….
And so our first defeat in this season’s Champions League sees us drop to 12th place in the table. Hard to say what that means at this stage of the new format. Time will obviously tell. Tonight we got plenty of balls out to our wide men but too many deliveries were hopeful rather than incisive. There was less than no room in front of Inter’s goal to be honest but our forwards seem to have lost confidence in front of goal. We are anything but clinical at the moment but hopefully the return of Ben White and, above all, Martin Ødegaard will restore some fluency to our right hand side and Timber, if he’s going to play on the left, will establish a similar understanding with Merino and Martinelli.

Availability and clever rotation are going to be needed to get the season back on track. Better understanding will improve the quality of our play and that will hopefully restore the confidence to attack in numbers that we seem to have lost.

And finally ….
We have seen some excellent refereeing performances so far in this season’s Champions League. Sadly tonight’s was not one of them. The Romanian official allowed Inter to steal 10 yards at least at every throw on; he fell for it every time one of them fell over and gave them another free kick; almost every 50-50 decision went to the home side, and the penalty decision was plain awful. Yet another dreadful, game-deciding decision goes against us. Suffice to say Mikel Arteta was not amused in his post match interview.

And finally, finally ….
One of the highlights of a pretty unenjoyable game had to come from Ally McCoist on co-comms. Discussing the snacks in the commentary box, “my nuts have taken an absolute battering” he exclaimed with huge innuendo – which I believe is Italian for ‘suppository’.

I’ll bid you Good Night !

And so to Milan’s Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more familiarly known as the San Siro, for our Wednesday evening Champions League match against Internazionale with the mini-league phase reaching its half-way point.

Yet again, it falls to my lot to preview a football match against a club whose roots lie with cricketers. Inter was a breakaway from the Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club, now simply AC Milan, whose own origin story involves a drunken evening of British expats (che sorpresa!) waxing nostalgic in 1899 about the games they played in the Old Country.

The nub of the Milanese schism was the Italian Football Federation’s attempt in 1907 to limit the number of foreign players. It had the cockamamie idea of restricting the Italian championship to teams with only Italians while creating a junior competition for teams that included foreigners. This prompted the leading teams, including Milan, to sit out both competitions in protest. However, for the following season, some proposed boycotting just the championship, making the lesser competition the superior one. 

It is not definitively clear how the arguments broke within the Milan club: to be all-expat, all-Italian, mixed, limited mixed. However, it is beyond doubt that its officials and members were deeply riven. In March 1908, the club’s assistant secretary, Giorgio Muggiani, a Milanese who had discovered a love of football while in boarding school in Switzerland, led a breakaway group of 43 other members who wanted the club to keep accepting foreign players alongside Italians. They set up their own team and named it Internazionale because, as Muggiani famously declared, ‘we are brothers of the world’.

Muggiani was an illustrator who became a distinguished Futurist graphic artist and created celebrated advertising posters for the likes of Pirelli, Campari and Martini. A story attributed to his son is that Inter’s colours derive from the crest his father drew for the new club. He wanted that to be as diametrically opposed to Milan’s predominantly fire-red insignia as he could get. The colour on the other end of his two-coloured red drawing pencil was blue. 

It sounds apocryphal, but perhaps no more incredible than Muggiani’s assertion that the midnight blue night sky over the l’Orologio restaurant, the artists’ hang-out where the separatists met, inspired Inter’s black and blue.

Black, blue and silver

The Nerazzurri have seen plenty of silverware of the non-culinary variety since that night: 20 league championships, nine Copa Italia, eight Supercopa Italia, three Champions League trophies, the same number of UEFA Cups and a World Club Cup. 

They wear the scudetto this season as defending Serie A champions and sit second, a point behind Napoli, whom they play next weekend. They have won seven of their 11 league games; their only defeat came in the Milan derby. In the CL, they have drawn at the Etihad, beaten Red Star at home and Young Boys away — all without conceding a goal, but neither have we. In the CL mini-league, we both have seven points. They sit two slots above the eighth-place cut-off for automatic qualification for the knock-out phase; we are one place below.

Simone Inzaghi, now in his fourth season in charge, consistently starts a 3-5-2, but it quickly becomes a 2-3-3-2 with the ball and a 5-3-2 without it. His team does not press high but looks to control the game with a mid-block and create the space to attack behind an opponent’s back line. Its wing-backs will put a lot of early crosses into those spaces, and its deep-lying playmaker, Turkey’s Hakan Calhanoglu, will also target those areas with long cross-field balls and late runs into the box. 

Without the ball, falling back into 5-3-2 blocks the centre and forces the opposition to work around the flanks. Inter allows the opposition plenty of shots (sixth highest among this season’s CL teams for shots conceded), but they have not yet led to any goals. In his pre-match press conference, Inzaghi stressed the importance of not letting us do anything with the ball when we have it. We have found breaking down that sort of defending tough sledging this season. The game has the makings of an attritional one.

Inter

With first-choice centre-back former Italian international Francesco Acerbi just returning from a hamstring injury, expect Inzaghi to start Switzerland’s keeper Yann Sommer, who has kept seven clean sheets in his 10 CL games with Inter, in front of a back line comprising veteran Dutch international Stefan de Vrij, France’s Benjamin Pavard, and Alessandro Bastoni, who has a propensity to drive high up the pitch in the manner of Calafiori, whom he plays alongside in the Italian national team. Promising young German defender Yann Bisseck will be on the bench.

Calhanoglu played 20 minutes off the bench at the weekend after missing the previous two games with a muscle injury. Thus, he will likely share the midfield duties across the 90 with Italy’s Nicolo Barella, Davide Fattesi, who arrived from Sassuolo in the summer, Piotr Zielinksi, who was picked up on a free from Napoli in the off-season and skippers Poland when Lewandowski is not playing, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, formerly of this parish but enjoying an Indian summer to his career at 35. 

Dutch international Denzil Dumfries and Italian veteran Matteo Darmian are the right-wing-back candidates. Darmian did Inter’s pre-match press conference with Inzaghi, so he may be the one to get the nod. Brazilian Carlos Augusto is an injury doubt, so Italy’s Frederico Dimarco should start on the left. At 26, Dimarco is relatively youthful for this Inter side; the average age of the likely starting XI is approaching 31.

Club captain Lautaro Martinez and French international Marcus Thuram will be up top. The pairing will arguably be Gabriel and Saliba’s sternest test this season. Thuram is Inter’s leading goal scorer this term in the league with seven, plus five assists, followed by Martinez (5+3). The prolific Argentine was Serie A’s top scorer last season with 24 and headed the winner at the weekend from a Dimarco cross.

Mehdi Taremi, who captains the Iranian national side, for which he has scored 51 goals in 89 matches, and Marko Arnautovic (120 caps for Austria), a former West Ham teammate of Declan Rice, will be available from the bench. However, the Austrian is struggling to get over an eye infection. At 32 and 35, respectively, they were a couple of bargain pick-ups in the off-season to add seasoned squad depth. 

The Arsenal

After the meh-ness at St James’s Park, we need a lively response in a sold-out San Siro. The injury list is getting shorter but shifting: Rice has unexpectedly joined its ranks. While the return of Martin Ødegaard to training is heartening, we would see him on the bench at best; it looks from the training pictures that his ankle is still strapped. I’m not sure White and Timber have 90 minutes in their legs yet, but we will need Partey’s verticality in midfield even more in Rice’s absence. Thus: 

Raya

White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber

Partey, Merino, Trossard

Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

We have played Inter only twice before, in the CL group stage in 2003-04. After losing 3-0 at Highbury, we had a glorious 5-1 win in the San Siro with goals from Henry (2), Ljungberg, Edu and Pires. Since then, we have failed to win or even score in our last four CL away trips to Italy.

A draw against Inter would not be terrible. Yet I will latch onto the fact that the Nerazzurri have never kept four consecutive clean sheets in the CL, and thus, we shall end a run of three winless games by grinding out a classic 1-0 to the Arsenal.

Enjoy the game ‘holics, near and far.

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