Games are arriving so thick and fast that it’s hard to keep up with the schedule from a diary point of view – Heaven knows what it must be like for the players! The dust (snow?) has barely settled on the strange events at the Amex – can it really be yet another blow in a postulated, but to my mind unlikely, PGMOL pay-back conspiracy (MA8 called them a disgrace last season and ‘got away with it’ when carpeted, now it’s payback), a malign alignment of stars or are we just the unlucky victims of an astonishing series of bizarre decisions that you will never see again? Now, with minimal recovery time, we must go toe to toe with Newcastle for a place in the League Cup Final.
One thing I can confidently predict about the forthcoming match is that Newcastle will be well up for it. Which strategy they adopt remains to be seen. Will they adopt a two-leg strategy and put in the kind of away performance we have seen before from ‘Nice Eddie’s’ teams at the Grove: dig in with an eight man defence, waste time from the first minute onwards, foul rotationally, disrupt play, kick, elbow, shove, hit and barge with the objective of getting a result in this game that makes the SJP leg decisive, or will they, with their new found confidence, go for a win at the Grove against the weakened and potentially off-colour Arsenal side that will face them to put the tie beyond our reach?
Newcastle are on a great run of form at the moment, having won six games in a row in all competitions and Isak currently can’t stop scoring – he has now netted in seven consecutive premier league matches, matching a club record held jointly by Alan Shearer and Joe Willock. This season’s League Cup is their biggest opportunity to win silverware for the first time in a very long time and ‘Nice Eddie’ who was under a bit of pressure when their results were iffy at the beginning of this season, will be desperate to deliver a trophy to the Sheik of Araby.
It’s been a long time since a Barcode lifted a cup. Their last kosher trophy (we exclude the Intertoto Cup of 2006, Anglo-Italian Cup of 1973 and Texaco Cups of 1974 & 1975) was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor to the Europa League) in 1968-69. Their last domestic trophy (excluding three second tier championships) was the FA Cup in 1954-55. So the Geordies will have a huge hunger to win this tie and I expect that there will be no unenforced changes from their first choice eleven for this game.
Newcastle have never won the League Cup, in either its unsponsored or sponsored guises. However, they have reached the final twice, losing to Manchester City (predecessor to C130y) 1-2 in 1975-76 and to Manchester United 0-2 in 2022-23. The PL title this season is far more remote for Newcastle than it appears to be for us and the League Cup represents their best chance of silverware this season. They will have a huge hunger to win this semi-final.
Once reaching this stage, Newcastle’s record in League Cup semi-finals is actually better than ours, though their appearances have been much less frequent. Both times they have reached the semi-final of this competition, they have progressed to the final. They will be under pressure to maintain that record.
Actually, we should be every bit as hungry as Newcastle in this tie. The Arsenal have played in seventeen League Cup semi-finals, since the competition’s inception in 1966-67, and have progressed only eight times and only gone on to win the silverware twice. We last appeared in the semi-final in 2021-22 when we went out to Liverpool following a goalless draw at the Grove and a 0-2 defeat at Anfield. Our last semi-final success was in 2017-18 when we beat Chelsea 2-1 after drawing 0-0 at the Bus Stop in Fulham only to be well beaten 0-3 by a confident C130y in the final – to deliver Pep Guardiola his first trophy in England.
You will doubtless recall that Arsene Wenger tended to use this competition as an opportunity for youth development and we often didn’t progress far, regularly falling at the first moderately difficult hurdle. However, Arsene did lead us to three finals – most recently that damp squib against C115y and before that a deeply disappointing 1-2 defeat to Birmingham City in 2010-11 (I still cannot believe that we didn’t win that game) and another disappointing defeat in 2006-7 to Mourinho’s Chelsea where we succumbed 1-2 in Cardiff to two Drogba goals. I attended all three of those finals and swear that I will never attend another League Cup Final. Holic would periodically lament the experience of attending our League Cup Finals against Dirty Leeds in 1968 and Swindon Town in 1969, so I guess that we may have a long tradition of misfortune in this competition.
There appear to be so-called Arsenal supporters out there currently suggesting that, after five years in the hot seat and with ‘only an FA Cup’ to show for his expenditure, Arteta should be replaced if he doesn’t win silverware this season. I would like to see us win this trophy as well as every other competition we enter, but the very same morons would undoubtedly dismiss it as ‘only a League Cup’, and continue to demand Arteta’s head. Arsenal are, of course, committed to diversity and equality, hence there appears to be room in the Goonersphere for morons along with normal people. Fortunately, however, Arteta’s employers have a few more neurones to spark together and recognise the transformation he has achieved within the club and the prospects for the team that he has been building. I am confident that whatever the outcome for the trophy cabinet this season, Mikel Arteta’s job is secure.
As already noted, Newcastle come into this tie in great form which coincides with the return from exile of Tonali and ‘Nice Eddie’s’ discovery of his best team. Dubravka has deputised well for the injured Pope, their backline has been stiffened by the replacement of an ageing Trippier by the energetic Livramento at right back and the emergence of Hall at left back while they have had a rich selection of giant and aggressive centre backs – though injuries and suspension have struck this department and it remains to be seen whether the knock that forced Botman off at the Toilet Bowl, on his return from a year out after an ACL, keeps him out tomorrow. If so, he will probably be replaced by Lloyd Kelly unless one of their more experienced centre backs recovers in the interim to partner Burn as Schär is still suspended. I suspect that the biggest factor in Newcastle’s recent good form is Howe’s decision to deploy a midfield of Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton that looks strong and competitive off the ball and mobile and silky in possession. (STOP PRESS – as CER points out in the Drinks and I had overlooked, the sneaky, rabbit punch bandit, Guimaraes is suspended for this match and I expect he will be replaced by Longstaff – who brings as much muscle but hopefully less vision to their midfield.) Murphy has featured lately in the right sided attacking spot with several recent goals and assists while Isak and Gordon, likely to be fit after his facial reconstruction at the Toilet Bowl, are nailed on to start up front.
The Arsenal are undefeated in nine games since Isak’s winner at SJP in early November but we don’t come into this game in great shape. The team looked lethargic in the second half against Brighton. Havertz has missed two games due to a viral infection and was clearly suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection (a.k.a. ‘a cold’) when interviewed after the Ipswich game. It seems likely that Ødegaard who was unable to train before the Brighton game, was playing through flu-like symptoms. Apparently Merino, MLS and possibly some others were also suffering from the viral symptoms. The second half lethargy at Brighton may reflect widespread viral infection rather than merely a hangover from a tough game against Brentford only a couple of days earlier with several days less rest than Brighton. Just when it looked as if we had found a promising replacement for the injured Saka, Nwaneri’s substitution at half-time due to a ‘muscular issue’ was a sickener with Arteta observing that this injury was ‘really bad news’. Hopefully, Arteta was talking of really bad news for the team rather than for the lad. Time will tell. Fingers crossed that was another example of Arteta hyperbolic misdirection.
Although we are still in four competitions, the points gap to the top of the Premier League and our accumulating, and no doubt not yet ended, misfortunes at the hands of PGMOL apparatchiks, means we should probably also regard this tie as our best chance of silverware this season. Thus, if it was an option, we should also be selecting our first choice eleven. However, team selection will probably be determined more by who is fit enough to play than about choosing ‘horses for courses’. Walking wounded may also be eligible.
Timber will hopefully return rested, flu-free and raring to go, allowing Partey, who acquitted himself reasonably well at Brighton until tiring late on, to return to his most effective role in central midfield with Rice alongside him as I can’t see Partey coping against that Newcastle midfield as a single pivot. Hopefully, Ødegaard will have thrown off the lurgy though his 30 minutes running around in a blizzard at Brighton will almost certainly have set his recovery back, otherwise we may have the relatively solid but unspectacular midfield trio of Partey, Rice & Merino. Perhaps Havertz has also recovered sufficiently to make the squad if not the team and hopefully no others have succumbed to the virus. However, I suspect that our choice of a starting forward line is entirely restricted to the trio who finished against Brighton unless Sterling has made a recovery from his knee injury.
Hence, assuming Ødegaard’s youth facilitates a swift recovery, I would select the following starting eleven:
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Ødegaard, Partey, Rice;
Martinelli, Jesùs, Trossard.
If neither Havertz nor Sterling recover, heaven knows who we can put on the bench to call on if a forward substitute is required. I can’t name an academy prospect whom I can see potentially being thrown in against Newcastle’s defensive monsters. Perhaps, given the circumstances, Arteta may adopt a Gorgeous George tactic and choose to add extra cover in midfield from the off, MLS or Zinchenko for Trossard, perchance? I can’t see it myself but if I was in the hotseat, I would certainly consider that. It worked several times for George.
The Holic pound? Well at the time of writing, the bookies have us favourites at 7/10 with the draw at 16/5 and the ‘Codes at 4/1. You can get 2-1 to the good guys at 15/2 and 1-0 at 8/1. Their shortest odds are 7/1 for a 1-1 draw. Be lucky, punters.
I expect a tight, physically challenging, angst-ridden contest but if we can’t throw off the lethargy from that second half at Brighton we are going to be in trouble. There really should be no ‘saving our legs’ for the FA Cup tie against Manure on Sunday. Nor, on the other hand, should we take foolish risks to win this home leg. As a minimum, we must ensure that the tie is not out of reach after this leg. We should have some reinforcements back by the second leg, perhaps even a new signing, and we are quite capable of winning the tie in the second leg, PGMOL permitting.
Enjoy the match, Holics.
Cheers baff!
And Happy New Year all. Hopefully we can stop the Magpies’ current winning streak. It being a strangely two-legged affair played over a month makes is a very strange fixture ahead of an extremely tough week.
I’ll take any result that has us still be in it. Of course, if we make practically sure in this first half, I’m all for it!
Thanks for the excellent preview, Bath. Although our record in this competition is somewhat sobering. I think I’m right in saying that Guimaraes, otherwise known as The St James Park Forearm Smasher, is suspended for this game as a result of infractions in the previous legs. I for one won’t miss his snide antics. No doubt Nice Eddie and his team will.
I agree that this may represent our best chance of silverware. I also concur with your description of those who would see Arteta gone as morons. Even if you take such a stupid assertion as simply childish hyperbole, which certainly explains some of it, it begs the question: who could have done better? Given where we were and the complete turnaround of ethos and atmosphere in the camp and at the club more widely – certainly in and around my small part of Block 10- there is nobody who can hold a candle to Arteta. I refuse to despair at the level of stupidity shown by those who promote such a baseless idea. Although I cannot rule out self-enrichment among certain of the online purveyors of such coarse crassness as a reason, in the knowledge that, frankly, far too many people in this country have far too few if any critical faculties of their own and are at best easily led.
CER @2, you are correct about Guimaraes being suspended tomorrow. I’ll amend that.
Thanks Bath, a fine summary of our current situation and the XI to start.
Like you I am doubtful of some grand conspiracy against us and simple
incompetence or financially-oriented corruption seem more likely
considering the organisation type.
Unless I have missed a fixture I think we now have 5 home games in a row
in the Carabao, FA cup, PL and CL. By the end of that lot we won’t know
anything for sure but we will have better idea of our prospects this season.
Be nice to start that run with a good win against this odious shower and I think
we will – we were good against Palace, struggled against Ipswich, good again
at Brentford, and struggled once more vs Brighton. It’s the turn of the good
Arsenal and i believe we will roar to a 3-0 win. COYGS!
Last time I went to a League Cup Final we won – I recommend the club
fly me over immediately if we make the final.
Come to think of it I will be over to the UK for two months from mid March
so I might be able to save them the cost of a private jet 🙂
I made the last two League Cup finals. Would probably attempt a third too, on the basis of having absolutely no idea if I will be able to go to another match before the end of the season, the lucky ballot streak having ended, and Ticket Exchange proving incredibly fruitless this season.
Waiting for FA Cup ballot result today, the timing of which is ridiculously close to the match date, but I think I have Eurostar points to use if travel is too expensive, so I applied (all of three weeks ago I think….).
I remember when Silver could book tickets two months before a fixture and I could get organised.
A very clear-eyed match preview/medical report, bath, on a game in which team selection will probably come down to which eleven are fit.
Perhaps we should play the Academy’s 5’8″ forward, Ismeal Kabia, so he can run underneath the Barcode’s gargantuan central defenders.
Kabia was on the bench at the weekend I think.
And I did just read that we recalled Sagoe from his loan at Shrewsburg
though I have no idea if that is anything to do with the current
shortage of attackers.
Kabia was on the bench indeed on Saturday, Matt.
RE: 6. FA Cup here I come…
Thanks Bath – great work. Our injury / illness situation is almost as one off as the accumulation of unique PGMOL decisions against us. Only one thing to do – support and encourage whatever happens and remember that, unlikely as it seems right now, a spate of injuries and sickness is also a spate of opportunities for eager stand-ins to impress.
This will be a tough ask but you never know 🤞🏻
Nwanari out ‘for a few weeks’, Arteta says.
Charlie Sagoe Jnr is two inches shorter than Kabia. Very novel 4-4-2 formation in prospect. 🙂
Excellent preview, Baff.
Time to batten down the hatches. All hands to the pump.
The PGMOL and media anti-Arsenal bias is stunningly public. There is no artifice…no pretense of neutrality or fairness. It’s worse than I can recall since I started following the Arsenal (way back 😅) in 2006.
I’ve stopped expecting anything other than fists on the scale favoring our opposition. We begin every game 11 v 15. More importantly, however, this season has clarified my support. I am giving Arteta and the boys the benefit of every doubt in my mind, and I am ceding nothing to the competition until the final kick of the ball in the last meaningful game in each of our competitions.
For me, this is a crucible season very much reminiscent of the training battle scenes from Ender’s Game. The training games, the scheduling, the rules, everything was manipulated against Ender and his team…to try and break his will.
Like Ender, we will rise. We will triumph. Bet on it.
(And, if we fail to win anything, we dust ourselves off, retool, and go again next season…😎)
MCMBD.
It wasn’t hyperbolic misdirection, then…
A very comprehensive preview Bath got which many thanks . I think you got the order of the results in the last Liverpool semi/final the wrong way round but it’s irrelevant to an excellent preview
I don’t know where I will watch the game tomorrow but it won’t be North London . I’m due to go under the knife in early morning and not sure if I will get home or watch from a hospital ward . From the sound of it I may have a few players for company !
Part of the problem we have is due to bad planning in the window, part is bad luck . We do need to realise that we’ve only suffered one legitimate defeat this year ( at Newcastle ) the other two being hard luck or execrable refereeing/ VAR .
I’ve been to many losing League Cup Finals including the two in the sixties , Luton , Birmingham and C130 y but I did see Adams drop Morrow in 1993 . Fingers crossed we set up another Final over the two legs
Mike McDonald on Brighton
TTG@15: Best wishes for Tuesday.
~@16: Mike McDonald’s piece would be funny if it weren’t so true.
Entirely separately, it turns out that there is a PL regulation that says away fans have to be accommodated at pitch level, presumably to prevent them from hurling projectiles onto home fans below. Yet, Geordie Arabia, to C100’s great inconvenience, has been granted an exemption to this. Why?
Ned, if there wasn’t a lift at SJP, I’d need to hire Sherpas.
I thought that piece @16 was a joke at first ………
Ned @17 – I can think of a few reasons why the north eastern Arabs have been granted an exemption: i) the obvious one, 💰💰💰, ii) Newcastle fans are special – they are more passionate than any other fans and are the in,y ones who can create a special atmosphere in their ground, which must not be jeopardised by splitting them up and send some of them into the lower stratosphere, iii) some of them, especially the huge, bare chested ones, are so fat that they probably could not make it to the upper tier and, if they did, would likely tumble right over the edge killing themselves and hundreds of innocent fans in the lower levels.
Hope that makes yet another “special rule” a bit clearer.
I thought that Mike McDonald link @16 was a joke at first …….
Good luck, TTG. Hope it will all go well.
Ned. I’ll bite. What might be the logically suspected reasons why Saudi entities are granted exemptions? Come to think of it, I can think of one reason in particular but I wouldn’t dare to suggest what type of currency could have been involved in the exchange.
Thanks Bath for another excellent preview. As you say the games are coming nearly as fast as the injuries, not to mention the comically incompetent and/or (who really knows) corrupt decisions by PGMOL apparatchiks, especially the ones who have been documented taking Saudi baksheesh. How we maintain any kind of hope is anyone’s guess but maintain it we do. COYG!!!!!!
Re: Trev @20. No such luck, unfortunately. Mike McDonald may nominally have claimed authorship but Howard Webb and friends were no doubt the inspiration. Writing down the rules as PGMOL applies them does make them come across as a joke though.
@10 well in for the ticket Ollie!
@15 best of luck TTG
@17 there’s an exemption on safety grounds in the pitch side rule Ned.
Local authority said that there was insufficient segregation between home /
away support to seat the away fans lower and Ashley used that to get an
exemption as the cost to restructure the stadium would be prohibitively
high.
I strongly suspect the exemption is a load of old bollocks but that’s just
because i strongly suspect Ashley of being a very dodgy chancer
The latest GHF Predictathon Leaderboard and form guide have been posted. You know where to find them…
bt8@22 and OM@26: I don’t why the away support at St James’s is nearer the Moon than the pitch, beyond the Saudis were grandfathered in, but OM’s explanation rings true. Just the sort of mendacious stunt Ashley would have pulled.
Some worrying intelligence on the goalkeeping front: Tommy Setford is an injury doubt. With Neto cup-tied and Alexei Rojas on international duty, 16-year old Jack Porter could be on the bench as cover for Raya.
Cheers Baff, an excellent preview that neatly captures the feelings before the match.
As you say, our rotation options are limited, whatever Arteta might like to do in an ideal world. I hope that the ref doesn’t simply let them foul their way through the game, but that seems a forlorn hope. Joelinton was bought as a striker but they’ve turned him into a bloke who elbows and kicks his way through matches, somehow with impunity. I can’t think of a team i’d less like to play when trying to avoid more injuries.
However, Arteta and his team won’t have that mindset. We, as a club, need to rally together (anyone calling for Arteta’s head now or at the end of the season is not only misguided but also working against the interests of the club right now).
Arteta is exactly right in his approach and his messaging when he talks of… “That willingness to be better every single day to try to improve and not look for excuses because in anything that you do, you look for excuses, you are going to find them.”
It is time to dig in, accept that we are going to get nothing from referees but everyone we play will get soft decisions, accept the injuries, accept the schedule, and find a way to turn all of that to our advantage, to forge a mindset and determination in the face of adversity that will serve us in fighting on all fronts until the last whistle of the last game.
Calm seas don’t make good sailors. It is time to embrace the storm!
Come On Arsenal!
It would also be good to put the 2nd leg to bed tonight. Why we still have this nonsensical 2nd leg for LC Semi finals is a complete mystery when the schedule is already full to bursting. However a 4 nil thumping will make the second game an easier process.
GSD@29: A stirring rallying cry. Well said.
A refereeing addendum for tonight’s first leg. Seeing as Pawson’s history in our games is’t too disagreeable We should hope he doesn’t attempt to redress that situation to please his paymasters.
“Craig Pawson has been handed control of this cup tie, and he has been a lucky omen as we’re unbeaten in the last 11 matches he’s refereed, stretching back to September 2021. However we did draw 0-0 against Everton on his only Gunners game this term, which came just over three weeks ago.
In contrast, it will be the fourth time Pawson has overseen the Magpies this season. They beat Southampton on the opening day despite the official sending off Schar in the first half, and he also awarded them a penalty at Everton in another goalless draw. They lost 2-0 at home to West Ham United on his last appointment.
The two legs of this game plus the other semi-final between Liverpool and Tottenham will see a new VAR system trialled, whereby the on-field referee will explain decisions to the crowd via the PA system when he uses the pitchside monitor. This isn’t the case for decisions made not using the monitor.
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Ian Hussin, Wade Smith
Fourth official: Tony Harrington
VAR: John Brooks”
Source: the arsenal website
Any Holic with a flare for fancy footwork and an eye for goal should take his boots along with him tonight. The lurgi in the camp may well provide an opportunity to don the famous red and take to the emerald green.
I fear a tough watch with elbows and studs flying in, at least at times when barcoded bums aren’t on the ground to run down the clock.
If Havertz and Odegaard are fully fit, we’re inn with more than a chance though. It would be wonderful to have a cushion for the return game.
@27, the Crowd peering over my shoulder – making me nervous, Ned. Almost as bad as bad as Guimaraes creeping up from behind (Matron!)
Arsenal XI
Raya, Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Rice, Partey, Ødegaard (c)
Trossard, Havertz, Martinelli.
Strong looking team, reasonable bench, are they all illness free?
Substitutes:
Porter, Calafiori, Jorginho, Kiwior, Merino, Sterling, Tierney, Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus.
Porter’s wiki page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Porter_(footballer)
-says he will turn 17 years old on 15 July.
Porter’s wiki page also includes a section entitled “Early Life” which is apparently different from the present, which as I imagine is intended to give us a higher degree of confidence in his experience. Come on Raya!
BtM. Indeed I hope they are all illness free and our stamina will be much better in the second half than what we saw at Brighton.
bt8@37: I mentioned @28 that Porter would likely be on the bench.
It’s a decent-looking team. Arteta is in it to win it.
COYG!
Strong team. Thank you Day Nurse.
COYG
Bollocks, going to have to do it the hard way then.
We had our chances! I fancied Martinelli to score on that break.
Their goal poor. If you don’t win the first ball, you must win the second. We didn’t.
We’ll get more chances in the second half. Need to take them.
Isak worth his weight in gold at the moment.
Sadly, we are, indeed, largely wading through treacle here.
Kai has to score, got to find something now, COYGS!
This is an interesting moment in the season but not in a good way.
I think we need a treasure map to find something, Matt. We have had our chances though but no potency whatsoever.
Our fans streaming out with 10 mins of a cup-tie. That’s what happens when you go to a ballot and guys like me and Bath can’t get in.
Next two games are difficult to say the least. Need a goal here from somewhere. Not sure where.
22 shots to 7 apparently – but Newcastle still worthy winners on the night.
Yep way better and we’ll deserved.
Yeah, that was all a complete bastard. MA is going to need
to earn his corn over the next few days as there’s no rest
for the wicked this month.
Too many wasted chances. Once Codes moved to a 0-5-5 set up with three centre halves the game was over. Not easy to penetrate that and frankly, we didn’t really come close.
Sticky end to an evening’s treacle wading.
It’s all so slow. I guess it’s a confidence thing but we need to make it a lot harder for teams to play against us. Too many poor performances.
Those pesky, meddling refs
It was one of those days when we didn’t have a chance we couldn’t miss. The Amersham Ancelotti won’t play 5-5-0 at St James’s so all hope isn’t lost.
The Swiss Ramble has just completed publishing a two-part post on his Substack about where all the PL clubs stand in regard to the January transfer window and PSR ceilings. The good news is that he reckons we have plenty of headroom for spending. That, of course, is not the same thing as there being anyone to spend the money on.
Simply a case of popping along to the local Striker Supermarket with your wedge, Ned (or so some would have me believe).
That Newcastle display was impressive and perfect for a two leg tie
If only we’d bought Isak instead of going for Vlahovic and ending up with Laca and then Jesus we might have at least one title . He’s a Rolls Royce player
While I appreciate the clamour for a striker, I wonder how much difference it would make when our build up play is far too often at the same speed as sloths make love. When we speeded it up, we broke through. The problem is too often we were trapped in Arteta’s preferred sideways-backwards infinite passing loop.
CER
Last season we broke our scoring record. Sure, last night we could have been more incisive but to say that Arteta doesn’t want us to play good football and score goals is nonsense, and suggesting that he actively prefers a “sideways-backwards infinite passing loop” is obviously a comment born of frustration at last night’s result.
Without our best player, with our most creative player in a funk and with very little on the bench to change things, this does not seem to me like the time to start misrepresenting and attacking the football philosophy of the manager.
Looking back at strikers since Henry left for Barca we have had some utter dross such as Park, Sanogo, Chamakh, Perez. Some fairly average such as Danny W, Laca, Jesus, Eddie, Havertz. Even Auba wasn’t a game changer for us. I can only view Eduardo and Giroud favourably. It’s not a great list us it?
It’s also fair to say that an in form striker helps the creative engine of the team, in the same way a good goalie helps his or her defence. If the forward players are scoring regularly the creative players will also come into their own. We actually need more goals from midfielders Rice, Partey, Ode to get us going but for a lot of reasons their form seems to have dropped.
Then we will free to disagree, GSD. Last night I watched us play incredibly slowly, breaking their press only for us to stop and wait for the opposition to reconfigure in their banks of 4. When we played quickly nd ggressively, we cut through. The fault is not wholly with the personnel. It’s with the plan.