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Trossard again Ole Ole !

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As the rhythms of the  anthems of triumph rang out across the ground this afternoon a thought gripped me .’ How I wish I had some of the royalties from Free from Desire’ ! No I jest , it was how incredibly surprising football can be . This game was a marvellous case in point . 

My football day began with a very pleasant lunch at our Ecuadorean eaterie in Holloway Road with the ubiquitous Countrymen . A look at Newcastle v City ( which we finished watching in the ground ). A short stroll to the ground, a friendly chat with Layth Yousif , editor of the Gooner, a pre-match pint of the ghastly and overpriced fizzy rubbish that Arsenal offer to supporters and  then into the match .

Arsenal’s team showed nine changes from  Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup win over Bolton. Raya returned in goal. Timber and Calafiori were the full backs, Partey returned in midfield and Trossard played the Odegaard role after a fashion interchanging with Havertz while Saka and Martinelli were out wide .

Martinelli needed a goal badly and missed a good early chance as Arsenal settled into a strong high press which suffocated Leicester who scarcely ventured into the Arsenal half in the first 45 minutes. Calafiori played the inverted full back role on steroids popping up in advanced positions to support Martinelli but sometimes appearing in central midfield well ahead of Partey . 

There comes a point in a game where you start to feel ‘ we need a goal now’ and in this game it came  around the twentieth minute ,  just as the murmurs were starting , when we scored a peach. Saka touched the ball back to Timber who played an immediate low cross to Martinelli in the centre and he swivelled to score . Arsenal continued to dominate forcing corners at will but finding the young Leicester goalkeeper Hermansen in lively form . Saka was facing double coverage whenever he got the ball but he was regularly able to find colleagues in space in the area . Just as we began to think ‘ wouldn’t it be nice to get a second goal before the break’ , we duly obliged as we moved into first half injury time .  Martinelli went from scoring to assisting , pulling the ball back for Trossard to leave Hermansen helpless from about eight yards . Apart from yellow for Saliba and Calafiori the first half could scarcely have gone better

Half-time Arsenal 2 Leicester 0 

Talk during the interval as people queued to drink the undrinkable( at great expense) was how soon we might see some of our young tyros in the game . The consensus appeared to be , ‘ get an early goal in the first 15 minutes and then throw the young lads on.’ Nwaneri’s performance had caught the imagination on Wednesday night and his entrance was eagerly anticipated . When he did come on it was in very different circumstances from those we had anticipated . Leicester had not had a shot in the first half but within two minutes they had a goal back. Buonanotte placed a free kick into the box from the left wing and Justin’s header deflected off Havertz’s shoulder past Raya .

While most of the crowd saw this as a minor incident in the course of an obvious cakewalk , the goal energised Leicester and their hitherto subdued and dominated players started to counter press more effectively, win 50:50 challenges and at least look like a team with some capability to extend Arsenal. Nevertheless a fierce Justin volley on the hour which flew past Raya and cannoned into the net  off the left-hand post was a major surprise and created a very different match . 

Arsenal were still dominant. In the total match they won 17 corners to Leicester’s zero. Over the match they dominated 75% of the possession and with ten minutes to go Arsenal had fired 29 shots and Leicester only two but the score was tied at 2-2 .

This situation was largely due to the brilliance and reflexes of Hermansen who made an extraordinary double block from a corner from Havertz and Gabriel. He inadvertently passed to Trossard and blocked his resulting  shot at close range and then spectacularly turned a Calafiori header over . Trossard lashed a shot against the post after a Saka cutback.

But perhaps the effort that most deserved to beat him was a magnificent run and shot from Nwaneri in his first action after entering the fray in place of Partey after 70 minutes . He curled a left- footed effort from twenty yards which Hermansen tipped away. Could anyone beat him? Nwaneri regalvanised the team , upping our tempo and energy levels and taking pressure off the heavily marked Saka on the right flank . The clock ticked on and as we entered 7 minutes of injury time there was real concern that we might drop two previous points .

Just into injury time Saka whipped in a left-wing corner which evaded the pack of attackers and defenders in the centre . Trossard waiting to the left of goal stabbed it back left-footed and it entered the goal via Ndidi’s outstretched foot . Cue a mixture of relief and exultation . Leicester tried to rescue the game but in the last minute Arsenal counter- attacked after a Leicester raid . Substitute Gabriel Jesus broke clear and in my view took the wrong option to shoot ( weakly) across goal when company was arriving to his left . For once Hermansen fumbled the ball which Justin deflected on to Havertz who scored from close range. The goal was initially disallowed but the deflection off Justin rendered it legal and at 4-2 the game was over . Cue ‘ Free from Desire ‘ and a triumphant but relieved Arsenal crowd. 

Full time Arsenal 4 Leicester 2 

Leicester seemed aggrieved that there was a foul in the build-up to our first goal and seemed to feel Calafiori had been let off a second yellow. I thought it ironic that for much of the second half the teams recereated the tableau that we saw last Sunday at the Emptihad as we passed the ball around the area and Leicester employed some ‘ dark arts ‘ of their own as players found reasons to delay almost any action on the field and Hermansen regularly went down for treatment . To be fair to Arsenal we created many more chances than C115y did last week but inevitably the second half was a nervy affair. Two points dropped from 2-0 up at home against a relegation candidate would have been disastrous. That such an outcome was averted was due to a combination of determined attacking play , the introduction of Nwaneri who looks an absolute gem and Arteta’s ability to make good substitutions. Sterling replaced Martinelli to good effect and Jesus’s impact was immediate .

Flowers should be extended particularly to Rice who in his quiet , dedicated way covered every blade of grass and put out fires all over the pitch, Timber and Calafiori who bring huge personality to their full-back roles and Trossard who took on the almost impossible job of replacing Odegaard and made a thoroughly good fist of it . This goes down as a narrow escape but an extremely entertaining and invigorating one. Roll on PSG on Tuesday !

Image: Osaka Matt

And Breathe, And Leicester

This Saturday at 3pm (UK time) sees us back at Ashburton Grove to welcome lowly Leicester in our first PL game since the blood and thunder outing at the home of deceit last weekend. A chance to draw breath in what certainly feels like a very eventful start to this campaign even if we are only 5 league games in! The various instances of injury, incompetence and injustice have already been well-covered both here and elsewhere and so I will resist the urge to rage, rage against the lying of the shite and just state that I am very happy with where we are right now. We have had to fight hard, and we have; we have a team now that we know will step up and never forget who we are. What’s not to love? However, can we do better? Yes of course, and one area we could do better so far this season would be finishing. Certainly, the XI thrown together midweek have shown us a righteous path to follow by sticking five past Bolton and as we approach a run of three very winnable league games after a tough start it would be great if we can find the net with more regularity. It would be even greater if the Gabi’s, Martinelli and Jesus were the men to lead the way. Both have looked a little cold in front of goal of late but we will need them running hot at times this season if the power and the glory is to be ours. The forthcoming Leicester, Southampton, and Bournemouth games are, with as ever my customary utmost respect for the opposition, teams that provide an opportunity to take out the trash plucky little blighters.  On then to the first of those three – who to start against Leicester?

The Arsenal XI

Naming the starting XI has proven a little tricky of late. I believe Gabriel, Saliba, Partey, Rice, Havertz and Saka will all play. After that, well the questions start at the last line with who’s in goal? For me, if David Raya is even a small doubt, we go with Neto. From what I have seen of him in the PL, he is a competent and experienced keeper and I am perfectly happy to have him in goal for this game. However, according to Mikel “it is not about risk, it is about a player being fit or available. We will make a decision tomorrow”. In other words, we will find out an hour before kick-off.  Waiting certainly make sense given the difference Raya has already made a few times this season but I am fine either way.   The second question is around the full-backs, and in better news it seems Ben White and Jurrien Timber will be available as will Calafiori and also Myles Lewis-Skelly, fine again apparently after looking slightly the worse for wear on Wednesday.  Purely a guess, but I believe Calafiori may be the one to rest this time with Benjamin and Timber starting.  In midfield Jorginho played a full 90 against Bolton and Thomas was rested so I would assume he will start and Declan will play on the left. As we move into the attack I assume it will again be an interchangeable forward line of Gabi M., Leo, Kai and Bukayo. Again, given he played a full 90 minutes on Wednesday I do not think we will see Nwaneri starting again, however he, Sterling, and Jesus provide good options off the bench. Encouraging news in the presser on Merino and Tomi who are both fairly close to fitness again. Zin , KT and Ode remain out. The XI I believe MA will pick…………

Raya / Neto

White Saliba Gabriel Timber

Partey Rice

Saka Trossard Havertz Martinelli 

I don’t believe it will, in reality, be a 4-2-4 but with Ode still out I think the front 4 are operating even more flexibly than usual. The proof will of course be on the team sheet tomorrow and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if have three or four wrong.

The Opposition

To be honest the only real opposition in this game is ourselves. If we turn up with the right attitude and play our football then the result is a foregone conclusion. To be even more honest, this preview presented me with a bit of a countdown conundrum. Do I, in keeping with the generous spirit of the bar, sprinkle this paragraph with some further coded phrases for second-rate such as whole-hearted, battling, never say die or can beat anyone on their day or do I tell the truth about this Leicester side? I rang Carol for help but she wisely doesn’t accept reverse charge calls from strangers in Japan and so I will plough on regardless. And Leicester were a fair team four or five seasons back as they just missed out on Champions League qualification for a couple of seasons before reverting to type and getting relegated at the end of the 22-23 season. They bounced straight back, the physics of parachutes aiding bouncing elude me but there certainly is a strong attraction in the alternate reality of professional football. The team that was relegated was generally thought too good to go down, though that conclusion conveniently overlooked the undoubted character deficiencies splashed generously into the mixer by their narcissistic master chef, Brendon Rogers. However, in hindsight, I may have been too harsh on that collection of faint hearts and phone it inners, because they were actually better than this current incarnation.  They have two defeats and three draws so far this season, the last a dull 1-1 draw against Everton that I strove manfully to watch purely for research purposes, fortunate that really as there was precious little entertainment on offer.  They do still have a few familiar names such as the elbowy cheat, Ndidi, Ayew and a couple of ex-spuds who I would welcome back if not for the fact that I dislike all of them. Ndidi has three assists this season and Vardy a couple of goals as does the one player I will welcome back, Stephy Mavididi. Once of this parish, his story is a familiar one these days – he never quite made the step up to our first team, had several loans but eventually moved on to the Juventus U23s back in 2018. After that, there was a few years at Montpelier, where he did well by all accounts and then he signed for Leicester last year. After a good season in the Championship, he has now scored in Leicester’s last two league games. It’s nice to see him making a career for himself and satisfying that we could help him along the way – he can of course repay by doing nothing tomorrow! For those of an analytical lean, I did notice that Leicester have scored and conceded in all their games so far this season and generally line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation though I am sure it will be much more of a 4-5-1 tomorrow. However, as I said at the beginning of this ridiculously long paragraph, they don’t matter, it’s up to us. 

The Score 

As you will see from the deliberately pointed cannon in the image above I am, just for tomorrow, in favour of foxhunting and I can’t see any reason we shouldn’t score early and stick at least three or four past this Leicester side and hopefully deliver another clean sheet, though it must be said Vardy has had a very annoying habit of scoring against us and even Ayew has a couple, I think from memory. I will be happy with a nice 4-0 win, no further injuries, no red cards. I have deliberately not checked who the ref is as I have simply had enough of them for one season and will just hope for some vague degree of competence. 

It remains only to wish us all an enjoyable watch wherever we may be, and a safe journey to those lucky enough to be attending. 

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Several Hale Enders put on a show as Arsenal thrashed League one Bolton in the League Cup. It was a line up reminiscent of many of Wenger’s sides in this competition from yesteryear partially due to injuries as well as a few players knocking on Arteta’s door following good showings in our preseason tour of the US.

As expected, Myles Lewis- Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both started after both being given Premier League minutes in the past week. There were also first team debuts for Josh Nichols and 16-year-old goalkeeper, Jack Porter. More on him later. 

There was also a full debut for Raheem Sterling whilst both Rice and Saka started, perhaps surprisingly. Bolton did start the game confidently and perhaps should have gone ahead in the first few minutes as former Burnley man Scott Arfield fired over from close range. But Arsenal showed their topflight quality by scoring with their first real attack. Josh Nichol’s cross wasn’t dealt with as the ball found its way to Rice on the edge of the box. Dec took a touch to set himself before firing into the bottom corner. 1-0 on 15 mins.

Shortly before the break Arsenal found a stylish second. The build-up was superb as Myles Lewis- Skelly played an Ozil/Bergkamp-esque through ball to Sterling on the left and the seasoned international played a perfect first-time ball to Nwaneri to tap home for his first ever senior goal at 17 years of age. In doing so, he became the first player born after the club moved to The Emirates to score for Arsenal. Even I feel old just typing that. 

Nwaneri’s night got even better just after the break as Rice stole the ball in the final third and played in Nwaneri who slammed home to make it three and double his personal tally. I could be being pedantic here, but I felt as though despite his goal, Nwaneri should’ve played in Rice who was in a better position. A Premier League goalkeeper may well have saved that. But Nwaneri is now the youngest Arsenal player to score a brace on his full competitive debut so what do I know?

Bolton managed a surprise goal shortly after. We lost possession in the final third and Collins found himself in acres of space before rounding young Porter as he rolled in a consolation. Was it poor goalkeeping? Yes, but 16 is outrageously young for a goalkeeper. At 16 years and 2 months he is remarkably the youngest ever player to start for Arsenal. He is younger than Fabregas was when he scored that famous screamer at the San Siro, and younger than the first series of The Inbetweeners. To put things into perspective, Porter was 11 when Arteta took over. In truth, the real question is why Porter’s goal wasn’t better protected by his more senior teammates. The sole blot on an otherwise perfect evening.

Ten minutes later we restored our three-goal cushion after successfully taking the sting out of Bolton’s short-lived resurgence. Saka turned two Bolton defenders inside out and back to front before drilling a low shot that was spilled by the ‘keeper allowing Raheem Sterling to prod home from two yards out. A goal and assist on his full debut, you can’t have any complaints about that. 

Unfortunately, Myles Lewis Skelly had to go off with what looked like a muscular problem so hopefully that’s nothing serious as he looked very assured and comfortable despite being out of his natural position. Kai Havertz came on and prodded home the fifth, as we also saw first team debuts for centre back Maldini Kaccuri (now that is a proper name) and forward, Ismael Kabia, who scored the winner for the U21s at Leyton Orient a few weeks ago. Overall, six academy youngsters were given their full debuts. So much for Arteta not giving a chance to the yoof.

Both CER and I were surprised at the quality of football on display given the number of youngsters on the pitch. Some may have expected a more disjointed performance, but it was anything but. Hale End is clearly no teenage wasteland…

Preston North End away awaits us in the next round. The Invincibles Derby if you will. PNE are a division above Bolton so we may not see quite as many youngsters in that game but I’m sure we can make way for one or two. I would not be surprised if Nwaneri starts on Saturday or at least gets 20-25 mins. He was unsurprisingly the standout youngster, but it was more than just his goals which stood out. Physically he looked ready, his passing was crisp, his movement excellent. Leicester may be the ideal game to bring him into the Premier League fold proper. Let’s wait and see. 

COYG!

A Cup too far ?

The EFL Cup tropy. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

I’ve only been to Bolton once and it wasn’t for a football match. In 2016 I was involved in a charity project and one of the people we helped was Paul. Paul was 39, a lively, successful manager of a big car dealership in Bolton and a fanatical Bolton supporter. He went to work one morning with a headache, subsequently had a brain stem stroke when he arrived at the office and was paralysed from the waist down and unable to speak normally.

By the time I met him he had made real progress .He had a hi- tech wheelchair with a voice synthesiser and his first Hawking-like words to me were “I hate the Arsenal. Southern softie fancy-dans . Bolton are going to crush you when we play you again”.

All delivered with an impish smile and a tap on my knee to suggest he was … probably … joking! We conversed as best we could about the recent history of Bolton/ Arsenal clashes which usually involved Sam Allardyce getting his team to rough up Arsene Wenger’s “fancy-dans”. I told him about watching Nat Lofthouse score two goals in the 1958 Cup Final, just post-Munich against Manchester United, the first game I ever watched and a 1963 game I described on here a few years ago when Arsenal came back from 3-1 down to beat Bolton 4-3. He mentioned all the tough games they gave us under Allardyce and I winced! But we did virtually clinch a title there in 2002 and sadly by the time I met Paul Bolton had plunged into economic disaster and playing ignominy.

Bolton were relegated to Division One in 2015 having survived a winding-up petition earlier that year and ultimately ended in Division Two. Under Ian Evatt, the former Barrow manager, they have climbed back up to Division One where they are currently 18th after a 5-2 win over Reading at the weekend. They play Crawley early on Saturday and the local press has them prioritising that game over the trip to Arsenal. We are very much a free hit for them.

Bolton are one of the founder members of the Football League and a famous old club with a history of FA Cup glory and top international players. However, they travel to Arsenal on Wednesday as massive underdogs but at the same time with nothing to lose. That can be a dangerous combination and much will depend on how seriously Mikel Arteta views the competition. On one hand it is a Cup competition with a relatively quick route to Wembley (although why have two semi-finals?). Oh I forgot … money! It offers the best opportunity for a club in
Arsenal’s position to blood young players in the first-team and it can throw up exciting Cup football. But for Arsenal , in our current position, it may be a Cup too far. Having lost Odegaard, Merino, Zinchenko and Tomayisu and with Ben White partially crocked apparently, and after a fearsome run of away fixtures it is a distraction we could well do without. But I will still be urging on the team on Wednesday night, albeit it from my sofa. Since my illness last year I’m trying to conserve energy, the game is on TV (I will be reporting on it from there) and at the last Carabao Cup ties I attended I was surrounded by strangers whose level of interest in the game was highly dubious and I found it hard to concentrate on the action. And we lost!

The titanic effort at the Emptihad on Sunday after such an exhausting recent programme will have undoubtedly drained the players and I think we should rest as many of our first team players as we can. We also have a number of talented players who will want to press their suit for inclusion in first team affairs and some young tyros who merit a chance to shine on a bigger stage.
I put this team into the blog the other day:

Setford[*]
Timber Kiwior Calafiori Lewis-Skelly
Jorginho Oulad M’Hand
Nwaneri
Martinelli Jesus Sterling

[*] Seaford may be short after illness so Porter may play – he’s 16!

There is some method in my madness . Timber is building back after last year’s injury and this should be less demanding than a league match. Kiwior hasn’t started at all and Calafiori has a chance to build on Sunday’s sensational performance. MLS and Nwaneri look likely to start and Oulad M’Hand has impressed many observers and if I recall, impressed CER at Orient recently.

Martinelli needs goals and Jesus and Sterling need games. Exciting young talents like Kabia , Gower and Kacurri can join from the bench if the match situation allows. I would be very careful with our subs. Raya is slightly crocked, Saka, Rice, Saliba and Gabriel are too important to risk in a game like this and while I expect Havertz to be on the bench I hope we don’t need to play him.

I think we will prevail but after a tough game possibly 2-0 and I hope Paul up in Bolton gets a chance to watch his team and they make him proud. After we met we contacted Bolton and they made him guest of honour at their next home game. It was, he said, the “proudest moment of my life”.

I used to dislike Bolton intensely during the Allardyce era but they are a club that has battled to survive and after meeting Paul I have a very soft spot for them in my heart. I fervently hope we beat them nevertheless and show the quality that Southern softie fancy dans inherently possess.

The author at the Etihad (Image courtesy C100pix)

It was hammering with rain as we left Cambridgeshire on a dreich Sunday morning. The rain continued as we stopped for brunch (full English for me, a burger for my son) at the American diner near Newark on the A1. Suitably fuelled for a day at the football, we continued on our way, cutting across the top of the Peak District (with some stunning views) and into Manchester. Parked up 10 minutes from the away end, we made our way into the ground.

We were in the third tier at the Etihad and rather than climb all those steps I asked to use the lift as I had last year. The lift is shared with home fans and a well refreshed gaggle of City fans rushed into the lift just before the doors closed. I have mentioned before that the City fans are the lippiest on the circuit and the sight of me in my Arsenal scarf started them off. Three floors of “banter” followed, the nicest which was “you’re too old to be at football, why don’t you just stay at home and die?” Thanks for the advice lads, I’ll take it under advisement. As you get out of the lift, you enter a City concourse and are led to the away one, attracting a few aggressive looks on the way (or so my so my son told me, I was oblivious). Into the ground proper, and a long climb up to row DD which proved to be the second row from the top. 

The team made a couple of changes from Thursday, Calafiori for White and Trossard for Jesus. Right from the kick off Rodri and Havertz clashed, leaving Rodri clutching his face. Cheating little fuck. The tone was set. 

City made a good and fast start. After nine minutes, Servino (who I really rate, they’ve found one there) spun off Calafiori and made ground before playing Haaland in with a great ball. He adjusted his body position and toe poked it past Raya. Bugger. 

It was all City in the first 20 minutes but then Rodri bumped into Partey and collapsed holding his knee. This time it was for real and he limped off to be replaced by Kovacic. One of several turning points in the game as from that point we had the better of the first half.

We won a free kick in the centre circle. Walker dawdled getting back as he shouted instructions to his team and Partey pinged it over his head to Martinelli in space. He got to the bye line cut it back to Calafiori who, from outside the area hit an absolute beauty into the top corner. Scenes. Pep was so thrilled he tried to destroy his chair 😂😂.

Arsenal won a free kick on the half way line. Doku kicked the ball away. Yellow card ? No of course not. From the free kick Saka won a corner. The tactical genius Pep put Jeremy Doku on Gabriel. Men against boys. Saka put in the perfect ball to the back post, big Gabi climbed and put the ball just over. We won another corner. This time Walker was on Gabriel. He was jabbing away at Gabi, presumably getting touch tight. To no avail. Total repeat of the previous corner. Perfect ball, Gabi climbs at the near post and scores! 

Have I ever mentioned that I love it when we score from corners?

2-1 to the Arsenal. Whole atmosphere had changed and we were the better team. And then after eight minutes of injury time, Tross is sent off for kicking the ball away, just before the half time whistle. Was he stupid, was he unlucky? I’ll leave it you to discuss.

We reorganised of course at half time. Saka came off for Ben White so it was clearly “what we have, we hold”. From my spot in the Gods I had the perfect view of the 3D chess that was the second half. We formed two lines, one of six and one of three. City passing it round the semi circle of doom and hitting shots from 25 yards. Every Arsenal player heroic, blocking, tackling, hacking clear. This was the lowest of low blocks. And yes, some time wasting. A man down against the best team in the world. What other tactics were there? And we carried them out magnificently to defend that lead. 

And then, just as we dared to believe, in the 98th minute, City equalised. A short corner, a shot, a deflection and it fell to Stones who scored. A gut punch. 60 seconds later came the final whistle and it finished 2-2. Yet it felt like a massive victory. 

The away fans, magnificent throughout, cheered the team to the echo. Some handbags at the whistle with Haaland, who had thrown the ball at Gabriel after the equaliser, taking out Lewis-Skelly (who had been booked before coming on for his debut – that boy will go far) and Gabriel fronting up to protect the lad. 

We’re in City’s head. It brings back the rivalry with Man United in the 90s. They celebrated their draw at home with wild abandon. They haven’t beaten us in four games now (2 wins, 2 draws). Rude words after from Stones and Silva about negative football. Err lads, when we had a man sent off we were winning, remember? We are living rent free. Mark my words, the rivalry and dislike is real. 

The team performance was magnificent and yet again our goalkeeper was superb. They deserved the win. 10 v 11 for well over 53 minutes of the second half. It was so near to being the perfect away day. 

After the most difficult two weeks of the season, away to Villa, Spurs and City we have taken 7 out of 9 points. We have lost our Captain to injury. We didn’t land until 3am Friday after an away game in Europe. City played the day before at home. After all that we are just two points behind them. 

Arsenal, I salute you. You did us proud.

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