Theon’s Return to The Iron Islands
Just when I thought the football gods and goddesses couldn’t be any more brutal to us Gooners, guess who returned to the Emirates? Theo Walcott. Just in time for the holidays. The same gent who started his career at Southampton before moving to North London where he scored more than 100 goals over 12 seasons for us. Walcott only scored two goals during the 2019/20 season, so it’s hard to argue with ownership’s decision to move on from him in 2018. But in a cruel twist of fate, Walcott–who had only one goal this season entering today’s match–managed to score the opening goal today with a clinical chip over Leno.
Better (Part III)
Once again, Saka deserves credit for getting forward and making something happen. His dribble drive into the box, which started the move that led to Auba’s goal, would have made fans at the Rucker Summer League proud. And while Auba’s goal unfortunately did not open the offensive floodgates for us today, he must feel like a huge weight has been taken off his back, so hopefully Auba and the team will be a little less tight offensively going into our next match against fifth place Everton on Saturday.
Worser
That’s no typo. It’s a term that my young daughters use from time to time, and I found myself thinking of it at least a couple of times during today’s match. First, when Elneny and Gabriel got tangled up, which allowed Che Adams to regain possession and release Walcott for his goal, I was absolutely shocked to discover that Luiz was nowhere on the pitch. Second, when Gabriel was sent off for his second yellow, it meant that we’d have to play our second match in a row and our third in five a man down. When your team is struggling to score, your teammates simply cannot get themselves dismissed. People are (rightfully) asking questions about whether or not Arteta has lost the locker room, but I’m starting to wonder if the boys have lost all faith/trust in each other. Unfortunately things may be worser for us than they appear.