Tag: gabriel

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Arsenal 1 – 1 Southampton

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.

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Arsenal 0 – 3 Aston Villa

De Mortuis Nihil Nisi Bonum

While the act of typing the score above was pretty painful, it was nowhere near as painful as watching Sunday’s thrashing. If what they say about “speaking ill of the dead” is true, then perhaps I spoke too soon by giving Arteta the edge over Emery through their respective first 26 matches in charge at the Emirates. Where should I begin? John McGinn’s first-minute screamer that was ruled out on a technicality? No way Leno makes that save (even without Ross Barkley in his line of sight). Or perhaps Willian’s stray ball which set up the Villa move that ended with Saka’s own goal? I was hoping the crafty ball Willian delivered to Bellerin last week (which resulted in the game-winning pen) was the beginning of something good for both Willian and us, but alas, he has yet to contribute anything positive since Week One v. Fulham. Zero shots (not on goal, no shots, period) for Auba? Our inability to create chances continues to plague us as one of our best chances of the day was created by…you guessed it…Gabriel…for…wait for it…Holding.

The Difference Maker

On the positive side, Thomas continued to impress. And who knows? Things may have ended differently if after he intercepted McGinn’s poor back pass Thomas had found a way to put his close-range shot past former Arsenal journeyman Emi Martinez in the ninth minute. Multiple times during the first half Thomas was able to break up play and help us maintain possession. Who says one man can’t make a difference? Not only did we look like a different team after Thomas did not return to the pitch after half time, the scoreline ballooned in the second half without him sitting in front of our backline, and if I’m honest, Villa could have scored at least one or two more in his absence. With our anemic offense,–and I never thought I’d say this–our defense may be the only thing that gives us a chance this season, so let’s hope Thomas is fit again after the international break.

Tip of the Hat

In the department of giving credit where credit is due, hats off to Emi for his performance on Sunday. After spending most of his career outside of the Arsenal Starting XI, he came on late last season for us and performed well with Leno out injured, which led to Villa picking him up over the summer for a reported £20 million. In the words of commentator Ian Darke during Sunday’s match, “It took him ten years to become an overnight sensation”. I can only imagine how it must have felt for Emi to earn a clean sheet against his former teammates at the Emirates.

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Manchester United 0 – 1 Arsenal

Pre-game Jitters

Our well-publicized impotency against the Top Six in recent years. Our poor away record last season. A resurgent United who in the Champions League won at star-studded PSG less than two weeks ago and then put five past a very good Leipzig side on Wednesday. And to make matters worse, the notorious Mike Dean as lead referee. Needless to say, I wasn’t confident going into this match.

Same As The Old Boss?

In another pre-match storyline, much was made of Arteta’s record through his first 26 league matches as manager and its similarities to that of Unai Emery who was sacked after 26 league matches in charge. However, one of the most striking differences between the two is that the Gunners conceded only 28 goals under Arteta vs. 37 under Emery. And today, that defensive difference was on full display as our defense kept us in the match with one tackle (we had 20 vs. 10 for United) and clearance (23 for us, 12 for them) after another until we deservedly took the lead in the 69th minute and then allowed us to hold on to that lead through full time.

Men of the Match

In fairness to Emery, when he was our manager he did not have the talents of Gabriel and Partey at his disposal. And while Gabriel came close to receiving a second yellow–especially with the red card-happy Dean roaming the pitch–, the Brazilian never lost his fight throughout the match and continues to bring some much needed toughness to our back line. Partey was excellent breaking up play with numerous tackles and interceptions that helped keep United from sustaining any offensive momentum. But in fairness to Arteta, Emery never got much out of Mohamed Elneny. In fact, the Egyptian was sent out on loan to Besiktas for most of Emery’s tenure at the Emirates. But under Arteta, Elneny has started in three of our four league wins this season. While he was always unlikely to score with the rocket of a shot he unleashed in the 65th minute, he had played so well beforehand that he certainly earned the right to have a go. And his gegenpressing in the 91st minute (yes, in extra time!)–almost single-handedly pushing United back when they desperately needed to get forward–brought a huge smile to my face and hopefully made Gooners everywhere proud.

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Liverpool 3 – 1 Arsenal

I Would Have Gotten Away With It . . .

Admit it, in the third minute of the match, you too thought (hoped?) Sadio Mane would be sent off for illegal use of hands to the face of Kieran Tierney. Mane and Liverpool’s chances of winning all three points would have been the latest casualties of the all-unforgiving VAR. But alas, VAR did not intervene, Mane was awarded (rewarded with?) a yellow, and the sphincters of Liverpool supporters everywhere unclenched in unison.

Go ahead – Admit it. After Mane’s rocket of a shot from point blank range in the box landed directly in the welcome arms of Bernd Leno and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s more speculative shot from distance deflected off a cringing Hector Bellerin and into the woodwork, you too began to think (hope?) that perhaps this was not Liverpool’s day.

And then the unthinkable happened. After a brilliant move against the run of play, Alexandre Lacazette scuffed a shot past the diving Alisson. 1-0 to the Arsenal. Tactical genius of the week Mikel Arteta had his counter-attacking mojo working once again.

. . . If It Weren’t For Those Meddling Kids

But less than three minutes later, Liverpool finally found the back of the net. And as they say, the rest is history. Strangely enough, today’s final stats were eerily similar those in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over the then newly-crowned champions in July. However, this time around Liverpool were not playing fresh off the hangover (both literally and figuratively) of winning the league, when in July’s match both Alisson and Virgil Van Djik made David Luiz-esque errors that the Gunners clinically pounced on that day. While I did not expect us to win today’s match, I also did not expect such a passive effort (e.g., we had just over half as many tackles today vs. in July’s league match). That said, the fact that we were still in the match until the 88th minute–when Liverpool newcomer Diogo Jota tacked on a goal after a poor clearance from Luiz–at least in part says something about the renewed spirit of Arsenal under Arteta.

More Questions Than Answers

Why did Gabriel not feature today? Honestly, I watched nearly the entire match in fear that at some point Luiz would take down at least one of Liverpool’s front three. How many times can you allow one of the best sides in the world to have that much possession and expect to win? A couple of incisive balls today from substitute Dani Ceballos exposed the cracks in Liverpool’s backline, so perhaps a bit more of an attacking edge was warranted (e.g., even newly-promoted Leeds put three past the champions in Week One of this season). How do we get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang more touches in the final third? One can’t help but wonder what if the chances that Lacazette fluffed today had instead fallen to the more clinical Auba. Do we really have to be so dogmatic about playing out from the back? We dodged more than a few bullets today in Liverpool’s final third (e.g., when Rob Holding had his pocket picked by Mane on the edge of the box). How will our boys respond with winless Sheffield United up next in the league? The Blades will be desperate to pick up their first points of the year, and with City, undefeated Leiceister, and United to follow (gee thanks, Prem scheduling gods), we can’t afford to drop points against lesser competition if we hope to return to the Champions League next season.