Tag: hector bellerin

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Tottenham 2 – 0 Arsenal

Better?

Most would agree that we looked the better side before Heung-min Son’s long-range curler hit the back of the net. Bellerin, Saka, and Tierney are to be credited for at least trying to get the ball into the box throughout the match. Willian–who played his first full 90 since Week Four–also looked more dangerous than he has in awhile. That said, many of their final balls were behind their intended targets. Forget quality, our boys are in desperate need of a bit of luck–a deflection, a fortunate bounce of the ball, anything–to rebuild their clearly broken confidence going forward.

After Partey

Other than his being dispossessed by Giovani Lo Celso at one point, I would have argued that Thomas was our best player before he was forced off due to injury. Not only did he do his usual work breaking up play in the middle of the park, but he also tried to get forward either with the ball at his feet or via a searching ball or two ahead to teammates. Perhaps it speaks more to José Mourinho’s tendency to park the bus once his sides have a lead, but who would have thought that we would have kept Spurs scoreless (and no shots on goal in the second half) without Thomas on the pitch? Let’s hope he is truly fit sometime soon, because I still contend that his presence in the midfield is critical for any sustained success that we may have this season.

Title Pretenders

Gooners’ wildest hopes of competing for a Premier League title faded fairly early this season, but I suspect we were not the only faux title-chasers in today’s match. While no one expected a different result today, can Spurs concede this much possession against higher quality, more confident opposition and expect to consistently win? How many times out of ten does Son make that shot? How often does Harry Kane score top-shelf near-left post with his left foot? Does anyone really believe this version of Spurs has more quality than they did during the 2018/19 season, which included nine players who featured in the semis of the 2018 World Cup (i.e., Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembélé, Eric Dier, Kane, Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier, and Jan Vertonghen)? That Spurs side made the Champions League final, but alas, ended up trophy-less across all competitions. What will be telling is how this Spurs side responds when they hit the inevitable rough patch this season and Mourinho starts publicly blaming his players as he is wont to do.

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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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Arsenal 0 – 1 Leicester City

The Facts on the Ground

Leicester had not beaten the Gunners away in the league since 1973 (i.e., before I was born). The Foxes failed to score in each of their two previous league matches (against “perennial title-chasers” West Ham and Aston Villa). And to put the proverbial cherry on top, reigning Prem golden boot winner and incessant Gunner troll (with 10 goals in 11 matches v. the Arsenal) Jamie Vardy was not fit enough to start.

Things Fall Apart

If Laca’s fourth minute-header is allowed, then does a less-than-healthy Vardy even make his second half cameo (check that, 11 goals in 12 matches v. the Arsenal)? Perhaps Auba shouldn’t have taken those downers during the match? In all fairness, Bellerin could have (justifiably) been sent off for what would have been his second yellow. And if I’m honest, Leicester could have easily bagged a second before full-time.

Islington, We Have a Problem

While our well-publicized woes of recent seasons have been largely defensive in nature, and there remains plenty of work to be done at the back (when Mustafi is your first option to replace an injured Luiz), allowing seven goals in six matches this season does not especially worry me–particularly in light of the recent addition of Partey (who should provide some welcome support in the midfield) and the fact that this season we have already played two of the highest scoring sides in the league (i.e., Liverpool and Man City). Unfortunately we have only scored eight goals in the league this season, and despite taking 11 shots in the first half of this match–which shockingly is an improvement over the 11 shots taken in our entire Europa league match vs. Vienna–, we never really looked like scoring other than when a drug-addled Auba found Bellerin (of all people) with a near-perfect cross in the 68th minute. Should Arteta have kept Auba playing out wide on the left for the entire match rather than experimenting with him on the right as he did for much of the match? Should he have played Auba centrally from the off and left Laca on the bench? Should Saka have played in the midfield instead of Xhaka to offer more creativity through the middle of the park? Well, no rest for the weary – We’ll soon see if our manager has an answer or two when we visit United on the 1st.

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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.