Damn, it was a hell of a game with all the drama we don’t want to see when Arsenal is playing. We conceded when Gabriel made a mistake and gave the ball away, levelled up within 10 minutes and Gabriel made it 2-1 with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Key takeaways?
We can win games even after conceding first. That’s a big improvement from last season. Win against Fulham last night must have instilled confidence in our lads and will pay it’s dividend the next time we are 1-0 down.
Odegaard was brilliant and we are seeing a peak Ozil-esque performance from him. I always had concern that he slows down the game a bit in comparison to ESR, but last night he was magnificent. His passing is visionary and he dictated the game.
Arteta is learning and improving his in-game management. We were 1-0 down, and he subbed off Tierney and brought Nketiah. It showed his intent to win, we didn’t wait for 80th minute to bring a sub. Eddie was immense even if he missed those 2 chances, and on a good day, he ain’t missing any of them.
Thing to worry about?
Midfield! Elneny is not the answer when Partey is unavailable. He had a very limited game, is vulnerable when pressed and slow on the ball. Passing back or sideways do not help when you are building the momentum.
Saka! He is not up to the standards he set himself last season. This could be because we are stronger on the right with addition of Zinchenko and prefer to go that route mostly. It could also be because of his chemistry with Ben White is still developing, but we need him now more than ever. We have options though, unlike midfield.
We were not clinical! Believe me, if we were a bit more clinical last night in finishing up the chances we created, we would have gone 3-0 up by half time. Even in second half, Eddie missed two sitters, Martinelli missed a few, Jesus and Saka could have got one each to their name. Great teams do not miss half chances, hopefully we improve in this department.
Wrapping Up
All well if it ends well. We continue our winning streak and collected all 12 available points. We will have tough run of games soon, so it’s very important we grab every point we can. Next is Aston Villa at home on Wednesday before we play a shaky Manchester United. Win those two and it will be one of the best starts of the season.
Right, that’s all for today before I go see some friends on a Sunday afternoon with a happy mood.
Are you feeling lonely at the TOP OF THE TABLE? Me too 😉
Odegard injured. ESR in
Ramsdale with cramps.
Looks like Liverpool have inherited Fergie time.
I was wrong about Haaland – he’s not going to beast the PL he’s going to be even worse.
Hi Marc
Ominous isn’t it, although given we’re unlikely to be contenders at the business end of the season, it hardly affects us. He’s a physical beast with pace, power and technique in abundance.
Despite both being close-ish games, the Villa game was sweeter than Fulham in my opinion. We regained full control after the second goal and stood up to AV’s physicality. I thought Lakonga looked good. Neat solid and covered lots of ground. I think he also brought more out of GX than Elneny managed to. A pleasing night with a some other favourable results.
This entire saga about Auba potentially being sold by Barca for a fee is making my blood boil… I’ve proffered this opinion on here before but Arteta should be fined by Kroenke the exact sum of money equivalent to the transfer fee. That might be the only way to cure his fondness for trashing player values.