I love this time of year. The dead zone between Christmas and New Year. I don’t watch the news, I walk a lot and I write in the evening next to a dead Christmas tree. Life is good. Writing tonight feels extra special. Arsenal have just ended the year with a brilliant win. They set the record straight with Emery and they made a statement to Man City: you can chase, but we won’t give in this season.
The show the boys put on was nothing short of spectacular. It was an entertaining evening of end-to-end football, largely dominated by a very controlled Arsenal. I’m relaxed now, but come on, when the news came out before the match that Declan was injured, didn’t you feel the wave of ‘not us, again’? I did. Also on Unai Emery Derby Day; It wouldn’t happen to Arsenal again, would it?
A little word about that too. Declan came to the stadium with the team as a scheduled member of the squad. Who the hell works at the club that was so eager for attention that they leaked an absolutely crucial piece of information? The Athleticsgiving Emery the chance to shape his side around the favorable news? Shameful stuff. I really don’t understand why anyone would leak something so damaging.
Anyway, it didn’t matter. Arsenal formed the midfield with Sociedad’s best alumni, and the front three were Saka, Gyok and Trossard. The defense welcomed Big Gabi, Timber and Hincapie to the mixer.
I was hoping for a disgusting evening of suffocating control; what we got in the first 17 minutes was a basketball bat. Arsenal were largely dominant in possession, but Villa continued to lure us into the press and cut through the middle. Ollie Watkins put the debate to rest over who we should have signed as our 9. We needed him at Villa as we were missing two absolute sitters. The first came when Gabriel played a ball into the feet of Gyokeres who was in Gabi Jesus land (crazy deep). It didn’t go well. He didn’t see Konsa behind him, and he collapsed under the challenge. Konsa ran to the box. It was 3 v 3, leaving Watkins one-on-one with Raya, the shot going past to the left of the post with a dreadful finish.
There was plenty of control and hopeful balls, but little bite from Arsenal. Gyokeres, who played a good match by his standards, headed poorly early on. He then did slightly better when he attacked Trossard’s cross, which whistled a meter wide of Martinez’s post. It’s strange to actually watch his runs… I can’t help but think he’s hiding and drifting into spaces that aren’t so easy to find and seem… well… not very Number 9-esque.
In the last fifteen minutes of the first half things started to click for Arsenal. Villa’s dangerous move back worked very well early in the match, but as they began to fade physically the cracks began to show and Arsenal found another gear. An example of this was a moment on 41 when Rogers tried to get out of the bottom third of the field. He had to get back on his own and move into his own area, hemmed in by six Arsenal players snapping at the ball. Odegaard took the ball from him, but Darren England inexplicably blew the foul in Rogers’ direction.
The final ‘oooooohhhhhh shit’ moment of the half was watching Sancho break free on the right and fire a ball across goal on a silver platter for Watkins. Big Bill had other ideas and tapped the ball wide. The decision may have been offside, but we must report the excellence anyway.
I’ve read a lot of dramatic comments about the importance of beating Villa before the match.
That’s how we all live this season because we know how good City are. There are no margins for fuck-ups in this Premier League. We cannot rely on the Premier League to announce decisions on charges. We’ll have to do this the hard way. So how we came out for the second half was important, and I can tell you we came out HARD. Like, hard work.
After 46 minutes. Corner. Saka is over it. Big Gabi moved under Martinez. Saka tries to punch in his corner. Martinez gives a BIG push to Gabriel. The Brazilian immediately slides under the keeper again. He drops a big flap and it ends up in the net. I thought it was an own goal. Big Gabi celebrated it like it was his, and it was indeed his. WHAT A MOMENT! Oh, how we have missed his presence! Power, presence, shithousery, dark arts, the kind of drive only champions have!
Calamiteus by Emi Martinez, chief.
The second goal was all Odegaard. He jumped in front of a ball from Tielemans to Sancho, drove towards the Villa area and Zubi started that late second-man run into the penalty area. Martin stroked the ball in his run, Zubi shifted his feet and fired it past Emi. COME ON, WHAT A GOAL! That was pure Bergkamp for Freddie Ljungberg! MONUMENTAL THINGS! This Martin guy looks like the guy we looked at in 22/23.
From then on it was just Arsenal abusing Villa. Odegaard made big shots; crosses molested Martinez. We were on fire and chasing that third like big clubs do. Then it came. Odegaard’s cross hit Saka, his header was terrible, Digne tried to escape the penalty area with the ball at his feet, but Timber caught him and laid the ball down to Trossard, who fired into the bottom corner with his right foot. Martinez didn’t even dive.
Darren England and his team searched and searched for reasons not to give it. The man who found just three minutes of extra time in the first half and saw just 24 minutes of ball play made some strange decisions indeed. But Arsenal are just getting on with it these days. PGMOL stories cannot harm us.
Our fourth was simply vintage Arsenal. Odegaard hooked a ball wide to Zubi who was standing just in front of the halfway line. Zubi sprinted three meters, Trossard overlapped and took the sprint, and he found Jesus on the edge of the penalty area. The Brazilian stunned the ball with his right, stopped and fired his shot into the far post in one movement. It was a SCREAM!
They say we can’t trust him, but I take him back to my heart. HE HAS IT ALL. WHAT A PLAYER. HE EVEN REFERRED TO HIS SHIRT WITH A MESSAGE ‘I BELONG TO JESUS’.
After that we really could have gotten five or six. Saka was guilty of acts of greed that he had every right to be greedy for. He blurred his lines with a shot that he overshot and another header that he seemed to have closed his eyes to.
Arsenal were very sloppy in injury time. Watkins rattled the inside post, the ball came back across goal, McGinn came down, and somehow the ball was hooked by Raya. An unreal rescue. World class. That wasn’t the last vague move. We let Maylen waltz past Saliba, past Raya who was close to the nearest post; he crawled under everyone, and MLS was napping, giving Watkins his usual goal. No doubt Arteta was furious about that goal. City are now six goals ahead of us, when it should be five. Conceding a goal after 90 minutes when you haven’t had a shot on target in 92 minutes is tragic. Just a lack of focus that I hope is tightened up.
The boys were crazy after the game. Big Gabi had some tunnel problems with Onana when he was taking the piss after his tunnel visit at Villa Park. Emi Martinez cried on the field; he got into trouble with our home fans because he was angry. Unai Emery ran off the pitch crying and had a breakdown in the post-match interview. The Arsenal boys celebrated like crazy and they deserved it. That was a huge, huge win and they were absolutely brilliant.
I won’t go into negative points today. Declan Rice’s injury is unimportant. There will be no scans or worries for the next game. Big Gabi left because of cramps. We escaped that game unscathed, which is just the most magical thing that could have happened.
My MotM was Trossard. Was I wrong about him? Yes. Very wrong. That man is the heartbeat of our offense this season; he has 7 goals and 6 assists to his name. He celebrates blocks. He gets the crowd going. He holds his teammates to higher standards. The man is having a Pires-like season and we have to have a lot of respect for the work he is doing. A goal and an assist in a HUGE match. I love him.
Martin Odegaard, my oh my, what is this specialness we are looking at? He created three chances, took four shots, scored one assist, made ten defensive contributions and provided GET OFF YOUR FEET energy throughout the match. This is the player we love. Setting a good example, making a difference and showing fans the way to the national title. He was simply gorgeous. What a bonus that he is heading into a difficult period with a fresh mind!
Great Gabi. The heartbeat of this team. Or should I be respectful: one of them. We missed him. His self-imposed stint pissed me off, but upon my word, I accept the flowers and the cause. What an animal this guy is. He sets the tone for aggression, faith and tenacity. It was a sight to behold to see him threaten Villa players. Sometimes I look at him and think of the banter era, when I saw older players bullying kids and no one did anything. Not anymore. Gabriel is so important and we are happy to have him.
Final shout: I have to go all in for Zubimendi. He has redefined what it is to be a number 6 in the Premier League. You can be a destroyer who gets sent off and picks up vague bookings that exclude you from big matches. Or you can be a maestro who keeps everything moving thanks to speed of thought, agile mobility and incredible focus. The ease with which this man has established himself in a very good Arsenal team has blown me away. He was easily one of the best players on the pitch and the goal was a stunning number 9 for a 6.
We could have conversations about Gyokeres, but now we know what we have. Let nature take its course. Kai and Jesus have that going concern covered. I could complain about Saka, but we know what he is, and we know that when we need him, he’ll be ready to explode. We could complain about Merino, but if you do that, I can’t even be in the same room as you. Do you think he was terrible in a game like that? Total control over that midfield? Come on. We are serious people. That is not serious discourse.
Let’s also pretend I didn’t call all the time on the last call, because it’s Arteta. The man has been producing title-winning systems for three years now. This is his fourth and he finally has players who look like they can perform for him. The man is focused, he has the players firing on all cylinders, he is at his peak at the moment. He deserves so much credit for now putting us top of the league in two competitions and in the semi-final of a domestic cup.
He has to last another five months, but I feel good. Mosquera will be gone for a maximum of two weeks. Calafiori will always come back. But those are the only two players we are missing at the moment. We have a full roster of options to choose from in 2026. If Arteta can learn the lessons of the first half of the season and dial back his training tendencies, and rotate his squad a bit more… then we win this season.
Okay, I’m done. If you want some On The Whistle, get the below in your veins and get that HOT Christmas deal before it’s over. X
#ARSENAL #DAMAGE #VILLA #WEDDING #SPANKING