It’s not often that an evening goes by and everyone gets what they want.
Tired of deep blocks in the Premier League? Inter got you.
Want to see a sexy number 9 performance from someone new? No problem.
Big fan of the man they call Big Vik? He has something for you.
Do you need a special one-touch joga-bonito football? Oh my days, Arteta and the boys read the damn letter.
Beating Inter Milan was glorious in itself, but do you know what made the night even better? The ability to pat myself on the back after saying Man City would struggle to travel to Bodø/Glimt. I didn’t realize how much of a problem it was, but it was bad. Playing in the freezing Arctic Circle, on a plastic pitch, in a stadium with office space overlooking the pitch, Man City were torn apart… again. This was not a happy victory; Bodø has chosen City. They were so good that I think they could have retired Rodri, who looked old, tired and exhausted. His red card felt like the end of the day for a player who has gone from beast to mouse since that terrible injury. No fight back last night; now they have to play a deep Wolves block that has had some success against good teams of late.
But back to Arsenal. Arteta brought the team to an acceptable level and the results were really great. The biggest, most important and extremely consequential decision was to bench Gyokeres for literally everyone. Gabi Jesus made a start and, my word, he did not disappoint.
Arsenal had a central outlet, someone who could hold the ball up, a player who could win aerial duels and ground duels, and who was in the mixer for set pieces. Jesus scored two goals that felt like they wouldn’t have happened with our alt on the pitch.
We went central. Eze makes a pass that Odegaard missed, possibly because of who Odegaard usually plays with.
Jesus cushions the ball for Merino; the pass goes wide to Myles. He puts the ball against the back post where Timber fires his shot, and Jesus smells the opportunity and sends it past the keeper with a beautifully shaped volley.
Inter clawed their way back into the tie with the typical type of goal needed to beat our backline… a damning screamer from the edge of the penalty area from Sučić that came from a clumsy, deflected clearance. What can you do in those moments? Not much, my friends.
The second goal was Setpiece FC. Saka looped to the back post, Trossard nodded back across the box and Jesus was ready to strike for the simplest of headers.
The performance wasn’t perfect, and the pressing isn’t where it once was, but that was a cup of cold beer after 21 days of dry January. Inter Milan is a very good team. The Italian league ranks second in terms of UEFA coefficients, and Inter Milan ranks third in Europe in the same group. NO mugs. Gabi Jesus dueled 10 times, winning 50% on the ground and 33% in the air… to contextualize that, Gyokeres lost all 7 of his matches against Forest and contested only one against Liverpool. Gabi had 2 shots, 2 goals, 2 chances created (one big chance), 88% passing accuracy, 28 touches. That was enough to get him a start against United.
Gyokeres was the chosen replacement, which makes me very concerned about Kai Havertz. The German is an Arteta favorite and he is not getting the minutes he needs to get back to fitness. If he can’t get time against Inter or Vorst, there is a deeper story, because it is not a quality problem. If it came to fitness, he wouldn’t make the cut.
But the Swede had something for the doubters, and it landed in typical Gyokeres fashion. Inter’s corner flew too deep, Martinelli collected it and found a Gyokeres transition run with a wild pass that didn’t get enough attention. The Swede took it down; he was caught by a 37-year-old defender, but he held his ground, cutting inside to shake off the tackle and playing in a bit behind Saka. The ball hit his ankle and sat up, allowing Gyokeres to take control, aim and fire a strike high and wide of Sommer’s hand. A real stunner to tell the world he’s down, but not out.
That was the first time in fifteen years that Inter conceded two in the first half. That was without a doubt a message to all of Europe… we are the best team at everything, apart from carrying a huge trophy. We defend better than anyone, and if you dare to come up with something that isn’t a deep block, we’ll show you why Liverpool and Man City are changing the way they play… because we’re bloody sensational.
No team is coached like we are, and no team is more prepared to make a statement this season.
It was incredibly iconic to rattle Inter Milan like that in a must-win match in their legendary stadium. Seven wins in seven games in the Champions League, and next up is a team at the bottom of the table who were just crushed by Kairat. Man City must beat Galatasaray to ensure they are not saddled with two extra games in February. PSG are in the same boat after the defeat against Sporting Lisbon. What we do should not be underestimated.
Now we’re heading into the exciting United match. Gabriel Jesus should be the striker we start. I want to see him involved in the dirty work, I need to see more of that one-touch football he brings to the forwards, and I want to see him succeed this season. The man deserves it after so many terrible injuries.
I’m just not interested to hear about Gyokeres, happy with the goal, but we’ve seen enough. Let him be the guy we release when teams are tired. But I don’t want him to start. We need good touch, aggression in the penalty area and someone who can score and create in tight games. Can he score in transition? Yes. But we don’t play against teams like Inter week in, week out. We don’t play against Chelsea normally. In most games there is no space, and if there is no space he has no answers; he might as well not be there.
Jesus is the future until Kai is aware.
King Jesus to you, doubter.
One player who doesn’t get much credit is Saka. He has few G&As at the moment, but that was a performance against Inter. His cross from corners is always spot on, but I thought his stretching of Inter was admirable. He had 5 shots, created 3 chances, 3 successful attacks, 5 successful defensive actions; he had 11 duels, won 100% of his aerials and 60% of his ground duels. This man is monstering again; I’m worried about United.
Merino did a good job and won 86% of his aerial duels; his death was clean and he did the dirty work. Eze was a bit quiet, but his death rate was recorded at 93%. He was the key to the first goal and I think that’s just his game. There’s a lot more to come, but at least he’s getting minutes now.
The entire defense was much better. Myles got skinned pretty bad again, but he got better with the game. Saliba and Timber were really solid. Mosquera was a welcome addition; he made some great tackles and his daring passing was a treat. Certainly Berta’s best asset.
Final shout for Declan Rice. He came on, received a yellow card and is now serving his suspension for the match against Kairat. Genius.
So… a great evening. The latest podcast is below. This is normally a members pod, but Apple’s servers were down so I couldn’t post it for the subscribers there, so I distributed it for free. We give members an exclusive make-up.
#ARSENAL #MONSTER #INTER #ROTATION #GOOD