Call the police, tell them what I said online, I don’t care … I take five armed guards around my door with the big questions.
“Mr, we had a complaint that you registered that you moaned after a 0-2 victory in the League Cup.”
Guilty. Take me to prison. I will serve the time, Mr. Keir.
This season I am not in the mood to be a pragmatist. My joy of football comes from having fun and I grew up with Arsene Wener League Cup teams that would entertain with legends such as Fran Merida, Tom Cruise and Jet. Last night we rolled out a number of large dog players against a one -side competition currently 19th, and it was a very boring game.
Then I was in pragmatist mode …
A victory is the only thing that counts. No injuries is great news. We did not pollute our reputation, yes, I liked that rule about Reputations from Arteta.
But then I realized … I can be selfish and a team of Megaserren expect that last year went to the Champions League Semi to set up a clinic against a team of two divisions among us … Especially when the background of the game was: “Arsenal does not attack with a lot of Pizazz.”
We did the work. Yes.
Southampton made it difficult for Liverpool. Huddersfield made it difficult for City. Cardiff turned out Burnley.
But I support Arsenal. I wanted to show us some sauce in attack. You know, the nerves arrange for a really tough match against Newcastle in St. James Park this weekend.
We didn’t get that. Arsenal dropped another ‘Control the Spaces’ master class. We are back when smothering teams with a pillow, and I hoped that all the Bang Bang Magic we added would give us a little more guillotine.
I want Arsenal this season to be flat track pest heads as if we were against Leeds. There must be a mentality shift and it is not just a first team, it is a whole team problem. We now have the depth, we have the players, it has to translate into designs … and fast.
It started really well. Left combined to present an opening in the Port Vale Box. MLS found him through a Martinelli -Dummy, Eze pushed the ball from his left foot to the right with a smooth finish in the distant pole. That felt like the start of a good night, but it wasn’t.
Port Vale defended well in their hipster cream-on-cream-colored shirts, they pressed with discipline and they occasionally put us under pressure with absolutely no output.
The problem with this? As we discovered last season, 1-0 up does not mean anything if you have a tendency to admit from one chance in a number of shameful circumstances. It didn’t happen, but the point is that it took us until the 86th minute to close the game.
Saka was rolled into the game, clearly to get minutes back, because it is all on him with Madueke for the foreseeable. He wasn’t quite busy with it. He looks slow on the ball and he is struggling to find his reach and his sense of games now. He also almost lost his ankle to a poorly timed hidden tackle. The risk with minutes against inferior talent.
Ethan got his chance in the Martin role and although he was especially neat, he still looks far away from what he does for England or the U21s. It took Martin for a while to adapt to the requirements of Arteta when he came from Madrid, so we must be patient. It is a hard position with a lot of responsibility and complicated functions to learn. He will come, it just wasn’t his most impressive game.
Eze, much more experienced, has similar challenges. New role, new manager, major demands. He took his chance well, but the chemistry is still not there for obvious reasons. We have to see him more often in dangerous spaces and I want to see him pull more strings. Time is all he needs, he will undoubtedly become a monster for us.
Myles had a reasonably drama-less game. I suspect that his self -confidence may have taken a hit with the longer period. But playing a safe game without mistakes is the first step to get back into battle. It was great to be able to leave Ricky on the couch for the entire game.
Ben White … I don’t want to say it. But the pace … Has it disappeared?
Dowman showed a lot of sauce when he came up. His one moment was gyokeres to cut in with a one-touch pass in his run. The consciousness and timing on the ball was pure magic.
The defense generally did really good. Kepa did not have to save all game. We really have the best defense in the world. A great basis for building. We only need the attack to pick up things and to pull its weight with a return to those 90-goal-a season levels.
Arsenal attracted Brighton at home in the next round. A tough game because they will work us. But not the worst that it could have been. This is a comp, I have no confidence that we will win, but at least you have to reach the quarters to say that you have had a good show. I also want to see Dowman who get big minutes.
Okay, we move.
💥 AOP Live show announcement 💥 💥 💥 💥 💥 💥
Remember that tickets for our very first London Live Show are for sale today for members for an event of December 21. People asked about the time … Well, we have Flex. It is now 5 pm. If the Everton game goes to a Sunday, it will be a little later, and it will be a real one on the whistle, and we will watch the game somewhere earlier.
Here are the other details.
Location: Finsbury Park
Location: Park Theater
Date: December 21
Cast of characters: Pedro, Matt, Johnny, Jacob + special guests
Ticket release times:
I hope you can make it! X
Here is the whistle for members.
#Rude