Nowadays we don’t have much of a shared culture in the world. The “Did you see Game of Thrones last night?” There are few moments in between. We all have our own algorithms. We have various beliefs, religions and annoying influencers that we follow. But when you follow football, you are part of a shared culture, and that means that you are part of global moments that are special and confident.
Eze -signature for Arsenal is a connected moment that you will always remember. Nobody expected it, but it happened. His rollout for the home fans was a collective moment of unity that we will remember forever. That is the kind of things that makes football magical and makes me love that I chose Arsenal to give my life.
But there was a game to play, US Leeds, and Arsenal set up a show that PT Barnum would have been proud of.
The first half was not great; It was pretty timid if we are honest, but we still left with what we needed, a lead of 2 goals.
The first big chance was a bit embarrassing for our new striker. Stach was expropriated by Zubi, the ball was nice for Gyökeres about eight meters out … And to be honest, who knows what he tried to do. He looked like I tried to respond to someone who threw me after eight pints my car keys.
Struijk had the best chance of the opening 20. A rare Leeds Corner found the defender unark, he hit a ball head directly at Raya that tipped the bar on the bar. Standard Save, undoubtedly, but the kind that if he had not been on it could have caused an upset momentum for Leeds.
The football was not great in the first half, the first 30 felt very familiar. A lot of possession, little penetration, the afternoon could have become very Huffy for the home fans. Then the impasse was broken. Declan found wood with a corner, the Dutchman nodded through a sea of jumping players at the bottom right. A very nice goal.
But to be real … There was a pension in my party because I introduced the 12-year-old man United fans who cooked us online for a different set piece goal. How pathetic did I become?
Martin Ødegaard left the pitch five minutes later. He felt something in his collarbone, probably it blended, as if you were doing a toe, and he couldn’t play, even if he tried it. That gave minutes Ethan who played his natural position. His stubbornness led to the second goal … He tried something on the edge of the area, he lost it, but Zubi was the first to turn the turnover, he went to Hout the first time, which Saka slipped in with a low pass outside the fullback … Barman could have switched to gyökeres who was in the past Perri instead. Type brutal.
Our third goal was special. Calafiori ran a ball over the top to our St Bernard striker, he first came in twice in the area and then sliced in and then low -drilled past Perri. It was so, so selfish. The entire fan base of Arsenal could not have been happier for him. The first of many, you would guess. Nobody at Arsenal scores that last season.
Saka managed to injure himself in his second major sprint of the last seven weeks. He pointed to his hamstring and said something like “fuck this hamstring.” Who knows how long he is gone, but after the game he walked through the dressing room in slippers, so they are nowhere at surgical levels. The hope is that he is hypersensitive to hamstring problems and he is transmitted his problem. But the most important thing is that if he misses Liverpool, there are doubts that this will be worse than three/four weeks.
Our fourth was another declan corner that caused a mess in the Leeds area. After clapping around, Jurrien Timber scored the home.
The fifth was extra special because it came from Max Dowman who molested an adult man in Gudmundson on the right. It was unfair. This 15-year-old can be our best player ever. He was a nightmare to follow. The runs were crazy and one of them caused a soft fine.
Who took it? Big Gyok. How did he finish it? Like Alan Shearer. A post-wook, non-stutter Step Smash. It was incredible. Our 9 must take punishments. What a beast is this guy.
Kill prey
Arsenal are violets and fuss when it comes to food. The chicken is placed in the pot, back is turned and it escapes (pulls and losing). We are not male brutality. We take plastic knives to the slaughterhouse and our prey chews on grass while we stick … Yesterday we took a nuclear bomb on the problem.
Five shots on goal. Five goals.
What else should be said? Happy? Maybe. But that kind of clinicity is what we are missing.
Arsenal is good at dealing with top-six teams. It is the teams below that have caused us problems. Leeds is going to struggle this season, but I am proud that we were the start of the battle.
This season will end in trophies if we consistently bully smaller teams and keep our lead against great teams.
That performance against Leeds was not just about goals, it was about Arsenal giving a nice mandate. It was joy. We picked up major injuries and added a wave of players who wanted to entertain. The fans has performed that and I am pretty sure that it gave the players a little faith that we are a different monster this season.
We have agreed on the podcast that five points of the first three games would be very good. We now have six points. Buy a point or more against Liverpool and we cook like birds shit on the black paint of your car. The stain of our blueprint, indelible and permanent. Can you see that I am angry about having a black car in a place that gets 100 degrees of warmth? Feel my pain. It’s real. That pigeon shit will ruin your resale value here.
Big
I’m going to tell you again, I don’t fall in love after two dates. You may be an easy snail, I am not. Did I like a few things I saw today? Damn, I did. He looked fitter, he was a bit more involved and … he scored two goals.
I am a bit worried about how little he got the ball, the team has not yet squatted his running code and our big boy at the top looks a bit one -dimensional.
But … it is clear that he was bought as a super power specialist. He scores goals. His very first target for Arsenal would look good in a Thierry Henry Reel. His second, a penalty, was beastly.
There is still a long way to go with this guy, but I am happy that he can score goals. Can I be converted to a lover? Absolute. But I don’t completely invite this guy for coffee.
Wooden
Wood started immediately and he was sensational. One assist, two goals, technical perfection all game. This guy is one of the Sauciest players in the competition and I do not hear his name in enough world -class conversations. That will change if he maintains this form. He is electric, one of our best boys, especially our best defender, what a signature.
Max downman is wow
Thirty minutes? I mean, that’s a serious time to give to a baby. This boy cannot watch a scary film for three years, but he can wander through the Emirates-Pitch to give serious military PTSD to adult men. Disgusting, if you really think about it.
He moves like Kaká, takes punishments like Neymar … he is the most incredible talent I have ever seen breakthrough … and he is doing it in the best competition on the planet in the most dominant era that England has ever had. Let’s be clear here … He looked much more deadly than Madueke and I don’t mean that as an insult to the implementation he has put in.
Here are his numbers:
Played for 27 minutes
15 touches
5 duels won
5 touches in Opp Box
2 shots
2 errors won
2 Tackles
1 fine won
This boy is dangerous. A career. I cannot believe that we landed it in an era that also contains MLS and Ethan.
Madueke & Ethan
I bundle these two because Ethan came up for Ødegaard and I don’t think he has done enough. It seemed that he was trying to play more safely than when he was on the right for Saka. No shame, but we cannot live in denial that the performance he did would place him above Eze if that choice is available next week.
Madueke started left and I thought he was very decent. Fans go a bit over the praise, again, I am not that early about that. He did not do enough for me to feel that I have misunderstood my assessment: the English Martinelli. He has fantastic elements in his game, but the last ball promotion needs work. What did I like? He’s really fast. Super direct. Great in tight spaces. Totally unpredictable. Better than Raheem. A lot of work to do, but he gave us a nice vote in the attack that we missed.
Broad players
Some people have been on my back about creating stories, forget that the whole goal of being a writer is to create … stories. My narrative pregame was that I felt that there were too many broad players for our season and that too many costs were packed in players who struggled this season to get 1500 minutes.
Left in particular is hidden and the favorites are on the rise:
Trossard: Pay Rise, no extension
Eze: Signed for £ 60m
Madueke: Started for the left, yesterday on the right started
What rightful sports director does Martinelli keep this season for £ 170k per week?
One who wants a bloated team. Maybe.
One who accepts that a manager killed three of his best players in two games? Maybe.
But … my gamble is that Martinelli might have a large selection next week. I see no world where we can keep all our new players happy when he is here, unless he is a kai-backup at 9 o’clock that nobody seems to like.
Slucht thoughts:
This is a new arsenal. We are fun to watch. Our team is deep enough. The players offer something that they have never had before … Nice. But it’s fun with the same defensive strictness as before. We did not give away XG to Leeds after the 20th minute. The balance can come to Arsenal. Our attack can be as good as our defense. If that is the case, we are rolling. All this before Eze has touched grass. That is exciting.
Let’s see what we have for Liverpool next week. I think we have enough, even without Saka and Kai. Let’s see if that feeling is justified.
Now get the early bird on the whistle by suppressing.
#Savage #Arsenal #Brucalise #Leeds #attacking #chapter