MEMORY OF BOLTON ORCS SLAIN - ARE THE KIDS READY?
THAT ONE'S FOR YOU, BIG SAM
We all headed into that League Cup game with a foul taste in our mouths. The metallic swill of Sunday despair demanded a minty sorbet cleanser whipped up by the finest Project Youth chefs in the game.
Damn.
That was fresh.
Two Nwaneri goals.
Nichols involved in two of the goals.
MLS inverting like a more athletic Zinchenko, fizzing Michelin-star balls into Raheem Sterling.
Kabia making a debut. Maldini making a debut. Porter making a debut.
No injuries.
A BRUTAL DECAPITATION OF BOLTON.
5-1 against a League One side is a result you can only get as a Premier League team if you have a good culture. That score means the senior players showed up to win, and the young kids understood the brief.
Raheem Sterling has had his whole being questioned – but he put the rumours to bed with a performance that was purring. He was light on his feet, productive, sharp, defensively solid, and he scored a goal. This is a sleeper hit of a signing… when United wanted him, you lot were laughing at them (I was laughing at them), now he’s signed for us, and you want to walk away from that view (please let me walk away). I’m not having it (I will take the L in secret). Raheem is going to be so, so useful to us if he can stay fit all season.
Two players we needed to see something from were MLS and Nwaneri.
Both were brilliant. MLS inverting from the left was exceptional. He’s a small player, but light on his feet, strong, with a very cultured range of passing. I’ve already noted he set the ball rolling for Raheem to give an assist. It was a really encouraging game beyond that. He held his own against grown men and showed he was a level above all of them.
Ethan scoring two goals in second gear gave us a glimpse into what we could see from him. He’s raw, because he’s a baby. But he has Kai-like body language – totally at ease being in the first team. He never tries to do too much… and under pressure, he mostly makes the right decisions. Two goals? Surely he’s getting some minutes against Leicester.
The senior players did well. Declan settled the nerves early on with a goal and a forceful performance. Calafiori was on a power level above anyone in a green shirt; he’s top tier. Kiwior showed again that he would be good in most teams’ central defence. Saka playing made me a little angry, but he wanted to be in the action.
Even the subs cared. Kai Havertz scored a goal. Martinelli was deep in the mix, trying to get a proper break to get him into the kind of form we’re begging to see from him.
5-1 in what I wanted to see. Too often over the last decade, we’ve mailed it in for the League Cup. Our record is embarrassing, especially annoying when you consider a lot of top managers use this tournament to kickstart their season. This could be our year. We’ve got a great squad. Great youngsters. Momentum.
Preston in the next round…
Say it quietly… but the momentum feels like it’s with Arsenal. We’re more relevant than ever. The media hates us. Rival fans hate us. PGMOL hates us.
That’s exactly where we want to be – winding up the nation. Hopefully, we’ll cap off the season with a haul of silverware.
Check out ‘On The Whistle’. It’s me, Johnny, and Matt. It was a banger. Members only.
“Say it quietly… but the momentum feels like it’s with Arsenal. We’re more relevant than ever. The media hates us. Rival fans hate us. PGMOL hates us.
That’s exactly where we want to be – winding up the nation. Hopefully, we’ll cap off the season with a haul of silverware.”
Love this, Pedro.
Mikel Arteta on Merino:
Tomorrow is too soon. Next week we’ll see. He had partial training today. It’s about the healing of the bone and seeing when he’s ready for contact.
We're trying to keep him in the cage. I think we are comfortable now to expose him with contact.
He’s gonna bring first an unbelievable football brain. He’s so intelligent how he decides and occupies space.
Оn David Raya:
We have to wait another 24 hours. We have to wait 24 hours to see if it’s looking good or not that good. It’s about a player being fit and available or not. When we have that clarity for Leicester we will make that decision tomorrow.
On Timber and White:
Jurrien was able to take part in training today so he’ll be available in the squad. Hopefully Ben too.
On Tomiyasu:
He had a partial training today and he looked good. He’s progressing really well. He’s probably a little bit behind Mikel [Merino], but we don’t know with Tomi because he’s another one that pushes every single day, but he’s in a good place now, I think.
On coping without Odegaard:
Well if you put me in this scenario before the season with the fixutres that we had and the amount of injuries that we had I would be very pleased with how we got out of that. It’s not just with Martin, but with many others as well. The team has coped exceptionally well. They embraced the challenge and I’m happy for that.
On Neto:
We had to react quickly with the departure of Aaron. We had him on our list for a few years. We believed he was the right player because he was in the Premier League and had experience and we can put him in in the right moment.
On if there's an agenda against Arsenal:
No. But I heard a lot of positive things as well. If we get negative criticism for where we are and what we’ve been through these past few games that that tells you where the expectations are.
On Calafiori:
Really good. As you said, he came back, had a glimpse, went on international duty got injured. Then he came back and we threw him in for his first start against Manchester City.
With another player probably I wouldn’t have thrown him in against City.
On Nwaneri:
We treat them like first team players. That step to first team is really far. We also have to be fair with them though and if they give us the right reason.
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Merino back next week is superb news!