SADDLE UP, WE RIDE AT SUNRISE
THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE TOXIC POSITIVES AND THE WHITE FLAG WAVERS
There’s a famous song by a critically acclaimed British band called Chumbawamba. Their most poetic lyrics are…
I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down
… and that’s where I am this morning.
Down, not out. Dizzy, but recovering fast. This isn’t hitting the canvass in the final rounds of a fight, no way, it’s too early, this is an early slip. Shaken, not stirred. Confident of recovery because that’s the only way to be right now.
Sick in the head? Maybe. An illness that will take me out, unless I get a major trophy into the bloodstream before the end of May. But if I’m going to let Arsenal ruin my life, I’m going to believe until the very end that the performance I saw yesterday, replicated 8 more times, will absolutely take us to the promised land and beyond.
Mikel Arteta took the boys to Manchester and put on a performance that had some good and some bad. But ultimately, it looked like a classic top-of-the-table clash from any era. It was tight, cagey, full of micro errors, duels, subplots, some moments of madness… and ultimately, a narrow win for one team that won in the ever-so-tight margins.
Arsenal played brave. The selection had Eze out on the left, Kai through the middle, and finally… Martin Odegaard in midfield. Arteta adopted a high and aggressive press. They forced Bernardo to drop deep, they asked questions of Donnarumma by making him kick, and the job, away from home, was to pounce on mistakes.
But… there were mistakes from both teams. Raya made the first, taking a heavy touch inside 4 minutes, nearly letting Haaland in with a cheap goal. Donnarumma made a similar error down the other end, letting a backpass slip under his foot for a corner.
First blood went to City, Rayan Cherki danced through our midfield unchallenged, facing up our two centre backs, he jinked delicately through, finding a gap with a poked strike under Raya. It felt like our strong start was undone by another moment of brilliance from one of the league’s best entertainers. Some are blaming Eze for not dealing with the cleared header out, but I think that’s a bit harsh, not sure there was much he could do, the Nunes assist was a bit of an accident.
But, 30 seconds later, Donnarumma took a heavy touch and a moment too long picking up a backpass, Kai bore down on him, Donnarumma’s kick hit the German’s foot, and he was rewarded with a goal. Level so soon? Outrageous. This sort of thing never happens to Arsenal.
Our major weaknesses were coming down the right, Doku was having a great day probing the nerves of Mosquera. Madueke, clearly not fit, wasn’t really giving him the support he needed. The Mosquera yellow card felt ominous, but more worrying was the joy Doku was having in the one vs one situations.
Arteta brought on Martinelli for Madueke at halftime. More support for Mosquera made sense on paper. The Brazilian’s one and only contribution to the attack came early on when he slipped Kai in one vs one… Khusanov lumped Kai over, which seemed to be fine for Anthony Taylor all day long.
Our best chance of the second half came on 59 minutes. Martinelli won the ball in midfield, Declan picked up the loose ball and released Eze vertically, he cut inside, breaking the lines past two defenders to find Martin Odegaard. He had one touch to control the pass, then he put Kai in, the German had a simple finish, but clattered his shot into the giant frame of Donnarumma. It was a good chance. 84% of the time that goes in, according to the xG Philosophy handle.
Eze had the most ‘that was nearly the moment of the campaign’ when he shuffled the ball onto his left foot on the edge of City’s box and curled a ball around Donnarumma at the inside post, the ball fizzed across the line. I’ve watched it one hundred times and can’t believe it wasn’t a goal.
When two big moments like that don’t go your way, you start to expect it might not be your day, and that was the right feeling. Doku took on Mosquera on the right, cut inside him, found O’Reilly in the box, flicked the ball up, tapped it hopefully across the box, Hincapie was unlucky not to clear it when he challenged in the middle, the ball bobbled up and Haaland was there to place it under Raya first time.
Sickener.
Things were bubbling between Haaland and Big Gabi. There was a lot of handsy tussling going on, it blew up a touch when Gabriel ripped Haaland’s undershirt. On 82 minutes, there was another bundle, but the two put heads together and Gabriel basically headbutted him, dragging his forehead down, narrowly missing a nose-breaking moment. Haaland didn’t fall to the floor and that meant Gabriel avoided a straight red and a 3-match ban for violent conduct. What the f*ck was he thinking? 27-years-old and he nearly made our final 5 games 2 for himself. Just an unfathomable moment of dimness, no wonder the players gave the armband to Declan last week. The luckiest thing to happen to us this season if I’m honest.
The game threw up 7 minutes of injury time, City fans have never seen such a number when they’re winning. Arsenal had two major chances. The first was on 93 minutes when Odegaard found a charging Gabriel at the back post, but O’Reilly nipped just in front of him. The final one, Ben White put Trossard into space out wide, he delivered a world-class cross at the perfect height for Kai, and the header was put over the bar. An unbelievable chance he should have been doing more with.
So we lost the game. In the fine margins, City had it, and Arsenal didn’t (again).
So why am I not feeling suicidal about it? Because it’s in our hands, and I like what I saw out there, performance-wise. There was a blueprint for the run-in and we still have Saka and Timber to add to the mixer for the Newcastle game. The best right back in the league and a winger who is just immeasurably better than anything else we have on offer at the moment.
Kai Havertz started his first game as a number 9 in a long time and he dropped 90 minutes. The performance was silk on my eyes compared to what we’ve been getting with number 14, even with the misses, which are inevitable with strikers who give you volume.
He had 5 shots, 2 on target, one of them was a goal.
Let’s talk about what he gave us… a viable outlet. We could go long to relieve pressure, Kai could win the fifty-fifties, he could bring the ball out of the air, he could relieve relentless pressure. He was an option with through balls because he could control the ball and shield defenders. Should he have done better with that Bernardo moment? Yes. But he was in the fight for most of the game.
Gyokeres has played 207 minutes against City this season. Zero shots off target. Zero shots on target. 40 touches. Kai had 30 touches in one game.
Gyokeres has ZERO open play shot on target against top 8 opposition all season, Kai had two against City, and a goal. Should he have done better with his later chances? Absolutely. But I’d rather have a striker in the right place to miss chances than to be absolutely anonymous all game. You felt Kai was there.
I’m also all-in on Eze and Odegaard back in the side. There’s just a quality in attack that we’ve lacked without those two in the starting 11. Eze wasn’t perfect, but he’s heating up, and I think he’s more interesting on the left than Trossard and Martinelli. Martin Odegaard was missed, he created 4 chances, one big one. It’s the confidence to pick the ball up from deep, it’s the quality of pass from wherever he is, it’s the security to know he doesn’t give it away that much. When Odegaard is in midfield, we have a midfield.
Two main issues with the subs, the first was that I thought it was crazy to take off Eze over the unfit Martin Odegaard. Martin creates more chances, but Eze felt like he was the bigger goal threat. The second was bringing on Gyokeres. He did absolutely nothing with his 14 minutes, he didn’t even touch the ball. Am I crazy to think that the most unique attacking option we have from the bench right now is… Max Dowman? He has great control, power, pace, good decision-making, and he will hit the target. I would have subbed Odegaard and brought on Max.
There are going to be people who are giving up. If that’s you, good on you. It would be nice if you’d give up in silence. If you’re tapped out, do you need to post relentlessly? Do we need you camping outside Screamertube channels to get a gig? Can you just go quietly? Out of the group chats as well. Go and sit under a rock for the next month. Turn on the TV when the transfer window starts. The problem is the people who are intent on rolling over for the big surrender won’t shut up about it. The rest of us… we’ve got the stomach for this. I know 99% of you who are reading now are going to get over this City loss, and get toxic positive.
Man City are not trustworthy. They have six games, we have five. I think they’re going to drop points. I don’t think Arsenal will. This is going to be a gunslinger of an end to the season. Arsenal will have their best shooters back, I think they will take confidence from how they played, I believe we can rack up some goals and play in a less conservative manner, because that’s what the brief is now…
We have to win big, in every game, and that is how we retain control of the Premier League.
Arteta took the handbrake off for the first time in a while against City and we out-xG’d them at their own place. If we play that way for the remaining 8 games we have left (Champions League included), we will get to a final, and we will take the Premier League down to goal difference.
That’s the mission now.
If you’re up for it, get on that horse; we ride at sunrise. We're going to Brokeback Mountain. Just me and you. Hold on… is that the right mountain? No! I mean, the Mountain where the football fans go to be real postive about life. It’s like a wellness retreat for lost Arsenal souls. Me, you, and the gang. Ok, I’m lost here. No more mountains or cowboy references. Let’s just meet up in an internet forum, bang digital tables shouting ELITE MENTALITY, and gut this out until the end! WE’RE WINNING THE LEAGUE!
Ok, that’s me done, see you in the comments. x
First, where Arsenal are finishing.
Goal difference will be a big factor at the end if the season. We need to dtart battering teams.