Mikel Arteta put on a show for the cup purists, he rolled out with a blended team of kids, periphery players, and some seniors looking to get back up to speed. The big story? Two teenagers 16 or under in the starting 11 in key positions. Marli Salmon started as part of the back 3 and Max Dowman landed his chance to rock our worlds in midfield.
What can I say about the game? It was entertaining. You never felt like we’d lose, but you did wonder how a team like Mansfield could be so low down in League One with a crazy good outing like that. They matched us physically, they were rattling off chances, and they kept some of our big names pretty quiet.
But, this is football, quality matters, and the difference between the two sides was split by two world class goals, from two players brought in to offer the team bang-BANG options.
The first goal was scored by Madueke, who had a really decent game. He opened up the right side of the pitch for Martinelli, the Brazilian cut him back in unexpectedly, but Madueke was sharp for it, shifted his feet and clipped a beautiful high and fierce shot across goal. No celebration, obviously, good players shouldn’t go nuts in a League One ground.
We did concede. It came from a mistake between Salmon and Mosquera. The pass from the teenager was short, Mosquera didn’t commit to the clearance, he lost the foot race to get the ball back, and Evans finished like a Premier League striker with a low strike under Kepa.
We had the munitions in the locker to finish the game. Eze was brought on. Norgaard found him on the edge of the box, Eze cut himself a little space, before unleashing fury into the top corner with his right foot. A £68m goal if ever I did see one.
The game was a funny one, we conceded a monstrous amount of xG, but also created a hefty chunk. Our defence was not great. Mosquera looks to be in a bit of a rut confidence wise. He was getting overrun, outpaced, and muscled out of challenges. League One players aren’t the best decision makers, but they are good athletes. That combined with the awful pitch Arsenal players probably rarely see, did make for some rough outings.
The two really bad performances came from Jesus and Martinelli. Jesus was put out as the 9 and I honestly didn’t notice him for about 25 minutes. He’s just not the same player these days. He can’t press, his ability to involve himself in games seems to have faded, and I have to be honest, it’s sad. Because I’ve been banging the drum for him his whole time at Arsenal and it hasn’t really worked out.
Martinelli was a different story. He was involved in the game, he just offered very little end product outside the assist. Yeah, unfair to pop off at a guy who created half of our goals, but come on, this is a starter for Brazil and he’s not absolutely imposing himself on smaller teams. After the Trossard injury, it looks like he’ll be our sole option on the left for a while. The man needs to channel that Champions League spirit in England.
But what about that Max Dowman kid? Something else. Something else. I thought he had a really good game. There were some errant passes early on, but his qualities grew with the game. He’s great in tight spaces, his dribbling was so much fun to watch, and I just love the way he crafts space to hit shots on target. One of my hot takes last week was that Dowman could be a difference maker in a game this season, doesn’t seem so hot now, because it’s obvious he can do it. Also, take a look at his defensive numbers. He won 7 of 12 duels. That really is something for a teenager against old school professionals.
Marli Salmon acquitted himself really well. I think I prefer him as fullback at the moment because of his size, but he plays with confidence, he didn’t drop his head after the error, and he can be proud of himself. Jaden Dixon also landed some minutes after coming on for the injured Calafiori (again, man). He’s a big guy, light on his feet, brave with his passing. His signing went under the radar, but it’s clear he’s being earmarked for big things moving forward. I really liked what I saw, Hleb style shinpads, and he runs like Robert Pires.
Kai was a bit of a non-entity in midfield, but we can reserve judgement there, because it’s totally clear he’s one of the best attackers we have at the moment. The most important thing there is he didn’t get injured. We need him fit, firing, and ready to bring home a big trophy.
Another key win: no Declan, Saliba, Gabriel, or Zubimendi in the squad. I hope they used their time really well and did not move from the couch.
Boring Arsenal also became the first Premier League side to hit 100 goals. What a total nonsense from the pro pundit class last week. Glad that defenders are coming to the rescue of the team and we can focus on the right things moving forward.
Man City also played a rotation 11 in their game against Newcastle and spanked them. That is good news as long as we don’t get drawn against them in the next round. We want City under stress, playing too many games, with Pep G whining about workload on his disgustingly expensive squad.
So, we’re still in it for the quad. Leverkusen next. What a GREAT time to be a Gooner.
Get the Members only On The Whistle.
Also Pedro, I think Mosquera had his confidence shaken a fair amount by the Brighton game. It was a tough fixture for him to come in for due to their high press and the fevered atmosphere for that game. It's a great experience for him to endure right now and he'll certainly come through these tests a better player.
Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, I'm not sure what's happened to the latter. He doesn't look anywhere near as sharp as he did earlier in the season and we have to let him leave gracefully in the summer. With only one year left on his deal and a 265k weekly wage, it might be hard to move him unless there's a Saudi option. Possibly our best option will be a loan with us picking up a chunk of his wages. The tabloids will make it sound like there's a bidding war but there most certainly isn't.
Martinelli is a different story. He was pretty dreadful in possession today but his hunger off the ball and willingness to make gut bursting runs late in games makes him a valuable squad member. My preference is to move out Trossard (Arteta might disagree but the timing is right for him to leave this summer) and Gabriel Jesus but keep Martinelli as a backup left winger. He can even do a serviceable job on the right if Bukayo and/or Noni are out of action.
Obviously, it comes back down to finding a top-notch left winger during the summer. There's a lot of clamour to buy another Centre Forward but our greatest need is on the left. With Semenyo off the table, the obvious choice is Rafael Leao. He's 26, on a relatively low salary (estimated 100k per week) and two years left on his contract.
Apparently, this is the only time in Premier League history that two teams have a viable chance of winning the Quadruple in March. I'll happily give City the Caraboa and F.A Cups if we can take the other two!