Sorry for the VERY late matchday post. I took two children to Miami at 2 in the morning and, without doubt, had the worst behaved kids on the plane. Absolute terrors. I should have called the police and had them removed.
But I am in Miami, and damn, why the hell am I not living here?
This will be a punchy review of the Wolves game, because in the grand scheme of things, the only important thing we will remember about this game is that we won it. Last year, it is a draw, we feel sorry for ourselves, and cry that we will regret the dropped points at the end of the season. And guess what, those tears were true last season when we dropped four points in December.
Wolves were a non-entity of a team. They came to block passing lanes, waste time, and defend like their Premier League survival bonuses depended on it.
And they were good.
Arteta went for a destruction starting XI. He rolled out all his favourite pieces, looking to make up goal difference and spank Edwards and his boyhood club. The NBC commentators were suggesting it would be hide-behind-the-couch stuff. I thought we would monster them. Every Arsenal fan in the car on the way up was dreaming of cricket scores.
Well, the Premier League gods have a way of telling you to go f*ck yourself when you think you have won the game before a player has even entered the stadium, because we were really, really average.
We dominated possession, but we could not find runs or passes in the final third. This was not a “wow, we are battering down the door” kind of game. This was what happened in loads of games last season where we got hooked on the horseshoe of death and lobbed high balls into strikers who were not ideally suited to them.
But in moments like these, you have to be mature. You have to understand that the Invincibles drew twice to Birmingham and twice to Portsmouth on their way to history. Bad games happen to elite teams, and that was a bad game. Liverpool needed a late penalty last season to beat the worst Southampton team of all time. Man City needed a 91st-minute winner and a fake injury team talk to beat Leeds a few weeks ago. If you are looking at Arsenal and crying that we do not have what it takes after we beat Wolves late, then you are not looking at what teams around us are doing right now, and you did not watch Liverpool’s historic run of luck last season.
Arteta’s biggest issue, outside of breaking players, is that he has never been a Lucky General. But this season, things appear to be changing, and Wolves summed up the new momentum.
We beat them 2-1 without scoring a goal. Saka took a shot from a free kick, hitting the back post, then the back of Sam Johnstone’s head. A disgustingly lucky goal.
Wolves went on one of their two adventures in the second half and scored a pretty great headed goal. It came from Arokodare in the 90th minute. It felt like one of those iconic moments you look back on and say, damn, that is when it fell apart in 2025–26.
But after watching another drip-tray pint of lager performance from Gyokeres, a little glass of champagne arrived to change the outcome in the 94th minute. Saka, from the right, slipped a delightful ball into Jesus’ run. Mosquera tried to rugby tackle him, and in the process of trying to stop the inevitable header, put it into his own net.
ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS MOMENT. JESUS ARRIVES JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS TO REMIND US HE GIVES THE BEST GIFTS.
That, my friends, is what happens to title winners.
We did not give up like the fans who left early.
We believed.
We made our own luck and lived to fight another day.
Those three points, the way we did it, playing the way we did, will hopefully be the mental sharpener we need to power through the Everton game.
I cannot quite put my finger on what went wrong in that game. Viktor is so ill-suited to deep blocks and big aerial balls. I mean, he is really not looking like he is suited to much right now. He has made 19 appearances and only scored in four games so far. My disappointment with him is that his one superpower was supposed to be trying over and over again. Yesterday, he looked beaten. He was overpowered by average defenders and only managed one shot against a historically bad side. He cannot create for himself, even when the team is diabolical.
Compare that to the eye test with Gabi Jesus. He can create space, beat defenders from a standing start, hang off the last shoulder, draw people in, and operate as a genius in tight spaces.
But he was not the only one. Eze was not at the races and was replaced by Odegaard. It was one too many games for Zubi, who looked gassed. Martinelli showed again that he appears better at impacting games in the Champions League. Trossard ended up showing how to do things against teams that do not know how to play.
Declan gets a hall pass because he played off the back of an illness… the man is a machine. He wants the Premier League so bad this season.
But again, this is football. These performances only matter if you keep serving them up. You only remember them if you lose points. We won ugly and lucky, and that is a good thing, especially when you are top of two leagues.
If you are drawing deep conclusions from that performance, outside of Arteta playing Ben White three games in a row and breaking him with an inexplicable decision, then I fear you are trying to rev up an agenda against the manager.
We have a whole week to prepare for Everton. That will be a hard game, but an important one to correct the issues from last night.
Ok, that is all I have. Check out the earlybird On The Whistle! x
WOLVES (H) | ON THE WHISTLE | EARLY BIRD
Crisis Averted: 5 Points Clear, Jesus Returns, and The Gyökeres Problem
Gyok should NEVER start against teams that will play deep and park the bus. We'll want Havertz for his superior heading ability. But given the available options Arteta had to start him; no need to risk Jesus for more than 20 mins just after his return from a serious injury. Martinelli ALSO should NEVER start against teams that will play deep and park the bus. He rarely can dribble past defenders and when he does can't pick out a teammate in the box quick enough as his head is always down. Like Gyok he is better suited to a late game sub cameo appearance when we have a lead against tired defenders stretched as they try to chase the game against us. I shook my head when I saw Arteta start Zubimendi. This was a game against the most impotent attack in the league. Rest Zubi, play Rice as a 6 that won't be called upon too much. Start one of Odegaard/Eze and Nwaneri. I'd have rested Saka and given Madueke the start. If that group couldn't break Wolves then you had quality on the bench to call up the last 30 mins. If they did breach Wolves then I'd bring Norgaard on, and keep Rice on for double pivot defense. FFS we played the worst team in the EPL in a decade and THIS is when we need to rest some of our overworked players (Saka & Zubi). I know there are 7 days until Everton but key players could use a 10 day rest considering it is a 50+ game season and a congested period is about to start. I also would have rested Saliba for another 3 days recovery and started a back 4 of MLS - Hincapie - Timber-White. While Timber has been overplayed he would not exert himself as much at CB.
We got out of jail there…..