I got issues, but you got ’em too, So give ’em all to me, and I’ll give mine to you
There’s just too much to say, too many feelings that need to come out, so I’m just going to keep it concise.
I flew to London on friday morning, all the time I was there I longed for this game. I had a wonderful time doing many things but this game was the reason I came, full stop.
My view from my seat
So when it started like that, 2-0 after 9 minutes, I thought to myself, can my trip really end on a amazing high like this, making my flight home unreal?
Of course not…
Where to start. Champagne football the first 25 minutes. The passing and the movement was on point, as good as we have been this season. From my seat high up in the stands you could really see the quality we have during the build up to score the first goal. I don’t really know what happend after that but we started playing at walking pace and delayed the game with every throw-in and goal-kick. We simply gave them hope by becoming so passive.
My issues during the game:
Gabriel Jesus
Love him to bits, and he keeps scoring, but he thought he needed show what a big player he is and came all the way down playing the Zinchenko role, without any rotations. We played without a CF for 20-25 minutes. It was arrogant, unnecessary and ineffective. And don’t get me started on the play-acting.
Rob Holding
Even if Holding is playing ok himself, what we can’t do with him is to stop momentum building. So many times Holding just tried to run with Antonio and it created chaos, Saliba would have just sussed it out in an instant. And he only passes sideways, that’s a problem.
How we play without Zinchenko
Even if Tierney himself was fine, what we lack when he plays that inverted role is the ability to turn and pass forward. But rather than criticising the Scottish international for that I expect the team to mitigate the flaws in his game. Are you telling me we can’t just use him to zig zag the ball to our frontline? But my feeling is we didn’t pass the ball with enough speed or positive intention.
Substitutions
Yes Partey fell of a cliff after the first 25 minutes. But it doesn’t matter. A bad Partey is better than Jorginho. I hoped the Italian would replace Xhaka in that moment. I had no issues with replacing Jesus because of what I just said about his performance, but when chasing a goal I would have liked Trossard in the Xhaka role and keep the front line as it was. Now it just seemed we got weaker with every sub.
Fitness
Why are we only playing for 30 minutes now? Mentality or fitness? We are playing once a week, I find it strange. Tierney and Gabriel both had cramps at the end. If it’s the pressure getting to us I worry about the tough games ahead.
Lack of maturity
We always seem to let setbacks become serial setbacks. It looked like the players souls left their bodys after Saka missed that penalty. I know Martinelli came to him to spur him on but the teams performance after this was the most timid one of the season. And what should have been a solid 3-1 lead became 2-2 in a flash. Anyone can miss a penalty and it’s no reason to capitulate.
None of these issues are huge for me. It was only things that bothered me during the game. We can fix all of them in only a few days. But I would lie if I said I wasn’t worried. There’s no room for error now, we have to be perfect and to be that some things have to change.
Hello! Im a 39 year old family man from Sweden, born in Gothenburg, living in Stockholm. Why Arsenal? I was 11 years old and didnt have a PL team yet, but was a big fan of the Dutch national team with Dennis Bergkamp up front. So when he joined us in 95’ it was a easy choice which team I wanted to support. It only felt better when success quickly followed and Freddie Ljungberg came in. My first and only live game was the Palace game at the Emirates when Giroud scored that scorpion kick goal. My biggest regret will forever be that I never got to visit Highbury. Most of my friends through life have been Man Utd or Liverpool fans but I have always been proud to be a Arsenal supporter. We are more than a club, with values I live by, and watching this Arteta revolution fills me with great joy. This beautiful club deserves to be at the top. Lets talk Arsenal!
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