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Happy happy, sad sad happy (Positives Needs & Hopes) [ARS 5-0 LEE]

• Positive Needs & Hopes
August 26, 2025 4

Happy happy, sad sad happy

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

What to think about that game, right?

It was like the events of a months worth of football in two hours.

Lori, Max, his friend Jake and I were in Lexington, Kentucky to watch our friend Tyler Gibson play for USL team Oakland Roots. We had it all planned out. We wandered over to the chosen pub but they only offered Thai food and the boys looked petrified so we had to haul it to pub number two which had food that these teenagers had heard of. On the way the happy started. Eze (or Ezer as he wants us to pronounce it) had a dream moment in his life. Sixty thousand people loving just him for 2 minutes. That will be hard to beat in his life. For us it was plenty enough happiness for one match. We could’ve accepted a scruffy 2-1 and gone home ecstatic as our faces mirror his with the smile that he couldn’t wipe away.

We munched on our non-Thai lunch and admired the efforts of Timber, Gyokeres and Madueke. Plenty to admire and more than enough goals for two games. More happiness. Goals and performance both.

max

Then Odegaard wouldn’t stop messing with his shoulder and the happiness subsided as our captain and then our StarBoy exited the carpet. If we had Carlisle United next Sunday followed by a cup tie against Chipping Norton Village then the world would be fine but Liverpool away is arguably the hardest fixture in world football and Nwaneri can’t lead a press and nobody can Saka like Saka. A cloud appeared above the Emirates on the happiest day since Real Madrid got Riced. Then Max Dowman came on for his home debut. Oh my! Oh my, oh my! Not only can he play but he wants to make the difference. A fifteen year old should be pooping himself and apologizing to all the players that called for the ball and didn’t get it. He wasn’t even as good as he was in pre season and yet he still beat man after man, took shots at the right time and won yet another penalty. He plays as if a 30 minutes cameo when we are 4-0 up isn’t enough for him. He wants to be a part of the upcoming rotation that Arsenal are now able to do.

His appearance, just like Eze’s, Timber’s, Gyokeres’ and Madueke’s was a months worth of happiness covered in a lil dark injury cloud. Not sure how we are supposed to feel but I’ve settled on gratitude. Never have we had two of our best players out injured and likely doubtful for the hardest game of the season and had players like Eze, Madueke and Dowman to step in. We are at the point now where Liverpool might well rather Odegaard start than Eze and if Dowman gets on the pitch they will have to remember the coaches words in the week when they showed them the multiple ways that a school kid could hurt them.

POSITIVES:

• Calafiori and Timber

My favourite single moment of the game was Calafiori scanning prior to his one touch pass to VG for the goal. I’m not sure if this was worked on but when he doesn’t take a touch then the defender isn’t readying himself for the run or pass. So simple and so effective. My second favourite was the one touch from Timber for Saka’s goal. Arsenal need to raise the tempo often. When they do they can be unstoppable because of the quality we have. When we don’t the game leans into the physical pressing side of which other teams can get closer to matching us.

  • Raya and Rice 

Did you notice Raya with his foot on the ball backing up, bringing the attackers towards him and creating an ocean for Rice to run from high to low and receive in the ocean? Clever high level thinking.

  • Madueke

If Saka doesn’t start on Sunday, I still think we can win. Three months ago I wouldn’t have been so sure. That is a huge compliment to Madueke and Dowman both. Madueke wasn’t the reason that we won but it was more the comfort that he made us feel. He looks not only good enough to deputize on the right but start on the left. It’s not totally clear yet whether he can be the ‘answer’ on the left but it sure looks like he might be. What is so interesting is that the fanbase have dropped their begging for Arsenal to get a left winger. Maybe it’s because of Eze, but Eze will likely play in more central spaces. I think it’s got more to do with what they see in Noni Madueke and what they see in his directness, acceleration and blistering crosses with his best foot.

  • Timber

Do you remember how Bacary Sagna made you feel? I do. I routinely washed over his selection because I knew he was going to put in an 8/10 performance before the game started. He was going to dominate his area, contain his man and make you forget about him. A gift that some players have that is so quickly underrated. The gift of reliability. Jurrien Timber is the return of Bacary Sagna. He might be even better, actually.

  • Gyokeres

Perhaps we are in for a season where the happiness will come like cruise ship ice cream. Such high level joy wrapped in ‘eat as much as you want.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve forgotten that Gyokeres got the large monkey off his back in his first home game. Not only did shut up those that were criticizing his ability to play with his hair but he exhibited two of his biggest traits in one game. Unstoppable penalty kicks and the ability to score without help. It was relief I felt for him because for some reason rather than the league being excited that it now has Europe’s top scorer or fearful of what he is going to achieve, they’ve decided that they want him to be rubbish.

  • Raya

I didn’t give him his flowers for his outstanding contribution against Man United. As usual, it wasn’t much because the defence did this….


….. but his reactions are that of Caffeine Cat. The superhero that the world didn’t know it needed.

  • Corners

I was glad to see less players in the box and more on the edge of the box. How many corners are punched/cleared? Probably 40%. Maybe more. A football scientist could probably tell us which player in and around the box is most likely to score. I’d say that the players on the edge are most likely to get an opportunity.

  • Nwaneri

The performance of Ethan Nwaneri is the perfect example of what happens when you have two or three players of a similar level fighting for one position. I don’t know if we fully appreciate how difficult it is to play as an ‘8’ in this Arsenal team. You are playing in such small spaces for the majority of the time. If you want a little time and space you have to be very patient or very elusive. He will have to understand the patient part as teams desperately try to suffocate us but he is becoming more and more confident to turn the man that is stapled to his back, in order to create. We haven’t even got to see his greatest super power yet this season as he hasn’t been able to wiggle his way to a shooting position.

  • Dowman

I’ve chatted Max already but I wanted to point out that at the end of the season, Gyokeres is likely going to give him a portion of his top scorer trophy for the amount of penalties he is going to get him. Dowman is not yet a serious conversation outside of ArsenalWorld. When he does, defenders will be told not to risk a tackle in the box because his feet are too quick.

  • Eze

Arsenal needed a maverick. Somebody that would be at the peak of his game secure enough to say, “just let me be free, just let me be creative.” That was the best part of the Eze content. The rest was brilliant, especially for him. That line gave us so much hope that we have a player who has been brought in to fix the teams biggest problem, unpredictability. I marveled at how our organization led to zero shots on Raya’s goal but I am going a little balder each day at the occasional frustration of knowing exactly what the next action will be. I came from a time where one of my favourite non-Arsenal players was Peter Beagrie. I modelled my Cruyff turn on the Beagrie. I just loved his ability to completely fake an opponent. Not only am I excited for this unpredictability, but I’m hoping that it will infect others. We have plenty of players that can deceive.

If Arteta is to fail at Arsenal it will be because he robotized the attack.

NEEDS:

  • Just a good report on MO and BS. The video of Saka on the grass shows him saying, “It’s just cramp,” so let’s hope we are tricking Liverpool.

HOPES:

  • Hincapie

I wasn’t expecting Arsenal to replace Kiwior. Arsenal are changing. Arsenal are ambitious. Arsenal are not as concerned about the feelings of those whom aren’t going to make the squad. Arsenal are doing what the game requires for the first time in their history. Piero Hincapie is an upgrade on Kiwior and Kiwior is a good player. It looks like we are signing a player that has many strengths and very few weaknesses. When I watch him play I see such determination. I think this is his super power. I see his desire at set plays to attack the ball fearlessly. The same passion when he is chasing players. The same determination to protect the goal. The same pace and passion to get forward on the overlap which gets me to the more exciting point. If Eze is going to play in lane 2, as an ‘inside 10’ we need a left back to overlap. Myles has a large weakness in the crossing department and Calafiori is better inside. Hincapie is versatile and can rotate with Gabriel but I believe the main reason is to illuminate the talents of Eze and play on his outside. Arteta is playing players in pairs. Calafiori with Madueke. White with Saka. Now we will likely see Hincapie with Eze.

TWEETS and THOUGHTS

  • Subs

Can you imagine preparing to play Arsenal?

  • Rodrygo


Are Arsenal going to further boost their squad with a late loan for Rodrygo? I’m not convinced that we want a player that is going to throw a fit if he is rotated out. Either way, I might be starting a petition for jail time for any reporter who continues the ‘Rodrgo wants to stay/Rodrygo wants to leave’ nonsense.

  • The team in the shadow to your left


Are we now at the point where we need to pity Spurs?

  • Rotations


Credit @AFCTunji. He is paying more attention than most. Opponents might know our different formations that change in-game, but the different profiles of players in these spaces causes a variety of issues, mainly offering the unpredictability that we require.

  • Two thirds of nothing

I know we are better than Leeds, but for 85% of these 70 minutes, they needed to score.

  • Where will Eze play?


But will he stand there? Sometimes. We will see both.

  • Laughing at United


They aren’t going to get any better are they.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Lexington was beautiful this weekend.

sky

A picture never does beauty justice. I’m reminded when I go watch games like Lexington SC vs Oakland Roots, that when I came to the USA back in 1996, I don’t believe there were any soccer specific stadiums. They played in American Football stadiums. Now they have their own stadium even for teams in the second tier.

kids

This is a picture of my new friends, Braylee, Kaelin and Alazia. We chat about random everythings on a daily basis and they have introduced me to all the latest teenage lingo. In return, I plan on creating 3 new Arsenal fans.

If we beat Liverpool on Sunday then this tough start is going to look far less tough. I think we win.

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4 Responses to Happy happy, sad sad happy (Positives Needs & Hopes) [ARS 5-0 LEE]

  1. Andrew August 26, 2025 at 4:44 pm #

    I only watched the game once and in real time but I thought we looked better, more balanced when Nwaneri replaced OM.

    He’s doesn’t track back/press well yet but we seemed more balanced with him playing as we were using Zubi & Rice to start the build up from the middle lanes.
    This gives us the unpredictability of going right or left quickly depending on the space or overloads making us more dangerous.

    Reply
  2. Bob August 26, 2025 at 5:12 pm #

    Mike, thanks for your article!

    The match was excellent. The Rice-Zubimendi axes was better than I thought they would be. They roamed everywhere spreading the ball and themselves. For me, it looks like we played with two box-to-box player. Zubimendi could go as high as left side penalty box near touchline (Yeah, I also noticed that Raya pass to Rice, I hope it was part of tactical tweak and drill and we see it more often). Gyokeres played as if it was his second season with Arsenal, not his second game. Everyone looks fit and physically better than United game.

    Next is Liverpool. I can’t wait for the game. My thoughts:
    1. We employ MLS on the left side instead of Calafiori. I love Calafiori, he is the better one for now. But he is too aggressive with his positioning. Salah stay at the front to hit the counter. We need to defuse him. MLS is a better option because he play invertedly, not too far ahead, and ready to track back or at least closing the gap between big Gabi and Saliba in case big Gabi decide to go 1 v 1 with Salah.
    2. We play with high tempo and high intensity against Liverpool from minute 1. They have had a tough game against Newcastle and shorter preparation days. We need to exploit this. This should be a game of pressing vs even-more-intense pressing. We don’t have to worry with fatigue: as you said, we have 5 subs with fresh legs ready to pounce from minutes 60 or preventing second yellow. We can be even more intense after the sub.
    3. That right side of Liverpool is tasty. Salah is lazy to trackback, and they don’t have frimpong temporarily. Please exploit this, Arsenal.
    4. They let Konate and Virgil do all the defensive duty without protection (well, just a bit from Gravenberch) We need to be bold with attacking from center.
    5. I don’t know if we should deploy Eze as starter or not. It is a too short period for him to understand his new teammates. It could bring confusion. But it could also be a good thing, both we and Liverpool wouldn’t know what would Eze do on Saturday. No counter tactic for Eze, then.
    6. Alison looks like a shadow of himself. His shot stopping looks vulnerable. We need to be bold and not too shy with our shoot.
    7. Liverpool relies on two outside penalty shooting against Newcastle. Our CM and CDM need to secure that area in front of our back four.

    Latest news reveal that Saka could be rested until international break. Odegaard did not have serious issues. I don’t know who will take Saka’s place among Nwaneri, Trossard, and Martinelli (assuming Eze/Madueke for the left side). But I hope Dowman will come again as subs. Dowman against Rio (also coming as sub) on that right side will be fun to watch!

    I believe we can get three points. My guess is Liv 1- Ars 2 with Arsenal to get the score from set piece and open play, at least one of each. There will be several spectacular defending from Raya and the boys, but we ain’t Bournemouth and 10 men Newcastle.

    Coyg

    Reply
  3. Andy August 29, 2025 at 1:17 pm #

    Cheers Mike. I think we win too

    Reply
  4. allezkev August 30, 2025 at 6:23 pm #

    Great post Mike, Thai green curry, you can’t beat it amigo.

    I’m currently watching Leeds labour against a Newcastle team whose legs will start to go on the hour after what they gave vs Liverpool. I saw a bit of Kabia playing for Shrewsbury earlier, he looks the best player in a poor poor team so he should get plenty of starts.

    Everyone seems to think that Eze will start tomorrow but I’m not sure, Martinelli on the left is my guess, but who knows, Slot certainly doesn’t!

    Odegaard seems to have recovered, Saka will be out for about three weeks, Havertz for about six weeks I reckon.

    Not sure about Nordgaard and White, but we still have a fabulous group to choose from and don’t be surprised if after Hincapie completes that we could have a couple more small deals on deadline day?

    We’ll get a result at Anfield, a draw would be fine, but I’m greedy…

    Reply

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