Sorry that I can’t write a great post today but I am pressed for time. That’s life!
Speaking of life, I have been making my bed every day. I also do a load of laundry every day and I have set up several other routines. The laundry thing may seem weird but I used to throw clothes in the wash and then forget that I did that and a few days later I would have a stinking mass of clothes to wash again. Now I wash small loads of laundry every day and never have that problem. I also always have clean clothes. It’s a win.
I only mention this because it’s something we have talked about on here before and I wanted to let you all know that it’s possible to go from being kind of a flake to somewhat more organized with just a little effort. Oh, also, I use an app. LOL. I’m a cheater! I have an app on my phone that prompts me every morning to do my routines. I have different routines for different days. So, Monday-Wednesday-Friday is calisthenics, and Thursdays are supposed to be “There’s only one Arsene Wenger” day, and so on. The latter I find much more difficult to adhere to. I can’t figure out why, other than it’s actual work whereas this… what I’m doing here… is just a guy finger-blabbing into his computer.
Anyway.. how bout that Arse? We are in the final!
The first 15 minutes were awful. Arsenal did that thing that Emery does where he wants to just “soak up pressure” and “protect the lead.” But we looked very sluggish and like we weren’t up for the match. They scored one goal off 6 shots in the first 16 minutes.
But then football happened. Auba slapped in a shot off the outside of his boot which had like a 2% chance of going in and… it went in. That goal pretty much crushed them. They finished the half with just three shots, all tame efforts.
Arsenal’s second was a similarly low percentage chance. The assist will be credited to Torreira (who otherwise had a poor day) but it was Auba who broke free of the tackle to open Valencia up and Lacazette who fashioned the goal out of nothing, taking a big touch to give himself a yard of space, turning, and powering the ball into the corner of the goal.
The team celebrated as one. A huge huddle. They knew. Everything after that was purely academic. Apparently Auba loves academia because he added two more goals to give us all a good show and get a hat trick.
Overall it was a pretty decent 60 minutes of football from the Arsenal but the best part is that we are in the final and have a chance to win a major trophy. Arsenal have to play Chelsea, who lucked their way into the final on penalties, and we can talk more about that later.
But for now, we are going to Baku.
Cheater, cheater…
I still reckon an unmade bed is no vice, but, if it’s working for you…
Thoughts on playing our strongest side Sunday to try and bag a dozen goals.
Keep making the bed! It’s part of a healthy ‘self-care’ regimen that’s important as you get older. That’s what my 13 year old tells me.
I’m not sure what to make of yesterday. Of course I’m happy we are going to a final. But it was not sparkling football. Statistically they dominated. But it was never a match. We destroyed them. Maybe this is Emeryball. Possession doesn’t matter. Giving up shots doesn’t matter. Getting dominated in midfield doesn’t matter. Scoreboard baby.
Our press is anchored by our strike partnership. If we had a midfield that could press it might actually work. I suspect that’s where Emery invests and or clears out.
Thank you. Spot on observations.
It is refreshing to read a balanced assessment for once at least!
I’m a little disappointed Frankfurt didn’t make the final. I’m going to be on vacation in Germany an hour away from Frankfurt the day of the final. I figured it might make the atmosphere more exciting, but at least WE made the final. I guess now maybe I’ll just go to an Irish pub to watch the game and run into some Chelsea hooligans…
I’ve personally found keeping track of my chores and workouts on a physical calendar to be a good way to motivate myself. This way I have it staring at me judging me when I’ve missed a week or two…or six… Any system that works for you isn’t cheating. 🙂
Why in the world would a simple system for the purpose of personal accountability be ‘cheating?’ I live my life around reminders I set myself. I’m cheating only my forgetful self. And that dude sucks.
tim, so happy to hear of your positive behavior change. hopefully it makes you feel better, which then leads to you living somewhere closer to your best life. small changes do make a big difference.
just watched the game this morning. valencia came out ready. their crowd was ready. their play was good. they took the lead and piled on the pressure. then it happened; torreira gets fouled and lies on the ground for about a minute and fifteen seconds. boom, there goes valencia’s momentum. a short moment later, arsenal scores an away goal. talk about a 180 degree turn…….was torreira’s injury legit? if not, it was gamesmanship of the highest order. william gallas has done that to save arsenal’s bacon plenty of times.
tim mentioned the players having a “clear the air” meeting after drawing on sunday in a game arsenal needed to win. those moments are good and tend to have a positive result. the boys worked hard, particularly the strikers. it’s why i struggle to understand why the club didn’t extend welbeck; he was free and already knew the system.
was it me or did coquelin have a beast of a game? he controlled the game and i don’t think he missed a pass until after arsenal scored the 3rd goal and valencia became more desperate. he served up some long balls that were absolute peaches. likewise, it was almost like mesut didn’t play. i always believed he could play cdm and with kondogbia injured, he did an outstanding job yesterday. unfortunately for valencia, he could do nothing about the double-headed monster that led the arsenal line yesterday.
back to the cdm discussion shard started the other day (and that we have every year), the stats lie about a cdm. i’m sure even using tim’s statistical rubric, xhaka checked all the blocks. using the eye test, xhaka even looked like a young xabi alonso. arsenal weren’t nuts for buying him. the truth told when he had to deal with premier league pressure. so many hot shots struggle to deal with the pace and power of the english top flight. it’s not that they’re bad players, just not suited for the premier league.
Josh – Astute as always!
I also noticed Coquelin’s performance. It seemed like he was man marking Ozil most of the time. That may have been the strategy. Neutralize him and our offense doesn’t run. Except Auba and Laca. They put the team on their backs. Not sure we get away with that vs Chelsea.
We need S**** to lose to Everton 1-0 and we need to beat Burnley 9-0.
Chelsea faces the NE Revolution on 5/15 to raise money to fight racism. Noble cause but hoping that match impacts them negatively.
Made me smile to read that my Arse blogger has a ‘There’s only one Arsene Wenger’ day every week.
Meanwhile Arsenal women won the WSL. Something to cheer about.
Stop making your bed. Over the years of following the blog, I have learned that your writing is best when you suck and there’s chaos around you.
Ok, don’t listen to me. Do what works best to make your life better and keep at it. It can be hard work. And that sucks too.
I think Lacazette’s goal was Messiesque. There was a lot to do. He teased out the ball from underfoot, kicked it aside and managed to turn, square himself and get a great shot away. One of the goals of the season for me (we should have the best goals discussion soon).
It’s going to be weird playing against Giroud in one of our most important games in years. I still have time for him and he scored some essential goals for us. Also, Chelsea being the child-trafficking monsters that they are and having had their transfer ban for improper signing of underage players upheld for next season, will be desperate to get into Champions League. Ripe for the picking? For a few clubs that would be an emphatic yes, but for us?
Well, we definitely don’t suck in European competition right now and we are peaking at the right time. We can do this, for sure.
What an ugly lineup. I’ll bet Arsenal will give up this game again:
Leno,
Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Mavropanos, Monreal,
Guendouzi, Elneny, Willock, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan,
Aubameyang.
Guendouzi and Elneny is the most insipid midfield partnership in the league, never mind Arsenal.
Ah well, fifth or sixth, honestly don’t care which.
There goes my Arsenal to place fifth wager.
This line up reflects the scope of rebuild needed at the club.
This may get ugly today.
Fair play to Auba. Plenty of time to think about that one.
Fifth. Yay.
We easily should have finished fourth ahead of Spurs, but we sh*t the bed badly this past month. So frustrating.
Did enjoy watching United today, though. Haahaha! Ole!
Two points separate Arsenal in 5th and Chelsea in 3rd.
Yes, we finished a point off Spurs, but we might as well admit that a power shift HAS occurred in North London.
They’re a consistently better team, better coached (albeit without trophies to show), get more vfm, and they’ve built a bigger, better stadium than we have. Over to you, Mr Kroenke.
I’d accepted finishing 5th or even 6th. Or so I thought. I feel annoyed now at missing out on top 4. Claude talks about a power shift. If Spurs hadn’t made the final I’d have disagreed, but now…
If we’d finished top 4 at Spurs’ expense and they then lost the final, we’d be in the CL and they wouldn’t. Which would not only strengthen us, but prevent a true power shift. As it is, they’re guaranteed CL football next season, and might even win the CL, and we need to beat Chelsea.
As for Kroenke, he’s not going to do anything. We’ll cut our wage bill, add some ‘exciting’ talent, and then play Emeryball.
Still, though it won’t be easy, I’m confident we can win the EL. For us this season, that will have to do. Will be good to see us win a European trophy.
We have to give it up for Auba. He shares the Golden Boot with Aguero and Salah in season where he had no clearly defined role or consistent system. Played wide as a winger, as a lone striker and also in a 3-5-2 partnership with Laca he missed many chances but also scored as many as two of the very best who play in more defined and disciplined systems with much better service and quality around them.
And unlike the other two, he’s done it under a 1st year coach. Pretty impressive.
There’s always someone worse off…
Luke Shaw has been voted player of the year at Man Utd,that just sums up what a mess they’re in.