When we were beaten by Olympiakos I was worried about the response this team would have. Perhaps I’m still traumatized by the 2010/11 season.
Arsenal spent most of 2010/11 in touching distance of the League leaders. In fact, for the majority of the 2nd half of that season, Arsenal were in 2nd place. We even beat Barcelona 2-1 at home – with the now famous Arshavin goal. Then we reached the League Cup final and were beaten by Birmingham. Almost immediately after, the wheels came off.
So, you’ll forgive me if I was a bit worried headed into this match at Fratton Park that Pompey would make us pay. And they nearly did.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that Arsenal started slow, Pompey came out with an aggressive game plan and it worked. They pressured Arsenal, especially in the midfield, and forced turnovers. Guendouzi, in particular, was marked out of the game. And in those first 20 minutes or so, Arsenal looked like they wouldn’t be able to get the ball forward.
But then a horror tackle on Torreira forced Arteta to change the lineup. Ceballos came on and Arsenal looked much better going forward. It wasn’t perfect but it was enough. You could see by the end of the match that Pompey had burnt themselves out and Arsenal just passed the ball around them.
A few things need mentioning here, however.
First, the Portsmouth fans can jump off a cliff. I’m not even going to give them the satisfaction of rising to the chants (same old Arsenal, always cheating) and the fans singing about Torreira going home in an ambulance. They are just a garbage team that was bankrupted and relegated by Harry Redknapp and anyone reveling in Lucas’ injury is a scumbag.
Second, Mike Dean went full Mike Dean. This cult of the referee disease that’s going around right now can soak its head in a barrel of water. Dean is the worst referee in Premier League history and seems to have some kind of special hatred of Arsenal. I can show you statistically that he has an aberrant record when it comes to officiating Arsenal matches. I can complain. I can ask how he’s allowed to referee Arsenal matches. I can share Wenger’s quote where he came just short of calling him a cheat but did say he’s not honest. But I cannot stop the league or whomever from appointing him to officiate Arsenal matches. All that I can do is celebrate the day he retires. Please, if there is a god, make Mike Dean retire.
Third, and I never thought I would say THIS but I think we need Ceballos to play in MF. Ok, now I need a shower. He’s not at the level I would like for a starting midfielder at Arsenal but he’s the only MFer on this team who can carry the ball and make progressive passes. One of the folks I follow on Twitter (another dand Physician! What’s up with all you physicians??? Are they handing out MDs like candy now?) named SMukherjee made us this bubble chart to show which players make the most progressive passes and which carry the ball better. Ceballos does both.
Now obviously this isn’t the be all end all of analysis but as the good doctor points out, and as we have seen now on more than one occasion, Ceballos opens up the midfield and gets Arsenal gunning.
On an unrelated note, Doc also made us this chart showing 2nd assists and expected assists. Ozil is tops there as well. So while we all complain that Ozil isn’t doing much (myself included) apparently he’s creating a lot of passes to passes that are creating shots. My only question there is whether or not anyone else would be able to do that same thing:
What are we up to now.. fourth? Yes fourth, I want to point out that Arsenal have the best group of U21 players in the League. Admiral Nelson sank Pompey with 2 assists, bringing his total to 4 for the season. Looking at all competitions you see how important these players are:
- Saka – 3 goals, 9 assists
- Martinelli – 10 goals, 4 AST
- Nelson – 2 goals, 4 AST
- Willock – 4 goals
- Nketiah – 3 goals
- Guendouzi – 2 AST
Chelsea get huge plaudits for their supposed “youth brigade” but their U21 players are pretty far behind ours:
- Mount – 5 goals 4 AST
- Pulisic – 6 goals, 5 AST
- James – 2 goals, 3 AST
- Callum – 3 goals, 5 AST
Arsenal’s U21’s have 41 goal involvements and Chelsea’s have just 33. Yesterday, Arsenal’s U21 players created 2 goals and scored one. As much as I’m worried about the future of Arsenal (financially) I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun watching these players (until we sell them).
Anyway, I think that’s a wrap. I got to get to work. Have a good day!
Post Script! I almost forgot! Pablo Mari had a fantastic debut. I can’t wait to see him and David Luiz playing together more often.
The chants were a little reminder of the infamous dive, by a certain Perez a few years back. So, grow up and get over it. If what you got last night was the worst thing ever then, you’ve had a blessed life sunshine. By the way, this bankrupt lot are well on the way back so, get used to it!
Perez? I take it you mean Pires during the invincible season? Are Pompey still bitter and twisted about that? Maybe they’re the ones that need to grow up and get over it. Championship next season, maybe. Exciting times on the south coast.
Can’t be easy with Saints and Bournemouth doing so well. At least Pompey have Plymouth to look down on, that is as long as Argyll don’t get promoted of course . A nice little local derby, perhaps?
I just want to be clear – you were gleefully cheering about a player having their leg broken because someone “dived” 10 years ago.
You must be a lot of fun at parties.
Parties? What in Portsmouth? Don’t be silly, Tim.
Brilliant stuff again, 7 am Kickoff. Sometimes this blog is the only reason that keeps me interested in Arsenal beyond general loyalty to the club.
I hope this group of young guys learn the importance of winning and have that pressure impressed upon them by Arteta.
Wenger’s failing was to take too much of that on himself and to shield and overprotect his players. His undeniable greatness of keeping us in the top 4 stopped short of lighting the fire to really push the club beyond top 4. Especially in the Leicester City season, I felt that.
I took a mate of mine to the game who was a dyed in the wool Pompey fan. He was apoplectic. Went on and on about it for ages. It was quite early in the season, if I remember rightly, so going a whole season unbeaten wasn’t in anybody’s thoughts. At the time I couldn’t see what the big deal was.
Nothing wrong with trolling, but at least get the spelling right.
That said, Portsmouth now has a “university” would you believe? Oxford and Cambridge eat your heart out.
Hey, a Scouser family member who I was trading trash talk with after Liverpool’s loss says there’s a rumour that the PL season may be aborted if Covid 19 gets worse in the UK and there may be no winner declared.
???
There is already talk of playing games in empty stadiums behind closed doors.
A 7th person has died in the Seattle area.
I hope Tim is taking note and taking care.
23 Iranian MPs are also infected. Sucking on shisha pipes probably doesn’t help matters.
I am from the Far East; we were the ground zero just a month back. This Cov-19 just explodes quickly.
Most folks get decently mild symptoms. But quite a high proportion, around 5-10%, goes into intensive care.
So please take care and don’t take chances.
Im glad you made that point. Just come back from a few months in the US, where the level of complacency is jaw dropping. Apparently it’s a left wing plot to sink the economy during election year. You couldn’t make it up, only apparently someone in the government just has. You know it’s serious when the French have banned kissing.
Wash your hands, people. Be OCD about it. I mean it.
Glad Tim brought up Mari, I thought he was excellent. A good introduction for him – cup match away at a hostile stadium, but with all due respect to Pompey not so much of a challenge footballistically speaking. Along with Luiz, Ceballos and Guendouzi, he circulated the ball very well at the back and we passed them into a state of boredom, then occasionally hit them with Nelson’s quickness, pace and velocity. That meant that around 75% of Arsenal’s possession was not much fun to watch but eh never mind.
I was exhausted and sick as a dog last night, coronavirus obviously, guess I need to write a will and say goodbye to the kids.
Just try not to sneeze all over them. Might we wise to cancel the holiday to China as well.
Yes, Mari did look good. Having seen so many centre halves come to the club, start off brightly and then go straight down the toilet, I try not to get too excited. A sweet left foot. Getting the crossfield ball out to Pepe, or in this case Nelson, should make a difference. Can we start to rely less on Xhaka? Good in the air. Seems calm. Infinitely more handsome than Tony Adams, Steve Bould or Martin Keown. What’s not to like?
Great post Tim. Happy we win the game.The early rounds of league cup and FA cup have always been a lot of fun. Remember the 5-5 game earlier this year against Liverpool early this year. The Carling Cup matches during the early part of the Emirates era when the original project youth was at the height of its glory and promise we’re just awesome. We all believed Arsene was a miracle worker and we were convinced the players on those Carling Cup teams such as Bendtner, Merida, Walcott Diaby Denilson, Hoyte brothers, Miquel, Traoré, Gibbs etc etc etc etc we’re going to mature together and start a revolution in the way football clubs were built and they would dominate world football for years to come. Those were exciting times. Unfortunately the last 14 years has clearly taught us that performances in early round cup games has never been an accurate predictor of future success. All that said early round cup games can still be a lot of fun .
Speaking of glass half full and small wins, Auba and Musta are in the PL team of the month for February. That’s a positive indication of improvement under Arteta.
Since the start of the Emirate era, I think the list of U21 players who have looked like top prospects based on performances in league cup, early round FA cup and now group stage Europa league games has probably reached triple digits.