2021/22 Arsenal Season Diary pt.3

When we left off (part 2, check part 1 to start from the top) Arsenal had what was one of their worst runs of form for the season: eking out a 1-0 win over Watford and 2-0 win over Newcastle but losing to Liverpool, Man U, and a bitter 2-1 loss to Everton. But after controversially dropping captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal’s league form would turn around dramatically, launching them into a top 4 challenge that no one saw coming.

Arsenal 3-0 Southampton

• Auba dropped for disciplinary reasons
• Gabriel yellow for a wild tackle
• Southampton pressing high getting in Ben White’s face, causing turnovers
• 2 good saves by Rambo so far
• I’d press Xhaka if I was Soton
• 0730 and it’s not light out (must be a complaint about daylight saving time)
• Arsenal did really well to draw the press, Southampton over agressive, Arsenal broke them. Ramsdale knee slide! Laca goal, Saka assist
• Øde scores from a scrappy bit of play
• Another good break from Arsenal, Laca shoots straight at keep
• nice chance for Saka, back heel key pass by Ø
• Ramsdale hits his patented side-foot long ball to Martinelli, shame we only won a corner.

2nd Half

• Arsenal confidently playing dangerous passes
• I like it
• Foul throw against Soton!
• Nice throughball from Ø to Martinelli
• Gabriel! 3-0. Was Lacazette a blocker there?
• Now we are ticking, winning the ball back high
• Good shots by Øde, Martinelli (hits post), Saka (hits post
• Holding on for Gabriel, immediately makes a mistake, Ramsdale save
• Another good save Ramsdale
• Pepe on for Laca
• What a move by Saka, cut back, shot but blocked

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

(no notes, Wed. match and I didn’t bring my notebook to work)

Leeds 1-4 Arsenal

• Leeds two early pressure regains but as always with Leeds, since they are so agressivem if they don’t win nearly every tackle they can get cut open
• Laca open chance, Bukayo follow up open shot, miss
• Øde sets up 2 chances
• Whoa.. are Leeds… sitting back?
• 10′ – All gone quiet
• Leeds are being weird, sending singles to sprint into pressure
• Arsenal are sending Xhaka high up the pitch, good long ball from Gabriel. Are the Arsenal MFers getting further up the pitch? Does that explain Arsenal’s attacking flair recently?
• Oh yeah, we are def. sending Mfers. Laca wins the ball back on a foul on Xhaka, Martinelli scores
• Partey playing deep, nice raking long ball, but juuust missed
• Tierney and Tomi not venturing forward much
• LULZ just as I say that there’s a nice bit of vertical play between Tierney and Xhaka
• Arsenal get lucky on a Rafinha counter attack – he beats 2 men but misses his shot
• Partey now forward, nice LOW shot
• Martinelli deuce! Xhaka wins the ball back in space, Martinelli wide open space, nicely done for his first Arsenal brace
• Rob Holding reports fans for racism
• Lacazette another bad miss
• Saka scores but I wonder if that will be counted as O.G. (it twasnt)
• Øde just creating a ton of chances (he had 8 SCA in this match, which was a 4-way tie for his best this season: Spurs, Leeds, Watford, Leicester – all wins 12 goals to 4 cumulatively)
• Ref pulled Arsenal players away from Leeds supporters

2nd Half

• Xhaka gets away with a nasty challenge after a dumb block. No card. There have been so many of these this season. It’s weird we think he’s picked on, I think he’s actually a bit lucky.
• Ben White concedes a pen
• The Smith comes on and scores. Great run by the Smith but that’s a Caviar Pass from Øde (Henry called Bergkamp’s passes “caviar”, meaning that they were so good you didn’t want to waste them)

Norwich 0-5 Arsenal

(Just a reminder that I do have notes for most of the League cup matches but we are solely focusing on Arsenal’s PL exploits)

• Boxing Day 2021
• No RBs because of COVID
• Rough start here, some misplaced passes by Xhaka
• One nice high press by Arsenal – Started by Martinelli, intercepted by Tierney, one-touch Laca – nice pass Martin, easy assist for Øde, goal Saka (nutmeg)
• Laca dropping DEEP to collect, if they are going to follow him like that it’s opening space like crazy in the middle
• Arsenal using Saka on the right, finds Laca with a cross, big chance missed (lol, 0.6 xG? Header?)
• Good defending on a Norwich counter
• Non-shot big chance – Tierney dragback, no one on the end of it
• Xhaka yellow for a wild tackle and now we have..
• The kerfuffle – Ben White and Williams, Placenta comes over and bumps uglies
• Now we are getting lots of ugly challenges but lol
• Øde rakes a pass to Tierney who just barrels down on them and scores off the back post (was there Martinelli pressure here?)
• Norwich tried to physically intimidate us and we stood up to them

2nd Half

• Dean Smith confronted Xhaka in the tunnel?
• Arsenal should have had a penalty for a handball
• Saka gets kicked
• Saka gets away with a stamp
• Norwich want a pen for a pissant pull by Laca – has the ref lost it or have the Norwich players done this panto to draw attention away from the fact that they just straight up suck?
• Saka third goal – SHIMMY SHIMMY YA+
• A few loose moments but Norwich can’t capitalize
• We have now reached the “Arsenal fans are yelling ‘ole’ portion of this match”
• Nailed on pen for Arsenal and Laca finally scores a goal
• The Smith puts a cherry on top

Arsenal v. Wolves (postponed)

Plenty of matches are being postponed. Combination of small squads, Omicron variant. People are getting upset because they don’t seem to understand the league rules and because they are paranoiacs.

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester Money

• Arteta has COVID so he’ll be micromanaging the game from home
• Early pressure regain by Arsenal
• Coordinated press by Arsenal, Øde seems to point to a spot and Martinelli went there! Ben White missed an interception but Gabriel had his cover. Øde directing the press and it’s working!
• 10′ – Ødegaard penalty shout – slow mo shows contact but I guess it’s not a “clear error”? Great move though, big pass to Martinelli, great control, great pass to Laca, then to Øde. Only complaint is that maybe he should have shot immediately.
• Oh no.. City are targeting Tomiyasu
• But we are countering very well – Partey picks out Martin with throughball after a nutmeg. Gabriel’s shot is easily saved.
• They break our press and Kebbin gets a curling shot off
• Arsenal high press regain
• We are somehow hemming them in to their own final third. This is some of the best football I’ve seen us play.
• Now we are also winning the 2nd balls
• Ah there it is, the Xhaka customary insane challenge. This one from behind and he misses literally everything. I guess you can’t get a red card for trying to hurt someone but being that utterly incompetent at it
• SAKA! !!! !! !! Ben White steals from de Bruyne, passes to Tierney, he passes to Saka who ghosts in for the goal
• Xhaka intentional handball and again no card – HE CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT dot gif

2nd half

• Slow start
• Partey lucky not to get a yellow for poor tackle on Joan
• Rodri 2-footed on Martinelli, no card, not even called a foul
• Nard dog with a hilarious dive, Xhaka does sort of look like he trips him but pulls back and then Bernardo thropws his feet out, Atwell vehemently waves Nard Dog to get up, last season that was a pen
• Oh buy VAR tells Atwell to go to the video and he awards a pen and yellow for a shirt pull. That was the ref looking for a reason to award a penalty.
• Xhaka is losing it. Ref calls the captains over. Gabriel looks like he scuffs the spot up, Mahrez scores, Gabby gets a yellow?
• City almost score and own goal
• Saka gets a header over Ederson and Ake clears off the line. Martinelli with a huge miss, Arsenal are really in this one
• Gabriel 2nd yellow for a foul on Jesus
• Lacazette fouled, Saka complains, Saka gets a yellow card
• Holding gets a yellow card for a foul on the counter attack
• The Smith comes on, we are trying to counter them
• Rodri scores, just heartbreaking, the fans throw things and start singing “2-1 to the referee”
• Between the two pens and Martinelli’s miss, I think Arsenal should have won this one

Arsenal 0-0 Diet Stoke (Burnley)

• Øde starts in CM
• Lokonga hits Ben White with Arsenal’s first shot
• Lokonga Arsenal’s only deep MFer and there’s very little movement all over the place, weird
• Lacazette, nice drive, bad shot
• Rasmsdale gets away with a failed punch
• Watching Arsenal is a chore some days
• Throughball to ESR, instead of shooting, he plays a drag back, that shot and the follow up are both blocked. Arsenal corner is cleared
• Westwood gets a yellow card for a stamp on Tierney. Yellow, is the ref making up rules now?
• Brownhill yellow for professional foul
• Westwood gets away with an elbow to Gabriel’s face

2nd half

• Saka and Pieters knee-to-knee clash
• The Smith has the best shot of the game off a corner, top of the box but Pope saves 63′
• Finally waking up 66′
• The Smith breaks again and passes to Lacazette who hits it just wide

Wolves 0-1 Arsenal (no notes because it’s a Thursday match and my notebook was at home)

Arsenal 2-1 Brentford – Revenge of the Nerds (Brentford are known for their analytics)

0-10 Min – Starting well, create a chance off a corner, Brentford can’t get out, Saka creates a good chance for Laca. Laca wants a foul in the box, looked like a dive, Saka shot wide. Arsenal asking the referee for 2 pens: Ben White and Lacazette (again). This time Laca was actually kicked.

10-20 Min – Pressing in midfield

20-30 Min – Saka has just been shut down. Saka dive. 2 shots from distance from Laca and Partey, both terrible. Meanwhile Brentford keep angling their goal kicks toward the sidelines way up the pitch, like an NFL team punting for field position. I spoke to someone about this and apparently it’s an analytics driven thing because throw-ins have a man advantage to the defending team and if you’re high up the pitch it’s like a set-play pressure. Weird.

30-45 Min – Long shot by White, Arsenal surrounding the ref, want a handball, should probably be a handball honestly. LOL the ref warned Laca. Arsenal pressing high and hard for a goal. Another handball shout, not given.

45-50 Min – The Smith scores. He just wanted it more than everyone else. Apparently, Lacazette gets an “assist” here because he passed the ball.

50-60 Min – Gabriel getting into it with Jannson

60-70 Min – Lacazette is playing like a man possessed, by a horse. He’s has had so many turnovers, bad passes, poor touches it looks like he’s playing with two left hoofs.

70-80 Min – A few half moments for the Bees, Pepe on for the Smith. Oh man! Pepe so close. Counter, Laca turns it over, Øde 1-v-1 with the Keeper, good save, pepe in but blocked. Arsenal countering. Finally! Partey took too long with the ball but eventually passes it to Saka who hits it in off the post

80-90 Min – Pepe wants a pen, looked like one to me. Brentford score. Folks thought he was offside. I guess not.

Watford 2-3 Arsenal

• Hopes are high
• Arsenal wearing red shorts with red socks and frankly it’s distracting
• They (Dennis) score from kickoff but was offside
• Now THAT was a goal! Saka and Øde work the ball in inch-tight space, back-heel from Øde under pressure, Saka run and drag back, Øode places his shot
• Arsenal’s midfield V puts Øde next to Saka so we have our two best players overloading
• Wow, bicycle kick goal by Hernandez, that has to be goal of the season so far – Ben Foster kicked it long, Sissoko trapped it, passed to Emmanuel Dennis, dropped it for the RB who put in a perfect cross, and then the bicycle finish. Crazy.
• The match has cooled off from the hot start, we haven’t had a goal in 5 minutes, BORING
• Watford threatening now, Emmanuel Dennis with some nice moves, gets around Gabriel and gets a shot off
• 1-2! Saka wins the ball off a lazy Cleverly, passes to Lacazette, backheel back to Saka. If he’s little chili, that goal was a Habanero.
• (I have a note here “The New Arsenal Midfield” which is a 5 with Partey as the DM in front of Martinelli, Xhaka, Øde, Saka)
  • Gives Partey more space to dictate the game
  • Puts more players between the lines against teams that sit deep
  • Puts our two best players together to create chances
  • Minimizes Xhaka’s deep defensive duties
  • But with Tierney injured it exposes that left side which Watford seem to be exploiting

2nd Half

• Ramsdale comes way out – 40 yards – and tries to play an attacking pass but left the goal completely unguarded. Luckily both Watford players got in each others way and couldn’t get off a shot.
• Third goal – quick throw (Arteta assist), Cedric cross, Øde flick, Lacazette flick, Martinelli bomb from the penalty circle
• (I’m a) Luza (baby, so why don’t you kill me?) wants a red card for an “elbow” by Ben Wide
• Watford dive in the box to win a pen but Øde won the ball
• Ramsdale with another crazy pass, results in a shot
• Saka’s touches have been incredible, his best match this season by a mile
• Huge miss by Lacazette – like a striker in terrible form. We need to get him a goal from open play
• Some folks wanted a penalty for a Laca dive and he’s barking at the 4th official
• Nketiah hits the post, gets called “Pepe” by the commentators for his sins
• Xhaka terrible pass turnover, one-two to Sissoko in the box, Ben White misses the block and Sissoko scores
• Arteta brings on Rob Holding, we close the game out, Never in Doubt
• (Post match thoughts) Tierney was huffing and puffing on every foray forward. Three incredibly good goals – all from the middle of the pitch

Arsenal 2-0 Leicester

• (Our friend from the blog, Glenn, is at this match!)
• Early LCFC pressure
• Nearly every LCFC player wearing long sleeves SOFT
• Arsenal nearly score: Øde plays to Martinelli, offside, but created from the middle of the pitch
• PARTEY GOAL! A Partey favor. Corner, header. Partey’s 2nd goal for Arsenal. (Not in the notebook, something I looked up after re-reading these notes: Partey has 12 career headed shots, 6 of them this year and 1 goal, this goal. This matches with my notes where it’s clear that one of the things the new set-piece coach has drilled is finding Partey on corners.)
• Partey hits the bar
• Goal saving stop by White
• Iheanacho gets only a yellow for slapping, looked intentional to me
• Wow save by Ramsdale, off a header, Brentan even applauds.

2nd Half

• LCFC have been terrible at set plays – Soyuncu with a definite handball to stop Thomas Partey from scoring another header off a set piece
• Lacazette scores the pen

Apologies that this is so long but this was the good run for Arsenal, just before the injuries tore our season apart, and I wanted to capture as much of that as possible. Tomorrow I’ll start cataloging the bad run and probably just publish the final article on Monday.

As an aside, I’ve decided that whether you like these or not I enjoy this exercise. It’s helpful to me to refresh my memory of the season, to see some details of how Arsenal played when they played well, and how Arsenal played when they didn’t play well. These notes clarify my thoughts on the season behind, and give me some direction for the season ahead.

Qq