Summer days are meant to be spent doing something quiet in the early morning, followed by something relaxing in the sunny afternoons. For mornings, I suggest yardwork if it must be done, hiking if the yardwork is done, or fishing if you just want something completely relaxing. And for the afternoons, a day out at the Arsenal, watching your side win 4-2 and play some amazing football is my only prescription.
Leicester had the first real shot of the match. William Saliba’s former teammate, and reported £80m Chelsea target, Wesley Fofana nipped in on Xhaka and took the ball off his foot. Fofana then drove in and past the Arsenal defense and got a shot off from close range which was smothered by Aaron Ramsdale.
It was the sort of start that set supporter’s nerves on edge. Xhaka was in some odd positions, the left back Zinchenko was caught in the middle of the pitch, and the left side center back (Gabriel) failed to stop Fofana from getting in close. And yet, almost as soon as Ramsdale covered the shot, Arsenal turned that early moment of nerves into a very obviously well crafted plan.
It was part of the plan to have Xhaka that high up the pitch, he was buzzing in and around the box and got off two early chances. It was part of the plan to have Zinchenko in midfield, sliding from the left touch-line to the CDM position is what allowed Xhaka the room to get forward, and Xhaka’s forward play pegged the Leicester defense back as they had to deal with an extra player suddenly making overlapping runs.
Leicester seemed to have no answer for this new proactive, overlapping, attacking Arsenal: other than Justin and Fofana committing professional fouls on Saka and Martinelli (and getting away without a yellow card). But once Arsenal got the ball into dangerous areas, the option of just fouling fell away. Xhaka collected a pass from Martinelli, bounced it to Gabriel Jesus, who controlled, and then just chipped it into the net past the impotent Johnny Evans.
Leicester responded with Evans elbowing Jesus in the head but if the idea was to make Arsenal crumble under pressure, it didn’t work. Jesus is playing like a man with a point to prove.
Two minutes after Evans elbowed Jesus, Zinchenko took up a high midfield position and scooped a through ball to Xhaka and he won Arsenal a corner. On the corner, Jaime Vardy headed the ball across the box, and at the far post, Jesus was waiting.
Jesus wasn’t done ripping Evans. Two minutes after scoring his second, he wanted a hat trick and spun Evans too easily. Ndidi saved Leicester’s blushes with a perfect tackle.
And a few minutes later Arsenal put together a move which was one of the best I’ve seen from the team in five years. Intricate, one-touch play in the 18 yard box between Ødegaard, Martinelli, and Jesus set the Brazilian up for a pretty clear chance only to have his shot smothered. Had Jesus rolled the ball across the box to the wide open Saka it would have been perfect but we have to forgive Jesus for wanting his hat trick.
And to cap off a perfect first half, even Mike Dean went and accidentally got a call right. In the 43rd minute, Leicester played a ball to Vardy in the 18 yard box. Aaron Ramsdale ran out at him like a school boy on the last day of class before summer break and Vardy fell over dramatically. Referee Darren England – who had an awful match – called a penalty for Leicester. But Mike Dean in the VAR room had a closer look and it seemed obvious that Vardy was the one who initiated the contact and then theatrically fell over. England was told to go look at the monitor and overturned his decision.
The second half started slow for both teams. Arsenal had the lead and didn’t really need to press the issue but Leicester seemed simply frustrated by the Gunners. There was only one real moment of attack from Leicester and it was the kind of cross that defenders have no choice but to deal with. William Saliba tried to head the ball away but didn’t get enough angle and scored an own goal.
All summer, I’ve heard from supporters that they are worried about the fan’s reactions when Saliba makes his first error. And given their history, and the way that we all see fans treating players both online and in person over the last decade, it’s a legitimate concern. But the reaction was the exact opposite of anything anyone could have expected; Arsenal supporters cheered Saliba. It was a heartfelt reaction of real support for the player. Not forgiveness, support.
We quantify the effect that moments like that have on players but we know that players feel the fans’ energy. If you’ve ever walked into a room and felt the mood pick up or go cold you know how this can effect a person. Now multiply that feeling times 60,000.
The score was 2-1. 18 months ago, I would have expected this team to shake. But literally the next thing Arsenal does is gets Xhaka his goal. White plays in a cross to Jesus, their keeper makes an error and drops the cross, Jesus presses and wins the ball, pushing it to Xhaka, who just passes it into the net.
Arsenal would hit back immediately twice in this game. Once above and the second time, two minutes after Maddison got a lucky goal between Ramsdale’s legs. For Arsenal’s fourth goal, Martinelli seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do as soon as he got the ball: looking up he saw the far post open, and just hit the target. Arsenal 4, Leicester 2.
To underline Arteta’s newfound tactical flexibility, to wrap the game up he took off Zinchenko and Ben White and put on Tierney and Tomiyasu: two subs who are more traditionally fullbacks than their counterparts. And Arsenal finished the game without any real event.
Overall the win reminds us of all the best parts of the good ole days under Wenger. Those days when the pre-season would continue to roll on into late summer and Arsenal would keep playing high, attacking football. There’s a belief and desire in this Arsenal team, epitomized by Gabriel Jesus’ bombing run in the Leicester box late in the second half. There’s an attacking verve in this team, an attacking play completely redesigned by the coach. There’s a relentless pressure from the attackers. And most importantly, we don’t seem to just crumple under pressure and instead we fight back.
Of course it’s a long season and this is just the second game but I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope this continues. At least we know for a fact that this season we don’t have to see how well they will play “on a cold night in Stoke.”
Watch football for fun, and that game brought back memories of being a Wenger Arsenal fan. Arsenal is now dangerous attacking from either wings courtesy of Martinelli.
So true. The fight & hunger are evident. Martinelli epitomizes tough smart play that invigorates the team & fans, same with Gabriel, Saliba (contrast to the old days when we could be pushed around by Stokes; or I must say Xhaka drawing fouls and collapsing, which may have the opposite effect and even embolden the opponents).
Also such a joy to spend most of the game comfortably ahead. I’d love to see a stat that averages the score delta by minute as a measure of fan enjoyment — eg 1-0 is +1, 4-2 is +2, and measure how many minutes at each delta. So yesterday has a high avg delta (maybe 1.2?) but a come from behind where we spend most of the game losing 0-2 and score 4 in the final minutes would have a low avg delta (maybe -1.9). In recent years we’ve had stressful watching experiences with low deltas. Now we’ve got a preseason and two games (tiny sample size) with a high delta.
And Man Utd had a delta around -3.7 yesterday! Whoa!
It was tremendous, the plan, the execution, and the reaction to anything Leicester tried (legal or otherwise). Even a dodgy ref (is he new?) couldn’t throw it. I was amused/amazed that some fans still decided to use this left-wing 4 goal success (GJ/GX/GM) as a way to have a go at the right-hand side as if Saka and Odegaard were just bumbling spectators all afternoon. People are weird. UTA!
Saka was awesome! Their right side defense was just weaker so we had more going on that side. Fans aren’t just weird, they don’t think sometimes.
Thankfully we don’t have Stoke in the PL to try and kick us off the pitch but those metaphorical cold nights in Stoke will surely come and there are teams to stand in their place.
But these sunny of the early season won’t be spoiled by what might come. What IS, is mighty pleasing to eyes and spirit of this long-time Gooner.
I choose to believe we will only get better. We don’t have to face top four opposition for a few games yet and I think this still very young team will be ready.
The link to an article titled Flipper below, has a comment from you. Kenny G.?! Ffs, 1Nil.
☺️
Can’t stop this song going through my head these days.
https://youtu.be/JEvy8mROAj0
Every time I see #9. He is adding so much energy and threat in our attack.
The fans applauding Saliba shows we are building a culture and spirit around this young team that is genuine and gives me great optimism.
HAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Who is this badass box to box midfielder impersonating Granit Xhaka? 😂
He’s gone all Aaron Ramsey. If he was a little faster, could easily have had two more goals.
Great stuff Tim. Sorry I have been absent for the last couple weeks. You deserve to be acknowledged for all the work you do to create these wonderful posts. My wife and I moved from Texas a couple years ago and my excuse for being AWOL is most of our friends from Texas have standing invitations to visit us whenever they can. With the miserable summer in Texas we have had house guests almost constantly this summer. My wife absolutely loves having guests and I enjoy it most of the time but this summer has been a bit much and I tolerate with a smile.
Great start to this season. I know it’s a long season and there are bound to be ups and downs but I certainly think the questions about Arteta as a manager and Edu as the clubs director have been answered positively. I am glad that our clubs management didn’t listen to the criticism and the sack Arteta segment of the fan base. In 3 years the club has gone thru nearly 100% turnover of the squad that Emery took to the Europa league final and there have been a few mistakes but overall I think we can all agree that it looks like the club has done a top quality job of a complete rebuild in a very very tough market. ManU fans are probably looking at us with envy. We have put ourselves into contention against the toughest top 4 competition in this century. I still believe we are one more goal scoring forward away from being favorites to finish top 4 but so far we look really good.
Well if it makes you feel any better, Bill, We have my sister in law and husband, also called Bill, coming to visit us from the States in September. They are both lovely people but they are coming for three whole weeks….
That move was pretty much why I became an Arsenal fan. If there’s one of those a game, whether or not it results in a goal, you feel like it’s all worth watching.
The Saliba moment was huge – for him, but also for the manager. A mistake is not a crime if it it’s from a young talented guy playing fearlessly. Conceding a couple is not the end of the world if we score four. And we have the talent and the resources to try and score four against Leicester every time.
I think most of us believe Erik Ten Hag is a really good manager but his team has been a disaster so far. We have debated this a lot for the last couple years but its clear (at least to me) there is nothing even a good manager can do if his players are not able or willing to effectively execute his game plans. Just like we saw with Arteta for the first 1 1/2 seasons, Ten Hag can’t run out on the field and kick the ball into the goal. Arteta just needed to get the right players and I am sure the same is probably true for Ten Hag. However, I suspect ManU will try to do what Arsenal did with Emery and expect the manager to rehabilitate the current squad rather and patch things with bandaids and duct tape rather then start from scratch. Hopefully he won’t be given the time and the tolerance for some less optimal results and the patience he needs to rebuild properly
What did you think of the game, Bill? What — and who — stood out for you?
Claude. Anyone who scores 2 goals is the standout player for me,
Yeah, the old adage was that it’s easier to change one person (the manager) than eleven. Seems the most successful managers of the last decade or so have done everything within their power to flip that on its head. The kind of squad turnover we’re seeing feels unprecedented. Sustainable? We’ll find out. For now, I’m just happy our club is producing watchable football again.
We look sexy a/f, dont we?
And have a focal point with as much hustle and output as Alexis Sanchez, without the ego and aggro. Jesus made a point of mentioning Nketiah’s quality, and has no problem not finishing games, so that he can have minutes. What a signing. He makes left channel runs, right channel runs, and runs through the middle. Martinelli enjoys playing with him, has raised his game 40%, and is quietly having a storming start to the season.
Feelgood is off the charts, and reaction to the Saliba OG was terrific, and a sign of that. Players and manager noticed.
But do we need reminding that we are 2 games into a 38 game season? We were bottom of the table and with a GD of -9 after 3 games last year. Those Brentford boys enjoy giant killing, dont they?
Let’s see how we deal with an absence of a significant length of a Partey, or a big chunk of the squad as fixtures pile up. Let’s see how we deal with our first defeat… early on and at the business end. We arguably lost out of CL qualification by suffering 3 on the bounce to low or mid table opposition during our run-in round April. I liked that yesterday we hit back instantly after conceding the 2 goals.
I think ETH is probably a good tactician, but there is so much more to being a good manager. I’m not seeing a lot of it this far.
His public comments don’t inspire optimism. Recruitment seems haphazard or reaching for what he knows – and there’s a big difference between Man City (what Arteta knows) and the Dutch league.
It’s baffling to watch. Can Lisandro really come good as a CB? This madness with Frenkie. And then Rabiot and Arnautovic, wtf.
Man Utd need a clear out and it looks like they’re finally working on it. But if you just bring in dross to replace them, does that make it any better?
Their chief problem is not quality or quantity of players. It’s that they have no identity, no plan, and they are not unified. It’s the same situation Arsenal was in when Arteta took over.
Doc @ 10:16AM on August 16
The problem when Edu and then Arteta took over was the squad was just not very good and I believe the attitude was wrong. Look at the line up Emery sent out in the Europa league final which was the last game before Edu took over. The squad which started this season is basically 100% changed in 3 seasons. We all thought Emery had lost the dressing room and we heard plenty of stories of players mocking Emery because of his accent. I assume at least some was true and how childish and unprofessional is that. Its certainly no mystery to me why Edu believed he had to rebuild the squad and rebuild the dressing room culture.
Like it or not there are times when the squad and the dressing room are just not salvageable and at least based on what has happened in the last 3 years I think its safe to say that Edu thought we had reached that point. I don’t follow ManU very closely but they have a new manager who is well respected and you assume their squad would have wanted to get off to a good start however, given the performances they have put together so far this season they may be at a similar place to where we were when Edu took over.
No, the squad isnt “basically 100% changed”. Tierney, Saliba, xhaka, Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli are part of the old guard and currently key pieces. Thats two thirds of the front 3, our number 10, our most experienced midfielder, and our leading central defender so far. Nelson, AMN and Bellerin are not key pieces, but they remain on our books.
This would be a nice narrative if it was true, but it isnt.
Churn has been unprecedented, yes, and spending has been off the charts. Let’s see where it gets us this season.
Speaking of which, we are 2 games into it. It’s too early to be forming definitive conclusions about United. Or ourselves.
Some perspective. Arsenal’s so called “bad attitude” squad missed out on 4th place by 1 point, got to a Europa League final and won an FA cup. We had to spend nearly a quarter of a billion US dollars just to get back to 5th, our cup form has been crap… and we kept key pieces of Emery’s squad.
The thing about massive churn is that it creates pressure, and ought to (but i fear it wont) eliminate excuses for failing to achieve the historic standards of the club. Youve got your team now..: would you and your supporters now spare us all this talk about needing ever more time for a rebuild?
To Claudeivan: Deluded as I remember. Mocking others as agenda-driven or forming a false narrative and overlooking your own ones 🙂
Calling Saka, Martinelli, ESR, Saliba the “old guard” is hilarious. (Isn´t Charlie Patino an old guard as well, he was at Arsenal in 2019!)
Of course that is part of the rebuild process. Edu started the job on July 9 2019. During that summer and in the first year of the rebuild (3-year process as Bill mentioned), Arsenal bought Tierney, Saliba, Martinelli and promoted ESR, so you have clearly mistaken your counts over there.
Also, Martinelli was 18 and brought along because of Edu´s personal connections and insight. He played 656 mins in PL that season and over 500 mins in the next one. ESR played 92 mins and was sent on loan to Champ for the second half of the first season. Saka was 17 and a huge talent, not an “old guard”. Saka and ESR came out from the Academy, that is correct, but to think they had a strong position and huge influnence on the cohesion and culture of the team in 2019/2020 is bizarre. Altough Saliba was bought in summer 2019, part of the deal was, that he was sent straight back to St. Ettiene for a season long loan. (So, practically he “started” in Arsenal in 2020/21…)
In that summer, Arsenal also bought Pepé who was a big (and dirty) deal by don Raúl! (But Pepé was young and was a sound player, especially for the football Emery played, btw).
So the only core player that was a core player of the team of 2019 Europa League final and stayed until now is Xhaka (and Elneny, if you consider him as a core). Xhaka professionalism was widely praised by all of the managers: Wenger, Emery and Arteta.
It is obvious Edu and Arteta now also try to get rid of Bellerin, AMN.
Apart from those: Leno, Sokratis, Chambers, Mavropanos, Torreira, Kolašinac, Mesut, Laca, Auba, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Guendouzi, Willock, Iwobi and a few others – all gone. (Also Koscielny, Monreal, Čech, Lichtsteiner or Luiz! But they are quite “old” and in most cases wouldn´t be playing for Arsenal now anyways…).
It is also obvious ArtEdu try to get rid of their blatant transfer misfits: Marí, Rúnarsson, even Pepé. And in some cases were succesful – Willian.
Not sure about Nelson as I think Arteta quite likes him (or at least liked him).
Literally, it is not 100 %, but refusing to see it as a complete and purposeful overhaul (during those 3 years of Edu´s reign as Bill mentioned) is a highly selective blindness.
Jabberwocky and your sock puppets:
To the contention that “the squad which started this season is basically 100% changed in 3 seasons”, I responded by saying, no it isn’t.
And it isn’t.
That is true no matter how much you twist yourself into a pretzel arguing that pink is green 🙂
Several key pieces predating the not quite 3 years of Arteta were already there.
Facts are stubborn things, no matter how Orwellian you go on us.
Look, I don’t want to zing Arteta. But folks should stop saying demonstrably false things that they want to be true. As you do as well. In the past 3 years, we added some very good pieces — Jesus, Zinch, Partey, Gabriel6 — but don’t come here arguing that, in effect, ESR, Saka, Saliba are in the same boat. It had stiff competition on your post, but the assertion that Xhaka is the only core holdover from 2019 is plain nonsense.
p.s. Patino, came up through our academy like several of the players mentioned, and is out on loan. Hard to say at this point if he’s the next Willock or not. I hope not. We will see.
Woohoo. We’re coming in 2nd! Okay, maybe not. But we’re in second right now. And Pool and Utd play each other next week. Assuming we can win the next match, we’ll be quite a few points ahead of one or both of them.
My favorite bits and pieces from the game last weekend:
Martinelli starts the move that he finishes with his LEFT foot! Just inside the upright. I did a double take. Most strikers would be proud of that from their strong side.
Mike Dean overturns a dodgy penalty call in our favor. I feel like we are in a weird parallel universe just typing that.
Jamie Vardy’s delicately cushioned front post header assisted Gabriel Jesus for his second goal. Even the old enemy lands a helping head.
The interplay between Jesus, Martinelli and GX for the opener was different gravy. What a goal.
Watching Martinelli owning Fofana over and over again, getting him booked and then muscling him off the ball. The Leicester man looks a decent player which made it all the sweeter to watch our guy dominate that duel.
Jonny Evans eating GJ’s dust again and again felt so good after all the times his teams have had the upper hand against us in the past.
Ramsdale’s distribution to GJ for the chance where he turns Evans and Ndidi has to save the day. What a kick.
Zinchenko wining a header over his man from a long ball in the first minute showed that he can be switched on and aggressive as a defender too. He was outstanding on the ball all afternoon too.
Great match report Tim. Very much the game I saw and what an enjoyable day out in the sunshine it was! Almost more impressive than our silky play, superb goals (I believe in Jesus!) and hitherto uncharacteristically swift and gutsy responses to their two goals was the mood in the ground. Even without the superb response to Saliba’s unfortunate own goal, the mood has been transformed from the surly, fractious default ambience that pertained when I was last regularly at games in 2019. Things are definitely moving in the right direction.
So Casemiro is joining United. Tell you what, though…. Fabinho and the Liverpool midfield absolutely ate his lunch for 50 minutes of the Champions League final. Made Madris look slow and ponderous… secoond to everything. Salah should have put the game out of sight before the Madrid midfield got a foothold… and once they did, Case and Kroos started to play very well.
Case’s strength is reading the game… protecting the back 4, intercepting, that kind of thing. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the hurly burly of the EPL wont be to his liking. He plays more in the brain, than with his feet. We will see. Maybe ten hag will Xhakafy him, by playing him further forward. He’s got a decent nose for goal, and has high technical quality. Interesting acquisition
2goals for Ode. This has to be the best start we have had in more then a decade
“A routine Arsenal win” – it has been a while….
Claude.
I agree with Jabberwocky at 2:46 pm. I think the only player on the current squad who actually played any minutes in the Europa league final against Chelsea was Xhaka. That’s not 100% turnover in the squad but it’s as close as you can get.
Quelle surprise. Of course you agree with Jabberwocky’s nonsensical argument that Xhaka is the only holdover from the past 3 years
What are your thoughts on our play today, btw?
William Saliba and the virtues of being two-footed in a hurly burly game. No time to switch to the favourite peg… just hit it when/where optimal. Two footedness gives a defence less reaction time. No one in the Bournemouth D thought — even if they had the time — to close down a left footed shot from a CB.
Said it before, will say it again… Exhibit B of why Pepe struggles at Arsenal, despite having a pretty good goalscoring record.
Ah the benefits of spending some ******** money. Not easy to control a game like that away from home anywhere in the Premier League. Big credit to our pink panthers.
Tim called GJ’s creation off the dribble in March. It must have been evident to those who watch him regularly and those who know the stats. I was neither, so I just thought his movement and solid technical ability would complement Saka and Martinelli. The fear he’s creating around and in the penalty box is something else.
The next tactical challenge may be teams overloading their right flank to exploit Zinchenko’s free roam and Xhaka’s error-proneness. Hopefully we stay on the attack so insistently, we never actually face this. More likely, Kieran Tierney will be called upon. Ah the benefits…
Have to say Im loving this Xhaka. Good grief, he’s been killing it, and has been my favourite Arsenal player to watch these past 3 games. Cant believe I’m saying this. He’s playing the 8, box to box, and dropping back to cover Zinch when he forays. Zinch today sometimes took up a central position in front the CBs. What sorcery is this?
Granit’s decision making in attacking situations has been very good. The lay off for the Saliba goal was perfectly weighted. It looks like we’re giving him some of his Swiss responsibilities, allied to some uniquely Arsenal ones in dovetailing with Zinchenko. Xhaka may be Arteta’s finest piece of coaching work yet. He is showing, to me more than he’s ever done, why coaches love him. He’s interpreting the tactics perfectly. This is why MO8 is captain. He’s the one Arteta communicates with the most on the pitch. But Xhaka, man. He’s finally found his role, and he’s damned good at it (please dont make me look silly next game, Granit 🙂 )
I loved Ben White’s sheer, genuine delight in Saliba’s strike. He’s lost out at RCB, he’s had to play out of position, and he was subbed off to give Tomi some minutes. But he’s been terrific.
Great team spirit, and a great team performance.
If you relieve him of primary defensive responsibility in midfield (Partey) and primary creating responsibility (Odegaard + front three), he looks decent.
Arteta has worked to find a role for him that I wouldn’t have guessed at, wish that he was willing to extend that man-management to others. I’m looking forward to seeing Vieira or Lokonga in the same role.
As long as we’re winning, though, it’s all good.
Mikel has his favourites. I’d have liked to see him find a solution for Pepe, who, after all is only the club’s current leading goalscorer.
Several posts back, 15 days ago, Doc made this really thoughtful comment:
“I can’t see us being able to land a superior option given how much we’ve already spent this window and the meager returns anticipated for the outgoing. Regardless of his limitations (weak foot, tactical and defensive awareness, lack of physical competitiveness) there are few better strikers of the ball anywhere than him. I mean that quite literally: that left peg is a wand. The trouble is getting him in positions to actually use it. I wonder if he’s going to be tried at CF when we go with two strikers because he can be deadly in the right situations and that gets him closer to goal. The other way I can see him used is when we are leading games, as an outlet on the counter. Operating in that right hand channel, a little bit like Wilf Zaha, was how he made his name at Lille. All in all, not a bad second string option!”
Sorry about the long quote, but I found the thinking intriguing. Of course, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, but I wonder “what if”, regarding utilising his goalscoring and ball striking ability, and putting him in a position to max what he has, as we did with Xhaka. Xhaka was limited in the role originally identified for him. He looks a revelation now. Coaching and tactical planning really does work.
I think Arteta respects Xhaka and doesn’t respect Pepe.
In fact, before Arteta was coach I had opined that Xhaka, who was basically brought in as an Arteta replacement, could benefit from being coached by the man. Not only does he play the same position as Arteta, he is of a similar temperament.
I think Arteta lacks the imagination/experience to get into the mind of players who have more talent, but are different in how they express themselves. Pepe has the skills to succeed, but I think it’s a little too late now. He’s probably lost his motivation too at this point. Him playing with Aaron Ramsey in Nice might be a good option for all parties.
Seems to me that the current Xhaka role is pretty much how he plays for the Swiss. So not really a revelation, we just haven’t been able to do it as much previously, as he’s been needed more in defense.
I came here to congratulate what I presume is a giddy-with-excitement Claude on Odegaard’s brace. 🙂
3 games, 2 clean sheets, 9 goals scored. So far so good. Long way to go yet and a favourable fixture list, but we’re taking full advantage of it. this has the be the make or break season for Arteta. His tactical work has been good in general, but doubts about whether he can change it up in game when challenged, and about how he handles rotating his squad as fixtures pile up. Hopefully he can answer those too.
I wonder if he’ll publicly set a target for the team (and himself) though. Maybe we can do without that bit of added pressure, but at some point that pressure is inevitable.
Gabriel Jesus was a coup of a signing and he’s proving it every single game now. And Xhaka has been so much fun to watch.
Glad that I’ve got you on the Odegaard train 🙂 I like the bloke.
But he hasnt been great till now, tbf. Especially against Palace, although the stats people said he ran the most distance of anyone. I dont think he played well then, but he came to the party today. I also think it was smart to make him captain, because he’s the guy Arteta’s instructions run through. When he’s on song, he’s very good. Runs, dummies, weight of pass, and can finish too. I loved the opportunistic hit, pinching it off Jesus. Emile’s not getting back in this team in a hurry.
About Pepe, you now and Doc then are/were both right.