We’ve officially stopped the rot & put our worst run of form since the 1970s to bed. Bloody hell that feels good to write.
Last night was just about winning a game of football. I said it before the game that for the first time, during this run, I really didn’t care how we played, we just had to get 3 points & rediscover what it’s like to win a game again. Not just for the players themselves but for everyone involved & associated with the club needed it, we all needed to find that belief again. Only time will tell if the win had reinforced the confidence in this team & the fanbase, but by god did we all need that last night. Let’s be honest though, for the first hour of the game I didn’t see it happening, it was a terrible game of football from both sides.
So let’s dig into it a little then. As usual lately, I, like most of you, was eagerly awaiting the starting eleven to be announced & for the very first time it appeared that we were going to be given exactly what we had been hoping for. Martinelli was given his first Premier League start following his decent form in the cup competitions & Pepe was also given a start for the first time under Freddie. Aubameyang was shifted to his preferred central position & this was a move most of us wanted to see as Lacazette, especially away from home, hasn’t been firing on all cylinders at all. We had Ozil in behind them with Xhaka & Torriera as a central midfield pairing. Chambers was deployed in central defence, a chance that he has definitely earned with his performances. The only slight disappointment was that we didn’t get to fully see what we had planned as Bellerin pulled out during the warm up & we also lost Tierney early on through injury. This is a minor complaint of course, because ultimately it didn’t matter as we won the game.
To the game itself & we saw much of the same for the first half. Let’s be brutally honest though, that has to be up there, even considering the run we had been on, the worst half of football I’ve watched in recent memory. Usually it’s just been bad to watch from a purely Arsenal perspective, but this was two teams who looked frightened to death of attacking football. It was sole destroyingly boring. Anyway, we went in 1-0 down after conceding another shite goal. Standard stuff so far then.
Going into the second half it was about a reaction & whether or not we could muster one up. I didn’t expect one, nor did I think we could manage it after our first half display. Sometimes though in football, you just love to be proved wrong & my oh my, how wrong I was. Initially we didn’t get going, very flat for the opening 10-15 minutes & then bang. Three goals in 10 minutes & you could just see the confidence coming back into the side. The passes were slicker, we looked a yard quicker & players actually looked like they were enjoying themselves. These are all massive factors to how anyone plays & to finally see our team, manager & fans smiling again was just great.
None of us will get carried away, well some might… but like I said earlier, tonight was about getting a win no matter how. How we managed to win the game is a massive bonus, in the end it wasn’t a scrappy 1-0. We scored three goals from open play, three very well worked goals as well. This can only breed added confidence into the players & we desperately needed that. I was incredibly my happy for Martinelli yesterday, he deserved his chance, had worked hard for it & continued that immense work rate yesterday evening. His desire is a joy, he fully deserved his well taken goal & I really think that goal dragged this team off the ground. The following eight minutes would prove why. You have to give huge credit to Pepe yesterday as well, he was kicked around the pitch with no protection from the ref for the entirety of the match, but kept plugging away. I haven’t celebrated an Arsenal goal like his for quite some time & fuck me how I’ve missed that feeling. It really felt like a big moment for him & more importantly the club. Belter of a finish & the dog shat himself when I celebrated. Still though, at 1-2 & our defensive inefficiencies, we were definitely going to need a third. Luckily we got it after more good play & Aubameyang slotted home following a Pepe assist. We have to give credit to the team & Freddie for coping with the loss of both full backs, I thought Kolasinac was solid again last night, even more so when you consider he wasn’t even in the squad upon arrival. He definitely looks different during games since Freddie has taken over. AMN was also solid enough when called upon during the warm up. Some really good positives to take away there. You also cannot help but appreciate the moment between Freddie & Pepe when he came off, it was a nice exchange & great to see our record signing look genuinely happy for the first time. Still plenty to work on of course, but let’s hope we’ve turned a corner of some sort.
We don’t have to wait long for the next instalment of Arsenal, we play again on Thursday evening in Europe’s elite cup competition away in Liege, where I’m sure we will see a host of changes to the side, as we face Citeh at the Emirates on Sunday.
Until then
The Arse 