Come on, admit it, you bloody loved that. The kids are back, Arsenal reserves are finally an interesting group of players, and this feels very much like the youth sides of peak banter years.
Smith Rowe scored one and had a second disallowed. The goal that stood came after Nketiah chased down a lost cause, his strike against the keeper fell fortuitously for SR who placed his shot past the last man on the line.
Our second came from a soft penalty, Ramsey making the most out of some clumsy contact. The Welshman placed his penalty perfectly after a slow run up.
Our third came from Joe Willock. The rare starter received a well crafted Elneny pass, he worked his way to the edge of the Vorskla box and slotted home a well crafted shot.
The team played well. They made Vorskla look like a pub team. They did the job. It was so easy for the boys, Emery had the chance to blood Zech Medley, Bukayo Sako and Charlie Gilmour. What a night for them. I mean, cold, damp and empty was the vibe, but regardless, it was important for them to land a run in a real competition.
So, what we know is only one player who has a chance of playing at the weekend started, and that was Rob Holding. So our players have had a whole week of rest. Time at home. Lots of sleep. A chance to recharge.
Spurs on the other hand had to slug it out with Inter Milan.
Advantage Arsenal heading into the NLD. We’re the most aggressive runners in the league this season. Spurs will have heavy legs. Sure, they have more quality, but I’d fancy us to give them a run for their money this weekend.
BIG GAME AHEAD!
Right, that’s me done. Well done Emery. 18 games unbeaten is epic. Almost as epic as me fixing the comments.
Also, listen to my podcast.
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DM
2
3
Tr4phy
5, 6, 7, 8, 9…. and counting.
Big win i think, weak opposition or not. Must do well on Sunday.
Great stuff, Pedro. Emery deserves the praise.
Chaching…… Good times would be made great by a win in the NLD
Good result last night. I liked how well the team pressed at times. Some good youngsters coming through but time will tell if they will make it all the way.
I thought holding played well and so did SR, there is a good player in the making there.
Why not playing with the same team in the Carambar Cup ??
“Well done Emery. 18 games unbeaten is epic. Almost as epic as me fixing the comments.”
LOLz
couldn’t watch the game, so can’t comment. Happy with the win though, bring on spurs please, with some fries on the side.
I don’t want to add fuel to fire, but this NLD is by far the most important game of this season so far, Mr Emery… (lol)
As I wrote earlier this week I find it extraordinary that so many media pundits continue to believe that Spurs will beat us on Sunday. In last 20 years Spurs have beaten Arsenal only once in EPL at Highbury/Emirates and that was in November 2010! The stats are W13 D6 L1. Spurs may have had a reasonably successful November, but they have still lost 5 games this season so they are by no figment of the imagination invincible. My view is that Arsenal need to play better in first half and contain Spurs in that period. If they manage that… Read more »
You might be right, Emirates. They have more quality and are playing better football than us, but I expect a spirited effort from the team, and it always helps to be at home.
It will be interesting to see how Emery sets us up, and interesting to see if there are any surprises in the XI.
I see a 1-1 draw.
Merson has only Auba and Ozil in his Arsenal-Spurs “combined XI”. As damning as it is of our current situation, few here would disagree agree much with that, except that (Pierre aside) Ozil wouldn’t make their combined XI. The other difference is that the Lacazette crowd would probably replace Auba with Laca. Otherwise, while no one likes the situation, I imagine most would concede that Merson has it right.
I see a tight 2-1 lead coming into the last 10 mins and grabbing a 3rd on the counter, I do hope Lacca is fit and with the spuds last 2 big games I see a 3-1 home win.
Tim Sherwood doesn’t have a single Arsenal player in his Arsenal-Spurs combined XI, btw. Biased, no doubt, but is he all that wrong, really?
Bamford 10
Merson is not exactly the brain box of the year.
The fact is that Arsenal’s current team are better than last season and defensively less brittle.
I was at the game last season when Arsenal won 2-0 and we outplayed them with Ozil having a very good and authoritative game.
The key is to contain Kane and more importantly keep him out of penalty area. We know how he plays for penalties!!
Should be 19 by Sunday evening, I see us beating the Spuds Sunday.
“Made to look like a pub team” lolz. They were worse than a pub team…Real Madrid they weren’t.
So, a week of complete rest and a squad buzzing, yes? Spurs are done and shattered.
I expect nothing less than a comprehensive demolition against Spurs. No excuses, right. It should be easy.
Fucking hogwash.
Bamford
I’d definitely have Bellerin and Torreira in my Combined 11….Merson has always been a plank and Sherwood is a spud
Penalties is Spurs speciality. They have score 7 sofar this season with 100%
goalscoring record.
Emirates
Sure, but I still think most people who compare the two squads — and specifically, who compare the two squads’ best 12 players — would basically agree with Merson and Sherwood.
Very interesting BBC article regarding Emery, a good read..
Batistuta
Good point. Torreira probably does deserve inclusion. I don’t know about Bellerin over Trippier, though, but I do think Bellerin has been much, much better since those first few matches this season.
DM
If the BBC has anything to do with it I’m pretty sure their conclusion to the ‘in depth research’ was that he is Spanish…and is a football manager with a very smooth and pointy face.
You could cut an artic ice field with his proboscis.
“They were worse than a pub team…Real Madrid they weren’t. ”
Nop they aren’t. But it was not our first team, and you don’t seems to be aware of that.
Even if we lose on sunday, Emery stay, so maybe you should stop your “ironic” comments after every game of the team, you become ridiculous.
Guns
Lol, it’s a decent article actually
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46377603
Bamford
I’ve watched quite a bit of spurs this season and asides the very good crossing of the ball, Trippier is quite bad defensively and can barely beat a man like Bellerin does sometimes so yea I’d have Bellerin over him and yea Torreira over Dier or Dembele…..Maybe just maybe Leno over Lloris…it’s all about opinions at the end of it.
Very pleased for the youngsters and the team as a whole…lovely to see ESR back on the scoresheet, Joe W.illock with his debut goal and Eddie Nketiah given game time… plus when we finished we had 6 youngsters on the pitch. What a fantastic night for our academy. Credit has to go to Cech, Elneny, Ramsey, Holding Guendouzi and Jenkinson for their professionalism and just getting the job done. Jenkinson’s days at Arsenal is probably numbered, and he’s not good enough at the top level for us but I appreciate his professionalism. Emery has played this campaign exactly right so… Read more »
Hopefully, ESR, W.illock, Nketiah and AMN will be trusted by the manager more in EPL games to provide support and creativity against sides like Crystal Palace and Wolves… so we can transform those draws into wins later on in the season.
Leeds, my opinion is that some Grovers will find that you’re far too optimistic.
(I won’t quote any names)
DM
That is a good article. Really good. Thanks for the heads up.
I think the game is arsenals to win or lose. Spuds are a very physically strong and resilient side with good finishing these days. Not just a bunch of awerage crap like in the past 😀 On the other hand arsenal does some very fine buildup play and will ceetainly pick apart any side that they find space against. Also gunners have some world class quality througout the team in laca, auba, ozil, torreira, monreal, kozielny, bigpapa and leno. Unfortunately some have been in injured lately and it has certainly affected the team. I guess right now it is 50:50… Read more »
Legend
Arsenal has given me enough to moan about especially when the Manager who Must not be Named was here… so it’s a brilliant change to be positive with reasons.
We have a manager that trains his players properly.
We have a manager that understands tactics.
We have a manager that focuses more on results… rather than giving excuses around mental strengths and handbrakes…
We have a new goal keeper and a dominant DM we have been crying out for years….
Lots of things to be positive about.
“After the first leg at home, PSG directors were already booking hotels in Cardiff for the final. That is why they are not prepared for success at the highest level.
“Emery was the lone voice saying it was not yet over, he was trying to make everyone realise they could not afford to relax. If we are too arrogant Barcelona will use it, he said. And in the end that’s exactly what happened.”
From the BBC article above, what a fantastic attitude by Emery. He doesn’t get complacent does he?!!? Exactly what we need!
“Emery transformed Lorca. A modest side, they punched above their weight for the rest of the season and reached a play-off final for promotion to the second flight. The crucial tie came against a team very close to Emery’s heart: Real Union. Lorca had to beat them over two matches to win promotion, and they had lost the first leg 2-1. Away from home, on 26 June 2005, Juan Carlos Ramos scored the decisive goal in a 3-1 victory with an astonishing 40-yard lob in extra time. Emery was so high on adrenaline he walked the 10 miles back to… Read more »
The Kids did a very good job.
Test