THE BIG DAY IS HERE.
Arsenal go to war with Tottenham at The Emirates.
The first MEGA game since fans have been allowed back in the ground.
The first game of this season that truly, truly counts.
This is a cup final, there is no doubt about it, the boys have to show up.
On paper, it’s quite simple for me. Arsenal have a better team, Spurs have better individual talent.
Moura, Alli, Kane and Son are going to be problematic. Kane can kill you from anywhere, he lacks pace, but he’s one of the sharpest strikers in the game. Son is lethal on the counter, we know what a Kane ball over the top can do to Arsenal. All of those players love playing against Arsenal. You can know about their qualities and still not be able to do anything about it.
Spurs have been dreadful this season. They are still a low margins operation in big games. They had 2 shots on target against Chelsea last week despite a good run in the first half. They totally collapsed in the second half, Chelsea created 14 shots, 10 on target. They were awful against Palace, managing just 2 attempts all game. I thought they were second best against Wolves and City.
… but you know how it goes. Form doesn’t count, it’s about who shows up on the day. Today, it simply has to be us.
There are some things we’re looking for.
Granit Xhaka is weirdly splitting fans down the middle. For me, he’s out the side currently because he did two stupid things concurrently. Since he’s been absent, we’ve won all our games. I’d prefer to have Sambi starting out there. He moves the ball faster, he’s more aggressive with his passing, and he’s more mobile.
I don’t think there’s really a debate on which keeper we want out there. But this is a big one. Doing bits against Burnley was huge for him, but that’s bread and butter. What we want to know is how does he do under the bright lights of a derby game? More shots to deal with, more pressure, better oppo. This game is massive for his season.
It’s also a big game for Ben White. The ‘he gets bullied’ narrative was binned against Burnley, and made to look a little laughable as Ivan Toney dominated against Liverpool’s defenders yesterday… but he needs a complete game. We want to see elite passing, we don’t want him putting others under pressure, and we’d like to see some leadership. On the Brentford story, are we at the point now where we can say they are a bit good? Liverpool’s best team conceded 3. We lost with 9 players on the outpatient list. You always want to win, but it’s pretty clear they are no whipping boys this season.
Outside that, we have to look to our big names to bring home the bacon. Auba needs to keep running, because the goals will come. Odegaard, who is one of the best pressers in the league currently, needs to lead and show us the special sauce he has. Finally, we need our wide players to show up with shots on target today. ESR, Pepe, and Saka need to bring the levels up.
This is also a special one for the fans, who have been excellent all season. We need to tear the roof down for this one. Encourage the players, make them feel special, and make loads of noise all game. We’ll be doing out bit on the site. I honestly can’t believe I have to say it, but if you are in the comments here sniping at Arsenal on a NLD day, you’ll go in the bin. No one wants to read it. This is an Arsenal blog, if you behave like a rival fan, you’ll be moved on.
Back to some more context. If we win today, we’d be 5 points off top of the table Liverpool. United lost to Villa, Liverpool dropped points to Burnley. The MIGHTY Leicester, the team with the biggest fan club going because they make Champ Man signings… drew to Burnley. The Premier League is outrageously strong this season, it’ll be close between the teams below City and Liverpool. Let’s hope we can keep pressure on the chasing pack.
Ok, that’s me done for now. Tune in for an OTW podcast right after the game.
SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS x
Spurs will regret not selling Kane.
we shouldnt be thinking about anything other than scoring everytime we get the ball. they will have changed at half time and we’ll need to figure it out in real time. subs? lokonga laca??!!
Ode has lost the ball a few times but overall been very good
None of the passive ode I sometimes get frustrated with. He’s been everywhere, aggressive and heavily involved.
Moving the ball a lot quicker today and it’s paying off.
Saka on the right is his best position.
Just keep attacking. Don’t Arteta it.
First really good 45 in very long time.
Henry is sitting with Daniel Ek…..
Diss
“Harry Kane’s assist was sweet”
Not as sweet as Ben White beating Kane to the header leading up to the first goal.
Thierry giving the yutes a boost.
G, feel free to tell me what Odegaard has done that has stood out for you?
The ball needs to stick at their end but he keeps losing it. That’s just a fact. He’s had much better games. Today it isn’t working out so we should consider a change.
Is that too harsh for you?
its fun to watch the slow mo replays of the coaches jumping around on the touchline. i wanna see a 5 montage in the fuking amazon doc of people jumping around in slow mo at all the goals in this game lol
Xhaka hasn’t put a foot wrong so far.
Ode is pure class. You can’t whine about us playing conservative football AND whine when we lose the ball trying to make something happen. It’s one or the other. And I’ll stick to whining about the former.
Yea keep attacking
ESR is unmarked and causing all sorts of chaos
TR7
Tomi has made a world of difference, and that difference is amplified when you have Saka there to take advantage of it compared to Pepe. Tomi is really good, he always seems to be near the ball when he needs to be and almost always makes the right pass when playing it out against the press, gives us a much better chance on the counter down that side.
If anyone doubted his abilities as a RB and saw him more as a converted CB, think he’s shown he can really be a plus player at RB already.
I really like Odegaard,. It’s just today it isn’t happening for him despite his chasing and harrying. We shouldn’t be afraid of making a change to ensure we hold the ball better up top.
This buries the myth that Saka and Smith need to play close to each other to be effective
That Kane header before the break was a wake up call, hopefully we take it.
Little chance Spurs play that badly again second half, keep it tight, frustrate them, don’t do anything erratic
Last time I got disillusioned and refused watching us we smashed Chelsea and Lampard lost his job.
Seeing Xhaka in the lineup today and I decided to stay back and these boys are smashing it, and Nuno may lose his job.
Ya’al had better start paying me to stay off Arsenal games if you don’t want more miseries.
China
“Ode has lost the ball a few times but overall been very good”
Top quality player. He relies on movement around him and we’ve seen plenty of that today.
Royal is on… Get at him
The reason why Tomiyasu looks good is because he’s a functional right back and that singular move brings balance to the whole team
AFC
Yea, this game upends lots of myths all over the field
I always believed Ode and ESR can’t effectively play together
It’s one game and long may it continues
Partey set the tone early in this game with a couple of clean and firm tackles. Agree TR7 Tomy bring so much balance to the right side. Excellent player.
Rich
“Little chance Spurs play that badly again second half, keep it tight, frustrate them, don’t do anything erratic”
Yep. Don’t let them get back into the game cheaply.
Partey feeling frisky… ok Lets go… no mercy.
We need a professional performance now
I disagree that we continue the all attacking pace
Top sides know when a game is won, derby or no derby
Sit back, avoid injuries and hit them on the counter
I agree re Tomiyasu, he is making that RB position, his.
It feels good to finally have a back 4 that seems to be gelling well together.
This is a very important foundation to have.
It is Japan vs Korea on that right hand side
2-0 will be better than 5-2 or 6-3
We are at home
Frustrate them and hit them on the counter
** 3-0 will be better than 5-2 or 6-3
Counter pressing today has ben excellent.. soon as we lose the ball the noys are right back on it.
Haha my typing has not been excellent. misspelt a few words.
Ohhhh man… that would have been a spectacular goal.
Handball
Gabriel reminds of Big Sol. Beast of a player.
That’s prolly a pen.
Kane wasn’t touched there
Oh Fuck off Kane. haha
Nah, White got the ball as well.
Not a penalty
Tomi has Son in his pockets lol
We’re too defensive right now. They’re starting to get into some good positions.
Think we need Pepe at some point
We are one penalty away from a contested game
With Kane’s diving skills… got to be careful
Watch them – any sort of contact and they all go straight for their faces.
Cheating lot, resorting to getting our players sent off in order to trying to get back in the game.
Disgrace.
Rammo good save
Man I love TT giving Ramsdale the hugs.. Team spirit.
*to trying to get our players sent off…
‘Poor man’s Emi’
lololol
Tomiyasu is defending extremely well!!!
We really found an excellent player here.
Ohh man….. epic miss by Kane… haha
Yea, Ramsdale rallies his vertebrae better
Leno may very well be gone by January if he continues like this
Kane was offside there
Linesman is lazy
Ramsdale is vocal all over the place. You never see that from Leno
Lololololol!!!
What a miss by Kane.
He is totally fuckin this up.
Take Granit off u imbecile.
Kane was miles offside. Lino needs to wake up.
“smash them in the first, Olays in the second”
looks like I wrote it into existence!!😀
*rallies his troops better
Tottenham is shit chant coming through loud and proud over the television sound … love it.
This team seems to have some balance. The spud’s midfield is allover the place. MO is quite a handful.
Looks like we settled for the 3-0 at HT. Not mad at that at all as long as we get the clean sheet.
Saka js the most valuable player at Arsenal
NIce.. have a crack… Good shot. Saka.
Xhaka chasing down the keeper lol
“Looks like we settled for the 3-0 at HT.”
Sensible thing to do. They may have a shit midfield and defense but they still have dangerous forwards.
See the game out, already a fantastic win
Is Saka hurt? hmmm
Isn’t that the Spotify guy with Henry?
Yep spotify dude.
Oh well, there goes the clean sheet.
Why didnt we take Xhaka off when we had a chance to
Ugh…. Son… fuck… cant let up. on him ever.
Son always scores. EVERY FUCKING TIME!!!! FFS!!!
Xhaka should have been taken out a while back. Its 78 minutes already.
We need Pepe to come on
…and Lokonga too
Now we need to close this game down.
Xhaka not looking good, hope it’s not too serious for him. Hate seeing injuries.
I was just about to write that it would be great to keep a clean sheet and then see Son score.
Come on The Arsenal!!!!
And Xhaka looks injured???
They better not. I’ll be mad as hell if they get a draw.
Ok Loko… here is your chance … lock it down.
Test of character here fir the team
We need to raise our game quick
Players are out on their feet, down with cramp.
He knows he can make subs right?
Xhaka actually injured??? Mental thought he was granite??? The fuck is going on here???!!!
Alright boys let’s see it out. No more goals.
Dunno why areta isn’t making subs. We stopped playing cos the boys are tired now
Poor in game management from Arteta should have taken Xhaka before now….
Auba is at LCB??????????
NIce game .. Saka… Clapping in my living room..
Arteta’s subs are odd.Putting on sleepy joe
Ok 5 mins… Let’s go.
What a save
What a save Ramsdale!!!
What a fucking save
Whoaaa was that a save..? think he tipped it. wow.
That save has literally stopped the squeeky bum time.
Ramsdale has won the shirt
He’s a show man too
He knows how to accentuate every save for the 60-sec reel
Well this was a mature wonderful performance. We needed a better performance and it had it all. Creativity, Defensive Solidity and clinical edge.
Saying that Moura almost scored. Wonderful save from Ramsdale.
Incredible save by Ramsdale!!!
I really don’t understand this defensive BS. We just lose our rhythm and invite unnecessary pressure. As long as we were actually trying to play football we were golden.
Awww look at the sad little cunts hahahahahahahahaha
Yes!!! Game OVA! Wow did I need that… we are set up now on our schedule to go on a run..
‘
Thta first half though…. tremendous.. So Happy right now.
Ramsdale is a star that’s what we need in goal.