BRACE FOR IMPACT
GREAT WIN OVERSHADOWED BY MORE INJURY ISSUES
Beating Fulham at home was never going to be a dopamine hit of tremendous value. If it were a gym workout evening, it’d be legs. No one enjoys leg days—you just have to do them. And when you do them well, you feel smug, but not braggadocious.
We needed more than 3 points, though. Yep, we needed drama-free. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Our dreadful season took another nasty turn toward the chocked medical room, as Big Gabi dropped with a horrible hamstring injury that will likely rule him out for the season.
Factor that issue in with Jurrien Timber, who looked in terrible shape for most of the game, Calafiori out of contention for Madrid, and Ben White struggling with fitness problems of his own… and you can see the faint hope we had of putting on a good show at the new Bernabeu has all but evaporated. It’s highly likely the best option we’ll have—once again in the Champions League—will be Jakub Kiwior. A man who tries hard but doesn’t have the confidence or stage presence to handle 180 minutes against a team that stalks weak links for possession errors like my brother stalks kebabs after 11pm. For the third straight season, it looks like we’re heading for a Rob Holding moment in central defence.
I know what you’re thinking… I’m going to double down on blaming Arteta for this latest issue. But I can’t here. That injury was a freak hamstring problem—very similar to the one we saw happen to Ricky in the week when he slipped playing for Italy.
When it rains, it pours. Now the only real hope we have for the next few months is Arteta using this time with a depleted squad to find solutions he wouldn’t explore unless he was forced. My hope is that if Arteta finds options he likes, he’ll be more inclined to rotate next season, instead of lumping all the minutes on his favourites like he did this year. That’s the sort of ‘at least you didn’t die’ silver-lining you get when you break your legs in a ladder fall clearing out the gutters. Honestly, I hate this season so much. Even the copium is embarrassing.
I don’t want to be too negative and completely ignore the ‘yeah, that was decent’ performance.
Mikel Merino took his G&As to 9 this season with his 7th goal of the campaign. He picked up a pass from Ethan Nwaneri, took an age to get the ball under control, then let rip with the most telegraphed strike of the season—and saw it bounce in off a dirty ricochet. But who cares? You miss 100% of the shots you’ve been told by the manager not to take. Merino is just out here having the time of his life, and I’m here for it. The haters, unfortunately, were wrong. Mikel Merino has more Premier League goals than Ollie Watkins since the transfer window shut, he’s one shy of Solanke, he’s scored more than Hojland and Zirkzee, and he’s scored in more PL games than Marmoush (same amount total since the Egyptian joined). Makes you think, doesn’t it?
Let’s hear it for Gabi Martinelli. Have I slayed him this season? Yes. Did I suggest we should sell him this summer? Yeah, that was me. Can I be a true man of principles and own it when he plays really well? You’re damn right. He was excellent. He created four chances, landed one assist, caused Castagne problems all game with his one-vs-one superiority, and he was looking up before making his final balls. I enjoyed the performance—let’s see what he can do over the next 4–5 games.
The real story of the evening was the return of the KING. Bukayo Saka. He arrived on the pitch late in the game and regeared the mood in the Arsenal fandom. He didn’t look a million miles off the pace, and he showed why he’s so dangerous—popping up at the back post to neatly finish a speculative Martinelli flick into the six-yard area.
The most important thing about having him back isn’t Madrid—it’s using this time to ensure he exits the season in great shape, ready to attack next year fresh, fit, and clinical.
It’s late here, I don’t have much more to give to the world of content right now—but I’ll be back with more thoughts tomorrow.
Check out the latest AOP + the ratings in the podcast section of this website. For the rest of you, see you in the comments. x
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You might say Gabriel's injury was a bad luck. But there's no evidence that Arteta learned that he should manage load better.
Myles has played two international games, but Arteta leaves him on the pitch for 96 minutes. That's happening while we had two left backs on the bench, who, by the way, were relatively decent in all their recent appearances.
If you can't trust your left backs from the bench to perform well, when you are 2-0 up in the home game, then you'll never properly rotate your squad. There would rarely be a better situation in the season than there was yesterday at 75th minute.
Merino deserves his flowers
He has struggled clearly at CM. I don’t know if he has more levels in him there. If not he’s an El Neny replacement only and not a first team player
But he’s being asked to play up front and he’s doing an excellent job there. He isn’t that easy on the eye but he finds a way week after week to have a key impact on games. Well done to him honestly
I do wonder as well of next season he might do a bit better at CM than he has this season. He is clearly getting a better understanding of what is required in England. He’s not a natural duck to water type player here, but he can pass and shoot. He’s tidy on the ball and wins his duels - on paper those qualities are what a good PL CM needs so maybe with that added experience and confidence we’ll see a more useful CM out of him next season