Posted by So… we’re doing this now.
Good morning world 2 readers of this blog. This season I’m going to try something new and write my thoughts on each Arsenal game. Now, this may last all season, or I’ll stop after this one because I change my mind – we’ll see.
Now most regular readers will know I tend to ramble… a lot. Therefore, to keep me focused I’ll try and stick to 5 thoughts for each game and finish with a song at the whistle. Right, let’s go…
1. The line up
I know Mikel Arteta was talking about unpredictability going into this season, but I was surprised to see us bench Gabriel for the first game. Saliba and Gabriel make such a solid defensive unit I saw this as a risky move. I’m not keen on Partey at right back, even though he did invert. Seems like everyone in the team is inverting these days. Wouldn’t be surprised if Ramsdale finds himself in the opponent’s box, perhaps why we’re keen on Raya!
And for me it’s Trossard ahead of Nketiah, but this game proved why I should never be the decision-maker for the club.
2. The forward players
On that, I’m glad Nketiah got his goal. It stops people (like me) getting on his back straight away and should give him a bit of confidence leading the line while Jesus is bubble wrapping his knee. That said, I still feel Nketiah faded as the game went on, but I guess that’s what the bench is for.
Let’s talk about that assist by Martinelli – did he mean it? For me he did. He’s such a chaotic player, I’m glad he’s on our side. And Saka. What a finish for his goal! The OddDaughter is a huge Saka fan, so she appreciated the celebration. She also enjoys singing “Rice, Rice baby”, though thinks it’s some sort of nursery rhyme so follows up with “Rice, Rice mummy” and “Rice, Rice daddy”.
Finally, on Martinelli and Saka – not only are they amazing going forward, but the tracking back and pressing high up the pitch works so well. The two of them really worked hard – dare I say we have the best forward wingers in the world?
3. Havertz
Look, I’m not going to dwell on this one, however, I couldn’t help but notice Havertz wasn’t involved much in what seemed like the first hour of the game bar a cross. He got more involved towards the end but for me I’d like to see more of him. There’s going to be a tendency for fans to get on his back so I’m going to try to avoid that after the first game of the season. Instead, I’m going to have faith he’ll have more impact as he gets more adjusted to Arsenal.
4. Timber’s injury
I was gutted for Timber during this game. For me it seemed to be a bit of a turning point in the game when he had to come off. What is it with us having left backs that get injured so frequently? I’m really hoping his injury isn’t as serious as it looked, but he was looking like the signing of the summer during pre-season so his absence would be a big blow. Especially as we don’t know when Zinchenko will return.
What this does do is highlight the importance of Tomiyasu. There’s been a few links of Tomi’s exit, but I can’t see why we would want to get rid of a player that can slot in anywhere at the back. At least for this season we should hold onto him.
A final thought on Timber coming off injured – it was nice to see Elneny comforting him as he left the pitch. I can’t see Elneny having much in the way of game time for us this season, however, it seems his dressing room presence is good for the team. I could be wrong – maybe Elneny grabbed Timber in a headlock as he walked through the tunnel and held him hostage during the second half to get himself a contract extension? And this is why I should avoid coffee in the morning.
5. The Forest goal
Why does 2-0 never seem safe for Arsenal? I feel we should have killed the game off in the first half by finding that third goal with more killer instinct, and we paid the price for that in a second half where we didn’t really get going in a long while. The Forest goal was a good move, but we conceded from our corner kick – that’s not on.
It made for a very tense final 10 minutes – plus what seemed like years of stoppage time. For the neutral it meant a fun end to end game. For me, it led to what will surely contribute to a heart attack in future – it’ll be Arsenal or the constant consumption of kebabs – time will tell.
Song at the whistle
What was supposed to be a comfortable win ended with something for us to talk about. So, the song at the whistle for me is naturally going to be “Something to Talk About” by Badly Drawn Boy.
Til next week – COYG!