Good ebening, Gooners! As a Brummie Arsenal fan, it’s fair to say this fixture is often one that is close to my heart. Also, a painful fixture in recent times. The last-minute Villa goal last year resulted in me smashing my phone by throwing it onto a carpeted floor.
Luckily, today’s game needed no such reaction as Arsenal beat Villa in a pretty scrappy game.
What made me smile?
Despite being without Saliba – and later Mosquera – it was good to see Arsenal go the entire game without conceding a single shot on goal. The fact Konsa came on for his debut against his former club with no drama was a nice sight.
I’m also a fan of Calafiori getting forward and getting an assist again. I really do hope he has an injury-free season. Nice pass from Eze too.
What pissed me off?
In general Emery always pisses me off when he faces Arsenal. I don’t blame him for his stint as Arsenal manager, wrong man, wrong club, wrong time and all that.
But he really did take his exit at Arsenal personally. No matter what state Villa are in, he always brings his A-game against Arsenal. He’ll probably lead Villa to another heavy loss next week.
I’m not sure about anyone else, but the Ref Cam is really annoying. Like, what does it actually bring aside from making viewers feel disorientated?
The referee himself also pissed me off. I’m sure Arsenal should definitely have gotten a penalty – I’m thinking the foul on Bruno in stoppage time. But stoppage time in general… 8 minutes?! Where the hell did that come from? Just when I was thinking stoppage time, or the lack of, felt a bit better this season so far.
What surprised me?
You know what? I’m not surprised by how the game went to be honest. The game went as I expected. I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park based on the Emery-factor I mentioned above.
Perhaps other fans expected Arsenal to hammer Villa based on last week’s results but I’ve seen this story plenty of times to know what to really expect. Maybe that’s me being too pessimistic?
I suppose the construction work on Villa Park was a little surprising. At first I was wondering why they had an entire stand completely empty.
What worries me?
This game felt very much like games from last season. We were a bit blunt going forward. Havertz and Tzolis didn’t have the best of games so we really needed to be patient.
It doesn’t make for fun viewing – especially when it’s 1-0 in the final stages of the game. I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable with that.
I really feel we need more of a “spark” player going forward, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. I don’t know too much about that Lyon player we’re linked to.
The injuries are already worrying me too. I’m glad we have Konsa, but losing Mosquera to what seems to be a hamstring issue is not ideal. Especially in that part of the pitch. And then Rice seemed to hobble off the pitch but hopefully it’s nothing serious.
What am I thinking now?
I’m happy we’ve gone 2 for 2 – but attention now turns to next week’s game vs Chelsea. As I mentioned in my predictions piece, they are a team that concern me a little. They’re looking good going forward, but defensively seem a bit suspect. Maybe that will mean both teams will cancel each other out?
I’m not expecting much from the last 24 hours of the transfer window – at least nothing big. I wonder if we lost out on Morgan Rogers dragging our feet due to our chase for Vini Jr and Alvarez, which ultimately ended unsuccessful. Hopefully doesn’t come back to haunt us next week.
Song at the whistle
I Will Always Love You by the late great Dolly Parton.
Less so about the game, and more so about a player we’re losing in Gabriel Martinelli. I still remember the goal he scored at Villa Park a few seasons ago.
Was it the right time to let him go? Probably. But not without getting a proper quality replacement. He had been part of the journey from the first day of Arteta’s reign – so to see him leave brings a certain level of sadness.
