Good afternoon Gooners! After reflecting on the Cup game against Portsmouth at the weekend, I can’t help but wonder if that’s the first Arsenal game that I’ve enjoyed this season? It didn’t start well, but once we got level it felt very comfortable and I loved seeing the midfield link up play between Mikel Merino and Ethan Nwaneri/Eberechi Eze ahead of him so I think I might actually have enjoyed the game from the equaliser onwards!!
Don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely terrified after Portsmouth took the league, with several headlines already flashing through my head if we had failed to turn it around. However, it soon became apparent that, even with 10 changes to the lineup, we were comfortably the better side and that soon began to play out, and from that point onwards, I actually really enjoyed this one.
There’s a number of reasons why I really enjoyed this game. Firstly, with 10 changes, we got to see some players who we haven’t seen for a while, such as the likes of Nwaneri, Eze, Ben White, which is always a nice change of pace.
The fact that this was a Cup game, also gave us a bit of a breather from the pressure oven that is this year’s title race, so as much as I look forward to every league game right now, it was still nice to watch a game with different pressures.
The performance was actually quite good as well, aside from a few lapses here and there, and the fact that Portsmouth didn’t just park the bus, left quite a bit of space in midfield, which allowed some nice passing moves and connections to develop between our forward players.
Throw in a return to the team for Kai Havertz, a FA Cup debut for Marli Salmon and a first career hattrick for Gabriel Martinelli and you’ve got yourself a thoroughly enjoyable game.
One final factor, that I think made this game that bit more enjoyable was the absence of VAR, which meant we could cheer the goals without fear of review. Sometimes VAR will allow a goal for us, that was disallowed on field and my stance softens some what and I start thinking that it’s not that bad. Then a game like this comes along where you can just react to what’s happening in front of you and not have to worry about VAR intervening and changing the whole picture. I really do hate VAR!!
Too much hype on Havertz?
I finished watching the game and my thoughts immediately went to how amazing Kai Havertz was and how great it was to have him back and how much we’re going to improve now he’s back, so I’m just going to take this opportunity to try and temper my own expectations a bit. Did I go a bit far? Maybe a little. It’s still going to be a few weeks until he’s ready to start games and even then, he’s going to have to build up fitness and form in that period, so we need to be patient with Havertz and give the current number 9 options a bit more support. That said…he did look really good didn’t he?!?! Sorry, couldn’t help it!!! 😊
At the time of writing, Mikel Arteta has not addressed the media ahead of the League Cup Semi-Final against Chelsea, so there’s been no update on the injuries front, but I am hoping to have at least one of our injured defenders back for this one. Riccardo Calafiori would be my choice, if I was given such powers!
It seems a while since Cristhian Mosquera’s awkward looking fall back in early December, so he must be back in contention soon however, with Piero Hincapie the most recent injury he’s unlikely to fit for this one, which makes the return of Calafiori even more vital.
Chelsea are very strong in the wide areas and the form of Myles Lewis-Skelly has been really concerning, so I worry for our left hand side if Calafiori is not fit enough to start.
I suppose the other option is to play Ben White and move Jurrien Timber over there, but that would be a bit of slap in the face for Lewis-Skelly.
How big is this Chelsea game?
It doesn’t feel that long ago that people were talking about the League Cup as a joke competition and I’ve even seen some fans in recent years advocate early exits to free up more rest days, yet this Semi-Final against Chelsea feels pretty huge in the context of our season.
I’ve mentioned numerous times in previous blog posts that I believe winning the League Cup could have a massive mental impact on this group going into the business end of the season and I think the adverse could be true as well. It’s fair to say that we went out to Newcastle with a bit of a whimper at this stage last season, losing both legs 2-0, and if we were to do something similar again this season, I think that could have a massive negative impact on the players. We need to prove to ourselves that we can at least go one step further and get into a Cup Final, as it’s been nearly 6 years since we’ve even appeared in one!
The squad seems to be coming together nicely right now and momentum is building so for me, this is our biggest League Cup game in years tomorrow night, so I hope we put on a performance befitting of the occasion.
FA Cup Draw – Don’t think we can grumble at this one
In case you missed it, the draw for the FA Cup 4th Round was made yesterday and Arsenal were drawn at home to League One side Wigan Athletic, in a repeat of the 2014 Semi-Final. I was actually really hoping for Arsenal to be drawn against Wigan, but away rather than home, as it’s quite a close one for me, so I would have looked to have gone to this one. However, I do think this is a really good draw and gives us the option to rotate again, as although the Latics should not be underestimated, we will be clear favourites in the tie.
Timing wise, it works quite nicely as well, as it falls between two tricky away games in the Premier League, with Brentford away on the Thursday before and the North London Derby away on the following Sunday. So this should allow us to put out fresh full strength teams in both of these league fixtures in February, which is a massive boost following such a busy January.
When looking at the FA Cup draw, I can’t help look around at what other ties are drawn, as it’s always nice to see your rivals get tough draws or even better – playing against each other! We were quite fortunate in the last round with some big teams already going out. The way I look at it, if I would consider an away draw against this team a really tough draw, I’m always happy to see them exit the competition. I’m therefore thrilled with the exits of Everton, Bournemouth, Manchester United, Tottenham, Crystal Palance and Nottingham Forest.
Avoiding these sorts of games as deep into the competition as possible gives us chance to share minutes around in the earlier rounds and keep everyone happy, fresh and also competitive.
In terms of the 4th round draw, I was being a bit greedy and hoping that Manchester City would draw Newcastle or Villa away from home, which would have been fantastic. Unfortunately, Manchester City seem to have taken over from the other Manchester side, as the team who always seems to get a nice draw. City landed another fortunate home draw against a League Two side, so the chances of an upset there are basically non-existent. Newcastle however did draw Aston Villa, which I think is a good draw for us and equally Liverpool drawing Brighton at home is another fixture involving two teams that I’d want to avoid, so overall, I don’t think we can complain too much! With the squad we have, we need to be going as far in these competitions as we possibly can as we look to finish the season with as much silverware on the sideboard.