⚽ Aston Villa vs Arsenal, Saturday 24th, 5.30pm
An angry Trosard (you can see that with his celebration) with a point to prove is a different player.
Fuck Villa, fuck Martinez and fuck Emery. That was for last season.
Let’s sign one more attacker and let’s fucking go.
- Edited
daredevil Think Timber has become quite overrated in his time out. He looked solid without really impressing. Calafiore has looked so good on the other hand.
Timber kept leaving gaping holes at the back. Part of the reason Gabriel was so dodgy because the ball wide was almost never on as Timber was in midfield behind the attackers pressing. He was even doing a Zinchenko going all the way to the right wing on a number of occasions off the ball. It's something I was worried about seeing him back at the end of last season. Hopefully just bedding back in issues in a new position trying with a different style to when he was CB.
Think Calafiori looks like the best combination of Zinchenko and Kiwior in his positioning, physicality and on the ball ability. Feels very much like a left sided Ben White. Still early days but I think he'll take that position in no time.
Calafiori will have the LB nailed down. Timber and White will rotate alot for RB. Tomi will be back to take minutes off Calafiori when he need a breather and also to provide cover for CBs.
Really should not be seeing Zinchenko too much
Big Willie it’s hard to compare Cala with Timber. We were 2-0 up when he came on so he could tuck in and play it safe whereas we needed timber to overload in midfield
Guys, look at the movement of Trossard for the first goal when Saka have the ball. He's putting himself in the box and anticipating a loose ball as always.
Then look at the 2nd goal, superb movement and then a dangerous ball into the box.
2 things that Martinelli really struggle with unfortunately. Football intelligence
Mirth it’s hard to compare Cala with Timber. We were 2-0 up when he came on so he could tuck in and play it safe whereas we needed timber to overload in midfield
I know. I said it was early days. It's just the feeling I get watching Timber's movement. Almost feels like an midfielder who is being forced to be a defender at times that he is drawn forward towards where the ball is. But still, only his 3rd game for us, let's see how it goes over the course of the season.
Calafiori played 10 minutes after we had killed the game with the second goal. He looked slick, I liked his attitude but let's settle down. Timber had a good game too. We are talking about 2 £50m players. I'm expecting a lot from both.
Let’s also sppreciate that Timber is playing his second game so will be rusty. And he’s playing possibly our most complex position. So let’s be patient with both him and Calafiori.
Cala looked very good but he did get beaten 1 v 1 a couple of times, maybe just lack of sharpness/game state issues.
I’m not getting too wrapped up in who’s going to be first choice though. The bonus is we’ve got 3-5 good options at full back now and can really rotate without losing much.
From what Arteta is saying post-match, it sounds like Jesus' injury may keep him out for a bit of time. Wonder if that's partly why we've kept Nelson...?
Artetas comments there about having enough up from "if they're fit". Reckon either Jesus is bad or his losing faith in his fitness
Big Willie
Think harsh on Timber. That was his first start in one year and up against a CL team away. Calafori played well but he came on under easier game conditions. I’m sure if it was the other way round Timber would have looked as good. Good headache to have.
I read that as Mikel is slightly pissed off with Jesus’ availability or lack thereof. Should bode well for the transfer window.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 Think harsh on Timber. That was his first start in one year and up against a CL team away. Calafori played well but he came on under easier game conditions. I’m sure if it was the other way round Timber would have looked as good. Good headache to have.
I did clarify in my follow up post tbh mentioning exactly the same thing.
- Edited
I should have added that he hasn't impressed me as an inverted left back as he's not really a ball progressor. I'm more keen on seeing him on his natural side where he would make better use of his speed and agility.
Our midfield and defence as a whole struggled to deal with Villa's mid-block, as has been the case since Porto away. The CB's weren't doing enough to step out from the back and the Partey-Timber axis wasn't doing enough to show for the ball.
Excellent win in the end.
I love how we can patiently build up in that 3-2 formation, that lets us really control games, but we need to mix it up sometimes. That quick long diagonal from Gabriel to Trossard for the second goal was exactly what we need to do a bit more often, change the pace and keep defenses guessing.
It was a bit weird having Rice as our furthest-forward midfielder today. Not sure that plays to his strengths, and we left Partey quite isolated and were vulnerable on counters.
I love the silky stuff from Ødegaard but we need more end product from him. He tends to be looking for clever “pre-assist” passes rather than the assist or the goal. Realistically he needs to hit 10 PL goals if we’re gonna win the league.
Raya MOTM, he was terrific.