Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Brentford 0 Arsenal 3   Premier League   Sunday 16th September 2022 12pm     Any remaining ghosts from last season’s corresponding fixture at Brentford were laid to rest by an Arsenal team that dominated the game, and demonstrated nothing in the way of a hangover from the defeat at Old Trafford two weeks before. In between, there was the win against FC Zurich, during which news of the Queen’s death became public, before two matches were postponed, both at home, against Everton and PSV.   In terms of the Premier League, four times last season, Arsenal failed to recover immediately after suffering defeat, suffering two runs of three consecutive defeats and two of two – accounting for 10 of their 13 league losses. There were questions over the psychological strength of the team, but fortunately, we are not asking them so far in this campaign.   Two important players were missing due to injury (Odegaard and Zinchenko, with Vieira and Tierney starting instead). ...

FC Zurich 1 Arsenal 2   Europa League Group A - Matchday One   Thursday 8th September 2022 6.45pm (local time)     In years to come, if the question of ‘Where were you when you heard the Queen had died?’ is asked of an Arsenal supporter, I suspect many will respond that they were watching an early evening Europa League match on the television, although kudos to the respectable number of Gooners who made the trip to Switzerland at relatively short notice. They were rewarded with a dominant performance, even if the chasm between the two sides was not reflected on the scoresheet, as the Gunners did enough to secure the points, but no more. Mikel Arteta started four of the players from Sunday’s defeat at Old Trafford – Gabriel, Xhaka, Lonkonga and Martinelli. Drafted in for debuts were keeper Matt Turner and young Brazilian winger Marquinhos. Also starting were Tomiyasu, Holding, Tierney, Vieira and Nketiah. Turner had a hair-raising moment when he cued up the opposition...

Manchester United 3 Arsenal 1   Premier League   Sunday 4th September 2022 4.30pm     Mikel Arteta went for a win at Old Trafford, but an Achilles’ Heel of his Arsenal side – being caught out high up the pitch when possession is lost – came back to haunt him as his team, in spite of his players getting into United’s box with a healthy regularity. Unfortunately, they were only able to deliver a goal once, not including Martinelli’s effort, subsequently chalked off by VAR. It was very much a game they could have won, based on their performance, but the wheels came off in the second half when United went ahead 2-1, Arteta gambled with three attacking subs, and their hosts capitalized. Marcus Rashford, the man behind giving innumerable school meals during lockdown, handed a lesson to Arsenal as he finished his chances with efficiency, adding to his assist for their opener.   A great start to the season now awaits a response to a setback – something Arsenal haven’t e...

Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 1   Premier League   Wednesday 31st August 2022 7.30pm     The first five fixtures of Arsenal’s Premier League campaign, on paper, offered the opportunity to make a strong start to the season, and Mikel Arteta’s team delivered, in spite of a couple of key injuries weakening the side. Thomas Partey’s absence was covered by Mohamed Elneny against Fulham, who in turn was injured, so Sambi Lokonga stepped up last night to face Villa, as the formation remained the same, Granit Xhaka advancing as he has been doing in the four previous matches. Against a struggling Villa side, with some big names left on the bench by Steve Gerrard, Lokonga did ok. One imagines that for Old Trafford on Sunday, the manager’s conviction will see no change in policy, although if he does decide to go with a more defensive approach, presumably Xhaka will simply play with greater caution and the starting eleven will remain the same. It will certainly be the stiffest test so f...