Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Arsenal 5 Nottingham Forest 0   Premier League   Sunday 30th October 2022 2pm     Another Sunday 2pm kick off after Southampton away the previous weekend, but a far better result for Arsenal, in a game they needed to regain momentum from after a couple of below par performances in the last seven days.   And what a contrast it was. In fairness, remarkable as Forest’s victory at home to Liverpool was in the game before, they failed to win in the nine league matches that preceded it. They were rooted to the bottom of the table before this match, and Arsenal probably couldn’t have asked for better opposition with their need to get back on track and retain top place after Manchester City’s win on Saturday.   They didn’t take long to establish superiority, but the nature of the goal was a surprise, as Martinelli made a run to the near post to head in a cross from Saka. He tends to hang back on the far side of the goal rather than make runs toward the other side, ...

  PSV Eindhoven 2 Arsenal 0   Europa League Group A - Matchday Five   Thursday 27th October 2022 6.45pm (local time)     It’s been a good run, but the signs that Arsenal’s impressive start to the season is winding down have come in recent matches – narrow wins with at times, an element of fortune. The team looked a little leggy in their draw with Southampton.   Granted, as usual in the Europa League, Mikel Arteta did not play his strongest eleven, although there were six starters from the weekend, and the other five that began the game at St Mary’s entered from the bench during the second half. His side needed just a draw to ensure they topped the group, but now they will have to match PSV’s result next week to be sure of that. At least they are at home to the underwhelming FC Zurich, although the manager would have hoped that fixture would prove academic, with the visit to Chelsea the following Sunday. The first half in Eindhoven was a far more entertainin...

Southampton 1 Arsenal 1   Premier League   Sunday 23rd October 2022 2pm     The trip to Southampton is one that has presented enough problems over the years for this fixture not to have been taken for granted, irrespective of the Saints’ relatively poor season so far. When they beat Arsenal back in April, it was a rare win for them in a poor run during 2022 up to that point. There have been plenty of draws and defeats for the Gunners at St Mary’s down the years. And it proved another banana skin yesterday, as the winning run since the defeat at Old Trafford (eight wins in all competitions) came to and end. What might be worth noting though is that since beating Liverpool, in four games Arsenal have scored once per match. The defence has done an excellent job, but it came unstuck at Southampton and two points were dropped. Although Manchester City haven’t overtaken Mikel Arteta’s side yet, it does feel like a matter of time, and on that score, it is the results of the...

  Arsenal 1 PSV Eindhoven 0   Europa League Group A - Matchday Two (Postponed)   Thursday 20th October 2022 6pm     As expected, it was another mix and match midweek side for this early evening kick off at the Emirates, in a game that ensured Arsenal would qualify for the knockout stage, although not yet as group winners to avoid having to play a two legged qualifying tie before the round of 16. Five players who you would consider starters in Mikel Arteta’s first eleven began the game – Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Xhaka, Saka and Jesus. I suppose you could make a case Tomiyasu wouldn’t be if Zinchenko were fit, but he’s been picked ahead of Kieran Tierney, who was included yesterday evening. Turner in goal was no surprise, and the others in the eleven were Holding, Lokonga, Vieira and Nketiah. It does feel like Cedric is no longer trusted in either of the full back roles, but on a long contract, unlikely to go anywhere unless some kind of financial package is agreed to p...

Leeds United 0 Arsenal 1   Premier League   Sunday 16th October 2022 2pm     Three points are three points. But every three points tells a story, and this one was a drama alright. Arsenal may have increased their lead at the top of the league after Manchester City’s defeat at Liverpool, but there is no debate they rode their luck heavily in a difficult fixture at Elland Road. It’s hard to believe Leeds had only eight points on the board coming into this match, given how much difficulty they caused the Gunners after the interval. Mind you it took a while to get there. Some kind of technical issue with VAR and goal-line technology became apparent about a minute after kick off. It took an age to be resolved, but 40 minutes later, with the teams having spent a good while back in the dressing room, the game finally re-started. Arsenal were fielding the same eleven as beat Liverpool the previous weekend, with the two-footed Tomiyasu retained at left back. It was a fairly e...

Bodo/Glimt 0 Arsenal 1   Europa League Group A - Matchday Four   Thursday 6th October 2022 6.45pm (Local Time)     Football clubs play so many games these days that, unless there is a significance to them, they are often quickly forgotten, in terms of details. In years to come, there may be a memory that Arsenal got away with a win at Bodo/Glimt (although on the Norwegian side, the recall will be much stronger), but ultimately, this was a case of job done, by hook or by crook, get the plane home and prepare for Sunday. In terms of the quality of chances, Bodo should have won this game, pure and simple. Furthermore, Arsenal’s winner was a bit of a fluke, albeit with credit due to Bukayo Saka for his desire to have a go at working a way through Bodo’s defence. In terms of Arsenal’s ambitions for the season, it felt like a huge result. One more win from their remaining three matches will surely see them top the group, and spare themselves a two legged play-off round in ...

Arsenal 3 Liverpool 2   Premier League   Sunday 9th October 2022 4.30pm     This was a huge win for Arsenal, and on the back of the manner of victory against Spurs the previous weekend, it felt significant, not least because of the difficulty the club have faced in matching Liverpool since Jurgen Klopp took over at Anfield seven years ago.   Are Liverpool a lesser side this season? It does feel like it, although they still have some very dangerous attacking players who can, and did hurt Arsenal. But the Gunners are a better side than 2021-22, for well-established reasons, and for once, the Scousers were not clear favourites going into this fixture. There was a surprise selection in the form of Tomiyasu instead of Tierney at left back, but it proved a good one, as the Japanese full back demonstrated how comfortable he is on his left foot, and dealt with the twin threat of Salah and Alexander-Arnold, largely negating an obvious threat from Liverpool’s right flank....

Arsenal 3 Bodo/Glimt 0 Europa League Group A - Matchday Three   Thursday 6th October 2022 8pm     Four weeks on, with the PSV home match having been postponed, Arsenal took the field for their second Europa League group game of the campaign with an identical starting eleven to the one that had won against Zurich. This meant that the three players retained from the weekend’s north London derby line-up were Gabriel, Xhaka and Martinelli. I’m not sure of the significance of all these players being on the left side of the team. What is certain is that the system doesn’t change, the players that come in perform in a similar fashion to the first choicers and that as a consequence, they should in theory be able to slot in when injuries occurs without disrupting the team. Granted, there can be a drop off in quality, and when you play eight of them at once, then the fluidity of the Premier League eleven is not such a given. So Arsenal played in fits and starts, all the while looki...

Arsenal 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Premier League   Sunday 1st October 2022 12.30pm     I had a reminder from regular correspondent Ian Henry before yesterday lunchtime’s North London derby about something Myles Palmer used to say – that the big matches in Europe were decided by which team had the better Brazilians. Ian thought the game would be a good test of that theory and fully expected Arsenal to win as a consequence. As it turned out, one of Spurs’ trio – Lucas Moura - was out injured, although the roles of the other two, Richarlison and Emerson Royal, were at different   times significant. The same can certainly be said of the home side’s Samba boys, the three Gabriels.   Artetaball – which ultimately is Pepball – looks wonderful when it comes good, as it did yesterday in a terrific and hopefully significant derby win against the getting noisier neighbours. Let me be clear – Arsenal were by far the better side. However, Spurs went into the game with a pla...