Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

West Bromwich Albion 0 Arsenal 6     League Cup 2nd Round     Wednesday 26th August 2021   8pm     Given the two starting line-ups, a defeat at the Hawthorns would have been pretty much unthinkable, and in a sense, although a competitive match, there was a feeling of a pre-season run-out to this cup tie. West Brom’s priority is unquestionably returning to the Premier League, and as such it was evident – with 46 league matches to play, that progress in this competition was – although not undesired – of little importance. One suspects in the case of an upset, a similar team would be fielded in the next round by Baggies’ manager Valerien Ismael.   However, given the gap in experience and talent, the 6-0 win was about right. The home side certainly pressed quite hard early on, and came very close to scoring at 0-0. But ultimately their high line played into Arsenal’s hands as balls played in behind into acres of space allowed the forwards to capitalis...

Arsenal 3 West Bromwich Albion 1   Premier League   Sunday 9th May 7pm   Even with Arsenal playing last Thursday night, it was no huge surprise to see the team achieve – for the first time in seven matches – an actual home win. It condemned West Brom to relegation, a phenomenon all too familiar to the West Midlands club, although a more unusual one for their manager Sam Allardyce. His style of football has gradually become less effective over the years and no longer cuts it in 2021, especially with officiating a lot tighter on over-physical play, not that the threat of a yellow card prevented Mohammed Elneny getting a cut lip due to a quite deliberate elbow from Robson-Kanu. It was no surprise to see six changes from Thursday evening’s starting eleven, with Martinelli as the centre forward and a return to a more familiar formation with Ceballos partnering Elneny in midfield. Bukayo Saka was moved to left back, although the vast majority of Arsenal’s most da...

  West Bromwich Albion 0 Arsenal 4    Premier League    Saturday 2nd January 2021 - 8pm    Arsenal have been surrounding themselves, quality-wise, with clubs of less lofty ambitions lately, in terms of their position in the league table. This was symbolized by the shirts sponsors of the two clubs that faced each other in wintry conditions at the Hawthons yesterday, with the visitors sporting ‘Fly Emirates’ across their chests – not that anyone is flying much anywhere these days. Sam Allardyce’s men were sponsored by Ideal Boilers. I am not certain how much the latter had to do with the undersoil heating at the Baggies’ stadium, but whoever did install it can be pleased with the results of their work last night, as the game was able to go ahead and complete, in spite of more snow falling during the 90 minutes. There were many good performances in Arsenal’s side over the course of a standout performance, the quality of which we haven't seen for a lo...