I had no idea what to expect today, but I did think there'd be more goals. If Leno weren't so good, there would have been. de Gea was nowhere near Xhaka's well-hit strike, and I'm glad. He also wasn't briefed by Lloris on how to stuff Auba's PKs, though after he thoughtfully explained his approach to an interviewer ("I wait until the keeper moves"), you can bet every keeper is going to wait for his weak up-the-middle rollers.
We did not dominate this game, but we did outplay a very strong and confident Man U. Combined with Spuds' loss and Chelski's draw, this was a very good weekend. If we play like this Thursday, we have a chance to move on in Europa League. Since we don't play another top six team this season, there's reason to be optimistic about our top four prospects. The run-in:
Newcastle (H)
Everton (A)
Watford (A)
Palace (H)
Leicester (A)
Brighton (H)
Burnley (A)
Wolves (A) --will be earlier
All of those teams except Burnley look fairly safe now, and by the time we play them Burnley will probably be clear of the relegation zone. There are no easy games in the EPL, but we will not be facing clubs desperate for points.Some of our rivals for top four are guaranteed to drop points because they'll be playing each other, and/or are also facing City, 'pool, or both. Let's take care of business!
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Tottenham 1 - 1 Arsenal
It was immensely frustrating to see an offside Harry Kane win a penalty because Shkodran "Brainfart" Mustafi could not stop himself from barging into him, and then bury it professionally, and then see Auba take a terrible effort after he got an iffy penalty call. I'm sure we'll all recall this game as having had two points stolen from us. But if I'm honest, I'd have to say that a draw was not a fair result but not terribly so. Leno's spectacular double save in the first half preserved the advantage. Spuds took the game to us for the most part and looked sharp. My usual litany of complaints and praise follows:
If Emery thought that by putting Mustafi out wide he could prevent his giving away cheap PKs, that was obviously wrong. Frankly, I thought he had a poor game. He gave the ball away needlessly several times, and we were very fortunate Pochettino decided not to target our right side, because Mustafi was out of position repeatedly. If Maitland-Niles was fit, he should have been out there.
This is not hindsight, because I thought this when it happened, but taking Lacazette out was not a good idea. Maybe Emery felt he'd given all he had and was losing steam. But he did a great job and can't play against Rennes, so why not keep him on the pitch? In the event, Auba didn't make the crucial difference, though he had his chances (as did Laca, to be fair).
The commentators on NBCSN wondered if Ramsey would be focused enough. Ha ha ha ha ha...yes. He always gives it everything, and he did well today, especially for the goal.
Monreal, Kos, and Sokratis were fabulous, weren't they? They may all be a year or two away from retirement, but they put in a shift today that any 25 year old would be proud of. I'm not forgetting Leno's excellent game either.
Guendouzi made a few errors but I thought he was very good. I'd have replaced Xhaka if one of them had to come off for Torreira. But our (few) defensive issues weren't due to the holding mids at any phase of the game. Iwobi continued to impress and I think he did his job both ways. Mkhitaryan surprised me with his energy and incisiveness. His passing was wonderful and Auba wasted one gilt-edged opportunity off a great ball from Mikhi. I'm finally starting to agree with those who say that we got the better of the deal when we swapped Alexis for him. I liked Ozil's commitment when he came on. I was surprised we didn't see Kolasinac at some point in the second half (with Monreal moving into a back three, and taking a winger off), but maybe he's not fit.
Well, it was a really good watch, and neutrals would have been happy. United, Chelsea, 'pool, and City will have to be happy with the dropped points from both of their Big Six rivals. While we Gunners will be furious about the missed offside on Kane (really, it was blindingly obvious), I will admit that going in I was thinking I'd be happy with a point. I know it's Wembley, but we were away, Spuds have been playing well but still losing, so desperate for a win, and we still have some serious absences due to injury. (Just imagine what Bellerin could have brought to this game.) By the end of the day, we'll probably be in fifth again, but we get MU at home next and that's a game we need to win. Our last eight will all be against teams with poorer records than ours, so a strong run-in is possible.
If Emery thought that by putting Mustafi out wide he could prevent his giving away cheap PKs, that was obviously wrong. Frankly, I thought he had a poor game. He gave the ball away needlessly several times, and we were very fortunate Pochettino decided not to target our right side, because Mustafi was out of position repeatedly. If Maitland-Niles was fit, he should have been out there.
This is not hindsight, because I thought this when it happened, but taking Lacazette out was not a good idea. Maybe Emery felt he'd given all he had and was losing steam. But he did a great job and can't play against Rennes, so why not keep him on the pitch? In the event, Auba didn't make the crucial difference, though he had his chances (as did Laca, to be fair).
The commentators on NBCSN wondered if Ramsey would be focused enough. Ha ha ha ha ha...yes. He always gives it everything, and he did well today, especially for the goal.
Monreal, Kos, and Sokratis were fabulous, weren't they? They may all be a year or two away from retirement, but they put in a shift today that any 25 year old would be proud of. I'm not forgetting Leno's excellent game either.
Guendouzi made a few errors but I thought he was very good. I'd have replaced Xhaka if one of them had to come off for Torreira. But our (few) defensive issues weren't due to the holding mids at any phase of the game. Iwobi continued to impress and I think he did his job both ways. Mkhitaryan surprised me with his energy and incisiveness. His passing was wonderful and Auba wasted one gilt-edged opportunity off a great ball from Mikhi. I'm finally starting to agree with those who say that we got the better of the deal when we swapped Alexis for him. I liked Ozil's commitment when he came on. I was surprised we didn't see Kolasinac at some point in the second half (with Monreal moving into a back three, and taking a winger off), but maybe he's not fit.
Well, it was a really good watch, and neutrals would have been happy. United, Chelsea, 'pool, and City will have to be happy with the dropped points from both of their Big Six rivals. While we Gunners will be furious about the missed offside on Kane (really, it was blindingly obvious), I will admit that going in I was thinking I'd be happy with a point. I know it's Wembley, but we were away, Spuds have been playing well but still losing, so desperate for a win, and we still have some serious absences due to injury. (Just imagine what Bellerin could have brought to this game.) By the end of the day, we'll probably be in fifth again, but we get MU at home next and that's a game we need to win. Our last eight will all be against teams with poorer records than ours, so a strong run-in is possible.
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