ARS 2 - 1 FUL -- Gabriel Gets Himself Out of Jail

 Phew!  The announcer said that on paper this game should have been an easy win for the Gunners.  I don't know where he got that from.  Fulham won the Championship last season and they were unbeaten through three Premier League games.  They played very well, I thought.  Arsenal had almost all of the ball, but could not break through in the first half.  The Cottagers were well organized and resolute.  Early in the second, Arsenal was on top, but a dreadful error at the back by Gabriel Margalhes (we also had Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus on the pitch) gave Mitrovic the chance to show he was quicker and stronger than Gabriel:  he stole the ball and slotted it past Ramsdale expertly.

I'd be lying if I said that I was confident that we'd turn that around in the next 35-40 minutes, but of course that's what happened.  Odegaard's shot took a heavy deflection off a Fulham defender that took it past Leno, but I am not going to complain.  Then, late on, Gabriel put it in from very close range after the ball dropped to him on a corner, and he had the privilege of turning tragedy into triumph in half an hour.  Not many people get that chance.

Both keepers had great games; some excellent saves were made.  The Fulham left back did a fantastic job on Saka.  Our attacking players all looked dangerous; Martinelli was particularly pesky.  The level of play from both teams was high.  But the story Arteta will tell his men is about how they bailed Gabriel out when it looked as though he gave the game away.  In All or Nothing, he said this exact thing after another Gabriel error that led to a goal was followed by an Arsenal comeback.  I haven't seen the post-match comments, but I'm sure that the words "resilience," "suffer," and "belief" will feature.

Still top of the table, for now anyway.

I thought we did well to beat Bournemouth 3-0, but Liverpool put nine into their net today.  Ugh.  I guess the Cherries are not going to be helped by goal difference in a relegation battle.  I'll let my co-author discuss what happened at the Etihad.  Man U must feel they're back on track.

Three Weeks In

 Arsenal is top of the table after three games.  Last season, we were bottom.  We finished fifth.  Three games is a very small slice of a season.  Arteta is telling his men about what they can do better, not praising them for what they've done.  The Palace game was a much closer affair than the score indicated; the late own-goal put a gloss on the scoreline that was not entirely earned.  Leicester was poor and we ran all over them at home; they were fortunate to get any goals.  Bournemouth simply did not compete.  There will be many games that will be more hotly contested.  

Nevertheless, I see reasons to be hopeful.  With a dreadfully thin squad last season, we nearly sneaked into the top four.  This year, we not only brought in excellent talent in the form of Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, and William Saliba, but our first choice outside backs have recovered from injury, and new signing Fabio Vieira is close to full fitness.  Almost all our impact players from last year are still young and have another year of EPL experience.  The new guys have slotted into Arteta's system very well.  We are not two injuries away from trouble, and if a couple guys are out of form, there are willing replacements who can do the job.

Contrast this with Liverpool, whose coach wondered if there was a witch in the building causing all the injuries, or Man U, which is still (today's game notwithstanding) a dysfunctional mess, or Chelsea, which runs like an expensive car with sugar in the gas tank.  On the other hand, Newcastle looks scary good, Man City is still the team to beat, and Tottenham is even better than last season.  I think this is going to be a crazy season.  My hope is that Arsenal keeps getting stronger and can go toe to toe with the big boys while beating up on the lesser squads, as we used to do under Wenger.  But it won't be easy.

BOU 0-3 ARS

 Newly promoted Bournemouth was never in this game.  They exhibited some spirit and drive in the second half, but by then the game was gone and they knew it.  The Gunners were all over the Cherries from the start, and the result was decided after ten minutes, with Odegaard potting two goals after impressive work from the entire front line, especially Jesus.  William Saliba swept in a third in the second half, to the delight of the traveling fans.

Odd results elsewhere means Arsenal will be all alone at the top of the table after three games.  That will change after we start to play the other top teams, but it sure looks good now.

DC United 0 Phi 6

 What a disgrace of a game.  The DC midfielders and defense simply cannot advance the ball.  The strikers seldom get a touch.  Meanwhile, this leaves the defense under constant attack, tires them out, and leaves them vulnerable.  Benteke, hung up on visa issues, still has not joined the team, but what good will another forward do the team if he can never get his feet on the ball because the ball is always on the other end?   

CP 3 Aston Villa 1, and CP seems solid enough to hope for a mid-table year.  Arsenal with nine points in the first three matches, one of their best starts in years, finally returning to the top?    

Liverpool 1 CP 1

 For once, CP held a lead on Liverpool, but could not maintain it.  In any case, CP has a long record of struggling with Liverpool, and losing badly, so this was nothing to complain about.  

ARS 4 - 2 LEI

 The game wasn't televised, and we had a family thing going, so I did not see the game realtime, and had to follow it in Livescore.  I've seen highlights and read summaries.  Jesus's first goal was spectacular; his second a bit lucky, in that Vardy headed it to him on the back post and there were no defenders there.  He could have had a couple more, too.  He's going to score a lot of goals for us.  I would not be surprised if he netted 30 in the league.  Here's hoping he stays healthy.  Martinelli was fantastic too.  It's a rare game for Arsenal when Saka is reduced to a supporting role and the real menace comes from the other side of the pitch, but wow, our youngest Gabriel was a force.

The Saliba own goal was just unlucky.  I've seen him make some very bad errors for Marseille, but this was more a case of him doing what he was supposed to do but it just didn't work out.  The supportive reaction of GK Ramsdale and later the fans was great to see.  Leicester was lively but outclassed.  As the only team in Europe's top five leagues not to have added a player, they look like a squad that's going to finish in the lower half, but have too much quality to be in a relegation battle.  Their problem will be in keeping players like Maddison and Tielemanns.  

Well, six points from two games.  It could not have gone better.  There's plenty of room for improvement, especially in defense, but when Tomiyasu and Tierney are fully fit that will get sorted out.  It's vital for us to stay in all four competitions as long as possible, so there are enough minutes to spread around for players like Nketieh, Smith Rowe, Lokonga, Marquinhos, and other young guys who have so much to offer.

I don't know what the hell happened to Man U at Brighton.  It's a nightmare start for ten Haag, the latest coach who is supposed to save them.  They look to be in shambles and may be focusing on Europa League to rescue the season for them.  I'm hoping for a drab 0-0 draw with six red cards when the Spuds play Chelsea today.  But this year, my fervent wish is that the Gunners don't care what any other team does, because they are focusing on beating the team they're playing, and doing it.

CP 0 - 2 ARS

 The post-match commentary oversold our defensive soundness, I thought.  Palace should have had two and could have had more.  But between Ramsdale and some poor finishing, we got the clean sheet.  The technical levels of both teams were very high.  The Gunners especially exhibited some great close control and one-touch passing, but I was impressed by Palace too.  

How cool is it that Arsenal, which used to suffer so badly facing corner kicks and free kicks, is feasting on them lately?  Arteta revealed to Sky Sports just now that the play on which they scored was devised by a set piece coach and they practiced it yesterday.  That's the sort of thing that convinces players to trust the staff.

Everyone played well.  I was concerned by the constant testing of our outside backs with long diagonal passes.  Their wingers usually came up with the ball.  Zinchenko and White were both caught too high up the field at times.  But Saliba and Gabriel were fantastic.  White will not start in big games after Tomiyasu is fit.  But he's a wonderful option in two important positions.  Martinelli's goal was fine; Saka was fortunate to have his errant cross turned in for the clincher.

Three points.  Top of the league.  Feels good.

Benteke from Crystal Palace to DC United

 

DC United needs all the help they can get.  let's hope Benteke still has a few good years left.   

All Or Nothing

 I have never watched this show before, so wasn't sure what to expect.  It's pretty good.  I don't know how many secrets are revealed, but it does give a flavor for how Mikel prepares the team, and an idea what some of the players are like as human beings.  We even get to know the staff; the team photographer has a great cameo.  Amazon just released the first three episodes, taking us from the first game through the debacle at Anfield about third of the season in.  They teased the Auba problems for the fourth episode.  I will definitely watch the rest.

The squad will probably be relieved not to have a film crew around all the time this season.  It may even help to lose that distraction.

Bernd Leno is definitely worth more than Fulham is paying for him.  But I think it's a mark of a class operation to allow him to go for less than they might have gotten elsewhere so Bernd could stay in London, as he wanted.  Mari and Torreira may move on soon.

Rooney was not so magic yesterday, as DC United lost 3-0 to expansion Charlotte.  Grim.

Rooney Magic

 DC United won Senor Wayne's first game in charge with two stoppage time goals. 2-1.  Wowsers.  This season may not be salvageable, but never say never.  Next year might be interesting.