The Brighton away game was undoubtedly one of the toughest of our nine remaining fixtures. De Zerbi is a great manager, Brighton has speed and technical talent in abundance, and their home record amounted to just one loss since August. It didn’t matter, again. Our 2024 has been so impervious to pain that Arsenal fans... Read more »
The Brighton away game was undoubtedly one of the toughest of our nine remaining fixtures. De Zerbi is a great manager, Brighton has speed and technical talent in abundance, and their home record amounted to just one loss since August.
It didn’t matter, again.
Our 2024 has been so impervious to pain that Arsenal fans were genuinely losing their minds after 12 rough minutes. Brighton got in behind us through the middle because we were pressing them so hard.
Still, the defense held strong. There weren’t many high-quality strikes at our goal, and for all their huff, there was very little to show for it.
Arsenal looked totally in control and incredibly fresh. It was hard to point out one player who was setting the tempo, because this squad has been built around 11 tempo setters. David Raya’s passing was electric, Gabriel and Saliba were composed and free from constraint. Our midfield had Odegaard, Jorginho, and Rice all at the top of their game. Our front line had the relentless pairing of Jesus and Kai. Saka was playing injured and he still looked decent.
It was Saka who opened the scoring. Jesus won a stonewall penalty that the pundits couldn’t seem to fathom. Even De Zerbi agreed after the game it was a good decision. Bukayo made no mistake with a very convincing penalty that sent the keeper the wrong way. We spoke on the podcast about never really feeling totally convinced by his penalties, but he doesn’t miss many. So maybe I need to get that on the agenda with my therapist?
Just before halftime, David Raya stepped forward with something we’ve all been waiting for… a really fucking big save. Encisco, who looks very much like Martinez at Villa, created some space just outside our box and let off a curling shot that had a similar flight to the Porto goal, but this time, the footwork was perfection from Raya and his giant outstretched arms kept the ball out.
Do we want to talk about the disgusting piece of skill from Saliba inside our box to set an attack on its way? Wild. He is the best centre back in the world right now. No doubt.
I had conversations at halftime about the dangers of the second half. Concede early, the crowd get fired up, and it’s the Alamo. 1-0 was dangerous, even 2-0 was nervy. How would the players approach the game?
They dug in deep, channelling the defensive and shithousery powers of the greatest joy-killing teams of the past. Inter, Porto, and Athleti would have been proud.
We let Brighton have the ball and we shut them out of the game. We duelled like our lives depended on it and absorbed their pressure hoping to catch them in transition and kill off the game.
Our reward came exactly that way. Jorginho nicked the ball, Odegaard used his Norwegian radar to catch his run, the Italian sauntered into the box unfollowed and picked out the run of Kai Havertz.
We had another transitional moment when we caught Brighton exposed at the back. Trossard, who as booed coming on, belted through the middle, Kai Havertz found his run, the Belgian glided into the box and chipped the Brighton keeper with a ‘fuck you very much’ goal for the scrapbook.
The only dampener of the evening was Saka admitting he played the game injured. He’s a warrior, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see him play against Bayern this week, but it was still a concern.
I said before the restart this pod of three games was going to define our title credentials. If we could win all three, we’d faves for the title, if we could avoid losing, we’d be in the mixer.
Well, we’re firmly in the mixer and looking like the best team in the league… still.
There are going to be twists and turns. I don’t think all the teams are going to win all their games. But it’s starting to feel like an unsightly draw might be enough to take teams out of contention. Lady Luck has been with Liverpool and even City yesterday. Will she be there for the rest of the season?
Hope not…
Liverpool vs United would have been one of those ‘could be a draw’ afternoons if it were 1999. But it’s not. It’s 2024 and they are a trainwreck across the board. They have a manager who is marching a Premier League green mile. They have a squad that just doesn’t give a shit about anything. Even the bright lights of prime time on Sunday, at Old Trafford, with the chance to kill Liverpool… will not be enough. It’ll be a shellacking today. The last serious game EtH lines up for before he plots his move to a Bundesliga team this summer. Do not waste air getting excited about that game.
All we can do is focus on what we’re doing… and that’s really good right now. Mikel Arteta has created a monster team that is winning the Premier League over the next two seasons. We have everything you need to win big trophies now… imagine what things will look like when we add 2 or 3 massive players that can add depth.
All our summer signings have been blowout successes. Kai Havertz has been transformative in 2024. He’s so complete for this system. His output is the best it’s been since moving to England. He creating, assisting, and doing serious amounts of off ball work that has been crucial to making us meaner and more aggressive.
Even our January signings from last season have been crucial to who we are this season. Trossard is an output monster, and Jorginho has made it really hard to move him out of the starting 11, even with the re-emergence of Thomas Partey. That’s a next man up attitude that sums up this squad perfectly, and the manager running it.
This is a blessed season. When I started writing this blog with my dad, the hope was for a better, more competitive Arsenal. Only a few teams in world football can win the major honours, all you ask for is your club do their best to make sure they are in contention every season. We are in contention for UCL and Premier League. We could realistically win either. The last time you could say that was 2004 and I’m not sure we ever really felt those Arsenal sides were tactically equipped to deal with the best of Europe.
Well, now we are. We have a generational manager, a tag no one scoffs at now. We have generational players. A generational owner if we’re honest. We have the best system in world football. Add a sprinkling of special this summer – and let the experience of this season bed in – and we are back to the big time for next 8 years.
Just remember this: Don’t get wrapped up in being a snob. We’ve tasted poverty, it was horrible, now we’re back in the big time always remember where we’ve come from. Why do I say that? Because I’d never truly tasted hardship growing up – when the glory years landed, I didn’t enjoy them enough. I am going to enjoy this era like you wouldn’t believe, because you never know when it’ll stop.
Ok, that’s me done. If you want to listen to the On The Whistle, you gotta sign up to our Patreon (HERE). Also, I have an elite German football writer on the podcast to talk Bayern with me later today. One of my fave writers on sport across all genres. That’ll drop on Patreon too. So sign up, or I’ll knock on your front door and ask some very serious questions.
