Having taken the plunge on an article back in March analysing our run-in, I have decided in the
absence of a match report to-date, to try again.

So here goes:
Comfortable start to the match but gave up a very good chance early on which Ramsdale did
very well to smother. We looked lively and played some great football. These days it seems so
much more likely that we’ll score, I’m thinking 0-2 at Nurnberg and the rest of the pre-season,
then Palace. We needed a little inspiration. We got a lot !!! My son texted me and said that he
was just thinking Jesus was playing well but hopefully would be able to “step up” !! Then he
scores THAT goal !!

The second goal was sweet because of the Vardy assist and the fact our “fox in the box” was
there to score. Half time came with us still playing great football although we gave up a couple
more chances and the Vardy ‘penalty” was a beautiful thing. AR got a little lucky because many
times that would be given, but it wasn’t a penalty.

The own goal was unfortunate again AR rushing out. I have to say I think that’s his style and as our defenders get more used to it, I think it will cause less problems. I still prefer it to the rooted to the line style of our former (very good to be fair to him) keeper. AR is better.

Thanks to their keeper for returning the favour, then we conceded a soft one which exposed our left sided defending and was not good from Ramsdale. So panic stations and hunker down to defend the win right? No Sir(s and Ma’am’s). Martinelli won the ball back in midfield and combined with Jesus to score a delicious goal that knocked the stuffing out of the Foxes. Boom !!!!! 4-2 to The Arsenal
!!

Ramsdale 6

White 7 Saliba 7 Gabriel 7 Zinchenko 6

Partey 7 Xhaka 7

Saka 7 Odegaard 8 Martinelli 9

Jesus 10

So what to make of it? My March article was a “prediction” of how we’d finish and what we
needed to do to get C/L (Top 4). I had us getting 15 points from 12 games, 3 wins, 6 draws and 3
losses. We ended up with 6 wins and 6 losses. My hope was to turn draws into wins at mid
table teams and not lose to rivals. We did that adequately but lost to Brighton at home and at
Palace, Southampton and Newcastle, unfortunately turning “expected draws” (a draw vs
Brighton wouldn’t have been the end of the world at the time) into losses. In every game it
came down to one thing – No goals scored early enough (or at mostly at all !!) in the game to
make a difference to our opposition’s tactics and set up.

I get the feeling we have belief that we will score. Mitigating factors will be:
Better/harder opposition, Inevitable mistakes/bad luck/bad refereeing, Miserable winter
conditions, Injuries and suspensions.

What it won’t be is lack of belief, quitting or soft center. I really think we’re on the right track. I
actually believe Europa League is perfect for us also this season, remember the old saying “be
careful what you wish for !!” Lets’ see how Spuddies and Chavs fare. What I do know is there’s
only two teams with 100% records in the PL. Soft start right, easy wins? Yep, Fulham away then
Palace at home – too easy. Oh wait – that’s not us !! Hope you get my point. We will have a lot
harder tests coming soon but I love the way we’ve started. Let’s just take it from there.

A fine post by Mike M

Watching the Amazon Prime Video series about Arsenal’s 2021/22 season brought back horrible memories of our poor start last year, not least an opening day defeat at newly promoted Brentford.

Despite our encouraging form in pre-season this summer, I was concerned that playing away at Palace for our first fixture of the new campaign was another potential banana skin.

If we slipped up, I wondered, would all the positivity around the squad start to evaporate?

In the end my worries were banished by a solid all-round performance from a much-improved Arsenal team compared with a year ago.

It was certainly no walk in the park. If pre-season was all about flamboyant cavalier football, last night’s game was trench warfare.

Palace are a team comprised of heavyweight and middleweight boxers, some of whom have the speed of sprinters.

Overall we stood up to the physical battles well and deserved the win, despite some scares.

Here are five takeaways:

Saliba is a Rolls Royce Player

I keep telling myself not to get carried away by one performance but, boy, Saliba looks good. It’s not just his physicality and athleticism, or his passing ability and the timing of his tackles. It’s that he seems to instinctively make the right decision every time. And he’s only 21!!! As far as ceilings go, this lad is heading for the Sistine Chapel.

The Defence Stood Up Well

Not many teams will withstand the sort of fast, physical onslaught we endured at Selhurst Park last night. All the defenders did well, particularly the CBs. I felt Ben White was pulled out of position at times but his stats look very good and he coped better than most with the very real threat of Zaha.

Let’s Hear It for the Set Piece Coach

The opening goal was vital in that game and it came from a clever routine from a corner. Our new set piece coach, Nicolas Jover, has already had an impact on our campaign and we’re only one match in. I’m excited to see what other tricks this magician has up his sleeve.

Starboy Keeps Improving

I haven’t seen much mention of Bukayo Saka’s performance in the reports, perhaps because we spent 60 minutes of the match on the back foot. But I was watching him closely and his ability to bamboozle defenders and drive into dangerous areas is getting better and better. I don’t think there’s a more effective winger in the PL.

Our Fans are the Best

The Sky Sports pundits made numerous comments about the intimidating atmosphere at Selhurst Park (true) and the noise from the home fans. Yet it was quite clear from the TV coverage that it was the Arsenal fans making the most consistent noise. Our away support is amazing. The icing on the cake was the rousing rendition of the Vieira song towards the end when the points were in the bag (not that poor old Paddy seemed to care).

RockyLives

And so the time has come for…the season to begin! but allow me to first congratulate all our England fans here for the amazing Euro win by your Women’s team! What a tournament and what a team! 4 Gunners in it as well 🙂

Back to EPL footie now, Crystal Palace won’t be an easy game to play…especially away. They only lost 4 games at home last year and we did not beat them either last year so the reading of stats and last year’s history does not favour us…

One of the key match ups will be Zaha – White and I think Saka-Partey-Saliba will need to be strong because there is no way White will be able to contain Zaha…

So while the season is looking mighty exciting with the great pre-season and our good transfer window so far, I think that we will be missing Tomy a lot tomorrow…

Most likely line up:

Ramsdale – White, Saliba, Gabs, Zinch – Partey, Xhaka – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – Jesus

Most likely score line: 2-1 to CP with a goal from Martinelli

but I am hoping to get a point from Vieira’s den tomorrow….