Much better than I dared hope: Arsenal third in the Champs League
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By Tony Attwood
The curious fact that Arsenal are playing Crystal Palace twice in four days takes the very, very much older supporters back to the days when clubs used to play each other home and away on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. That didn’t happen with Palace however as they didn’t join the elite until 1969.
That journey to the top league was, in itself, quite something – from the fourth division to the first in ten seasons from 1960/61 when they won Division IV. They revisited Division III in 1974/85 and have bobbled up and down between the top two leagues this century but have been in the top league for ten consecutive years, now. And to me, they certainly looked like a team that felt the League Cup was something they could have a pop at.
Liverpool and Newcastle also went through, and tonight the tiny totts play ManU in the battle of the also-rans. Well 10th against 13th to be exact.
I guess the question for Arsenal is can Gabriel Jesus keep up his refound form? His record across all competitions has never been that of a sparkling centre forward, although last night suggested otherwise. And his yellow card record this season is worryingly above that of past seasons, but he is certainly a helpful player to have in the squad – as long as he has his confidence firing on all cylinders.
Here are his figures.
But let’s not forget this was really something of a goal-scoring performance – not a set of tap-ins by a number nine after others have done the hard work. Plus although Palace are 15th in the league and with only three wins in the league to their name this season, they certainly looked as if they had been holding everything in readiness for this match. It will indeed be interesting to see if they can play the same game again at the weekend, for in this form he is a most important member of the squad.
But what was also interesting was how Palace gave up possession to Arsenal: it was 70 percent Arsenal and 30 percent Palace at the end.
Across the season so far the club with the highest possession is Manchester City with 62.7% (figures from FBRef). Tottenham are second with 58.2%. Arsenal are fifth with 54.4%. Crystal Palace are 17th with 43.5%.
Meanwhile it is interesting that while the Telegraph brings a decent enough report overall they can’t resist a knock at supporters with the constant media allegation that us fans don’t really understand football, and so need the media to interpret it for them.
Thus the paper adds the note that “while it [the League Cup] is not a priority this year, there is no doubt that the fans want glory at Wembley.”
This suggests a disconnect between Arsenal FC and the fans. We the fans want a trophy no matter what but the club is able to see a broader picture. We the fans, who have been to Wembley know how badly we can be treated there and what a grotty ground it is in many regards (cramped seats, atrocious catering, poor safety etc). Yet the journalists who know nothing of such things set out the implication that we are so stupid that we can only see one thing at a time (in this case going to Wembley). And it needs the journalist to see the broader picture.
In fact the opposite is true. For it is journalists who tend to see the moment and report on it, rather than draw broader understandings and implications.
But what we could all see once again is what a difference Ødegaard makes, and indeed what a brilliant purchase he was. Indeed if you ever want an example of a player at a bargain price, or of Arsenal’s ability to see potential which others could not, Ødegaard is surely the example to pick. Arsenal paid £30m for the player with a subsequent £4m bonus payment because of his appearances.
TransferMarkt quote his current value at around £100m.
But there is another point here – Arsenal did not play well against Everton, and yet with a number of changes to the team were able to pick themselves up and deliver a game of real quality and class. That is an ability that is hard to develop and it can be invaluable. Plus of course, there was an addition to the squad depth in Kieran Tierney and what seems to be very rare games for Sterling too.
The Palace manager after the match made the point that there was no VAR in this game and claimed that harmed his side. So he should be feeling very comfortable for the weekend when Palace get a second chance… with VAR. And the League must be pleased that someone out there does indeed ike VAR.
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Much better than I dared hope: Arsenal third in the Champs League
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