Arsenal 4(!) – 0 Atletico Madrid
My four points:
1. Gyö
Monkey’s off his back, at last. How could we not be happy? He’s the kind of guy you frown upon when he’s brought into your team and you can’t believe how heavy his first touches are. But just a few minutes into the training session, you start wondering if you ever were, or ever will be, as committed, relentless, sacrificial almost as he looks already – and you know you’ve never been, and never will be. Humility always goes along with that kind of attitude on the pitch, and his reaction after his first goal will remain one of the moments of the season – as though the big lad was apologizing for breaking the deadlock in such an ugly fashion. The look of a puppy sitting right in the middle of the mess he’s turned your place into, as you come home, was priceless. As for the reactions of his mates having to cheer him up and tell him how happy and proud he should be says a lot about how much he’s loved already. At the end of the season, who will care about how scrappy his goals were anyway? We’ve had our share of scorers of great goals lately, now we can do with a great scorer of goals (famous Charlie G. quote in reverse of course). Last remark: what I loved most was how his holdup play looked improved; Le Normand is De La Fuente’s first choice CB, but our Big boy almost drove him insane – he might have needed these first weeks, games, to be fully fit, half-fitness doesn’t sit well with his style.
2. We’re through to the Ro16; we’ll get nine more points against Slavia, Brugge, Kairat, that’s 18 and that’ll do the trick.
But … there’s a huge interest this season in the very best position possible. The first four will be seeded and will play the Ro16 – Ro8 return games at home, and the fist two will even play the semi-final return in front of their fans. Which is why: first, MA will pick what he thinks to be his strongest team of the moment ’til the very last game, secondly, we might be treated to goals galore the nights of the games against the three above-mentioned teams, finally the games against Bayern and Inter are bound to be actual showdowns for that very reason, since they are direct rivals for the top-spots.
(https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0296-1d21e9bdf7e4-808a7511165c-1000–2025-26-champions-league-teams-format-dates-draws-final/)
3. Set-Piece FC
There’s BigGab of course, whose reign o’er the box is so supreme it gets really funny – truth is he’s having great fun himself, on CKs he has the happy look of a doggy you can’t dribble past, who grabs the ball every time – could do it all day.
But … there’s the deliveries, too, and that’s where “A Terrible Beauty Is Born“ imo. I’ve started thinking Declan and Bukayo have been creating, inventing, a whole new skill that scouts will be demanded they are able to spot in players from now on. And guess what? We even have backups now; Martin Ø has always been quite good at steppin’ up for Bukayo when needed, but I’m pretty sure Eberechi has all it takes to do the same for Declan – it’ll just take a few personal sessions with Jover the Wizard …
4. My conclusion? Be ready, Big Ears!
North London Is Coming.
By argallh