Sharpshooting Gunners Ground Bate
Dec 7th, 2017 by 'holic
Arsena Wenger sprung a surprise by switching to a 4-3-3 formation for the visit of Bate Borisov. Youngsters Rob Holding and Calum Chambers were selected as the centre-backs, flanked by Mathieu Debuchy and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in front of David Ospina. Jack Wilshere was free to play as the number ten in front of Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin. Up front Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck got the nod to partner Olivier Giroud.
With Virgin Media’s new TV Go app failing on day one I had the good fortune to follow the match via an American stream in HD quality, and inside three minutes Giroud put Elneny clear in front of goal but his delayed strike hit a post. What a start that could have been. Ivanic had a similar opportunity at the other end four minutes later but struck his effort into row 20 of the North Bank.
Walcott’s ninth minute strike laid out Milunovic who blocked it with his face. A couple of minutes later the same defender palmed a ball in the box out to Debuchy who drilled a venomous strike inside the far post. Thank goodness the referee, Herr Schörgenhofer, didn’t award the blatant penalty because the Frenchman deserved that goal after all of his injury woes.
The Arsenal 1-0 Bate Borisov
If anyone had expected a degree of disinterest from the squad players they were being proven wrong. The hosts had opened with a swagger. Volodko temporarily changed the mood with an over-the-top ‘challenge’ on Debuchy deemed worthy of only a yellow card by the referee. The sight of Debuchy on the turf is never a pleasant one. A more innocent trip on Welbeck was overlooked but it had occurred outside the area.
Midway through the half the Bate goalkeeper, Scherbitski, found himself at right back to deny a surprised Welback on the left flank. The chance was set up by a superb Wilshere through ball. Jack and Olivier combine to set-up Theo but once again Scherbitski won the battle at point-blank range. Moments later Walcott drove a free-kick wide of the far post. At this point in the away match the Gunners were three up, and in all honesty should have been tonight too. We soon would be.
Jack Wilshere appeared to take a straight left to the jaw but the referee missed it, much to the little man’s chagrin. A sparse crowd tried to roar their team into increasing the advantage. The silence that followed was punctuated by Maria screaming her encouragement from the West Upper. It worked. Welbeck went clear, lost control, but the ball reached Walcott who slotted home from seven yards.
The Arsenal 2-0 Bate Borisov
Theo was inches from a second but was denied by a desperate goal-line clearance from Milunovic. The Bate goal was now under siege and Wilshere’s twenty yard curler was tipped over by a very busy Scherbitski. It was a range-finder. The outstanding Wilshere took a pass from Walcott, swivelled, and smashed a rising left foot drive into the top corner at the far post. This really was a mismatched half of attack against defence. 79% possession and 15 shots to 1 told a tale.
The Arsenal 3-0 Bate Borisov
As the second-half reached two minutes Ospina was forced to make his first save, clutching a tame header out of the air. Another wild challenge on Wilshere was punished just by a free-kick. Mercifully Jack was soon on his feet. Six minutes in we went from one end to the other. Holding picked out Elneny who found Wilshere, and he sent Walcott galloping in behind. His excellent cross was heading for Welbeck and the last defender, Polyakov, drilled it into his own net. Bang went the ‘holic pound.
The Arsenal 4-0 Bate Borisov
The first change for Bate came after a Giroud effort was deflected for a corner. Striker Signevich came on for Rodionov. The action remained in front of the North Bank and it took an excellent save from Scherbitski to deny Welbeck a fifth goal for the Arsenal.
In the 63rd minute Walcott earned a deserved penalty when he was too quick for Milunovic. Giroud, who scored from the spot in the reverse fixture, struck his two spot-kicks home and wasn’t impressed that the first was ruled out for encroachment by players of both sides.
The Arsenal 5-0 Bate Borisov
There was a small but audible cheer as Reiss Nelson prepared to come on, but first Bate sent on Tuominen for Stasevich. Nelson was introduced for Walcott, presumably grateful for a rare 70 minutes of action. Wilshere turned provider once more and the beneficiary was Elneny who discovered third time lucky really is a thing, before departing with Welbeck to give Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah a cameo appearance.
The Arsenal 6-0 Bate Borisov
Bate have had better nights in Europe and came into the match with an opportunity to reach the knock-out phase, but The Arsenal cup squad blew them away with a really impressive display. The visitors had pretty much given up by the end, but you can only beat what is in front of you and we certainly did that. Those who braved a cold Thursday night in North London deserved that performance.
73 Responses to “Sharpshooting Gunners Ground Bate”
Now that was faster than Feo, holic…
T’was a training match…
😀
Virgin media are a bunch of tossers. Well played our lads.
Fourth trophY?
Didn’t see much of the game so thanks for the lightening quick report, Guv’nor. One to warm the cockles on a cold night by all accounts (well, by yours). The stadium looked very empty from the little I have seen. As you say, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and that seems to have been handsomely done.
I think you’ve become too conservative in your old age with the Holic Pound predictions. A more expansive approach may bring richer dividends 🙂 Great, rapid report. Excellent way to finish the group. Arsene Wenger masterclass.
Great report Holic. I only saw the second half . Wilshere was head and shoulders above anybody on the pitch. He really should be starting for us and for England.
Very good attitude from our team. We shouldn’t have dropped any points in a group of this quality but we did the job.
It’s interesting to see the strength of our second string when almost everyone is fit- and playing two teams has kept everybody fit. It may help us when we get into the straight in the PL ( for the CL not the title) that our players are fresher.
The conundrum is where to play Wilshere. He was a number 10 today but he won’t displace Ozil in his current form. Maybe he can play deeper instead of Xhaka ? I’d like him in the team. As for England he is in a different class to the donkeys they are using in midfield
Thanks for an excellent report, Holic.
Waiting for ITV highlights here.
Excellent report big man. If only you had doubled Arsenal’s predicted tally you would now be rolling in the dough. 😉
I had to quit watching when we were 4-0 up but have now watched Elneny ‘s goal which was a beauty making it a great day for a lot (all?) of our second eleven.
Jack for motm, okay, but credit to Theo please. A goal and 2 assists as well as assisting the own goal, plus he won a penalty and on another night he could have had at least a hat-trick. I even saw him diving into tackles ffs!
AW has said none of he, Jack or OG will be leaving in January, so competition for first XI places could get very interesting if we lose Mesut and/or Alexis in the window.
Nice to see 4 at the back again. Not much to defend against, but interesting that AW should choose to go that way in a dead rubber.
Chris, perhaps foisted on him by having to keep Per fresh for Sunday. Good man management?
Loved the Jack masterclass. We jump on him when he doesn’t do it. Credit where it was due. He ran that game tonight.
It wasn’t a dead rubber for Bate… That’s a measure of what we did tonight.
Cheers H.
Watched the game on a big screen in The Railway at Liverpool Street, with some former colleagues. All genuinely top people who have served the capital outstandingly over the years. All are in agreement that this was a great result for the mighty Gunners.
Jack has to play more regularly. He has a talent and skill that others do not possess.
Onwards to the weekend.
That is all.
I thought AW did everythjing right, ‘holic, starting with starting his strongest second XI, giving all the fringe players an opportunity to impress.
Not a dead rubber for Bate, but a match we could afford to lose is what I meant. Not that we looked like losing from the opening whistle. They played like a proper Arsenal team tonight.
Slept right through the game and
missed a 6-0 win ?
Thanks for the report Guv.
From the highlights and the
reports it looks like we could
have had more – nice finishing
from Debuchy, Jack, Theo and
Elneny.
@12 Agree, Per for Saturday. And
I guess Iwobi is in the running too.
Great that Jack played well by
everyone’s accounts but can’t
see him displacing Mesut just
now and I don’t think AW sees
him in the Xhaka role with Ramsey.
Jack/Aaron in the centre is a bit
too fragile for me too. Taking
Aaron’s place seems Jacks best
route for this season.
And for a bit of perspective,
nobody won all their group games.
Only Zenit won even 5/6.
Plus, although it was difficult to
find attendance details I suspect
that even at a bit under 30,000
our crowd was among the highest.
We’ve qualified handily enough
with a 2nd XI, we all know that’s
all we need so job done and well
played lads. And a quarter final
against those hapless Whammers
to come in the Nonsense Cup.
It’s fair to give credit where it’s
due and AW has built a good
squad based on results for this
2nd XI so far.
nice one ‘holic
6 eh ?
?
champion stuff from wee jackie boy indeed
(sorry about the pound)
.
.
UP THE ARSENAL
Astana, Partizan (Belgrade), Ludogorets Razgrad, AEK Athens, Lyon, Copenhagen, Steaua Bucharest, Marseille, Ostersund, Nice, Real Sociedad, Naples, Spartak Moscow, Celtic and Borussia Dortmund.are the potential Europa League opponents in the first knockout round. Naples looks the team to avoid.
and
cheers thunder T
shame on that fuckin security fella
mind you
maybe Pat’s low frequency death boom
was set to stun
??????
alexander armstrong’s album ad just now
funniest fuckin thing i’ve seen in ages
makes herselfs skin crawl
“wouldn’t give that slimey shit houseroom ”
she’s a keeper ?
.
.
morning and cheerio everybody
ALTOGETHER NOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FyPpZzgEWc
????
we won’t need this anymore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVon5xDARc
.
.
??
fuckin wooden clown
.
apologies
not a very charitable thing to say
xorry xander
*says two our fathers and three hail marys*
Could AA be the new Hoff? ?
New LP
Alex sings STAX !
“Pure mahogany flows through this soul boy’s veins”
10/10
?
.
.
if he was any whiter he’d be see through
.
I got back from Norwich, where it teamed with rain, just in time to catch the game. Only Gooner Malcolm made the game from the usual travelling Kings Lynn Gooners and last night made up for that dire encounter with Red Star.
Theo worked his socks off, Jack played his best game this season and there were some fine goals. We were given plenty of room by Bate to play our game and we made the most of it.
Southampton I fear will be a tricky fixture and it looks as though the BFG is on standby if Mustafi fails to make it. I would like to hope that Jack gets a chance on Sunday but I think he will have to wait until the injuries start to bite after the Christmas/New Year run of games before he gets a start.
COYRs
Delia, Crossing my fingers but maybe it will be the other clubs and not Arsenal this season who suffer terrible runs of injuries. In any case Jack and a few others from last night’s team look ready to make important contributions to our chances if and when they are called upon, and Jack in particular could be big. Crossing my fingers on that too.
Nice of the referee to let the fans see a bonus seventh Arsenal goal, even if Giroud’s first penalty didn’t count on the score sheet. 🙂
Good stuff Guvna. Matching LJW for nippiness and quality. Props to Feo for effort and finishing, Elnenny for his marvellous finish, Debuchy for reminding us why we bought him, OG for penalty taking sangfroid, Danny for constant running and the others for a largely competent display.
It’s hard to see how to fit Jack into our current first XI except as a sub/alternate for Mesut but last night he convinced me that he is ready.
I wonder whether we are ready to return to a back four with an extra man in MF?
Jack has had 878 playing minutes this season but only 65 of them in the Premiership. Perhaps that is the right level of intensity to make sure he gets back to long-term fitness.
By comparison, Ozil has played 922 minutes this season, btw, though all in the Premier League.
Great afternoon with the legend Bob.
I will report at more le goth in due course.
Bob has turned into a French goth? I had hoped for so much more.
More TTG predictive spillchucker problems.
Sorry. We had a lovely time today with Bob who is an absolute gentleman. He told me Bertie Mee made him stay with the promise of a testimonial and when he got the job in TV refused to grant it. They treated Mclintock the same way so they didn’t just cock up under this regime.
One bit of sexy transfer gossip is that Kalashnikov is loving it at the club and has persuaded Goretzka to follow him to the club next summer. Apparently Goretzka is terrific. I’ve not seen him play.
He believes there is quite a chance Ozil will stay. No chance of Sánchez staying . He said the foreign superstars have no idea who he is but BFG, Cech , Giroud , Wilshere ( who he likes very much) , Ramsey are very friendly as is Theo who is apparently a charming lad.
A few personal insights into the double team I won’t share. He misses Geordie Armstrong tremendously, regards him as the most generous person he ever met. That unit are still incredibly close and some are falling on relatively hard times. The club are very keen to support them but some like Peter Simpson are very ill as is Ray Kennedy .
Massive plaudits for the great Pat Jennings who he regards as a wonderful guy, hugely laid- back.
He thinks Cech is still a top- class keeper who is very consistent. He felt the first goal last week was not his fault.
Huge privilege to spend time with a genuine legend
Thanks TTG for a great report on what sounds like a great time with a great man.
what bt8 said
?
Those old-timers (many younger than me no doubt) must have mixed views about the wages today’s players collect. Reminds me of the first paid employment I had in the ’50s … £4.10 a week. 🙁
…and half that had to go on renting a cardboard box to live in. Running water? Only when it rained…
cba, Max’s Christmas card is in the mail. Check your spam!
Ditto ‘holic. Sent to your virginmedia address.
Interesting stuff TTG. Thanks for sharing.
????????
????????
????????
wahaaaaay Max
FUCKIN LOVE IT !
(don’t tell chris )
?
Interesting stuff TTG. I’ve met Bob briefly on two occasions. Always came across as a proper gent. It must have been very special to spend that amount of time in his company?
Steve
It was indeed and I’ve agreed to try to stay involved with Willie. I am Chairman of a charity in Newcastle which helps terminally ill people and he was just as interested in trying to help them .
His highest wage at Arsenal- £130 a week in 1974 and no testimonial .
He told me there was a heated discussion in the dressing room at Wembley this year when we won the Cup- just after- about what the bonus would be. Gazidis went in to congratulate them and was besieged by millionaires wanted to know how much richer they would be.
I do have to say though in everything I hear that Mertesacker comes across as a fine man, decent and intelligent.
Goonerholic@27,
Don’t know about the new Hoff, but fingers crossed he’s not the new Rolf!
Good stuff, Ttg. Different game in those days, financially at least, though I suspect Bob Wilson would have been a gentleman in any era.
If it came to an either/or between Ozil and Sanchez, I’d take Ozil, but I’d like to keep them both. Sanchez, for all that is said about him, is still the one player we have who can conjure a goal out of nothing — like TH14 — and every team needs one.
I’d have Sanchez all day long over Ozil. Sanchez at least tries in every game, unlike the German who only turns on it when he wants to.
As for Alexander Armstrong, nothing quite matches up to finding out that Lloyd Grossman is a guitarist with a punk band in his spare time and had a single in the charts in 1977. I remember seeing him play The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’ on telly years ago and being totally stunned.
TTG @47
Personally, I share your feelings
about the cup bonus thing.
But I also feel Ivan/Stan would
easily understand that attitude –
as ye sow so shall ye reap and all
that.
Thanks for sharing though. Sad to
hear about Peter Simpson, a very
underrated player I always felt.
on a more cheerful note – Chavs are
losing 1-0 to Wham
still losing
Morata is no where close to Costa’s level.
exactly bt8
losing
Lost. ?
West Ham 1- Chelsea 0.?
Great game by Zabaleta for the Spammers
lost hahaha
costa was a git but good at getting
goals in 1-0 wins. Defence not as
solid and no Costa is a big loss.
Course they’re still ahead of us
but certainly catchable if we could
just be more consistent
West Ham away next Wednesday won’t be easy. They are a much improved side under Moyes but after their exertions against City and Chelsea today they should be a bit tired. Two must win games over the next five days.
Trying to put Morata in the place formerly occupied by Costa and Drogba is suggestive of a club on the downward side of the curve.
One expression I never saw on the face of Costa or Drogba was a bewildered lack of confidence.
Of course he Morata a good player and should be capable of improvement but I recall Costa in his first season as a Chelsea player with immeasurably greater visible confidence than him, and Drogba was the same way.
Whereas Morata’s expression brings to mind the caballero de la triste figura. He and Manuel Almunia.
Yeah, Morata is a good player no
doubt, he just doesn’t hurt you in
the way the 2 cunts referenced by
bt8 used to. I’m fine with the Chavs
having him 🙂
Not the best time to play Wham is
true too but on the plus side
Moyes record at The Arsenal is
shit I think
Now that Arnautovic has sunk Chelsea can he return temporarily to Stoke so he can sink Spurs on the same day?
so far so bad for Stoke 🙁
TTG,
Nice posts regarding Mr Wilson and the inside knowledge. Great keeper and brave to a point bordering on silliness at times. A fine exponent of the head-first dive at the feet of an onrushing centre forward – and in the days when centre forwards were big crunching brutes, not Shane Longs or Eric Lamelas, snidey wee man that he is.
As for the players bitching about bonuses after just winning the FA Cup, I would simply send them all home with no tea – although I’d love to think they prized a bit of extra cash from the money obsessed mits of Mr Kroenke. I certainly hope he had no tea. Or breakfast. Or dinner the next day.
hmmm
stupid spuds have no sense of
humour as usual. But Chavs
defeat and northern derbies
provide an opportunity if we can
put Soton away as we should.
We are told by Monsieur Wenger that Shkwodran Leader Mustafi has a “small thigh problem”.
Well, he should jolly well get in the gym and do some extra weight training until they’re a bit bigger then. ?
Come off it, Trev. You must be pulling his leg.
TTG, is the charity linked to St Oswald’s by any chance?
Too little, too late. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>