As It Happened – Lacazette The Man – Then On The Spot
Aug 1st, 2018 by 'holic
As I tweeted beforehand “Pre-season friendly, therefore I will not get upset about no Lacazette.” Which means of course I am upset that he has not started against PSG and Chelsea! The starting line-up had a whiff of 4-3-3 with the ability to convert quickly to 4-5-1 if required.
Petr Cech was nominated captain behind a back four of Hector Bellerin, Skhodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos (of course I did!), and Sead Kolasinac. An exciting trio of Mohamed Elneny, Aaron Ramsey, and Matteo Guendouzi were due to start covering the base and getting forward to support Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Mesut Ozil. However Rambo was injured in the warm-up and his place was handed to the excellent Emile Smith Rowe. A 4-2-3-1 perhaps?
A rapid opening five minutes culminated in the opening goal. Cech was equal to a Fabregas drive from the edge of the box but the resulting corner was headed home, unchallenged, by Rudiger. Neither defensive quartet had looked comfortable in the high press being applied by both sets of forwards.
In the fourteenth minute Hudson-Odoi roasted Bellerin who brought the young winger down in the box. Fortunately Morata’s poorly struck spot-kick gave Cech the chance to make an excellent save low to his right. In truth we were hanging on by a thread. On our rare forays it seemed odd to have Ozil on the right flank and Mkhitaryan on the left.
Midway through the half Hudson-Odoi robbed Elneny and played Morata in. Again Cech won the personal duel. The Gunners back four was an issue last season and an instant fix isn’t too likely. On the plus side they will have a video of this match to look at in order to see clearly where the problems are. We finally got a shot in after twenty-eight minutes when Ozil and Aubameyang combined to present Smith Rowe with a difficult volley opportunity which the young midfielder struck high and wide.
Encouraged, Ozil conjured up another opportunity but Elneny’s cross was comfortably cleared by the goalscorer. Ozil and Mkhitaryan gave Aubameyang a clear chance but he missed his touch and the equaliser remained unclaimed. Ozil was the creator again when Guendouzi hit a long drive just wide of the target. Finally the Gunners appeared to have warmed to the pace of the match.
Smith Rowe’s impressive backheel gave Kolasinac a one on one with Caballero which the Chelsea goalkeeper won. Hudson-Odoi, possibly offside, bore down on Cech’s goal. The Gunners goalkeeper made another fine parry with Mustafi clearing the danger. At the other end Bellerin’s cross evaded Aubameyang and Kolasinac was unable to get an effort away beyond the far post. The one goal deficit had survived to the whistle.
Christensen and Drinkwater were sent on for Luis and Fabregas at the start of the second-half. The Gunners remained unchanged. Smith Rowe found Kolasinac beyond the far post again and his thumping effort was deflected for a corner. The Gunners were starting the second-half as they had ended the first, knocking on the door. Ozil burst through but was denied by Azpilicueta. The same defender then deflected Smith Rowe’s next attempt over the bar.
At the hour mark multiple substitutes were readied. Only one was for the Arsenal, however. Alex Iwobi came on for Smith Rowe who may have overtaken the Nigerian international in the pecking order during this pre-season? Mkhitaryan’s deflected drive was saved low to his right by Caballero, before the ‘keeper was presented with a simple save by Iwobi.
Midway through the half Kolasinac tangled with Moses and looked to have twisted both knee and ankle. Ainsley Maitland-Niles came on, presumably aware of the opportunity for immediate promotion that may have opened up for him. Ozil’s Cruyff turn gave Aubameyang a chance but the son of a former Gun, Ampadu, blocked the effort. It was the cue for the Arsenal to send on Reiss Nelson and Alexandre Lacazette (at last!) for Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang (really?).
Almost immediately Lacazette nutmegged Christensen and slid the ball just wide of the far post. Following that Ozil chipped a free-kick wide of the post. We were totally dominant but hadn’t produced the goal that Chelsea did as they bossed the opening half an hour. Calum Chambers was the next to come on, for the frustrated and frustrating Bellerin, with twelve minutes to go.
Seven minutes from the end Iwobi was denied what would have been a wonderful team goal by the substitute goalkeeper, Bulka. The Gunners were certainly dominating the last hour. It should be noted that the Arsenal defence, all at sea early doors, had grown considerably as the midfield had got the upper hand in the contest. Interestingly Elneny, Ozil, and the excellent Guendouzi were given a full ninety-three minutes.
In added time Sokratis headed narrowly wide, then Bulka made a desperate save from Lacazette, but the imperious goalscorer would not be denied. Nelson’s superb cross found it’s way to the Frenchman and he buried the equaliser with the last kick of the match, penalty shoot out aside.
Results are deemed necessary in pre-season friendlies so we went to spot kicks. At 3-3 Cech dived out of the way of Emerson’s effort down the centre of the goal, but Maitland-Niles responded to take it to 4-4. When Piazon sent Cech the wrong way it was down to Ozil, excellent on the night. 5-5, obviously. On to sudden death. Cech saved from Loftus-Cheek. Up stepped Iwobi, and The Arsenal had won a drawn match, as we had lost a drawn match against Atleti.
It was an entertaining night for a fortunate Dublin crowd. It is also an indicator that we have some real qualities, and some real issues going into the season. We are learning this high pressing game bit by bit, and we, as Nigel Winterburn noted post match, rectified the issues we faced in the first half an hour.
It’s the hope that kills ya!
33 Responses to “As It Happened – Lacazette The Man – Then On The Spot”
1st and super stuff. London is red!
Drink!
40% proof (read)
I’m looking forward to Thursday’s Match in the Aviva.
Is it an 8pm or 7.45pm Kick off….
Cech saving pens??? What the…
nice report, holic. i’m hoping both smith-rowe and maitland-niles (excepting their hyphenations) become regulars in this side, if not starters. it looked like chelsea was targeting kolasinac in the first half, and he did not seem comfortable on the ball. i really like ainsley in his place. and we could do worse then esr for a ramsey replacement, due to injury or anything else.
it was good to see the defense step up as the game progressed, though i was worried watching hector get roasted not just once. what has happened to his pace?
I managed to catch a stream tonight with an American commentary. I was extremely worried about our defence. At this rate I want to see Lichtsteiner- Sokratis- Mavropanos -Monreal as the back four v Citeh. The two full- backs were awful. I was surprised that Leno didn’t start but Cech was excellent and is saving pens for fun!
On the positive side Guendouzi is excellent , Smith- Rowe will be a star and Ozil played well. His reverse pass to Nelson for the goal was brilliant.
I totally agree with Holic that Laca and Aubameyang must start. Not sure about Mkhitaryan yet but we have options upfront but we must improve the defence. I was underwhelmed when we signed Sokratis but will give him the benefit of the doubt but much work needs to be done .
Hope Ramsey is not seriously injured. I’m tempted to say tongue in cheek that I hope Kolasinac is?
Also six great penalties by our lads
You summed that match up beautifully and swiftly, H.
I though we were utter shite for 20 minutes and the Chavs could/should have been out of sight. However we clawed our way back into the game and finished the first half strongly.
The only players to take any credit in that first half were Guendouzi (what a find) and Cech. Kolasinac is by no stretch of the imagination a LB – he may be a wing back, a brick shit house or a Balkan assassin but he is no LB.
As Nutty said, the big positive is that after such a feckless start we didn’t totally collapse. I suspect that Cech’s first penalty save of the evening was a huge factor in that.
We were better in the second half. I’m not sure what tweaks Emery may have made but our midfield used the ball far better though penetration remained sporadic and BamBam seemed on a different wavelength. Nonetheless it took two excellent saves from the Chav number 3 keeper to stop us equalising as the addition of Lacazette gave us much more cutting edge culminating in a last gasp equaliser and a glorious penalty victory.
The result is meaningless in the great scheme of things but it’s good experience for a group of players learning how to play the Emery way and it’s always a pleasure to see sad Chavs.
Evening Pip, et al. Good to see you all.
Hi ‘holic, I hope all is well.
It is, thanks Pip. Are you still in Plymouth? I should hook you up with Kris from A Bergkamp Wonderland and the Barbican Pirates FC. ?
Good summary H
My initial post match thoughts are that both Clubs are getting more serious as the opening w/end draws ever closer.
The Chavs with the exception of their No 1 keeper,fielded their full strength back 4,whether we did or not is open to question.
But interesting that both our central defenders played the whole match.
Both sides without their premier defensive midfielder,in Kante and Torreira,and given our first 20 minutes,boy do we need ours.
Amazing what bringing in a young gun to usurp your position can do to a player,and Cech clearly has taken up the challenge,from having no real competition for his PL spot last season,he looks as though he has really put in the hard yards in pre season,and looks leaner/fitter/quicker/more agile,and is saving penalties God forbid. !!
What i liked was that the players never threw in the towel,kept playing football,creating chances and got the reward i felt they deserved on their 2nd half showing.
Given we seem to be starting with a back 4,and one would assume we will start with Miki/Laca/Mesut/Auba in the attacking third and once Torreira is up to speed he will be the midfield anchor,that only leaves 1 spot available in midfield,and with Granit the only left footed midfielder,it would seem he will be the one to fill it.
As i have mentioned in previous posts,you would think the 11 that line up on Saturday against Lazio,would be pretty close to our run on side against City.
Good points as ever Bath. Cech looked a different player and was excellent all through the match . Big decision for Emery in goal . You’re right too about Kolasinac. He was awful. I made a flippant comment about his injury which looks like it might be ligament damage. I’m sorry for the lad but he is not up to the standard we need there and when he recovers he may struggle to get near the side. But I hope it’s not a bad injury for his sake .
Big takes are that our two strikers must both start. Guendouzi is well in contention to play and I’d like to see Lichsteiner start against Lazio
Some real qualities. Some real issues. Sums it up perfectly, Holic.
I’m hoping that Torreira’s introduction will contribute to a tighter defensive performance. Mustafi and Kolasinac have much to do to persuade me that they should start in any PL team.
Guendouzi is much better than I’d expected (I know, early days, friendlies etc) and his competition may spark an extra edge in Xhaka’s game (Guendouzi can actually tackle and win the ball which is already +100% over the Swiss).
Kolasinac was never the left back we aspired for, neither last season and wont be this time as well. We need to buy a proper LB now as Monreal wont last an entire season and pushing AMN is suicidal( due respect). Sokratis will take time to settle and we need to remember he had a poor season at BVB before coming here.
Mesut, laca and Aubemeyang need to start and play together almost all our games. Auba can drift wide and let lacazette be central for i certainly believe, he is the better finisher among the 2 strikers.
Lazio saturday should be a good test and then on to city. If ever we can catch them cold and get ourselves a huge boost going into the season, it will be next weekend. Torreira may not start that one and i wont be surprised in Guendouzi does considering even Xhaka has come back just a couple of days back.
Now Aaron, are you leaving or staying? dont be like others, just decide now and lets move on.
Sorry for rare post but I just had to ! Was at match, just had to say.. Guendouzi is unreal. Wait till you real faithful and Ems regulars see him in the flesh. Very imposing, extraordinary for his age. He was everywhere, made crunching tackles, passed superbly (including many through balls) and goes sideways only when absolutely necessary. Very surprised the media write-ups not raving about him even more, though iBtM, TTG, BG above are all over it. What a signing ! ESR ; efficient and tidy but unlikely to feature given the players he would have to dislodge. Sokratis ; solid, not sure, doesn’t really have the presence alas but maybe… Our defending, well, no immediate improvement but Monreal might help and Hector, I just don’t know what’s happened. Will Emery play Guendouzi v’s City ? What a way to put a marker down to senior players to get their acts together. COYG, highly excited here.
Interesting views ScGooner thanks.
My views not having seen much of the preseason is that it will be difficult to play Ozil and Mkhitaryan in the same team. They leave our full-backs too exposed if they both play wide .
The team will look more realistic when Torreira plays and hopefully knits the defensive midfield together. I could see him and Guendouzi playing in a double pivot in front of the back four but that leaves question marks over Xhaka and Ramsey. That is what pre-season friendlies are for. Emery appears even more of a tactical nerd than me and aim sure he will sort it out.
Great stuff, Scg.
I have to imagine that Emery would have Ramsey, Torreira and Xhaka in mind as his first picks for MF, always assuming that he’s going with some version of 4-3-3; Ramsey is staying and Torreira is integrated and acclimatised.
The pleasing thing is that Guendouzi looks good enough to pressure Xhaka for his place and to deputise for him or Torreira in the event that the injury bug pays its usual annual visit to our midfield players.
Although by the riverbank on holiday I’m receiving texts that Gazidis is definitely leaving. If that is the case I think they might split his job giving Sanllehi more responsibility and finding a marketing man to oversee the revenue generation. But Josh Kroenke might become more hands-on .
One source suggests that the reason he is accepting the Milan role is that he is being given some equity by the new owners AND that he doesn’t get on with Silent Stan. I’ve no idea if this is true. Kroenke Senior has backed his re-organisation of the club and he is leaving for a club of comparable size before his new organisation is tested and at a crucial time for the club. I confess to being somewhat disappointed in him just as I was re-evaluating his contribution. Maybe he feels his work is done but this is still an awkward and strange time to leave.
Ivan Gazidis- success or failure?- discuss . As they say north of the border, not proven , in my book.
Sokratis age 30-£19.7 million
Alfie Mawson 22-£20 million
I know which I think is the better deal
Shrewd snake in the grass if so, ttg, if for no other reason than that nothing much can be proven in his favor or against. Wenger, Emery and Kroenke, and possibly Mislintat and Sanllehi, will be the ones people are crediting or blaming.
TTG
My 2 Bobsworth on Ivan,is that this is his thanks to the Kroenke clan and the Board,that had him operating for years with one hand tied behind his back because they were hostage to the omnipotent Arsene.
If he does go,then hopefully his last year,when he was actually allowed to do his job without any interference, will be his most positive contribution, with the additions of Sanllehi/Mislintat and Emery.
The defending at the corner for the Chav
goal won’t be a great watch for Emery on
his video review – I wouldn’t like to rewatch
it myself.
Like everyone I’m curious to see the starting
XI vs Lazio. I’m not expecting any of the
recently returned to start Or in fact to start
against City.
Only just digested the Chelsea and PSG highlights at arsenalist.com and as you say OM the Fabregas/Rudiger corner was a watchable sight only from a Chelsea point of view. That is the first I’ve seen of even the highlights of any of our preseason games. Lots of new faces and (fingers crossed) lots of good new positive spirit shown out there in Singapore against PSG that will carry over into the season. Good to see Lacazette in the goals where he ought to be.
Evening all, since the formation of the You Ropey Fantasy League we have had quite a turnover in drinkers in this bar. I will open it up to new drinkers.
The code for this season, if you haven’t auto-renewed already, is 2205438-506655. See if you can relieve TTG of his title.
Good luck.
That’s two promotions and one relegation for me already, ‘holic. 😉
I shall not be moved. Just like bloody Ospina ?
Kolasinac out for 10weeks. That means Nacho in the EPL and AMN in the Europa
Thanks for the code @25 above, ‘H.
I panicked at not being auto-signed up, assumed it was somehow related to my attempting to change the email address on my Premier League account, set up another account and signed it up to the You Ropey League. Now I find that I’ve got two teams entered. I’ll see if I can work out how to withdraw the old one, but don’t hold your collective breath.
Look to your laurels, TTG.
COYG
TTG@27: And Jordi Osei-Tutu as back-up to both, followed by Cohen Bramall.
If Gazidis is off to Milan, then, as mentioned before, if the reorg works he can claim credit for setting it up, if it fails, he can point the finger of blame at others for screwing it up.
Late as usual these days but thank you, Holic,
a great report on a game of which I had seen absolutely nothing.
Today’s vs Lazio is live on Player and I actually have a workung internet – please don’t read this Mr Jinx ?? – so I should be able to see my first minutes of pre-season since Boreham Wood.
Ivan Gazidis, Clive / TTG ?
Hard to know what to make of him really.
I can’t recall seeing him other than a couple of weeks each year before season ticket renewal deadline day, or if we happened to have just won another FA Cup.
When he did surface, he seemed to promise a lot that was never delivered, or spoke quite a bit withiut really saying anything.
Seems to be a crafty politician.
On the other hand, maybe Clive is right and he was not allowed by Kroenke to do his job more freely.
He does seem to have put a potentially good structure in place, which he can blame if it fails or, rightly, take credit for if successful.
Overall, I feel far more hostility to Kroenke than to Gazidis. I don’t know if I would trust Gazidis – I definitely would not trust Kroenke.
Goodbye Ivan, it’s been nice.
Except it wasn’t.
Seems Perez may be off to Sporting
Lisbon. Not one of the all time great
signings but best of luck to him
anyway.
Enjoyed that >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>