Dreams Can Come True

Please forgive the corny title of this week's offering; although those of a certain vintage will recall it being a line from Gabrielle's massive 1993 hit Dreams. In it, she sings: 'You know you gotta have hope. You know you gotta be strong'. And, do you know, as we watch Arteta and his charges grow in stature on a match-by-match basis, no words could be more apt.

Anyway, let's crack on with my thoughts on the hard-fought but ultimately well-deserved win over the Geordie Demons (sorry; Newcastle United). I have a list of the clubs I dislike most, and for years it's been the traditional Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea. But that list has mutated over the years; Manchester City have got stronger as their city rivals have got weaker (so much so that it's not difficult to start feeling slightly sorry for them as we watch their calamitous fall from grace), and have therefore usurped them on that list - especially considering the whole 115 Charges thing. 

But Newcastle are really pushing for a slot in that Top 3 these days. What with the unsung Master of The Dark Arts, Eddie Howe, in charge, with his gurning perma-tanned sidekick Tindall alongside him at all times; and then the Saudi money, a midfield featuring both Bruno Guimares and Joelinton, and the serial diver Anthony Gordon ahead of them; plus a whole series of conspiracy theory-driven defeats at their strange looking stadium, it's not surprising that they bring out the worst in me! And probably you too! 

And so, when the winning goal went in so late, my emotions were absolutely visceral! There have been injury time goals over the past few years that have brought us great joy; Danny Welbeck's late winner over Leicester and Reiss Nelson's against Bournemouth spring instantly to mind. But for me this brought out emotions almost as strong as Anfield, May 26th 1989. Surely an indication of how much I despise Newcastle United, and how much this result may mean come May.

Isn't it strange how so many of the games this season have had agendas and talking points galore. Two routine home wins, of course, but the other 4 have been full of controversy and debate. And yet again there's loads to pick out of this one. And there's no better place to start than with the team selection.

Martin Odegaard's lack of match fitness made it fairly easy for Arteta to fit Eberiche Eze into the side - and for all the protestations that the Manager doesn't listen to outside noise there's no doubt that the chat around the midfield selection he made last weekend - and the whole 'handbrake' agenda - would have got through to him. Of course, whilst Eze was ostensibly bought to play in the inside- or outside-left position, it has swiftly become abundantly clear that he is most effective centrally, and so it was an easy call to pop him into the side in place of Merino. As an aside, where this leaves Ethan Nwaneri - who didn't even make the bench - I don't quite know. Especially with Odegaard very much on his way back! 

It's all quite bizarre; for all the attacking talent that the club possess now it feels somewhat imbalanced. Saka and the currently injured Madueke will surely fill the bulk of the right hand side minutes. The latter may get shunted out to the left too, despite both Martinelli and Trossard (with different skill sets) having been used in that role over the past couple of seasons. To me, none of the 4 options is an ideal one for the job of left winger; so it's a difficult one for the Manager. In this instance, he went with Trossard, whose intelligent movement was always likely to be an asset when dovetailing with the marauding Calafiori on that side.

In the interior, there are some more difficult decisions to be made. Unless he leaves one of Rice and Zubimendi out of the side, there's no room for both Odegaard and Eze in there (let alone Nwaneri!). And on top of that there's still Havertz to come back at some point. Talking of whom, there's quite a big burden on the shoulder of Big Vik at the moment, and his need for a rest will hopefully coincide with the German's return to fitness. 

Great to see Starboy back, of course. But I'm sure that we were all puzzled by the selection of Mosquera over Saliba at the back. For all of his promise and potential, the former is not at the latter's level at this stage of his development. If Saliba wasn't deemed fit enough to start - despite having played the full game in midweek - then that's one thing. But if you're going to rest him, Mikel, wait for an easier game; it's West Ham next week!

Anyway, I reckon that 5 paragraphs on team selection is considerably more than enough. So let's crack on.

Arsenal dominated possession almost from the start. Chances came and went for Gyokeres and Eze (the first of many decent saves from Pope), before the first of a number of controversial moments. Timber slipped both of the violent Brazilian midfielders on the left following a corner, Eze picked the ball up and played a delightful ball over the top to Saka, and following some pinball a dreadful poke at the ball from Murphy back towards his keeper sold the latter short. Gyokeres was through on goal, and Pope brought him down for what looked an absolute stonewall penalty. And if that's Mo Salah or Erling Haaland there's no danger of it not being one.

But (Liverpool-supporting) Gillett was called over the pitch side monitor by (Liverpool-supporting) VAR England; we thought initially to decide on the colour card to be awarded to the keeper - the only question appeared to be DOGSO or Double Jeopardy - until it was revealed that as Pope had got a slight touch on the ball the recommendation was to overturn the decision. Ludicrous, and I've got four further things to say about it:

• The penalty award was not a 'clear and obvious error', so why was it being looked at so forensically?
• The bar, we thought, had been raised to allow 'Referee's Call' to be the over-riding factor in such situations. Not when it comes to Arsenal, however
• If that incident had happened in the centre of the field between two midfielders, it's a foul...
• Remember last season, and the unprecedented decision to award a penalty against Saliba for making accidental contact with the thoroughly annoying head of Joao Pedro just after he'd headed the ball at The Amex? Decision fully justified by Howard Webb, of course... yet all I can see is that this one was far, far worse of an offence

But there you go. It's Arsenal, so let's chalk off the penalty award... good work once more PGMOL. Arteta could do nothing but laugh. I am not, however, going to make too big a deal out of the officials being Liverpool fans - as Gabriel almost certainly got away with one on a technicality for handball late in the match. One the officials could easily have given...

Nonetheless Arsenal remained on top; Calafiori heading wide following a free kick and, after a sweeping move of 8 first time passes started by Timber deep in the Arsenal half, Trossard thrashed the ball against the post from just 7 yards out. There was some lovely work from Gyokeres - who did a very good job holding the ball up and bringing others into play throughout the game - and Saka within that move.

I'm going to gloss over Towelgate at this point; although it did serve as an amusing distraction in an intense match. I'll just move on to another fine save by Pope from a fine Eze volley on the back of the subsequent long throw. And yet another save from a Saka cross-shot following a fast break instigated once more by Jurrien Timber. There had been an early exchange of corners, but by this point around half an hour in Arsenal were all over Newcastle; yet with nothing to show for their efforts.

But with the same inevitability as night following day, a series of silly errors and Newcastle were unjustly ahead. Mosquera completely shanked a back pass to Raya, leading to a corner. The Arsenal defence switched off as - for once, Newcastle played the ball short, and from the ensuing cross Gabriel collapsed into an embarrassing heap at the slightest touch from the beanpole Woltemade before the German headed past the helpless Raya. So, so aggravating; especially bearing in mind the dominance, and the fact that Arsenal had - by dint of their own idiocy - given Newcastle something to hold on to.

And so on to the second half. And where you'd have been concerned that previous iterations of Arsenal may have felt sorry for themselves and succumbed to the inevitability of defeat, there was actually very little of that. Sure, there was a little bit of horseshoe passing at the back while they recomposed themselves, but they were soon back in the groove and putting more and more pressure on the home defence. It was attack vs defence as Arsenal looked for a breakthrough, with the Arsenal midfield trying all they know. One dink over the top from Zubimendi saw Timber force yet another decent save out of Pope; who by this point was really starting to irritate me! This was certainly a change in mind-set, and Arsenal are going to have to continue to be bold as the season goes on.

On 70 minutes Merino and Martinelli entered the fray at the expense of Saka and Calafiori. With Newcastle having switched to  back 5 by this point, it seemed the natural thing to look to pile even more pressure on, with the Spaniard charged with joining Gyokeres in the penalty area as often as possible. But the game possibly turned with the departure - on a stretcher - of Livramento, who had been clattered in mid-air by Saliba and who looked to jar his knee badly as he landed. 

It definitely turned with the arrival of Martin Odegaard, who replaced his namesake Zubimendi on 82 minutes and proceeded to produce a magical cameo that showcased everything that is great about him. He moved the ball quickly and intelligently, combining well with everyone around him and at one point playing a pass through the eye of a needle to release MLS that brought back memories of Mesut Ozil. But Arsenal were swiftly running out of time.

Until, playing Newcastle at their own game, Arsenal caught the home defence out with a short corner. A swift interchange between Odegaard and Rice, a beautifully weighted cross, and Mikel Merino rose to plant a sumptuous header into the far corner. Pope was finally beaten.

Not soon after came the incident in which Gabriel got away with one; the ball striking his upraised hand as he slid in to block an Elanga cross. Very, very fortunate indeed. But it's about time we had some luck up at that ground.

And then... and then... Gabriel redeemed himself for his poor effort for the Newcastle goal with a typical thumping header from a perfectly-delivered Odegaard corner. Just. F*cking. Brilliant! Well deserved, and the beauty of it was that the goal was the fruits of Arsenal keeping going until the bitter end; building the pressure until they forced the breakthrough. 

As I say, this is something that they must continue to do as the season goes on. They must build up the fear factor, and keep their collective foot on the proverbial accelerator. Both the players and the backroom staff will have learned a lot from this, and I am very excited to see where they go from here. Forget the continued narrative from outside about Set Piece FC and comparisons with Stoke City; this is an exciting group of players who can only get better - both individually and as a group. Thanks to Agents Welbeck and Neketiah for your excellent work over the weekend, by the way.

Champions League on Wednesday, and then it's West Ham (new manager bounce) at the weekend. With Liverpool having a tricky fixture, so let's take advantage should the situation arise. Going forward, fitting all his assets into the side is going to be a continuing conundrum for Arteta.

COYG!