SUPER SUBS TAME THE LIONS
Well, our Champions League campaign is up and running with a victory, folks.
Was it pretty? No, far from it. For 70 minutes, it was bland, uninspiring, some would say professional, stuff. Then, from the depths of the dugout, a dynamic duo emerged to save the ̶d̶a̶y̶ evening.
'Fess up. When Martinelli was put through on goal by Trossard, you thought he was going to fluff his lines, right? It's okay, we did too.
Both goals were so typical of their scorers. Martinelli, head down, 90% panic, 10% genius, somehow manifested his inner chaos demons into three magical touches. 'Nelli then returned the favour and Leo scored a typical Leo goal. Getting a shot through on goal through a sea of legs, and with the aid of a deflection and the post, it sneaked in.
Both players were on for twenty minutes and ended the game with a goal and an assist each. Now that's impact off the bench for you.
For Martinelli in particular, that goal was badly needed. He has been the subject of much fan base rumbling dating well back into last season. His control and finish 36 seconds after coming on reminded us what he is capable of. We feel sorry for him at times. Most of our attacking play is down the right-hand side with Odegaard and Saka, and he gets a little stranded on an island for one on the left with not much in the way of help.
As for Leo, in essence, he is the perfect squad player. Not quite at the levels to start every week, but when called upon, always answers the bell. The problem is that in his mind, he is a starter. You can see it in his body language. Was the bump in wages to smooth the waters so he didn't agitate for a move? We'll know more by January, we guess.
We mentioned in the intro about the game being a bit bland until the subs. There are two narratives the fanbase seems to be running with, and we'll try to break them down.
SANITY SPIN
The San Mames is a hard place to win. We wonder how many teams will go there and get turned over? We restricted them to 38% possession and 2 shots on target, ie, nothing. We don't even recall them having as many as two shots. Raya had that quiet of a night. This was without Saliba, Saka, Odegaard, Havertz, and White, let's not forget.
Last night was a textbook European away win. Nullify the opposition entirely, which in effect keeps the frenzied home crowd quiet, then hit them with the knockout blow late on (thanks to our manager's use of subs). Job done, we move to Sunday on a high.
We think some fans forget there are two teams on the pitch. Athletic Club weren't going to just rock up on their own patch after an 11-year Champions League absence and roll over. They were well organised and feisty opponents. They reminded us a bit of Lens away a couple of seasons ago. No star names, but well coached and gave it everything in front of their raucous home support. Oh, and we lost that game 2-1. These European away nights are hard work.
NEVER HAPPY SPIN
Even with the players missing, the quality in our lineup should play better. It was all just a bit plodding and predictable, and we struggled to break them down.
It's such a thing that winning a game changes the whole narrative. If the match finishes 0-0 or we end up losing, Arteta gets lambasted for being too defensive and timid. The nullifying the opposition, then striking late narrative turns into we were negative with too much sideways passing, especially defender to defender. It's Anfield all over again.
Some of the fan commentary before we scored was it's not that Arteta won't take ze handbrake off, it's that he's incapable of doing so. This style of play is him, is us. They refer back to the previously mentioned Anfield as a case in point. Yes, we agree Liverpool were there for the taking with a bit more devilment, but our away game record so far this season is beat Man Utd with a clean sheet, lost to Liverpool from a worldie free-kick, beat Athletic Club, and kept a clean sheet. That's three really tough away days. For us, there's not a whole lot wrong.
Are we at the stage where we are spoiled? Where churning out professional, no-nonsense wins away from home in the Champions League built on a defensive foundation isn't good enough? Does our fanbase expect to go to places like Bilbao and turn them over by four or five? Those kinds of expectations are unrealistic, and frankly, some fans need to check themselves a little. This ain't EA Sports, bruh.
Doesn't seem that long ago we were struggling to beat the likes of Bodo Glimt away, thanks to one going in off Sakas' face and the lineup featuring Marquinhos, Lokonga, and Holding. Be a bit more grateful for where we are at the moment, is all we're saying.
Now to individual player performances.
We mentioned after the Forest game that you could hand the MOTM award to Timber pretty much after every game. He's dropping 8's and 9's on the weekly. It's like he walks onto the pitch and decides he's going to be the best player without even trying.
Zubimendi was excellent. He has a real knack for sensing danger and being in the right place at the right time to snuff out opposition attacks. Has a real feel for the position and the game.
We went a different way, though, and chose the player below as our MOTM.
With Saliba still out of the line-up (why did he even travel? weird), our summer signing made his Champions League debut and strolled it.
As we mentioned after the Forest game, Berta had the cheek to haggle Valencia down to £13m. He has the lot, but what struck us most last night was his recovery pace. He's an absolute glider across the turf. The steal of the summer. One rival fan tweeted after the game, "How did everyone else let Arsenal sign him for £13m?" We have no clue, but we're glad they did.
He was in the mix for MOTM against Forest, and his performances have been so outstanding that fans are genuinely questioning what you do with him once Wilo is fit? It's a mark of his quality that the thought of no Saliba this week vs The Blonde Robot isn't filling us with the dread it once would.
A couple of housekeeping notes before we go.
Does anyone know what's going on with Benny White White White? He returned to the bench on Saturday, but didn't travel to Spain due to injury. Well, we think it's an injury. Our question is, when did he get injured exactly? We're assuming Sunday was a rest day, then the squad flew out on Monday. When did the injury occur exactly? What even is the injury? Does anyone else find this strange?
Our final point is on Madueke. We've been on this since the signing, and we aren't the only ones. We hinted at it after the Forest game, where he actually played well. We want to see end product.
We dug into his stats since his first season as a full-time starter at PSV in 20/21. Taking domestic league and European appearances only, he has 40 goals/assists in 142 games. That's a goal involvement every 3.55 games. For an attacker. Let's not forget the Dutch league doesn't know defence, and all his European games were in the lesser standard Europa or Conference Leagues. Last night was his Champions League debut.
We compared his stats with Sakas's. Unfair, you say? Not really. They are the same profile, age, and position. Since 20/21, Saka has 115 goals/assists in 203 League and European appearances. That's one every 1.76 games, more than double Madueke's output. You take into account that we didn't even play in Europe in 21/22.
It's not a five-game sample we're basing our concern on; it's a five-year one.
Wenger used to say the hardest part for any young footballer is decision-making, but the older and more experienced you get, the better it becomes. Noni will be 24 in six months.....
See you all on Friday for the HUGE Man City match preview. Can't wait.