Hello, everyone.
I watched a bit of the Carabao Cup final, but only because I was cooking and had it on while I was doing it. I can honestly say that I don’t give a damn about the Carabao Cup, especially this year, and clearly there were two teams that I expected to lose.
Man Utd, it’s historic. All that rivalry over the years. You don’t forget it just because it’s gone. I never want them to win. With Newcastle, it’s different. It’s about who they are now and what they could become. A club owned by a nation state. The very essence of sports washing. Not for me, Clive. No, thanks.
Anyway, it was 2-0 and then I turned it off. I definitely don’t need to see any celebrations. There’s something wrong with the idea of Harry Maguire with a trophy. It’s like seeing a little kid with a machine gun or something.
Nobody needs that.
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There was something I wanted to mention yesterday in my review of the 1-0 win over Leicester. In the first half we lost possession up the field and there was a chance for them to take the lead.
At one point they had 4 on 3.
But when they reach the edge of our box…
That moment where all the red jerseys come back on screen is really something, and it tells you a lot about this team and their desire to work for each other. How many times in the past have you seen players wander into situations like this? I’ll answer that for you: too many times.
That could literally be the difference between three points and one on a day like this. I know Leicester were abject that day and created very little, but this kind of defensive commitment also prevented them from creating chances. All 10 outfield players came back to be denied space, Leicester had no choice but to drop back, we got organized and fit.
We didn’t get to see Mikel Arteta after this moment, but I’d wager there was a lot of vigorous cheering on the touchline.
As the season progresses, we understand that there is something extra in this team. We have seen it in performances and results, obviously. You don’t get to where we are at this point in a campaign by accident. However, when you take a step back, it’s just a continuation of what the manager said he was going to do when he first came to the club. He talked about creating a culture like this, hard work and hard work pays off.
“We have to create the right culture around the club that will make the players earn a good living, create an environment where everyone respects each other, humility and people have to be responsible for what we want to achieve.” .
The players who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, participate in that are gone. Some of those decisions were painful to make, I’m sure, and were subject to a lot of scrutiny, but they were made with the conviction that there was no other way. I don’t think he wants a claim, he just wanted to create a group that will do everything in its power to win football games.
Running towards your own goal is the worst type of running in a game, but we got 100% player commitment on Saturday, and that’s worth mentioning. It seems like it should be the default, but we’ve all seen enough football to know that’s not always the case.
Even something like the decision to hand over the captain’s armband for this game to Oleksandr Zinchenko is illustrative of the kind of characters we have on the team. The idea, to show support for Ukraine, came from Martin Odegaard, who explained:
It was a nice thing to do to show you support. It’s been a year, too long, it’s a very difficult situation for him, I know, and it’s very emotional.
When he’s on the field, he’s always 100 percent focused and always there. He doesn’t let it get to him, but of course it’s not easy for him, his family and everyone there. We just wanted to show you support.
It’s a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but a thoughtful one. Zinchenko has become a great character in our team in a short time, and things like this tell you that the Arsenal dressing room is a good place to be at the moment. May it last long.
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Right, that’s all for now. James and I will be recording an Arsecast Extra for you later this morning. Keep an eye out for calls for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra, or if you’re a member of Arseblog on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord. server.
We should have the podcast for you by lunchtime. Until then.
