Gunners

Just watched the post-match interview with Merino. This was the first time in his career he's played as a striker. And he scored a brace!

He was asked if he'll be playing there again, and he said "no, I don't think so."

Yeah, I think you're wrong there, Mikel! At least for the next few weeks you'll definitely be called upon to fill in that role to some extent.

We finally have a striker who is a former Newcastle and Sociedad player that we have been coveting.

I'm not a fan of the physicality narrative behind Trossard. It's the same thing that people said about Vieira, and to be fair he's been loaned back to Porto, but Trossard has a) scored a ton, b) held his own physically, and c) pressed effectively in our system. I don't think it's a coincidence that you hear all the pundits talk about how he needs to get used to England and that refs never call fouls on him.

Ok now that we've won the game and I can actually stop coping: dear god Sterling is washed, what happened to the player at the 2020 Euros? one of the worst wingers I've seen for Arsenal today.

WE'VE GOT SUPER MIK MERINO

So, we signed Havertz as a midfielder and then moved him to striker, where he's been fairly successful.

We bought Merino as a midfielder and has now scored 2x goals as striker... 🤔

I'm only 13 minutes into this and this ref hasn't given two very clear free kicks...

17': Trossard gets studs to the Achilles and the commentators say "[Trossard] should expect that in the Premier League.. you get the old nibble... he's a clever player".
23': #5 "tactically fouls" (I don't think he even touched him) Vardy and the ref gives a free kick and no one is suggesting that it's even a yellow. Well done everyone.
24': Rice tries to shield a Palace player running to their backline while Trossard pressures the GK. This leaves completely exposed Ndidi, who easily receives and passes the ball. Trossard is yelling at Rice as Rice shakes his head. Summary: Our pressing game is off. Might be from fatigue, mental and/or physical. Either way, it's not a good sign.
27': Vardy looks to receive a launched ball and Saliba just straight up shoves him to the ground. FK obviously, but I love the way he shithouses.
31': THAT'S THE THIRD STERLING OFFSIDE I'VE SEEN SO FAR. WHAT THE FUCK
33': HE'S FINALLY NOT OFFSIDE AND HE SLIPS. WHAT THE FUCK x 2
35': Credit where credit is due, Sterling is in a good spot to intercept after Trossard pressures Soumare, but I think that's more about Leicester being garbage than his positioning.
38': Ayew gives Rice the fucking People's Elbow from the top ropes and it's not a yellow. I await the first Arsenal yellow to get angry. 45+4': Classic us, giving away a half chance right before the break.
47': #5 gets scissor tackled, commentators calls El Khannouss "lucky" to be only shown a yellow. Gotta point out when they're right.
50': Ndidi blocks and Sterling pinwheels over. Good Lord. Rice is visibly knackered and doesn't even press before Timber cuts it out.
53': Just a really good tackle from Ndidi, less Sterling's fault that it goes out for a corner.
61': Honestly a display of us being good out of possession. Rice kneel-tackles the ball to #5, who promptly sends it to Odegaard, who splits the defenders for Nwaneri, who blasts it slightly over the bar. Everyone has been talking about high turnovers this season and we need more of them.
62': Trossard bear hugged to the ground. No FK. Rice looks shattered.
63': Excellent claim from Raya, even though Reid scoring would probably have been crossed out by the fact that he was using Gabi as a sled dog.
67': #5 sprints back to grab the ball from Vardy and keep it in play. Honestly, can you imagine if we could trigger a year extension and then sell him to Saudi for ~40M? I feel like we've actually improved him as a player despite the injuries. Ayew absolutely cleans Odegaard out with a tackle and the ref doesn't even seem to notice.
68': Reid literally wrestles Saliba to the ground and the ref is already looking at the substitution.
73': LEWIS-SKELLY with an excellent deflection out as Reid is steaming towards him. Christ this boy is good.
76': You could hear the goalpost crack when Nwaneri hit it. Fucking hell, now even physics is biased against us /s
77': LOL and then Trossard gives Vardy a shove, Vardy goes over like he's been hit with a cannon (not a cannonball, a cannon), and a foul is called against us. Is he a weak foreigner or is he not, you fucks?
79': Calafiori comes on and immediately sends Coulibaly spinning like a top in the air, like a ballerina at the end of a triple axel.
80': Kristiansen with the most tactical foul of them all: just grabbing Timber's shirt and holding on for dear life like a bullfighter. Referee looks straight at it and emphatically gives advantage. I wonder if advantage given counts towards number of fouls.
82': Honestly, I remember when Merino first arrived, I was so pissed at him because he always seemed to be offside for free kicks. ... Seems like he's figured that part out. What a goal.
83': Both Trossard and Calafiori fail to pressure El Khannouss while Timber somehow out-duels both Mavididi and Kristiansen at the same time. ACL says what?
85': I feel like most of us are very torn by the head injury rule: of course we want players to not be concussed. But it just ends up meaning that any head contact means a stoppage of play (unless you're at Saint James' Park, of course). The ref can of course card you if they think you're abusing it, but it turns out it's really easy to pretend your head hurts. AGAIN Mavididi holds onto Timber's shirt like his life depended on it.
86': Congrats, Mr. Referee, you made it 86 minutes before making me mad. Carding Jorginho is fair enough, it's a tactical foul, but he only has to make it because the man is dragging on Timber so hard Congress wants to ban him. At the very least you have to card both of them there.
87': Say the line: Trossard fouled and nothing given. Trossard goes for a lofted ball and Buonanotte kicks his outstretched foot.
87': !! MERINO !! Holy fuck. Okay, first of all, he's gone completely unnoticed, all the defenders are ballwatching, but that is elite striker play.
95': Again... Rice absolutely knackered.

Fuck I slept in and missed the whole thing!

THE PROPHECIES WERE TRUE