No Zaha. No Olise. No Ayew? Ah, that’s asking too much. Speaking of asking too much, we’re being asked to wait until Monday to face off against Palace. There are many, many ways to ruin a weekend, but waiting until Monday runs near the top of the list. It’s a curse of the modern age, I suppose, and one we’ll have to endure. Might as well go have a stroll, get reacquainted with various family members, and find other ways to fill the weekend. A trip to Selhurst Park has always been a dodgy affair, but we have to go in knowing that taking all three points is a must.
The big story, of course, is the departure of the talismanic Wilfriied Zaha, off on a free to Galatasaray after a decade doing his damnedest to drag the Eagles up away from the bottom half of the table. We could have signed him instead of Nicolas Pépé, but you know by now how Raul Sannlehi rolls. Setting that aside, there was some news to the effect that Chelsea, a club whose goal is apparently to sign every single player in existence, were this close to luring Michael Olise away. Olise, perhaps sensing that a club that has signed ’round about 17 wingers in the last 18 months, decided to stay put. That’s all water under a bridge, considering that he’s injured and all.
Still, we’d be remiss to assume that we can waltz into Selhurst Park on Monday and waltz on out with all three points. We didn’t look all that convincing at home to Nottingham Forest, and Palace did look decent last week away to newly promoted (again) Sheffield United. Shorn of Zaha’s influence, their other attackers seemed to rise to the occasion, with Ayew, Édouard, and Eze looking confident and comfortable. Defenses would key in on Zaha, for good reason; without him, it’s more difficult to predict where the threat will come from.
Having said all of that, Palace did create a few chances against a weak Sheffield United side but otherwise didn’t lay down many markers. Even without Timber or Zinchenko, we really should go into Selhurst Park and emerge if not waltz away with all three points. On one side, Martinelli (or Trossard) should have a field day against 33 year old Joel Ward, who’s usually more comfortable toward the center of the pitch but who has been thrust into a wide role. He’s a poor man’s Milner, a decent utility-man but not really up to the task of denying either one of Martinelli or Trossard, each in their own particular…idioms.
On the other side, there’s the 23 year old Tyrick Mitchell, who has emerged as somewhat of a mainstay over the last three seasons, but, similar to Ward, we should see some entertainment as Saka takes Mitchell on time and time again, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see our starboy find a goal or two. Failing that, he should at least create a few chances for others. It’s more than likely that we’ll see Nketiah played through the middle, so react to that as you will.
In previous seasons, this would stand out as the kind of banana-peel, bogey fixture that we should win but end up losing. As it currently stands, given our growth and our increasing ability to match performance to ambition, this really should be three points in the bag. Anything less, and there are serious questions to be answered about those ambitions.
Prediction: Palace 0-3 Arsenal. Goals from Martinelli, Havertz, and Saka.
No ‘ironic’ or misleading headlines and introductory para. and look, no comments! You see?
It’s a double-edged sword to wield and a balancing act as well – those splashy headlines to drawn a much higher number of visitors, but along with that comes, well, a much higher number of comments from those who didn’t read past that first paragraph…
Why must you always remind of of the decision to sign Pepe instead of Zaha? We all remember and the pain will linger, especially as we dump Pepe with no reward (other than shedding salary) until some new mistakes may emerge with our new brain trust.
Unless Arteta sees this match as an opportunity to experiment and tinker with his lineup, your prediction (maybe not the scorers) should hold true. Hopefully they also keep foot on throttles since goal differential never seems an Arsenal priority until too late.
Now that Zaha’s gone from the Prem, there’s even less reason to mention him and Zaha. In the end, signing him might have convinced us to part ways with Martinelli, or at least have him languish on the bench behind Zaha.
It would indeed be nice to see us come away with at least a clean sheet if not a result that allows us to start building a strong goal differential.
For any team with serious title aspirations anything other than a decisive win on Monday will be a serious red flag scenario…that said, it’s got potential banana skin written all over it…on the road, tough environment, some bus parking tactics and a built-in injury-related tactical excuse to boot…on the other hand, maybe Havertz will actually make his first official appearance of the season and all will go swimmingly
AST, it feels as if someone has hacked your account. This comment borders on something resembling something in the vague vicinity of something approximating optimism.
We really do have to go in and take all three; no other option is acceptable for a side serious about winning the Prem. Witness by contrast Chelsea’s humiliating defeat to West Ham, who had to defend a lead with ten men for almost half an hour – and EXTENDED that lead due to Caicedo’s reckless challenge.
Derbies can always be difficult, and Palace in particular can be a bogey side to face, so we’ll have to hope that the lads are ready to pounce.
Chelsea were excellent and rather dominant for the better part of 80 minutes, but, in a similar vein to our current lineup, they have a glaring lack of clinical finishers…why else would Enzo be first up to take a penalty…it’s clear that the Nkunku injury could be a real stumbling block for them, which is likely why they’ve been sniffing around for Balo…that said, they will still remain a tough out for anyone this season, considering their tactics and now totally revamped midfield…on this day though, Caicedo was a step behind, Enzo was underwhemming in the final third and Sterling, albeit spectacular on the dribble, still can’t seem to buy a goal for the boys in blue…that said, I’m thoroughly convinced that by this time next year they will be a scary proposition…all the more reason why we can’t look another gift horse in the mouth
Here’s where I might be more pessimistic than you are. I suspect that Pochettino will have this squad sorted out by January. Without European commitments, he can focus on identifying his best XI and installing his tactics & culture. For as much as I enjoyed seeing the Hammers do them despite keeping just 25% possession or something along those lines, it’ll be sooner rather than later that we see Chelsea re-join the fight for a top-four spot.
We not only have to win but start racking up goals and clean sheets imho
I like that, Reg. Keep it simple, sweetheart (I’m pretty sure that’s what the KISS acronym stands for).
Jon
Close but no cigar lol
took me a minute to catch this because it doesn’t appear as a reply to my comment. are you suggesting I have one of the letters of the acronym wrong?
It wouldn’t be stupid if you were to infer that. Having said that I always liked KISS in my career as a Boeing engineer for many years.
I suspect you had a little more freedom to use the “real” s-word. I teach 13-14 year olds and have to keep it PG.