Tag: Viktor Gyokeres

For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve had the same problem

Amy O2 Comments

As we were on the tube from Fulham to get back to Central London earlier in the day, two young boys and their mothers entered the train at one of the stops. The boys sat in seats next to me and the mothers sat a few seats away. I took very little notice of them until, through my own reverie, I overheard one of the boys say to the other “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve had the same problem: Impatience.”

I did a double take at the boys because my recollection had been they were very young. Too young for one to make an observation like that. Too young for impatience “as long as I’ve known you” to have been a flaw that might not ultimately be outgrown. Sure enough, they were maybe 5 years old.

The Accused boy was quite interested in understanding this fault in himself. The boys had a very reasoned discussion about why it was perceived that the problem of impatience existed in the Accused. They good naturedly turned to the question of whether it was the Accuser who never wanted to play what the Accused wanted to play or whether, in fact, it was Accused who never wanted to play what the Accuser wanted to play. In conclusion, they both delighted in looking at a cute dog on the platform at a stop.

This conversation came back to me as I was watching the Atletico Madrid match because, as always, you did feel a lot of impatience inside that stadium. But as we know, sometimes patience pays off. We also know that sometimes it never does.

We had been fortunate for this match. For the first time this season, my husband and I were successful in the ballot. We had seats together and they were cool ones, row six in the southwest corner of the field. It’s been so long since we had seats together at a match I felt appreciative of how nice it was to be able to share observations without wondering if it’s weird and join together in the chanting. I honestly don’t mind sitting by myself with other fans because the stadium is welcoming; it’s unlike any other place you might attend something alone where most of the people are attending with someone. But you still feel the oddness of being one among a crowd.

Upon arriving at The Emirates we took a quick scan of The Armoury, the place where all the Arsenal Merch is sold. As we were leaving The Armoury merch-free we saw a lady holding a sign that we should download an app on your phone that was going to be used to create a light show inside the stadium before the match.

We did download the app but unfortunately the stadium’s wifi is pretty poor with so many people using it and our T-mobile signal is weak inside the stadium as well. We were not able to be part of the light show but not being part of it allowed us to enjoy it. It was cool. As music was played in the stadium, the lights from people’s phones pulsed synchronously. The video below was posted by another fan on YouTube.

The last match we attended at The Emirates was Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City, after which, among some parts of the fan base and football press, the sky was falling. Arsenal was in a much different state heading into this match with Atletico. Not only has Arsenal won every match since Man City, including a Carabou Cup match, a Champions League match, and several Premier League matches, Liverpool have fallen apart. Liverpool were in top position in the Premier League after week 5 but now, after Week 8, Arsenal is marginally at the top. The League is tight, tight tight with big position shifts every week.

Heading into this Champions League game, we have a great defensive record, with only 3 goals having been scored on us all season. And our success with set pieces continues to be a thing. The only concern is that we’ve struggled to score goals from open play, mostly because we haven’t figured out how to break down a low block where defensive congestion is near the opposing goal. When there is something you don’t do well, everyone you compete with knows to make sure you regularly have to do that thing. That contributes to feelings of impatience, because you just want things to be free flowing and productive and not a bunch of dark alleys to be tried and rejected. But a low block that Arsenal might struggle to break down also tends to produce a lot of corner kicks and free kicks due to fouls close to the goal. Being able to score from set pieces comes in handy when you get a lot of these chances and not too many other kinds of chances.

The starting line-up included a couple of choices Mikel Arteta hasn’t made much this year. Miles Lewis-Skelly was awarded a start at left back. Lewis-Skelly is a wonderful left back but Riccardo Calafiori has been too much of a beast this year to replace unless you are giving him a rest. That appeared to be the case today as Calafiori was on the bench. And Gabriel Martinelli started at left wing instead of Leandro Trossard. I have no idea what is in the mind of the brilliant Arteta, but my theory is that he prefers Martinelli to Trossard when he expects the game to be more open. Martinelli has a lot of speed. Another theory: Mikel’s noticed that Martinelli seems to be able to score in the Champions League.

Low seats like the ones we had for this match are great for experiencing stadium ambiance and seeing players up close. However, despite requests in the stadium to avoid “persistent standing,” they are seats in which you will actually never sit down. Persistent standing is the rule, not the exception. With some craning on my part around the tall folks, we had great up-close views of Bukayo Saka during the first half, for example, as he took several (sadly) unsuccessful corner kicks near us.

The game started well for Arsenal as Eberechi Eze’s deflected shot hit the post about 4 minutes in. Declan Rice’s subsequent rebounded shot was wide of the goal. But things settled in and Atletico gained some control across the half.

There was a horrifying moment at the other end about 25 minutes in where our goalkeeper, David Raya, came out of goal to deal with a ball on the North end of the field. It seemed that he thought the ball was going over the end line from a kick by Atletico but the pace of the ball dropped off while an Atletico player was bearing down on him and he had to kick it over the side line. He didn’t have time on the ensuing, very quick, throw-in to get back to his goal and none of our defenders was in position to cover. The Atletico player receiving the ball from the throw-in took a very quick and good kick toward goal that just missed. A very close call. Arsenal did score a goal in front of us late in the first half after very nice play from Martin Zubimendi and Saka. It was called back because Gabriel Martinelli, the goal scorer, was offside when Saka passed it.

By halftime, Arsenal had played well and produced dangerous moments, but Atletico looked pretty solid. And also created some danger. It felt like one of those games that was going to have a lot of action while ending in a scoreless draw. Easy to feel very, very impatient. I raced off to the restroom while my husband enjoyed 15 minutes of sitting down.

The second half started with dangerous moments for each team. Now Arsenal was shooting for the goal far from us so it was harder to tell how we were doing. We had at least one chance on goal. So did they. About 10 minutes into the second half, Martinelli was judged to have been fouled about 20 yards from the goal. (I say “judged” because I’ve now watched replays of this foul. All I can say is I would be mad if this foul had been called against Arsenal.) Declan Rice stepped up to take the kick. He is so deadly in these situations. But deadly needs a partner, and everyone knows that partner is Gabriel Maglehaes. He was lined up with the other Arsenal players and somehow no one covered him as he ran toward goal after the kick came in. Glanced right off that beautiful Gabriel noggin and into the goal.

Why I know this is what happened is they showed a replay on the big TV screens. What I saw from my spot, low and far way in the stadium was Declan Rice kicked the ball and there was a pause and then all the fans in the North end jumped up in unison and said “YEAH!”

In the stadium, they announce the goal scorer and the stadium announcer usually says “The goal scorer is <first name>. And then the crowd yells: “<Last name>”! That gets repeated three times. But in the case of Gabriel, we English speakers are stupid and can’t pronounce his last name. So for Gabriel, the announcer says “the goal scorer is number 6” and the crowd yells “Gabriel!”

Almost immediately after the Arsenal goal, Atletico came very, very close to scoring in front of us. Only a deflection from Gabriel kept the shot out. Arsenal ended up defending some corner kicks from Atletico. There were also a few off-target shots. Danger, danger, danger.

Nearly 10 full minutes after the Arsenal goal, Lewis-Skelly received the ball near the half-way line and slashed his way through the center of the field, evading multiple Athletico players. As he approached the penalty area he pushed through a lovely ball to Martinelli, who was blessedly onside this time. His one-touch shot curled beyond the goal keeper and glanced in off the far post. Even where I was I could see all of it perfectly. Massive celebrations.

And everyone can pronounce his last name, so you know what we did next. 2-0.

We didn’t have to wait as long for the next one. A few minutes later Zubimendi put up a lovely long pass to Martinelli who crossed it to the goal. This I saw. Then I saw a scrum and a pause and a celebration. What I did not see until the replay is that the ball came to Eze and he passed to Viktor Gyokeres, who had his back to the goal. He was able to turn and deflect the ball off the defender’s legs, slow roller. 3-0 and a goal Gyokeres really needed. He hadn’t scored in quite a few matches.

About a minute after the re-start the ball went out for an Arsenal corner kick on the side where the kick is normally taken by Declan Rice. Declan Rice put up a beautiful kick and, inevitably, it was quickly in the back of the net amongst great celebration. Big Gabi had gotten on the end of the kick and headed across the goal at hip level, where Gyokeres was able to run it a few steps into the goal.

And here I would like to take some credit. Although I have been to a match in which Gyokeres has not scored, as of this match Gyokeres has never scored in a match I did not attend.

4-0. Fifteen very consequential minutes that we had to wait 55 minutes to start. Patience paid off.

A lot happened after that. Even though we were leading by 4, I still felt some nerves. Some players who haven’t seen much game time got into the match. There was a set piece by Arsenal on which no goal was scored. Saka had a dangerous dribble into the box. Raya had a great save but on a shot that was called back for some problem. Offside or a foul, not sure which. From my great seat, I saw Antoine Griezmann, a really wonderful French player who must be nearing the end of his career (and having a bad day, since he did not start for Atletico and they lost badly), up close and personal.

Far too early, Arsenal fans started the olés for successful Arsenal passes. Far too early, Arsenal fans asked Atletico “Who are ya?” Far too early, Arsenal fans asked Atletico “Are you Tottenham in disguise?” But karma was not in play–or at least has not yet been addressed–and no further goals were scored.

This match proved to me there is no score line that will induce me to leave the stadium before the match is over. We saw others leaving to beat the crowds, some when there was a lot of time left. Even though my husband sometimes suggests that we might leave, too, this time he did not. At the whistle, we left with a cheerful but highly belligerent crowd into the damp London night.

It was late when we got back to The Bailey’s. I was so wound up, I didn’t fall asleep for hours.

You’re getting sacked in the morning

Amy OLeave a comment

Although we arrived in London on the Friday before a Saturday match, pretty typical timeline, we had an unusually quiet time before the match. We had selected a hotel we’d never stayed in, the Montcalm East, located in Shoreditch. As with many recent trips, a hotel nicer than our normal budget would allow but that came into our price point for this trip. Very nice hotel. In my top 5.

After checking in, we relaxed a bit and then had lunch at Pizza Union. My husband had to call in for an Italian class, during which I made up for the sleep I failed to get on the plane. Afterward, we walked over to The Artillery Arms for a beer and dinner. The kitchen was closed by then, so it ended up being beer alone. Cute place, a Fuller pub, naturally. We selected snacks from an Aldi along the way back to the hotel to get through the night.

As much sleep as I got in the late afternoon and evening you’d think it would be a struggle to sleep at night. It was not. I slept like a baby. We awoke in the morning and had a delicious breakfast at A Pinch of Salt Cafe.

The match against Nottingham Forest was early, 12:30, so we headed to the Emirates soon thereafter. Spent a bit of time in Arsenal’s merch shop, The Armoury, just checking out the new stuff. There is always new stuff.

My seat was in the North Bank, really my favorite place to watch a match. You can see play developing and the crowd is almost always quite enthusiastic. This was true on Saturday as well. It’s a pleasure sitting near supporters who are–well–supportive. The North Bank also is prime positioning for offensive actions by Arsenal in the second half. Nothing more fun than having a goal scored right in front of you.

Arteta changed up the lineup in a somewhat surprising way, bringing new guy Eberechi Eze into the left wing and using Mikel Merino instead of Declan Rice. In midfield with Merino was Martin Odegaard, back in the lineup after his shoulder injury during the Leeds match, and other new guy, Martin Zubimendi. The other starters were a bit less surprising given our poor injury record this season.

I would think the changes Arteta made would not have been anticipated by a rival manager. However, in this case, the rival manager didn’t have much time to anticipate anything at all, having been hired only the week before the match. It was our old nemesis from Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou. Tottenham sacked him at the end of last season. Even though he did manage to win the Europa League, the rest of the season was pretty bad for Tottenham. Nottingham Forest only recently fired their manager, Nuno Espírito Santo. He’d been a good manager for Nottingham Forest but seemed to have been done in mostly by office politics. I’d rather face an Ange team than a Santo team, but was a bit nervous about the possibility of the dreaded new manager bounce that can occur sometimes.

Needn’t have worried because Arsenal were excellent right from the start. We dominated possession and looked really, really dangerous. And naturally, because Ange is (to us) Tottenham, we supporters were up for it also. Loud, loud, loud, and quite obnoxious.

Sadly, after losing Martin Odegaard to a shoulder injury in the first 10 minutes in the Leeds match, we lost him again early in this match after he fell awkwardly on the same shoulder. Ethan Nwaneri again came on and deputized him well.

Martin Zubimendi joined up with Arsenal over the summer from Spanish team Real Sociedad. Technically, his deal was agreed across all parties in March, but for financial reasons Real Sociedad wanted it to go through in their fiscal year starting in July. His move to Arsenal was kept relatively quiet although we believed he was likely coming into the team. We were excited—he looked like a great replacement for Thomas Partey, who was to be out of contract over the summer. But the longer the announcement was delayed, and with Arsenal’s surprising move to briefly pursue Partey at the end of last season, the more I worried Zubimendi might not come at all. But you know how it is. Once it’s finally done you rewrite history in your head. Of course he was always coming to Arsenal.

As I recall it, he was the first signing of a busy July for Arsenal. Shortly after Martin Zubimendi was signed, so was Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke. And it seemed we would also bring in Viktor Gyokeres. Gyokeres was the most exciting signing for fans because he’s a striker, and we have sooooo needed one. Plus, he was lighting up the Portuguese league with goal after goal. When Gyokeres was announced as an Arsenal player, sales of shirts with his name on the back broke the existing record for shirt sales at Arsenal. So with all the other excitement, while I was happy Zubimendi signed, it went a bit under my radar as an important development.

In the pre season and first two matches, Martin Zubimendi was quietly excellent as a player. Mikel Arteta put him right into the lineup and he was solid defensively and reasonably creative offensively. Easy to take for granted. And I think we did just that.

In the match against Nottingham Forest, Martin Zubimendi’s excellence went loud. Very, very loud.

Despite Arsenal’s superiority, it took a while to deliver a goal. It finally came about 30 minutes in in the aftermath of a corner kick. Madueke put up a nice one, but it was headed by a Nottingham Forest defender. It was not a bad clearance–beyond the penalty area–except for one big problem. Apparently Martin Zubimendi is able to volley such a ball into the net from that distance. And he did exactly that. A gorgeous goal. Every time they showed it in the stadium—and they showed it on the giant stadium screens more times than usual—every fan watching it again said “Whoa!” in unison when he again struck that ball and it again flew into the net. It might have grazed a defender on the way in, but no way was any goalkeeper keeping that ball out.

1 – 0. Cue chants of “1 nil to the Arsenal.”

At halftime I stepped away for the typical bathroom break and an atypical wait in the concessions line for a cup of tea. Although you can’t bring beer into the stadium, you can bring tea. I heard the announcer say the teams were back on the field and I carried my newly-acquired tea back to my seat in the North bank.

It was a good thing I did because, just as Viktor Gyokeres scored a quick goal right after halftime in the Leeds match, in this match Eberechi Eze received a perfect through ball from Ricardo Califiori within minutes of the restart. He put up a perfect cross for Gyokeres who rammed it in the back of the net from close range. Like the Leeds match, a lot of people who didn’t make their way back into the stadium missed seeing that live. 2 – 0.

At this point, the chanting in the stadium became bifurcated.

Chant 1: the Victor Gyokeres chant:

He comes from Sweden, the girls are really nice
He dumped his girlfriend to play in red and white
He’s scoring goals with a cannon on his chest
His name is Victor, Victor Gyokeres

(I’ll spare you the gratuitous “De de de”s.)

Chant 2: abuse of Nottingham Forest’s new manager, Ange Postecoglou. No need to update the chant Arsenal fans created for Tottenham when he was the manager there, the lyrics still work. It’s too rude for me to repeat here and goes after not only the manager but also the team. I would suspect the Nottingham Forest players have ever felt quite so reviled at the Emirates. Just caught in the bad blood of an old relationship.

The third Arsenal goal came when Arsenal won a free kick for a foul. Arsenal worked it in and Leandro Trossard, who had come on as a sub, put up a nice looping cross toward the goal. Martin Zubimendi, who I don’t perceive as a particularly tall guy, met it with his head and into the back of the net.

With the requisite chants for Zubimendi completed by the Arsenal fans, they turned their attention to hapless manager Ange Postecoglou on his inaugural match with Nottingham Forest: 

Sacked in the morning
You're getting sacked in the morning

Despite the fact that Zubimendi scored 2 goals and Viktor Gyokeres scored only 1, at the ending whistle the stadium DJ cued up Salt-n-Pepa’s Push it, the musical inspiration for the Gyokeres chant. We note that the DJ can only work with the materials he’s been given. A player is endowed with a chant by the supporters. It may be based on commercially-created music or some traditional chant or some new invention. Much like your family, you can’t chose your own chant. Zubimendi’s chant isn’t based on commercially-available music.

He’ll just have to be happy with being named man of the match. That, and our love and admiration.