First off all, given it is the start of a new year and a time for generic resolutions, I hereby pledge to actually start writing on here again.
Of all of the platforms I use, I’m well aware that I neglect this one too much and so I’m determined to use this site far more over the next 12 months.
And what better way to start than by talking about that fantastic win at Brentford last night.
I have to admit that I feared the worst when Bryan Mbeumo scored early on, especially with the players Arsenal had missing and with the sickness issues that had been impacting the squad.
But the way Arsenal fought back was very impressive. Brentford are a decent side and we know how strong they are at home, so the way Arsenal pegged them back and ended up wresting control of the contest was very pleasing.
Ethan Nwaneri was great over the right hand side. I saw someone say he reminded them of when Santi Cazorla used to operate on the wing and I thought it was a good comparison.
What I love about Nwaneri is just how comfortable he looks when he is playing. This was a 17-year-old kid making his first Premier League start in a position that he’s not entirely comfortable in, yet he looked totally at home.
He only misplaced two passes all evening and had a big part to play in both second half goals. As first Premier League starts go, they don’t come much better than that.
I couldn’t stop thinking about those ridiculous Jason Cundy comments when I was watching Nwaneri yesterday. Remember, when Cundy went on TalkSport after Nwaneri’s debut as a 15-year-old and spouted a load of rubbish about Arteta and how he had only done it so he could be known as the manager who gave a kid the Premier League record? What absolute bollocks that was.
I think Arteta’s handling of Nwaneri has been excellent. Could he have had more minutes? Yes, I think so, but on the whole the way his development has been handled has been pretty impeccable.
One blow from yesterday’s game was Jurrien Timber’s fifth booking of the season, which means of course he will have to miss Saturday’s trip to Brighton.
That is far from ideal when you consider whoever is going to have to fill in is going to have to deal with Kaoru Mitoma all afternoon.
The most likely scenario is that it will be Thomas Partey, as that seems to be the option that Arteta prefers. I do wonder if Myles Lewis-Skelly could be an option though, as I would much rather see Partey remain in midfield. I thought he was undoubtedly Arsenal’s man of the match at Brentford.
Hopefully the sickness bug issues will all be resolved ahead of Brighton. Kai Havertz was sent home from training ahead of Brentford as he was really struggling, but Arsenal are hopeful he will have recovered in time for the trip to the Amex.
And it will be important to have the German back, even if it just as another attacking option off the bench.
Right, that’s it for today. Mikel Arteta will be holding his pre-match press conference tomorrow (Friday) morning where we should get more updates on the fitness of the squad.
In the meantime you can listen to my post match thoughts on the win at Brentford below.
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