Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka performed well again, but it’s still bad news for Mikel Arteta as ridiculous calls for his sacking are circulating on Arsenal’s social media.
The only reason any Arsenal fan cares about the Carabao Cup is because it doesn’t look like they’re going to win the Premier League. If it’s them instead of Liverpool who take six points, they won’t care that Mikel Arteta has failed to win a trophy for them in over four years (and no, mate, we’re not counting the Community Shield because you Also not really counted) is clearly shown at the top of the table.
part of the problem Arteta – In deciding whether to target this smaller trophy – are those fans convinced? should Putting them at the top of the Premier League. AFTV have spent the past few weeks peddling doubts over whether Arteta is the man to lead them forward, fueled by an unrealistic belief that they have earned the right to become the next title-winning side to Manchester City. have been their closest rivals for the past two seasons. Guys, that’s not how it works.
Comparisons to Jose Mourinho and Tony Pulis did not help Arteta as he was increasingly seen to have done his best to take Arsenal further with his first-half performance It doesn’t help either, but his perfectly legitimate point is that winning the Carabao Cup will hardly change his status as Arsenal manager.
If he doesn’t make significant changes to the starting line-up here and then fails to beat Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, he may come under fire from fans and media alike, with a lack of rotation a common tactic used to defeat him.
Many Arsenal fans will agree with his selection, primarily to rest his star players, but also to get the second line-up closer to the level needed to help them get into the more important games. But less than four minutes later, the nod of agreement turned into a prescient shake: Eight changes are always too many.
For Jakub Kivior, it’s either feast or famine. Judging from the performance, we can definitely understand why Napoli and Juventus are interested Just like he did against Monaco last weekbut if the Gunners hope to secure a sizeable transfer fee from Serie A in January, they’ll be hoping recruitment chiefs aren’t paying attention here.
Jean-Philippe Matata didn’t even look when Dean Henderson’s long ball flew towards him and he struggled with the centre-back. We say scuffle, the Palace striker didn’t have to do much at all before Chiviol lost all spatial awareness and let the ball bounce between them, at which point he had no hope of Mata, who pushed Chivio Er blocked it as if he were a county horse swatting a fly with its tail, then passed the ball past David Raya.
Chiviol did the same thing three minutes later, this time against Ismaila Sarr, who lost his ball flight and generally had a miserable night that could have been anything but Described as a makeshift Arsenal back four, flanked by a defender who has never played as a centre-forward, the club’s defender, a right-back midfielder and a left-back who has not featured for the Gunners since May 2023 Pass.
Most of the team looked as if they hadn’t played for Arsenal in a long time, with Odegaard, Bukayo Saka or Dean Henderson missing at half-time and the home side not creating any chances. A save from Raheem Sterling saw them eliminated at half-time. The only promise of a free-kick moment.
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The game took a predictable turn when Ødegaard came on at half-time, although William Saliba’s substitution for Thomas Partey also helped turn the tide, with Urien Timber nominally replacing Played at right-back and made an impact when rushing into midfield. The team outnumbered Crystal Palace and it was the captain’s off-field antics that had the visitors chasing their tail.
He passed the ball to Gabriel Jesus, who took one touch to get away from Trevor Chalobah – who probably should have done better – and then happily slotted the ball past Henderson.
Then, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka came on in the second half. After a wonderful touch and reverse pass, he came on for Jesus and provided an assist for Bonny and Clyde. Bonny then added Received an assist.
With Odegaard scoring in the match, any doubts about Jesus’ shot from half-time had disappeared thanks to his first two goals of the night, and his hat-trick was key to victory here -Eddie Nketiah scored soon with a beautiful strike. It was a brilliant header for Arsenal’s back-up forwards past and present, and is likely to be of huge significance for the remainder of the season as Arteta looks to outshine the attacking prowess of this pair of world-class forwards. The bench comes to their rescue.
Although the ridiculous calls for Arteta to be sacked due to his superb second half performance will not gain traction, they will circulate in the deepest reaches of social media as a team choice that makes sense but is also a means of questioning him due to Their absolute reliance on Odegaard and Saka, without whom they looked listless and devoid of any threat.
