ARSENAL MONSTER INTER WITH A ROTATION 11 - HOW GOOD ARE WE?

It’s not often an evening goes off and everyone gets what they want.

Bored of Premier League deep blocks? Inter got you.

Want to see a sexy number 9 performance from someone new? No worries.

Big fan of the man they call Big Vik? He’s got something for you.

Need some special one-touch joga bonito football? Oh my days, Arteta and the boys read the damn brief.

Beating Inter Milan was glorious in and of itself, but you know what made the evening better? The ability to pat myself on the back after stating that Man City would have trouble traveling to Bodø/Glimt. I didn’t realize quite how much trouble, but it was bad. Playing in the freezing Arctic Circle, on a plastic pitch, in a stadium that had office space looking over the pitch, Man City were ripped apart... again. This wasn’t a lucky win; Bodø picked City apart. They were so good, I think they might have retired Rodri, who looked old, tired, and finished. His red card felt like end days for a player who has gone from beast to mouse since that horrible injury. No fight back last night; now they have to play a Wolves deep block that has had some success against good teams of late.

But back to Arsenal. Arteta rotated the team to an acceptable level and the outcomes were really great. The biggest, most important, utterly consequential decision was to bench Gyokeres for literally anyone. Gabi Jesus landed a start and, my word, he didn’t disappoint.

Arsenal had a central outlet, someone who could hold the ball up, a player who’d win aerial duels and ground duels, and be in the mixer for set pieces. Jesus scored two goals that just felt like they wouldn’t have happened with our alt on the pitch.

We went central. Eze makes a pass that has been lack with Odegaard, possibly because of who Odegaard mostly plays with.

Jesus cushions the ball for Merino; the pass goes out wide to Myles. He puts it to the back post where Timber fluffs his shot, and Jesus sniffs out the chance and steers it past the keeper with a nicely fashioned volley.

Inter clawed their way back into the tie with the typical type of goal needed to beat our backline… a f*cking screamer from the edge of the box from Sučić that came from a clunky, deflected clearance. What can you do in those moments? Not much, my friends.

The second goal was Setpiece FC. Saka looped his corner to the back post, Trossard nodded back across the box, and Jesus was ready to pounce for the simplest of headers.

The performance wasn’t perfect, and the pressing isn’t where it once was, but that was a cup of cold beer after 21 days of dry January. Inter Milan are a really good team. The Italian league is second in UEFA coefficients, and Inter Milan are ranked 3rd in Europe by the same group. NOT mugs. Gabi Jesus dueled 10 times, won 50% on the ground and 33% in the air… to contextualise that, Gyokeres lost all 7 of his against Forest and contested just one duel vs Liverpool. Gabi had 2 shots, 2 goals, 2 chances created (one big chance), 88% passing accuracy, 28 touches. That was enough to earn him a start against United.

Gyokeres was the chosen replacement, which does make me worry deeply about Kai Havertz. The German is an Arteta fave, and he’s not being given the minutes he needs to get back to fitness. If he can’t get time against Inter or Forest, there’s a deeper story, because it’s not a quality issue. If it were fitness, he wouldn’t make the squad.

But, the Swede had a little bit of something for the doubters, and it landed in typical Gyokeres fashion. Inter’s corner flew too deep, Martinelli picked it up and found a Gyokeres transition run with a wild pass that didn’t get enough attention. The Swede took it down; he was caught by a 37-year-old defender, but he held his own, cut inside to shrug off the tackle, and played into Saka a bit behind his run. The ball clipped his ankle and sat up for Gyokeres to control, take aim, and fire a strike high and wide of Sommer’s hand. A real stunner to tell the world he is down, but not out.

So, that was the first time Inter have conceded two in the first half in 15 years. That was, without doubt, a message to the whole of Europe… we are the best team in everything bar a massive jug of a trophy. We defend better than anyone, and if you dare show up with something that’s not a deep block, we’re gonna show you why Liverpool and Man City change the way they play… because we are f*cking sensational.

No team is coached the way we are, and no team is more ready to make a statement this season.

Rattling Inter Milan like that, in a game they needed to win, in their legendary stadium, was iconic beyond belief. 7 wins in 7 games in the Champions League, and next up is a team bottom of the table that just got walloped by Kairat. Man City have to beat Galatasaray to ensure they don’t get lumped with an extra two games in February. PSG are in the same boat after losing to Sporting Lisbon. What we’re doing should not be underestimated.

Now we head into that United game on fire. Gabriel Jesus has to be the striker we start. I want to see him involved in the dirty work, I need to see more of that one-touch football he brings to the forward line, and I want to see him succeed this season. The man deserves it after so many awful injuries.

I’m just not interested in hearing it about Gyokeres, happy for the goal, but we’ve seen enough. Let him be the guy we unleash when teams are tired. But I don’t want to see him starting. We need a good touch, aggression in the box, and someone who can score and create in tight games. Can he score in transition? Yes. But we’re not playing teams like Inter week in, week out. We’re not playing Chelsea on the regular. There’s no space in most games, and when there’s no space, he doesn’t have answers; he might as well not be there.

Jesus is the future until Kai gets up to speed.

King Jesus to you, doubter.

One player who won’t get a lot of credit is Saka. He’s low on G&As at the moment, but that was some performance against Inter. His crossing from corners is always on point, but I thought his stretching of Inter was to be admired. He had 5 shots, created 3 chances, 3 successful take-ons, 5 successful defensive actions; he had 11 duels, won 100% of his aerials, and 60% of his ground duels. This guy is monstering again; I’m worried for United.

Merino did a serviceable job, winning 86% of his aerial duels; his passing was tidy, and he did the dirty work. Eze was a bit quiet, but his passing was locked in at 93%. He was key to the first goal, and I think that’s just his game. A lot more to come, but at least he’s getting minutes now.

The whole defence was much better. Myles was getting skinned quite a bit again, but he got better with the game. Saliba and Timber were really solid. Mosquera was a welcome addition; he made some great tackles, and his bold passing was a treat. Berta’s best signing for sure.

Final shout for Declan Rice. He came on, got booked, and now he serves his suspension for the Kairat game. Genius.

So… a great evening. The latest podcast is below. This is normally a members pod, but Apple’s servers were down, so I couldn’t post it for the subscribers over there, so I put it out for free. We’ll give members a make-up exclusive.