FT. 4-2 to the good guys. There was some scintillating domination in the first half, which went away in the second. But we'll take it. On the road. Onward...
I feel like I watched Liverpool play. All the fun watching them plow forward, all the angst seeing them defend balls into the box. : MOTM: Jacky Boy. 100th goal to OG. Good game by Joe Willock among the kids. Meh effort by El Nenny who should have steadied the ship better. Some bad defending by the back three, who weren't helped out by the FBs. I mean wingbacks. Overall, I like what I saw from the kids. Looking forward to seeing them play in their actual positions at some point, instead of being shoe-horned into the line up. The problem with the depth is that we don't really have backup wingbacks at this point. I love it when players who come up through the system and want to wear the Arsenal shirt more than anything else get a chance.
Nelson looked cautious at times, but there was this one wonderful ball he delivered from the wing that should have been a goal but OG shanked the shot. I think AMN still has an excellent upside, provided he's played in MF. He certainly has to better than a pedestrian donkey like El Neny and a slow and laborious Xhaka.
BFG could have done better on the cross that lead to their 2nd goal. other than that good game considering it was away, this side had never played before and many of the youngsters hadn't completed 90 mins at this level before. side note: why do almost all the young players have the same haircut
I think this applies to Willock basically. He lasted to 89'. But Nelson came off at 79'. And AMN who played the full match, I'm pretty sure he's done that for us already in some context, this season or last... no? I think the other youngsters got their planned cameo's cut short by Borisov's courageous play in the 2nd half, when they seriously threatened to draw level, if not worse.
Wilshere is probably the closest thing we have to Cazorla's skillset. Best player on the field past two matches but you can see by the way he fades a bit in the 2nd half that his match fitness isn't quite there yet. I'm beginning to warm to the idea of finding a way to get him in the first XI. On the wingback depth question, I'm guessing AMN is 2nd choice RWB right now and when he comes back, Coquelin could play at LWB.
Ugh, I had forgotten his brief spell w/ the Metros. As bad as he is, I could imagining him as a future GM somewhere someday.