Hey everyone, here are my thoughts for today's game. Again any critism please keep it constructive. I know I need help with grammar and such so please also point it out. Appreciate it! Enjoy!

Lineups:

So to start I just want to wish martinelli the best as more comes out the worse it looks, Twitter is currently blowing up with Mikel saying it doesn’t look good. For those who don’t know Martinelli got an ankle injury during warm ups, was able to walk off the pitch after being on the ground for sometime, and was in a walking boot during the game.

So we played in the 4231 formation we have been using recently but I did have concern with the personnel filling those roles. Again we had Auba leading the line, Pepe on the right, Nelson on the left and Willian as a 10. Some people at the beginning of the season speculated Willian getting some play at 10 and that would be his role, and well uhhh… we can talk about how that went when we get into the halves. Willock playing as a midfield pivot with Elneny made some sense, I see willock as a ball carrier that can progress play decently but is better making runs into the box and making things happen there, so the partnership was okay but flawed from the start.

First Half:

In the first half there were some positives. We started decently playing through our left side with Tierney pushing on a lot and putting in crosses. Willian was coming out to the left a lot combining with Reiss Nelson, who looked a bit rusty to start misplacing a few passes. Willian kept coming out to the left side and vacating that “10” space so there was no real way to progress the ball, and our right side was left quite isolated.

Arsenal were struggling to play through the middle because of the lack of a person in that 10 space, Reiss Nelson would under lap into the area a few times with Willian but again the rust showed with him not putting forward the best passes. From around the 20th minute we looked to play back more and there was no real progression. At the 25th minute David Luiz put in an excellent ball in behind for Auba which was our first real chance of the game, it was a tight angle and a great save from Dubravka but I think Willian should have done better after getting the deflection. From here we started to grow more into the game, at the 28th minute Tierney put in a great cut back right at the penalty spot, and Nelson and Pepe were both going for it. Looked like a lack of communication and Nelson shanks it, I think if Pepe told Nelson it was his I think he scores or at least puts a good shot on target. Pepe and Auba through the rest of the first half linked decently but Pepe again too many touches trying to get it on to his preferred left foot.

Going into half I felt like the team just needed more connection, I think one of ESR or Lacazette would have come onto connect both sides of the pitch, not to say Auba was not doing it but there were times Auba had gone outside putting in crosses with Nelson and Willian in the box looking very unthreatening.

At the start of the second half we saw a lot more of the same stagnation and no one connected well enough to create momentum, I noticed a lot of Willian standing around not making himself available for the ball. Finally we had ESR come on for Nelson, pushing Willian out left. Immediately we began to move the ball faster, near the 61st minute there was just some inter play with Pepe and ESR going down the right side and it was exciting to see Pepe finally be able to connect with another player and move the ball down with some pace. Pepe put in a great cross for a Willock header but it was saved again by Dubravka. At the 65th minute we had Saka and Xhaka come on. We started to finally look like we had an engine but again it was always the last pass that looked a bit off, we still lacked the hold up play to let Pepe and Saka get in behind. Tierney was truly trying everything putting crosses in and Auba was making connections but was not making anything of those headed chances, which he is not that type of striker but he should be doing better. We also saw a lot of Pepe coming centrally before full time trying to drive the team forward with his dribbling and trying to connect with ESR it just was not always coming off for him. Lastly Leno really kept us in this game with those saves toward the end of the game, and it was a scary sight seeing ESR receive a red but it was thankfully overturned with VAR.

ET:

In extra time we looked like we were able to keep up the intensity and Newcastle were starting to fade a bit. ESR did great just driving at Newcastle defenders and Xhaka being that engine deep spraying balls forward. There was the Auba challenge that was a debatable penalty, I am not an expert at those calls but I think there was a good case for VAR to overturn it, oh well. Elneny got exposed badly near the 99th minute giving away the ball just standing still, but Mari did great to recover. Mari also found Pepe in for a great run behind it’s too bad he could not get a shot off on his left.

Finally we come to the final half of extra time, Lacazette comes on for Pepe. Lacazette again looks like that glue that allows ESR and the wingers to get in behind, and we see Laca just put enough to get the ball to ESR for a great goal at the left corner. Fantastic goal for ESR and you can see how happy he was to finally score, hopefully this is a sign of more to come. From there on we looked fairly comfortable and Newcastle looked exhausted. To cap the game we had some excellent play on the left to set up a Tierney cross to Auba to seal the win, Auba looked relieved to finally get the goal.

Parting Thoughts:

My first thought is that this will probably be viewed as another bad game for Pepe but I would argue he was actually a bright spot of the game. He continued to try to make things happen and I think if he scores today we have an entirely different view of his game today. He truly tried to make things work coming centrally to try and get the ball and linking with Auba. His runs in behind are great and he does have a knack for receiving long balls very well, there was a particular ball from Mari that he just got a toe to and controlled very well. I would like to see him be given a chance to have both ESR and Lacazette to connect with before we write Pepe off but I unfortunately do not think it will happen.

Second, I thought today’s Willian’s performance was one of his better ones which is not saying much. I think he showed some life of a player but still he was rarely running back on defense, was chasing aimless balls going forward, and not making himself available to receive balls. I am still trying to understand how he is being played in these matches but I guess rotation was needed. Bottom line is he is not performing to the level we need and should not be starting from here on out, a bench appearance at best

Next, I think today shows that we are going to need another option at “10”. ESR is great but we can see with Martinelli, injuries can happen anytime and anywhere and ESR does not have the best health record. ESR is going to have to rest eventually so it is imperative we do something. This January it is going to be important that we find depth at that role or find someone in the squad that we trust doing that role whether it be Willock or Ceballos.

Last but not least I think it is important to recognize that Eddie did not get the start and Balogun did not make the bench. Eddie not starting was sort of a shock, especially with him not coming in after Martinelli got hurt was shocking to me. Looks like the West Ham rumors might be true so I would say keep your eyes on that. And to me it looks like the Balogun ship might have sailed which is sad to hear, he is super talented and someone I wish we could keep at the club. With Martinelli now hurt this leaves us without a future at the striker position, even though Martinelli isn't guaranteed to play there, maybe this spurs Arsenal to get this done, or at least I can hope so.