Intro & Team News
IBO Reporter: channonite
Onuachu's late appearance as substitute showed that we may well have all underestimated his skills, showing great control of the ball at his feet. Could we now see more of him?
Intro
|The most I hoped for this game was that the team would show a little more character and backbone than they had at Bournemouth. That’s not a lot to ask, I would have thought.
Arsenal are a funny team; I used to hate them back in the 1-0 to the Arse days, but either they have metamorphosed into a vibrant team that is exciting to watch, or I have become more tolerant with age. Probably a little of both. Anyway, I quite like them these days, or perhaps more accurately, I have nothing against them, unlike Spurs, who I really do detest.
Saints do seem to struggle against Arsenal, with only the occasional result to lighten the mood. As we are struggling anyway this season, why would this game be any different?!
As usual, we seem to be struggling to find any fit strikers, and those we do have seem to be woefully out of form. That might be the least of Saints’ problems this weekend; keeping them out of our goal is probably the priority. Ramsdale has been a considerable improvement in goal, but we are still leaking goals like a sieve as the new players struggle to come to terms with Russel Martin’s game plan.
So, in short, I am not expecting much, but I would be over the moon if we came away with a draw.
Team News
|I have given up trying to second-guess Martin’s team selections, but this one perplexed me. He seemed to have gone for a back-five with Sugawara and Manning (FFS!) as the full-backs and Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek and KWP(!!) as the three central defenders.
Downes and Aribo would be the overworked midfielders, Fernandes and Dibling out wide, and Stewart alone up front.
Well, that seemed to be the initial plan. The outfield players lurking on the bench were Archer, Adam Armstrong, Bree, Brereton Díaz, Lallana, Onuachu, Taylor and Ugochukwu. In these days of five subs, it was obvious we would see several appear later.