"Nwaneri showed he belongs" - Brentford 1-3 Arsenal | On the Whistle

Hello guys. Happy New Year, first and foremost, and it is a happy start to the new year with Arsenal winning 3-1 at Brentford. A really excellent result. Only the second team to win at the stadium this season. I know Brentford's form has been a bit patchier of late, but I still think any sort of result at this ground is a really good one, especially having fallen behind. Coming from behind to win 3-1 in those circumstances, fantastic. I think Michel Arteta will be thrilled with what his team produced today. They've got a difficult week, two tough away games, Brentford then Brighton. They got exactly the start they would have wanted. I think when you consider how stretched the squad is in certain areas, it becomes all the more impressive. Obviously we went into this game without Bukai Saka, as we're going to go into many games without Bukai Saka between now and the end of the season. No Kai Havertz either. He was ill today. There was a bit of rotation and resting going on for some of the players who've been carrying injuries. So for example, Declan Rice sat this one out. Leonardo Trossard started on the bench, and yet Arsenal prevailed. Really, really good. I'm going to start by talking about Ranieri, actually, who was picked in the starting XI. When I was sort of on my jog, my New Year's Day jog, as I start the slow climb back to some sort of fitness after Christmas, I was thinking about the starting XI I would pick and I had Ranieri on the right. I just think, in terms of style, he's a left-footed player coming inside. Technical ability, I think he's the closest we have to Saka. We could try and reinvent the wheel. We could try and develop some new way of attacking. But the smoothest transition will be if we have someone who can offer something close to what Saka does. I think Ranieri might be the best option. Look at our second and third goals today. One a Ranieri delivery from the corner, another a Ranieri cross from the right-hand corner of the penalty box, which was very Saka-esque in terms of the way he shifted his body weight, came inside, curled it towards the far post. And yes, the ball drops for Martinelli and he scores a brilliant goal. But it came from that approach play, which was almost exactly what Saka would have done in that situation. So, look, he's 17. Can he play every single week? Probably not. Can he play every game? Probably not. Are we going to see Martinelli on the right? Trossard maybe? Jesus on the right? Yes, probably all of those things. But Ranieri is one of the options. And I think today, a bit like Miles Lewis-Skelly has done over the last few weeks, he showed that he can be a serious option in Premier League games. You don't get many tougher places to play than Brentford away. And he absolutely did it. So, really pleased for him. Let's talk about the goals quickly. The first one I thought was sloppy. You know, Martin Odegaard, a giveaway in the middle of the park, quite unlike him. And we punished very harshly for it, as we were a few times last season. I seem to remember there was a little spell where it felt like every time he gave the ball away, the opposition scored. We saw that here. Brentford, we know they can be effective on the counter-attack. There have been a couple of warning signs, even in that first 10 minutes or so. I don't think we reacted particularly well enough. I thought Thomas Pate was a bit, he was jogging back a bit. I thought he responded superbly after that moment, I have to say, and had a very, very good game. But on the goal, I didn't think it was great. Calafiore, I think it's got to get tighter. And I know that Ryer has beaten it as near post. I don't really hold him particularly culpable in that situation. I think, you know, it's a good strike from Boer and he can't really see it. I think, you know, you've got to ask your defenders to get the block in on that particular angle. Nonetheless, we find ourselves 1-0 down and it looks difficult, right? It's kind of the perfect outcome for Brentford, you know, that it suits their game plan perfectly to get that early lead, sit back, soak it up, hit us on the break. But we responded very well, very, very well. That said, you know, the game turned really on a crazy 60 seconds. Ryer messed up his parry, essentially. The ball went over his head, was bouncing back towards goal. He somehow got back and clawed it away from the goal. I mean, it was a mistake, certainly, but the reaction was astounding. Really, really good save there. There's nothing like embarrassment to motivate any sort of athlete. You know, sometimes it can see them produce their most astonishing feats and that was a really good recovery from Ryer. And then we go up the other end. Gabrielle almost plays in Martinelli. It's cut out. And then Brentford just don't clear their lines. And eventually, Thomas Partey gets in a shot. As I say, he was a big part in how he came back into the game. It's parried by the keeper, but Gabriel Jesus, so quick off the mark. I mean, so quick, I sort of assumed he was offside. But when you watch it back, his reaction, I mean, it's the reaction of a goal scorer, a number nine. I suppose that's what a bit of form, a bit of confidence can do for a player. Suddenly, it's one-all. And then the game was sealed, really, in another short spell, the other side of half-time. As I said, Naneri set piece. Brentford don't deal with it. I think Jesus, again, is there to have the shot at the far post. And Marino turns it in. He's a threat and we fill the box with bodies. He's one of them. He's always close to the action, six-yard box and another goal for him. And then Martinelli, great strike. I mean, ball comes to him, he takes it on his thigh, hits it on the volley. Superb, really, flies into the far corner. And I can't really remember the last time I saw Martinelli finish quite so impressively. I know he scored some goals and some good goals in his Arsenal time, but I feel like it's been a while since he took a chance that you didn't expect him to take. This is not really a chance. It's kind of a half-chance. Normally that effort flies over the bar or it's blocked and nothing more is really thought of. It's a difficult skill to take the ball on the thigh like that and then hit it and control the finish, get the right power, the right precision. And he did. Big moment for him. I thought another good game. He finished up playing on the right, but I think generally he is better from the left. And if Boneri is now an option on the right, I think we might see that combination a little bit more between now and the end of the season. But yeah, really, really important. I mean, he is maybe the player more than anybody that we need to step up in Saka's absence, whether he plays from the right, whether he plays from the left. We need goals and assists from the wide areas. And Martinelli is the prime candidate. He's the one with the most, maybe the most room for improvement and the most potential to do it because we've seen him do it before. So really promising from him in that respect. A good result, you know, Rice came on, we saw Trossard get on, Lewis Scaley, Calafiore started, probably should have mentioned that. We lost Drew in timber to a booking, so he'll be suspended at the weekend. You'd imagine that means Thomas Partey at right back. With one of Calafiore or Lewis Scaley at left back, there'll be Rice in midfield, probably looking at Rice, Mourinho, Odegaard in midfield. And then up front, this assumes Havertz isn't available. I mean, if Havertz is available, maybe he starts with Jesus and Martinelli wide. But Boneri will feel after his performance today, he did enough to keep his place. I think, to be honest, it's not really about that at this point of the season, the game's come so thick and fast, you're almost, a degree of rotation is enforced almost. It's not really about playing well. Miles Lewis Scaley has played really well, but he had to sit out today because, you know, he needs a break and we need to recover Calafiore, get him back up to speed and get him back into the squad. So there'll be changes, there'll be three or four changes, I'm sure. But yeah, a really, really good result and a good win. Gaps now, six points, but Liverpool have their game in hand. I think we play before them because we play Saturday night and they play on Sunday, I think. I'm not sure about that, actually. I think I might have that confused. But yeah, really good result. Great start to the year. So I hope you had a good celebration for New Year's Eve, wherever you are. I wish you all the very, very, very best for 2025. I still can't get over it, 2025. It sounds very futuristic. And yeah, I'll speak to you all soon. All right, take care. Bye-bye.