ARSENAL SAVAGE NAPOLI WITH GUMS

Scanning the Champions League opening games, there’s no doubt in my mind that Arsenal and Liverpool were put in the hardest games. No GBAANK FRITrR or SC SEAL PUP for us. A proper game, away from home, in a country that has not been kind to us over the past twenty years.

But my word, was Naples kind to Arsenal. Massimiliano Allegri, famous for being a bit of a diva when Arsenal interviewed him to take over from Arsene Wenger, took a walloping. If this sort of thing happened in Roman times, no doubt he’d have been exiled for besmirching the defensive reputation of glorious Italy. Have you seen the islands they exiled the elites to back then? Really nice to be fair.

Not the point. Napoli conceded 4.2 xG. That was from 26 shots. That is ‘Derby County have spent £12m after gaining promotion’ levels of spankery. Italian teams just don’t let you have your way with them like that. It was shocking how much control we had… but nothing was as shocking as our finishing.

It was real bad. Hincapie, Merino, and Madueke missed chances that they should have been finishing. If we’d drawn the opener, best believe we’d be having more extreme conversations, but, as it happens… we did what we needed to do. Tzolis was the difference maker again, offering the final move in a tika taka sequence Wenger would have been proud of… followed by a deeply impressive screamer from Captain Odegaard from 18 yards. All the more impressive considering the goalkeeper looked like he’d hopped out of the Techno Viking music video from 20 years ago.

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