Set-piece again, Set-piece again, Set-piece again, Ole Ole

TotalArsenal

It was not pretty, it was not good, but a clean-sheet 1-0 to the Arsenal at Old Toilet certainly feels great.

This was an existential battle between two teams with a lot of pressure on them that definitely would have preferred this modern classic of an encounter not to be played as the season’s opener. You could tell from the start that the stakes were high: a game neither could afford to lose and would love to win.

Eight quick conclusions:

  1. Our midfield effectiveness remains a work in progress (see previous posts). What can Arteta do to make Zubimendi and Rice much more effective? And why is Odegaard coming so deep to get the ball and carry it forward so often? I will have to watch the game again just to see these three midfielders in action again and then try to understand how they are interacting with each other. At the moment I am at a loss why I noticed them so little during the game.
  2. The left wing is not working, and I am being kind. The big question is can Arsenal afford to not buy a left winger before the window shuts?
  3. Bukayo was shackled and isolated, and so was Gyokeres. They both tried hard to have an impact but the midfield service and general team cohesion and tactics were well below par.
  4. I know I am repeating myself, but the above-mentioned three points will be key to get right this season imho. I am happy that the team decided to keep Odegaard as our captain; he cares for the club and gives his all. The question that Arteta will have to answer is whether Martin needs a period on the bench as to regain his form and confidence. His final balls/passes/shots just lack confidence and precision, and it will hurt us if it doesn’t improve soon. We currently have two underperforming ‘Martins’ and there is a player, still in red and blue stripes South of the Thames, who would be ideal to push them both all the way. Please don’t let him go to the cheesy Spuds. In the meantime, let’s give Ethan a game or two in the nr10 position.
  5. The really big positive to take from this game is the quality of our defending. The back five, all giant warriors, were outstanding. Raya was back to his very best after a couple of less convincing friendly games. He had presence and a couple of his saves were phenomenal, and I also thought that his contribution was good yesterday. Big Wil and Big Gab were awesome and all four full backs performed well. Calafiori just has the X-factor. He is still young but this may well be his big, breakout season. There is no fear or nervousness in this guy and it does not come as a surprise that he became our match winner. Love this guy.
  6. We won again through a set-piece. This has the added effect that teams will worry even more about our ability to score from them, and that in itself is a factor contributing to the successfulness of them in future games. Set-piece again, set-piece again, set-piece again, Ole Ole! 🙂
  7. Our bench was incredibly strong yesterday, and this had a big impact on our ability to see the game out and take all the three points back to North London. There were a couple of hairy moments but in general the team were in control and played with a maturity that bodes well for the season.
  8. So, plenty to improve on and plenty to admire. Key is that we won, kept a clean sheet and now do not have to come back to leaky dump of red-Manchester for an entire PL season. As we played away for our first game, we will play at home for our last game, which may well be crucial. Starting the season away is seldom easy, and playing MU straightaway could have given us an awful start to the season. Luckily, the boys made sure that they were victorious, and that is just bliss. Bring on the newly promoted Peacocks!

By TotalArsenal

39 thoughts on “Set-piece again, Set-piece again, Set-piece again, Ole Ole”

  • Thanks Total. Just finished watching Leeds beat Everton. What they lack in name players they make up for in tenacity and effort, tho’ they did have less steam in the second half. There are certainly no “peacocks” among them, just good honest pro’s. Their goal, a penalty awarded against Tarkowski for a handball that would never have been given if Arsenal were the opposition (forgive my cynicism) was just reward for their endeavours.

  • Ok Total, here’s my thoughts, if you insist 😀

    The midfield is a work in progress, maybe if Merino starts vs Leeds instead of Rice, who didn’t look 100%, then we might see more cohesion, but playing your first Premier League game in your nascent EPL career is obviously going to be difficult given the opposition and occasion, as it was for Zubimendi, the speed, the aggression and the physicality isn’t something you adapt to immediately but he’ll be fine. Odegaard will play his way back into form, I’m sure of that, but at the moment he is trying to be Captain Fantastic by doing everything?

    As for the left-wing, Martinelli had a good game except for what we wanted from him, but it will come, patience is a virtue or as they say on the Zeiderzee, deugd.

    Madueke needs time but I thought he defended well given the game state.

    With Ben White focused on defending and Odegaard’s final ball missing its target, Bakayo was certainly isolated, but I think he’s lost some sharpness since his injury, maybe it’s still on his mind? But he also came close in added time to making it 2-0 so he remains our ‘Starman’…’

  • No Total, I wouldn’t rest Martin, but I would take him off vs Leeds if we have a comfortable lead and give Ethan 20/25 minutes to keep him ticking over.

    The back-four, were superb, I’ve seen too many (on paper) better Arsenal defences collapse at OT, that ground is not a place of many happy Arsenal memories. Saliba and Gabriel were ‘on it’ from the first to the last minute, both White and Timber performed admirably at right back whilst at left-back defensive issues remain but Calafiori is a definite weapon, he’s all over the place, he is an architect of confusion to the opposition and occasionally to us but he’s worth the risk. Myles is still internalising his debut season, he’s a young man and a fluctuation in form is normal at his age, he’ll be back and firing on all cylinders soon.

    Raya is simply as good as any around, he doesn’t have the big reputation of some of Europe’s other top keepers but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and he is one tasty goalminder.

  • Set pieces, does anyone on here feel guilty about them or embarrassed?

    I don’t, I couldn’t give a toss and neither should you, so ignore all the many media barbs (from frustrated anti-Arsenal journalists) and refrain from clicking on anything that hints at depreciating what we do at corners, free kicks or throw ons, if you click on them then they’ll continue to attack us. It’s up to you!

    I love our set pieces, if we beat Liverpool at Anfield with a set piece then I will celebrate, but if you don’t then you are a mug.

    That bench was amazing, it’s what many Arsenal fans have been dreaming off, so strong that we left Kiwior off of it.
    What more do you want?
    Eze perhaps, not me I like the boy at Bournemouth….

    Positives: well I watched Leeds play Everton yesterday and thought that they’re leaning towards a team bordering on aggravated bodily harm so I wouldn’t risk playing Max Dowman against them but I predict that as long as he stays fit that he’ll make 5 or 6 appearances before the turn of the year.

    I’d like to see Mosquera get some minutes vs Leeds.

  • Thanks Orbinho for putting things into context, always:

    “Arsenal have lost none of their last 22 Premier League matches against the Big Six (W13 D9).
    This is the longest unbeaten run any team has managed against the collective opposition of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd & Spurs in Premier League history.”

    This win is all the more impressive since we were so far away from our best, for all the reasons both of you have listed above.
    Myles is at this stage in his career where he’s like the young millipede who was nothing but a happy-go-lucky undergrowth wanderer as long as he just followed his instincts, but starts mixing his multiple legs up all the time for trying to comprehend their mechanism; he’ll get over this and will be all the better after this process of digesting all that he’s learned in a year. (To help him out a little, I wish MA gave him some playing time in midfield, his natural position, and left him alone with the inverted FB thing for a while).
    I told you before what I think of Martin, Bukayo, Havertz, Marti – not much has changed since Sunday, but the one I feel for at the moment is Merino. He bailed us out so many times in 2025 – what would our 2024-25 season have looked like without him, I’d rather not think about it – that I find it a tad ungrateful (not to mention unreasonable) to give him so little playing time. I hope we’ll see much more of him in the weeks to come.
    If Martin keeps playing that deep in particular – whether it be out of respect for the manager’s tactical decision, or of personal inability to do otherwise – then Mikel should be regarded as serious competition for him imo …

  • Acceptably realistic conclusions, TA and you’ve covered much of the take from that game.
    It was always going to be a difficult game at Old Trafford, first game of the season against a rival who have bought well too. We have never had any easy game at United, even when we had the Invincible side, so pardon me when I say I shamelessly accept the 3 points with a warm feeling inside. Plus kept two dangerous EPL ready customers from scoring on their debut. Both players that interested us before. You know how those factors turn out for us.

    It wasn’t prime Arteta-ball but with the way they started aggressively, with the ref allowing them a pot (see the forearm smash on Zubimendi going without even a call), I think we had to graft, even as they forced us to make uncharacteristic errors. The good news is that our ceiling for improvement is high so expect better, going forward.

  • Having said that, we seemed to play the occasion on Sunday, showing them too much respect, as an old rival and being more cautious of the dangers they pose, instead of trying to impose our game on them. Anyway, with hardly any reliable midfielder on the bench, maybe caution was required.
    We needed to come out, keep the ball better and play more combinations (to be fair, they just didn’t let us). But don’t forget United will only play like this against Arsenal, City or Liverpool, with our case being special as they try to reduce the losses against Arteta’s Arsenal. They could well go on to lose to Fulham next week, having played their “final” on Sunday.

    We move on.

  • Yes Kev, there is time for Martinelli and Odegaard to come good. I love them both for their workrate and enthusiasm. The thing is it’s been going on for a long while now, and the goal/assists stats last season underline this. I also think you are right re Bukayo, but he was not allowed the time and space the other two had at times.

  • Yes Kev, our defence did a superb job against all that newly bought testosterone in the Mancs attack. I predict they will win their next home game with a big margin.

  • Sensible comments,Eris. I think that MU had something to proof by force and will, and Arsenal matched them for 90 minutes. That was just great to watch, such maturity.

  • Indeed, good news on the Trossard front. We do need to sell to bring in new additions to that left side, but Trossard is one player I was going to be sad to see leave. Some fans opine that we should sell Martinelli instead; do they even see how much work he puts in helping out in defence? I know he needs to improve on his primary duties and that’s down to the coaching crew. I would tell him to keep things simple: get to the by-line, look up and put in a cross; no complications.

    For me, Odegaard was one of our better performers on the day and his stats show it as he was 1st on the relevant indices: Touches, touches in opposition box, possession won back, distance covered, pressure on the ball…. He did also lose possession a lot, to be fair. So, other than Raya, Gabriel, Calafiori, Timber and maybe, Zubimendi, I don’t know who else played as well. For the occasions when he (appeared to have) made the wrong pass selection, while driving forward, one could also put those down to wrong runs by those around him, particularly on the occasion we were bearing down on their goal, 3 on 3; Martinelli opted to run inside when he could have pulled away to drag Yoro with him giving Ode more room to give a better pass, or shoot.

    There is room for improvement and it will come gradually. I predict we will be firing after the first international break.

  • All good points, Eris. There is certainly hope the players will start to gel better soon. I have been concerned about Martin’s quality of his final decision/ball for a long time now. He has lost the on-field midas touch. When you look at his face you can tell he is not in the best of places. I love him because he truly cares for the club, and I hope he will get better soon.

    I think Martinelli needs to go.

  • James McNicholas on the Athletic I believe Total, Arseblog reporting it as well.

  • I think if we want to compete we need to retain our squad, I’d only be in favour of selling Lokonga, Vieira, Hein and Nelson, the situation can change rapidly so I want our players to stay.

    Last season taught us how quickly you can lose 3, 4 or 5 important players and how it stymies your ability to challenge. Never mind all that Pep nonsense about having 18 players we need the maximum not least because of how differently we’re treated by the PGMOL

  • Interesting to see the narrative coming from Spain now is that Real Madrid are prepared to take a considerable drop in the asking price for Rodrygo from €100m to between €60m/€70m…

    Could that be connected to Rodrygo’s salary demands?

    Man City walking away was notable!

  • Thanks, Kev. That sounds quite reliable.

    Leandro is the sort of player to score the winner in a final. He will add goals and assists throughout the season. All good. I wonder whether this means Martinelli will be on the bench much more now. A starting front line of Trossard, Gyokeres and Saka in most games is appealing.

  • I have seen the Trossard story on multiple channels too. It is reported as a bump in salary with no changes to the length of the current contract. That may suggest it was about the money; his age still a concern for the club so, no extension.

  • Martinelli overthinks his actions and is pressured by the need to deliver as Saka does. Nothing more. Of course, his decision making needs to improve too (like I observed the unhelpful run he made to mess up Ode’s intended pass), but I feel the coaching crew can help him here. We now have the presence of Gyokeres in the box so he needs to be told to look out for him and ping crosses to increase his assist and key pass stats. After a while, defenders won’t find him that easy to predict as he mixes it up.

    Personally, unless we find a winger to put in the work he does, and is better at wing play than he is, keep Martinelli, keep Trossard and Madueke can moonlight as potential sub for both wings.

  • Your continued support for Martinelli is commendable, Eris. I think I have seen enough to believe that, like Iwobi a few years ago, it’s time to move him on. If he stays I hope he will come good of course. The big question is why has he deteriorated so,much from his great season when Granit was still in the team? 15 PL goals!

  • While there may be other reasons (Sussed out, coaching, personal issues, tactical instruction, etc.), that’s your answer right there, TA. Xhaka was the fulcrum of our midfield then and made it easy for Martinelli to shine. Today, our play is usually mostly on the right side, with Odegaard and Ben White/Timber making for a trio that is hard to keep in check, on a good day.

    Martinelli frustrates me too, many times, hence I stated that if we get a better replacement, let’s sell, by all means. For now, you can tell Arteta likes some things about him.

  • Kiwior plus 30 mil for Eze? They likely need a replacement for Guehi if he heads for the Mersey. Or, perhaps Kiwior and Reece both? Wouldn’t that be tidy.

  • I’m reading it’s £60m with another £10m in add-ons for Eze, that the clubs have agreed as Steve Parish is sick of negotiating with Tottenham and especially Daniel Levy, he just wants to feck them off.

    Doesn’t stop Palace approaching Arsenal for Nelson or Vieira or Kiwior after the Eze deal is completed.

  • That Eze transfer news was a bit of a shocker; for our fans and the Spurs hierarchy. Well done, Arsenal! Making big club moves now and putting the spud dies in their place.

    Eze will add value and improve us, but it also slows Dowman and Nwaneri, to be fair, if they are considered Odegaard back-up. He is predominantly a left sided No. 10 and may also help Martinelli. Too many permutations.

  • The Eze deal has some connotations with the Sol Campbell deal.

    Arsenal fans are celebrating taking a player from under Tottenham’s nose and the Spuds are losing it over Daniel Levy’s negotiating skills.

    For me Zubimendi and Gyokeres are bigger deals but you can’t blame the fans for partying on top of the N17 disappointment.

  • I think it is a huge signing if confirmed by Arsenal. Absolutely massive. He has the power and shooting ability of a Robert Pires, and he will have the hunger and desire to take his chance now that he has returned to the Home of Football.

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