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Arsenal 2 – 1 Wolves – a win by the skin of our teeth

Wow we were lucky to take three points at home from Wolves. It was a bad day at the office saved by OG – no not Olivier Giroud (oh how we missed a player with his aerial dominance, yesterday!) – but Own Goal, which is very harsh on the hard working, disciplined Wolves players, but we will take these gifts with Christmassy gratitude.

Ten Observations/Statements/discussion points:

1. Tempo and intensity, and of course discipline all over the pitch, are needed to crack a low block. We were not at the races yesterday. Too ponderous, too slow, too predictable. Simply too one-dimensional. In the previous post the Duc de Normandie gave a plausible explanation: the boys knew about a two-day break coming up and their heads and legs were already there. We still got the three points thanks to that sweet left foot of Bukayo – his name actually means ‘adds to happiness’ and doesn’t he just! – and the return of Jesus – who of course is happiness personified.
2. Eze or Odegaard behind the attack? It really is a world of difference whoever plays there. Eze seems to hug close to the D mainly and awaits the ball, whereas Odegaard comes deeper to rotate the ball and look for openings. Neither has (re)found their feet as yet in this position. Work to be done on the training ground.
3. Martinelli as a starter seems to always disappoint. Lacks the trickery of Leandro and is a chancer with his balls into the box. So few assists are evidence of this. Supersub potential yes, but starter… it’s a no from me. Who should be starting on the left wing: Martinelli, Madueke, Leandro or Eze?
4. Arsenal conceded a late goal too many times recently. And it seems a similar kind of goal too. What’s going on there?
5. Rice and Saliba may have returned which is of course good news, but boy did they look sluggish. Declan forced himself onto the game in the second half but he did not look right to me. A short break seems just right right now.
6. I think Raya may be our most consistently high-performing player in the squad. Often not much to do but when called on he is just there for us. Love this guy.
7. In a recent post I mentioned how important Big Gabby is for us, and his absence seems to support this, unfortunately. Our set-piece routine has become significantly less effective, and at the back we miss his leadership and aerial command.
8. Having said that, Hincapie has done a great job replacing the Brazilian giant. Early days but he looks really, really good.
9. Ben White too injury-prone? We all rate and love him, but it looks like he will be in and out of the treatment room forever. Such a shame.
10. Gyokeres always puts in a shift but it just does not seem to pay off for him personally. The service could certainly be better, and I am looking at you Eze, Martinelli, Odegaard especially, but he also seems to not have the power or confidence to boss the box and force the ball over the line at the moment. Has he returned too early?

Time for a break and some serenity. 🙂

By TotalArsenal.

Firstly, a few words about the Villa game. We lost but I was very, very proud of the way the boys fought till the end. The loss did not come as a surprise given the form of Villa and having to play them away, and of course the 3 out of 4 CBs missing did not help. Yet we bossed large parts of the game and had chances to win it. It was a fab game of football and a draw would have been a fairer result, but for me the fight for the win, the passion in the team, and the devastation of the players at the end showed us how ready these guys are to win the title. I cannot ask for more.

Second part of season starts NOW.

We all know that a season has two halves. Every team will be played home and away, and once we played all teams once the second part of the season starts (except for the games v Villa which will be completed before we have played all teams at least once). Yet, when I looked at the Arsenal scheduled fixtures for this season, it was clear to me that the season for us would be split into the first 15 games and then the remaining 23. If we did well in those first 15 and stayed in touch with the league leaders, I thought, we would have a good chance of winning the league.

Many of the really hard away games are front-loaded during these first 15 games. Man United (somehow never easy for us), Liverpool, Newcastle, Sunderland (okay this was not expected to be such a hard fixture), Chelsea and Villa away are now all behind us, and yet we actually lead the league. This is a fantastic achievement, especially with so many injuries concentrated in key areas (attack and recently our central defence). We will of course have to play these teams again but playing them at home is a big advantage.

There are some remaining hard away fixtures like Spuds and Man City, and the likes of Nottingham Forest and Brighton will certainly be tough nuts to crack, but it really feels to me that the remainder of the season will be much more manageable. There is a good flow to this for the team and management to prepare well and know when they have to peak, and the home crowd and stadium make such a big difference in these key battles.

The team did also amazing in the CL and can take the coming three games lightly, if they so wish. The focus now has to be on the PL and try and push through as many wins as possible. Key is to nurse back our central defenders as soon as reasonably possible, and avoid further injuries. Easier said than done of course. For some reason, we keep getting those injuries in specialised areas constantly, and I don’t really know why this seem to be happening to Arsenal especially. Any thoughts, BKers?

It is time to increase the gap between us and especially Citeh, so let’s get cracking. But first we have to cross the Brugge. No idea what the lineup for rhis game will be. Again, any thoughts?

By TotalArsenal.

Arsenal 3 – 1 Bayern Munich

I don’t know about you, but I am still getting used to this new era of consistently good Arsenal performances and successes. They are so frequent now that we are becoming addicted to them and, like a gambling addiction, we just cannot wait for our boys to play again, to win again, to satisfy our unquenchable hunger. The team keeps delivering and with key players returning to the squad the sky seems the limit. But we need to keep our feet on the ground, of course, and focus on OGAAT only.

Last night performance against the German champions was such fantastic evidence of the true progress Arsenal have made under Arteta. Gone are the days of fearing these sort of encounters. It does of course make a big difference whether we play the likes of Atletico or Bayern at home or away, and I would like to see us taking these teams on away from Ashburton Grove rather sooner than later, but there is also the factor of home crowd expectations and pressure; and these the boys are managing ever so well these days.

Eight quick observations:

1. Rice (supported by the solid rock Zubimendi) is starting to realise that he is the one to lead this team to the final stage of its development. Systems and culture are great, teams need to play like a unconquerable team, quality players are needed and so is depth of squad, but at some point a player in midfield needs to lead a team to glory. All great teams had such a player. Declan is that player for us, and his second half performance was a statement to the rest of Europe and the PL. Rice is ready to burst to the summit.
2. Bayern tried to play their football against us, but with just two shots on goal in the entire match we can safely say that they failed. It was another demonstration of Arsenal’s ability to control games, set the tempo and (gradually) overcome an opponent. The Germans started quite strong but they soon realised that they needed something very special to crack us. Once Arsenal warmed up, we slowly became stronger and stronger and the game seemed to simply pass Bayern by the longer it took; like the boys dozed them to sleep. This is all down to Arsenal’s tactics and application of Arteta’s instructions.
3. The set-pieces looked even more impressive against players who have not experienced anything like it in the Bundesliga. If Merino had had a bit more focus and luck he would have scored a brace last night. I bet the Bayern defenders and goalkeeper will have recurring nightmares of last night’s set-piece bombardment!
4. Miles did struggle at times but I loved the way the team sensed this and made sure they doubled up as much as possible. Arteta made the right decision to sub him after 68 minutes, which did only strengthen our defence but also led to the all important second goal.
5. I thought Raya, who actually had little to do with his gloves, did very, very well with his feet. His decision-making and distribution of the ball were a joy to watch – a class apart last night.
6. Once again, we used both flanks very well, which is a huge difference to last season. Teams focus hard on Saka by denying him space and fouling him as soon as he breaks free. But we do need to feed him better balls to use him better. The good news is Odegaard is back, and we all know how well he is able to combine with Bukayo; but the big question is will he fit back in to the team now that Eze is so settled in?
7. Gabriel, who?! I really thought we would struggle more without Big Gabby, but both Hincapie and Mosquera just fit like a glove into our defence. It is quite astonishing how unaffected our defending is by the absence of such a big player as our Brazilian monster.
8. I want to finish with that smile of Madueke after he scored, AND yet another incredible CL goal by Martinelli. These boys started on the bench but what a difference they made straightaway in the game. Martinelli just seems to fly rather than run when we can break from the back, and how deadly he is every time! Noni made sure that a fine cross by Calafiori was not wasted, and I am sure that every Arsenal supporter with a human heart was as delighted as he was with his ever-so-important goal. Only good things happen to man who can beam a smile like Noni does.

By TotalArsenal.

Over a quarter of PL games played and things are looking fabulous for Arsenal. Top of the League, third highest goals scored, meanest defence, shared biggest goal difference, four points clear of nr.2, and that all with a high number of injuries in the attacking third AND trying to embed a large number of new signings!

There is a long way to go and but there are well-founded reasons for optimism. Let’s try and sum them up:

1. The obvious one, other than our current position at the top of the league, is our squad-depth. Arsenal have been praised for spending their money much better than most other PL clubs. There is quality everywhere, including the backup, and that is a necessary-luxury – to use an oxymoron – we have all dreamed of.
2. The goals are spread out and we are as unpredictable as ever when it comes to who will score in a game. Haaland FC owe 14 of their 23 PL games to the berserker. That team are over-reliant on him and a drop of form, injury or suspension is likely to cost Citeh dearly. This does not take away that we need to score more goals: 20 in 11 games is okay but not great. But Arsenal had to do without our creator exceptional, Martin Odegaard, and our inability to use either Havartz, Jesus or Madueke for most of our PL games has surely also led to a reduced goal threat.
3. Viktor Gyokeres has four PL goals which is certainly not a bad return. We all know that he does so much more for the team, and I am glad he is having a break from it all to take it all in and come out all guns blazing when he is fit again. Viktor is exactly the sort of player we were missing last season, and I am really glad he is Gunner now (sorry girlfriend).
4. A really clever move by the club was the improved contract for Leandro. He is no longer paid peanuts and he certainly is no monkey. I think he has fought very hard for making the left wing as threatening as the right wing, and that is no mean feat. His interplay with Rice and Calafiori is clever, three-dimensional and deadly, and he certainly is playing his best football (in a red and white shirt) now.
5. This also puts less pressure on Bukayo who, without Madueke available to give him a rest, needs to keep himself fit and play as efficient as he can. And as a result we have a much more balanced attack by using both wings equally. This is helped by Gyokeres’ tendency to play slightly more on our left. And when Odegaard returns we are likely to see even more balance in our attack, as he likes to play more on the right side of the pitch, with Bukayo being the biggest profiteer of this.
6. The attackers are aided significantly by the the quality wing-backs Mikel can choose from. Calafiori and Timber, MLS and White, they are all just fabulous support for overlaps and passing mates to get through those doubled/tripled-up back-areas. I am still a bit shocked when I see one of them in the box to try and finish an attacking move, but I feel this will make a real difference this season.
7. The duo of Rice and Zubimendi – RiceMendi – is a joy to watch, and there is even more to come from them. They are the complete midfielders with big football brains, and together they form a wall on which the defence and attack depend. And again, there is ample backup with Norgaard and Merino, which means that Mikel can rest our Kings-duo on a regular basis.
8. Talking about Merino, what an incredibly versatile player he is, and we are lucky to have him. It will not be easy for Arteta to keep him happy, as his fellow Spaniard is the sort of player who wants to play as many games as possible (and is in high demand). But this season Merino is super important because of his many skills and attitude, both as a starter and a sub, and he is making a big difference for us.
9. I think we are much less vulnerable to injuries this season, but Big Gabby is my only worry. He has become a real leader of the team, not just at the back but also during set-pieces. His contributions – in hard cash – are out of this world. Defensively an injury to Gabriel would be bearable, with Mosquera and Hincapie (or Calafiori) being good replacements, but the aerial threat during set-pieces AND his ability to inject energy and chutzpah into the team are almost irreplaceable.
10. Our set-pieces are works of art that sell for top-dollar straightaway. Arsenal do not play to get set-pieces – the big difference with the likes of Stoke in the past – but realise that they are part of the game and it would be a waste to not try and maximise on them. And boy do Arsenal do that. We are leading the pack on this and long may it continue.
11. Finally, I have been impressed with Eze’s contributions to the team so early on. Clearly, he needs time to settle in and understand Arteta’s style of play, but he is calm, silky, solid and just so mature by nature, and I love watching him. There is certainly even more to come. I am also happy with Nwaneri’s progress this season. He is without doubt finding his feet in the nr10 position and has not been as electric as I think he can be, but this is all part of growing from a ferocious talent to an effective squad/starting-11 player, and that is certainly the most difficult stage in a player’s career ask ESR). I think Arteta is managing this really well. My big hope is that Odegaard will return soon and play a big part in the second half of the season.

By TotalArsenal

Just four goals scored in the last three PL games and still 9 points. The reason for this is of course our mean, lean defence-machine. Open up the Arsenal laundry cupboard and you will see where Raya and co have been squirrelling away their treasured clean sheets. Make sure you’ll put sunglasses on, though, as you may be blinded by their radiant whiteness.

The depth in defence is just incredible. I have not seen Hincapie in action much, but I sense he will be awesome too. We have double cover in all five positions (including goalkeeper) and that’s so different from our squads over the last twenty years or so. The king of the defence and Set-Piece FC is Big Gabby, and Arteta needs to try and keep him fit for the whole season as he is quite irreplaceable at the moment.

The win against Palace was a vital one for which the team had to dig deep. Fulham, Atletico Madrid and Palace in just eight days was challenging, but three clean sheets and set-piece magic saw us through. There is a lot of talk about the strength of our squad, but not much is said about the fact that we have been missing four internationals for quite a while now: Madueke, Havertz, Jesus and Martin Odegaard. That is a hell of lot of creative/fire power unavailable to Mikel. I thought Bukayo and Viktor looked a bit jaded, and Eze, despite his beautifully taken goal, also lacked spark and concentration yesterday.

The Eagles are a solid team with both strength and penetration up front, and I thought the boys managed them very, very well. The Gunners won three very important points in the PL and many should now get a rest for the Brighton cup game. The next big one is on Saturday in Burnley. We don’t play that many games in the North-West any more; remember the days when we had to go up there a lot to play the likes of Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn (and Stoke)? It was never easy, was it?! If Arsenal push through now a nice gap with the likes of Citeh, Pool, Chavs and MU can be obtained. It is my experience that during the busy December schedule teams more or less gain and lose the same number of points, so now is the time to make the gap as big as possible. Burnley will be no push-overs, so our focus needs to be on that match.

Having said that, I do look forward to the Brighton game on Wednesday. This is a great opportunity to use the wider squad against a very good team that will give us a tough game. Fabian Hurzeler loves to get one over Arteta, and this competition is a great way to win some silverware for the South-Coasters.

What do you think will be our line-up?

By TotalArsenal