Before Sunderland. Maintaining the reputation
The 8th clean sheet in a row across three tournaments that was almost ruined by a meaningless penalty.
Mild rotation
Arteta made a few tweaks to the line-up from Saturday, with Hincapie, Nwaneri, Norgaard, and the seemingly “no alternative” Merino all getting a start. The rotation appeared perfectly reasonable, and once the result was secured, further substitutions were made to give more players a run-out. Eze finally made it onto the bench. My only real concerns are for Timber and Saka, who are now facing their sixth start in just 22 days. We simply can’t afford to lose either of those players. Last year, Arteta overworked Saka to the point of a hamstring injury, which sidelined him for almost half the season.
I understand the potential risks of playing White, who has lost a bit of his pace, alongside Dowman, who perhaps isn’t yet physically up to providing defensive support in that position. However, rotating one of them doesn’t strike me as a bad idea. Saka demonstrated a superb understanding with White and can be mindful not to leave his teammate exposed, while Timber undoubtedly possessed the qualities and engine to do the work of two men and cover his wing effectively.
Myles Lewis-Skelly has likely dropped to third-choice left-back in the squad. I empathise with him, given this shift from being one of last season’s standout players to now receiving only scraps of minutes, especially at his young age. I truly hope that our defensively saturated squad will allow us to see a bit of Myles in midfield. With Merino becoming a primary attacking option, Myles could be rotated into that left-sided ‘eight’ role, where he naturally operates anyway. He’s certainly comfortable in that position and takes on the duties expected of a central midfielder. His only potential current weakness is discipline, which might be a concern for Arteta. However, as previously discussed, his current situation is a true mental test, and the fact that he isn’t getting sent off is a huge testament to his character.
Merino the boss
Mikel Merino bagged a brace against Slavia, further padding his impressive goal-scoring tally. As anticipated in the preview, he had several opportunities against the Slavia defenders, who were clearly unfamiliar with his style and didn’t have the physical attributes to truly shackle him. However, the Premier League will be a different beast entirely. Teams and coaches know him far better, and with the general intensity and blistering pace of the Premier League (where even the likes of Gyokeres can struggle to win the ball), Merino might find himself an easier target. The less effort required to stop Merino, the more bandwidth defenders will have to nullify other attacking threats from other areas. The Sunderland match is set to be a much tougher affair, and every goal will be worth its weight in gold.
The Sunderland Test
The final weekend before the international break throws up a proper test. Sunderland haven’t lost at home yet and are looking incredibly organised. This is precisely the kind of fixture where Arsenal, given their position, find it tough to come out smelling of roses. If we drop points, a title contender simply can’t afford to do that against a newly-promoted side. If it’s a marginal win, all those tiresome discussions about “a rainy day in Stoke” will inevitably resurface. Only a confident, dominant victory will give us the mental advantage.
A deeper dive into Sunderland’s results reveals they’ve actually conceded more goals than the stats suggest they should have. But this is football, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter as long as the team keeps churning out results. And that’s definitely the case for our opponents, who currently occupy fourth spot in the table. It would probably take a thrashing for their actual performance metrics to align with the underlying stats, and I don’t foresee that happening with Mikel Merino spearheading our attack.
Every positive result boosts their players’ confidence in their ability to take the biggest scalps in the country. The plot thickens, too, with old friend Xhaka marshalling their midfield as captain.
I know many fans warmed to Xhaka after he played a part in our successful 22/23 campaign. Not me, though. I still believe he was far too undisciplined on the pitch and caused us no end of problems. And when you tell your own fans to “f*** off”, it certainly shows how much you truly care about them. Fans don’t have many meaningful ways to give feedback to their millionaire team. A collective reaction in the stadium is one of the few, and it only happens when the sentiment is genuinely widespread amongst the crowd. So, if you finally received that much-deserved, one-off negative feedback, and it wounded your precious ego, frankly, I don’t want you associated with my club.
Clean sheet records
The last thing I wanted to touch on is this whole “clean sheet record” topic that has got the fan base absolutely buzzing. Personally, I reckon it’s a bit of a dangerous distraction for the team. Now, if we were genuinely on the cusp of a major record and only needed a couple more clean sheets, then fair enough, it’s a reasonable priority to keep in mind.
However, this constant chatter about the lowest goals conceded for Chelsea is completely out of order. That record won’t mean a bit if we don’t win the league, and the league title should be our absolute main priority. Prioritising a clean sheet over bagging three points could genuinely cost us some vital results. I’d much rather see us safely win 3-1, where we’ve got a comfortable margin and the opposition aren’t quite as aggressive after already scoring, than a narrow 1-0 that might keep the clean sheet intact but could be undone by a fluke deflection or a dodgy VAR call. I know the fans’ obsession with this is a bit unhealthy, and I sincerely hope the clean sheet record isn’t at the forefront of the players’ minds, even though recent interviews suggest they’re thinking about it quite a bit. Hopefully, the gaffer is utterly consumed by the title race and will drill into the players that it’s the be-all and end-all, especially after a 20-year drought. Everything else that comes with it, including this record, is just a nice bonus. As long as we’re lifting the trophy in May, I couldn’t care less who puts a dent in our clean sheet stats, whether it’s Spurs after the international break or Sunderland before it. Let’s hope Xhaka doesn’t go home buzzing today!