CP&Brighton - on the bus. Flexing confidence and maturity?
Arsenal have secured two more clean sheet victories – a tough fixture against Crystal Palace and a Carabao clash against Brighton – bringing our impressive October tally to six such results.
One-nil to the Arsenal
Our second tight Premier League victory, this time against Crystal Palace, has seen us surge a tidy six points clear of City, with Liverpool even further adrift.
Now, I’ll be honest – 1-0 wins aren’t exactly my cup of tea. I believe relying on such a tight margin isn’t sustainable in the long term. The pure individual quality in the Premier League means even the unlikeliest of chances can be buried, much like Szoboszlai’s free kick back in August. Plus, no one’s immune to a cruel deflection or a dodgy penalty call that a hesitant VAR room somehow misses. For a title-chasing side, I believe the bare minimum is to relentlessly push for a two-goal cushion until the final ten minutes.
That said, the Crystal Palace encounter wasn’t without its mitigating circumstances. Firstly, it followed a gruelling, emotionally charged midweek win over Atleti. These sorts of fixtures invariably drain the players’ reserves. We don’t need to search long for examples – City, Liverpool, and Chelsea all lost in their respective clashes after the big Champions League nights.
Secondly, this season’s Palace are an exceptionally well-drilled outfit. They’ve fashioned a perfectly organised 5-4-1 defensive setup, complete with relentless cover, extra protection for our danger men and danger areas, and a knack for closing any open space. To top it off, they’re spearheaded by Mateta – arguably one of the Premier League’s premier counter-attacking strikers (the best would obviously be Viktor, right?). Again, we don’t need to search far for proof. Beyond their high Premier League standing, they completely dismantled Liverpool at Anfield in the Carabao Cup, all while juggling European commitments.
So, a win against such an opponent is, in itself, a commendable result. Especially given our defence barely afforded them a sniff of a chance. And any crosses they might have hoped to exploit were expertly dealt with by the large hands of Don Raya himself.
The post-match discourse revolved around Arsenal’s supposed lack of goals from open play. This topic is mostly trotted out by pundits, of course, to stir up a reaction on social media and rack up those precious likes and views. From our calm point of view, at the top of the league, there’s little to worry about, with one crucial condition: we should bag at least five goals across our next two opponents, Burnley and Sunderland. The trips to Fulham and the home clash with Crystal Palace primarily demanded a result, but the Burnley game screams for a dominant performance, a chance to inflate our goal difference, and to inject a potent dose of confidence and fear into our opponents’ collective minds.
Gyokeres again?
The second most popular talk of the town was the performance of Viktor Gyokeres. There are two distinct camps on this: one criticises his lack of pace, poor first touch, and inconsistent link-up play (which, admittedly, has truth to it), while the others praise his relentless work rate and ability to occupy defenders (which is also undeniably true).
My take is that we simply look worse with Merino leading the line as our number nine. I know Arteta has been effusive in his praise for Merino’s game reading skills and tactical awareness. I understand he’s better at holding the ball up and is a superior passer to Gyokeres. However, in this league, his speed just isn’t enough. An organised defence can deal with him quite easily.
Merino’s having a stellar season for his national team, and that makes perfect sense. International squads only get together for a few weeks a year, often with shuffled line-ups and managerial changes. At that level of football, instincts and game reading become a decisive factor. You can dominate Bulgarian and Turkish defences by simply being in the right place at the right time. But in the Premier League, defenders will be breathing down your neck a split second later.
Even Gyokeres, a noticeably quicker player than Merino, struggles to win those foot races against half the Premier League centre backs. But at the very least, he wears them down with his tireless runs, creating opportunities for his teammates to karate kick the ball into the back of the net.
I believe a duo of Havertz and Gyokeres is genuinely complementary and could work wonders for our team. One can link up with our attacking midfield, receive the ball between defenders, and hold it up for an oncoming runner. The other will run tirelessly and also possesses a powerful shot to unleash on target. It would be incredibly challenging for defenders to cope with 60 minutes of one and 30 minutes of the other. With their completely different styles, they’d be forced to adapt their game mid-match, which is no easy feat. My hunch is that with a fully fit Kai, our attack will start to shine with a bit more colour.
Eze the punisher
The game’s sole goal came from a rapid strike by an ex-Crystal Palace player. It’s a brutal twist of fate to punish the club that made your name with such a decisive, well-executed goal. But let’s be fair, this isn’t a charity business; £68 million landed in Crystal Palace’s bank accounts, and this goal is precisely why that money was paid.
The rest of Eze’s performance wasn’t quite as dazzling, and from what I’ve observed, this is something we should probably anticipate and accept. Eberechi isn’t Odegaard; he won’t be effortlessly pinging passes left and right, patiently probing for gaps in the defence. He won’t be tracking up and down the pitch to collect the ball and try to stretch the opposition.
Eze will attempt those audacious, risky passes and often they’ll go astray. Eze will trick opponents with an unexpected backheel flick after being thwarted multiple times. He won’t create a steady stream of half-chances, but most likely, once or twice during a game, he’ll produce a moment of sheer brilliance: the karate-kick finish against Palace, that sensational 40-metre assist to Martinelli against City, the one-touch cross directly into Gyokeres’s path against Forest, or that unlucky shot against Newcastle.
And, to be perfectly frank, this is exactly what we need. We require diverse options in our squad, different tools we can deploy when things aren’t quite clicking. It’s not just Eze, either; Ethan also offers a distinct style compared to those two, probably closer to Eze than to Odegaard: explosive shooting, ambitious passes, and impressive dribbling prowess - the abilities he showcased brilliantly against Brighton.
Heaviest of Rotations
The primary concern ahead of the Carabao clash was whether Arteta would revert to last season’s habit and field a slightly mixed regular eleven against an undoubtedly dangerous Premier League opponent. Mikel, however, did the complete opposite, rolling out an entirely changed side with Eze being the sole constant.
I suppose after assembling such an impressively large squad of expensive players, Arteta didn’t leave himself much room for manoeuvre. If the £55 million Hincapie, experienced heads like Ben White and Norgaard, last season’s hero Lewis-Skelly, and young talents Mosquera, Nwaneri, and Dowman can’t get a start in the Carabao Cup, where exactly will they get one?
That said, Arteta didn’t have to field an entirely new defensive pairing and start a 17-year-old striker with a rather long surname at number 9. He could have opted for the traditional Merino choice but instead went for the promising youngster. And that, in my humble opinion, is nothing short of a brilliant decision. It sends a clear message not only to the current academy players but also to the high-level prospects Arsenal’s academy will undoubtedly want to sign: if you possess talent, the right attitude, and work hard, you can break into Arsenal’s senior team. You will get your chances, and it’s up to you to seize them. Andre’s debut didn’t exactly set the world alight, but it was by no means a poor performance. His activity and dangerous chance ultimately led to Saka’s ruthless shot that sealed the game.
The game didn’t look particularly great in the first half. A first half where Brighton carved out at least three very good scoring opportunities, but none other than Kepa Arrizabalaga kept us in the contest. It’s genuinely reassuring to witness such a confident display from your backup keeper and speaks volumes about the newly achieved depth of the squad. I genuinely believe Kepa should be rewarded for his performance with a start against Burnley or Sunderland to maintain his motivation and ensure he continues to be a strong stand-in option. I know many managers are hesitant to rotate their goalkeepers, but I see no reason why an experienced shot-stopper can’t have an occasional Premier League start; it would only enhance his understanding and cohesion with our defence. Another shout-out to Arteta for sticking with his starting eleven and not rushing into changes after that shaky first half.
Ethan found the net after an assist from Myles, capping off a brilliant combination from the left flank. Dowman very nearly earned us a penalty after gracefully dancing around the Brighton left-back. I think he’s a little bit light on his feet and needs to master a more convincing falling technique. Currently, he looks as if he’s merely being shunted around due to differences in physical attributes.
All in all, a great result, and our good friends Crystal Palace await in the next round. I still think we need to see a rotated team there, perhaps with one or two more senior names.
“Tears on Turf Moor”
That should be our aim for Saturday. We’re playing in the early kick-off and we need to deliver a powerful statement to pile the pressure on Manchester City, who face a tricky Bournemouth side on Sunday.
Burnley are the team with the highest expected goals (xG) conceded in the league, and we simply can’t ignore that fact. We need to unleash our confident, ruthless squad and carve them up in the first half. I’d genuinely love to see Nwaneri get another start. He needs to be gaining more Premier League experience, and there aren’t many better opponents in the league to master his number 10 craft. Eze, having played three games on the bounce, would certainly be a prime candidate for a well-deserved rest.
I’d also prefer to see Saka start on the bench. If starting Dowman is deemed too risky (which I honestly don’t believe it is), I’d opt for Martinelli on the right and Trossard on the left from the get-go. I believe this decision would benefit everyone. The starter (whoever that may be) would gain a confidence boost from the manager’s trust, and Saka coming on against a fatigued defence is a whole different level of threat. Bukayo can effortlessly glide past two or three defenders and deliver an unforgivable blow to the opposition.As I’ve mentioned before, I’d also start Kepa, but the rest of the squad would largely be the one that was rested on Wednesday.
I genuinely think this team has hunger in their eyes, and they are more than capable of taking another significant step towards the title. It’s a truly brilliant time to be an Arsenal fan, and I absolutely cannot wait for the match!