Forest - on the bus. Every f*cking time
A disappointing goalless draw dampens the afternoon excitement.
The day kicked off with some cracking news from Manchester. United, under their new-yet-old-yet-somehow-new interim boss, managed to take the scalp of Manchester City. This handed Arsenal a massive opportunity to open up a nine-point gap at the top and practically wrap up the title by mid-January. The last time we had a chance like this, we ended up botching it with a draw against Liverpool. In a flash interview Arteta played down any talk of the result affecting the camp, insisting we focus on our own game. That’s fair enough, but there’s no way the mood in the dressing room didn’t shift after that result in Manchester.
The starting XI showed Arteta felt the need for a bit of rotation on the Arsenal side, with Madueke and Martinelli drafted in from the off. There were changes on the bench too, with the returning Mosquera taking the place of the never-trusted Norgaard. Timber started at left-back again, which makes sense given we needed to snuff out the threat of Hudson-Odoi on the break—something Myles hasn’t exactly excelled at lately.
While I get the logic of this decision, it’s worth noting that Timber playing left-back always ends up in him drifting centrally mirroring the inversion patterns of Zinchenko or Lewis-Skelly. The first knock-on effect is that Martinelli is left isolated on his flank, meaning we can’t expect much threat from his side. The second issue is that Timber, Rice, and Zubimendi all end up clogging the central midfield, with Odegaard often joining the crowd.
Against a side like this, which parks up to ten men in the box, we need someone who can ghost between the lines and keep the attack moving. Kai used to be brilliant at that before his long-term injury, and Eze or Merino have occupied those spaces when Odegaard was out. Against such a disciplined block, having both Zubimendi and Odegaard feels a bit redundant. They’re both conductors who like to pull strings from deep, but against a packed Forest, we really only needed one. To avoid stepping on Timber’s toes, Rice pushed further up, but we all know that’s not where he shines. He’s a box-to-box engine, not a locksmith for picking locks.
To be fair, I hadn’t really advocated for Eze as a starting option, given his poor form lately. But Arteta has another number 10 in the ranks: Ethan Nwaneri. He’s aggressive, a tidy dribbler, and has a wand of a left foot. He might not be the ultimate distributor just yet, but with Zubimendi on the pitch, he didn’t need to be. We also didn’t need a pressing machine today; we needed a 10 who could receive the ball on the edge of a crowded box and make something happen.
Forest went with their first-choice back four and their two best holding midfielders. Having seen them in the flesh at the Emirates back in September, I was struck by just how massive their defenders are. Murillo is a proper unit, built like a brick wardrobe - as wide as he is tall. I knew straight away that Gyokeres would struggle to outmuscle those two mountains, which is why I called for Jesus in the preview; he at least has the chance to skip past them using his dribbling skills. I also knew it was unlikely for us to count on getting joy from set pieces.
Our main strategy in the first half was to unlock Forest through Madueke’s quick feet. Noni was drawing in defenders like a porch light draws in moths on a summer night. The big question was whether he could find a teammate after beating his man. He did pick out Martinelli via a deflection, but Gabi rushed it and fluffed his lines.
It’s becoming clear that Martinelli isn’t a “one chance” player. His performance is built on confidence and his confidence builds up when he’s involved in the game. When he’s frozen out of the build-up for half an hour, he’s unlikely to bury the first chance that comes his way, regardless of how good it is. You could see just how he was practically ignored in that first half.
That’s why Gabi really sparks into life when Jesus is on the pitch. If you’ve seen Ted Lasso (and why wouldn’t you watch a show about English football?), there’s a striker—Mexican, I think—who’s always smiling and claiming “Football is life.” I get the feeling Gabi is that player for us—he just thrives on being part of the group.
It’s standard practice for a manager to tell a player to just hold the width and wait for the opening to come their way. Some players are fine with that; they can go missing for eighty-nine minutes and then bury their only chance. Usually, it’s the ones with bags of ego—your Haaland or Ibrahimovic. But that’s not our Gabi, our Gabi needs a bit of love and to feel involved. We’ve just got to accept that and play him accordingly. Honestly, seeing Trossard come on at the break was no shock at all.
A bit later, Madueke picked out Zubimendi in the area—this time with a deliberate, clever ball—who made one of those late, untracked runs that are becoming his trademark. Sadly, he couldn’t hit the target or find a teammate in the mix.
On the forty-minute mark, Gyökeres’ persistence nearly paid off for the second time in a week. We all know he hasn’t got the pace to tear away from the halfway line, so he opted for an early well-executed strike—exactly what I’d have done in his boots—but Murillo did well to get back and block it.
The first half wasn’t quite the disaster we saw during that December slump. We managed to carve out a few decent openings against a stubborn side, even if we couldn’t finish them. The real problem was the balance in the middle; with Timber needed at left-back, the midfield looked disbalanced.
Timely subs from the manager?
To my surprise, Arteta pulled the trigger as early as the 55th minute with a triple change: Merino, Jesus, and Saka. Seeing Ødegaard hooked was a real turn-up for the books, but it did help thin out an overcrowded midfield—both Jesus and Merino are much better at operating between the lines. It’s also quite refreshing to see the gaffer haul the captain off so early, moving him out of the “Untouchables Club” (a club that’s looking thinner by the day). It was a gamble though, leaving us with only one sub left for the remainder. I’ll be honest, I expected Havertz to be thrown late on for one of the central mids—probably Rice—had it stayed goalless.
Strangely enough, our next big chance fell to Saka’s head. Bukayo caught Sels cold, but the Dutch keeper still managed to scramble across. It was a proper chance, but it felt like Bukayo didn’t even believe he could win a header against such a massive backline. Merino, who replaced the skipper, started winning his aerial duels, though he actually ended up nicking the ball off Gabriel’s head in his second attempt.
For the final throw of the dice, Arteta turned to Eze to be the hero. Given his recent form, it felt like a bit of a mistake and I would have gone for Havertz, but you have to admire Arteta for showing faith in our new number 10. For the first time in ages, the subs actually made a lot of sense; they addressed clear issues and came at the right time.
The final quarter of an hour was depressing though. We had a shout for the daftest penalty of the season after Aina handled the ball in his box. As silly as it was, there were definitely grounds for a spot-kick, as it looked like he was trying to keep the ball in play with the help of an arm. Forest were doing all the usual—wasting time and hitting the deck at every opportunity—and, naturally, Michael Oliver fell for it every single time. That said, Timber was lucky to stay on the pitch after hauling down Anderson to stop a counter.
Ref aside, we were completely out of ideas—the same old story we saw against Liverpool. When Saliba is the one getting the ball near the opponent’s box and floating crosses in because he doesn’t know what else to do there, you just know it’s not going to be your day.
At this point I regretted that we didn’t have Odegaard on the pitch. Maybe Arteta should have taken off Zubi and remained with Odegaard for the final 15 minutes.
A commentator mentioned that Arsenal have failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games since 2022 only two times. And both times the second game was at City Ground in Nottingham. Today was the third occasion…
In a nutshell
We’ve failed to make City pay twice now after they dropped points. It feels like whenever they slip up, a bit of complacency creeps into our ranks—a “it’s not the end of the world” sort of vibe—and the lads don’t quite leave everything on the pitch. They’re so used to City breathing down their necks that they seem to take their foot off the gas the moment the pressure eases slightly.
Even so, we’re still sitting seven points clear at the top. Villa could trim that lead to four tomorrow, but I’m not losing sleep over them—they simply haven’t got the squad depth to go the distance in a title race.
Where we’re coming up short in attack is the speed of our interplay when trying to pick the lock of a stubborn defence. We also need to get far more clinical on the break; we need that killer instinct to punish teams when they actually venture out and we win the ball back. At the moment, we’re just letting them stroll back into their defensive shape.
I’d also like to see Arteta show a bit more faith in the ignored players who are showing some fight, like Ethan, for example. Madueke also looked lively today, and there was a real argument for keeping him on the right in the second half and moving Saka into the “number ten” role. Bukayo looks far more at home in those central pockets, and having Noni out wide would certainly give the defenders something else to worry about.
Next stop: San Siro
Next up is Inter, and I’m lucky enough to get the spot inside San Siro for the game. Given our solid standing in the Champions League, we can actually afford to take any result in Milan.
With just the trip to Italy and a home tie against Kairat left, we’re in a great spot. The Kairat game is a banker even with a rotated side, and with 21 points on the board, only Bayern can realistically catch us. That guarantees a top-two finish, meaning we’d have the home advantage for the second legs all the way to the final. Whether we finish first or second is almost academic; you never know who’s going to be the form team come March—just look at 16th place PSG knocking out top-seeded Liverpool last year.
Honestly, I’m quite looking forward to it. We’ve got plenty of squad players crying out for minutes, and I’m keen to see what they can do. The real big one on the horizon is the home clash against United. They’ll likely set up exactly like Forest did today—a disciplined deep block—but with far more quality on the counter. It’s going to be a proper shift with incredible intensity until the end.
Because of that, Inter screams rotation. I’d love to see Mosquera (or Norgaard if Mosquera does not fit) and Myles get a run-out, likely alongside Timber and Gabriel—I am not sure White can take three games per week, coming right after the injury. Merino might actually thrive in the midfield given the different pace of European football compared to the PL. Ethan is a must-start at ten for me. Since Inter actually need a result to nail down a top-eight spot, they’ll have to come at us, which should leave gaps for the likes of Martinelli, Jesus, and Madueke to exploit on the break.
We’re finally heading to one of Europe’s grands as the big fish, and we should enjoy every second of it. Let Inter come and throw what they have at us - and we will be the judges whether it’s a worthy effort or not!