Ipswich - on the bus. A first glance into semifinal

A pretty ideal evening for Arsenal right after the exhausting quarterfinal, except the one dirty episode.

The game against Ipswich was going to be about two things: get a comfortable lead over the chasing pack (which actually was reduced to 4 points by the end of Saturday) and try out our new set up for the PSG semifinal with Partey having a bit of a sit-down. Both things did take place. 

PSG on the mind

It was definitely a preparation and it’s easy to confirm this by just one fact - fully fit Partey has spent all 90 minutes on the bench. This is a very rare move by Arteta. Usually his “beloved fifteen” get a run-out whenever they’re not hobbling. 

What we have seen - is that there are three options being considered. 

The main one - is the most expected. A bit of midfield muscle with Merino (doing his best number eight impression), Rice holding the fort at six, and Trossard playing the false nine. The most safe way to try out.  It worked well enough against Ipswich, but let’s face it, that’s Ipswich. Basically Leo expectedly lost all aerial duels and all the advantage he got was just because he was more dexterous and quick with his feet. I’ve got a right nagging feeling that might not work against the more agile PSG defenders.

That’s why we tried a second option. When young Myles came on for Merino, Zinchenko popped up at left eight, which took me by surprise, I must admit. And while Merino was already cooling down with Mojito on the bench, I’d assume it’s an alternative tactic if Trossard doesn’t work and we need Merino to potentially slot back in up top. I don’t think Zinchenko has got the legs for a full intensive semifinal shift, however, he has a pretty decent 30 to 40 minutes in him. 

And finally, the third option, which we only saw for a quarter of an hour –  is Myles at the six (and not left at eight where I honestly expected him). This could see Rice back in his usual number eight role, and a different left-back in Tierney or Calafiori. While I think we need Myles at the left wing to stop the PSG wingers, he was much closer to imitating Partey than Declan. Declan doesn’t have that good passing vision, he isn’t that comfortable with the ball under press, unlike Thomas and Myles. More importantly, it meant we didn’t fully unleash Rice’s box-to-box brilliance, the kind of thing that had Real Madrid chasing shadows and could do the same to PSG. The ability that helped us dominate Real Madrid and can help us dominate PSG. This probably gives us the strongest possible midfield combination but leaves exposed on the left wing either against Doue or Kvarathskelia. Unless.. We start Timber there and White at RB. 

I would be inclined with keeping the back four that got us through Madrid. This was the biggest defensive test of the season so far and they passed it with excellence.

Four goals? In one game?

During the first half, the commentator dropped a right old bombshell: we’d only scored more than one goal only once in our last seven Premier League matches. That’s a pretty devastating piece of stats out there, especially for the team that sits in second place in the Premier League and reached the CL semifinal after shipping five to Madrid.

But today? Four glorious goals! Most of the chances in the first half were created by those Saka and Odegaard quick feet combinations. One of those combinations saw the ball landing somewhere around Trossard. The Ipswich defence were so petrified of fouling him so they ended up watching him falling and scoring at the same time.

The second goal happened when Saka drove for the fifth time in the box, where he found Merino and… Zinedine Merino just did an assist of mesmerizing beauty. That touch to find Martinelli completely alone in the box… I finally now understood why Raphinha got so nervous and started stealing teammates' goals. And who wouldn’t after seeing the recent Merino stats?

And to top it all off, we actually got a red card decision in our favour! Bukayo Saka was violently attacked from the back and because it was not Rüdiger fouling, the player got sent off. These kinds of challenges have been a source of Arsenal fan base PTSD, so I was already reaching for the emergency services number.

Luckily, it didn’t look too serious.. Until the camera caught him on our bench with a large block of ice. And here I had a serious question - if Saka felt serious pain, why wasn’t he subbed in right after we were two up or at least in the half time? The crowd was booing Saka till the end of the first half for the unexplained reasons. It’s not that he simulated the fight or provoked the Ipswich player. It looked like the toxic crowd searched for a guilty one to pin their relegation on. Maybe Arteta wanted to give him an opportunity for revenge. He certainly had a golden chance to do so after a delicious pass from Mikel Meridona, but surprisingly fluffed it. To be fair, after that chip in the Bernabeu, he’s probably earned a few misses.

Thankfully Trossard was there to get his teammate’s back. Hopefully, Leo can get a first good night’s sleep in ten years after today’s double. Saka was finally subbed in for Nwaneri, who I was hoping to see more of, however, I understand the logic of trying your potential PSG front three for 45 minutes. 

I just think that Ethan has lost his confidence recently. After that spark we saw from him in the first half of the season, he faded a bit in the last few games and he really needed some boost of confidence. The lads were trying to get him involved and I was so happy to see him score the final goal of the day. If he can just believe in himself a bit more, the sky's the limit for him. Technically, he’s already got it. 

I won’t be surprised if Saka’s return affected his mood a bit, knowing that he will get less and less time going forward.  Fingers crossed tonight’s goal gives him a lift. I would like him to take a late free kick instead of Zinchenko, but it’s really hard to blame the Ukrainian given how few minutes and coaching love he gets this season.

The promotion-relegation cycle

For the second year running, all three teams are going down and I think the Premier League needs to sort this out. Parachute payments are paid to the relegated over the three years following the relegation. It‘s supposed to provide a cover for the extended wage bill that is needed to compete in the Premier League.

However, in reality the club owner usually faces one of two options: invest big chinks of money with the decent risk of being relegated or not really invest much and still get those parachute payments that would mean plenty of revenue in the following Championship years. The business decision seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? Most of the recent examples of teams staying for long are due to either teams already having solid financial foundations or an excellent coach, but not due to investments from the owner. 

Thomas Frank has managed to keep Brentford in the first Premier League season with almost the Championship due to him being strong as a coach. Since then they acquired a little more firepower to keep the quality at mid-table level.

Recent history shows that a year where all promoted teams survive is a proper anomaly. Fulham, Nottingham Forest, and Bournemouth were all flirting with the drop before they signed good coaches in the form of Silva, Nuno and Iraola respectively.

So, my bright idea for the PL? Allocate a decent chunk of those parachute payments to promoted teams that manage to stay in the Premier League. That should motivate the owner to already invest the first transfer summer before the promotion.

Crystal Palace on Wednesday awaits

Thanks to the mighty Crystal Palace FA Cup run,  our next game is on Wednesday instead of Saturday, giving us a nice week-long breather before the semi-final.

Crystal Palace has not been good recently – no wins since the international break and a combined ten goals conceded against Man City and Newcastle. So, they shouldn’t cause us too many headaches. Our next three games after Palace are Bournemouth (sandwiched between the PSG legs)games, Liverpool away and Newcastle at home. Ideally, we want to be in a position where we don’t desperately need points in any of those. And the easiest way to get there is a win against Palace, which would put us a comfy eight points clear of fourth place.

I am imagining we are going to try the main PSG set up for the first half and then have some rotation in the second with Nwaneri, Zinchenko, White and Tierney to feature. That should be more than enough for a comfortable win and a nice, calm week of preparation before facing PSG.

And please, no drama!