Palace - on the bus. Confidence is the key
Arsenal gets into the Carabao semifinal after winning the penalty lottery.’
The starting line-up made it clear that Arteta had finally listened to the calls for rotation. We fielded a completely fresh front six compared to the Everton match. And, as the preview suggested, our “second string” six—captained by Uncle Merino—is still a cut above anything Crystal Palace has on their books. Every player crying out for minutes was out there, bar one: Ethan Nwaneri.
The young Hale End starlet hasn’t had a sniff of real action since Odegaard returned from injury. Yesterday felt like the perfect opening to give him a run-out, yet he spent another ninety minutes glued to the bench. I get the hesitation to roll him out for a nervy finish or a potential shootout, but that’s exactly why starting him and using the subs to finish strongly would have made far more sense.
It’s a similar story with Marti Salmon. We simply can’t keep running Timber into the ground twice a week until the end of January and expect him to stay fit or keep his levels up. In truth, yesterday was Timber’s poorest showing of the season. He was caught ball-watching during counter-attacks and offered precious little in terms of creativity. You can’t blame Jurrien—he can’t be a 9 out of 10 every single week. He’s vital to our backline and needs to be managed carefully. Starting Salmon and hooked him after an hour would have been the logical shout.
As for Ethan, his situation is becoming genuinely frustrating. He’s a diamond in the rough and I’m certain he’s a top talent in the making. The foundations are all there—the dribbling, the close control, and the ball-striking—he just needs the platform to polish his all-around game. If Arteta has no use for him and plans to stick with Odegaard, Eze, or Merino, then a loan would have been the sensible path for his development. But don’t you worry, Ethan, there’s Kairat and Portsmouth in January. Mark them in the diary, son, you’ll finally need your boots then! Those two games will develop the crap out of you!
The main takeaway from this rotation is that Kepa and Norgaard are more than capable deputies. We brought in eight players over the summer to actually use them during a long campaign, not just to have them polishing the pine. Kepa looked composed as the last line of defence, while Norgaard put in a proper shift. He was often left to hold the fort alone at number 6, with Merino pushing up to the “9” space and Eze not exactly being a defensive workhorse. Norgaard looked entirely at home, even “pulling a Rice” a couple of times with a magnificent sliding challenge to thwart a dangerous break. It’s glaringly obvious now that there’s no reason to keep him sidelined; he can comfortably step into Premier League matches.
Debrief of the individuals
Oliver Glasner has fielded two truly new faces in his line-up: a young right-back and their second-choice keeper, Benitez. The latter pulled off a string of saves to deny us, but I’m really not buying into the “every keeper turns into prime Buffon against us” narrative. It feels like just another convenient excuse for our failure to kill games off. What actually happens is we fluff our lines with the first few big chances, handing the keeper a massive confidence boost, and then wonder why he continues making good saves further in the game. If Raya pulls off a double save from a penalty and the rebound, that’s “prime Buffon.” Did the Palace keeper reach those heights yesterday? Not even close. If we weren’t so wasteful in front of goal, we wouldn’t even be talking about his performance.
Down the other end, their young right-back was absolutely tormented by Martinelli in the first half. For the first time in months, our left flank actually looked more dangerous than our right.
You can see the difference of heat maps between Palace game and a recent Wolves game. There’s a clear shift of activity from right to the left. And now it becomes clear that Odegaard’s activity is defining the main side of our attack.
With Eze tucked in behind and Jesus leading the line, Martinelli looked like a player reborn. Every successful take-on seemed to fuel his confidence, and he was constantly driving into the box to pick out teammates. It just goes to show that if you provide a player with the right environment, you get the best out of them. Martinelli thrives on a high tempo and space to exploit, but he only gets that space when his teammates are pulling defenders out of position. We’ve been quick to hammer him for his displays when he’s been waiting alone on the left, but the truth is Arteta hasn’t often played to his strengths. It’s also clear that Gabi enjoys a much better understanding with Jesus, who often drifts out to the left to support him.
While Jesus certainly improves those around him, Tuesday night was another classic “almost a goal” performance from him—a script we’ve seen far too many times in an Arsenal shirt. He created openings and was in the right areas, but when the moment came to be clinical, he just lacked that killer instinct. It wasn’t a shock; it was the Jesus we’ve come to expect, and it would be naive to think he’s suddenly going to turn into a prolific goalscorer.
Another attacker who failed to leave his mark was Madueke. Plenty of fans were skeptical when we signed him in the summer, then changed their mind a bit after observing his obviously unique technical ability. After a few months, it’s becoming clear why his stats in previous seasons weren’t exactly eye-catching. The lad just seems to lack the competitive edge. Every time he misplaced a pass or got caught in a tight spot, he just offered a grin. I don’t want to see smiles when things are going south; I want to see a bit of fire, some aggresion, and a desperate urge to put things right. I just don’t see that in him.
It’s a world away from Uncle Merino. I’m a big fan of his, even if he arguably lacks the yard of pace needed to be a regular fixture in a Premier League midfield. But no matter where Arteta sticks him, you know Merino is going to run himself into the ground. Most of the players produce the “canned answer” that they are ready to play whenever the coach needs them. Merino seems to be the one that actually means it. He might not have half the natural talent of Madueke, but his attitude and work rate earn him nothing but respect.
Splashing £50 million on Madueke for a lot of flashy dribbling with zero end product looks like poor business. A screamer from 30 meters or a tap in is not something you can rely on in the long term, especially when we have a top-tier 18-year-old on our books who bagged nine goals last season. Maybe the plan to bring in Eze was a late one, but there still needs to be a clear pathway for Ethan. When Martinelli went off, a logical move would have been to put Ethan in the ‘10’ role, shift Merino to the ‘8’, and move Eze out wide. But it seems Eze is no longer allowed to feature in that role after one defensive lapse against Villa.
Arteta held himself on an alarm timer for 65 minutes and, after it finally beeped, he rushed to throw in Saka and Odegaard that gave him much needed control of the game. The subs injected some much-needed life into the attack, and we finally got the breakthrough from a corner—though it was an own goal. I initially thought Saliba had got the touch, but the replays showed Lacroix hacking it into his own net in a moment of pure panic. Saliba was our standout defender, marshaling the line and, alongside Calafiori, keeping Mateta quiet. Most of Palace’s play went through Mateta, and our center-halves did a superb job of neutralizing him. It was only fitting that Big Bill was right in the thick of it for the winning goal.
Rice substitutes Jesus
It’s not a motto of a Chinese communist restaurant, it’s a last sub Arteta made on the day to see off the game. Arteta opted against using his fifth sub to bring on Gyökeres—who surely would have been a handy asset for a potential penalty shootout—choosing instead his trademark defensive substitution. This kind of decision-making is genuinely deflating; Arteta persists with this tactical retreat, seemingly underestimating the message it sends to the opposition and to his own players.
That substitution, coupled with the yellow card Kepa picked up for blatant time-wasting, was borderline pathetic. We are the bigger club, playing at home in front of our own supporters, yet we’re resorting to cheap tricks just to limp over the finish line. It’s an attitude unbecoming of a side with Premier League title aspirations, and unfortunately, it’s a pattern we’ve seen far too often during Arteta’s tenure.
Predictably, this approach led to a result we’ve become all too familiar with lately: the late equaliser. It came from a corner where Guéhi was the sharpest man in the box, with nobody tracking his move. Our hybrid defensive system at set-pieces—with some players zonal and others man-marking—usually snuffs out the initial danger, but we are not as solid on the second ball. On this occasion, Guéhi was left completely unmarked to fire home. While Rice and Nørgaard were occupied elsewhere, Saliba simply didn’t track the Palace defender after the initial jump.
How many more times must we retreat into our own half to protect a slender lead, only to throw it away in the final minutes? Sunderland, Wolves, and now Palace—the list is growing. I suspect Arteta might ignore this troubling tactical pattern and instead look to scapegoat individuals for the equaliser.
Winning a lottery
That meant we were headed straight for a penalty shootout. I started weighing up who we could actually trust from twelve yards. Rice, Merino, Odegaard, Saka, and likely Trossard —Arteta went for that exact quintet with Uncle Merino making that important final shot. On top of those, we had Calafiori and Timber. That’s seven mentally tough players ready to step up and bury their chances. I did wonder, though, if Crystal Palace really had seven reliable shooters to match us.
In fairness, they dispatched seven quality strikes. While the drama was unfolding, it dawned on me why they looked so composed. For the Palace players, even a shootout defeat would earn them plaudits for putting up such a brave fight, so the pressure was off. Our lads, however, had that nagging “they bottle every tournament” narrative hanging over them; they had to be incredibly strong mentally to block out that noise.
The penalties were on a top-drawer confident level, particularly the one Timber lashed into the corner.
Once Palace had calmly tucked away five, I began scanning for who might blink first. Lacroix looked visibly down after his earlier own goal—the cameras lingered on him several times, and I was convinced he hadn’t recovered. I predicted his effort would be unconvincing, and that’s exactly how it played out. It felt like a bit of a blunder from Glasner not to spot that and perhaps push Lacroix further down the order. Their captain and goalscorer Guehi, along with Clyne, didn’t even need to step up after that miss.
We shouldn’t get too carried away with this result. Whether it’s the first-choice XI or the fringe players, we are properly struggling to find the net. That’s another ninety minutes with just a solitary own goal to show for it and another gamble on the defence that didn’t quite pay off. When you’re winning 8-7 on penalties, it really is a lottery. On another day, their keeper might have guessed right on a couple of those shots.
We’ve now got Chelsea twice in January, but before that, we host Brighton this weekend. Brighton are one of the few sides who won’t just park the bus; they’ll actually leave gaps for us to exploit. If we can’t score enough goals against them, we won’t just have enough confidence in the locker to succeed against Villa or Bournemouth. Finding a consistent way to score goals has to be Arteta’s top priority. Otherwise, another Premier League title is going to end up at the famous bald man’s front door, and I’m not sure I’ve got the stomach for that.
Thank you all for reading the blog! Merry Christmas to you and your families!