Spurs - on the bus. Not to that extent!
A dreamy ending to a dreamy week-end in Arsenal universe
The starting line-up hinted that Hincapie is officially being anointed as Gabriel’s apprentice. I’d thought it would be Calafiori, but to be fair, I’m happy with whomever the gaffer sees as a better fit. His performance might not be the most memorable, but certainly decent, especially considering the pressure he must have been under. And the biggest source of pressure isn’t just his first Premier League start, and in the North London Derby no less, but the knowledge that he’ll always be compared to Gabriel, a symbol of this team’s defence in many ways. If we start conceding more goals, that’s where the fingers will automatically start pointing, regardless of which players are actually making mistakes.
As predicted in the preview (link), Spurs set up to stifle Arsenal, with their own attacking creativity clearly a secondary concern. Five defenders and a packed center slowed down our efforts. While it’s a valid approach to close down space, they certainly weren’t dreaming of an attack in the first half. At times, they had seven players behind or on the same line with the ball. This made their build-up options extremely limited, relying largely on the long ball with the hope of Richarlison winning a duel. It worked on a couple of occasions, but not enough for Spurs to genuinely penetrate our box. They certainly made our task of penetrating theirs much harder, though.
Sources of Danger
Our first real penetration came barely after kick-off. Eze, known for his moments of magic rather than a constant threat, produced his first moment by clipping the ball in between Spurs defenders, leaving Rice practically one-on-one with Vicario. Declan definitely should have done better there. Hitting the 20% of the goal Vicario was covering, rather than the other 80%, just isn’t good enough at this level, even if you’re not a striker. I’d go further and say any outfield player should have produced a much better shot. Unless the keeper somehow manages to guess the shot’s direction, that should have been a goal.
Next up were Saka’s free kicks, which he tried to curl directly into the far corner from a fair distance. The second attempt, in particular, was very tasty indeed. It’s a pity none of our players managed to get a touch past Vicario. And then Mikel Merino decided to take matters into his own hands.
While his efficiency in tussling with defenders may be questionable, his true strength lies in his ability to peel off the line, receive the ball, and unlock another runner in behind. Last season, it was Saka against Real Madrid; today, it was Trossard found with a brilliant chip, who managed to ripple the net after a delightful pirouette. It was undoubtedly a deflection off Van de Ven, but credit must go to Trossard for maintaining his balance and slotting it home. I’m genuinely surprised and delighted to see Trossard return to his ruthless, clinical form of the 23/24 season. He seemed to have bypassed that last season, but following a salary uplift, he’s back scoring crucial goals at the most vital moments. Typically, a salary bump only serves to deter the interest of a direct competitor. With Trossard, it was likely his last substantial pay rise (unless we snatched him from a hefty contract at one of the Turkish clubs), and such situations rarely translate into improved performances. However, if that’s what was needed to ignite his motivation, then a salary increase without a new contract makes perfect sense. He has, at most, two good seasons left in him, so extending his contract would, in fact, be a misstep.
The Eze Show
And that, my friends, was merely the curtain-raiser for “The Eze Show.” With such a delicate twisted story in the summer, Eze’s great performance and goal felt written in the stars, but not to this extent! For his first, instead of unleashing a shot immediately, Eze took two exquisite extra touches, allowing him to fire it past the Spurs custodian. Ordinarily, I’d consider this a weakness of ours – our strikers often dwell too long, affording more opponents the chance to get behind the ball and block the shot’s trajectory. But with Eze, it’s a different narrative entirely; it’s not indecisiveness or perfectionism, it’s his sheer coolness under pressure that enables him to glide into a more advantageous position, leaving the rushing back defenders bamboozled.
That goal could, in fact, have been chalked off for offside, especially given the recent controversy in the City - Liverpool game. Michael Oliver, a referee about whom we were much concerned, actually officiated well for Arsenal. Overall, however, I didn’t think the game was officiated well. A couple of genuine fouls went unpunished, whilst some rather soft challenges were inexplicably blown for. Richarlison, in my opinion, was certainly due a yellow card.
Before we dive further into Eze’s stellar performance, I wanted to take a moment to once again applaud Jurrien Timber. He’s simply a machine! Despite his characteristically solid defensive display, he was constantly venturing forward, proving to be a pivotal component of our attacks. He appeared as our furthest winger, then in the number 10 role, and was largely involved in the build-up to our first two goals. Timber, in fact, was the solution today to Thomas Frank’s stubborn compact block. With five defenders and a narrow central channel, space for Saka, Eze, and even Zubimendi was rather limited. However, Spurs simply lacked another player to track Timber’s relentless runs, and Jurrien consistently found himself as the “extra man” in whichever area Spurs had left exposed. And my word, he looked at home there! Many would already crown him our player of the season. Whilst that’s a debatable topic, I can certainly state that he’s the player who has improved the most compared to last season. Timber has ascended to another level entirely, and he genuinely now appears to be a “complete full-back,” arguably the best in the world in his position.
From the list of most expensive right-backs provided by Transfermarkt, currently, none come close to Timber’s defensive prowess. One could argue that Newcastle’s pre-injury Livramento was the closest complete package, but he’s still a fair distance from Timber.
The two-goal lead meant Spurs had to open up and initiate attacks in the second half. Our team exploited this immediately. Following the first of many combinations that capitalised on this newfound space, Eze notched his second of the day. With an unmatched coolness, he slotted the ball into the bottom left corner. Very few players in our squad could produce such a strike from a relatively static position. I’m beginning to believe his cool mind will be crucial in the latter stages of the Champions League, where emotions can be the factor separating a team from getting into the next round.
I am also quite happy that Eze only unleashed his “chuckling” celebration after his third goal. While I’m all for a bit of mockery, it should only come when the opposition is truly beaten. And even then, after Zubimendi’s concentration wavered and he dropped a gear, he lost the ball in an easy position, with Richarlison immediately firing a shot from 35 yards. The ball had an unbelievable trajectory, nestling just beneath the bar. It’s already being labeled as the furthest goal of the season, and I’d wager Richarlison would miss the next ten attempts if he tried to replicate it. He managed to direct the ball into that metre-wide strip inaccessible to Raya, which is incredibly difficult even from a static position. But given their miserable night, Spurs can have that one.
They failed to create another genuine chance, while we had multiple opportunities to hit them on the counter. Around the 80th minute, Trossard once again found Eze on the edge of the box. Without a moment’s hesitation, Eze danced past the sliding defender and struck the ball straight into Vicario’s net. The first North London Derby hat-trick in the Premier League era – straight into the history books. It WILL all work out.
To my taste, we saw very few substitutions once the game was sealed. Madueke came on for Trossard; he looked a bit raw, but that’s to be expected after a long injury layoff. Merino was subbed in for Nwaneri, and interestingly, despite no single player, Saka was the one closest to occupying the number 9 position. MLS also got a couple of minutes. I suspect Arteta gave them both a nod purely out of respect for their Hale End past. I would have liked to see Calafiori, Timber, and Saka subbed off sooner for future freshness. But it is what it is, and it shouldn’t detract from a wonderful evening. We are now six points clear and could extend that lead to seven next weekend.
The tifo, by the way, was much improved from last time – the title carried great meaning. I hope it continues to improve, reaching the levels of Borussia Dortmund’s displays, where opponents might just shit their pants simply by looking at it.
Imagine if we had Big Gabi celebrating one of his goals against Spurs, rising above the same phrase with the size of the whole stand. Sending chills down my spine!
The hate watch
Saturday defeats of Liverpool and Manchester City were nothing short of a delightful surprise. To be fair, I don’t care much about Liverpool anymore. They don’t look like a team that is even close to producing stable performances and collecting three-pointers along the way. Even if their attack starts to show more cohesion and produce more impressive performances they are still vulnerable at the back and don’t defend as a team. At this point, they are less likely to challenge for the league than Chelsea and Man United.
City is another story. Even despite their defeat at St James Park, they are a dangerous outfit, our most serious rival for the title that will be in the mix come spring. First of all, St James Park is a tough ground, the place where we regularly struggle, City also had a couple of draws there in the recent seasons, now they finally had a defeat. It was always going to be an exchange of punches and this time luckily for us Newcastle came out on top. Nevertheless, City had several really good chances and Foden alone could almost bury the game in the first half. Donnarumma is also growing as a last defender every week, he cleared out two very dangerous Newcastle chances. This mountain of a man that was already hard to put the ball past is now evolving into a more complete player that can compete with Raya for the best goalkeeper of the league. I can easily imagine City winning the next six games - only the Crystal Palace away seems like quite a tough test for them. So we can’t let the plot go for a single moment. Because if we don’t come to April with a measurable gap, I don’t fancy our chances much.
Prime European opponent
Bayern Munich are undoubtedly one of Europe’s most formidable teams this year, sweeping aside opponents with clinical precision. They even bested PSG on their home turf. Honestly, they’re one of just three teams I’d genuinely be worried about facing in the Champions League knockouts. And wouldn’t you know it, we’re welcoming them to our ground on Wednesday.
However, I don’t believe we should be overly concerned about the result here. This is our toughest opponent, true, but with four wins from four so far, we’re in no danger of missing out on a top-eight finish. I believe 17 points should be enough to secure that coveted direct qualification spot. We currently sit on 12 points, with Kairat and Bayern at home, and Brugge and Inter away. If we manage to snatch two points from our two away fixtures, the outcome against Bayern becomes not important.
The weekend’s result against Chelsea, however, is far more crucial – for the title race, for team morale, and for sending the message to the rest of the league. Our approach to the Bayern game needs to be planned with the potential Stamford Bridge line-up in mind. For instance, if Saka and Trossard are deployed on the wings against Chelsea, it would make perfect sense to see Martinelli and Madueke unleashed against the Germans.
Bayern, as a unit, are absolutely firing from an attacking perspective, averaging over 3.5 goals per game this season. But their defence? That’s where they can be got at. There are no genuine giants back there, and Neuer simply isn’t the impenetrable wall he once was. In that regard, Madueke and Martinelli seem like incredibly suitabke choices. This is one of the few teams on the planet we can afford to let have the ball and then hit hard with rapid transition football.
I’d opt for a backline of White/Mosquera, Saliba, Hincapie, and MLS. Another big game for our new centre-back pairing, complemented by two fresh full-backs. In midfield, our choices seem somewhat limited. Norgaard and Merino, in my opinion, are a tad slow for both Bayern and Chelsea, but I also don’t fancy seeing both Rice and Zubi playing three demanding games in a single week. If either Gyokeres or Havertz are fit for Wednesday, I’d start them at number nine, with a Zubimendi/Merino midfield partnership. We’ll definitely need Zubimendi’s game-reading abilities against a rather mobile Bayern side. Eze could then complete that attacking trio, whereas against Chelsea, where we’d likely enjoy a decent amount of possession. Saka, Trossard, and Odegaard as the creative unit would come in quite handy and refreshed.
All in all, what I’d really like to witness is our somewhat rotated squad holding their own against Bayern and engaging them in a truly competitive duel. That would indicate that as a team we are in a very healthy state to go until the very end this season!