Match report – Participant rankings – By the numbers – Video
Our lead on the high of the desk was prolonged to eight factors final night time, regardless of a 0-0 draw with Newcastle – the primary time this season we’ve failed to attain in a Premier League recreation.
Mikel Arteta caught with the identical aspect that began in opposition to Brighton, and as soon as once more we started shortly. There have been moments of hazard: Martin Odegaard shot over, Bukayo Saka compelled the keeper right into a save along with his ft, and Granit Xhaka hit the aspect netting. After that, the sport settled down a bit into an apparent sample – Newcastle sat with 11 males behind the ball in a compact, effectively organised block, and we tried to interrupt it down.
I assumed it was fascinating afterwards when the supervisor was requested if this sort of state of affairs – the place the opposition’s plan is to disclaim Arsenal any house – is one thing we’re going to should cope with extra. He stated:
“I don’t suppose that Newcastle needed to arrange like this. This isn’t how they play. They haven’t performed in opposition to any staff like this, so credit score to our gamers.”
I do know what he’s saying, however I kinda disagree although. I believe that is precisely how Newcastle determined to play, as a result of they’ve watched us and seen our menace. In the event you depart room for us to assault, we’ve received the gamers to punish you. On that foundation, they executed their plan fairly effectively, even when the stats present Arsenal had 17 makes an attempt on aim. They parked their bus to good impact, and each time they received a free kick, they threw males ahead to attempt to nick one from a set-piece. Final night time, they had been basically a really wealthy model of Tony Pulis-era Stoke – and it labored for them.
That is the fact of being high of the desk although. Groups don’t arrange like this in opposition to you should you’re not good, and it’s one other downside we’re going to have to resolve. I believe the extent of frustration after a 0-0 draw in opposition to the staff that’s third within the desk and who haven’t conceded a aim in six video games is way more a measure of how profitable our personal season has been, moderately than with our personal show. In fact there are issues we are able to do higher, however I don’t suppose we performed badly or something.
You may see why Newcastle have conceded fewer objectives than every other aspect within the Premier League this season. I additionally suppose Arteta can see why too, therefore his very public frustration with the penalty choices he referred to as ‘scandalous‘. He went loopy on the sideline over the harm time handball, however I believe that one would have been harsh. Making use of my very own rule as to how I’d really feel if that was given in opposition to us, I’d go mad. Individuals have arms, they should be someplace, and he was so near Xhaka when he performed that ball in I don’t know what he was alleged to do. Nonetheless, I believe we’ve seen these given throughout the Premier League this season, so maybe he’s extra annoyed with the change in threshold for these sorts of selections.
The place I believe he’s received a a lot better case is the Dan Burn foul on Gabriel. Earlier within the recreation, each Eddie Nketiah and Martin Odegaard had been booked for pulling again an opponent. Eddie’s was very gentle, Odegaard actually pulled the man’s shirt in entrance of the ref who had booked the Arsenal striker for much less, so he had little selection however to subject a yellow card. So on that foundation, if these incidents had been bookings, how on earth can Burn pull Gabriel’s shirt round his neck, clearly fouling and impeding him within the field, and it not be a penalty? This appeared fairly black and white to me – particularly within the context of how the sport was officiated.
It’s additionally little surprise managers and supporters get so annoyed with VAR when modifications are seemingly utilized mid-season. It merely provides to the sense that there’s a scarcity of consistency with resolution making, and so they spoke on TV a couple of ‘gentle contact’ when VAR evaluation issues now because of the arrival of Howard Webb as Chief Refereeing Officer at PGMOL. So should you’ve seen penalties being given all season, rightly or wrongly, for a specific type of incident and you then don’t get one, I perceive how a supervisor may very well be irritated – specifically when it’s very tight recreation like this one.
For me although, the largest subject on the night time was the actual fact we didn’t have anybody on the bench the supervisor felt he may flip to to attempt to make a distinction within the last phases of the sport. We had some probabilities, Eddie – who labored arduous all night time – compelled the keeper into save after some sharp motion within the field, however in video games like this, what you have got on the bench can typically make the distinction. Recent legs, a unique type of striker to pose a unique type of menace for the opposition, these are necessary instruments in any aspect that has aspirations to win the Premier League.
Clearly, Mikel Arteta didn’t need to disrupt the on-field XI an excessive amount of, maybe after seeing how modifications impacted the latter phases of the Brighton recreation, however in actuality the one senior attacking sub he had was Fabio Vieira. I used to be fascinated with him as an possibility, but it surely wasn’t precisely clear to me the way to introduce him. Requested about this afterwards, he stated:
“We had been on high of them, we had been chasing the aim. We had been in second and I didn’t need to make extra modifications.”
And on potential new recruits:
“We’re making an attempt to do our greatest as a result of we can not waste any home windows nonetheless with the squad and the numbers that we have now. We are going to attempt.”
It does look as if Emile Smith Rowe is near a comeback, however he’s not sufficient on his personal. Gabriel Jesus is gone for some time, Reiss Nelson is an possibility however nonetheless not a massively convincing one, and I believe final night time demonstrated very clearly that this can be a squad which requires higher attacking depth. To have that made clear in a recreation we nonetheless garnered some extent from, moderately than defeat, is in some methods a optimistic solution to take that on board, however then I don’t suppose that is any type of revelation to the supervisor or the Technical Director. There’s a cause we’ve bid twice for Mykhaylo Mudryk, there’s a cause we have now agency curiosity in Joao Felix.
So now, with 10 days or so till we play a Premier League recreation – the North London derby no much less – there’s an urgency about making progress on these fronts. Let’s see what occurs, however I’d be very stunned if we didn’t add to the squad earlier than the subsequent league recreation.
As I stated earlier although, the actual fact we didn’t win is at all times irritating, however we’ve set very excessive requirements this season and I believe that’s a think about how we really feel about this too. It’s not a ten level hole, however an 8 level lead over a Man Metropolis aspect who face Chelsea on Thursday remains to be nothing to be sniffed at – and we now have a little bit of time to deal with squad depth. Let’s see what they do.
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Proper. Let’s depart it there for now. As a result of the schedule is a bit all over for the time being, we’ll have a little bit of an Arsecast for you afterward this morning, so stand by for that.
Till then.
