Match Report – Participant Scores – Response – Video
If there was a debate available final week about whether or not Arsenal’s draw at Anfield represented some extent gained or two misplaced, there are not any such doubts about yesterday’s 2-2 draw at West Ham.
Not solely is it two factors dropped, we choked so badly at important moments within the sport that it seems like a defeat. After the sport, Opta revealed it was the primary time ever within the Premier League that we had surrendered a two-goal benefit in successive matches.
2+ – Arsenal have given up a two-goal lead in consecutive Premier League video games for the primary time; they’re solely the fifth facet within the competitors’s historical past to take action. Stress. pic.twitter.com/YTHONCVisJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 16, 2023
When you think about there’s a title on the road, that’s not the kind of stat you need the boffins to be digging up.
Talking to Sky Sports activities, Mikel Arteta’s disappointment was matched solely by his annoyance.
“You go two-nil up and you’ve got the sport in complete management. Then now we have guilty ourselves. We misplaced that objective to essentially assault them, to threaten that objective, as an alternative we stored the ball only for the sake of enjoying and we give them hope after which conceded a horrible penalty the place we give the ball away.”
Whereas he didn’t deny Saka’s second half penalty miss was a turning level, he returned a second time to the mentality proven within the first half.
“You’ll be able to go 3-1 up after 50 minutes, and the sport might be over… then two minutes later, you concede a objective. However that is a part of soccer. My fear is after 2-0, we made that massive mistake and didn’t perceive what the sport required in that second.”
Look, I do know that every one just isn’t misplaced and the title, for the second, stays in our fingers. Sadly, any margin for error has evaporated.
We are going to head to the Etihad with a seven-point benefit if we beat Southampton on Friday, however Metropolis can have performed two video games fewer they usually’ll know a win over us on twenty sixth April will put them in pole place. I assume with their objective distinction benefit that’s been the case for some time however trying on the different fixtures I used to be grasping for some wiggle room.
It’s in all probability not even price trying that far forward proper now. Captain Martin Odegaard, who didn’t have a fantastic sport, definitely isn’t. He mentioned:
“We’ve to return again tomorrow on the coaching floor and be prepared for the subsequent sport. That’s all that issues now, the subsequent one. We’ve to return on Friday [against Southampton] and win. That’s all that issues, now we have to maintain going, preserve working. As we mentioned all season, simply search for the subsequent sport. That’s all.”
Within the quick time period, Arteta wants to determine why his workforce is beginning video games rapidly however then makes use of the momentum to smash right into a brick wall as exhausting as potential. It seems like a variation of a behavior we had final season the place we’d edge into the lead after which begin defending for our lives as if a second objective was identified to be out of attain.
It’s undoubtedly psychological reasonably than bodily. When it was put to Arteta that his workforce regarded drained, he was dismissive.
“I don’t assume that the workforce is fatigued or regarded fatigued and the easiest way to place it’s simply to persuade them how good they’re once they do what they need to do, and that is what now we have to place in our brains.”
It definitely didn’t assist that two of our first-choice defenders have been lacking yesterday.
There isn’t a hiding that there’s a drop-off in high quality once you evaluate William Saliba and Rob Holding. And for all his qualities, Kieran Tierney doesn’t deliver the identical degree of expertise and bravado on the ball to the inverted left-back place that Oleksandr Zinchenko, who had a good groin, has made his personal this season.
To be clear, the person performances of Tierney and Holding will not be the rationale we dropped factors at West Ham. I simply assume the workforce has extra confidence in itself as a high-functioning unit when Saliba and Zinchenko are within the lineup. The automatisms aren’t as clean when personnel change and it felt like Odegaard and Partey, specifically, suffered because of this yesterday. At one level the Sky Sports activities commentary workforce have been lauding Gabriel Jesus for selecting up the ball within the right-back place. The query in my thoughts was why he felt the must be there within the first place.
Was I pondering any of this after 10 minutes? After all not. We regarded sensible.
The soccer for the primary objective was pure Arteta-ball. A give-and-go with White noticed Saka work his approach into the field, he performed backwards to Partey who popped it to Odegaard, who in flip sliced open the defence with a move to White who’d run into house behind three West Ham gamers. The proper-back noticed Jesus on the again publish, made a superbly weighted move and the striker tucked dwelling his third fourth objective in three begins. It was lovely.
Within the blink of an eye fixed, we had our second. Hovering on the left fringe of the world, after a primary cross had been cleared, Martinelli, given the ball by Tierney, made the Hammers pay for the house they afforded him. It’s not like the house facet didn’t have the numbers to cope with the scenario, it’s simply they have been utterly static as Odegaard ghosted onto the Brazilian’s pinpoint cross on the again publish. Having had his arm up calling for the ball, the Norwegian knew precisely learn how to execute the end, cushioning it previous Fabianski at shut quarters.
By the fifteenth minute, we’d accomplished 125 passes to West Ham’s 26. By the twenty seventh minute, the house followers have been booing their gamers and the travelling Gooners have been taunting them with a spherical of “Are you Tottenham in disguise?”
That cockiness was mirrored on the pitch. “We began to get sloppy and enjoying flicks and shedding the ball inside too many instances and permitting counters. It broke our stream,” mentioned Arteta.
It additionally made the following fall from grace all of the extra painful.
5 minutes later, Partey collected the ball in midfield and tried to flick the ball over the onrushing Rice. He didn’t get the ball excessive sufficient, it hit the England worldwide within the chest (not arm, regardless of our midfielder’s protestations) and we have been instantly on the again foot. Two on two with Gabriel and Holding, Rice fed Paqueta with a sq. ball and the Brazilian had no qualms happening when his compatriot went to floor with a half-hearted deal with. Even when he was in search of it, the contact was plain and referee David Coote had no problem pointing to the spot. As was the case on the Emirates, Benrahma despatched Ramsdale the unsuitable approach.
Flustered by his blunder, Partey made one other and was booked attempting to rectify the scenario with a foul on Benrahma. Capping a disastrous five-minute spell, he then put a move out of play unchallenged. The frustration was contagious and Jesus joined the Ghana worldwide within the e book for a tug on Antonio.
The half time whistle got here as a reduction and I jotted down in my notes, “Superb how momentum can change.” “Superb” being one other phrase for “fucking tiresome”.
Arteta mentioned the message at half time was “to alter the dynamic” however we received extra of the identical. He later lamented:
“You begin to get in that curler coaster the place every part is throw in, throw in, nook after which nook. And we didn’t handle to get away from that.”
Our get-out-of-jail-free card got here on 52 minutes. Making an attempt to return a cleared nook again into the field, Martinelli’s ball hit Antonio and Coote pointed to the spot once more. I really assume it was fairly comfortable. Sure, Antonio’s arm was barely out from his physique however he was so near the ball, it didn’t appear like he may do a lot about it. I wasn’t complaining, this was precisely what we wanted; a objective towards the run of play to dampen the temper of the buoyant dwelling followers. Besides we didn’t capitalise. Saka put the ball down, did that little dancing ft motion and curled extensive of Fabianski’s proper publish. It wasn’t even shut.
You feared the worst at that time and certain sufficient, two minutes later, the Hammers equalised.
Gabriel did nicely clearing a protracted throw, however when Kehrer hoofed an up-and-under again into our field he was caught out positionally. Bowen stole in behind, adopted the flight of the ball and, not in contrast to Odegaard, cushioned the ball into the bottom. The shot was deceptively fast and though Ramsdale received fingers to it, it discovered its approach in on the close to publish through a spark off the woodwork. After his heroics in entrance of the Kop, there’s little doubt the keeper can have been disillusioned by this one.
With 35 minutes remaining and 5 subs at our disposal, there was loads of time for Arsenal to regroup however for all of the possession led to by the introduction of Jorginho and Trossard (for Partey and Jesus), we had no innovative. By his personal excessive requirements, Odegaard had a stinker. The one time within the half we overloaded their defence, Saka carried the ball a great distance solely to hit a tame shot straight at Fabianski. It was the hassle of a participant nonetheless desirous about his earlier miss.
West Ham may need gained it when Antonio climbed on the again publish to satisfy a Benrahma cross however his header clipped the bar. Nelson, Vieira and Nketiah represented a final throw of the cube however they barely had any time to get a really feel for the sport earlier than it was over.
In his post-game press convention, Arteta was requested whether or not the strain of the title race had gotten to his gamers. He disagreed, saying:
“I’d say sure, if I’d seen a workforce from the start enjoying [does sound effect to suggest tight and tense] however once I see a workforce enjoying with that stream, it’s a no. At two-nil, it’s not the strain, it’s that we actually misunderstood what the sport required in that second.”
Proper now, I discover it exhausting to take any solace from that evaluation.
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That’s your lot from me. Tim goes to choose up the baton tomorrow and Blogs will likely be again at his desk on Wednesday. Thanks for studying over the previous few days.
