Not fun, don’t care
Positives, Needs and Hopes
Well, actually I did care during the game.
I didn’t necessarily need to be entertained but I did need to feel like we were trying to win. So, let’s get the honesty out of the way.
During the games I make copious notes. I make columns based on how my blog is broken down. The column of notes about my headline and opening piece was far longer than any other. I debated in the first half, if I was actually watching a massive game of keep away. The keepers were on holiday.
I also noted that the game looked like the third game of a US youth soccer tournament. If you are unaware of the insanity that happens in youth soccer over here, kids are asked to play between three and six games over a weekend to win a tournament. The third game is where major fatigue is evident. The team with better fitness levels wins the third game.
I didn’t understand why we played with such little energy in the first half considering we are playing a game a week. I was also speculating that we have two game approaches. One for the big games where we play with high intensity and look the equal of those above us and around us. The second plan is where we dial it back too far, play with half the energy and make the game too difficult.
These games we normally lose. Well actually, it’s not normally, we just lose them.
I wasn’t enjoying the game and let my stress dominate my thoughts. If and when I watch this game back I know what I’m going to say. Because the heart that I will be watching it with won’t be beating out of my chest, I will notice and enjoy the impressive solidity that our midfield and defense showed throughout. I will notice that West Ham needed a goal but did not have a shot on target in the second half. I will notice that all the corners that they had that I was hiding behind my fingers were simply headed or punched away. Every one of them. I will notice that although Benrahma look tricky and scared me a little, Tomi pocketed him. I will notice that Rob Holding played with such concentration and great decision making. I will notice that although Granit Xhaka had his hips turned the wrong way too many times in the first half, that he was largely imperious as well as the impressive Egyptian chap next to him.
I will notice that I expect too much of Saka and that of the four wingers on display, he was by far the most threatening. I will notice that Ramsdale looks like the Ramsdale of earlier in the season and that he is regaining his confidence and sharpness.
More than anything, I will notice that even though Eddie didn’t score, this was his best performance for Arsenal.
I was quite critical of Eddie a few weeks ago. I think he deserved it. I tried to comment based on what I see and I hope never to have a writing style based on agenda. So, it is completely fair to state that he was crucial today in many areas.
The main compliment or perhaps the adjective that is fair to describe the positive side of yesterdays performance, is solid. Even though we would prefer fun, solid will probably get you closer to glory. I never felt during the game but West Ham were going to score. Even though they scored during a period of pressure, I was surprised. We were so organized in the back and structured in our wide players coming to support our full backs. In some regards, this performance could be shown as an example of how Arteta has made us into a consistently well organized Premier League team.
Anyway, back to Eddie…..
It’s all very well us being solid in our half of the field but all season we have lacked solidity in maintaining possession in difficult circumstances. I speak particularly of our centre forward as up until today he has been unwilling or unable to run the channels and challenge for every ball rather than just some.
My criticism a few weeks ago was that Eddie lacked passion. You could see this when he was attempting to challenge for headers or when backing into a defender. Previously, he would give a token effort but felt defeated because he’s smaller or just felt it wasn’t worth it as he’s not first choice. Those of us over the age of 35 will likely remember Mark Hughes and remember that size is a trick of the mind. Those a little older will remember Kevin Keegan and know that there are no excuses.
If Eddie Nketiah wants to have any future at Arsenal then perhaps the most important thing that he has to prove to our coaches isn’t that he can score but that he can be relied upon to fight.
Because he gave more, he got more.
He had more shots yesterday than Lacazette had in his previous nine. Eddie was impressive.
When I re-watch I imagine that it will be a little more fun, but ultimately when it comes to down to May, I don’t care about fun.
POSITIVES:
- Let’s give Nketiah some more deserved praise. Beyond running the channels, which should be a staple for a centre forward rather than a round of applause, he was intelligent to do it at the right time. I’m not sure if he spotted it or Arteta but when West Ham got desperate their full backs emptied the wings and he was intelligent enough to fill them. This led to a couple of good counter attack opportunities. I’m also impressed that he goes for precision over power the majority of the time. That will be important moving forward as it will lead to becoming more prolific.
- So, after Xhaka and Mo putting in three very good performances in three very important games, we circle back around to wondering if they should be kept on next season? For now, I’ll park that. I just appreciate their composure and ability to understand positioning. This might be the biggest strength of both of them. Rarely out of position. Arsenal were solid yesterday and that word describes Xhaka. So, if it’s a solid central midfielder we need then maybe we keep him
- To quote Pete @legrove, “Arteta has us leading top 4 with 4 games to go without his two full backs (again), his best midfielder, and a very junior striker.”
Straight up facts right there.
Perhaps the greatest compliment to Arteta in this is how he has culled the squad, kept a good atmosphere and motivated the squad players who are stepping up at the most crucial time.
- Much like Xhaka, Rob Holding most certainly has a role at Arsenal. Xhaka’s role right now is creating ease in the minds of others, positional sense and technical reliability. Holding has been a closer this season and very good at it. He is always worth keeping as he is a deep block defender and there are always many games where you sink into a deep block or play with it as your first strategy. With the growth of the second coming of his hair has been a new consistency. I would most definitely keep Rob Holding and even give him a new contract as it would be hard to find somebody that is willing to play third, fourth or fifth choice centre back with such professionalism and be able to fulfill the roles that he is doing. Plus if we are smart we will be able to secure a contract or two from a hair restoration company as sleeve sponsor.
- Sometimes you forget how good somebody is and then they return. Tomiyasu is one of the finds of the last 10 years. So hard to beat and so powerful in the air. As good as Cedric has been recently he simply doesn’t have the qualities of Tomi and although he can also play left back he doesn’t have two good feet. Also, the speed and while I’m at it, the power on the dribble. Actually, he’s far superior which considering Cedric is an international player for a top nation who has played for Arsenal and Inter Millan shows you how good Tomiyasu must be.
- I think it’s undervalued when your centre backs score from set plays. They spend so much time in practice working on this. Almost every week, I’d say. The fact that two of our defenders scored will give them so much more confidence and motivation. We forget that we are not guaranteed any particular chance that we might practice beforehand, but we are 95% sure that we will get a corner.
NEEDS:
- I’m not entirely sure what the strategy was in the first half. With a weeks rest we shouldn’t have lacked energy. It was almost as if the strategy was to run the legs off West Ham and win the game in the second half as there seemed such little desire to even move the ball forwards in the first half. It could be that we were trying to draw the forwards towards us in order to find bigger gaps. Whatever it was, I’m not so sure that it worked. I don’t think that they flagged or fatigued and the game was never easy when it could have been if we would have started with more purpose. If we would’ve gone a couple of goals up I think West Ham would have resigned themselves to Europa League focus but I think we encouraged them. We waited until the 37th minute to show any directness with a shot by Eddie. Too long.
- When was the last time that Arsenal had a one on one with the goalkeeper? If not that, scored a really easy goal. This will be another evolution that the team needs must evolve to as we are leaving so many opportunities out there. I noticed in the 50th minute that for some bizarre reason when Eddie Nketiah had a break away that Martinelli just ran with the defenders when there was a 1 on 1. Yesterday in particular, their defenders were slow and we didn’t take advantage. You have probably heard me ranting for multiple weeks that our starlet on the right wing only runs behind when our center back is lifting a ball over the top. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a new striker and midfielder who can score will solve the fact that we score half the goals of the top two. We have an issue with creating easier chances. A new striker who comes alive in the penalty area will make a significant difference but a mentality of attacking hunger and ruthlessness is needed.
HOPES:
– I am a sucker for transfer rumours. I don’t think that Arsenal have a true chance of signing Aurelien Tchouameni as the biggest of the big dogs want him. There is however always a chance that he has a smart agent and a smart head on him and understands that Arsenal is a better next career step than becoming the next Camavinga at Real Madrid and only playing 15 to 20 games a season for the next three or four years whilst you wait for others to retire or fade.
If you have never seen him play, he is a monster of a midfielder. Capable of everything but currently plays as a defensive midfielder. It wouldn’t take you long when watching him to see the potential and no surprise that Liverpool and Real Madrid are leading the race alongside Chelsea. Honestly, it would not surprise me if he was considered the best midfielder in the world in two or three years.
- Are we going to persist with Tavares? I hope so. I think it entirely depends on his attitude. If I was to write a blog about Nuno Tavares, it would be called ‘Everything, absolutely everything.’ He has so much defensive and attacking potential but he is in a place in his career where he is capable of the whole wide range of positive and negative contributions. Without that potential it might be time to move on but I hope that the fans stay calm and reasonable and the club see a positive attitude and a point in persisting.
FINAL THOUGHT:
I was just reading that if Arsenal beat Leeds, which is the most likely eventuality, and Liverpool beat Tottenham, which is similar, then we only need three draws to finish fourth. It’s sounding more realistic.
If you read my ‘Spin the wheel’ blog last week you might be a little nervous like me. With the third most wins in the Premier League, Arsenal are clearly in a place where they have to find ways not to lose as we’ve lost way too many. In way over half of the games we’ve lost, we were capable of coming back and winning even if we weren’t playing so well.
Maybe yesterday was a really great start at just the right time?
Check out my podcast below where my son’s profound comment made me think and it will you too 😊

Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.
Good write up and yes we’re at the stage of the season where you endure the games rather than enjoy them and I certainly went through the wringer yesterday.
I thought we looked nervous and edgy and maybe that contributed to some sloppy passing and general lethargy, but we got the job done and that’s always a great sign for a developing squad, to play poorly but to still win and for a squad of this youth and inexperience I think that’s amazing and a testament to our coaches.
Hello Mike,
Nice post as usual.
The team was solid and these 3 wins have shifted the momentum onto us after the 3 losses.
We have also secured European competition for next season which if it was achieved at the end of the season would have been a good season by us. It is testament to the progress that we have made that we want more and being in a position to be able to achieve more is huge credit to Arteta and the coaching crew.
The impact of the squad players like Holding, Nketiah and Elneny in particular have also been very impressive. Elneny came into the team and may be undroppable even when Partey returns at least till the season ends. He may not need to be rushed.
Based on this evidence, he and Nketiah should be given new contracts because we would need a bigger squad to compete for next season. One more thing that Arteta needs to learn is the ability to use more of the squad and not just a selected few. He also needs to learn to be ruthless when senior players are not performing. Willian was allowed to play for so long when it was obvious he wasn’t playing very well and now Laca was playing poorly for so long with Nketiah sitting on the bench.
We also didn’t see more of the Hale end products get some playing rime although when the main squad is overall young as well.
These are exciting fans to be Arsenal fans and the journey has been a roller coaster which the whole Arsenal team would benefit from.
That Amazon documentary would be real fun to watch.
Hi Mike
Great read as always.
My own observations are more around the mental stress this young group are dealing with, especially as they have never been in this situation before, where every game now is a must win, and the CL beckons.
Yet again we played our match knowing that our nearest and only challengers for the top 4, had won earlier in the day and were above us in the table.
I thought that knowledge clearly impacted on our performance particularly in the first half.
When the brain is stressed, it sends different messages to the rest of your body leading to physical stress as a consequence.
This to me was clearly evidenced by a string of misplaced passes, wrong decision making and a general sense of lack of composure.
Instead of letting things happen as a natural process of all the training ground routines and their own inherent abilities, they were rushing things and the evidence of this was there for all who cared to see it.
I avoid the words ‘ playing scared ‘ and would elect for ‘ playing tense ‘.
This only changed after we scored the early second half goal that restored our lead, and the players seemed to be more comfortable with what they needed to do, defended well, and on the counter, could and should have scored a couple of more goals.
They will face the same stress this weekend, although in a different way, because if Spurs lose at Liverpool on Saturday, they will run out against Leeds on Sunday, not trying to regain 4th spot, but instead knowing that a win will extend our lead to 5pts, which will change the entire dynamic of the NLD 4 days later.
How the players handle it over the next few weeks will be the ‘ magic key ‘ to whether we reach the CL again, much sooner than any of us could ever have imagined.
Cheers