“One year later and 30 years ago”: Arsenal 2-0 History (Positives Needs & Hopes)

‘One year later and 30 years ago’

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective 

Lame. Fatigued. Afraid. Bullied. Lost.

About one year ago, Arsenal didn’t entirely surprise us. Well, maybe a little. The hope always makes you believe that you have turned the page. Those five words were the polite version of how we felt and probably how long it has taken to get over such a bad day at a bad time.

Arsenal from last season to this season have changed in many areas. If there was one area that I would pick out that they have changed in the most, it would be mentality. The reason that the English Premier League is so popular isn’t simply because the stadiums are full and there are players from all over the world playing there, perhaps it is because anything can happen, and often does. Even though Arsenal Football Club is not quite as English as it was when I was young, I think that it is the attitude of ‘refusal to lay down’ that the English have that is the reason behind the reason.

Sunday was entirely different.

What is psychologically fascinating though is that the majority of the players who played a year ago were out there on Sunday. Even though they might be a little physically stronger, technically more confident and tactically more astute, if somehow we could’ve played last year’s game on Sunday, the outcome would’ve been very different. The mentality has shifted and has bled into all of the other three areas.

 I would imagine that if you talk to the players they would tell you that this was their hardest game of the season on Sunday. Not the hardest team that they have faced but their hardest game of football. For 94 minutes they were up against an extremely hostile crowd. A referee that had been transported from 1993 after being cryogenically frozen for 30 years, and then showed up for his first match without knowing that the rules of football have changed. That you can’t use UFC moves in 2023. Newcastle were a team that had clearly been instructed to physically play over the line and intentionally try to hurt our players. If they weren’t instructed, then they weren’t stopped so it’s the same thing. A Newcastle team that pressed and chased in a compact shape the entire game. An opponent who were in the best form since just before Kevin Keegan had his meltdown. 

Everything was tilted in Newcastle’s favour.

Sometimes I like to imagine what Mikel Arteta’s pre match words are. I imagine that they were something like this,…

‘They will try to intimidate you. Stand up for the badge. They will want you to respond physicality. The badge says ‘Victory through harmony,’ so be smart. Once you have earned the right, remember you have more threats from more areas, more goals across the team and more to play for. This is where your belief will come face to face with your reality. Choose the badge on your heart.’

Time to stop thumping your chest. I know you did when you heard that. I couldn’t help myself. I’ve just watched the game of football that looked more like the last episode of a hunger games style TV show called ‘13 v eleven.’ 

POSITIVES:

• So, some things are similar from last season, and some things are wildly different. One of the main jobs of the coach is to look at each player like you would do an orange that you are squeezing for orange juice. You will look at some players and note that all the juice has been squeezed from the orange and there might be a literal drop or two left but that’s it. Others like Martin Odegaard, you would see differently. This kind of player is almost like giving an orange to a three year old to squeeze for you. They could squeeze for hours, but there would still be juice left in the orange. In my wacky world of coaching terms, my coaches and I have used the term, ‘who’s an orange?’ We locate the players that are either extremely coachable or extremely talented and focus most of our individual time on them. As the Bible says, “don’t waste your pearls on swine.” Arteta saw Odegaard as an orange. A player that seemed satisfied with just being a genius at assisting but his orange was goalscoring. You cannot possibly have elite footballing technique and not have the ability to score. You might have a lack of composure which might be your issue, but that can be overcome. With Martin Ødegaard, I imagine it was more about a conversation and an expectation, then practice. I’m sure both have been done but a player as serious as he is won’t mind his coach putting a high expectation on him and I think that’s what happened. As captain, especially when you are a less vocal captain, if the coach is trying to get the team and the individuals to improve, and you can go from never being a factor on the top scorers list to being one of the top scorers in the entire league, then your coach doesn’t ever have to say anything to encourage the others to follow you. They will have a natural admiration and inherently replicate your actions. From a technical point of view he is more efficient in front of goal because he often takes power off the shot rather than trying to add power and losing control.

• so this is what happened last week. I wrote in my blog that our coach needed to sub Zinchenko before the ‘once a game’ mistake happened. Last Wednesday Mikel called me or ‘Mickey A’ as I call him when we chat. After asking me how my family was, and if we wanted to get together for another vacation to the Caribbean, he told me that he had read my blog and that he was going to sub Zinchenko off in “probably the 57th minutes.” This, my friends, is the new world of PB’s. Not ITK’s, PB’s. Personal Bros. Me and Mickey A . Oh, and we are signing Declan Rice on June 12th. Probably at 8pm.

• I thought for a while that Saka needs to be at the top of the box at corner kicks. He has such a pure strike of the ball and to be fair he isn’t a threat in the box. I do think that set plays are still in the area that we are 50-50 in. So are intelligent and some not so. Area for improvement next season.

• I have so much admiration for Gabriel Jesus. He has to be the best striker in the world at what he does. Honestly, he might be the only striker in the world who does what he does. So clever at rotating positions. So determined to help defensively, even to a fault. So willing to constantly be kicked even though he could use the excuse of being significantly smaller than all of the defenders marking him. I think the reason that he gets kicked so much isn’t necessarily because he is good, but because he plays as if he is the same size as them, and I think that opponents find this very upsetting.

• Jorginho was excellent. I never thought that he would take Thomas Partey‘s place this season, but he most certainly will start the next game. If he had the same pace and athleticism as Partey then we would see him differently as he is likely the lightest central midfielder in the Premier League, He scares us that he cannot compete. Alternatively, we should look at what he has achieved in the game as it is more than anybody else on our team. He hasn’t achieved it as a substitute either. He has been an integral part and the captain of many of the teams that he has lead to titles. At Newcastle he just played with such intelligence. He is like a pressure valve. Always releasing the pressure from us in hectic circumstances. I particularly liked his assist for Odegaard. That was so clever and so intentional. I think he knew that he was going to pass to Odegaard, and so he turned away from him, so as to deceive the defensive unit and have them shift rather than have somebody step up to Odegaard. Watch it again.

  

• You might remember the Bosman ruling back many decades ago. It changed football. The ‘‘White rule’ is going to be the new law in football. Mickey A told me about it, of course. Simply put, when you get really good at overlapping, especially the timing of your overlaps, then your opponent is allowed to ask you to cross two balls rather than one. 

• Ramsdale is making a very regular habit of saving us. I know this is his job, but he does it better than most. Most goalkeepers are inconsistent in their heroics and he is not. I’m sure he is up for goalkeeper of the year or going to be in the team of the season or whatever the award is, but I think that his all round game should surpass Pope in the voting.

• Kiwior seems to be doing this thing backwards. You are supposed to gain a high level of confidence and positioning as a senior centre back. Players in this position normally peak three or four years later and into their early 30s. When I watch him play he seems to play more like a seasoned player than a new player in a new league where he still hasn’t learned the language. I think his biggest asset will be that he can play at least three positions. I know the recruitment has lent this way with versatility near the top of the list, but the fact that he can play both sides of centre back and possibly inverted left back is quite the advantage.

• If anybody wants to argue about the strength of our mentality this season, then the fact that we have twice as many clean sheets away from home than anybody else is proof enough. You couldn’t possibly have this record and not be good in adversity.

• I wonder if Xhaka’s block will be his Gibbs v West Brom moment. It was actually one of the best blocks I’ve seen in many years as it happened after a full field sprint and overtaking multiple players. No words needed after that. That is a Player with 100% commitment. If it had happened in the first 10 minutes then it would be different, but he must be fatigued and pushing through pain to do that. If we were to somehow win the league, we will rewind to that moment.

• The own goal was absolutely brilliant on so many levels. Firstly, on a tactical note, if you do not see an option, it is always best to smash the ball at the inside leg of a defender. They have to do something and something normally leads to an own goal. I’m not sure if Martinelli meant to do that as Odegaard was right behind Fabian Schar but I’d like to think that. I might decide at some point in my life to take up videography in order to make a mini documentary about the day that Fabian Schar didn’t get a yellow card when he deserved at least two red ones. It will be called ‘The day that VAR wore blindfolds.’ After I have finished this I will no doubt win a few Oscars, Emmys and MTV Music awards and so be given the funds to make my second epic called, ‘Smacking Dave – a mini documentary about 5 people in football more annoying than Cesar Azpilicueta’ It will feature three footballers and two coaches. Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes, Ashley Barnes, Jose Mourinho and Jason Tindall. Who is Jason Tindall, you say?? This guy…

• Why is Jason so annoying? You don’t know!!!!! Really?!?!! I have spent at least the last five years being thoroughly annoyed by Jason. Then today I felt justified in my annoyance. It’s not just me. There is an account on Twitter called ‘Jason Tindall desperate to be centre of attention. You can find it @jasontindall_ Apparently Jason Tindall is infamous amongst Weymouth, Bournemouth and Newcastle fans for always making sure that he is on camera. Whenever he thinks there is the slightest possibility that he will be on camera or sees himself on the big screen he goes to stand next to Eddie Howe. In all team photographs he’s always the one in the middle.

• Whenever Eddie is interviewed, Jason goes with him and tries to get interviewed also. I didn’t know any of this. I just knew that there was something about the man that I deeply disliked. The fake tan was probably part of the problem. It’s also a thing that fans of the clubs that he has been at will always say that at the final whistle, he scoots closer to the opposing teams bench so he can be the first one to shake hands with the head coach of the other team. Here is Jason and Thomas Frank.

• There are a few people that I know in my life bubble that have an over inflated sense of self importance. It reminds me a little of Michael Scott from The Office in the US. Everybody else is laughing at you, but you don’t know it. Anytime Arsenal beat a team associated with this man my son asks me why I am shouting at the TV with such passion and enjoyment as “we haven’t exactly won the league.” One day he will understand. I might have to show him my mini documentary. So, I invite you. Join me in my annoyance of Jason Tindall. It’s completely unhealthy, but can occasionally lead to comprehensive joy like it did yesterday.

• I love that Arteta has put so much focus on the parts of his players games that they ignore. An example would be Saka and the fact that yesterday as an example, he had more tackles than anybody else. I always tell my team that we have two ways of scoring. We can wait until they give us the ball, or you can go get it.

• This Arsenal team just keeps improving. I’m always saying snippets of what I think they have been working on in the week. I noticed that the transitions were significantly more direct and faster against Newcastle. This is so encouraging as this has been a weakness for many many years. We’ve been too content to make it too easy for our opponents.

NEEDS:

• I do wonder if there might be an unexpected tweak to our formation/strategy next season. Most coaches would never do this, especially with a team that has been successful, but those at the top top level see this as an advantage. If you do the same thing, and you show it to opponents too often, they can shut you down as they will find solutions. The main issue for opponents this season has been how to deal with Zinchenko. I would imagine next season that there will be a solution that one coach figures out of the others will replicate. I also wonder if we will even do the same thing. it has worked and has been a huge part of our success but I have a few thoughts. If Arteta was looking for a different look, then perhaps he inverts his right back and not the left back? Some fans have started picking on Zinchenko which I think is totally unfair. He’s a much better defensive left back then I ever thought he was and I was a little nervous when he came. He’s outstanding in the air and very disciplined in other areas. His weakness is his complacency
  on the ball in defensive areas when we are winning. I look at his skill set, and I look at the fact that everybody thinks that we will be finding an alternative in the left eight area and I wonder if it could be him? He plays there for his country, and most certainly has the quality to do it almost everything that the position requires. Don’t be surprised if we see this for no other reason than it will completely mess with our opponents who will think that they have figured Arsenal out and our clever left back in centre midfield deal. I do think that Mikel  is aware that opponents see Zinchenko as our greatest strength and our biggest weakness.

• I am really torn on diving in the box. So great is the need for three points that when our players get away with it, I’m not exactly livid with them. There was a moment for Saka and  Martinelli in this game when they were ’fouled’ in the box and could easily have gone down and got a penalty kick. When I say fouled, I mean a modern day foul. One where there was contact, but not much, but certainly enough to fall over and roll around and get VAR to spend nine minutes looking at every angle, including the one from outer space.

HOPES:

 If Osimhen is going to be too expensive on top of adding to our midfield and defence, then Elye Wahi might be the answer. Arsenal are interested.  And this might be a very smart move as we have competed for the league with our current forwards so there isn’t an obvious need right now. So, is there a need to bring in an elite striker just yet? Would it be better if we added a player like Wahi who is possibly Osimhen before Osimhen was Osimhen. Check him out here. He seems to be quite the allrounder. 

• I think the lack of faith shown in Smith Rowe and the pursuit of Declan Rice and/or Moises Caicedo has more to do with unavailability through injuries than anything else. I won’t be entirely surprised if Tomi falls further down the pecking order next season for the same reason. it seems that there is quite a contrast at Arsenal between those that play almost every game and those that are made of glass. I will be really sad if Thomas Partey and Emile Smith Rowe are not playing at Arsenal next season but staying free from injury certainly can be the difference in winning or not.

• So fatigued am I from my spring schedule that I cannot remember whether I have told you about how excited I got when I watched the compilation of Dynamo Zagreb center back Josip Sutalo. I saw that Arsenal were linked with him and took a look. Compilations are just the front door to interest and certainly you cannot form a whole opinion as soon as you enter the house. At the same time though, I feel like I have an eye for a player. I have to say that I was hugely impressed. Such power. Such acceleration. So dominant and confident. He has even scared me into thinking that Saliba is not going to sign his contract because he looked like a replica. Here’s another completion for you to watch…

• As much as I have such an intense dislike of VAR, I have to be fair and thankful when it  spots something that the human eye is struggling with. The Kiwior handball incident was almost like magic. I was deceived until I saw it for about the third or fourth time into thinking it did actually hit his hand. I have to say also though that I felt that he was trying to take his arm away rather than move it towards the ball. Either way, it hit him on the thigh. If we are stuck with VAR, I do hope that  whichever idiots are running it that they go for an intensive 10 week course where there is no sleep, only dry Weetabix to eat, and if you fail the test at the end, then you get given the worst punishment of all, a gift card to Shoney’s. For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, feel lucky.

FINAL THOUGHT:

So here we are. Three games left and one (or 4) point/s behind City. I’m sure that we all agree that it is unlikely that we win the league now. I have made my peace with the fact that I want to chuck April in a dark pit and focus on the season as a whole. What is so helpful in this regard is that the team are extremely hard to be angry at. Extremely easy to love, and after watching the game against Newcastle, fill me with more pride than I have felt supporting Arsenal possibly in my entire lifetime. 

Now go put Jason Tindell on your dartboard. Therapy. Trust me.

—

And if you feel like listening through some old pods – you can always find them here:

Mike McDonald

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.