Christmas in September
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
I’m not sure if Hallmark movies is just an American thing. If they have made a ‘Christmas in September’ movie then I’m in no doubt that it didn’t end in frustration unless you preferred the guy with overly white teeth and way too much product in his hair to the guy in the cowboy hat who charms her mother and her sister who owns her own bakery in UnrealisticallyPerfectVille.
Mt white teeth
Christmas is thankfully so much more than illuminous teeth and hairspray. I suppose it’s better known for giving and receiving. It came really early in N5 yesterday and it kept on coming. It wasn’t just Arsenal either. I’d say if you watched the highlights of that game, then well over half of them came from uncharacteristic mistakes from both teams. The giving season began with Spurs dallying on the ball as they played out of the back. It was probably a good time to play Spurs in this regard because they have just discovered the skill of passing the ball this season and are always going to make mistakes. The problem was that Eddie and Gabby didn’t realize that they were getting presents and panicked, forgetting to show composure because Uncle Udogie and Auntie Maddison had put handmade bows on their gifts and it needed composure in opening. The bows were double knotted and by the time the gift was revealed, it was beaten and broken. Grandpa Jorginho and Granny Romero joined in with the biggest and most unexpected gifts of the day but honestly the gifts started being given out as soon as the guests arrived and were opened throughout the meal and even when half the guests were turkey-zapped and napping on the couch.
Christmas aside, it was a game of pressing. The gifts were forced by two teams pressing. Spurs press was more effective. Ours was sometimes half baked and had the wrong personnel on the field or in the wrong position to be fully effective. Neither team dominated because neither team felt comfortable mixing their tension of occasion with fear of losing the ball. Defensive units won and the creative playmakers on both teams had little impact. That will happen and so games will have to be won in other ways. Arsenal seemed to have tied one hand behind their own backs with a few frustrating issues. We have at least 10 corners per game and don’t ever seem to win the first header even though the delivery is good. Every once in a while Arteta seems to lose composure and make strange decisions. Even if Jesus had to come off, so did Saka and he was left on far too long. To be fair, he needs to sit down and force a sub. Not having an aerial option on the bench may haunt us again.
As to why that game was so odd may never be known. Maybe fatigue? Over hyped? Odegaard certainly was. Even though Spurs took part in the bonus Christmas gathering they also intentionally slowed the game down and took the energy out of the players and certainly the fans.
On the positive side, amongst this mess, Arsenal are unbeaten and the feeling is being exaggerated by the good start from others, especially City. Alongside this in times gone by, we lose that.
Arsenal have only fully clicked once so far this season against PSV and are still in a good position. When we achieved rhythm in the past it was too late. We just have to hang around City until that happens.
POSITIVES:
- Saliba was very good. Ordinarily, younger center backs peak in their late twenties. The last part of their game that they perfect is positioning because that takes much experience and practice. Saliba is so good because he has already figured that out. His natural athletic advantages allow him to be hard to beat but his positioning is his foundation.
- I like how Arteta has intentionally (I’m guessing) asked Rice, White, Saliba and Gabriel to be at the front of the line in the tunnel. The four towers stand stoney faced ignoring their opponents and looking imperious.
- Saka’s penalty was perfect and again, ballsy of him to step up.
- Raya’s double save from Johnson was deserving of another day. His kicking was off but Spurs always forced him to use his left foot. We forget that this was probably the most intense match of his career so he was likely affected by this.
NEEDS:
- I think that Jesus’ finishing is fixable. It’s most certainly not a technical issue. His ability on the ball is his main strength. He simply gets too excited. He needs to practice slowing down before he strikes the ball. He often accelerates into his moment. The opposite of what you do.
- Are the team too excitable too? Spurs gave us a handful of Christmas presents and some of them were a bike and a PS5. It’s really hard to know what the answer is but as in the thought above, slowing down before executing your action is normally the common denominator.
- What happened to our variety in corner routines? After the 10th in swinger perhaps pretend you are going to do an 11th and hit one to Vieira at the edge of the box?
- I wasn’t at the game but I didn’t see any of the players trying to re-energize the crowd. That seemed super odd to me as it’s easy to do and not hard to achieve in a Derby.
- Eddie Nketiah is one of the most improved players at Arsenal. In the last two years he has become a more rounded player. To the point where he deservedly got into the England squad. He is a good striker. The issue for Arsenal though is that Arsenal have improved from being on the fringes to being title challengers. We have improved at the same rate as Eddie. Because Arsenal are competing with the best team in the world you need one of the best strikers in the world. If you don’t have that then you need a link player like Firmino was at Liverpool that provides the other attackers with space and opportunities. That isn’t Eddie either. As Paul Cassidy said on the Instant Reaction today, ” Eddie has to become a super sub. a 20 minute man.” He is right. If Eddie did this then he has huge value. Every team needs a goalscorer from the bench. That might be the MVP of your bench. Time is possibly running out for Eddie so if I was hime I’d try to be what Paul suggests. I think that if he tries to be first choice or nothing then he will fall short I feel. Simply because we are trying to be elite and he’s too far away from elite for us to wait. Having said all that, Arteta didn’t help him by starting him. He was unconsciously compared to Jesus’ performance 4 days earlier.
HOPES:
- I hope we fully rotate against Brentford. Include Walters, MLS and Nwaneri. Possibly Cozier Duberry too. I’m hoping that we don’t try to bring back those injured too early. Trust players like ESR and Nelson against AFCB.
- The talk of Ivan Toney is interesting. He is certainly the type we are missing but he is not the age profile that we have been signing. Thankfully we are not in a position to need resell value as we have it in every other position. Maybe the cost is the difference maker if a player like Ferguson or Oshimen are going to be double this.
FINAL THOUGHT
The game was not what I was expecting. At the very least, we always keep the ball well. I did some detective work and took a look at the starting line up again. No wonder!! Take a look! Raya’s Welsh brother, a cuddly striker and a Scottish/Italian hybrid who lost the 3 points for us.
STARTING LINEUPS:
ARSENAL
Divid Raya
Ben Whiteish
William Saliba
Gabriel Maghalaslashlash
Oleksander Zinchenko
Declan Twice
Nartin Odegaard
Fitbit Vieira
Gabriel Jesus’ wife
Teddie Nketiah
Bukayo CanIHaveARestPlease
Subs:
Gingenho
Ty Havertz
Emilio Smith Rowo
Reiss’ Peanut Butter Cups
I think I feel better now. Spurs must be rubbish!
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.
Why did we start the game with only 10 players because in reality with Eddie in the team that is what it is. Did you see any positive contribution from him? Easily pushed off the ball he seemed to amble around the pitch as a spectator.
For the first time I am disappointed in Mikel Arteta. Hampered by the loss of both Martinelli and Trossard he moves Jesus out to the wing to accommodate Nketiah. What’s wrong with Nelson on the wing leaving Jesus whee he is the most effective? And why keep Eddie on the pitch when you have Nelson and ESR on the bench? Yesterday was a bad day but it all stated with Arteta.
Can we please take the first offer we receive for Nketiah…..he is not Arsenal material, probably not Premiership either.
Sorry Mike, but there is something wrong when a payer such as Nketiah keeps getting picked and players such as Nelson and ESR
Always love your analysis! Yeah I was at the game and I could see Odegaard and Zinchenko urge the crowd to cheer the boys on a few times. I agree with you on Jesus. When he won the ball off Maddison, he could have taken an extra touch to steady himself and place it in the corner.
Nketiah did not play in the champions league. It was definitely game management to keep him on the pitch for the 90 and remove Jesus who started.
I expect Havertz, Nelson, ESR, Jorginho to start on Wednesday
Hello Mikey,
I didn’t watch the match but I have seen it over and I have some broad concerns about our team.
1. Some statistics doing the rounds says we don’t create enough, score enough and shoot enough. There should be more variety in our attacking play and big improvements are needed in that regards.
2. Ange at Spurs has done so much since the summer and by now Arteta should blend the team better to make us more of a front foot team.
3. I feel one of Jesus or Eddie should have been on the bench and Nelson/ESR/Havertz could have started on the left. What does it say that two LW were injured and Nelson that signed a new contract can’t start there? What does that do to his confidence? What does that say about his squad building? Why can’t Arteta use his squad more with the increased competitions that we have to play?
4. We concede far too many goals now and especially at home. While we have good defenders, our defending strategy leaves more to be desired. Can we chose moments to have Zinny play and invert? Can’t we have matches where Tavares or Tierney could have played for us? What do we gain from Zinny inverting so much and then leaving 3 defenders to defend especially when we are being countered.
5. A new striker would still miss chances as Haaland has shown this season. What we need to do more is continue to create for our forwards to finish.
6. Raya showed that he’s human after all and the jury is still out if he’s an upgrade on Ramsdale.