Menu

Expectation and the Unexpected (Positives Needs & Hopes) [ARS 3-1 LIV]

Expectation and the Unexpected

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective 

It’s important to me that what I write is from a place of passion but balanced by the eyes of a neutral. That’s hard to do but important if analysis is going to be good. 

Max and I got a flavour of how much harder that can be as we were blessed to be at The Emirates on Sunday. The heart beats very differently from Block G than it does from the cozy corner of my couch. 

My head was spinning after the game from adrenaline and the purchase of the Ian Wright top which is quite the event all by itself. 

We went back to Bray after the game to rewatch and delight in listening to Jamie Carragher before bedtime. Nightmares from that grating voice? Yep. Bless you that have to watch Sky’s football coverage. At least Birmingham City realized quickly that hiring a celebrity and not an expert was a very bad idea. Sky will only realize this when competition comes along and people who don’t understand modern football see their viewing figures plummet. 

On Monday we wandered around the East End and spent a delightful hour in Classic Football Shirts. Max came away with a Genoa and Dynamo Kiev kit.

I now sit here on the plane about to fly back to JFK surrounded by Arsenal fans as air hostess’. The last episode of my Arsenal high is believing that their red and white Virgin uniforms are the new ‘Kim Kallstrom range’ soon to be available at The Armoury.

As I unwind and start thinking of the reality that I return to, I see the Liverpool game with a clarity. 

My first thought is that Arsenal looked like they expected to win. 

Not an arrogance but an authority. Not fear but serenity. This thought flows directly through Mikel Arteta as its hub. Not only has he taught the team how to play with less thunder and more hula, I feel the quiet confidence flowing through me too. 

For a team in third place to dominate and swat away the league leaders with such confident precision is so very impressive. Only 3 of the starting 11 have done this journey to the summit before yet all 11 look like they have done it four seasons running. 

The best example of this was seen at both ends. 

Firstly, Liverpool started the game with their high press but soon binned that idea. They couldn’t stop the ball getting to Havertz and Odegaard in particular who were both taking turns in floating in the no man’s land in front of Van Dijk. This was alongside the unruffled competence of our defenders who were teasing their press. 

Secondly, Van Dijk was so flustered by trying to solve this problem that he tried to fix it when he didn’t need to, giving Odegaard the through ball leading to the first goal. That had to have been planned because there was an Olympic swimming pool’s width between him and Konate who was babysitting Trent. Such clever strategy from Mikel who had them baffled all night particularly with what to do with Havertz.

This level of thinking and execution that the boss and players have in their marriage is another huge part of the team looking so expectant.

What was so odd though was that although these elite tactics were evident, that the game was so affected by two of the most unexpected errors and goals seen in one game. 

I’m not sure if we will ever know if both goals were a result of a breakdown or lack of communication by Raya and Allison, but they were utterly bizarre. If Gabriel would’ve been asked to handball it backwards into the net I don’t think he could’ve pulled it off. Equally, if you put that ball in front of Allison 10 times he wellies it or at least takes a touch. After watching way too many replays I still couldn’t figure out how he missed it entirely. Almost like he was being controlled by a gamer who paused his leg. Maybe there is a new technology that we don’t know about. Either way, that was a hugely memorable and important game. 

I don’t want a tattoo, but as I was walking down the Emirates steps I thought about being branded. I do live in Tennessee now so I could be the first official Arsenal cowboy.

POSITIVES:

Odegaard at 10

So, it looked like we played a 4-2-2-2. 

A back four who stayed in a bowl. No inversion from Zinchenko so as to take away the risk of quick Liverpool transition out wide. 

Jorginho playing in a double pivot rather than as a sole DM or eight with Havertz and Odegaard as duel 10’s and Saka and Martinelli high and wide. 

This created such confusion that Liverpool clearly hadn’t prepared for and the main beneficiary was Odegaard who spent a large portion of the game on his own mini private island. 

The main benefits were the two out wide who were 1 on 1 on multiple occasions or 1 on 2 in Martinelli’s case which left the Konate-less hole for Havertz.

I predict that we see this against other top teams as it gives us the opportunity to put the experience of Jorginho on the field when the potential poopy-pants period arrives. I think I might patent that phrase before it gets nicked. It also leaves the problem VVD couldn’t figure out and gets MO central and Saka less crowded. 

I maintain that we still haven’t fully unlocked Odegaard. His ability to play that ball behind is only just starting to peak up from its molehill. 

Simple goals

If I’ve rabbited on about any one thing too often it has been that we don’t score the simple goals. Watching Odegaard put the ball behind for Havertz to go 1 v 1 was a sadly unique Arsenal moment. I’m sure that this memory will encourage us to replicate. 

Conditions 

I can attest to the yucky weather in London the last few days. The constant huge blanket of marshmallows in the sky wasn’t allowing the sun to shine. After being able to breathe through my nose perfectly whilst living in the US to being a mouth breather in England every time I come might just lean me even closer to believing those that tell me about the constant chemtrails being sprayed in England’s skies by the quite lovely and not evil government. My nose wants an answer either way. 

That was a rabbit trail. My point was that Arsenal dealt with the high winds so much better than Liverpool. VVD can’t blame the wind for our second goal but it was rather odd that he lost his bearings and didn’t head it away from Martinelli. 

My science teacher would argue with me about wind strength at grass level but that might just have confused Saliba and Raya. Wind really is the worst condition to play football in.

White awareness

There were a couple of times in the first half that White made Diaz look silly. Not sure Arteta would approve but those moments certainly give confidence to the other players. Makes us look and feel superior. 

Ben White is back to his top form now. His decision making is elite from when and how he tactically fouls to his duel winning ability, composure, housery and timing of overlapping runs.

Pressing and anticipation

The game seemed mentally won in the first half. I had a Liverpool friend telling me that we wouldn’t be able to handle their high press. Oh, I look forward to landing in NYC so we can have a chat about that. In the first half we committed multiple robberies in the form of anticipation in the final third. Eight of them. 

Arteta might just have had his best coaching day to date at Arsenal. 

Rice and Jorginho 

These two really seem to compliment each other. You could see from up here….

View from my seat

…… that they communicated and moved so well together. Likely two of the most intelligent midfielders in modern football whose understanding of the modern game is totally synced. 

Rice has greatly improved his positioning since arriving from West Ham. That is likely his big improvement. Without his ability to stand in the right place, Odegaard would drop deeper through lack of trust and our forward outlet would vanish. He is the best tackler in Europe, I’d say. Runs around the field vacuuming everything up and never really losing possession. If he can get to the point where he scores 5-10 goals per season then he puts himself in the category of best all round midfielders to ever play the game. That sounds an overreach but what more could this guy improve at? I was discussing whether he’s now the best player at Arsenal. If he isn’t, he’s ruddy close.

Jorginho played his best game for Arsenal at just the right time. Actually one of the best games I’ve seen this season. He is so aware of his surroundings as he scans constantly. His main achievement is that he is one of the players in world football that changed the game. I found a piece of paper the other day where I’d scribbled down my squad for the season. It was Jorginho’s last season at Napoli. I wanted Fabinho from Monaco and Jorginho from Napoli. They would’ve been the perfect compliment to each other. Jorginho was a new breed of CM that came after the best midfield trio ever in Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta. Those three would dominate in small and big triangles but progress the ball forward between themselves and feed Mr Messi. Coaching changed after many including Wenger experimented with replicating this but most realized that they didn’t have the same quality to do this. Coaching moved towards coaches preferring to control games themselves. Games and competitions were more and players needed to rest on the field. Jorginho was amongst a small group including Veratti, Alcantara and Kroos who became geniuses at recycling possession to get their teammates into advanced positions and to slow the game down. 

This may not have been a popular development because it takes away the fun of football being an end to end basketball affair but it was needed because coaches are desperately trying to keep their best players fit and available with way too much football to play.

At this point I’d love for my friend, Mike Stride, to show this point made above to the guy who was sitting behind me. He spent a good portion of the game teaching Max and my nephew Oscar some new vocabulary words that probably won’t be on their spelling test this week but described how frustrated he was at any pass that didn’t go forwards. To be fair he was also responsible for Oscar now having a new word to describe anyone who frustrates him as he called Havertz a ‘plum’ as often as he used another four letter word that was less fruit based. I was quite proud of Oscar then deciding to call the ref a plum after he gave a foul throw against Trossard for bending his knees. Anthony Taylor was once a decent referee but I’m not sure I care enough about this right now to comment more. Let’s just call him a ‘plum.’ We are less likely to get a ban if we use fruit frustrations.

Anyway, Rice was excellent and Jorginho was whatever is better than excellent. 

The Zubimendi rumours are likely true because Arteta loves Jorginho but will be understanding of his legs going soon. Zubimendi has the same potential and is a little quicker.

To wrap up the Jorginho love watch him in tight situations. Situations where other good PL players would just whack it forward and get a clap from the fans for relieving the tension. Jorginho finds an accurate transition pass. 

Whether we get Zubimendi or not, Jorginho needs a new two year contract and then a job sitting next to Mikel (and Santi:)

Jorginho and Rice

Liverpool 

They arrived in London on a lovely coach. I saw it. It was named after their keeper who played rather well for Arsenal to the point where the luxury coach looked more like The Struggle Bus. 

They don’t rely solely on Salah but he is of another level to the rest. Jota and Diaz had minimal affect on the game to the point where their affect was likely negative. Jota should’ve put them 1-0 up in the first minute and all Diaz did was try to convince the ref that there was a sniper in Row 10 and that he should send White off. 

Their sole threat came from a few crosses but our defenders swatted them away. 

If Arsenal do win the league it will be largely down to us being the best defensive unit in Europe both statistically and with the eye test.

Last January 

I’m sure you will remember that we signed Jorginho, Kiwior and Trossard last January. To think that we nearly got Mudryk, but instead got these three for less than Chelsea paid for him, is quite lovely. I was all about Mudryk, so I can’t pretend I wasn’t but the reality has proved me wrong. Trossard is a hot or cold player, but is now producing significantly more hot performances than cold ones. His goal was special and he is now given the coach a real headache. With Smith Rowe back in the team it’s going to get interesting. As we saw by Leo’s  introduction on Sunday, there is a clear preference for him.

Kiwior played his best game for Arsenal at exactly the right time. With Zinchenko now injured we need him or Tomi to play. Truthfully, I would’ve started with him because he is a better defender than Zinchenko and we didn’t ask either of them to invert, which is Zinchenko’s strength.

Clever yellows 

It is nice to see that we are learning when to tactical foul. It’s unfortunate as I think this is a big fat loophole in the rules of the game that you can foul a player who is about to set his team on a 3 v 3 breakaway and the punishment is allowing the whole defensive unit to get back behind the ball. Until they figure out that unfortunately the sport needs short sin-bins to make it reflect what the players are doing to take advantage, Arsenal need to get 7 yellow cards a game against the best teams to stop them from even getting into our half. 

Vs top six

Top 6 Results

Can we win the league? This doesn’t hurt.

NEEDS:

The Lego head 

Arteta Lego Head

Excuse the picture. Looks like Mikel in a washing machine. 

I do have a great concern though. There are imperfections in Mikel’s hair. Is he releasing some of his control in the hairspray department and trusting a little free form jazz at the front of his Lego head?

I cannot explain this. It must be a visual lie. 

Throw ins

I don’t think that the time wasting was quite that. I think there was genuine confusion at trying to solve how Liverpool shut down all avenues. There was one slightly risky way out though. There was a rather large gap in the centre of the field where Jorginho was. A little fake to throw down the line opens up that gap even more and turns it from risky transition to a counter-like opportunity.

Beard concerns

Hold on, hold on! What do we have here.

Greybeard?

Not only does he have a slightly ruffled Lego head but I see some grey sprouts a little further south. 

Mikel is falling apart before our eyes and all we can talk about is two false tens, the Rwanda plan and Jamie Carragher. 

GoFundMe time, me thinks. I’ll get it organized. I know the ‘Just for Men’ guy.

Havertz

Maybe Kai can be the ‘Rwanda plan’ for Mikel. Much like Sunak will never send a plane to Rwanda, the distraction is on to prevent others that don’t read my blog from finding out about Mikel’s follicle failings. Although Havertz was an ongoing problem for Liverpool there was a concern still over his movement. Perhaps the fanbase haven’t connected fully with Havertz because it’s energy that connects. Either a happy spirit giving off positive vibes or a willingness on the field to be the spark. That doesn’t have to be done with dribbling but with dynamic movement off the ball. Kai needs to offer this in two areas. After he passes he tends to stand and walk. Sometimes that can be effective if you pause for a split second allowing the defender to turn his head before bolting. 

Also, his movement in the box is done in straight lines attacking the middle of the goal and offering relief to the centre backs who can mark or monitor him easily. The back post runs are more elusive but Arsenal need someone making the near post run for the first touch before the zonal defender has a chance to clear. Let’s be honest, at least 50% of crosses go to the near post and are cleared so why not make that harder for defenders or even get the glancing touch or header much like Giroud would. Talking of the Frenchman, it was good to see him at the game. Would’ve swapped that for seeing him on the bench though.

HOPES

Ivan Toney

It was rather interesting watching him against City. If he is coming to us next season we need to watch him play teams like City to see if he is troubling teams of that level. He wasn’t a constant pest but certainly impacted the game. I’ve never seen anyone move Ake with such ease as he did on their goal. I teach my players the importance of understanding that winning your duel is less about aggression and athleticism but more about stopping your opponent from getting it. If he can’t touch it then that’s a huge part of the problem eliminated. Toney is creative which he doesn’t get credit for. Very aware of who is around him. He looks like a definite candidate to me. Just whether we want to spend too much money on him and the age is a little concern. Not huge, but if resale is a concern then he won’t have much.

Pundits

This

Cundits

That tweet is so well put. 

There are a few arms to this.

Firstly, the pundits were very much threatened by Arsenal when they played. Trained to respect but hate us. Times haven’t changed really. We are still all fighting for the same prizes and in United’s case, they think they should be but we are unaffected by their continual lack of planning and consistency. 

Secondly, they are told to talk about the ‘drama’ of the game by their producer. It unfortunately drives engagement and viewership.

If there is no drama then they create it out of thin air. 

This week is a classic example. The actual story was all that I’ve written above plus the multiple other Arsenal contributors who do such excellent work. Listen to Arseblog, Arsenal Vision, Stadio, LeGrove, Tom Canton, Harry Symeou, Not Another Arsenal podcast, The Highbury Squad, Handbrake Off, Footballistically Arsenal, Same Ole Arsenal, The Gooners Podcast and on and on…

These fans have Arsenal content that ranges from 7/10 to 10/10. 

I understand that Arsenal is their specialty but I don’t suppose Jamie Carragher, for example, does much else with his work life beyond comment on TV. He has the time to research what he is being asked to comment on or perhaps go visit the training grounds of pro clubs that play 2024 football and not 2008 football.

He chooses not to because those networks don’t demand it of ex-players. They just want a famous face. Truthfully, we are part of the problem because we have a tendency to enjoy the words war. It’s the modern alternative to having a scrap behind the gym after school. Got to get out your anger somehow. 

The most important point though is that what we are being fed as ‘analysis’ is a big fat pile of distraction. 

I watched Jamie Carragher very slowly trying to analyze the Arsenal game before Monday Night Football. It was excruciating watching him trying to replicate the instructions that somebody at Sky had given him in how to analyze the actual game. He did it so slowly so as to stop the host asking him questions that he wouldn’t be able to answer. 

These former players who get the best and easiest post football job available are taking the piss. They know that they can’t provide in-game analysis that would stop the masses from getting yet another beverage. When the commercials are more informative than the punditry, you have a problem. 

You can see it on their faces too when a new pundit shows up in the studio and actually has some insightful thought. That was Gael Clichy on Sunday and you could sense the eyeballs shifting and the thought bubbles….”didn’t someone tell Gael that we don’t actually talk about tactics.”

I suppose that what we need to do is stop engaging them. I’m sure they don’t want to discuss what they are spewing anyway. It’s like those days when your English teacher asked you to give your presentation but you hadn’t done it so you just went up and blagged it. After it was over you had zero interest in talking to your friends about the presentations. You just wanted it to go away so you could move on. 

I just wish that the British pundits had my English teacher, Mrs Townsend. She could spot a phoney and she’d keep you after class and then make you do it again tomorrow. 

As for the specific distraction which was celebrations yet again, that is born out of jealousy. 

Gary Neville can’t praise Arteta unless he has no choice because he was once a first time coach in the land where Arteta is from and he was humiliated. Rather than working at it, he quit coaching and went back to easy life. 

Mikel Arteta thinks on a different universe to Gary Neville. Carragher didn’t even have the guts to try coaching and Roy Keane just coached through fear which can have short term success only. 

I’d honestly rather listen to Marcelo Bielsa’s translator than any British football pundit.

The actual concern though is that they are quite influential in the UK. Their opinions are all over social media and the back pages. When they talk about celebrating they need to be careful. 

I live in a culture where the majority are petrified of offending others. The US surely wins the political correctness award and has done so for the last 10 years. 

When I came here I realized pretty quickly that celebrating wasn’t culturally acceptable in soccer. I was coaching a group of very talented young boys in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was very obvious to me that I could get so much more out of them if I got them to fall in love with the sport like kids all over the world. I mentioned to them that they should feel free to celebrate individually and as a team when they score a goal. They looked very scared of that thought. They knew that their parents wouldn’t like it. I didn’t know this, and I trucked along. I even showed them different ways to celebrate that the professional players were doing on TV. They absolutely loved it and started to try it before it was shut down by a group of the parents who came to me and told me that it was offensive. I thought they were joking, but they weren’t. They told me that the boys just need to run back to the halfway line and that they were offending the other team. I told them that the problem was with the other team if they are offended by the boys expressing their joy. Even though I could tell that they understood, they wanted me to take the easy road and stop the boys from celebrating. I understood that they didn’t want to be the first group who did something different even if it was right and OK. I even explained to them that what I was teaching the boys was to celebrate together and had nothing to do with the other team. I would’ve agreed with them if we were beating our chest in front of their fans.

Honestly, what needs to happen in the Premier League is that a team needs to score and then celebrate by sitting on pretend chairs fussing at each other about celebrating. That would be so hugely embarrassing to Carragher and his buddies. They couldn’t come back at them because they would be a laughing stock.

I just remember my former pastor of my church telling me that political correctness would be the death of the United States of America. I don’t think that he was wrong. Too many people who know the truth, but have been made to feel like they can only be passive and not stand up for their views.

Coach Max

After the many kind comments about my son’s scouting ability and his incredible prediction coming true, he has another one. 

For those that didn’t read my last blog, Max predicted that Arsenal should look at Ederson of Atalanta. A very interesting attacking midfielder with excellent numbers.

Shortly after it was published, there were rumors online that Arsenal were interested in Ederson of Atalanta.

His new thought is that Arsenal should look to help Juventus with their financial struggles by going after Bremmer, their monster CB to back up Saliba. 

Don’t mess with Scout Max!

FINAL THOUGHT:

Liverpool didn’t look like Liverpool. No rock ‘n’ roll football. Stomped out like human v spider. The fact that they had the highest XG against them (3.58) in their Premier League history tells a shiny bright tale about the red and white chaps that played them. 

Maybe it wasn’t any of the above thoughts though. Maybe Arteta just rocked up into the changing room before kick off and said, “Are you going to be beaten by a team dressed head to toe in lavender????” 

“Are you??????”

Chests thumped like a choir of drums as the man juice overflowed. 

, , , , , , , , ,

7 Responses to Expectation and the Unexpected (Positives Needs & Hopes) [ARS 3-1 LIV]

  1. Walter February 6, 2024 at 7:00 pm #

    Brilliant again Mike, and glad you and the boys were here to enjoy Sunday, ( I’m in block H row 3, just in front of the white flag of your pic ), the thing I saw in the game was how we stopped all their supply, we never let their midfield play the front three in apart from once, and we also stopped VVD from swinging his 60 yard passes from back to front, when I watched them at ours a couple of years back that pass to either mane, or salah absolutely killed us and we nullified it completely I know the forwards Sunday aren’t the same calibre but still, and the idea of the celebrating I do hope someone at the club reads your blog and takes that up because it would be even more cutting to carra if it was us doing it!

    I’ll have a look at that centre back now,

    All the best

  2. Leonardo February 7, 2024 at 12:23 am #

    Excellent views as always, Mike. I do think your celebration idea would be lovely

  3. ctikpo February 7, 2024 at 10:22 am #

    Thanks Mike, a very good read. I value “A coaches perspective” because it is a tactical analysis from a practitioner. This is why I was so cross that you didn’t write one for the game vs NF.
    I understand that you have loads of other concerns but PLEASE don’t go off too often.
    Well-done man.

  4. francisredemi February 8, 2024 at 10:47 am #

    Hello Mikey,

    A nice blog as usual and thanks for the efforts you put into making what we see with our own eyes clearer and more obvious.

    My takeaway from the match was the way we stayed in the game after gifting them the equalizer.

    I also loved how Arteta has been making use of the subs. It took a lot of courage to sub Martinelli and bring in Trossard who in turn scored the 3rd goal. I hope he continues to trust his squad and make everyone feel involved.

    I hope we kick on from here and have a challenge at the Premier League. That’s all we can ask for.

  5. allezkev February 8, 2024 at 11:30 am #

    Just savouring your post Mike, it’s a biggie so I’ll comment on something you opined and that I wholeheartedly agree before continuing, the Jorginho contract.
    Some posters online aren’t convinced about the benefits of retaining the Brazilian/Italian but to me it’s a no-brainer. His game is based around finding space, being available, sliding those passes through to dissect the opposition, intelligent positioning and coaching team mates.

    His game hasn’t changed because it isn’t based around pace, energy, raw-boned tackling, it’s the same game he had at 28 and it’ll be the same game when he’s 36, recovery is probably the only issue and if he can play 3 games a week? Signing Zubimendi solves that issue but for me he’s too valuable to let go, so yes, a two-year contract with an option for a 3rd.

  6. allezkev February 8, 2024 at 11:59 am #

    Great post, but be careful mate because the woke police are watching and listening, damn them…

    My son had to give up his ticket as last Sunday was my grandson’s 3rd birthday. His in-laws are Millwall/Spurs and his best mate is West Ham so there was a big crowd of us watching it on TV with differing feelings about the result and loads of kids wanting attention, which was fine and helped to keep me calm.

    Pleased that you had an enjoyable and successful visit to the old manor even if you had a loudmouth behind you, I’ve had that before and it’s a right pain, as for the weather, well you’ve been in Dixie too long and have been thoroughly spoiled.

    I have a really good feeling about this season, but I’ll leave it at that.

  7. Andy February 12, 2024 at 11:52 am #

    Cheers Mike,

    Great read – Took me a while to get through it but it’s the most enjoyable and thoughtful read on the Liverpool match. We are fortunate to have the most intelligent and energetic coach in football. I don’t think pep would have had the patience to take on a project like Arteta.

Your thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Designed by Batmandela