‘Mikel Mignon’
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
Flank steak thinks it’s good.
It doesn’t show up on the menu often so it’s considered ‘special.’ “Oh, they’ve got flank steak, honey.” At this point you are being conned but because it’s a hard find, you go along with your wife and order flank steak. When the plate arrives, it looks good. It sizzles on the skillet with some extravagant butter melting on the top and the asparagus on the side and parmesan crusted mac and cheese gives you the impression that this meal has the potential to be elite. Because your hopes are up, the first two bites taste very good. “This is really good, baby!,” you tell your wife but on the third bite when you isolate the flank steak and your bite doesn’t have asparagus or parmesan crusted mac and cheese on it, you start to realize that flank steak is just limited. One dimensional.
Your wife has completely manipulated you.
She has a 10 oz filet. She gives you a bite and because you want some romance later you see the offer of eating off her fork as step one in the night’s foreplay. You are unsurprised that the filet is better. Not just better but a reminder of the difference between elite and overrated.
The filet slides down like a well-oiled water slide.
You encourage your wife to go to the loo by pointing out that her make-up is a little off. You then chisel out the middle of her filet and slide a chunk of flank in the vacant hole, hoping that she will not notice. You close your eyes and unrepentantly enjoy your first orgasm of the night.
Now, it’s important to state at this point that even though I think Mikel Arteta is elite, the Filet Mignon of the coaching world, he doesn’t bring me to climax. Now, if we win the PL/CL double, I can’t guarantee that I will be able to control my inner workings.
So, I’ve decided that our coach should now be called, Mikel Mignon. I’ll be back to him in a minute.
Angie PastaCheeseSauce is the flank steak.
The media have fooled many that ole matey boy is filet but his CheeseSauce is canned and doesn’t even belong on the macaroni that sits next to his flank steak. In fact Angie might actually be Tesco minced beef that has been discounted because it’s got a miserable grey discoloration appearing in its central zone.
In the modern footballing world, a coach has no choice but to be a coach. You can’t be a manager anymore. The game has completely changed. The role of the goalkeeper has swung to valuing feet over hands in many cases. The full backs are playing two positions and more if you play for Arsenal. The midfielders are being trained in where to stand in every possible scenario, but only if you have a coach who slides down like a medium rare filet. The strikers are interchanging roles. The wingers are often the top goalscorer on the team with the striker often being used as a decoy. The games can be won by clever use of subs more so than ever due to the five possible changes.
If football was like this back in the 90’s, 00’s and 10’s, then Harry Redknapp would have been coaching Nuneaton and to be fair, Arsene would have not been as successful or he’d have chosen to be a Director of Football.
Mikel has become Filet Mignon in the last 18 months or so. To be elite you have to a) swim in the same pool as those who can win their league and the Champions League and b) be able to win games and have it attributed to something you did. There were times where he could only claim to be T-bone level, or perhaps the butcher’s ribeye cut at The Hinds Head in Bray. Take a trip.
Arteta could heavily influence games from the training ground and at half time/water breaks, but wasn’t consistently doing it from the sidelines.
This derby was a true test for him. He had 6 potential starters out and apparently Calafiori was set to start but had to sit out. He had to come up with a plan that was against his normal methods and then (apparently) had to change it at the last minute. As Arsenal are the better team, a more stubborn coach would’ve wanted to play Spurs toe-t0-toe or even try to dominate them and push them back. It could have worked but there were too many new pieces to pretend that you could dominate. Domination comes from understanding and automatisms and Chris Kavanagh robbed us of that.
Arteta decided to lean into Spurs’ weakness which is playing with the football and tried to win the game in a manner that the uncultured would call agricultural, by utilizing set plays as our primary method. Not very ‘Arsenal’ perhaps and I can’t pretend that I enjoyed the game but sitting here on Monday, I couldn’t care less about how we won.
Mikel Mignon has more strings to his bow than Robin Hood ever thought existed. He can beat you with motivation. He can beat you with team spirit. He can beat you with strategy. He can beat you with an ever changing in-game formation. He can beat you by mastering the transfer market. He can beat you because he values having a tall, strong, physical team in a very physical league. He can beat you by telling his entire staff and players not to give opponents extra motivation by how you speak to the press. He can beat you with humility. He can beat you by not giving out 9 year contracts to hype players. He can beat you with dizzying attacking rotations. He can beat you with clever throw ins. He can beat you with a water break. He can beat you with a half time adjustment. He can beat you by leaning into the best defence in Europe and giving you 67% of the ball but stopping you creating ANY big chances at all.. He can beat you by having full respect and such tight relationships with his players and therefore he can play a player who has been available but not played since Man Utd last season and that lil’ Italian chap is willing to empty his tank for him. He can also beat you when his players take a technical day off because he values every aspect of the game, unlike PastaCheeseSauce.
Mikel Mignon is the most well rounded coach in the history of Arsenal F.C.
He may not be the most successful (yet), but there is nobody who has the extensive list of qualities that he has and therefore the largest number of ways to beat you. You can come at him with a family pack of flank steak reduced to two quid and some free chips, but Mikel is in a steaky league of his own.
Once more, Mikel Mignon.
POSITIVES:
Hole on the left:
There was a period in the second half when we had a hole between Gabriel and Timber. Trossard did a stellar job defensively but he isn’t Rice. Spurs knew this and were trying to get Johnson in this space. They even switched Son over to try to exploit that area. Kudus to Mikel for adjusting and shrinking the gap because Gabriel was trying to do double duty.
Timber, Jorginho, Partey and Havertz:
The first two are probably at the masseuse right now. Not played 90 minutes in 6 months or over a year in Timber’s case. Arteta obviously wanted to send experience on to the field so as to be able to handle the hostility and keep it on the field. The bench was dry of midfield experience and we don’t have another focal point striker to give Havertz a break. So all four of these guys had to play 95 mins, or 80 mins in Trossard’s case. We have to look past the technical errors in order to see the physical sacrifice clearly, but they were warriors. Havertz does it every week and Partey isn’t normally capable of it. Props.
Gabriel and Saliba:
The four above played through cramping but these two had a different task. They had a mental battle of 95 mins of total concentration. Both played like heroes and Gabriel’s goal was harder than it looks. How many players head set plays over? Lots. Most. He has been given a higher standard to reach and seems to almost always get them on target. These two are currently unmatched in world football. There might be one center back who is as good or better but there isn’t a partnership. You will also be unsurprised to know that Gabriel is now the highest scoring CB in the world over the last four years, so if you can come up with a partnership that is better, make sure one of them is a goal machine.
Raya v Vicario:
Vicario is a good GK. He does most things well and excels at shot-stopping. His weakness is a major problem that I have no interest in seeing him fix. His lack of presence and bravery in his 6 yard box allowed us to win but it’s bigger than that for Spurs. Look at our keeper. He is shorter but excels at dealing with crosses. Vicario and Spurs’ big issue is far bigger than this though. It is how this makes his team feel. The very best GK’s all have a commanding presence and exude confidence to their team. When your weakness affects everyone else it isn’t just a weakness, it’s a problem.
Martinelli:
I see small green shoots of progress. His weak foot cross for Havertz was perfect and he was the main threat in the first half. He actually had the most completed dribbles (6) this season. His defensive work was great too. He just needs a big game or a goal or two. I’m hoping that the signing of Sterling isn’t in his head.
Saka and Jover:
One hit the perfect corner at the perfect height and perfect pace and the other is the architect of our victory.
Arteta contract:
Not many shouts of glee, just a small rumble of relief. Personally, I think this was the best piece of summer business, by far. I don’t think our fans will fully realize how good he is until City get punished or until Mikel leaves. Scroll up and look at that filet again.
Saka:
Such an impressive defensive game and loved seeing him stick up for Timber. Got to start having a lil’ nasty in him.
NEEDS:
What is that song?:
I had no idea . I thought it was just Chelsea and Everton that played nursery songs when the players came out. The US feed now does this cool thing where they stop talking before and after the game when their camera is on the field so they can pick up atmosphere and conversation. I heard this rinky dink pre-school song and it set the stage for laughing at Spurs quite nicely. I know I’ve lived in the US for a while now, but a song to get the blood pumping is the only song that should be played unless you are going to play Enya or Sade to relax the butterflies and that’s all kinds of wrong.
65 yellow cards:
The PGMOL are on a mission. There was clearly a guideline given very recently for them to be stricter and dish out more yellow cards. They broke a record this weekend of 65 yellow cards. Now, I’m not as concerned about picking apart all of their 65 decisions, but it always seems to me that they have ‘an emphasis’ or ‘a campaign’ that they are trying to improve on. Would it be possible to have a group of refs that simply follow the rules consistently and make significantly more good than bad decisions rather than an organization that seems to want maximum visibility and doesn’t understand that a good referee is one you don’t notice? Whilst I’m upset, what was Timber’s yellow for? Trying to puncture the football? Porro should’ve been carded for feigning injury and Timber should’ve been charged 150 quid for trying to puncture the ball, at best.
Gabriel Jesus:
Just want to mention that I like his hair but I would’ve flown to London and sprayed it navy and white if Spurs would’ve scored at the end after he unnecessarily tried to beat two players.
Static defending:
There are certainly better examples of this in other games and the fact that fine margins win games is also best seen on a different day but…. I get really bothered when defenders don’t attack a ball coming to them in the air at their head height. When they are at the back post and an attacker jumps to score a header whilst they keep their feet on the ground. I think it was White who was guilty of not attacking the ball when Spurs sent a glancing header straight at Raya. Defending crosses is often as simple as who touches the ball first.
Gabriel vs Romero:
One trusts his coach and one frequently goes rogue. Max was watching one of those YouTube channels where they were picking a combined eleven. One of my pet hates but I was in the room. One show had Robbie from AFTV and the Spurs fan had a stupid name that most of the YouTubers seem to think they have to have. For the purposes of this, I’ll call him ‘Loo Roll.’ Well, Loo Roll was trying to convince Robbie and the two others on the couch (probably Cheese Dip and Slinky Dog) that Romero was better than Gabriel. It was painful. I had to walk out. Max told me that Cheese Dip had to settle the argument between Robbie and Loo Roll and even though he’s called Cheese Dip, he made the right decision. I was glad because whilst I nearly had to sort out Gabriel Jesus, I didn’t want to have to team up with Robbie and conquer Cheese Dip, Loo Roll and Slinky Dog.
Saka on crosses:
I’ve noticed recently that Saka will wait for crosses behind his marker. Sunday was a good example. When Martinelli was through and had the option to pass to Saka he didn’t make it easy for Martinelli by not cutting in front of Udogie.
Mistakes:
Most certainly not a long term issue for Arsenal, but it has to be noted that there were more technical errors in this one game than in the other 3 combined. Probably due to the players being so defensively focused that they were slow to support their teammate for fear of being out of position.
White:
Not seen Ben White make so many mistakes before. It looked like something was in his head in the first half.
HOPES:
Kabia and Maldini:
I’d heard of Maldini Kacurri as I’d seen him on the Academy documentary but I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t aware of Kabia. Good for him to step directly from the U-18 team to a North London derby. I wonder if he had ever met the first team before Thursday?
Atalanta team:
This is tricky. I’m sure Arteta will go very close to his strongest team because he will want to start strong in the CL. I would give Big Gabby and Timber a rest and play Calafiori and Kiwior. Gabby rarely gets a breather and Calafiori will play somewhere, I’m sure. I see so much value in playing highly motivated players and Kiwior apparently wants a transfer back to Italy so will know it’s a showcase for him. Atalanta were actually one of the teams that wanted him. Calafiori having just arrived from Italy will be motivated too. Jesus is a CL monster so I’d play him at striker and I’d start Sterling over Saka. Rice coming in for Jorginho with Jorginho sharing minutes with Partey. I’d play Nwaneri over Trossard as I think he’s ready. This might be a brand new group but I’d have those I’ve rested on the bench in case they are needed. Atalanta lost their best player, Koopmeiners, and others too. I’d let White and Timber share the game and lock down Lookman.
SCOUT MAX:
Midfield pace:
Arsenal are one Rice suspension or injury away from having no pace in our midfield which we saw at times on Sunday. I’d love Arsenal to consider Javi Guerra at Valencia. A young, tall, quick and talented CM who Max has spotted. This is a good watch….
TWEETS and THOUGHTS:
I don’t have much to say really. I suppose this is an example of how good we are. Doing this at home is hard enough.
Two examples of what Arteta is up to. Not easy to spot when the blood is pumping so I appreciate these accounts that can offer clarity to our thoughts so quickly.
FINAL THOUGHT:
Spurs are in worse shape than you probably realize. Thanks to the brilliant @boodsbants I found out that Spurs have only won 3 games in the PL in their last 11 games and they were against Everton, Burnley and Sheffield United. Love it.
Finally, I wanted to share my Saturday as it’s likely very different to yours. If you love watching 100 people on one team and endless breaks for commercials, you should watch American Football.
At half time the score was….
The best part is always watching these 3 guys. They are like that Australian TV show, The Wiggles, and they give hand signals to the quarterback, apparently. Actually, I don’t believe my wife. I think that the Athletic Director got carried away when he was employing UT’s staff and employed 614 people instead of 611 and so he told them to just stand on the sidelines and audition for The Wiggles as a joke.
I actually think the red guy thinks he’s auditioning for the Michael Jackson comeback tour. I see that groin grab.
If that isn’t comical enough for you, here is what happened to Robin Van Persie this weekend in his 4th game as coach of Heerenveen.
At least it was 1-1 for 22 minutes.
Thanks for reading! Especially the nonsense.
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.
Great post Mike and on many different levels I must say, I’ll steer away from steaks and romantic situations and focus on Trossard who I thought did a great job, often under intense pressure, in retaining possession, skipping past opponents and somehow twisting himself inside out to slide wonderful passes through the lines and opening up the Spuds to threatening scenarios.
He and Havertz were the attacking mirror to our magnificent centre-backs. With the Old Contemptible’s in front of our back four rolling back the years it gave us an iron spine that the enemy couldn’t break.
I’ve been rather concerned in recent months about the lack of an end product by Martinelli but alternatively, if you want a wide forward to do the hard yards and support his full/back and shut down an avenue of attack then come on down Gabby Martinelli, your our man. I thought he did everything that was required of him except that final execution in front of goal, it’s as if he’s thinking about it too much rather than doing what comes naturally.
Now we need our medical staff to work a few minor miracles because Thursday to Sunday will be brutal. Atalanta aren’t no mugs so we need to go all in on them and City are just City. But we saw the template for this Sunday on the Sunday just past – touch down!
Brilliant as per
Always look forward to your take
First off, flank steak is for fajitas.
This is borrowed from a Spurs blog, but Tottenham were worse than bad on Sunday, they were ordinary. That is not to take anything away from Arteta’s gameplan or its disciplined execution by the team, but the neighbours are just not very good at football.
I am looking forward to your assessment of Arteta v Gasperini on Thursday: two grandmasters of fluid formations and in-game adjustment. Gasperini may have bloomed late (hope for all of us!) but he is probably now the most underrated coach in European football. This will be a game for the tactics-absorbed to relish.