A different band of brothers
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
Every once in a while, and really not very often, Arsenal’s impressive band of brothers send out their actual brothers to play instead. Perhaps it’s our way of protesting against the amount of games. Perhaps we are simply resting players and utilizing Central Casting that the world is about to be enlightened to.
We learnt that Steve Saliba panics where his brother is Cool Hand Luke. Robbie Raya is nervous with his feet whereas his brother David is so good that we sold our number one. Dennis White is easy to beat whereas Ben pockets wingers. Ricky Calafiori has been such a positive driving force but his brother Dicky is too negative. Leo Trossard just sent his Champions League ref/brother who decided to play a delightfully weighted through ball to Evanilson. Even Mikel took the day off and sent his oddly stubbled sister, Mikayla, instead.
If I have to be serious about that utterly bizarre performance then…..
- Saliba is one of the fastest Centre Backs in the league. Why does he feel like he needs to even attempt a tackle there?
- Why didn’t Raya come out and clear it?
- Raya is normally so focused and error free, yet had the yips?
- There are better one-on-one defenders than Ben White. He’s not as nimble as others but Semenyo’s switch to the left wing seemed to rattle a guy that is normally in control.
- Calafiori seemed equally rattled. He seemed afraid and negative.
- I don’t even know where to start with what Trossard was doing because I have no options
- If Mikel has a weakness it’s prioritizing hierarchy over what the game needs. Nwaneri’s spark and flair was needed. He’s ready for Bournemouth away and more to the point, when your two most creative players are absent, you either bring Trossard inside or trust Nwaneri. We created so little with 10 or 11 men and looked offensively stale. When you are ok with Jesus trying to dribble around their whole team, you know that you are desperate. Sterling was getting more and more lively and certainly looked our most dangerous attacking threat. His speed would’ve been an important outlet playing 10 v 11, but Trossard was chosen to stay on. Odd. Bournemouth decided to press us higher and play a compact block, knowing that we were unlikely to use the space behind with a conservative midfield. Not only did this get worse when Sterling was removed, but it made their press and pressure harder to overcome. The constant pressure seemed to rattle us and our coach and team became ultra conservative to avoid individual errors. The most frustrating decision though was the general attitude when going down to ten players. The decision to back off against City was correct but Bournemouth away isn’t City away. City would’ve not only won but still had 65% possession. No inferiority complex. I do wonder if Arteta’s respect for his friend, Ireola, turned to instilling fear/negativity into his players.
To add to the utter bizarreness of the day, what on earth were we doing in stoppage time? I like that we refuse to just hit low percentage passes or chuck pointless crosses into the box, but you do need to look like you want get into the opponents half.
Maybe this was all a dream? Maybe we won 3-0 and you are wondering what on earth I’m talking about.
I’m off to have a cold shower and find out.
POSITIVES:
The rest of the blog is going to be much shorter than usual. The positives were so few and I don’t want to be repetitive or overreact because this is not a pattern.
Learning:
Arteta seems to put more emphasis on constant improvement in both his players and himself. I hope he is humble enough to recognize if he is prioritizing hierarchy over the right call. He may not be. I’m upset like you probably are and I am a believer in the bias caused by disappointment but I’ve calmed down enough to have some clarity. Nwaneri will likely have to elbow his way into these types of games by making it impossible to leave him out. It’s not that he needs to be a starter or even start frequently, but when Saka and Odegaard are both out, you need flair.
If Arteta recognizes this as a potential coaching flaw then maybe he becomes braver and then todays game has value as it’s not repeated. I’ve just got a feeling that he is so happy to have a happy squad he’d rather not rock the boat by sitting a senior player down.
NEEDS:
Kiwior:
Jakob Kiwior reminds me of the type of player that we got rid of in 2020. A good player but untrustworthy. Like Arsenal were. Good but untrustworthy.
Hiding a scandal:
The Rice and Trossard red cards were highly dodgy when you compare them to similar situations in multiple games. Saliba’s dismissal was also dodgy as per the PGMOL’s new rules and newer rules….
My question is why can’t the referee make this decision? VAR wasn’t brought in for this.
Saliba shouldn’t have even touched him and again, Arsenal are giving the refs a chance to send them off. The calls might all be dodgy but Rice and Saliba both gave the ref a decision to make.
On the other hand, there are numerous times that this has happened previously and always gets called as a yellow because of the above law. Saliba would definitely have caught him and possibly White. To be a red card you have to have no doubt. There is doubt.
The main issue could be a huge scandal if the press want it to be. A new way for the PGMOL to be considered a shady organization. The issue I speak of is Howard Webb wearing an earpiece and clearly using it directly after the yellow card.
If we lived in a world of accountability, he would’ve been fired by the time you read this for either stupidity or corruption, but he won’t. To add to the dodgy factor, tell me why Sky pundit, Jamie Carragher posted and then deleted this?
Why would he delete a perfectly fine tweet questioning what the whole world agrees with, unless Sky told him to?
Arsenal didn’t deserve to win or draw for that matter. That’s not the point though. The point is that this interference could actually be a bigger scandal than any other because if he is doing what common sense tells me he’s doing. He looks like has invented a rule and should be instantly fired and the game should be replayed due to cheating.
No worries though, next weekends big game has no potential bias. Oh…..
Bournemouth’s penalty decision was a Vardy special. The player runs into the dive and our crap refs can’t see this.
HOPES:
Semenyo:
Arsenal are apparently interested. I’ve not seen a player have his way with our defence like Semenyo did in the first half.
Nwaneri:
Tuesday could be the day where Nwaneri starts his journey of persuasion. Shaktar never travel well and they aren’t very good this season. It’s not a risk to start him and Arteta has to be bold. Rest Rice who has played all of England and most of our minutes, and play Ethan and Raheem on the right. Calafiori at Centre Back to prep him for partnering with Gabriel next weekend and play Zinchenko as we will be ball dominant. He also adds creativity that we will be lacking on Tuesday if he plays 3 defensive specialists in midfield at home against a far inferior team.
FINAL THOUGHT:
I knew I was right. Leo Trossard did send his ref brother to the Vitality Stadium. He was busy being the sideline interviewer in the TN vs Alabama game that I’m watching…..
Nothing makes sense in the world anymore.
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 article Mike, I truly believe the footballing gods are against us this year. I turned to the other half when they had the corner after Gabbi missed a sitter and said they will score here. Better learn to keep my mouth shut and not think such things
Great blog, as ever.
Great post Mike and some excellent points, funnily enough I thought we coped better before the Sterling/Kiwior switch so maybe that change was possibly unnecessary?
Trossard or Sterling left on?
You make a great point and I find it difficult to disagree. All I’ll say is if my life depended on an Arsenal player scoring a goal I think I’d prefer Leo to Raheem.
But then again Leo is much less effective on the flanks than through the middle where Sterling is strong on the flanks so what do I know?
As you suggested once we went down to 10 Bournemouth suddenly came out of their shell leaving more space for the counter…
I was quite happy with the line-up pre the kick-off, so I can’t criticise the manager for not selecting Nwaneri to start but Nwaneri as our first change after Saliba was sent off is another matter? I didn’t expect it but in retrospect it might have sent out a positive message to the players to not go into their shell?
A bad day at the office for everyone except the Arsenal fans who have gone public with a couple of new chants regarding corruption. I hope we sing it with gusto when Liverpool visit so that Sky can’t subdue the audio…
Great post as usual.
I am superstitious. We didn’t turn up because you didn’t turn up with your thoughts after Southampton. Don’t stay away if you want the Arsenal switched on. Haha!
Agree Ikpo. This is all because Mike did not offer his post Southampton feedback.. We suffer a decline of performance
With Saka out why no left footed alternative to take in-swinging corners from the left? Rice from the right didn’t do the job.
Martinelli’s weak effort was another turning point in the game.
Mike, thank you for your post.
I have received my wish of watching midfield trio of Partey, Merino and Rice. They dont disappoint me. Strong, unpenetrable, always find a way to pass and maintain possession. The ball transition from starting phase (defender) to middle phase (entering opponent’s field) is as smooth as silk. It was unstoppable regardless the pressing.
The problem came at the final phase and finishing move. Trossard has become a target for ‘physical treatment’ (opponent aimed body charge whenever he had the ball). Our winger could not find space to deliver cross to Havertz. Dribbling and 1 on 1 was not Havertz armament. And we lack creativity to breakthrough the opponent (I dont blame our midfield trio. It is their instinct to maintain and recycle possession rather than the risky-passing). I expected a boring side-to-side probing similar to Leicester first half until we find opportunity. But our manager decided to put two new starter, Merino and Sterling, to play together, exchanging pass, on the same side. The amount of miss communication and Merino’s effort to tackle the lost possession was not heroic; it was comical.
Maybe it would be better to put Sterling on the left, Trossard on the right. Rice could lead Sterling, Trossard could guide Merino (or Merino/Left midfield, Rice/Right midfield). Someone has to take the lead instead of everyone being equal; this is football, not a parliament.
The other problem is our toxic commitment to maintain possession; They ignored the basic of avoiding risky passing only to maintain possession. Is there anyone who will execute them if they choose to kick the ball outside the field instead of recycling? Big Gabi is a good example for his change of attitude from this nonsensical principle; he used to do everything to maintain possession until he was brought down with jiu jitsu move in Aston Villa game; next game, in Man City, he doesnt mind of kick the ball away. Calafiori also a good example, he does not hesitate to head the ball for a corner, when he was unsure about opponent surrounding him.
This over commitments to possession brings anxiety to everyone. Trossard back pass that lead to red. Raya almost get caught because he looked anxious whether to kick the ball away or maintain possession (luckily, Kiwior rescued him and Bournemouth failed to control the loose ball). Kiwior get anxious after the accident; whether Raya will go forward again or waiting on his post. When you felt anxious, threatened, your ball control became amateurish. Pease someone tell them; it is okay to kick the ball to the safer place. We can always retain possession later.
But most disappointing for me, I did not see any plan or move to aim for Bournemouth weaknesses or at least restricting their move. No answer for Semenyo, evanilson, and so on. We came arrogantly to introduce game time for Merino and Sterling, resting Martinelli, leaving Saka at his sofa; but without mitigating the risk. We deserve this punishment.
I gave credit to the boys for their resilience. Rice run all over the pitch as if we were having two man on the field; he kept us relevant until the second goal. Calafiori has cemented his place; he gave better than what we expect. Partey nailed that midfield, again. Sterling offered different aramament than what we have in Saka.
The red card change everything. I did not blame fira lack of discipline. I think it was mainly due to different threshold applied to Arsenal, and lack of gameplan.
COYG