The mood is low, but…
Allow me to offer a ray of hope because from what I saw in our to defeat against West Ham there was reason for optimism.
That optimism comes in the form of Benjamin White.
I sit in Row 7 in the North Bank and something that I have not seen since Ben White last played was plenty of dynamic overlapping runs down the touch line .
I see them often in the pregame warm-up, however in matches they are conspicuous by their absence. Timber, good as he is, does not overlap the same way Ben White overlaps. Recently he has been joining the attack inside Ødegaard and situating himself just inside the 18-yard area. I have yet to see this work effectively.
Timber joining a congested attack inside Ødegaard.
Ben White, free as a bird on the overlap outside Ødegaard
Don’t get me wrong, the absence of Bukayo Saka has been a huge part of the reason why our right-hand side has looked so impotent this season; however, it would be remiss of me not to point out that Ben White makes up one third of our right sided attacking triumvirate.
Football is a simple game. For all the talk of zones, formations, pressing and set piece shenanigans, if a fallback makes an overlapping run, then one of the opposing defenders must go with him. This means that there is one less man marking or pressuring the attacking midfielder, (Ødegaard) which may allow him to either slip in a pass to the overlapping fallback or use the extra space afforded to him to create scoring situations. If the covering defender does not follow, then the slipped pass to the byline is on.
Martin Ødegaard did not become a bad player overnight. He lost his two partners in crime on the right-hand side of a previously dominant Arsenal attack last season that scored 91 goals in the Premier League.
Still no Saka
The counterpoint is obviously that even with White back, we are still missing our talisman. I’m not going to be one of the overly optimistic fans who believe that Ethan Nwaneri is currently capable of filling Saka’s boots (he’s good, but he’s a couple of years off of that) but when we’ve seen the best of him he’s had half a yard of space to work with. Ben White offers this, and I believe that his return to the side, and his subsequent return to full fitness will impact on the games of both Ødegaard and Nwaneri in a very positive way. Consider just the stretch across an opposition back line that he will offer, and you will see reason for optimism.
An extra 2% makes a big difference at this level. (Image courtesy of AFC.)
A couple more things
What else does Benny Blanco bring to the table? Dark arts, a term I have only recently heard when pundits speak about us, is a part of his game, and one which adds a bit of character to a team of players who do not always make the best use of them.
Height does not seem like much but his added height in both boxes can make a difference for us as the season draws to a close.
Honourable mention to Plan C
Staring down the barrel of a Forest side with rapid wingers worries me. Calafiori is great at intercepting the ball, but if someone runs at him, he struggles. It is part of the reason he never closed down the cross at the weekend. He didn’t want to get too close and be burned on the outside for pace. With MLS suspended, either Tierney or Zinchenko are options, however I would humbly suggest that White on the right and Timber on the left offers us the pace and defensive nuance to nullify the threat.
A new focus
Only the most optimistic fan still believes we have a chance in the League. As much as it burns to have our title tilt end with a whimper in February, our new focus must now shift to the Champions League. If we can make it past PSV, we can attack the rest of the tournament with arguably our best right sided attack since the Invincibles. White, Ødegaard, Saka.
I’m a lifelong Arsenal fan. I got my first kit at 3 years old and my dad put a nail in my wall and hung it there rather than in my wardrobe. Mum was furious.
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