‘Nonsense where nothing should’ve reigned’
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
So the game against Liverpool might end up not really mattering for either team If we had lost however it would have been rather different. If the performance had continued in the second half the way we started the game then it could’ve mattered a whole lot.
This is the time of year where perception rules.
We are trying to purchase elite players or potentially elite players. We are trying to give our fans hope. We are trying to keep people from losing their minds with their extreme opinions about the coach. Perception is a very annoying reality, but it is reality nonetheless. If my remembrance is correct, then the world of opinion started to accelerate from television rather than the Internet. My memory was that when they started producing TV shows where people could be voted on or off then opinion got louder. Shows like Britain’s Got Talent or American Idol were hugely popular at the outset, and there were so many of them. I know that in England, the world of Big Brother and Love Island have continued the trend of everybody having to have a strong opinion. Then politics became more than just a hobby for some. We were intentionally divided into groups, whether it be gender, race, or political preference. Most certainly where I live you won’t find anybody who is ‘meh’ about Donald Trump. He is most certainly the marmite man here. We are probably not aware of how judgmental we have become and how we became addicted to black-and-white opinions rather than choosing a shade of grey.
Arteta is either in or out. You will rarely find somebody who is not sure or is willing to give that opinion. I’ve always tried to be aware of this and not be a one word answer guy. I’d rather tell you that I think that he has the potential to be the best coach in the history of the club but at the same time he has a small handful of flaws that might stop him achieving this. He has been a transformative coach. He is a multi-talented coach. I can say that I think he is more well-rounded than any coach I’ve ever seen at Arsenal or currently coaching in Europe.
The British media chose Arsenal as their favourite team to dislike quite a while ago. I think that’s because they get the most engagement and reaction from Arsenal fans as we are likely the most active across all forms of media. They chose the biggest weapon to attack us with so indirectly bring along an army of people who don’t even realize what they are saying. When you have pundits endlessly commenting on Saka diving or Skelly being a rebel, you realize that they’ve pressed the button that doesn’t even exist. Saka is actually the nicest guy in football and Skelly is out there with his 26 professional games just playing the sport and excelling. Mikel Arteta will be aware of the army and I’m sure occasionally it really upsets him. Our job is to breathe and try to be rational.
Here are a handful of the qualities needed to be a top coach;
- Motivational skill
- Elite coaching ability
- Full respect from your players
- Full respect from your staff
- Full respect from those above you
- Ability to choose the right topics to train on
- Humility to be able to listen to everybody’s opinion
- A good listener
- Ability to choose the correct emotion of the occasion
- Creativity so as to make work, enjoyable and keep players guessing
- Guts
- Ability to win major trophies
- Love for those you work with
- Ability to pick the correct team
- Ability to make the right substitutions and at the right time
- Ability to manage the physical load of your players
- Media skills
- The understanding of how to win in a variety of situations
- Represent the values of the Football Club
- Respect of the changing room
- Ability to create a strong culture and maintain it through consistency and accountability
And perhaps most importantly…
- Do all of these things under pressure.
When deciding if you want a coach to stay or leave, you have to put yourself in the club’s shoes. The club have to be calm under pressure themselves. They not only have to look at all of these values, but for as much as the coach might frustrate them in not being able to check every single box they have to firstly understand that nobody does and secondly that the guy coming in won’t either. They also have to consider how the players and staff will feel when you make that decision because you’re not the one that feels the weight of the decision and they have to deal with the head coach on a day-to-day basis. None of this should really even be a discussion. I feel like I’m almost wasting time talking about it.
The point I’m trying to make though is that the result against Liverpool and the performance in the second half saved this snowball that shouldn’t even be a snowball from rolling down the hill and gaining momentum. A small sliding doors moment. If I was to take a guess as to the most likely outcome for Mikel Arteta, it would be that he will win both the Premier League and the Champions League before he leaves Arsenal and will be known as the best all-around coach in the club’s history. A coach that could manage and coach both and who checked more boxes than anybody else. The type of person that gets a statue, not just because of what he won, but because he was the best in his field, and it was undisputed.
Just don’t ever expect anybody in the media to say this.
POSITIVES:
Martinelli:
Martinelli is a really interesting subject. When he first broke into the team, I immediately thought that he was out of position and could be a top striker one day. He doesn’t have any noticeable weaknesses of a top centre forward apart from full understanding of the position. So quick, so hungry, a good finisher and good in the air. Muscular enough to be taught how to be better with his back to goal and could well be the world’s best pressing striker.
The argument that Arteta would make is that with rotation, he ends up in those spaces now anyway. This is true. I just wish that he would be freed more often. I found this image from the game and it speaks to this thought. The reason I bring it up is that he makes this run quite a lot and it’s rare that the player with the ball attempts to even find him.
As we saw, this was how Liverpool dissected our defense at least twice, and although the pass is difficult, it is not that complicated for an elite footballer, and we have quite a few of those, even at the back.
Trossard:
I often debate with myself who we need to keep if one of Martinelli and Trossard has to leave this summer. On one hand, Trossard is significantly older and you’d think that perhaps we’ve seen his best years. Maybe not though? He is more consistent than Martinelli and most certainly in front of goal. He shows up in big games consistently. He offers versatility, also. Martinelli has a higher ceiling but has stagnated so has he reached it already? He is quicker than Trossard, but Leo is a better dribbler and certainly far more unpredictable. Martinelli offers the aerial threat, but honestly, he needs to do it more often as Sunday’s goal was his first headed goal of the season, I believe. Martinelli would certainly collect likely three times the value of Trossard and that might be the determining factor for the club.
Kiwior:
I didn’t notice him really. Again. This is fantastic as he must’ve done everything in a simplistic and successful fashion.
Odegaard:
He is starting to return to better form. Yet to offer consistency throughout the 90 minutes but he is at least impacting the game on a handful of occasions in a very positive way. His shot that assisted the second goal was important as it should give him more confidence to shoot again. It was an almost perfect strike and with far more power than usual.
Interestingly, the issue with with Odegaard and his shooting is technique. You wouldn’t think it of such a technical player. He just doesn’t strike the very middle of the ball too often and therefore doesn’t get the necessary power alongside the accuracy that he needs. I still maintain that Arsenal have not seen the best of him. The very best of him is a level that separates him from other midfielders in Europe. The ability to thread the needle through very small gaps. We don’t see it because we are frankly dreadful at making runs behind the defence. It really doesn’t make any sense because he is one of our only creative players and certainly the main one. You’d think that you would play to the strengths of your main creative player, but we are yet to do so.
The run described above should be a staple Arsenal attacking tactic.
Arteta:
I absolutely loved his post match interview. The players would not expect anything less. They know because they hear it every day. The standards are simply higher than at other clubs. I know I’ve told the story before, but the biggest single difference I’ve made in a team that I’ve coached is by telling them that they weren’t playing at the level that they could, and to show me what they could actually do.
If you raise the expectations, then you’ll be surprised how much more you can squeeze out of the lemon.
The best part of his interview was when the interview was trying to get him to say that the reaction was good and he refused to focus on that. Instead, he said that the reaction was unnecessary because it should never have needed to have happened. A wonderful indirect coaching message to the players, and if anything drives us to silverware, it will be this exact attitude.
Skelly:
Am I right that he has not been dribbled past the entire season? If I’m wrong, I’m only off by one. Twenty six games played in his professional career and pocketed Salah, arguably the worlds best player right now.
I’d say that Skelly is more locked in as a starter for the English national team than almost anybody in the first team right now. Granted this is because of a lack of competition in some regard, but also because he is proving that he can play at the elite level, both defensively and offensively. I do wonder if the rumours of Arsenal signing another left back are because he may move into midfield?
And again:
What a legend!
One more time:
First season playing professionally. Beyond stellar. This is not normal.
NEEDS:
Surely next season won’t be like this chart.
We won this competition rather easily.
HOPES:
Gyokeres:
Stay calm, Mike. Stay calm, brother! It hasn’t happened yet and it might not although it looks more likely. Stay calm I say!
If it happens, then we have opened up a brand new world of possibilities at Arsenal. Arsenal‘s greatest need for improvement is found in the opponents penalty area and Viktor Gyokeres alongside Victor Osimhen are the two box monsters in Europe that are available. I wonder if there’s anybody else called Victor out there?
Winger/Striker:
Nobody is really asking the question of what type of left-winger Arsenal want?
The modern game has three options. The traditional winger. The one who is right footed and plays on the right or the left on the left. Now that it looks like we are getting a proper target man I would like to see Arsenal at least go this way on certain occasions so as to put the delivering player on his best foot.
The modern trend of inverted wingers, which is what we have, will likely continue.
Then you have the goal scoring winger. We have had that with Martinelli, who is more of an inside left forward than a true winger. The issue at Arsenal becomes that we stretch the full width of the pitch and he picks the ball up with his boots literally on the sideline and far from goal.
I mention all of this because folks are not talking about the likelihood of Arsenal signing what looks like two strikers.
I know it’s expensive but if the budget is huge, then we could actually afford to spend 200 million on Gyokeres AND Isak. The Newcastle forward has spent at least half of his career as a left winger and for those that don’t watch international football, these two play together for Sweden with Isak on the left. This combination is already established and the club will know this.
Andrey Santos:
Like most of the young players in the world, he’s officially a Chelsea player. He is also officially rather good. Unofficially, Arsenal are very interested in buying him to replace Thomas Partey. Chelsea would be mugs to sell him and numbskulls to sell him to us. As exciting as a central midfielder gets. Quite possibly the next big thing. Check him out here….
Liverpool fans:
I only care about this a little, but Liverpool fans might have done their club a huge disservice on Sunday. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a fanbase, who have just won the league no less, heavily booing a local lad who wants to experience playing for the world’s biggest club. That is problem one but problem two is bigger. I talked about perception earlier and there will be big players that Liverpool wants to sign this summer and in future windows. There will be one or two that will likely now go elsewhere because they won’t be able to trust the temperament of the fanbase who can’t even appreciate and thank a Liverpool boy. Bad for Liverpool, fine by me though.
FINAL THOUGHT:
I thought they were going to be bad this season, but I didn’t think this.
Love it!
Thanks for reading!
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.
Mike! Thanks for your article.
I am definitely Arteta in. A dance composer/theater director/architect (so does football manager) responsibility is to bring the choreography/script/blueprint (in football case: tactical plans), and drill the players to move along with those choreography. Artists’ responsibility (so does the players’) is to implement the choreography and bring results. Technical director’s task is to bring the correct artist for the role. Financial director’s task is to make sure the ticket sale could fund the theatre without violating rules 114 times. Owners’ responsibility is to make sure the theatre keep exists and preserve its histories and values.
Arteta has done a stellar job; even without those XG stats, we can see from Liverpool game, how good our player progresses the ball forward: they have a choreography of how to bring the ball forward. They have been taught, very well!! Some pundit (PS) criticized Arteta for being a control freak with player movements; mind you sir, I am not a professional footballers. But I know football this era has grow faster and more intense. A teammate has to arrive at a specific space on a specific time on a consensus. It was long gone when a midfielder look upfront to find a player(look, think, and pass). Now, they look upfront to confirm, no time to search teammates, no time to think. The pressing is coming at them very fast; just look, confirm, and pass… That’s how it works today with such a speed and intensity. Arteta made himself as the 12th player with his bird view.
I kind of enthusiast watching yesterday’s set up. The front three (Martinelli, Saka, Trossard) keep rotating themselves. So we could maximize benefit of Odegaard ‘s through pass to Martinelli as CF (as you have noticed above, Mike), Kiwior’s long pass to Martinelli as LW, Leo’s midfield overload and inverted wing assist, Saka and Ben combinations. We became unpredictable upfront. Just when I start to become enthusiast with the game against Newcastle, we will probably have Merino and Rice unavailable (how could we set the formation?).
I think we can learn one thing or two from Liverpool. First, I recognize they don’t keep doing pressure all the time. Most of time, they keep their front three in a certain distance from midfielders and maintain the shape. Occasionally (don’t know who gives command), they hunt with intensity; all of them. While we keep doing the pressing all over the field for two halves and losing our breath, Liverpool keep themselves intact for 90 minutes. The “occasional intensity” also brings panic in our side. When your opponent relentlessly chasing the ball, we become adaptive with the pressing. But when they do it explosively, we start panic ourselves. We can copy this. Don’t press for the whole game; press occasionally with intensity, and under command.
Second, while we always try to release the ball to the final moment, Liverpool don’t mind with speculations. Our first goal is the best example of our choreography; bring the ball to wide area, get everyone neatly in front position, then bring the ball inside: cross, dribble, shoot, or recycle. When it works; we scores goal that fully deserved. When opponent cut the opportunity, we already very far upfront then bursting our lung against counter. This happened again and again. Liverpool second goal is a perfect example how they don’t mind with chaos and speculations. Salah’s pass could go too close to Raya, too wide to lateral post, too close to Saliba, or just perfectly arrive to Szoboslai’s path. At best they get scoring, at worse it restart with goal kick or goalie’s throw; no need to burst their lung for counters.
I am happy to see our boys spirit to chase the goal deficit. I felt angry when it happened, but hey, on the other game, Barca could chase their 2 goals deficit, why can’t we?
The next 2 games are still exciting to see. The boys are still fighting, I see.
And the transfer window will be even more exciting. The cake is ready, time to put the cherry on top!!!
COYG
That is a fascinating picture of Martinelli down the middle above, not least the open space in front of him. The same situation led to Dembele’s goal in the first leg of the CL semi-final. Luis Enrique was hailed as a tactical genius for engineering the opening up of such a space. Yet, as you say, Martinelli often finds himself in it, but we don’t exploit it. It looks like Ødegaard is on the ball and well-positioned for his left foot to swing it down the middle.
To add to your point about Arteta and expectations, I think he holds himself to those, too. It can come across in public as arrogant and stubborn, but he lives by what he preaches.
Thanks for another great post. You are by far, one of the best Arsenals writers around and deserve a very large audience. Would you be interested writing for Substack or likes?
Your take on Alexander Trent Arnold is interesting. As is Arseblogs, other bloggers, and yeah, its all reasonable. But, you remember Ashley Cole? He won everything with arsenal, League, cups bar Champions league and left for Chelsea 26 years of age. Did we enjoy that, did we not boo him, did we not treat him every way as a fucking scunk even though he was an invincible?
I think, we should not point fingers to lppol fans for booing ATA. I agree with them. I can just about now reconcile with Ashley Cole
but RVP, not yet, the Fucking dutch scunk going to Manu! There are things you cant do, and thats just that
Cheers Mike. Enjoyed your take on the manager. Next season will be interesting. He evolves and innovates. To start a season without international competition will help. Rested players raring to go. By the way – did you see the sky sports piece with Will Still. It was after a premier league game and he spoke about his rise from analysis guru to manager. Really interesting. Thought it would be right up your street.
Nice result, if quite an edgy result vs Newcastle Mike but unfortunately two more infernal injuries to add to that list you posted, Timber ankle and Saliba hamstring!
Jakub Kiwior put in another very impressive performance and making some crucial interceptions, can we afford to let him go next summer – I think not?
A relaxing Sunday in prospect for us now this weekend, we can enjoy the trip to Hampshire, always one of my favourite away trips of yore and embrace the other CL contenders’ suffering, I’m really looking forward to it.
Btw well done Palace, Eddie and Matt, I thoroughly enjoyed the Cup Final.