Has anyone ever…..? (Positives Needs & Hopes) [BUR 0-2 ARS]

Has anyone ever…..?

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

You may have heard this before….

I was at a tryout/trial for a good team back in the day.

The first activity was simple. The coach wanted everyone to simply run around touching the cones. He said that we could stop anytime we wanted to, but if we stopped, we couldn’t start again. It’s hard to say how long people ran for before starting to drop out, but I’d say that it was about 15 or so minutes. I ran without stopping. That turned out to be a good decision.

The coach brought everyone in. He then told all those that had dropped out, to go home and not come back. A very bold decision as there were some terrific players he sent home. Everyone was shocked. All of us were confused and certainly thought that this was very harsh.

As the last few players left the group, the coach said, ” Is football fun?” I distinctly remember nobody wanting to answer. Probably because we thought we’d be sent home if we got the answer wrong. I do remember one brave soul saying, “Yes!” “No it’s not,” said the coach. “You think sprinting after a player with the ball is fun? You think chasing your man when your friend has unnecessarily lost the ball because he’s greedy, is fun??”

He then told us why he’d sent the others home. “I gave them free will. They chose to stop running. If they chose to stop running when they are trying to catch my eye, they will never chase their man when you screw up. Never!”

The coach probably had a point. He may have lost some of the best players in the county. He may have made himself very unpopular, but nobody forgot that day. Not the ones who went home or the ones who kept running.

My take away from that day was memorable, somewhat scary and perhaps some confusion. I understood what the coach was trying to say, and none of us ever stopped running in games, but I always thought that ‘running not being fun’ was not necessarily the case. That it’s all about mentality. Much like going to work. It’s rare to find someone that hops out of bed with one of those ‘Hollywood wake ups’ and skips to work humming as they go, but it’s very possible to train your mind that something difficult or something that you’d rather not do if you had a choice, is actually fun.

Until I saw Mikel Arteta coach, I’m not sure if I’ve been privy to this. I’ve been around people that are good at faking it, but this Arsenal team have been convinced. It might be Mikel’s voodoo hypnotic secret magic mind manipulation sessions, but I think it’s what I spoke of last time. It’s the standards. It’s what is acceptable. It’s the non-negotiables.

Human beings are weird. We think something is terrible until we get success out of doing it and then we try to convince the unconvinced that they should do what we’ve discovered. Mikel will have known that a group of men will feel like warriors if they admire a clean sheet as much as a goal. Men like beauty and so men will respond to a goal because it is either beautiful or feels beautiful.

Then there is the underrated and much forgotten feeling of giving a man the chance to be a hero. To achieve the difficult. To make him want to run through the window at Blockbuster video because they have a Mel Gibson/Braveheart picture up.

Mikel Arteta has tapped into something very special. Other coaches have tried to get this level of effort out of their players but I’ve never seen it done with this spirit before. I understand that we have spent a lot of money and that Arteta has been given time but let’s not get confused about what we are seeing here. Arsenal haven’t spent hundreds of millions on a group of navy seals. They’re obviously recruiting with ‘willingness and humility’ in mind but it’s the head coach that squeezes the sponge. I’ve seen Gyokeres play many full games for Sporting. I’ve seen Zubimendi at Sociedad. Rice at West Ham. None of them gave as much of themselves as the version that plays for Arsenal.

We all saw Brunn Larsen attempt to break away on Saturday and become overwhelmed by 8 Arsenal players fully sprinting back. We also saw VVD and Konate trying to defend a flood of enthusiastic attackers by themselves this season. We’ve all seen the hilarious clip of Sunderland beating Chelsea in the last minute and Chelsea’s midfielders and full backs jogging back as if they were pushing their toddlers around the local park.

I am happy to be wrong but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team as ‘bought in’ in my lifetime of watching football as Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

You wouldn’t know it if you turned on the TV or radio though. They are busy finding flaws or potential problems when they should be reading this post to their audience because I know I’m speaking for the masses who put their head on facing forwards.

When I went from being simply a coach to a coach and a Dad at the age of 29, my life changed. Life became more simple. Tiring, but I had clarity. The love I had for EllieAnn softened me and the coach in me started to realize that I need to be satisfied and applaud my teams effort more than worry about the scoreboard.

How lovely it is to go into my living room, turn on Hulu and watch Arsenal knowing that the emotions of ‘anger and disappointment’ won’t be a part of my footballing experience because my team ACTUALLY gives 100%.

POSITIVES:

Declan Rice:

This wasn’t his most important performance for Arsenal. It will be hard for him to surpass the two worldies against Real Madrid. It was probably the best all round performance though. His personal highlights were like a commercial for Declan Rice appreciation. It had everything from a beautiful goal, to important ball winning to striding through the midfield to expected assists to saving his granny from being splashed by the ‘imminent van driving through large puddle’ scenario. A real footballing superhero performance. Is he the best central midfielder in Europe now? I think he has to get around 10 goals this season and then he will be.

VG:

Much like Rice, it was a fully rounded performance. His best yet. His ball retention was highly impressive. His dribbling looked far more fluid. The two things that impressed me the most were his latest 6 yard box goal and his passing. One is a huge benefit for Arsenal because we have ignored the 6 yd box for too long and the other is a quality that many didn’t realize he had.

I wish that opinions on players in new leagues could be banned for at least 3 months after they arrive. The examples are endless whether you look at Kai or whether you look west to Caicedo. Kai was a real concern until Bournemouth away and the penalty kick. People weren’t satisfied that he was just a good player. Caicedo, much like Kai to be fair, came from the same league but was not grabbing headlines at first. Not being the MVP of game after game.

Opinions have always been there but when it became necessary for them to be a version of  ‘awesome/the goat or rubbish and put him in it,’ they are no longer living in reality.

VG is not awesome or the goat and he will never be rubbish or live there, either. I predicted that he will be the next best striker in Europe which was a bold one for me. When he started ‘fine’ I didn’t retract my prediction and if I’m wrong then I will happily admit that I was wrong. It’s just a feeling based on his large toolbox and the team he plays for.

Is it too bold to say that we weren’t the same team in the second half because VG was resting?

Saka:

Looking sprightly again. Looking dominant again. You may have noticed that we have intentionally changed from going almost exclusively down the right to a far more balanced attacking look. Which brings me onto…

Trossard:

He isn’t at the top of his game because that is 15 goals a season pace, but he is a constant threat with his decision making. He has been given no choice as he sits in the one area that some fans would still upgrade. Even those that like/love him, were happy if he moved on so kudos to him for retaining his first team place. If you think about most every great team of the past there was normally a ‘Ljungberg’ type player on one side when Henry was causing havoc on the other side.

Caution:

It seems to be a trend now that Arsenal players are coming off with discomfort. This might be the single biggest positive at the end of the season. Saliba sat last week and VG sat this week. Saliba was able to play a week later and I’m thinking the club have their eye on VG playing at Sunderland instead of Prague.

Calafiori:

Have you noticed how often Calafiori wins diagonal switches? He’s stopping what is the opponents strategy. They don’t want to come down that side because of Rice. They want to shift Rice and get Calafiori in a 1 on 1.

Defending:

It’s not just the physical effort as mentioned above. It’s more so the teams attention to the smallest details. How your hips are turned. The exact distance between you and your help to your right and left. The most likely place for a second ball to land etc….

All of this and more make us so very difficult to even penetrate our box. Hence the ‘no shots on target and clean sheets. Then you have top quality full backs that are so good 1 on 1 (Timber) or simply deny wingers even touching the ball (Calafiori). What is left is scraps. Shooting from distance, where most are blocked by dropping a knee. Last resort is chucking balls into a box against the best GK in the league in the air. Largely pointless.

If I was playing Arsenal, I’d have to do something unorthodox to penetrate as the orthodox has been nullified pre-kick off.

NEEDS:

This section has been temporarily closed. Please come back when a lesser human being tries to coach Arsenal.

HOPES:

The OX:

You may have heard that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is training with Arsenal. I did not see his career going the way it has. I thought he would be a world beater. I wonder if his level is high enough to stay on a short term loan through January as an emergency back up on the wing or midfield? I bet he would take it as talent wasn’t the issue. I never actually figured out what the issue was beyond consistent impact.

Semenyo:

You probably saw him against City. It’s wild that he wasn’t picked up in the summer. Maybe AFCB fought hard to keep him after selling their centre backs. As you may remember, he was my pick. He has everything, including two feet that work. My concern is taking opportunities away from Dowman. The price won’t be a hurdle for Arsenal even if it’s around 100M, because we aren’t going to need more than 1 player really, unless players leave.

TWEETS and THOUGHTS:

Burnley tried to sneak a robot into their side on Saturday. E-Steve is also the sequel to Wall-E. You’ll see.

Not totally sure about this. I think I’d give teams in Europe the option. As a fan of a big club I’d always say that I wanted to play in it, but use it for the U-21 and second string.

That is at least 10 good chances that should have been goals. That is 1 per game.

I didn’t know we were even close to these stats but there you go.

Is the next step for Arsenal to have future prospects parked elsewhere like Chelsea do?

FINAL THOUGHT:

Three points in Prague should see us qualify. I’m guessing that we will see a Hincapie, White, Mosquera, MLS backline with Norgaard, Rice and Nwaneri and Saka, Merino and Trossard.

In the past changing the entire back four would’ve been madness when trying to keep pace with the elite, but our squad is elite and needing minutes too.

Mike McDonald

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.