Mikel Arteta, sir, you have done it again!

Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wolves at Molineux stadium to climb within a single win of European football next season. Not that I’m getting my hopes up, mind you. Oh no, not even close, I’m keeping my expectations rock bottom. Because, as I’ve said many times, unmet expectations are the root of anger and frustration. So, the trick to living a stress free life is to have no expectations.

I should have a television show called “No Expectations”. It’d be like No Reservations but a lot less wry and witty and just me going into weird situations blind. Kind of like reading a book that you’ve never heard of for the first time.

Anyway, back to the football, uhh, yeah, we won! And for those of you who think “managers don’t matter as much as you think” and that “what’s needed at Arsenal are just better players” LOL. I literally just laughed out loud.

Because not only has Mikel Arteta benched two of his best players but he’s playing an 18 year old, out of position, starting a 21 year old in center forward, playing Auba wide left, put two left backs as wing-backs, rehabbed the career of one-time fan pariah Granit Xhaka, put a new guy in at right back, resurrected Shkodran Mustafi, played the error-prone David Luiz in a prominent role, and started with a backup keeper. And Arsenal have kept three clean sheets in a row now.

That last point is important because the previous coach was supposedly brought in to shore up the Arsenal defense and he did anything but, with Arsenal averaging an xGA of 1.45 this season. The last four matches, Arsenal have conceded an average of just 0.66 xGAand even if we include the disaster against Man City, the average xGA is 1.06 since the restart. That’s remarkable when you realize that Man City had an xG of 2.74 against Arsenal in a match in which Arsenal got a red card and conceded a penalty.

And the match yesterday was special because Nuno Espirito Santo has Wolves unbelievably well organized. For most of the match, every time Arsenal tried to get the ball into midfield, Wolves surrounded the Arsenal center mids with a diamond of four players. And because of the way they were shaped, it was impossible for the Arsenal midfielders to even move laterally and find space.

ARSENAL V WOLVES 

Wolves midfielders cut off passing lanes against the Gunners

As the game developed you could see that there were a few openings that Arsenal could exploit. One was the long diagonal runs across the back line by Nketia and Aubameyang – which the two players did often but which required pin-point accuracy on the entry pass or they would be easily plumped out by the defenders – turning into a rapid counter attack through Adama Traore. And the other pass available was a big switch, which Arsenal did a number of times.

Arsenal opened the scoring with one of those diagonals to Auba – well that was the intent of the pass anyway. Soares didn’t quite connect properly and Wolves’ defender fluffed the clearance but the idea was to pick out Auba as he slid in to the central position from his place wide left. Auba played in Tierney who played a pretty dangerous cross and once again Wolves made an error but Saka was there to clean up.

Aubameyang coming centrally is yet another little trick Arteta deploys which I quite like. Fans complain about Auba playing wide left but that’s where Thierry Henry played and not only that but what happens when PEA plays wide is that his natural tendency is to come centrally and that almost always takes one or even two defenders with him, creating space in behind for whomever is playing wide left in MF or fullback. That’s exactly what happened for this first goal: Tierney was in acres of space and Auba was in prime position to score.

Arsenal did ride their luck, once. Traore burst through with a smart run and found himself one on one with the keeper but blazed high over the bar. But other than that one chance (ok, stats have another Traore chance in the 0th minute which I guess I didn’t see) Arsenal tamed Wolves.

And the way Arsenal managed to keep Wolves howling was through applied pressure all over the pitch but especially high up. I’ve been moaning about Arsenal’s dearth of high pressure now for about a year. Even under Arsene Wenger’s annus horibilis, Arsenal were 4th in the League in high press. But under Emery, we just dropped to some kind of awful low press team and averaged just 34 high pressures per game.

Against Wolves Arsenal pressed 197 times, over 30 more than their season average, and pressed high an incredible 61 times with Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah leading all players with 12 high pressures EACH. Arsenal also tackled high making 8 high tackles on a season average of 2 per game.

This is made even more incredible by the fact that Wolves have Traore – who was their star player yesterday by a huge margin (generating 0.76 of Wolves’ 0.99 xG in the match) – and he’s a huge threat against a team like Arsenal which wants to play on the front foot. To approach this match with a high attacking philosophy takes real guts and a deep belief in the team to execute the plan.

A lot of things that are happening at Arsenal right now make a lot of sense when you see the stats about Arsenal’s high press. It’s nothing short of a revolution in playing style and requires every player to be on the same page, to support each other, and not to be prima donnas. So, if any player doesn’t fit in, doesn’t give 100%, I think Arteta is going to bench them and he’s right to do so.

I know that I’m veering into “belief” and “expectations” territory so, I’m just going to go ahead and back down. This has been a really good run but Arsenal could slip back into old habits. Team chemistry could go awry again. And frankly, there are a lot of very tough fixtures still ahead. It’s a gargantuan test against super defensive Leicester and when I watched Tottenham lose to Sheffield United I saw a team which scraps like devils for every possession.

So, I’m going into this week with zero expectations. I’m enjoying the little wins we’ve managed both on and off the pitch but at the end of the day this club and this team still have miles to go before they rest.

Qq

31 comments

  1. I can’t believe there wasn’t a special mention for the Saka goal, it wasn’t just a lovely volley he had to add technique to it. Overall he didn’t have a fantastic game, but that goal was magic.

    1. Sorry! Yes, great control and technique. I guess I still have a lot to learn about football.

  2. That was not a “fun” game of football, but I enjoyed watching it all the same. Arsenal executed a well thought out game plan and took down exactly the type of team that always seems to beat them. Was it pretty? Absolutely not, but there was a certain beauty in seeing the entire team focused and pulling together for the win (perhaps best exemplified by Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ appearance off the bench).

    I will also try to have no expectations this week, but I will almost certainly fail. Oh well.

  3. Me and my wife were at a major intersection in my part of Toronto (North York) when one of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics came alive*:
    Street Preacher: “Children! Do you know the word of God?”
    Me: “I’m sorry, but we really have to…
    Street Preacher: Just commit! Commit to the Son of God, our Christ the Lord and you will be SAVED! Jesus can do anything – what can Jesus do for you?
    Me (I couldn’t help myself): “Deliver a Premier League and Champions League trophy to Arsenal football club”
    Street Preacher: Just commit to the Lord, my children and it will be done, Commit, commit, commit…”
    My wife looked back, smiled and home we went.
    This little run we’re on is sorely testing my commitment to give the season a pass as far watching live games. I hope my commitment keeps getting tested right to the end of July.

    In Nketiah and Willock we have star potential. In Saka, we already have a young star. Unbelieve that he’s only 18 and we have him now for the next few years. He committed to us. The future’s so bright we may all have to wear to shades.

    *Jesus freaks, out in the streets
    Sending tickets out for God.
    Looking back, she just laughs
    The boulevard is not that bad.”

  4. Tim

    Great post. The thing that Arteta has done the that Emery could not do is to get the squad to play with energy, commitment and to stay organized. Easily the most important you can tell they now play like they give a damn. Arteta has recognized that we are not going to overwhelm with our attacking so we play defense first football and win by keeping clean sheets.

    1. The “play like they give a damn” part is key. Between Emery’s apparent lack of charisma/communication skills and muddled and constantly varying tactics, I think the players simply threw up their hands at points under his reign. Arteta on the other hand seems to communicate a clear vision with energy that the players are into, even when its not beautiful, flowing, attacking football (although I’m sure that’s the eventual goal).

  5. No expectations = no stress; this is similar to one of the central tenets of Buddhism. A very sound approach to following Arsenal.

    1. “No Expectations”? Didn’t Charles Dickens write that? Something like that, anyway. Sorry Tim, you’re a couple of centuries too late!

  6. For this season, I think we can and will finish above Wolves and get into the Europa league. That is my expectation! I know it’s annoying and small time compared to the UCL, but at the end of the day it has to be a good thing because of the extra money it brings. We are not in a position to scoff at 50 million or whatever it is, and the competition still brings genuine excitement in the latter stages.

    I also want to acknowledge what a good week it has been in Arsenal land, not just with the results but also the new contracts for Saka and Martinelli, optimism over Aubameyang’s willingness to stay and credible rumors over our willingness to pay for the transfer of Thomas Partey.

    Adding Partey, or a player like him, is an exciting thought. After over a decade of seemingly actively avoiding adding a midfielder whose primary function was not in attack, he would be the second such in relatively quick succession with the excellent Torreira. After years of heavy spending on forwards, it’s nice to see defense being prioritized.

    In Miki I trust!

    1. I was wondering something.

      Do we want Europa League? Should I make one of those pros and cons lists?

      1. You should. I’m not well informed enough about this. I just have the sense that money talks even if it has to walk to Baku.

  7. Bf the game,I was afraid the tank man Traore would run riot. Wenger would say unplayable.To my surprise Arteta had a detailed plan to choke him.
    He and Raul were not given much time and space ,something Wenger has failed to address or pay attention to in high profile games .Thats why the fm lost 8-2.
    Next match against the foxes will reveal more of Arteta’s acumen.They have scored 63 goals better than wolves with 45.
    If Arsenal want to be considered a top team they must start by beating one of the top teams.
    I have confidence Arteta will have a better defence plan than the last 2 managers.
    Watford had 31 shots at Arsenal. Unbelievable

  8. Thanks for an excellent match analysis highlighting the way that Mikel Arteta is transforming a squad that was in disarray at the end of Emery’s tenure. It’s very encouraging to watch a team comprising players who know their tasks and strive to deliver, after what seems like an eternity of confused inefficiency.

    The match was not a great watch but sometimes you have to simply take the sting out of a dangerous opponent and take the chances that your creative players can carve out. The former is something that we haven’t been capable of doing for a long, long time. This performance provided a flashback to the George Graham era when Arsenal teams could stifle a dangerous opponent’s creativity and go up the other end on a few occasions and score at least once. Our defence doesn’t currently have that ‘safe as houses’ feel that Bould and Adams provided but on Saturday it looked 100% more secure (even with Kolasinac) than it did 6 months ago.

    This performance hasn’t got the artistry of Wengerball but nor do we have the players capable of playing that way. Mikel Arteta is getting these players to play as effectively as they can. His man management, both on and off the field, is very impressive.While there is much still to be done and bumps in the road will inevitably occur, based on the progress so far, I am very optimistic that he will build a team to compete for the highest honours again provided he gets support in the transfer market.

  9. To show how good we’ve gotten with pressures under Arteta, wolves game is only the third highest we’ve pressured under Mikel.
    The top 2 are united and Chelsea (h) and how many goals did we score in that game again?

    As if this is not improvement enough : our pressure success rate Vs wolves is the highest since Norwich and again tell me, how many goals did we score?

    Now, compare them to the matches we played under Emery.

  10. Having now watched the game in its entirety, I was struck by the game management aspect. I enjoyed David Hilliard’s boxing analogy. It was a game of punch and counterpunch, cat and mouse.

    In the first half, Wolves played a 5-3-2, contesting the middle and keeping their distances immaculately. In the early going, Mustafi could advance into their half and find Tierney on long switches, but after about 20 minutes NES shut this down by keeping Doherty wider. Arsenal struggled to find passing lanes but they remained extremely patient, wary of the traps laid for them, and eventually got their goal following another right to left switch; some good fortune, and some precocious finishing.

    The second half was a different game. Instead of staying central, Adama (who reminds me of Saquon Barkley, scary athlete) pulled wide right and created overloads there against Tierney. They almost scored from this a few times. NES tried to drive this advantage home by bringing on the wily Jota in place of the more secure Dendoncker but Arteta resounded immediately and brilliantly by replacing Tierney with AMN, another fast twitch athlete with fresh legs. He immediately dispossessed Adama and Wolves never got in behind him. At this point Wolves grew more desperate and the game turned into more of a scrap, but Arsenal matched them blow for blow here as well. The second goal game from good pressure on the ball and the fresh legs of Lacazette and Willock, who assisted and should’ve scored as well before the end.

    Arteta and his players managed this game masterfully, keeping their opponent in check, capitalizing on small advantages, and never surrendering a telling blow. Wolves were visibly frustrated by the end, a sure sign of a game well played by what they surely recall as a naive opponent from last year’s 3-0 thrashing at this venue. Well done lads.

    1. Great point Doc. You always know you’ve played well when the opponent is frustrated.
      Your post brings me back to a year ago, and how much has changed since then. Losing at the end of last year may have been a gift in disguise, as making CL would have only encouraged us to stay with Emery even longer than we did. The rebuild that’s been badly needed seems like it’s finally happening this summer, and we are on the right trajectory even with the obvious weaknesses in our squad. Mikel has made us hope again – exciting and scary.

  11. We have been playing well on the defensive end of the pitch since the Brighton game. Hard work, energy and organization on the defensive side of the game can go a long way and carry undertalented teams into the top half of the table. Just look what Sheffield United has been able to do this year. Unfortunately the “can do” attitude only take you so far. We have a lot of expensive attacking players such as Laca, Pepe, Ozil that we are not getting much from. Guendouzi wasn’t expensive but he is another attack minded player we can’t use because it will hurt our ability to keep clean sheets. Hopefully our front office brain trust will make a lot of good decisions with player acquisition in the next few years

    1. i don’t agree with your position. first, any attacking player with real quality is going to be expensive. scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in the game so if you have someone who can make goals happen and you want to keep them, you pay them well.

      not many question the quality or work rate of either lacazette or guendouzi. guendouzi is a talented young player who’s had a falling out with the coach and the coach is teaching him a lesson. it’s not much more than that. he’s not the first youngster to have a falling out with the manager and he won’t be the last.

      as for lacazette, it appears that arteta respects that he asks the center forwards to do a ton of work defensively which minimizes their effectiveness on the attacking end. that’s why he doesn’t start either laca or eddie in consecutive games or play them the full 90 minutes. in fact, man city do a similar thing with kun aguero and gabriel jesus. likewise, it keeps laca on his toes while giving eddie chances to develop. none of this is really complicated.

  12. playing a back three with wingbacks enables Auba to move into the middle in the penalty area and takes away some of his defensive duties. if he scores more and it keeps him a happy man to sign dat ting all good.

    1. auba’s defensive duties don’t change very much with the change in formation. whether he plays with an overlapping fullback or a wing back, he still has to do the same work.

      i could be wrong but i believe the back three suggests that arteta respects that he doesn’t have a proper cdm so he doesn’t even pretend. he just takes a guy out of midfield and plays with a back 3 to make the defense more sound. likewise, he asks a bit more of the attacking players to help control the midfield.

      ultimately, i believe arteta, a former cdm who was mentored as a coach by another former cdm (pep) and is best friends with another former cdm (xabi alonso), would rather have a cdm than be forced to play with a back 3. we’ll see what the next transfer window brings.

  13. the chickens were like their centre back earlier (dire).
    they have managed to spend millions and the team is a shadow if what it was two years ago thanks maureen.
    quite looking forwards to the middlesex/north london derby for a change.

  14. Excellent work from Arteta’s side in the first half. They are clearly targeting Leicester’s left flank where the right footed Suyuncu is filling in for Chilwell, and Albrighton is staying too high to help him against Bellerin. Saka inviting Suyuncu to take a seat and Jonny Evans to take a knee prior to laying on a perfect assist was just poetry in motion. We should be 2-3 to the good after Lacazette fired straight at the keeper after being set up twice more from passes coming from that right flank. The Ceballos shimmy and slide rule pass to put Saka in was just as good. Rodgers didn’t change a thing all half despite his team getting battered. Let’s hope for more of the same in the second.

    Defensively, the layers of coordinated pressing show total team commitment. Also have to commend Emi Martinez whose early heroics (just as at Molineaux) kept Arsenal level despite a shaky start. In the debit column, we gave up another 2 v 1 from a corner almost resulting in a goal (a recent mistake also made vs. Brighton) and still look very uncertain from throw-ins in either half, often losing possession from them.

    1. No complaints about the red card but it changed the game and I think we would have won the game without that moment. We weren’t as energetic in the second half and didn’t match their energy, which was why Arteta made those changes when he did. Then after 10 seconds, poof, you’re down to 10. From there we didn’t do a good enough job of being brave and continuing to press but invited them onto us and the nigh inevitable result was to concede a goal. I do think Perez played Vardy offside though.

  15. A bad second half. This from Paul Doyle’s Guardian MBM made me chuckle though:

    “90+9 min: Fucks smashes over a dangerous cross from the left. Kolasinac leaps high to head it away before Perez can pounce.”

  16. 1-1 seems like a fair result given the way the game played out.

    Josh

    I agree that any good attacking player is going to be expensive and we have several players we paid a lot for and who have big wages who have not really given us much production.

  17. the var mob wasn’t sure if it was red.. so the ref watched it from just one angle in slow motion (which looks worse) and made his decision.
    was it a clear and obvious mistake the initial yellow?

  18. Josh I can’t remember a manager dropping a player that he felt could help his team win games for 5 games in a row for disciplinary reason. If Arteta is still disciplining Guendouzi then arteta either has a strong vindictive streak or Guendouzi really did something bad. I think a much more likely explanation is similar to Ozil, Arteta has decided that defense is how we win games and Guendouzi’s defensive liabilities outweigh any positive influence he can give.

    1. ornstein reported that guendouzi hasn’t even trained with the first team since the brighton game…apparently, he had a meeting with arteta and edu but showed no contrition after his bad behavior. you can’t have bad influences in the dressing room. guendouzi could be a goner this summer.

  19. Josh

    If what Ornstein says is true then Guendouzi should be sold. He is not good enough to be worth putting up with that sort of disrupting influence.

    I watched the game again last night and we played really well for about 25 minutes in the first half and could have scored another goal if one of the chances had fallen to Auba. He is at the age where the downside of his career arc might start next season and it’s going to be a tough decision what to do with him. We don’t really have anyone else who is much of a threat to score. We need to buy some more firepower. In the second half they outplayed us and a goal from Vardy seemed almost inevitable. I thought we did well to hold on for the draw.

  20. Lacazette was prolific in France and I always thought he was a good finisher and I thought he would be a consistent mid to high teens type goal scorer. He is only 29 but his finishing skill seems to have really fallen off

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