Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang leapt into the air and punched the sky. His smile from cheek to cheek, his eyes glinting like diamond earrings. Nicolas Pepe sprinted over to him, smile the same as Auba to give his captain a hug. The guys warming up on the sidelines also ran to Auba and soon a pile of Arsenal players surrounded the Arsenal skipper. Jumping on each other, hugging, laughing as a relief and joy flooded over the team. It was Arsenal’s first goal of the season, and it had taken 336 minutes of grueling football, playing through injuries, missing their favorite teammates, and ultimately suffering three defeats before they could celebrate. They were letting loose, finally.
Even with the huge feeling of relief there was still doubt there at the back of the mind. Players looked to the linesman to see whether they would let them and the fans keep their moment of joy or if they would rule the goal offside. Seconds passed like minutes. It seemed like Mike Dean in the VAR room was searching for a reason to disallow the goal, to play his customary role as pantomime villain. But the goal stood. Auba had been offside on the first shot, but the ball had ricocheted off the post, then off Pepe and reset the play, putting Auba onside. Try as he might, even the Grinch and his shriveled, cold, heart couldn’t take that moment away.
The nerves were there from the start as well. Arteta’s lineup featured 6 players in defense or midfield who had never played together before: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel, Maitland-Niles, and Lokonga. Ramsdale had come in for Bernd Leno who has been the third worst keeper in the League this season. Tomiyasu had just been granted a work permit but with Arsenal desperate for a right back he was slotted in hours after winning permission to play in the League. Ben White was Arsenal’s big signing this season but he and Gabriel hadn’t played together yet in the heart of the defense. And in midfield, Arteta was forced to start the untested duo of Maitland-Niles and Albert Sambi Lokonga because Xhaka was serving a suspension for a red card (plus he’s got unvaccinated covid) and Mo Elneny also picked up an injury. Thomas Partey would have probably started but he’s just returning from an ankle injury and with his history of repetitive injuries, it was probably smart to ease him in.
Tactically both teams played a mirror image style: both tried to draw the opposition in to high pressing by building from the keeper with intricate passing. We call this “playing out from the back” but we could just as easily call it “trying to force counter-attack-like space” because that’s the real purpose.
Neither team were particularly adept at playing it out from the back. Both keepers had moments where they passed the ball straight out of play because of some slight pressure which caused Avie to ask me if they were playing that way on purpose. I said “yeah, they like playing like that” and he just shook his head and laughed.
As comical as it was to watch both teams struggle to play the same style, Norwich created a great chance in the 10th minute. Their wide forward Tzolis beat Arsenal’s RB Tomiyasu with a simple one-two and laid in a deadly cross. No one was home and both the danger and the fact that Tomiyasu was far too easily beaten were both forgotten a millisecond later when Kieran Tierney lifted a beautiful ball up to Auba on the break. Auba had spun his marker 10 yards inside his own half and seeing Krul off his line, Aubameyang took two touches and went for goal. He missed just wide but Krul was left looking foolish. At the time it felt like both Auba had rushed the shot and had picked the right choice, which could be the best way to describe everything at Arsenal for the last five years. That we have both looked to pick the right choice and also that we’ve rushed it.
Regardless, once again, Arsenal had the best of the two teams’ tactics and in the 22nd minute, Auba’s shot was ruled for offside (and thus doesn’t count toward the final tally) but it was a wicked pass from Odegaard – with a long ball, reminiscent of Ozil in his pomp – which freed Auba for a 1-v-1 with Krul. Krul had done well to get a hand on it and perhaps nothing would have come from the rebound (because a Norwich defender did win the ball) but it was an indication that despite the makeshift lineup, Arsenal had just a bit more than Norwich both in midfield and up top.
As the first half slowed down Arsenal created another non-shot moment; in the 41st minute Maitland-Niles had a sloppy turnover high up the pitch but Tomiyasu won the header and Ainsley sprinted back to collect in space. With Norwich standing off him, he was free to play a ball in to Auba – who was once again spinning behind the Norwich defenders – and it took a professional foul by Max Aarons to stop the Arsenal forward from getting in to the box for a one-v-one with Tim Krul. Pepe took the resulting direct free kick, which was technically Arsenal’s best shot of the first half (0.09 xG).
Tomiyasu finished the first half with a bit of a wild shot off a corner. Flying in, he shinned the ball but it dipped and left Krul flapping. His marker, Tzolis – a forward, had done just enough to put the RB off a debutant goal for the Arsenal.
Statistically, the first half ended with Arsenal getting 10 shots to Norwich’s 3 and both sides nearly even in terms of expected goals. As they say, however, stats don’t tell the whole story and while Arsenal looked just slightly off, Norwich had just the one good cross in their column and Arsenal had three good chances that went begging.
And Arteta must have changed something tactically at half time because Arsenal had a new-found cutting edge. Lokonga repeatedly showed his class in midfield and has impressed fans and pundits alike in his fast start at Arsenal. Meanwhile Maitland-Niles had a ragged match, at times playing some amazing passes but also at times dropping clangers or trying things a more experienced midfielder wouldn’t because it puts his teammates in trouble.
But it was a wonderful pass by Ainsley which split defenders and presented Bukayo Saka a chance in the 56th minute. His shot was blocked but the ball fell to Pepe who took a chance in the 6 yard box and with Krul left flailing again* the goal was only saved by a last ditch block from a defender. There had been a flurry of shots from Arsenal prior to that one – in several different possessions – but that was the one from the second half which probably should have been a goal.
The goal did come 10 minutes later.
Arteta made a wild change to his lineup. He took Lokonga off and put Partey on. It looked like a mistake: Lokonga had been the better of the two midfielders, taking him off and keeping Matiland-Niles on seemed a problem but Arteta also took Tomiyasu off (probably for fatigue, he’d looked flat since about the 30th minute) and put Maitland-Niles at right back. He then moved Ødegaard into central midfield and brought Smith-Rowe in for Tomiyasu. What looked like a wild bit of management was actually inspired and paid dividends immediately.
Thomas Partey effortlessly bossed the midfield as his sweeping long passes found teammates up the pitch time and again. Next to him Martin Ødegaard showed his class, dodging tackles and progressing to forwards or clipping in balls over the top. And all of that freed Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka to cut at Norwich’s defense time and again.
Sensing the trouble Norwich had been pegged back in their own half and once again Arsenal created a scramble of chances. Pepe had a shot off the post, this time the far post, and the ball crossed the goal behind Krul. It came to Pepe again and this time he did something completely different: he hit the other post. But luck sometimes comes to those who keep trying! And as he fell over, the ball bobbled in the air and Pepe kicked it over to Auba, waiting on the line for the easy tap-in. Was it an intentional assist by Pepe? Does it really matter? I suppose that depends on how many sour lemons you had for breakfast today.
A few minutes after Mike Dean reluctantly awarded Arsenal a goal Smith-Rowe picked up an errant pass by Krul, drove at the heart of the Norwich defense, and despite being shoved and cajoled got a good shot off. Bukayo Saka collected the rebound and had his own shot blocked. Saka looked composed in this match, taking his time with shots he might have rushed in the last few seasons. Wenger once said of Aaron Ramsey “once he starts scoring he won’t stop” and this feels imminently true of Saka.
From this point to the end Arsenal dominated. Norwich had 10 blocks in the game but 7 in the second half as Arsenal got closer and closer to ripping Norwich apart. Arsenal took 30 shots in this match, the most they have taken in any match since December 2017. And while the Gunners did only manage 10 chances in the first half, that stat is belied by the fact that Arsenal had several very close calls go against them and Auba took a long shot which he could have scored. It wasn’t a first half performance to write home about but it wasn’t nearly as dire as some would have you believe. And all of that with a makeshift midfield and a defense that had never played together before.
Once the starters were introduced, Arsenal really let go of the handbrake and dominated Norwich.
Aubameyang’s celebration was a true joy and a relief felt all around the Arsenal globe. But there was also a subtle moment in that celebration, not noticed by many: Ben White joined the huddle and with a very serious look on his face seemed to be reminding folks that they still had a job to do.
Whatever the stats show about White, leadership on the field is the quality Arsenal most needs. Perhaps it was just a one-time thing. Maybe he was reminding Ødegaard that he promised to pick up the birthday cake for his kid after the game. If it was, I’ve no doubt that the cake was picked up on time. But if it was the first signs of leadership from White, it could turn out to be more important than Auba’s goal.
*When Norwich are relegated it will be mostly at the hands and feet of Tim Krul, unless they can get his backup in to the lineup immediately nd he can prove to be better than Krul.
Honestly, Krul looked about the way Leno has looked lately. A good shot-stopper(and he did that well yesterday), but sketchy in other regards. It’s early days, but Ramsdale looks promising.
Beyond that, if we can find some addition goals from Pepe or the mid-field, and keep Partey healthy, we might actually be OK.
Good spot on Ben White, Tim. I didn’t notice that myself and the highlights on Pravda don’t show the congratulatory huddle. If that was indeed how you interpret it (not the cake bit) then that is a long overdue addition to this team. Not since Koscielny left has there been a hint of leadership on the field.
Tim, I thought the tactical tweak after the half was to drop Odegaard deeper to help link play from the back. Norwich kept dropping off of Ainsley and letting him do his irrational confidence thing. A few times he played great stuff but overall when you’re relying on Ainsley to be your primary creator, something is wrong. He was more likely to over-commit and leave us open after a bad pass. So Arteta made a terrific change by putting Odegaard in that position instead.
What do you think of an Odegaard/Partey CM partnership?? I’m actually really excited by this idea.
I’ve often wondered how you could accommodate MO and ESR in the same line up. Playing MO deeper would be one possibility. Time will tell if that actually would work.
Doc/Mark – I was also enthused by having Auba, Pepe, Saka, ESR, MO and Partey on the pitch simultaneously. Partey makes such a huge impact, and having him with MO and ESR immediately changed the tenor of the match. If Partey is able to get healthy and stay healthy, he can change our team dramatically.
Agreed, Partey is a key man.
Great review Tim. We really needed a clean sheet and a win. Each game and each season are filled with ups and downs, good and bad runs and I am confident we will have a good run of form at some point to match the bad run that started the season. Hopefully yesterday was the start of a good run.
This summer we talked a lot about getting more shots and we have certainly done that. Unfortunately we don’t really have enough players who are good at turning shots into goals. Getting more shots is certainly good but its not going to help a whole lot if no one can turn the shots into goals scored. We have successfully executed our game plans in most games when we are playing against teams that we match or are outclass in terms of talent. We saw the same thing last season. I don’t think the problem has ever been bad game plans or bad strategy. If our game plans were poorly constructed then how could dominate the Europa league teams and consistently outplay most of the teams in the bottom half of the table. The real problem is we just can’t effectively execute our games plans against teams that have more talent and play stronger defense and we don’t have the critical mass of firepower needed to score goals when we are not overwhelming lesser opposition.
Tim I don’t come here as often as I used to or frankly, as often as I should. It’s not you, it’s Arsenal frankly. I came to this site every day from 2007 until 2016 when my first daughter was born. I persisted fo a while after that but then my second came along in 2019, which made watching every game very difficult. And then COVID felt like a good time to make a break. I did, and now my relationship with this team is much better.
You have a lot stunning posts. For a while I thought maybe I was your biggest fan. I wasn’t – you have some hardcore loyalists – but I’ve always admired you as a person here.
Anyway, just came to say I missed any sort of announcement here or elsewhere – maybe there wasn’t one? There doesn’t need to me – about Avie. Just wanted to say how gosh darn proud of you I am for being such a good parent. I’ve always enjoyed your posts here where you talk about them and your relationship with them. You’re Lucky to have each other.
Anyway, will duck out again for now. Stay safe
+1
Was going to say the exact same thing today about you being a great dad. 😊
Thanks!
Great game review for a team that doesn’t have anything of greatness attached to the current edition.
The definition of greatness varies with the individual but for me, the last “great” Arsenal was probably one of Wenger’s last F.A. Cup winning sides. Santi smiling his joyful smile and kissing his forearm tattoos as he would do.
Those days when we definitely did NOT play “with a little bit of the handbrake.”
It’s hard going right now. I didn’t watch the Norwich match because of work. Yay! Live music is a thing again and I am so fortunate to be thrown into a bunch of projects.
I didn’t see the highlights on Arsenal.com, I didn’t hear the Arsecast with Andrew and James as I so often do. I only came here and was amply rewarded. Rock on, dude.
I was particularly impressed with the new signings.
Tomiyasu looks a real find. A fantastic athlete, a good left foot for a right sided player and strong in the air. Made a couple of mistakes, but nothing you can’t iron out.
Nice to see a goalkeeper who is animated and actually talks to his defenders. Leno was starting to look and play like he’d rather be somewhere else.
White and Gabriel looked very comfortable together. They seemed to complement each other. Whisper it quietly, but we may have the makings of a reasonable defence, assuming we can keep everybody healthy.
Midfield was a bit hit and miss, but a massive upgrade from the Swiss Tractor and Danny Onions. Lokonga impressed. AMN less so.
The forwards worked hard to press the opposition, but rarely looked likely to score. I’ve seen Saka and Pepe have better games. Auba has to play down the middle.
At the risk of repeating myself, we look a whole lot more dangerous when ESR is playing and Saturday was no exception. He was picking the ball up and actually running at the defence, which will always create problems for defenders. I like MO, but we really have to find a way to play the pair of them.
Most importantly for me, I was actually back in the stadium for the first time in ages. I didn’t realise how much I missed the place. A beautiful late summer’s day. The crowd were lively and good natured. No negativity. It’s also nice to see to be able to see what’s actually happening on the whole pitch. Watching the game on TV doesn’t really let you do that, as the cameras always follow the ball.
The one thing I question is the idea that momentum we built in the second half was all the result of some tactical tweak the manager made during halftime. Perhaps it was in this case but in reality ever game and every season has ebbs and flows and most will have some change in momentum that often has nothing to do with managerial tactics. I think we all believe Arsene was an intelligent manager who understood tactics but many of his post invincible teams had long runs of good form and bad form. Surely we can’t believe the reason his teams had bad runs of form was because Arsene was making tactical errors and surely he would have done something to stop some of those bad runs of form if he had complete control over what was happening on the pitch. We all think Klopp is a good manager but his team went thru a long run of poor form last year. It felt like there were hundreds of times Arsene talked about his team playing with the handbrake on. Surely if he had the level of control over the way his team played that many of us seem to believe then he would have made some tactical change to release the handbrake.
The point of all of this is not to suggest that managers are not important but the idea which seems to be prevalent on the blog is that nearly everything that happens on pitch is somehow under the control of the manager and if we have a bad game such as the Chelsea game then it has to be the managers fault for making some sort of tactical error. I think the reality is momentum swings like the one we saw in this game could have been related to some tactical change made at halftime but its just as likely that we have a more talented team and eventually we were going to overwhelm Norwich. Clearly the momentum swings that we see in many games and the runs of good and bad form that teams go thru during seasons are not really under the control of the manager. I hope that makes sense.
Yes momentum and form come and go, which can be the result of any number of things. I do believe however that the 15 minutes in the dressing room at half time is where good managers “earn their corn”. Being able to identify where things have gone wrong, make smart changes to tactics and personnel and get everyone on track for the second half is a crucial skill. Don’t run away with the idea that players don’t need that.
Very much this. However a coach’s influence during games is limited to very small tweaks in strategy, formation and personnel (if available) to rectify problems and a few inspirational words in the dressing room pre-match and at half time. The work mostly has to be done on the training ground.
I was fuming at the end of the first half, to be honest. I was fed up with the team. Norwich having that long spell of possession was really frustrating me. But the 2nd half brightened a bit, then the big change was the introduction of ESR and Partey Tim mentioned. It was a different team at that point. Granted, Norwich were tiring, so introducing fresh players can have that effect, but those 2 in particular were dynamic and shifted the balance completely in our favor.
Many said starting 6 new players would be risky. It was, but it paid off. It’s easy to read this into the game in hindsight, but it felt like they were unencumbered by the baggage the “old” players carried. They played with a fresh eye that was open to Mikel’s coaching, and willing to see it through.
Credit where it’s due to Arteta and the management. This was a complete reset of our season, as Tim said. Benching the players who’ve been muddling through the first few games and bringing together this new midfield/defense was pretty bold. Other clubs might have just sacked the manager and moved on. We stuck with MA8 and his “project,” which is actually the sensible thing.
We’ve backed him with players he said he needs. We should give him a chance to actually play with them. Not saying I am 100% behind Arteta – he’s on a very short leash imo – but from a management standpoint it’s smart to see this out. If we’re not continuing to show results in the next month, we sack him. But we’ve done the hard work of clearing out the roster and getting it in sync with a manager’s style – for the first time in a long time. Bailing after 3 games would be a mistake.
We were far from brilliant, but Arteta deserves a stay of execution.
i was left unimpressed that it took arsenal such a labored effort and a lucky goal to dispatch the bottom team in the league. the “30 shots” stat is misleading. how many of those shots did anyone believe were going to finish? i don’t know what the xG was but i’m sure it’s nowhere near 30; all shots aren’t created equal. also, contrary to an unpopular belief, it’s not that arsenal need players that are “good at scoring goals”, although that helps. arsenal need a strategy that’s conducive to creating good chances for it’s goal scorers, not just shots. all i saw arsenal do was try and play auba behind the back line or send in crosses, both easy to defend for even the bottom team.
i know i sound negative but i find the direction arteta has taken arsenal unremarkable, not only the results but especially the performance. arsenal are supposed to be a big team but odsonne edouard has more goals in first 30 minutes at palace than arsenal have all season. speaking of edouard, he was rumored to be coming to arsenal and i would have liked to see tierney talk up his old mate. however, it may have been easier said than done with arteta seemingly alienating all young french players from coming to arsenal.
sticking with crystal palace, it was great to hear the crowd at the emirates singing vieira’s song on saturday after his team defeated tottenham. when wenger left, vieira was my top pick over both emery and arteta. i believe wengerball was really bergkamp/vieira-ball. when vieira was at mls, there was a poll conducted where nearly 40% of the league players said they would prefer to play for vieira. that’s an amazing number derived from word of mouth by nycfc players, no doubt. palace isn’t as difficult as the nice job but it’s still a tough job and paddy’s off to a good start including the win over tottenham and an away draw at west ham. as much as i wish he were here, i wish him luck at palace.
A different take, many of those 30 shots were tame, only counted 3 real chances for AFC.
A real game where AFC dominated and took shots was dec 2, 2017, even though AFC lost to manure that day, 1-3, it felt like a pinball machine.
Do not feel this excitement when watching an Arteta led futbol club.
Hi Tim, sorry to encroach this space with something purely personal, but I thought of asking your advice.
I don’t have a Twitter account, but it recently came to my attention there’s a Twitter account in my name, and the only tweets I can see are linked to lewd kind of accounts.
I’m not sure what are the chances of someone having the same (asian, quite unique usually) spelling name as mine, and so if I can necessarily do anything about it (i.e. report impersonation) but I’m worried this might damage me (e.g. potential employers just doing a Google). Might you have any advice pls?
I don’t actually have any real advice. I think you can contact twitter and report them for impersonation but that’s it. https://help.twitter.com/en/safety-and-security/report-twitter-impersonation
Yes, I thought so too. Thanks for that!
Josh
I think we do have a strategy that is conducive to creating good chances. If you look at last season we dominated the Europa league teams prior to Villarreal. Our record was 9-1-2 in 12 games and I think we outscored the oppostion 32-11. Other then the run of bad form in Oct/Nov we played well against most teams in the bottom 1/2 of the PL table last year. You can’t do that if your overall strategy is completely flawed. The problem is our players are not able to execute the game plan successfully and against teams that play better defense and we don’t have enough players who are good at scoring to overcome our inability to effectively execute our strategy against better teams. We all assume Arsene’s game plans were mostly well thought out and planned but think of how many times we looked out of ideas and played with the handbrake on. Even a sound strategic game plan will look bad if the players are not able to execute that plan effectively. More evidence, almost all of us complained endlessly about Emery’s unimaginative attacking strategy and lack of creativity but in his first year we scored as many goals as any of Arsene’s teams from the 2010-17 years and in theory Arsene’s teams had better game plans and there is no doubt Arsene had much much more creative talent. Auba won the golden boot in Emery’s first season. The reason Arsene’s teams with all of that incredible creative talent and solid game plans didn’t score as many goals as we would expect is because we did not have enough players who were good at scoring. Look what happened in the 15/16 season. The reason Auba was so successful for Emery’s team despite the lack of creativity is because he was in the prime of his career and much better at scoring goals then he is now in his age 32 season and the team as a whole got about 20 goals from its midfield compared to 5 total goals from last years group of midfielders. The ultimate objective of every attacking move is to hopefully score a goal and having enough players like Auba in his prime who are good at scoring is critical to the success of any attacking game plan. Without that critical mass of firepower any game plan is going to seem underwhelming.
“I think we do have a strategy that is conducive to creating good chances”
Would you be kind enough to share what it might be ?
you’r wrong, dude. first, i never said arteta’s strategy was completely flawed; why the polar language?
second, i don’t rate arsenal primarily on their performances against a bunch of bad teams.
third, even with the “handbrake” performances, wenger kept arsenal in the champions league for 20 straight years. those handbrake performances tended to be against stronger teams as wenger began fielding teams with “shared leadership” and no real captain.
fourth, if the team fails to play well, why is it always the players fault that they didn’t execute the strategy well? why can’t it be the manager’s strategy was flawed? my belief is there’s no such thing as bad players, only bad coaches.
fifth, who are these wenger players that “weren’t good at scoring goals”. do you mean aubameayang? lacazette? alexis? theo? santi? giroud? podolski? van persie? adebayor? bergkamp? henry? pires? ljungberg? anelka? wright? i don’t know who you’re talking about.
bottom line, arteta’s strategy seems to be built on playing the ball behind the defense or sending in crosses; both very easy to defend. this is the real reason arsenal don’t score more. even the goal scored on saturday was scrappy and needed a lucky deflection. it was not the product of good football.
Josh
1) Fair enough. You didn’t say the strategy was completely flawed so my statement was overly strong.
2) If we are able to consistently play well against bad teams then it suggests to me the strategy we employ is not flawed. To me the problem is we can’t execute against better teams.
3) Arsene’s record of consistency was very admirable. IMO he was able to keep us in the CL because he had a talent advantage and the difference between the big teams and the other 16 teams in the league was much bigger then it is now. Things changed and the streak came to and end when the rest of the league started to catch up to us talent wise.
4) When the team does not play well why is it always the managers fault? We saw during the Wenger era just how up and down and how many handbrake games and half season runs of bad form happened and I don’t think we can blame the inconsistency on the manager. His tactics were not good one game and bad the next of good for 1/2 season when we were in good form and then bad for the other 1/2 season when our results were poor. At least to me logic would argue it had to be the players who were inconsistent.
5) I am talking about the post invincibles years and most notably in the 2010-17 Van Persia was really good for a couple seasons but for the most part we I don’t think we had the firepower to keep up with the teams we were trying to compete. We always had more creative and passing talent and Arsene was an aggressive attacking tactical manager so why did the teams we were trying to compete with outscore us every season? Fergies teams outscored us every season from 2005 until he retired and a couple of Mourinho’s teams actually outscored us despite his defense first mindset. There has to be an explanation and to me the only realistic possibility is they had better goal scorers. if you have another explanation then let me know.
i don’t care what arsenal does against a jv team when they’re competing against the varsity of european football. they need a strategy adequate to defeat good teams. sometimes, just having better players is enough to beat bad teams.
your point about other teams closing the talent gap is fair.
if arsenal play well and lose, that can happen to anyone. if arsenal play well and win, you credit the manager. likewise, if arsenal play poorly and lose, it’s on the manager. the manager is always responsible for the result as well as the team’s performance; that’s what being the boss means. the quality of performance is always a direct result of what they do in training every day. if the players don’t execute due to a lack of ability or understanding, it’s the manager’s fault.
when mourinho came to england, arsenal went unbeaten in the league. he was obsessed with finding a way to stop that red and white machine. he introduced a strategy to slow arsenal down he called parking the coach. he announced this publicly so that other teams would use it against arsenal, hence making it easier for some teams to stifle arsenal. in fact, when jose plays big teams, he often plays to not lose. the general consensus to stopping arsenal was to not play football but to seek out a goalless draw. wenger referred to this as anti-football and is the main reason he so despised
Sorry Josh, it’s an offhand comment from you and maybe flippant, but an assertion like “there are no bad players, only coaches” is pretty wild. It’s as crazy as arguing the opposite – that coaches have no impact at all on performance.
Given that you’ve been happy to criticise players like Xhaka in the past, it also feels disingenuous. Of course there are bad players, I’m one of them! I played against enough players over the years in pick-up games who were on a different level to me that I know no amount of coaching could have made me a professional.
I just finished watching The Last Dance on Netflix, and I know nothing about basketball or the Bulls. It was clear that it was Jordan’s incredible talent but also his personal drive and will to win that inspired that team. He didn’t get that from his coach. The coach called the plays, put a framework and a structure and a philosophy around the team, managed all the different personalities, but the competitive spirit was already there, fuelled by Jordan’s immense will driving them on. You could say the same thing about Wenger’s best sides. In players like Vieira, Henry, Adams he had fighters and leaders who refused to accept anything but winning. Later figures like Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey and yes, Xhaka, have not been the same.
Bottom line is that in a professional football club, players have a responsibility as well as the manager. They have to show up with the right attitude, character, will to win and above all quality. Over the last few years Arsenal put together a group of players who collectively have shown too little in all of those areas. It’s not all their fault – weak management and leadership within the club have set the tone – but it had to change.
We’ll see what comes of the new squad, what character emerges. But the manager and the players have to build something together, the manager can’t and shouldn’t be solely responsible.
To engage on your other main point, I don’t agree with your characterisation of our attacking strategy as just through balls and crosses. We cut in from the flanks with inverted forwards to attack the centre, when defences are packed we try to hit the byline and play cutbacks (very City), we play out from the back to open up the midfield so we can get Auba and Pepe running at backtracking defences, and first half against Norwich we pressed high which is also an attacking strategy. That’s off the top of my head but I’d be interested in your view on all of that as a coach.
One of the things we do seem to agree on is that Arteta overcoaches, and so it’s massively encouraging that he identified that himself recently as a flaw. Again, though, overcoaching comes from trying to compensate for players’ weaknesses, and there surely needs to be some recognition of the part that plays.
Cheers
“ We cut in from the flanks with inverted forwards to attack the centre” – No we don’t ,our wingers are specifically instructed to stay wide. It’s only Pepe who does it occasionally (whenever he’s played)
“We play out from the back to open up the midfield so we can get Auba and Pepe running at backtracking defences” – No we don’t. By the time the ball is supposed to be played to Auba or Pepe, the opposition’s defensive structure is more or less settled behind the ball, at which point the ball is punted to the wings and back in the famous ‘horseshoe of sadness’
Right footed Auba starting from the left. Left footed Pepe on the right. Inverted forwards. Cutting in. Not hard to understand. We don’t play with wingers (we don’t play a 442) and our wide forwards are not instructed to stay wide.
Pepe does stay wider than Auba but he never, ever, goes to the byline. He always cuts in on his left. Auba drifts inside and width on the left is provided by Tierney with ESR and/or Saka.
Sometimes Auba plays up front! Gotcha Greg you idiot! Sure, my point exactly, we attack in different ways using different systems and tactics. We are not limited to through balls and crosses, although when Auba is in the middle we do tend to put in more crosses for him.
We absolutely do play out from the back to create space in midfield that we can exploit with Auba and Pepe running at defences. This is surely very obvious to see and to understand. Does it always work? No! So we go to plan B and C and D. My point again.
“We absolutely do play out from the back to create space in midfield that we can exploit with Auba and Pepe running at defences. This is surely very obvious to see and to understand.”
– We absolutely don’t, we simply don’t progress the ball quick enough, I would love it if we did, but we don’t. Considering Arteta sees Xhaka as an integral part of the team, that’s not going to change
“ Does it always work? No! So we go to plan B and C and D. My point again.”
– Well, I’ve not seen any consistent Plan B in our attacking, let alone C and D.