Arsenal Right A Second Wrong In A Week

Another win. Another clean sheet. And now top of the table. It's early days, but if Arsenal can keep up this pace, and stay as solid as they have been at the back so far this season (10 matches in all competitions; just three goals conceded) then it could at last be our year.

Whilst unspectacular, this was a pretty routine victory over a West Ham side who - despite being pretty poor in Premier League terms - had somehow managed to beat Arsenal in the previous two corresponding fixtures. And this result, backing up the laying to rest of the Geordie demons last week, meant another of last season's wrongs had been righted.

And although this was a routine victory, there is still enough meat on the bones to point out a few matters of interest. So I'll crack on with those. And there is no better place to start than the team selection.

Which featured something of a surprise, as Arteta (hitting a personal milestone with this being his 300th game in charge of The Gunners) veered away from his preferred 'double pivot' as he plumped for Declan Rice as the lone 6 against his former club, with Odegaard and Eze as dual 10s ahead of him. A really attacking line-up was this; and something that the crowd was relishing prior to kick-off.

However, here's the thing; I'm not sure that it entirely worked. Odegaard dropped back regularly to pick up the ball, whilst Eze stayed closer to Gyokeres up top, but without an extra man coming from deep to disrupt the opposition it was occasionally difficult to find room against Nuno's now trademark 8-1-1 (!) formation. Saying that, Arteta had clearly targeted the left hand side of West Ham's defence, and looked to overload that area with Timber, of all players, often finding himself the furthest man forward.

In truth there wasn't much opportunity to build up a body of evidence for the twin 10s, as Odegaard's early clash of limbs with Summerville firstly restricted him and then forced him off within the first 30 minutes (thus, by the way, creating a dubious record as the first man to go off injured three times in the first half of successive Premier League games). He left the ground with his knee in a brace, and has by all accounts done some damage to his medial cruciate ligament. It may be some weeks before we see him again; but at least it's not to the anterior cruciate ligament; which would have meant months out.

Interestingly, whilst Arteta could have gone for Nwaneri to replace the skipper he went for the safer option of Zubimendi. I'm not sure if this is a reflection of a fall from grace for the youngster, but it's clear that the signing of Eze has drastically cut down on his playing time. But what the change did mean was that Rice was suddenly free to make some of his familiar forward runs, and he started to drag the West Ham midfield around. With Timber's presence  - plus the occasional overload from Calafiori, of all people (nominally playing left back but with license to pop up wherever he fancied) - in forward positions on the right, and Rice pushing forward on the left, West Ham were really suffering as they were completely suffocated. Zubimendi himself was superb, and now appears to be completely acclimatised to the Premier League. What a player he is!

 

In truth, Arsenal should have been ahead long before the moment that they finally took the lead. Odegaard had split the lines early on to find Timber, who got a decent shot away. Then a delightful through ball slotted to Saka from wide right by the skipper led to a scramble in which Gyokeres could have scored, and Eze should have; the latter's stab at the ball from just 7 yards sending the ball over the bar with the net gaping. Eze put his head in his hands in disbelief; and he wasn't alone in that. 

Following the withdrawal of Odegaard, it was Zubimendi's sublime ball over the top of the West Ham left back that saw Saka break free and slot the ball into the far corner - but he was unfortunately half a yard offside at  the point of release. Then Saka's cross saw Gyokeres' header misdirected, and Trossard's subsequent follow-up blocked. The pressure was building, but it was all getting a little frustrating.

The well-deserved breakthrough came in the 37th minute. Zubimendi's clever through ball found Eze, the latter's shot was blocked into the path of Declan Rice - who had been suffering dog's abuse from the very supporters who used to worship him by the way. The finish from 12 yards out looked routine, but it was far from that; keeping half volleys down with the instep when the ball is coming to you at pace is no easy feat. And no, he didn't really celebrate as he could have done. But he gave the West Ham fans a series of dirty looks as he ran behind the goal towards the Ashburton Army.

There was still time before the half finished  - via another through ball slid past the hapless Diouf (this time Saka to Timber) - for the ball to fall to Calafiori on the edge of the box. The Italian's right foot (yes, right foot!) shot rebounded off the post and onto Areola's back, but failed to bounce back over the goal line. It was literally all Arsenal.

Second half, and more of the same. Rice, marauding onto the left wing, crossed for Gyokeres, who probably ought to have slid the ball home. 

Big Vik could do with a goal as a reward for all the effort he puts in. And Arsenal continued to give West Ham little or no hope by dominating possession; without the need to play in anything higher than second gear. It wasn't enthralling, but hopefully saving energy in October will pay dividends in April and May. 

The coup de force was delivered just after the hour when another chip by Zubimendi exposed Diouf once more. He had allowed Timber to get onto his wrong side, and brought him down for a penalty so clear that even Howard Webb couldn't deny it. The foul started outside the penalty box, but continued inside it - 100% a penalty.

We wondered if Saka might hand the ball to Big Vik, but on his 200th appearance for the club Little Chili kept the ball for himself - and slammed it into the net with the goalkeeper going the other way. That's 100 goal Premier League contributions from Starboy (55 goals and 45 assists) since his debut. I do love that young man!

Arsenal remained on cruise control throughout the rest of the game, with the only concern the withdrawal of Rice with what appeared to be some soreness in his back. Apparently, it's nothing serious, and he'll be off with England this week.

Other points of interest: 

• there seems to be more space - even against a low block - for the wingers to work in this season. I wonder if that's because a 'proper' centre forward is causing defenders to have half an eye on him a lot of the time
• xG, in so much that it can be seen as a comparative measure, stands at 12.22 to 4.38 over the Premier League season so far. 1.52 of the 4.38 were actually at Old Trafford! What it does certainly show is remarkable solidity bearing in mind the quality of fixture that Arsenal have got out of the way in their first 7 games. And this was another game with 60%+ possession. Arsenal are barely giving the opposition a sniff!
• despite the remarkably deep bench, Arteta is still without Hincapie, Havertz, Madueke and Jesus (and now Odegaard). What he's going to do if they're ever all fit at the same time I simply cannot imagine. But what I can say is this; he can, has and will rotate his squad, and on that basis -especially looking at the quality of player available - there simply can't be any excuses this season 
• With Liverpool and Arne Slot suffering something of a crisis, Manchester City still flawed despite possessing the Haaland Cheat Code, and a relatively favourable series of matches to come, this could be a chance to open a gap at the top of the table

Look, let's see. There's another of those interminable Interlulls now, and then we're back with matches against Fulham, Palace, Brighton, Burnley and Sunderland.

Time to keep our fingers crossed for some clean bills of health, and then to kick on. COYG!

Dreams Can Come True

Please forgive the corny title of this week's offering; although those of a certain vintage will recall it being a line from Gabrielle's massive 1993 hit Dreams. In it, she sings: 'You know you gotta have hope. You know you gotta be strong'. And, do you know, as we watch Arteta and his charges grow in stature on a match-by-match basis, no words could be more apt.

Anyway, let's crack on with my thoughts on the hard-fought but ultimately well-deserved win over the Geordie Demons (sorry; Newcastle United). I have a list of the clubs I dislike most, and for years it's been the traditional Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea. But that list has mutated over the years; Manchester City have got stronger as their city rivals have got weaker (so much so that it's not difficult to start feeling slightly sorry for them as we watch their calamitous fall from grace), and have therefore usurped them on that list - especially considering the whole 115 Charges thing. 

But Newcastle are really pushing for a slot in that Top 3 these days. What with the unsung Master of The Dark Arts, Eddie Howe, in charge, with his gurning perma-tanned sidekick Tindall alongside him at all times; and then the Saudi money, a midfield featuring both Bruno Guimares and Joelinton, and the serial diver Anthony Gordon ahead of them; plus a whole series of conspiracy theory-driven defeats at their strange looking stadium, it's not surprising that they bring out the worst in me! And probably you too! 

And so, when the winning goal went in so late, my emotions were absolutely visceral! There have been injury time goals over the past few years that have brought us great joy; Danny Welbeck's late winner over Leicester and Reiss Nelson's against Bournemouth spring instantly to mind. But for me this brought out emotions almost as strong as Anfield, May 26th 1989. Surely an indication of how much I despise Newcastle United, and how much this result may mean come May.

Isn't it strange how so many of the games this season have had agendas and talking points galore. Two routine home wins, of course, but the other 4 have been full of controversy and debate. And yet again there's loads to pick out of this one. And there's no better place to start than with the team selection.

Martin Odegaard's lack of match fitness made it fairly easy for Arteta to fit Eberiche Eze into the side - and for all the protestations that the Manager doesn't listen to outside noise there's no doubt that the chat around the midfield selection he made last weekend - and the whole 'handbrake' agenda - would have got through to him. Of course, whilst Eze was ostensibly bought to play in the inside- or outside-left position, it has swiftly become abundantly clear that he is most effective centrally, and so it was an easy call to pop him into the side in place of Merino. As an aside, where this leaves Ethan Nwaneri - who didn't even make the bench - I don't quite know. Especially with Odegaard very much on his way back! 

It's all quite bizarre; for all the attacking talent that the club possess now it feels somewhat imbalanced. Saka and the currently injured Madueke will surely fill the bulk of the right hand side minutes. The latter may get shunted out to the left too, despite both Martinelli and Trossard (with different skill sets) having been used in that role over the past couple of seasons. To me, none of the 4 options is an ideal one for the job of left winger; so it's a difficult one for the Manager. In this instance, he went with Trossard, whose intelligent movement was always likely to be an asset when dovetailing with the marauding Calafiori on that side.

In the interior, there are some more difficult decisions to be made. Unless he leaves one of Rice and Zubimendi out of the side, there's no room for both Odegaard and Eze in there (let alone Nwaneri!). And on top of that there's still Havertz to come back at some point. Talking of whom, there's quite a big burden on the shoulder of Big Vik at the moment, and his need for a rest will hopefully coincide with the German's return to fitness. 

Great to see Starboy back, of course. But I'm sure that we were all puzzled by the selection of Mosquera over Saliba at the back. For all of his promise and potential, the former is not at the latter's level at this stage of his development. If Saliba wasn't deemed fit enough to start - despite having played the full game in midweek - then that's one thing. But if you're going to rest him, Mikel, wait for an easier game; it's West Ham next week!

Anyway, I reckon that 5 paragraphs on team selection is considerably more than enough. So let's crack on.

Arsenal dominated possession almost from the start. Chances came and went for Gyokeres and Eze (the first of many decent saves from Pope), before the first of a number of controversial moments. Timber slipped both of the violent Brazilian midfielders on the left following a corner, Eze picked the ball up and played a delightful ball over the top to Saka, and following some pinball a dreadful poke at the ball from Murphy back towards his keeper sold the latter short. Gyokeres was through on goal, and Pope brought him down for what looked an absolute stonewall penalty. And if that's Mo Salah or Erling Haaland there's no danger of it not being one.

But (Liverpool-supporting) Gillett was called over the pitch side monitor by (Liverpool-supporting) VAR England; we thought initially to decide on the colour card to be awarded to the keeper - the only question appeared to be DOGSO or Double Jeopardy - until it was revealed that as Pope had got a slight touch on the ball the recommendation was to overturn the decision. Ludicrous, and I've got four further things to say about it:

• The penalty award was not a 'clear and obvious error', so why was it being looked at so forensically?
• The bar, we thought, had been raised to allow 'Referee's Call' to be the over-riding factor in such situations. Not when it comes to Arsenal, however
• If that incident had happened in the centre of the field between two midfielders, it's a foul...
• Remember last season, and the unprecedented decision to award a penalty against Saliba for making accidental contact with the thoroughly annoying head of Joao Pedro just after he'd headed the ball at The Amex? Decision fully justified by Howard Webb, of course... yet all I can see is that this one was far, far worse of an offence

But there you go. It's Arsenal, so let's chalk off the penalty award... good work once more PGMOL. Arteta could do nothing but laugh. I am not, however, going to make too big a deal out of the officials being Liverpool fans - as Gabriel almost certainly got away with one on a technicality for handball late in the match. One the officials could easily have given...

Nonetheless Arsenal remained on top; Calafiori heading wide following a free kick and, after a sweeping move of 8 first time passes started by Timber deep in the Arsenal half, Trossard thrashed the ball against the post from just 7 yards out. There was some lovely work from Gyokeres - who did a very good job holding the ball up and bringing others into play throughout the game - and Saka within that move.

I'm going to gloss over Towelgate at this point; although it did serve as an amusing distraction in an intense match. I'll just move on to another fine save by Pope from a fine Eze volley on the back of the subsequent long throw. And yet another save from a Saka cross-shot following a fast break instigated once more by Jurrien Timber. There had been an early exchange of corners, but by this point around half an hour in Arsenal were all over Newcastle; yet with nothing to show for their efforts.

But with the same inevitability as night following day, a series of silly errors and Newcastle were unjustly ahead. Mosquera completely shanked a back pass to Raya, leading to a corner. The Arsenal defence switched off as - for once - Newcastle played the ball short, and from the ensuing cross Gabriel collapsed into an embarrassing heap at the slightest touch from the beanpole Woltemade before the German headed past the helpless Raya. So, so aggravating; especially bearing in mind the dominance, and the fact that Arsenal had - by dint of their own idiocy - given Newcastle something to hold on to.

And so on to the second half. And where you'd have been concerned that previous iterations of Arsenal may have felt sorry for themselves and succumbed to the inevitability of defeat, there was actually very little of that. Sure, there was a little bit of horseshoe passing at the back while they recomposed themselves, but they were soon back in the groove and putting more and more pressure on the home defence. It was attack vs defence as Arsenal looked for a breakthrough, with the Arsenal midfield trying all they know. One dink over the top from Zubimendi saw Timber force yet another decent save out of Pope; who by this point was really starting to irritate me! This was certainly a change in mind-set, and Arsenal are going to have to continue to be bold as the season goes on.

On 70 minutes Merino and Martinelli entered the fray at the expense of Saka and Calafiori. With Newcastle having switched to a back 5 by this point, it seemed the natural thing to look to pile even more pressure on, with the Spaniard charged with joining Gyokeres in the penalty area as often as possible. But the game possibly turned with the departure - on a stretcher - of Livramento, who had been clattered in mid-air by Saliba and who looked to jar his knee badly as he landed. 

It definitely turned with the arrival of Martin Odegaard, who replaced his namesake Zubimendi on 82 minutes and proceeded to produce a magical cameo that showcased everything that is great about him. He moved the ball quickly and intelligently, combining well with everyone around him and at one point playing a pass through the eye of a needle to release MLS that brought back memories of Mesut Ozil. But Arsenal were swiftly running out of time.

Until, playing Newcastle at their own game, Arsenal caught the home defence out with a short corner. A swift interchange between Odegaard and Rice, a beautifully weighted cross, and Mikel Merino rose to plant a sumptuous header into the far corner. Pope was finally beaten.

Not soon after came the incident in which Gabriel got away with one; the ball striking his upraised hand as he slid in to block an Elanga cross. Very, very fortunate indeed. But it's about time we had some luck up at that ground.

And then... and then... Gabriel redeemed himself for his poor effort for the Newcastle goal with a typical thumping header from a perfectly-delivered Odegaard corner. Just. F*cking. Brilliant! Well deserved, and the beauty of it was that the goal was the fruits of Arsenal keeping going until the bitter end; building the pressure until they forced the breakthrough. 

As I say, this is something that they must continue to do as the season goes on. They must build up the fear factor, and keep their collective foot on the proverbial accelerator. Both the players and the backroom staff will have learned a lot from this, and I am very excited to see where they go from here. Forget the continued narrative from outside about Set Piece FC and comparisons with Stoke City; this is an exciting group of players who can only get better - both individually and as a group. Thanks to Agents Welbeck and Neketiah for your excellent work over the weekend, by the way.

Champions League on Wednesday, and then it's West Ham (new manager bounce) at the weekend. With Liverpool having a tricky fixture, so let's take advantage should the situation arise. Going forward, fitting all his assets into the side is going to be a continuing conundrum for Arteta.

COYG!

A Little Respect

Respect. How much should any manager show to his opponent? As far as many of Arsenal's opponents are concerned, it's clearly OK to take risks and take the game to them, because Arteta's side are clearly superior to almost all of them, and have the stingiest defence in the league. And take chances with those sides he will definitely do. But to Liverpool? To Manchester City? And - as I suspect we may see next Sunday - to Newcastle when Arsenal get to conclude their nightmare start to the season at St James Park? A little more, perhaps...

However, I cannot condone the choice of starting XI for Sunday. It smacked of too much respect. Of fear, even. And when the manager has such an array of talent from which to choose as he does now - as with the game at Anfield - it was the wrong message to send out. As much to his own supporters as it was to his opponents.

Of course, there's a lot of nuance to this. And much of that was discussed following the Liverpool defeat. And whilst I understood and was happy to side with the manager's game plan at Anfield, I cannot support what he did on Sunday. In two positions; not just one.

With all due respect to a very good Manchester City side - any side with Rodri and Haaland in has to be respected - they are not the side they were. Arsenal's team and squad are generally accepted as now being better than theirs. And Arsenal were at home. So I cannot understand the midfield selection. In the absence of Odegaard, the team was crying out for some creativity, yet Arteta went for solidity instead. And it was soon clear that it was the wrong decision. Rice, Zubimendi and Merino. No, I'm sorry. Not at home. To anyone. 

As for the decision to start Trossard on the left... well, that was another interesting one. It's becoming increasingly apparent to me that despite having no less than 4 possible left-wingers in his squad, Arteta is not fully happy with any of them. Madueke clearly prefers the right, and had to play on that side in the continuing absence of Bukayo Saka. Of the others Martinelli continually disappoints in that role with his decision-making, and Eze much prefers an interior role. As for Leo himself, he is looking increasingly like an impact player; not a starter. What would I have done? Well, despite his underwhelming showing in Bilbao, I would have stuck with Eze - and if that required a change in tactics to accommodate his natural desire to play in an inside forward position, I'd have done it.

Clearly, it wasn't in the plan for City to take an early lead. But that was actually down to Arsenal over-committing in midfield. Following a bit of pinball, Gabriel lunged in to win the ball when perhaps he ought not to have done, Haaland got there first and found Reijnders, and then... well, it was nothing short of brilliant from the Norwegian. Firstly, to spot what was on and to react instantly - I was watching from side on and his acceleration and desire to make the most of the situation meant that he left Gabriel trailing in his wake, and City were suddenly three on two. Reijnders driving run and perfect pass; and there was simply no way that Haaland was going to miss. A brilliant goal.

Of course, this left Arsenal in a bind. Especially with a lack of creative spark in midfield. Prior to the goal, City had been pressing high, but they then dropped off a little and let Arsenal have the ball as their defenders stayed disciplined, and Rodri started to drop in amongst them to receive and distribute. What an impressive player Rodri is, by the way. Calm, composed, seemingly able to read opposition players' minds - and a magnificent physical specimen to boot.  

As far as Arenal were concerned, there was far too much of that old umbrella/horseshoe passing that we've grown to hate, with the only out ball seemingly to Madueke on the right. They were creating nothing, playing far too far away from the opponent's goal, and worst of all simply not capable of moving the ball fast enough to upset City's equilibrium. For all of their possession - and there was loads of it - it was frankly quite a boring spectacle, and the crowd was completely subdued. 

All the home side had to show for their territorial advantage was a series of corners; but with the giant Donnarumma in goal they had to vary the delivery, with the ball being aimed either near or far post to avoid him; but in truth there was little real threat. Things did improve towards half time, with Madueke causing most of the problems for City (he forced one smart save from the giant Italian goalkeeper), but it was quite disheartening on the whole, and there was a clamour for personnel change in the stands as the whistle blew.

Thankfully, Arteta took ownership of the team selection issues and made half-time changes. Saka for Madueke was forced - the former Chelsea man has a knee injury on which we await news of a scan - although I doubt that the plan was to give Starboy a whole half of football on his return. The other obvious change was Eze for Merino. The sight of those two standing ready to come on caused havoc in the concourses as - for a change - people rushed to get back into their seats instead of finishing their pints. As my daughter said to me: 'What's going on? We've never had to queue to get back to our seats after half-time.' Well, there's her explanation.

Anyway, the changes made an immediate impact as Eze, playing right 8/10, started to get on the ball straight away. And Saka showed why that - for all his undoubted ability -  Madueke is never going to keep him out of the side. Saka began to run at his full back, and City were pushed back even further.An  early Eze shot saved by Donnarumma, and another from Zubimendi just over the bar were better signs. But there was always a threat going the other way. On one swift break Doku ran 40 yards before a brilliant pass split the Arsenal defence and sent Haaland away at Raya. We expected the worst; but the shot was straight at the keeper.

One bizarre incident to report as Bernardo Silva (or 'the little sh*t' as we called him in block 17) - who had already literally scythed Gabriel to the floor and been booked for it - attempted to win an Oscar when Trossard, who he had hit with the ball when on the ground, threw the ball back at him and hit him in the stomach. The diminutive Portuguese flung himself to the floor holding his face. It was pathetic! My mate @mattkandela of The Arsenal Opinion podcast, back in the UK for a flying visit and taking up his seat next to mine, was out of the aforementioned seat in a flash and down to the front of the block to give Bernardo a piece of his mind from close range. His mother would be proud of him, I'm sure!

Anyway, back to the football, and all sorts of strange goings on as Pep began to systematically take off all of his forwards (including Haaland) and replace them with centre-backs. City were getting pushed further and further back, and for every defensive change Pep made, Arteta made an attacking one. It was like watching the crazy Wenger days when he would simply chuck every forward player onto the field.

The corner count continued to mount, the half-chances came and went, and it was strange to comprehend a Guardiola team resorting to playing in such a fashion. I've literally never seen it before. And they finally paid the price, in the 92nd minute, in the most unusual of circumstances. For some strange reason the City defence found themselves in a high line - all 5 of them (with the other 5 also in their half)  - as Eze picked the ball up in midfield. A quick look up to see Martinelli starting a run between two of the centre-backs, a lofted ball into 25 yards of space behind the line, and the Brazilian was clear on goal. One delicate touch to control the ball, a glance up to see Donnarumma in no man's land, and a deft lob with the outside of his right foot... And that's two vital goal contributions from Gabi in the space of a week - great to see.

It felt like time stood still as the ball bounced once and then nestled into the far corner of the unguarded goal. What a relief! And if it didn't feel entirely what Arsenal had earned - loads of sweat but little guile -  it certainly did feel that Pep had brought it on himself by making all those negative changes. At this point who cares; but there's plenty of learning for even the great Guardiola to take from that.

5 minutes of basketball-type football, with neither side settling for a draw but no clear cut chances to follow, and that was that. Points shared. But was this another chance blown by Arteta? I'd argue Yes, I'm afraid. A little respect for such exalted opposition as Manchester City is all well and good, but he'd shown too much. All the talk on the way out of the ground, and then in the media, was on the same lines. 

Mikel must surely start taking this on board and be prepared to go after sides from the very start. Especially with the defence he has assembled to fall back on. I have been one of his biggest supporters, but times like these do make me wonder whether he does have it to take Arsenal all the way. Still... who else is available to take up that mantle? Much as I dislike Jose Mourinho's for the way he used to abuse Arsene Wenger, I do wish that Arteta would swap defensive thoughts for Mourinho's pragmatism. Still, despite this being his 6th season it's still Arteta's first ever management job...

Anyway, that's done. The gap to Liverpool is already 5 points, however, and it's Newcastle away next. I wanted 14 points by the end of next weekend, but it can only be a maximum of 13 now. And it needs to be 13. Port Vale away before then, and a shadow Arsenal side I'm sure. But let's keep moving on. COYG!

Madueke Makes His Mark

Wow! Where exactly do I start? A scintillating attacking performance from Arsenal, leading to comprehensive victory; and from which there are numerous talking points. Let's get straight into it.

Firstly, do you remember how you used to feel when you saw that Arsenal's starting XI was missing Saliba, Rice, Saka and Havertz. Or when within the first few minutes Martin Odegaard was forced to leave the pitch, to add to those injury worries? Well, welcome to the new world of Arsenal, when a side shorn of all those players failed to worry us at all. 

Such has been the summer strengthening that there are now at least two players for every single position on the pitch; and I'm not just talking about back-ups. Just go through the list of summer purchases:

• Kepa - a more than adequate back-up in goal, who started for Bournemouth all last season
• Mosquera - currently looking like the bargain of the century at an initial £13m from Valencia. With Saliba out, he hasn't missed a beat in his place
• Hincapié - yet to be seen, but by all accounts likely to be very good indeed
• Zubimendi - getting up to speed, and looking rather tasty
• Norgaard - again yet to be seen, but was Brentford's captain last season
• Madueke - an absolute revelation!
• Eze - I mean; what can anyone say?
• Gyökeres - three goals in 4 games is an excellent start

Every single one of those players could make a case for being a starter. Arteta can put out two sides when everyone is fit, and there would be a case for suggesting that the so-called 'Second Team' might even be pressing for a Champions League spot! 

I remember sitting in my seat at Highbury one Saturday afternoon 20+ years ago and leaning forward to say to my friend Jill - who now sits two rows behind me instead of one in front - that she should take in the wonders that we were seeing as Arsenal strolled to yet another comfortable 3-0 win because it couldn't possibly get any better. Yet on Saturday I started to get the same vibes.

Look, I know that this version of Arsenal haven't got any medals to show for their efforts yet, and in comparison to The Invincibles they're possibly short of a few absolutely world class players (that side possessed Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira and Cole to name just a handful). And yet... as a collective, they are possibly the best squad of players that the club has ever put together. There can be little or no excuse this season for Arsenal not to be challenging on every single front available. The ownership have put their hands deep into their pockets, and the new Sporting Director has delivered. It's up to the Manager and the players to deliver, and I am excited - because I think that this time they will. It might be difficult to find excuses this time round.

Here are some statistics for your delectation. In 4 PL matches this season, Arsenal have scored 9 times and conceded just one - from a 30+ yard worldie of a free kick. And in that time - including visits to Old Trafford and Anfield - have racked up a miniscule 0.89xGA (expected goals against). In total!!! 

Whilst fans were complaining after Anfield that Arsenal lacked ambition, and were showing little progress (something with which I personally disagree; even allowing for criticism of the timing of the second half substitutions they were just that amazing late free kick away from a commendable draw at that most difficult of away venues), I think that we started to see on Saturday just what this team is capable of doing. Forest are no mugs - they occupied a Champions League spot for much of last season - but they were blown away by the quality of Arsenal's attacking play on Saturday.

A baptism of fire for Big Ange. What an awful place to go to for an ex-Tottenham manager's first game in charge. 'Cheer Up Postecoglou' got an early airing, but as Arsenal cruised to victory in the second half we fans amused ourselves further with sparkling renditions of 'Sacked In the Morning' and 'Are You Tottenham In Disguise?' He hasn't had time to impose Angeball on his charges yet, and we can expect Forest to become more expansive in the near future. But in Arsenal's second goal we saw what this new look Arsenal are capable of doing to a high line.

On the plus side, there was much to admire. It seems a shame to draw attention to any defensive deficiencies, but it's my job to do so; and there were some. A poor throw in across midfield from Calafiori in the first half almost led to a chance, and there was a single moment in the second half when a ball deflected goalward by the barrel-like chest of Chris Wood hit the crossbar - via the fingertips of David Raya - fell back into play and a certain amount of indecision almost let in Hudson-Odoi. The imperious Mosquera cleared that situation up. And truth be told any defensive issues Arsenal suffered were of their own making. One might almost accuse them of being over-ambitious at times, but I for one am willing to see that trade off between taking chances and trying to move the ball quickly, and leaving themselves open to counter attack. With a defence as solid as Arsenal's, it's worth the risk.

And there are plenty of excellent performances on which to remark. From back to front: 

Raya had one decisive action to make (from that Wood effort) and did what he needed to do. A clean sheet on his 100th start for the club. Timber gave his wingers nothing, but at the same time looked to get up the pitch to support Madueke - both on the interior and the overlap. Bar that one mental error as he dithered over a clearance, this was another 8/10 performance from the Dutchman. 

Mosquera... another superb performance from a young man of just 21 years of age, who'd been thrust into the spotlight at Anfield the week before and scarcely put a foot wrong either there or here. Honestly, would anyone have thought that the team wouldn't miss Saliba at all? 

A couple of superbly timed tackles and a tricky headed clearance were the main highlights. But he also showed loads of composure with the ball at his feet. Gabriel was his usual solid and reliable self. Calafiori a menace going forwards, but perhaps less comfortable defensively (that's the trade-off with him). He created the second goal with a long, clipped diagonal into the outside left slot, and apparently had license to wander wherever he wanted. As I pointed out at one point as he appeared in the Right 8 position; 'That's our left back, by the way...' 

In midfield, Zubimendi not only did his day job but popped up with two goals - thus equalling his season's tally from 2024/25 for Real Sociedad. The first a thing of beauty, as he caught a volley from just outside the D perfectly. It was a shame that the slight deflection from the head of Murillo that took the ball fully away from Sels in the Forest goal diluted the purity of the strike. 

And that was a goal the team needed; with 32 minutes of domination gone and nothing to show for it, that moment broke the game open. 

Arteta bought into the goalscoring form (4 in two games for Spain) of Mikel Merino to give him a start and thereby give Declan Rice a rest, and the Spaniard did a decent job. He was one of three players whose clever flicks had the crowd oohing and aahing at various points. 

Martin Odegaard again didn't last long, as he landed awkwardly on his bruised shoulder early on. I sincerely hope that it's nothing serious (and as my wife pointed out he does look a little light of frame compared to his team-mates, and perhaps needs to bulk up a bit or put on a bit of muscle). Incidentally, that trio of players had last started together for Real Sociedad in July 2020 at Athletico Madrid - a remarkable statistic to my mind! 

In Odegaard's place, Arteta could have slung Rice on, but rightly chose to give Ethan Nwaneri a game. He is both similar and different to Odegaard; dropping as deep as the Norwegian to receive the ball, but willing to carry it further into the opposition half than his skipper. He had a solid enough game.

Up front, however, is where a lot of the praise needs to be given. I would hope that those who had foolishly laid into both the club and the player over his summer signing are now willing to make their apologies, as we saw a sparkling performance from Noni Madueke. He was relentless, driving forward constantly at his full back and causing chaos both on the interior and exterior, and getting to the bye line time after time. On a different day he might have had two or three assists to his name. It is a measure of his performances thus far that we're barely missing Bukayo Saka, and how Arteta manages to get them both into the side when Starboy is fit is an unenviable task. Especially when Eberiche Eze is playing on the other wing...

Eze is a different type of winger to Madueke; more willing to move into interior spaces, and full of feints and tricks. He's another whose flicks drew admiring noises from the crowd. And his assist for Gyökeres' goal was both well thought out and beautifully executed. He adds a dimension to the left had side that Arsenal have lacked recently. And that's nothing against Leandro Trossard, who has been very productive indeed over the years and whose assist for Zubimendi's second was his 50th goal involvement for the club.

Viktor Gyökeres worked extremely hard up front, leading the press and keeping the pressure on the Forest centre backs. His style means that he is always going to appear workmanlike, but he's a battering ram of a centre forward, and he gives Arsenal something they've probably not had since - dare I say it? - Ian Wright. He got his goal; reading the play well, keeping tabs with the Eze run, and putting himself into exactly the right place to blunderbuss the cross home. There's a good chance that he's going to turn in a 20+ goal season, and that'll do very nicely.

To sum up; this was comfortable, but the aspect I liked most about the performance was the extra willingness to take risks that is starting to show as relationships begin to develop all over the pitch. With some top players still to return, and the opportunity to keep the squad fresh, I suspect that we're going to see nothing but improvement in both the style of play and also results as the season progresses.

It's a big week, as we start the long drag of games every three to four days almost all the way until February now. The squad will be needed, and provided Arteta is willing to keep players fresh by rotating and not over-playing them, we can anticipate a successful season. Liverpool look the most likely threat, but they're certainly not firing on all cylinders yet. Although they of course still have Isak to introduce. After them, Manchester City and Chelsea look to be the only other conceivable title challengers. 

For Arsenal, it's a first foray into the Champions League this season on Tuesday. Atletic Bilbao will be no pushovers, in my opinion; especially if Nico Williams recovers from his minor hip injury. After that comes yet another big early test, as Manchester City and their titan of a centre forward visit The Emirates next Sunday. A game to really savour, I would suspect. 

Meantime, let's ride the wave of confidence that the team gave us on Saturday. COYG!

Fine Margins; And Loaded Agendas

A disappointing result at Anfield. But there's absolutely no need for Captain Hindsight to make an appearance. And there's certainly no need for anyone associated with the club to take any heed of the drivel spouted by the likes of Neville, Carragher and Keane - I certainly didn't!

There's no need to go through a timeline of the match, as you've all watched it; so I'm just going to launch into my view of the events - and what could have been done differently. 

Now I personally had very little issue with the line-up selected by Mikel Arteta. The two slightly controversial selections could easily be justified. And even though it has been levelled at Arteta on many occasions that he is too conservative in general... well, this was Anfield. 

Yes, of course you want to go there and win. But it isn't that easy. So for pundits to suggest that in order to win the league you HAVE to go there and win?... well, that's nonsense. Pep Guardiola's record at Anfield is P10 W1 D3 L6!

With Odegaard not deemed fit to start, Merino was a perfectly sensible replacement. Anfield is probably the most difficult away PL ground for any side. Merino scored home and away against Liverpool last season. Arteta wanted somebody to lead the press - from the very position that Odegaard would have been - and there was nobody else to do so. So any suggestion that this was a defensive decision can easily be pooh-poohed. Sure, Nwaneri could be regarded as a more adventurous and progressive selection, but he is 18 years old and in my opinion not quite ready to start at Anfield; and certainly not to do the job that Merino was charged with doing. Plus - and I cannot emphasise this enough - with key players such as Saka, Odegaard and Havertz unavailable, looking to contain Liverpool for 65 minutes and then go for the win is not actually a bad strategy!

As for the selection of Martinelli, we should not forget that this was the player who dragged Arsenal back into the corresponding fixture last season, as we came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. Sure, he had another poor game, and I think we can all agree he is going to find himself well down the selection pecking list now as a result; so perhaps this was the beginning of the end for him at Arsenal. He certainly isn't kicking on at all from the player he was a couple of years ago, and his best contributions yesterday were defensive. It was his running power and ability to track back that got him the nod in the first place, in my humble opinion.

If I am going to criticise the Manager - and I am not going to do so anything like as much as many others have done - I would have liked to have seen Eze introduced at half time. It was clear that Martinelli - probably due to his own indecision and lack of confidence - wasn't getting any change out of makeshift full back Szoboszlai; there were two decent first half opportunities where his decision-making was clearly lacking. I had certainly seen more than enough at half time. Judging by Eze's 25-minute cameo, we would have got more down that side of the field with him there for the entire second half. The question of whether Eze ought to have started is being posed in hindsight - the guy will have had a handful of training sessions to get used to a complex system.

So, having dealt with those queries... another injury. And Arteta should probably have pulled Saliba from the game after the warm-up. As it was, he lasted barely 5 minutes due to a twisted ankle, but in truth we had nothing to worry us on that score as Mosquera dropped into the role almost seamlessly. Sure, he's not as accomplished on the ball as Saliba - but he looked quick, strong and confident throughout. Clearly an excellent purchase. 

It was clear to see from the start that Liverpool were as worried about Arsenal as Arsenal were about them. The match was cagey. Sterile. Nothing like the chaos we'd seen in Liverpool's two previous matches. And here's where it's a real balancing act.

Does anyone want to go to Anfield and play an open game? Aren't you just asking for trouble if you do? They rattled up 4 goals against Bournemouth, and scored two at Newcastle on Monday. By opening yourself up to the threat, you're asking for trouble! And so Arsenal played in a restrained, methodical way; restricting Liverpool to little or nothing, and - insomuch as one could call it that - dominating the match. One just has to look at the match statistics to see what a good job they did as a whole. Liverpool were restricted to just 0.45xG (a mere 0.09 in the first half) - and you'd have to go back a long way to find any match where they were kept that quiet. They barely got into Arsenal's penalty area, and managed just two shots - both off target - in the entire first half. True, Arsenal didn't do too much either; but they forced a number of corners and had the only shot on target of the half when Madueke drew a decent save from Allison. It changed in the second half - but I'll come to that.

Now; corners. A big problem for Arsenal yesterday as in the absence of both Saka and Odegaard there was nobody to take an inswinging corner from the right; thus nullifying much of the threat posed. If We'd have had that number of corners from the left, with Rice able to whip the ball into the 6-yard box, then perhaps things would have worked out differently. Liverpool, to be fair, coped well with the physical battle from corners… there was no way, of course, that any VAR checks for holding were going to be any more that cursory.

One other thing - and something that bothers me. We see Raya trying to draw opponents onto him, and then playing out from the back with intricate passes into midfield, but sometimes Arsenal get caught. As we saw once here when Van Dijk pounced on a dangerous vertical ball in to Zubimendi (in my opinion fouling him, but different rules apply to the Dutchman, as you well know...). He passed when he could have shot from the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, and the danger was averted. But here's the thing; Arsenal seem happier to take risks in their own third of the field than in the opponent's third; which makes zero sense. As I said no more than two posts ago, what I really want to see is the team playing more high tariff passes high up the pitch - because they can be pretty secure in the knowledge that their incredible defence will bail out any loss of control.

So half-time was reached with very little to report. Not the kind of match that a neutral would have enjoyed, and much resembling a game of chess - with neither manager prepared to launch into an attacking strategy. Liverpool's most-used passing combination by that point had been Van Dijk to Konate and back again... And the second half started in a similar style. But I can pinpoint two moments that changed the balance of the game - and one of them is going to be quite controversial (and if any match-going fans want to contradict me on it, feel free).

Liverpool did get the ball into the net in the 60th minute as Ekitike slotted home from the otherwise almost anonymous Wirtz's shot - but from a clearly offside position. Fortunate for Arsenal on two counts, as Raya brought Gakpo down in the melee for what would have been a clear penalty.

The first change that Slot made was Jones for MacAllister. And this made an almost immediate difference to the home team's style of play, as the more progressive Jones starting making runs into areas that hadn't been occupied by the Argentinian. With Szoboszlai able to start displaying a range of Trent-like passing from right back, into areas with which Zubimendi and Rice took time to adapt to, the flow changed somewhat. Certainly, Jones' link play was far more effective in the attacking sense than MacAllister's had been.

Secondly, in the 64th minute the Arsenal fans piped up with our version of one of the Liverpool supporters' favourite songs. 'We won the league at Anfield. We won it at The Lane...' And the affronted response was immediate; 'We conquered all of Europe' makes those Arsenal achievements look small in comparison, and the 4000 Arsenal fans were immediately swamped by a wall of noise from The Kop. You can hear the change in decibels very clearly on the television coverage. The Liverpool fans, who had had little or nothing to get their teeth into, had been roused. And they began to drive their team on. Tell me I'm crazy if you like; but I spotted it as it happened. Did you?

Within a minute, Jones drove onto a clever pass from Szoboszlai and fed Gakpo, who shot at Raya. Moments later Gyokores was booked for (accidentally) bringing down the angelic Van Dijk. And they started getting Salah onto the ball more frequently. This was the moment for me. The moment when Arteta needed to act. Which he did, to be fair; Odegaard and Eze replacing Merino and the disappointing Martinelli. 

But whilst the Norwegian looked energetic and tried to drive Arsenal up the field, Arsenal's attacking was almost all long ball - trying to hit Gyokeres or the wingers; whereas Liverpool were playing between the lines and looking to - and for the most part succeeding in - bypassing Rice and Zubimendi. Tactically, this was key. Eze did add some dynamism down the left, in what was a promising start. One piece of skill on the byline almost took my breath away. 

The key moment of the game came about as Jones - taking up a position behind Zubimendi - was fouled by the Spaniard 30+ yards out and very centrally. Not necessarily a position of undue danger, but... Szoboszlai's kick was magnificent; over the wall and curling right into Raya's right hand side-netting. The shot had to be pretty much perfect, and pretty much perfect it was. No blame whatsoever attached to Raya (as verified by Joe Hart on MotD2 that evening) and - as I posted on one or two of my WhatsApp groups immediately - 'You have to say that that's magnificent.' A moment worthy of winning any football match, and very much up alongside Rice's two efforts against Real Madrid last season.

From then on, naturally, Arsenal upped the pace. Eze had a chance to get a shot away from fairly close range almost immediately after the goal; but it wasn't a massively high tariff opportunity. Nor was he likely to get a penalty from Gomez's two little digs at him on the way through. Not at Anfield. And the best chance followed soon after as Madueke's cross was brilliantly intercepted by Gomez, who stood his ground in front of the predatory Gyokeres at a vital moment. Of course, as a result of upping the tempo Arsenal left themselves more open at the back; that's a risk you take against this Liverpool side if you want to try it - and it's a really difficult balancing act. The current buzzword; transition. And that's where Liverpool can be so deadly.

Arteta's final change was fascinating, as Dowman came on ahead of Nwaneri and Trossard. He had little time to make an impact, but didn't look fazed in the slightest by Anfield. Interestingly, Liverpool immediately tripled up on him; as if he was the second coming of Bukayo Saka; or even Lionel Messi. What a remarkable prospect he is.

Despite Arsenal's desperation, they couldn't trouble Allison in the final few minutes, and that was that. And whilst it's massively disappointing to have come away with nothing, all the signs were there that Arsenal and Liverpool are going to be engaged in a titanic battle for the title this season. In my view, had Odegaard been fit enough to start, or had Eze had an extra week's training with his new team-mates and therefore been deemed ready to start this match, we would have seen something quite different from Arsenal.

As it was, it took a moment of sheer brilliance to separate the sides. With Liverpool pretty much at full strength, but Arsenal missing 4 starters. And going forward... well, fitness is going to be key as the season progresses. Yes, Liverpool have paid a ludicrous £130m for Isak, but they can only put 11 players onto the field at once. And the collapse of the Guehi deal has certainly left them light in defence. They have to come to The Emirates in January - whilst AFCON is on; so no Salah. It's game on.

What we certainly don't need to listen to is Northern pundits and their pathetic anti-Arsenal agendas about Liverpool having more about them or more ambition than Arsenal. I'm not buying in to that. And nor should you. They're certainly not saying any of that if it ends up at 0-0!

We're now into one of those irritating Interlulls. It's never nice to go into one n the back of a defeat. But we're back on home ground when we return. So keep the faith. COYG!

If Carlsberg Did Saturdays…

Arsenal's first home game of the season. Always a moment of great anticipation and hope; and this time tinged with extra excitement. From the moment the rumours started circulating that we should get to our seats early, and right up to and beyond the final whistle, it's difficult to imagine that the day could have gone that much better.

On social media, round about lunchtime, I started seeing stuff that indicated that what we were all hoping for - the pre-match introduction of Eze - was going to take place. I messaged everyone I knew would be there to get there early, and told my family that we needed to leave earlier than normal for the game. This was going to be great; a real feelgood start to the home campaign.

We were in by 4.15 - and whilst the concourse wasn't packed there was already plenty of singing - the Gyokeres song being the most prominent. Good to see that there have been a few changes of note on the catering side; Asahi Dry definitely being an upgrade on Camden beer; but I'm not sure how good the Guinness is likely to be if they're switching the pipes on and off every few days... reviews to follow, I'm sure. A new food range too. Good to note that Arsenal are listening to their match-attending supporters.

I had brought my Liverpool-supporting mate, Tim, to the match. I'd promised him an Arsenal experience, and was curious as to his perspective. As a starting point, he appreciated the Asahi Dry. Also my view from the West Lower; but not so much with the atmosphere in general - but that's Arsenal fans for you... 

Nonetheless, by 5.15 the stands were pretty packed and the sense of anticipation was growing. And then there he was - our latest signing. Out of the tunnel to rapturous applause, a huge grin on his face, to chants of 'Arsenal! Arsenal!' and then 'Are you watching, Tottenham?' Much to everyone's pleasure and amusement. And here I'll deviate from discussing the match, because the significance of the signing bears discussion.

I'm sure that you know about Eze's 'previous' with Arsenal. A fan from a young age, and released from Hale End when he was just 13. Which is of course shattering for any young lad; and yet he worked hard to make a career for himself and - via QPR and of course Crystal Palace - has finally realised his dream. And the iconic number 10 shirt to boot.

We'd heard rumours all summer that Arsenal had been looking at him as the type of maverick footballer who could add something into the metronomic mix of Arsenal's general play. But it looked for all the world that he might be off to Tottenham before - if we can believe the story - Havertz's injury and the player's last-minute telephone plea to Mikel Arteta before he signed on the dotted line for our local rivals tipped the balance and caused Arteta and Berta to follow firmly through on their earlier interest. From the speed of the move, it seems clear that a lot of the work on the deal had been done, and perhaps Berta had been more focussed on departures at that point. But the prodigal son - if I can call him that - has returned. And, truth, be told, this was his last opportunity to come back; he is 27, there was no way that Tottenham would have sold him to us and - most important of all - he would have been miserable there, wouldn't he? 

On the subject of Tottenham, the social media meltdown has been a joy to behold. The video channels have been highly enjoyable viewing, as their supporters have vented at Daniel Levy. Not that their fans can be disappointed at the start they've had to their season, of course. 

But now all that remains is for Eze to have a real impact on Arsenal's immediate future. Which - as a result of the shoulder injury suffered by Martin Odegaard in the first half - may be sooner than we thought.

Anyway, to the match; and perhaps a minor surprise with Madueke selected on the left in front of Martinelli and Trossard. Otherwise, the team was much as suspected, but with a frisson of excitement at seeing Max Dowman named on the bench. My wife and I speculated on if/when we may see his introduction, and we settled on 3-0 up and 10 minutes to go... and we weren't that far out, I guess.

Extra fireworks pre-game added to the atmosphere, but the match itself settled into a fairly familiar pattern, for all that Arsenal were moving the ball a little quicker than in recent times, and were also looking for raking diagonals in order to upset Leeds' equilibrium. An early shot from Odegaard and a ball clipped over the top from Rice that almost let Saka in were early decent signs, before Leeds' abject failure to play out from the back led to Gyokeres snatching at a chance that with a little bit of composure would have been a tap-in.

But the best early chance fell to Leeds, with Raya's spectacular save from Struik's header preventing them taking the lead. In truth, from the 15th minute until Arsenal took the lead everything seemed a bit familiar, with the opposition coming into the game a little bit too much for our liking.

But Set Piece FC struck yet again; Rice's perfect whipped 34th-minute corner glanced in by an un-marked Jurrien Timber, to celebrations tinged in no small way with relief. These corner routines are really interesting, with opposing defences being pulled around in all directions due to the unpredictability. And when I say unpredictability, I mean of movement in the box. There's nothing unpredictable about the brilliance and consistency of Rice's delivery.

Odegaard's loss to a shoulder injury was annoying and a little worrying, with so many difficult early matches to negotiate. Ethan Nwaneri was entrusted to take his place, which was good to see; but Eberi Eze is hovering in the background now. In truth, I have been a little concerned about the positions that the Norwegian has been taking up early on this season - he's been dropping too deep for my liking - especially with Rice and Zubimendi now clearly being instructed to work as a double pivot. So let's see how this changes how Arsenal play if he's out for a while.

But by half-time, the lead was 2-0. And the goal was interesting from the perspective of seeing Arsenal lose the ball and then immediately pounce to win it back. Nwaneri lost the ball, Rice immediately won it back, and a combination of Zubimendi and Timber set Saka free to blast the ball home (with his wrong foot!). All of which made the break far more comfortable.

And before many had taken their seats for the second half it was 3-0. It has been noticeable that Arsenal are still getting used to Gyokeres' style of play, and getting themselves used to playing with an out and out centre forward. It was obvious that Arteta had made that point to the team at half-time, as within seconds Calafiori popped an early ball over the top of the Leeds defence into the space in Arsenal's inside left channel, and Gyokeres was on to it. A twisting run past two or three half-hearted attempts to stop him, and he fired the ball in at the near post for his first competitive goal for the Gunners. In truth, this was a trademark Gyokeres goal; highlight videos will reveal him scoring this goal again and again in his past. Anyway; cue probably 40,000 supporters doing the Bane celebration (and yes, I have to admit that I was one of them...). A good day was getting even better.

But every silver lining has a cloud. Moments after the third goal, Bukayo Saka sat down on the turf, and was soon replaced. It's a hamstring - thankfully not the one that cost him three months last season, but still a worry. The good news is that he may only be out for a month (and Arsenal do have some depth in forward areas these days). But that's now Norgaard, Havertz, White, Odegaard and Saka lost just two matches into the season. I wonder if Arteta may have run over a black cat recently... Trossard trotted on to replace Starboy; with Madueke switching to the right hand side.

Moments later... 4-0. Another Rice corner - another Timber goal; which, along with his assist and clean sheet will have made anybody who has him in their Fantasy Football team a very happy man. Again, naivete and confusion in the Leeds ranks, they failed to clear their lines, and Timber bundled the ball home. And relax...

To complete an almost perfect day, Arteta saw fit to introduce Max Dowman as part of a triple change. I had thought he may get a quarter of an hour, but he got double that. And made the most of it. It is clear that if you're good enough, you're old enough, and young Max gave Gudmundsson a hard time from the get go. He looked completely unfazed by the stage he was taking, showed bags of confidence, had two decent efforts on goal amongst all the dribbling and drops of the shoulders, and won the injury time penalty that enabled Gyokeres to double his tally. It is clear that he has a glittering future ahead of him; I remember being excited by what Nwaneri could do no more than a couple of years ago, but this is something else!

What a pleasure, by the way, in this age of daft stuttering penalty run-ups, to see Gyokeres just run up and blast the ball into the corner. That's one penalty out of one, to add to his 27 of 28 for Sporting. It remains to be seen if he has now taken over the role of Arteta's designated penalty taker from Saka; they'll both have to be on the field for us to find out.

And now for a little detour into the twisted mind of Gary Neville. He'd spent most of Arsenal's game at Old Trafford having a dig at Gyokeres, and continued it from that start of this game. He then accused Dowman of diving - way to go; having a go at a 15-year-old! Only both times having to eat his words - in this case a double helping of sh*t soup! We all know that you've got an agenda against Arsenal, Gary, but you'll get a lot more respect from all football fans if you reined it in and showed a little bit of impartiality.

But enough of that. Let's reflect on a quite sublime day (despite the injuries): Asahi Dry. Eze. 5 goals. Set Piece FC. Dowman's debut. Top of the table (irrelevant as that may be at this stage). Can we ask for more?

And so to the first major test of the season. I'd been waiting to publish this post until after Liverpool had played Newcastle; and I'm glad that I had. For although 'Lucky' Arne somehow managed to pull a win out of the ashes of a mixed performance, it must be said that his team is not playing well. They appear to have a number of defensive issues, with Konate in particular looking well off the pace. They may have scored more goals than Arsenal this season - one more; small sample size - but have already conceded 4 in just two matches. Not the form of Champions. And looking especially dodgy against fast breaks (against Bournemouth) and set pieces (against Newcastle).

Arsenal also remain a work in progress, with Rice and Zubimendi still working out how to get the best out of each other. Although the signs are promising. I reiterate again that I'd like to see Odegaard keeping out of their way, and staying closer to the forward line. It remains to be seen how Arteta is going to employ Eze - is he there to play on the left wing, or in the left 8 role that he played at Palace. Because there's a log jam of players for the latter role. Either way, I suspect that he'll bring some jazz hands to the party. Which I cannot wait to see.

As far as next Sunday is concerned, I'd suggest that despite the likely absence of three starters Arsenal match up pretty well against this iteration of Liverpool. Salah has yet to hit his straps, and will have a combination of Calafiori and Gabriel to keep him in check on Sunday. Wirtz is yet to settle. Gravenberch and MacAllister (I presume) are going to have to work hard against Rice and Zubimendi. And behind those two Kerkez will be up against Madueke, who gave him the runaround last season; and a combination of Konate and a makeshift or inexperienced right back is going to have to try to deal with Gyokeres.

Now I'm not saying that Arsenal are going to go to Anfield and win. But...

COYG!