Right then. We're a quarter of the way through the season now (save for Sunderland vs Everton on Monday evening). So it's probably time for a progress review.
As far as Arsenal are concerned, we saw another win on Saturday; another clean sheet; another game of minimal xGA. And, on the face of things, all looks rosy. But I do have some qualms; which I will cover shortly.
But I’ll first cover a match very much of two halves - before pondering the consequences of some of what went on.
With William Saliba recovered from his knock, Mikel Arteta was able to name what is currently - in the absence of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz- clearly his first choice XI for the trip to Turf Moor. And Arsenal’s first half performance was almost as complete as one could hope for. They looked in total control, and barely gave the home side a kick.
The pattern was set from early on. As expected, Burnley sat back, content to keep their shape, and looked to press only when Arsenal reached their third of the pitch. And for a while it looked like being another of those frustrating days. Until... in the 14th minute Leandro Trossard - in his 100th PL start for the Gunners - looked to find Gyokeres in his favourite left channel, and the ball deflected off of a defender for - cue dramatic music - a corner!!!
Declan Rice's superb delivery to the far post was diverted back across goal by... Gabriel, obviously; for Gyokeres to head home unmarked from not much more than a yard. One nil to the Arsenal. Set Piece FC. And all those cliches. But frankly, at the rate that Arsenal are conceding shots on target - let alone goals - these days, it was probably already game over.
Now, on the subject of set pieces, and opponents' mindsets, there must be an absolute fear of conceding them to a side with such a fearsome reputation. Which must surely feed into the whole drama of the dead ball situation. And do you know what? - good! Let them have those jitters. It can only help. And I would add this; the moment last season when Arteta and Jover switched from Trossard to Rice for dead ball deliveries from the left was an absolute game-changer for this team. He is peerless. Beckham-esque. And that, combined with the desire shown by the likes of Gabriel in the war zone of the 6-yard box, means that it's only a matter of the law of averages before Arsenal score from one. And if I can just add one final point; surely the age of the out swinging corner is dead now?
Once the goal had gone in, Arsenal began - if anything - to dominate even more. Some clever play from Trossard and Gyokeres gave Calafiori (naturally right up in the centre forward position) a decent opportunity. And Saka - twice put through by Gyokeres - could/should have scored twice (my personal disappointment multiplied by my choice of Starboy as my FPL captain for the week). One shot scuffed, and the other brilliantly stopped by the overworked Dubravka. And on the back of the second Saka chance, Trossard's shot was blocked on the line. So close to 2-0.
Then on 35 minutes it absolutely was game over. And Arsenal showed another side to their game. From a Burnley long throw Gabriel headed clear, Saka headed the ball on, and suddenly Gyokeres was free in acres of space on the counter attack. Now, if the Swede meant to find Trossard with the sweeping crossfield pass he played from near the half way line, it was a stroke of absolute genius. And as Trossard jockeyed for space Arsenal players swarmed the penalty area. From defence to dangerous attack in under 10 seconds. Trossard waited, then picked out Declan Rice with a left foot dink 10 yards out. The subsequent header was emphatic, giving Dubravka no chance. What. A. Goal!
At this point I want to give credit to the three players who demonstrated Arsenal's domination in the first half. Firstly, the much-maligned Trossard, whose guile caused Kyle Walker a ton of trouble and whose clever interplay with Gyokeres and Calafiori kept Burnley firmly on their toes. To think that a lot of us would have been happy to see him leave last summer...
Secondly to Big Vik, who had his most effective game in an Arsenal shirt so far. The rest in midweek had clearly done him a world of good, and if that's anything to go by the return of Havertz is only going to enhance Arsenal's attacking threat as the season goes on. He didn't reappear for the second half - Arteta citing a slight muscular issue. Let's hope that it's merely precautionary, as there are two more matches this week. And he'll be needed.
And finally to Declan Rice. There's a lot of debate as to quite how good Dec is in comparison to the very best central midfielders that the Premier League has to offer. Many are bigging up Moises Caicedo, and of course there's always Rodri to consider. Now, it's difficult to compare chalk and cheese, as whilst Rice was bought to be a '6' he has evolved to a box-to-box midfielder these days, whereas the other two are primarily defensive midfielders; and very good ones at that. However, Declan's all-round game is starting to bring comparisons to the likes of the Premier League greats - players like Gerrard and Lampard. Yes, he really is that good, and I wouldn't swap him for anybody.
Against Burnley, Rice's first half was a complete a performance as one could expect to see from a midfielder. Full of energy. Reading the game. Showing strength in the challenge. Totally dominant in every single aspect. Ridiculous stats, as per the infographic below.
I would add this, however. He can't do all this without having Zubimendi backing him up. And those two centre backs behind him. It's absolutely a team effort. But on this day Rice was the standout player on the pitch.
The second half was pretty much a non-event as far as action was concerned. For all his qualities, Merino - who replaced Gyokeres - does not run in behind and drag defenders about. He prefers to come short to receive the ball. So Arsenal's second half tactics were of necessity different. And they frankly cruised through the rest of the match, content with their two goal cushion. Saying that; they still had three decent opportunities; via Trossard, substitute Nwaneri, who put in yet another cameo full of promise, and even Norgaard got in on the act late on; forcing a decent save out of Dubravka. There was, however, a further small cloud on the horizon as Zubimendi also had to leave the field with a niggle. And I'll return to this point soon...
It wasn't until very close to the end of the game before Burnley had a little bit of success, with two late headers going high or wide of goal. And the final kick of the game - a free kick from former Tottenham youngster Edwards - saw Raya's left hand upright hit with the goalkeeper scrambling. What was great to see throughout that half was the determination from the team - despite the comfort of the lead - not to concede anything to the opposition. They sniffed out pretty much every sign of danger. And that is why they haven't let in a goal for so long. Clean Sheet FC.
Just look at this sequence so far this season: 1-0, 5-0, 0-1, 3-0, 2-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 1-0, 1-0, 4-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-0. Incredible; and definitely shades of the incredible Chelsea side of the mid-2000s that Mourinho put together. 6 points clear as I type (although that may reduce to 5 if Sunderland win this evening). And this of course sets up a big weekend next week prior to the final Interlull of the year. Arsenal at Sunderland. Liverpool at Manchester City. I don't want to project too far ahead, but after the break Arsenal have a massive week - Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Chelsea away. If they come through that unscathed, then I'll be calling for the Premier League engraver to get to work!
As for the opposition, there's really only Manchester City who have any momentum. Bournemouth surely cannot last the distance. Ditto Sunderland. Liverpool need some consistency and look far too open defensively. Chelsea are equally inconsistent. And Tottenham or Manchester United... well; seriously? And if it's really only down to City to put the pressure on, their reliance on Haaland is freakish. In fact, I can't understand why they're not getting the grief that Arsenal continue to receive for their set piece dominance.
I watched a good part of the City vs Bournemouth game yesterday. The away side played into City's hands; unable to adjust to the movement of Bernardo Silva, Cherki and Doku, and giving Haaland far too much space as a result (he doesn't need much).
And I can guarantee you this; there is no way that they'll play the same way when they play against Arsenal. It'll be low block again, or Arsenal will tear them apart if they defend like they did yesterday.
So... things are going swimmingly at the moment. But the news about Gyokeres and Zubimendi does ring alarm bells for me. Because whilst Arteta has an amazing squad at his disposal, he doesn't seem that disposed to make use of it. I suspect that he needs to plan ahead just a little. Plan to rotate up to three players in and out of the starting XI in order to keep them fresh. We saw a certain lack of cohesion - especially in defensive midfield - when he made no less than 10 changes in midweek, and that's perfectly understandable. But perhaps he ought to take a few out against Slavia Prague in midweek; Sunderland will be tougher opposition. With the status of Gyokeres and Zubimendi in doubt (Zubi suspended in the CL of course), and whilst we await the return of Martinelli, Odegaard, Havertz and Madueke, he needs to be mindful of using his resources more carefully. I do hope that he's having these conversations with his team.
Anyway, two more big games this week. Let's keep the momentum going. COYG!
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