An attacking display full of promise and intent, spearheaded by Gabriel Jesus, aided and abetted by Gabriel Martinelli and featuring an atypical show of attacking intent from Granit Xhaka that may give an insight into the future, all culminated in an ultimately comfortable 4-2 win over Leicester City on Saturday.
There were many positives on the attacking side of the ball, but there is clearly some work to be done on defensive shape and organisation. But this was a display full of promise and intrigue for the future. All taking place in a white hot Emirates Stadium and in front of a rapturous crowd. In 33 degrees, I must add; quite the hottest temperature that I’ve been in attendance for. In the words of legendary weather person Paola Fisch - Scorchio!
Taking points for me:
Gabriel Jesus
Arteta has let him off the leash. He’s the main man at Arsenal, instead of being something of a bit-part player at Manchester City. And as a result I think that we will see the player that Pep may have hoped to get, but in whom he never quite had sufficient confidence, nor gave sufficient opportunity to, in that squad packed with superstars.
Big fish/smaller pond; and Arsenal look sure to reap the benefits of this. An all-action display with two goals - the first a thing of beauty - and two assists bodes very well for the future. With a little bit of good fortune he may have netted three, four, or even five goals in the game.
I don't know who he 'calls' every time he scores a goal, but he'd better have unlimited minutes on his mobile contract!
Granit Xhaka
I’ve never seen the guy pop up so often in the opponent’s penalty area! Arsenal’s new-found fluidity on their left as a result of the acquisition of Zinchenko and the coming of age of Martinelli has given him extra freedom. He scored one, hit the post and generally made a massive nuisance of himself. A fascinating development.
Zinchenko
Not content with playing the left-back role, he had licence to pop up in all sorts of surprising places - secure in the knowledge that Xhaka or Partey would fill in for him if necessary.
There’ll be some games when the added defensive qualities - negated somewhat by less assurance on the ball - of Kieran Tierney may be viewed with more importance. But he adds an extra dimension to Arsenal’s attacking play. Even if I reserve some concerns about his defending; he was certainly bypassed a little too easily in the build-up to Leicester’s second
Gabriel Martinelli
He’s like a hornet! He must be a nightmare to come up against, with his speed, new-found strength and customary directness. Always busy. Always buzzing around.
There was one moment when he made a complete fool of £80m-rated Wesley Fofana. He took his goal superbly, and is currently un-droppable on the left hand side
Arsenal’s right hand side, upon which they relied so much let season, isn’t seeing too much of the ball at the moment. Odegaard continues to oil the wheels centrally, but it could be said that Bukayo Saka has been a bit quiet in the first two games. I wouldn’t worry, though; when he gets up to full speed opponents won’t know who to defend against first!
Defensively, there are issues. Some of Aaron Ramsdale’s kicking was once again sublime yesterday - one beautifully weighted ball down the middle to Jesus split the Leicester defence apart. But some was less good. I suppose it’s a function of the risk/reward ratio of what he’s been asked to do.
As I mentioned, Leicester’s second goal was preventable. Zinchenko was by-passed, Gabriel perhaps a little slow to react, and Ramsdale won’t want to watch his attempt to keep the ball out too often again for sure.
As for William Saliba, this was another performance full of promise, but also littered with the sort of mistakes that one might expect a 21-year-old centre half to make. He was unfortunate with the own goal, but should have played safe and headed wide of goal - his header ended up wrong-footing Ramsdale. And there was one moment in the first half when Vardy outwitted him and would have been clean through on goal had he received a better pass. But Saliba looks completely unflustered on the ball, and his recovery speed is awesome. He will surely learn from any mistakes, and quickly. I continue to get Van Dijk vibes from him.
What was remarkable was the reaction of the crowd to his own goal; a short pause to take stock, and then a massive outpouring of love and support for the young man.
Elsewhere, Vardy (and his lovely wife) received dog’s abuse - particularly after the penalty incident. And I particularly enjoyed the North Bank’s serenading of (possibly) Emirates-bound Youri Tielemans.
On the whole, this was a thoroughly enjoyable display, full of future promise. We can only hope that it continues, and it’s good to see that every game up to the first Interlull looks winnable. Whilst talk of challenging for the title is highly premature, every point is going to be vital.
On other matters now, quickly, before I sign off. Firstly, I think that we should all take a small moment to have a damn good laugh at the current state of Manchester United. Arsenal had plenty of excuses for defeat at Brentford last August. Not so for United, who are in a bigger mess than anyone could have imagined.much to amusement of everyone else, of course.
And a quick word on the Chelsea/Tottenham game. Is it only me that sees Spurs getting the benefit of every contentious decision? For me, they were extremely lucky to escape with a point, and both of their goals should have been chalked off - one for offside and the other due to an outrageous assault by Romero on Cuccurella. I’m sure that it’ll all even out in the end… except that Tottenham seem to be this year’s Establishment Darlings; and I’ve no idea why.
Anyway, let’s go back to the most important matter in hand. Three points from the Vitality Stadium next Saturday evening, please, lads.
North London Forever. COYG!
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