Right then. A decent enough start to the season. Two wins out of two. No goals conceded. Long periods of domination in both matches. And - in my opinion - a lot more to come. But, at the same time, I do have some concerns.
I’ll address those a little further down. But first a quick general summary of what we’ve seen so far from the team.
Evolution; not Revolution
Arteta has taken the team close in the last two seasons, and clearly sees the defined style of play that he has developed as the best way towards achieving his aims (and our desires). So it’ll be more of the same, as he looks to add a few extra ingredients to the mix. Timber back - tick. Calafiori - tick. Merino (eventually) - tick. And I suspect that the line-up we’re seeing now is not much like what we’ll be seeing come March/April.
Arsenal Are Still Undercooked
Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to have the team firing on all cylinders from Match Day One. Nor would it have been physically possible, frankly. And whilst some players look readier than others, there’s clearly room for improvement in several key parts of the side. Gabriel, Partey, Rice and Martinelli to name 4…
The Fixture Calendar…
… has been a total clusterf*ck as far as Arsenal are concerned. But, should they negotiate these first few matches relatively unscathed, it doesn’t half make the latter stages of the season look much easier to cope with. Wolves at home; a decent enough start. But to then have to go to three of the most difficult away grounds before the end of September is, quite simply put, an evil piece of programming. With 100% Brighton next to chuck into the mix. The Emery bogey was laid to rest on Saturday. But the next two away games are at The New Toilet Bowl and The Emptihad. I need say no more… except… imagine starting with 15 points out of 15?!? (I’d be happy with 11, by the way).
Moving on to quickly cover the first two games (circumstances, including illness, prevented me from blogging last week), I think that we’ve seen some themes and patterns come to the fore:
1. Firstly, Arsenal don’t concede too many chances to their opposition, but, when they do concede chances, they tend to be really big ones. Cases in point; Strand Larsen’s header for Wolves, and Watkins’ first on Saturday.
Three things to say about that. One; I’m sure that as players get fitter and more familiar with each other, Arteta will hope to see those Big Chance moments tail off. Two; when the make-up of the midfield changes with the introduction of Merino, there’ll be even less propensity for risk in any case - as I expect to see Declan Rice revert to Number 6. And Three; David Raya has shown himself to be quite the shot-stopper!
2. Secondly, it must be of concern to Arteta - and is clear as day to us supporters - that the right hand side of our attack is far more effective than the left. The Saka/Odegaard/White triumvirate can hardly be bettered worldwide, but the left is relatively dysfunctional. Martinelli looks a long way from the confidence and form of which we know he is capable. Trossard doesn’t necessarily offer the completeness of a left-winger that Arteta is striving for (for all the fact that his goal scoring statistics are remarkable!). And the Left 8 role is still up in the air - it remains to be seen how Merino fits in. Interestingly, the Manager is spoilt for choice at left back - Timber looks to be capable of playing it Zinchenko-style even better than the Ukrainian can, and what we saw of Califiori’s passing range and athleticism in even a very short period of time was unbelievably exciting! The left appears to be the main area for growth/change over the next few months.
3. Thirdly and finally, there’s the matter of squad depth. And, with only a few days of the Window to go, there’s actually quite a lot to sort out in order to ensure that he has enough ammunition for the season. Let’s take a closer look:
Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale needs to go and play somewhere (as does Karl Hein, actually). Arsenal need to facilitate that, and also to ensure that a suitable replacement is found. Not long for those ducks to be lined up.
Defence: Almost certainly more than enough depth here. In fact, it would make sense for Jakob Kivior, whose minutes look likely to be severely curtailed, to at the very minimum go out on loan for the season.
Midfield: Merino will surely be a sufficient addition (although how Odegaard gets a rest isn’t easy to work out). The addition of Merino should see Rice go back to what he himself regards as his best position; with both Partey and Jorginho ready to step in when necessary. This also means, in my opinion, that the Havertz At Left 8 experiment is over. ESR is gone now, and Vieira looks to be finally being put out of his misery, so that leaves a path for Ethan Nwaneri to pick up maybe around 300 First Team minutes over the season. This all makes for a deal of clarity, in my opinion.
Attack: Hmmm… far more difficult. And there are two strands to this. Firstly, what to do about the left wing situation, and at the same time how to ensure that Bukayo Saka isn’t over-burdened. With Nelson likely to depart this week, Gabriel Jesus’s latest injury (albeit apparently not serious) brings this into focus. Because if one compares the possibility of using the Brazilian to fill the gaps as necessary with what Pep has put together at Manchester City (Doku, Grealish, Bernardo Silva and now Savinho are their winger options), Arsenal are deficient here.
But not as deficient as they can look at centre forward. Admittedly, Erling Haaland is imperious (and City are definitely short of alternatives for him with the departure of Alvarez), but Arsenal look well short in comparison. Havertz and Jesus may be able to do a job, but they are simply no comparison to the Norwegian. And with Eddie looking on his way too, for me Arteta simply must pull a rabbit out of the hat here. I don’t think that Ohsimen looks like an Arsenal player - plus he’ll be crazily expensive - but I do like the look of Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting Lisbon.
Whatever happens over these next few days, for me a centre forward alternative is absolutely critical!
I can’t end without mentioning a few things that we saw on Saturday. First, Trossard’s quite pointed ‘non-celebration’ following his goal. Arteta will have taken note, and I suspect that for the Belgian’s state of mind he must start on Saturday (against his old club).
Second, the Arsenal supporters’ relentless trolling of Emi Martinez following his error that led to the second goal. If you dish it out, mate, you have to be prepared to take it.
And on a similar note the reminder that Ben White remains the absolute King of the Sh*thousers. The instant retribution meted out to McGinn was magnificent work!
So we move on. The fun and games of the end of the transfer window. Then Brighton at home - not easy - followed by the first of several pointless, annoying Interlulls. And then the double whammy that is Spurs away, followed by City away. It’s going to be a very interesting month.
COYG!
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