Eze Does It

Right then. Lots of people starting to jump on a couple of quite pathetic bandwagons over the last few days. And I'll address them as soon as I've zoomed through Arsenal's latest victory. Let's crack on:

Crystal Palace at home. A game where we dropped a couple of points last season - to an Eze volley and a late Mateta equaliser. A chance to right another wrong; and this time with Eze on the side of the good guys. With Gabriel recovered from Wednesday's knock (I'll revisit the win over Atletico Madrid later on, I assure you; because there is an interesting point to make), Arteta named the side we expected. Unchanged, essentially. And, in stark contrast to the behaviour of the boorish West Ham fans a couple of weeks ago in greeting Declan Rice, Ebere Eze was greeted with polite applause by the away contingent. As it should be.

All in the presence, by the way, of entertainment royalty. Ted Lasso and Coach Beard were there - as they seem to be for all Arsenal home games these days. Clearly looking to pick up a few tactical ideas... And there was also the somewhat incongruous sight of Jon Bon Jovi in the Directors Box.

Make no mistake; despite losing Eze over the summer, Palace are playing well (Thursday's inexplicable loss at home in the Europa Conference League notwithstanding). They are very well organised, and have a pattern of play that ought to have suited them up against Arsenal. They counter attack with pace when they can, and look to get to the bye line and pull the ball back into the penalty area. Mateta is key to this. He is huge!; and holds the ball up well - thus buying his team-mates time to get up alongside and past him. They are a hard nut to crack.

And, like pretty much every other opponent so far this season, they chose to sit deep and oblige Arsenal to find a way of taking them down. A tactic which, by the way, I am getting sick of. But we'll have to get used to it, because Arsenal are so good that opponents have little choice but to do that. It makes for frustrating viewing, and it must surely be equally frustrating for the players themselves.

Of course, in trying to force the issue Arsenal were liable to the odd mistake. And there was a moment early on when a misplaced pass from Zubimendi let Saar in on Raya. That was until Gabriel went flying in with one of his trademark blocks. No wonder, with the personnel he has in front of him, does Raya hardly have a shot to save. Not long after, Mateta bullied Saliba (we don't see that very often) and set Munoz free in a move absolutely typical of the way Palace attack. The wing back was offside (I could see that from 30 yards behind the play!), but the linesman let the move play out - a decent save from Raya - before finally raising the flag; to the ire of the home supporters. I can understand that the instructions to the assistant referees are to let things play out before waving the flag. But when it's obvious... all that is doing is risking completely unnecessary injury. 

For all their possession, it took 33 minutes before Arsenal finally managed a shot. A scuffed effort from Trossard. And it took just a few minutes before they finally managed to take the lead. In typical fashion...

Bukayo Saka hacked down 30 yards from goal (not for the first time) as he cut infield. Another pinpoint delivery from Declan Rice. Gabriel typically first to the ball and heading it back across the penalty area. First to react? - Ebere Eze; with a scissor kick volley - a finish remarkably similar to the goal he scored for the opposition in the corresponding fixture last season. His first Premier League goal for the Gunners.

Little in the way of celebration from the goalscorer apart from a look to the heavens. As it should be. And - as the world and his wife have been reminding us since - another goal for Set Piece FC. 1-0 at half-time; and while 1-0 is rarely a comfortable scoreline we were pretty relaxed about things during the interval.

Chances started to come for a while after that. Gabriel hit the bar from another Rice free kick, and there were a couple of shots blocked in the ensuing melee before a rocket from Starboy flew past the far post. Trossard - sent clear by Gabriel's clever chip, was very close to putting the ball on a plate for Saka. And shortly after Gabriel headed just wide before colliding with a goal post in a most unfortunate way (if you get my drift).

In the meantime, Arsenal had lost Saliba to an unspecified injury at half time (Mosquera stepped in seamlessly), Saka - who had been uncharacteristically quiet - to illness as it turned out; and explains a lot - and Rice late on following an early knock. At the time of writing, we await news; but I don't suppose that any of them were pencilled in for Wednesday's Carabao Cup meeting with Brighton in any case. We saw brief cameos from Hincape (whose first touch of the game was an exquisite volleyed stun of a cross field pass) and MLS. Three more points in the bag, and whilst I'm not prepared to underestimate the likes of Bournemouth, Sunderland and others this early in the season the fact that all of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City lost made it a very satisfactory weekend indeed!

However... there's loads of nonsense on social media in the aftermath of yet another 1-0 win. But, to be honest, f*ck 'em. Because every week we're up against a 5-4-1 formation, sat deep and leaving little space in which to work. And yes; it's not that interesting - but if the opposition isn't prepared to come out and play then what are Arsenal supposed to do? But as a result of dominating possession and territory it's pretty inevitable that they're going to rack up plenty of corners and win a load of free kicks and - yes - even throw ins deep in enemy territory. And so what does anybody want or expect them to do? - not try to take advantage of such situations? I mean... it's just ludicrous!

Comparisons with the Wimbledon and Stoke City teams of eras past are simply lazy. Those sides literally just lumped the ball up and played for field position; chalk and cheese from this Arsenal who force their opponents deeper and deeper. I recall Arteta stating a couple of years ago that he was looking for Arsenal to be the best at every aspect of the game. Well, dead balls are certainly part of that. So to the critics I'll say this - Lay off their backs; you're just jealous! And a goal is a goal is a goal. 

9 games is not necessarily a statistically significant number, but if teams are going to continue to defend as they are against Arsenal, and give away dead ball situations, then who's to say that the percentages can't stand up over the season? Until coaches find a way to stop Arsenal, then these dead ball situations are going to remain a very potent weapon. But as it stands it's 16 goals scored over the 9 games, of which 56% (9) are from dead balls, 13% (2) from penalties, and (just) 5 from open play. When there's little room in open play, you take what you can get. 

I'll come back to that in a moment, as I want to talk about Atletico Madrid. But I just wanted to give a comparison to what's going on at the other end of the pitch. Which is on the verge of unprecedented. Just look at these statistics!

Three goals conceded in the Premier League (in ALL 13 fixtures played so far this season, actually). One a worldie of a free kick from 30+ yards, a second following a short corner, and the other scored by Erling Haaland.

And so to Atletico Madrid; and a result that would have made the rest of Europe sit up and take notice. Sure, there were loads of amazing results in the same round of Champions League matches (PSG scored 7, PSV 6, Liverpool and Chelsea 5). But only the very best (the likes of PSG and Bayern) put 4 past a side managed by Diego Simeone. And there was something very noticeable about the manner of the victory. Arsenal went a goal up, and Madrid then went in search of an equaliser. And as soon as they opened up and left gaps... bam! bam! bam! bam! And so, if that's what happens when you try to play expansively against Arsenal, who is going to do it? Exactly... nobody!

Right then - 4 points clear now. And if you consider those sides most likely to stay the distance in a long season its 6 over Citeh, 7 over Liverpool and 8 over Chelsea. Bearing in mind that Arsenal have already been to Old Trafford, Anfield and St James Park, and have also played Citeh once, then it's looking good. 22 points out of 27 and just three goals conceded extrapolates to 92 points, and just 13 goals conceded... 

And so to the other bandwagon; that's it's Arsenal's to lose. After 9 games? Was anybody saying that about Liverpool last season? Well, between you and me it possibly IS Arsenal's to lose at this point; but I'm not going to be shouting that from the rooftops on social media. I'm absolutely certain that Arteta will keep his players well grounded, and that ought to be expected to be enough. Especially in the light of the inconsistency being shown elsewhere.

Right then. On to Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday (expect loads of rotation), Burnley away, Slavia Prague away and then Sunderland (and Granit Xhaka) away; and that final one on the same weekend as Liverpool and Manchester City meet. Pivotal. Let's keep going...

COYG!

Cottage Industry

Three more points in the bag, and suddenly a three-point lead at the top of the table following Sunday's results. Highly encouraging; without getting carrried away, of course, because there's a long way to go - and there's plenty of room for improvement.

But before I get into it, a little bit of housekeeping. I have made a few design updates to this page. A change of font; plus whilst you probably cannot see it if you're looking on your phone or mobile device you will definitely see on your laptop or desktop a change of background image. Anyway, that's neither here nor there - I just fancied a change.

And so to Saturday evening's match, for which - with the players having returned from international duty with a pretty clean bill of health (no extra injuries to report) - meant that Arteta could go with the line-up we will have all predicted. With Odegaard out, Zubimendi returned to the starting line-up, and Eze dropped in to the right 8/10 role. He's probably better operating from the left, in my opinion, but there's a log jam on that side. And the regrettable knock-on effect for Ethan Nwaneri is a reduction in minutes.

Arsenal have found Fulham to be tricky opponents over the past couple of seasons, so this was never likely to be a swashbuckling performance. Fulham themselves were suffering injury woes, and their fans would probably cite a recent lack of squad-building ambition from the owner too. But they have different expectations, and a different model, to Arsenal. So whilst the away team were firm favourites, victory was always likely to have to be earned.

This is one of those away games that one can group alongside the likes of Crystal Palace, Brentford and Bournemouth as 'tricky but winnable'. But with due respect needing to be given to the opponent. And a combination of that and something of a post-break hangover meant a slow - even sloppy - start, with Fulham having much the best of the opening half hour. They forced a series of early corners, with Wilson looking troublesome, and following one such corner Cairney's volley was blocked by Zubimendi's bread basket. They weren't overly threatening the Arsenal goal, however, and Raya was rarely bothered, but the away side certainly needed to wake their ideas up following such a sluggish start.

Which, to be fair, they did eventually do. On 15 minutes, a long diagonal from Timber picked out Trossard, whose first time flick infield found no other than Riccardo Calafiori (playing in his customary centre forward role...). The Italian swept a first time half-volley into the far corner of Leno's net, only to be pulled back as he was half a yard offside. What a goal that would have been had it have stood. 

I have no idea what Arteta's instructions to Ricci are, but he appears to have carte blanche going forward; to create overloads when he can - all secure in the knowledge that somebody else will be covering for him further back. Honestly; we all thought that MLS had elevated the left back position, but we can now see why Arteta spent so much money on the Italian. He's quite unique.

Truth be told, that was by far Arsenal's most dangerous moment of the entire first half hour, as the field tilt remained very much in the home side's favour. It took until just after the half hour mark for Arsenal to finally get a grip and begin to dominate. By which time Andersen had limped off, and both Cairney and King were suffering from knocks. And after which, frankly, there was only going to be one winner. But 0-0 at half time; and Arsenal continued to apply the squeeze. 

Look, there's something quite unlikeable sometimes about Arteta's methods, as he looks to strangle the opposition to death. Of course, it's difficult to expect to see free-flowing football when the opposition compresses itself in its own half. But I'd really like to see a little bit more risk-taking; trying to work the ball between the lines, move it around more quickly, and try catch the opposition out instead of all that umbrella passing and patiently moving them around. With a defence as good as Arsenal's, I don't see why the Manager doesn't allow his players to take the handbrake off a bit more. There's a certain predictability about the way they play. On the other hand, it's a results-driven business (just ask Big Ange!) and this approach has taken Arsenal to the summit. So please don't register this as a complaint or anything...

In Bukayo Saka, however, we have an absolutely outstanding talent. a game changer; no matter what the game is. He took a while in this one to get the measure of Sessegnon, and in truth also to get his set piece delivery up to his normal standards, but he had a superb second half and could have scored or assisted three or four goals by the end of the game.

It was only a matter of time, I guess, before Arsenal got their noses in front. 58 minutes, in fact. And once more it was Set Piece FC (tongue firmly in cheek) that did the trick. Saka's delivery - right on the mark this time - was nodded on by Gabriel for an unmarked Trossard to stab home with his knee from close range. 

Now here's the thing. Firstly Arsenal don't get to take as many corners as they do without doing a lot of attacking, and dominating the oppostion. So I'm not having any of that Set Piece FC nonsense; they don't magic the dead ball situations - they work hard, and the set pieces are the result of that. Secondly, that they happen to be better than everybody else at them is down to coaching, to high levels of skill, and to desire. As was personified by Gabriel at that moment. Starting his run from the penalty spot, and with two men between him and the goal, he bulldozed his way past both and made the cross his own. The rest was partly down to luck; but also to the confusion that these set pieces confer upon the oppostion. One lapse of judgment and you're dead. As it was here. Set Piece again Olé Olé!

Just a few minutes later, Anthony Taylor was pointing to the spot as substitute Kevin was deemed to have brought down Starboy. Funnily enough, I thought at the time that it was somewhere between soft and not a foul at all, and the VAR duly intervened to send Taylor to the booth. But here's the thing; the more I watched it, the more convinced I was that Taylor's initial call had been correct, as it looked clear to me that there had been knee to knee contact just prior to the Fulham player getting a slight touch on the ball. And I - along with Saka himself - was therefore flabbergasted when the referee changed his mind. 

As with the Newcastle débacle, there was the question of 'clear and obvious error' and of the VAR re-refereeing the incident. And that's twice in successive away league games that we've had a spot kick award overturned. Thankfully, controversy was once more averted by Arsenal going on to take all the points despite the erroneous call.

From there on in, there was frankly little to report. Fulham did huff and puff a bit, but it takes a lot more than that to get the better of Gabriel and the majestic Saliba. Despite Jimenez's previous record as something of a bogey player over the years up against the Arsenal defenders, he's no Erling Haaland, and Raya was barely troubled. Indeed, the stats reveal that this made successive matches that the opposition had failed to register a shot on target. The last time that happened? - 2003-04, when Arsenal last won the title...

The following infograms tell quite a story (and yes, it's early days; but):

Arsenal are 7 points ahead of their points tally from the 7 comparable matches they have played this season compared to last.

In 8 matches! Literally, no further comment required...

Before I finish, a word on Big Vik. This was a typical sort of game for the Swede (who, by the way, was part of the two-man Swedish attack - alongside no other than  Alexander Isak - who failed to score in two highly winnable World Cup qualifiers last week). A game of unselfish runs into channels. Of few touches. But of several shots from difficult angles. And of balls not quite falling at his feet in the penalty area. Yet doing a vital job for the team as he pulled defenders here, there and everywhere. I am confident that the dam will burst. And, when it does, the league had better watch out!

And so we move on to two home games this week. A really tricky tie with Athletico Madrid (the Andrea Berta Derby) on Tuesday, and then reunions for Eze and Nketiah when Palace cross the river on Sunday. It's debatable which game is more important!  Just keep going, lads. Keep laying the foundations. 

With Liverpool (and Tottenham) both losing, Sunday has been a very good day. The former are clearly out of sorts, and may take a while to click into any sort of gear as they adjust to the loss of Trent, Diaz and the late lamented Diogo Jota. With Slot being forced to play Konate and VVD in every game, things don't look that rosy for them. As for second placed Manchester City... well, they're being powered by the turbo-charged Haaland, but surely not even he can do everything himself. And, frankly, I'm not worried about anyone else.

At this moment, Arsenal have the best team, and the best squad. It's all there for them. So COYG!

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 collateral 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!