At around 3pm yesterday afternoon, my mate Sam who sits next to me at the ground messaged me to say that he wasn't feeling too well, and would I like his ticket. A quick question to my wife, and the answer was 'Yes please!'. And so Saturday night turned into Date Night! Although I can assure you that we've had we've had many more enjoyable Saturday evenings than the one we had to endure...
What ought to have been a formality, based on all known form and logic, turned into an agonising evening. Perhaps we'd simply expected to roll Wolves over - the players too I suspect - but this was a frankly shocking performance when considered in the round.
Team news first; and the good news that William Saliba was fit to start. Along with Timber and Rice. And so this made the starting XI look very strong; on paper at least; and even with Odegaard rested and Trossard only fit for the bench. What I didn't guess, however, was the way Arteta set up his defence - from right to left White, Timber, Saliba, Hincapie; too many people out of position. I (although what do I know?) would have gone White, Saliba Hincapie, Timber. Or even started MLS to be frank. There were first half changes... but I'll get to that.
It is worth noting, by the way, the frightening strength of the Arsenal bench. Even with Gabriel, Havertz and Mosquera injured, and Calafiori suspended, to see a bench of Kepa, MLS, Merino, Odegaard, Norgaard, Trossard, Nwaneri, Madueke and Jesus ought to really concern Arsenal's rivals. Although it doesn't matter how strong the squad is - they still have to get out there and do the business.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal dominated possession, but looked turgid throughout an interminably boring first half during which they created almost nothing, and Wolves goalkeeper Johnstone didn't have a solitary shot to save. It was clear to me and those around me that the formation wasn't working; Declan Rice, sitting a long way forward in the left 8 role, was unable to influence the game in the way he normally does - he's much more effective facing the opponent's goal from deeper. But the almost total ball domination meant that whenever he did receive the ball he was restricted in what he could do.
Additionally, the continual attacking tilt to the right hand side showed Saka and White in good light, but poor Gabriel Martinelli was often left completely out of the buildup. Whilst Saka played well, Gabi was barely involved. Arsenal must use the left hand side more!
But the hardest part for me was to see the low quality of the attacking work in general, on the extremely low level of xG of the few chances that were being created. Wolves, in their extremely low block, were barely stretched; in a pattern that we have regrettably seen many times before. Eze was almost invisible, and Gyokeres managed a total of 5 touches and a single successful pass in the entire first half. It was horrible to witness.
There were headed opportunities for Timber, Rice and Martinelli (the latter ought to have done better with his chance at a Rice corner). And an opportunity from a low Saka cross that Gyokeres was typically just late to read, and Martinelli fired wide from beyond the far post. And a further difficult chance for Martinelli from another Rice corner. But that was it; nowhere near enough on either the quality nor quantity front.
The best chance of the half fell to Wolves. Chan received a clearance fully 60 yards from goal, but with every single Arsenal player ahead of him (how that could have been allowed to happen, I simply do not know). No less than 6 Arsenal players sprinted back to try to stop him, and whilst Ben White pulled up late on in his run with a muscular issue (hamstring - replaced by MLS and the defence reshuffled to how I thought it ought to have been at the start), Timber did a passable imitation of The Flash to get back and pressure the Korean enough for him to take his shot earlier than he wanted. Raya plunged down to his right to make a crucial save.
Half time; and I felt that the crowd were close to booing the players off; it had been that poor. And, frankly the half time entertainment in my area of the concourse was far more interesting than anything we'd seen in the previous 45 minutes or so, with the brass band belting out Christmas tunes somewhere between blocks 14 and 15.
We suspected half time changes from the manager - I myself had suggested Odegaard and Trossard for Eze and Martinelli - but the same eleven trotted out for the second half. And it was more of the same, frankly; a little bit more energy, but not much. It took 15 minutes for the changes to be made; those two changes plus Merino for Zubimendi. Martinelli's last action of the game had been to finally do something decisive - a turn away from his marker and a speedy run at goal that saw him attempt his typical far post finish, but overdo it - but it was too little; too late for him.
Odegaard's presence made an immediate difference. He is a much busier player than Eze, and he was soon involved in knitting the play together. But the crucial change was actually the interchange of the two Spaniards. Whilst Merino didn't do much in his time on the pitch, the key was dropping Rice back into a role from where he could scan the field and give himself options. Against weaker Premier League opposition, I feel that Arteta should stick with this. And Arsenal started to look a little better, with the quality and quantity of chances both up. And unsurprisingly it was a set piece that finally undid Wolves.
Rice had had an earlier dead ball opportunity; from a virtually identical spot to his first goal against Real Madrid last season, Johnstone was finally forced into a save. Not long after, a Saka corner did the trick. And when your luck's out, Wolves, it's really out. The dead ball delivery was superb - possibly actually heading directly in at the far post. Johnstone got a fingertip to it and turned it onto the far post; from where it bounced back, hit him on the back of the head and ended up in the net. Cue enormous relief in the crowd.
With Wolves finally forced to come out and play, chances came a bit more often. But still of relatively low quality. None of Odegaard, Gyokeres or Trossard could hit the target, and as the end of the game approached the decision was made to sit on the 1-0 lead. Only adding to the anxiety in the crowd as Arsenal started to concede field position. I personally wasn't worried... but I ought to have been. On 89 minutes and 58 seconds the away team equalised; not enough pressure on the man preparing to cross the ball (not for the first time this season! - was this the third similar goal conceded?), Hincapie caught the wrong side of his man right on the penalty spot and Raya wrong-footed by the header. Frankly, this was exactly what the performance deserved, and I could envisage the headlines and agenda that was surely about to be unleashed: Bottler FC and all that. And, in truth, Arsenal have not been playing well in the Premier League for a while now.
However, there were 6 minutes of injury time left, so despite the utter desolation in the crowd there was hope. And, depending on whether your glass is half empty or half full, the home side either scraped a fortunate victory or showed the mark of prospective Champions. 94 minutes, and a Saka cross glanced off the top of the head of Gabriel Jesus - previously given a hero's welcome when he finally stepped back onto the Emirates pitch in place of Gyokeres - and was headed firmly past Johnstone by the unsighted and extremely unfortunate Mosquera (no; not our one - they have one too). We all thought that Jesus was our saviour (good time of year for him to be one, of course), but replays showed that it was indeed a second own goal. Still, who cares? Massive relief all round, and three points are three points.
As Arteta said afterwards, it was great for the team to show the character they did to get back and win the game, what they need to do is show that character throughout. The quality of the opposition is not relevant if the team fail to show the right attitude, and it felt throughout that the players themselves felt an inevitability in the result, and didn't put in sufficient effort to actually make it happen. This Arsenal side is not set up to blow teams away - more to grind them into the dust - but there is no excuse for a lack of urgency. Arsenal need to do much better than this - and quickly - with tricky PL games against Everton, Brighton, Brentford, Aston Villa (again) and Bournemouth to follow.
Still they remain top of the Premier League, and have barring a mathematical miracle already sewn up Champions League qualification. So it's not all bad. A whole 7 days off now for the group to recharge will surely come in useful and they go again at Everton next Saturday evening.
Whether my wife fancies another date night in our living room, on the sofa, under a warn rug and with a glass of wine maybe; or chooses instead to Netflix & Chill on her own instead, remains to be seen. But I certainly know how to show her a good time!
Anyway, we move on. COYG!
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