Morning all.
Football is a funny old game isn’t it? One day, any one team can be brilliant, the next, bang average. Look at Utd so far this season, they’ve been pretty poor to say the least but just as I thought Liverpool were going to give them a good hiding, they turned up an Anfield and were the better team. Back in May was similar when I suspect every bookie had Man City as certainties to win the FA Cup but they lost, to Utd.
When Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal in December 2019, the squad he inherited was a bit of a mix and match with several passengers just going along with the Arsenal ride yet it was that squad who secured the only piece of silverware the club has won under the Spaniard.
2022/23 was an enjoyable season as far as watching Arsenal play football even though by the end of it, we’d been caught and then overtaken by Man City at the top of the league table. 2023/24 wasn’t bad either as far as the football went. We as a team were still pinging the ball about a bit but there was a more than a hint of safety with the way the team played. The shooting from distance dropped off a bit with the ‘looking for an extra pass’ quite evident. For a second season running we were knocked out of the domestic cups early but in the league and Champions League, our challenge continued well into the second half of the season. In April this year, Bayern proved to be too good over the two legs of the quarter-final but, had the referee awarded us a penalty at The Emirates, the outcome might have been different.
One could say something similar about our Premier League challenge last season too when many decisions went against us. Even so, there were games which we drew or lost which we could and should have won for ourselves. Yes, Mikel Arteta’s teams scored a record number of goals last season but looking back, we were a bit feast or famine. If my mathematics is right, we scored three or more goals in fifteen of our league fixtures, two goals in eleven of our matches, one goal in seven of our matches and no goals in five of them.
We are just over the halfway stage of this league campaign and already, we’ve scored 39 goals but that number could and should be so much better. Not because I have my head in the clouds or lofty expectations but because of the goals scoring opportunities the team has created. Not every week I know, but I’ve certainly lost count of the times I’ve thought “he should have scored”. I know footballers are only human and no player is going to score a goal every time they have a chance but for their status in the game and the money they are earning, why shouldn’t you and I expect better? We’re twenty games in and not one Arsenal player is into double figures for goals.
Ok, we’ve lost two games so far this campaign and as annoying as that is, it’s the draws which have hurt us. Draws against Fulham, Everton, Liverpool and Brighton twice which have dented our challenge and let’s be honest, we had more than enough opportunities to win them all.
We’ve seen Calafiori, Rice, Partey, Saka, Jorginho, Odegaard, Trossard etc, all take shots from distance and score goals but that seems to have stopped in preference of finding another pass regardless of whether or not it’s a positive one. I cannot for one minute imagine Mikel Arteta telling his players not to shoot so why don’t they I wonder? If it was you on the edge of the box with the ball at your feet with the goal in sight, wouldn’t you go for it? I know I would. Yes, it might be off target but a deflection could change that plus, if it the ball goes out for a corner, that’s positive. A sideways or backwards pass isn’t. Not always anyway, especially if we end up losing possession offering the opponents a chance to hit us on the break.
Mikel Arteta cannot change the first half of the season’s results but he can try to do something about our future performances. Yes, I’d love us to sign a goal scorer this month but as the days go by, the less likely that seems so why not step outside the box of ideas during training and see if something different to what we’re doing or how his players play, might work better. Personally, I’d like to see Gabriel Martinelli play central and off the shoulder of the last defender. But hey, what do I know…
Catch up in the comments…
Morning Rico.
An interesting part of your post regarding the shots outside the box have dried up, I have to be honest I felt Arteta would “prefer” them to pass as his philosophy seems to be possession and if I’m wrong he needs to tell them so.
Too many players in the box means the chances of a long shot hitting the target are almost minimal. As the possession count rises alongside the pass count our whole team piles forward which means all the opposition defender retreat into the area. Result overcrowding and no room to play football.
Good morning Rico and all
Morning Berg.
That was certainly the Pep way at City during Arteta’s time there but since they’ve signed Haaland, and certainly against us this season, shooting from distance has increased.
Morning Rico and all.
The first thing is stop this kick to kick and start attacking the goal from different distances, they may not all go throught but don’t let there keeper or defenders get a chance to rest.
Morning Geoff. I get the principle of playing out from the back and the passing about etc but I just wish we could get from back to front a bit quicker. No, a lot quicker.
The crab system may sometimes yield an opening but switching the ball like a lot of the teams do to us is more effective imo. Even a long ball, like the pass out from Raya to martinelli almost created a goal, to be fair to Gabby, he took on 2 with a lovely first touch all at phenomenal pace and was unlucky to hit the post. He got lambasted for that but how many times do commentary call that bad luck for other teams or Arsenal were lucky there when it’s against us.
Martinelli was unlucky I thought, cms out but to criticise only him is wrong imo. Disappointing for us of course but I strongly suspect he was cheesed off too.
I do however think his pace would cause problems for defenders if he played centrally, more so than he does on the wings. Perhaps that’s me wishful thinking.
Have to agree with the posts above .Slow build ups enable teams to funnel back and block the goal for shots inside the area and you can only play off the shoulder if you have space . Personally I don’t rate Jesus at all and am not over enamoured with Havertz but in their defence if they don’t see the ball quick enough , it’s always the slide rule pass or the corner routine that other teams have caught on to .
In the last twenty minutes against Newcastle Martinelli was getting past Livremento and knocking over a number of crosses which nobody attacked with any venom.
It;s the way we set up . We have a back four which by using the inverted full back makes it effectively three and then we play with a withdrawn centre forward which means most of the time we have a congested midfield of 5 players and two wingers that are told to stay wide with nothing in the middle up front .
So we dominate the midfield but we have no where to go apart from chucking Gabriel up front in the hope that he can get his head on the ball .
The pattern is wrong and the middle is overloaded.
Just my thoughts.
I think you’re right to play him centrally, mix it up a bit, we’re so predictable. Arteta can always change it within the game. Jesus would be a good option on the left.
Can’t disagree Potter. Oh to have a target man to meet the crosses eh..
Rico, you mentioned how we often believe the in form team will give a tanking to an underperforming or Spursy type of team, could it be that like with us an astute coach and or his team disect the likes of Liverpool and ourselves and break the formula, other coaches then scrutinise how that was achieved and game over, move on to the next plan b etc. Just like we did with the corners.
As we’ve all noticed and commented on here, it’s time for a change in tactics.
Probably Berg. A good coach will soon see how to nullify other opponents strengths. Knowing and actually do8ng is different though. I think we’re easy to play against, park a no9 bus and be done with it…
So true Rico.
We need a long throw player, I’m sure we could coach one of the players with a specific technique.
I think it was Rory Delap that used to continue rotating his arms after releasing the ball, a sort of follow through as in kicking a ball.
That would compliment our corner routine too.
As we don’t have a genuine number nine, there’s little point In lobbing the ball into the box, I don’t see Jesus winning too many balls in the air.
Ah but we do have the big lads that go up for corners😊
His son Liam does the same for Ipswich Berg. He’s a good footballer too, tall, strong and scores goals. #justsaying…
Ditto Cicero which leaves us passing along the ground, makes it easier for opposition when the passing is slow.
Sean Dyche sacked/left Everton.
Marquinhos goes to Cruzeiro – Brazil
David Moyes big favourite for next Everton manager,Jose Mourinho next in betting,God help us.
So much for Marquinhos being like a new signing…
Moyes back to Everton would be a bit like Mourinho going back to Chelsea, a disaster waiting to happen.. imo of course
https://www.arsenalinsider.com/news/edu-gaspar-actually-left-arsenal-because-of-one-shocking-reason/
Interesting, or worrying if true?
Liam Delap has a buy back clause included by Man C around £30m.