Morning.
I realise people’s opinions on what we saw on Sunday against Liverpool vary, and while I think there were things from Mikel Arteta I would have preferred to see (Eberechi Eze starting, a role for Ethan Nwaneri even later in the game), I understood the manager’s approach. You rarely see a team go to Liverpool and nullify them the way we did, particularly in the first half. We brought on two attacking players on 70 minutes with the game at 0-0 to try and win it, but it went the other way because of that brilliant winner.
I thought Arne Slot was interesting afterwards when he assessed the game. Arteta had already talked about the Dominik Szoboszlai free kick as the only real margin in the game, which I think is more or less accurate, and the Liverpool manager said:
If we play this game 10 times more in the same fashion then I think it’s eight times a draw, we win it one time and Arsenal wins it one time because it was an uneventful game, which is something sometimes positive as well because both teams were really good in rest defence and in defending.
I absolutely get people who want to see Arsenal be more adventurous and attacking, because I’m one of them. But I do think the context of this game is important. We’ve had two of the most difficult away fixtures of the season in our opening three games, and on this occasion we were without Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, and we lost William Saliba inside the opening four minutes. I think with those players our approach at Anfield, while not likely to be completely gung-ho (because that would be stupid), would have been a bit more adventurous, and certainly more dangerous to a Liverpool team who showed as much respect to us as we did to them.
‘But we’ve spent a load of money!’, some people will say, and that’s absolutely right. We have, but we still have to integrate these new players, and three games is a very small sample size. The new players need to build relationships with those around them – look at that moment when Odegaard combined well with Eze on the edge of their box, and played a delicious reverse pass for Gyokeres. The Swedish striker is not expecting it, and as he tries to stay onside (which he does), his body shape is wrong and the chance goes begging. That’s a real coaching moment for him, because that’s what Odegaard can produce in those tight areas.
It’s a small thing, but illustrative of how understanding of your teammates is key to finding a way through a solid defensive like Liverpool’s. I think Arteta can be a bit too cautious at times, but I also get the need to find a balance between new players and the ones you already have when you’re facing the champions away. It’s also an aspect of our summer business that hasn’t really been discussed in the excitement of all these signings: adding 8 new players means a lot of new qualities and variation, but it also means a lot of relationship building, and as hard as you work on the training ground, that takes time and matches.
The wider point I want to touch on this morning is Arteta as an attacking coach, because so much of the discussion centres around his caution (which is not unfair), and focus on the defence. I think so much of this stems from last season, where he made a very obvious decision to try and offset the absence of key attacking players by relying on the quality of our back four and goalkeeper. Without Saka, Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Odegaard for significant periods, he made a decision to lean into that defensive strength. I think it was highly pragmatic, and without any kind of attacking depth last time out, I don’t know what else he could have done.
“Let loose the Raheem Sterling and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji of war!”, cried nobody. Arsenal were shorn of their first choice striker, another forward who had started scoring again, and our best player on the right-wing. We didn’t have our best attackers, and we had almost nothing on the bench. Look at our bench for a Champions League semi-final second leg, at best two credible options to get you a goal: Neto, Setford, K Tierney, B White, Zinchenko, Calafiori, Jorginho, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji
I think for a more realistic view of Arteta, you have to go back to the previous season, the 22-23 campaign where we came within a point of winning the league. The second half of that season in particular is what I think the manager’s perfect model is. A team with huge defensive strength, that is extremely efficient and dangerous in the final third. We won 16 of our last 18 games, scoring 54 goals in those games and conceding 9. We scored more goals than the Invincibles in that season, and it wasn’t enough. But for me, that’s what he wants. He couldn’t produce that attacking threat last season because of the injuries, so he leaned on his brilliant defence, and that was enough to finish second again because no team conceded fewer goals in the league and we won some games with small margins for that reason.
Now though, I look at this summer and what we’ve done. Let me start at the back, and after the arrival of Piero Hincapie, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more complete defensive depth at this club. Look at the options, and the depth.
RB: Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Cristhian MosqueraRCB: William Saliba, Mosquera, Timber, WhiteLCB: Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero HincapieLB: Myles Lewis-Skelly, Calafiori, Hincapie
We have a collection of quality, versatile defenders like never before, playing ahead of one of the league’s best goalkeepers. On top of that, we brought in a fantastic deep-lying midfielder in Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice can play there, and Christian Norgaard is a bit forgotten because he’s been injured, but he’s got a ton of experience at Premier League and international level. And to be clear, the point of this isn’t to say we ought to be a defensive team, it’s about using that platform to be better in attack.
To my mind, Arteta has to trust the quality he has built there and, for want of a better phrase, let the handbrake off. These guys can defend, and while I think there’s always got to be some balance, let’s use that solidity to be better up front. Which, by the way, I firmly think is the plan when you look at our summer business. We have brought in players who some would say are at odds with what Arteta’s philosophy is perceived to be. A direct, run-the -channels striker; a maverick attacking midfielder who can play off the left and in central areas too; and a winger who loves to take people on and get shots off.
Adding those players to the likes of Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Trossard, Martinelli (I know, I know), suggests strongly to me that there’s a desire to do things differently. We might even have Gabriel Jesus back at some point, and while I worry about him because of his fitness issues, if we’re facing a CL semi later this season, I’d rather him as an option than a guy who is completely past it at 30 years of age, or a kid who isn’t at the level.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, of course. I don’t the fixture list has been particularly kind, so it’s hard to make a real assessment of how this team will develop based on those opening three games – not to mention the way we’ve already been impacted by injuries. But my reading of our summer business is that while you’re not going to see Arteta go all Arsene Wenger and tell his players to just out and express themselves, there’s a concerted push to make this team more effective in attack.
It’s up to him to make it work, of course. People won’t be convinced until they see things click and see the ball hit the back of the net from open play with much greater frequency. I think it might take a little while for things to properly click, for players to get 100% fit, and to build those relationships which are so crucial to unlocking games, but I see it as something we’re trying to do. Arteta isn’t stupid, he knows goals win games, and living every 90 minutes on the margins is not sustainable. The risk is too high, as Sunday demonstrated. One moment means you drop points, whether that’s three or two depending on the scoreline. But the defence and the defensive quality is there. It’s now time to use that to let the attacking talent come to the fore.
Let the handbrake off, there’s no reason not to.
