Arsenal have secured the excellent result away at Spurs. 0-1 victory with low block defence was in everyone’s hopes after the news of Odegaard missing the game. It was our record third-in-a-row win on the Toilet Bowl, which is by itself very impressive.
The starting line-up totally matched my expectations before the game. It was reassuring to see Havertz and Saka high up the pitch to explore Tottenham’s weaknesses. As I was hoping for in the attacking phase Trossard was the one to connect our front line with the rest of the team. And in defence he moved into front to pair with Havertz – exactly like Odegaard does. I expect to see more of such setup in the upcoming games, since I still believe Trossard is the most equipped to fill in for the captain.
The bench on the other hand was somewhere between concerning and frightening. Only the presence of Sterling made it not fully frightening and only because we didn’t see him yet. The rest of the bench didn’t make me feel that they would able to strengthen the team.
On king Kai you can rely
In the first half, as expected from the Spurs high line, Martinelli was trying time after time to penetrate their defence. There’s stats flying around about him making more successful take ons than all the other players combined. That explosiveness and brutal pace makes him unique to this Arsenal team, we have no one else able to get past the best world’s defenders. The only thing he has missing is the end product and while passing was never his strongest suit, the finishing significantly worsened after that foot injury. I still believe the finishing can be recovered once he finds the confidence.
Another player who as always worked a lot was Kai Havertz – he was all over the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. Whenever we are having a tough game I constantly analyse who in our squad is a weak spot and should be replaced before they make a costly mistake. Today I surprisingly found myself thinking that Havertz is one of the few I’d like to see as long as possible and that I rely on him to be the biggest attacking threat even in the ending 20 minutes, when we were bound to defend the narrow lead. It’s just insane to see Kai grow from one of the most error-prone players to one of the most trustworthy in less than 9 months.
So who will score goals?
It was a bit concerning to see Saka subbed off with a potential injury. However, if Bukayo does this to protect his body, feeling that all he has left in this game is just to defend and this move is just to force Arteta to bring in fresh legs – I am all up for it. If we are in a deep block and bet our result on the defensive solidity, it doesn’t make sense to wear off our best creative players. Nwaneri, who was finally brought in, didn’t dissolve in the flow of the game. He showed that he has all the skills to be regular in this Arsenal team. The one thing he absolutely has to improve is the speed of decisions. There were two episodes, where he could easily create a 1-on-1 chance for Havertz would he give the ball faster. I understand that the game is much slower on the U-21 level, so the only way he can adapt is to get minutes in the Premier League itself.
We have also finally seen Sterling in the Arsenal shirt, that’s still a bit surreal! While watching the first half, I realised that I don’t see Sterling replace anyone else in the team. Martinelli and Havertz were running around the pitch, Saka is our most constant chance creator, Trossard was dropping deep to connect the game, and I don’t see Sterling playing well any of those roles. It doesn’t mean that he will not be beneficial in other games, for example, against a low block.
Sterling’s appearance only confirmed my doubts – he didn’t show the hard work rate we are used to see from Arsenal players. In general looking at him and Jesus today, I would rather see Sterling playing closer to the opponent’s box, where he could get us penalties, using his dribbling skills. And I would more trust Gabriel Jesus to be Saka’s replacement on the wing. His work rate is more suitable to the job asked by Arteta on that position.
More passion, more energy!
I am satisfied with a result, however, the one thing I noticed is that without Odegaard we don’t have a very good cohesion upfront. Our chances were created quite sporadically today, mostly using individual skills. This very much reminded of a second half vs Brighton. The only constant source of threat was Martinelli, who’s still not a reliable option for the next couple of games. I really hope we can improve this area either using Trossard or Nwaneri, and not have our title chance fully depend on Odegaard’s fitness.
Finally, onto the hero of the day – Big Gabi. His presence was massive in the back and the goal was a great artefact of this presence. Back in the summer, when we signed Calafiori, I thought that Gabriel would end up being the one making way for the Italian. This was mainly based on the Saudi rumours last August and on the fact that he’s prone to make mistakes under pressure, like in the game vs Bayern last year. However, the man is being consistently improving year after year. And it could be that he just needs to play more often on the high level to get adjusted to pressure associated with such games.
But what’s more important is that he brings this unmatched level of passion and leadership to the field. I think this could be one of is case where his charisma and energy charges the players around and lifts their levels in tough games like today and it becomes even more valuable than his actual skills.
And I am sure you just can’t help but smile when watching Big Bill pointing 72 times at Big Gabby after the goal.
