The last week of August as usual has been very crowded, especially in the fan space, with news of incomings, outgoings and random names, often pulled from the imagination of reports associated with Arsenal club. But in the shadows of all this is a very important football match that opens the third game week – Brighton comes to town.
Brighton Football Club impresses me over and over. Their selection of managers seems flawless so far. They had a strong tactical figure in Graham Potter, moved on to a very attacking and pressing team of Robert De Dzerbi and now continue to flourish under not very well known Hürzeler. They don’t participate in the endless rotation of Premier League/Championship coaches and really search for a successor known for their football achievements. I watched bits and pieces from his press-conference and I can surely say it’s not going to be an easy game. He sparks confidence, he already went on over-complimenting each Arsenal player. Hürzeler adopted theexciting attacking style of his predecessors and 6 points in first two games is not a coincidence. If not for Arsenal, I think I would be a Brighton supporter now.
The only weakness Brighton has – they have large spaces in the back when they attack. The team that can counterattack effectively should be able to exploit that. Unfortunately, Arsenal is not yet able to flesh out this component to perfection. I wish we would be closer to Liverpool in this question. I keep being surprised how time after time their players run in these lightning-speed counterattacks, delivering the ball to an attacker on the edge of the box in a matter of seconds after the opponents corner. And despite that everybody knows that, they manage to pull it off time after time. The well-known picture says more than a thousand words.
So, the effective thing on Saturday would be to give away possession, defend compactly and be prepared to fly forward as soon as the ball is recovered. However, I don’t believe Arteta’s team would take this approach at home. If Arsenal will try to dominate with a ball, the importance of first goal will skyrocket. One successful Brighton counterattack and we are guaranteed to have a hard time until the final whistle. And, boy, they have these young, fast dribblers to run far with the ball – Minteh is the newest kid on the block. Since he plays on the left, I expect to see the same defensive line-up with Timber as his potential opponent. I would be interested to see Calafiori, but Arteta is easing his newcomers and both Ricky and Don Merino would probably be given no more than 15 minutes. In attack we might see Trossard on the left flank, considering both his beef with the seagulls and his recent performance.
So, as against Villa, to take three points we would need very high level of concentration!
Few thoughts on the recent transfer news
- Nketiah is set to join Crystal Palace. It’s going to be quite a hard competition with Mateta and Edouard and it would make much more sense to join Nottingham Forest, where he would have clear advantages over the current starter Wood. I feel that “staying in London” was the primary driver of his decision.
- Looks like, we sell Ramsdale for 18mln (+7 in add-ons that I am pretty sure we are not going to get) to Southampton and in return sign the young Spanish for up to 30mln in exchange. If that’s true, it seems like a wrong distribution of resources. Odds are: Raya will play all the important games and this briefcase of money is just going to warm the bench. Aaron’s contract is not expiring soon, hence no need for such a hasty move.
- Nelson is staying after giving no real benefit to the team last season. It’s harsh, but true. I am no more excited to see him warming up.
- Arsenal is linked with a late signing of Kingsley Coman from Bayern. My take on this: no motivated skilful winger in their clear mind would come in as a cover of a Saka. It’s one of the worst roles in the team. A cover for a guaranteed starter would most probably be either young talent looking to prove himself or somebody from within, since it’s better for them to play than to sit on the bench. We have Nwaneri and Jesus from those categories.
Quickly on the Champions League draw
I believe we got quite a good drawing for all the pots, except the last one. Just to compare: Man City got teams from Czechia and Slovakia, while we got France and Spain.
Looks like, we need to take at least 10 points at home (preferably 12), and, honestly, any number away (somewhere around 5 looks realistic). The goal of the group is to get into TOP-8 to avoid playing an extra play-off round. I believe that 17 points should be enough to secure that spot, so let’s push for 12 + 6 and a more relaxed February!