{"id":8365,"date":"2023-09-18T07:41:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T06:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8365"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:19:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T17:19:52","slug":"an-evolving-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8365","title":{"rendered":"An Evolving Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A patient, pragmatic and unpanicked Arsenal played just well enough to earn a deserved victory away at Everton after a rather inexplicable six years gap of not willing at a ground that historically has been rather profitable for the Gunners. Such patience and pragmatism are necessary as Arsenal continues to strive towards becoming a more multifaceted team, capable of sustaining consistency of quality across the inevitable changes in personnel \u2013 through injury and\/or loss of forms \u2013 in a season that is expected to be tougher physically and psychologically, especially following the much deserved, and much awaited, return to Europe\u2019s preeminent tournament.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season Arsenal had started with an unexpectedly ferocious, and breathtakingly virtuosic performance of technically accomplished and tactically sophisticated football. The preexisting \u00d8degaard-Saka-Martinelli triangle of motion and verve took one step forward towards world-class excellence, energized and inspired by the arrival of two old friends of Arteta in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Whereas the effervescent Jesus with his inimitable amalgamation of ballet dancing and street fighting had allowed Martinelli and Saka to express their creativity more assertively on defenses reeling from a whirlwind of ball and men moving around them in everchanging patterns, the Ukrainian captain had used his technical quality on the ball and his sophisticated spatial awareness to invent an entirely new role for himself \u2013 his heat map more often than not resembling a kind of abstract expressionistic shapes all over the canvas of the pitch \u2013 that the delighted manager made astute use of by inventing newer way of creating overloads in the attacking third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there was the return of William Saliba from his loan spell at Marseille, where he had continued to catch the eyes and imagination as one of the most exciting young defenders in world football. No one watching French football was surprised that he was voted Ligue 1\u2019s best young player of the season, and no one who had watched him in his early days at Saint-\u00c9tienne was surprised at this either. He had settled in very quickly at the heart of Arsenal defense, combining with Gabriel to great effect providing a composed and reliable defensive foundation of controlled aggression that had allowed Arsenal to dominate both possession and space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a small squad, with a precisely identifiable first eleven when everyone is fit, under little pressure of winning any silverware apart from the expectations of returning to the Champions league. The team played the best football in the league for more than half the season, but the concerns that they might find it difficult to sustain that level of quality — especially when compared to the eventual champions who could field two first eleven of world class players  — when faced with the inevitable challenges of fatigue, and more importantly injuries to key players as the season nears its end, had eventually proved to be well-founded. Maybe in another era not so long ago, in a time before football finance and governance were corrupted beyond redemption, Arsenal circa 2022-2023 would have gone down in history as one the most thrilling young sides to have been crowned the English champions. But whereas the wistful nostalgia for a time less disreputable than ours is a fine exercise in self-healing for the fans, but the football club have no such luxury. Arteta, Edu and co. have to be ambitious and brave to find ways to continue to move the team forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signings made by the club to strengthen the team were a clear indication of the scope of that ambition. All young players with already established profile of technical excellence, tactical maturity and enough experience at the highest level \u2013 and all with a very high ceiling of becoming some of the best players in the world in their respective roles. And from the very first match of the season the bravery has been in display too \u2013 maybe not exactly the way that we fans may find it to be the most endearing, but the manager\u2019s willingness to experiment with both personnel and tactics towards the goals of creating a higher degree of unpredictability, and also a greater degree of resilience against loss of certain players, has been admirable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta persevered with that theme as he chose to start Raya for his first ever appearance for Arsenal, whereas Fabio Vieira was rewarded for his excellence cameos until now in place of a somewhat struggling (but nowhere close to way it has been painted to be catastrophic in media) Havertz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White \u2013 Saliba \u2013 Gabriel \u2013 Zinchenko<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard \u2013 Rice \u2013 Vieira<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka \u2013 Nketiah \u2013 Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I myself would have liked Gabriel Jesus to start this match, given that we knew exactly what we could expect from this Everton side: deep and narrow blocks with the Everton attackers essentially doubling up with their defensive counterparts on Arsenal players, overt physicality off the ball, and little to no space to spin, turn and attack. Eddie has improved the technical side of his game greatly in the least year or so, but he still is no comparison to the nimble-footed turn-on-a-handkerchief mastery of Jesus.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the first eleven was published there were a lot of concerns among the pundits and commentators about what kind of negative impact this decision may have on Aaron Ramsdale. I am sure Aaron Ramsdale would be fine. He has not established himself as Arsenal\u2019s first choice goalkeeper by responding negatively to every single challenge in his playing career. The pundits would do well to remember that it was them who had originally questioned Arteta\u2019s decision to bring Ramsdale to Arsenal, with some Arsenal fans joining in. Short memories and all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal dominated possession from the very first minute. It was a controlled possession, mostly in the Everton half, and often in their final third. It was not the futile purposeless type of possession that one point of time in not so distant past this team used to produce. However, it was just not penetrative or imaginative enough to unsettle the Everton defense, but neither was it careless or undisciplined to allow Everton any chance on transition to launch counter attacks. It was noticeable that Saliba and Gabriel stayed back just a little deeper than usual whereas both the full backs in White and Zinchenko stationed mostly in the opposition half. I find Saliba-Gabriel to be our best defensive pair since the peak days of Koscienly \u2013 Mertesacker, but with the potential of becoming even better than them:  confident on their own and each other\u2019s ability to cover vast amount of space, technically strong and physically powerful, they both have an excellent passing range and good readers of the game. I find keeping them just a little bit back gives us a significantly more protection against the kind of counter attacks that we suffered from in the last season, without losing much in our attacking play given how vertical and mobile they both are, and especially given how quickly Rice and Zinchenko (and for that matter, Partey) can transition defense into attack. We used the long diagonal passes to great effect in creating such transitions. Martinelli particularly showing some lovely skills to receive those passes and turn and ease past the Everton defense, especially their right fullback who I thought looked old but familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We scored our first goal via Martinelli as well. Gabriel tried to pass towards Saliba\/White, the Everton striker Beto tried to interrupt the pass, the ball ricocheted off his feet and fizzed forward towards Everton penalty box. Eddie dropped back in space to receive the ball, laid it off to Vieira who provided a sumptuous pass to his friend Martinelli on the inside of the Everton defense, Martinelli sprinted past and after a lovely first touch opened his body up to finish clinically past Pickford. It was one of those goals that in their beautiful simplicity remain everlasting memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, VAR chimed in to rule the goal out. Eddie was in an offside position when the ball changed its direction following the interception of Beto. The offside rules in this area have had seen so many changes over the years that it is not inconceivable that even the best referees in the world \u2013 playing their trade in the best football league in the world, obviously \u2013 may sometimes make mistakes. Wasn\u2019t the deflection off Beto the consequence of the Everton player\u2019s deliberate attempt to play the ball? If so, does Eddie\u2019s starting offside position in that case really count?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And immediately after Gabi had to be replaced because of a hamstring strain, which he had felt while or just after scoring the goal, his uncharacteristically subdued celebration giving a clear sign that he mustn\u2019t be feeling at his best. This may have been something he had picked up away in international duty. Whatever it is, let us hope that his forced absence is very short-lived. He is one of my favorite players in this Arsenal side, and he combines his qualities on the ball and his directness with a kind of relentless intensity in every action that defenses find hard to live with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martinelli was replaced by Leandro Trossard, who given his pre-season form may think of himself a bit unfortunate to have been missing out on playing time. A very different type of player than either Martinelli or Saka \u2013 subtler, less direct, not so prone to attack the space in front, but a wonderfully creative and inventive technician especially within the tight spaces of the penalty box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The match continued with the same rhythm, Arsenal controlling possession and space, often playing some pleasingly intricate football in the Everton final third but just not fast or inventive enough to create any genuine problems for Pickford or his defense. The corners continued to pile up, and while Saka and Vieira both were initially sending quality deliveries in the box, Arsenal failed to create any genuine goalscoring opportunity from any of them, and the team started to opt for short corners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Everton was very poor in possession. While without possession, defending deep and in numbers, they showed admirable grit and discipline to keep the likes of \u00d8degaard and Saka away enough from the danger zone, any time they won the possession back a combination of Arsenal\u2019s high press and their poor quality on the ball made for a somewhat dull viewing. To Arsenal\u2019s credit the few times Everton did break forward the defensive duo, ably supported by Rice \u2013 who had another good game, with his trademark anticipate-intercept-bring forward interpretation of screening midfielder role in display \u2013 nullified any semblance of threat. The first half ended goalless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal needed to speed up the tempo of their passing and forward movement and make their dominance on the ball really count. They started second half with a greater sense of urgency and purpose, \u00d8degaard and Zinchenko being particularly influential on the ball, with Trossard — steadily improving on his understanding with Vieira and Nketiah \u2013 started to better resemble his form from the second half of the last season after he had joined us in the winter transfer window. \u00d8degaard drew a fine same from Pickford and Nketiah was stopped from making a goalbound attempt by a defensive clearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually the pressure paid off, and the goal came via a moment memorable for both collective excellence and individual brilliance. Jesus had replaced Eddie around the 65th<\/sup> minute. A few minutes later from another short corner there was a dizzying sequence of exchanges involving Saka, \u00d8degaard, Zinchenko and finally after Saka passed ball back towards Trossard \u2013 who had created for himself a bit of empty space in the penalty area, a skill he is rather adept at \u2013 the Belgian scored with a perfectly executed side footed volley from his left foot. The technical quality of that finish \u2013 it reminded me of the kind of goals that our beloved Croatian-Brazilian Eduardo was capable of scoring \u2013 will remain in my memory for a long time.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everton 0 \u2013 Arsenal 1 (Trossard 69\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal, thankfully, didn\u2019t drop back and invite pressure as they sometimes do after scoring the first goal, but continued to try to score. \u00d8degaard drew one more fine save from Pickford —  though on another day the Arsenal captain would score by placing the ball farther away from the center of the goal — and Mykolenko blocking a goalbound shot from Vieira immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal brought in Havertz and Tomiyasu for Vieira and Zinchenko around the 80th<\/sup> minute mark. Everton brought in a few more attacking players and was marginally more adventurous in the last 10 minutes or so. But nothing that Saliba-Gabriel couldn\u2019t handle with composure. Raya had no big saves to make, but he looked a calm and assured presence, good in the air and commanding the penalty box, and very accomplished with ball on his feet. As Mikel said at the end of the match interview, if in every other position we can have two or sometimes even more than two first team contenders, why not for the goalkeeper?     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game ended without any further causes for excitement. There were a few attempted long passes to release Jesus one-on-one with the last defender and in each time the execution didn\u2019t quite match the brightness of the idea. Everton managed to attempt a few shots, mostly wayward, and Trossard had one Martnelli-esque run with the ball from Arsenal\u2019s defensive third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1-0 away win with 74% possession at a ground where we haven\u2019t won for six years. However ordinary the opposition might have been, a potential banana skin of a match early in the season handled calmly without fuss or chaos. It is too early in the season to form any narrative of deep insight from Arsenal\u2019s performances. But a few themes do start to emerge: starting games with a kind of patient pragmatism and not over exert ourselves either physically or tactically, focus on creating a consistent level of baseline performance all throughout the match, choosing moments to be adventurous instead of playing a high octane football all throughout, becoming less and less predictable about the attacking patterns. This season it is likely to be less of a thrill ride for us Arsenal fans from one matchday to another, there will likely be more such quotidian victories like this weekend\u2019s, but that degree of playing a bit within ourselves may also be a vitally important contributor towards finishing the season with the kind of success that we haven\u2019t tasted for a while. There is a steady evolution of the team in the works, and as a supporter I am happy to live that journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A patient, pragmatic and unpanicked Arsenal played just well enough to earn a deserved victory away at Everton after a rather inexplicable six years gap of not willing at a ground that historically has been rather profitable for the Gunners. Such patience and pragmatism are necessary as Arsenal continues to strive towards becoming a more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8383,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365\/revisions\/8383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}