It’s been quite a week at The Arsenal hasn’t it? We’ve seen change once again at the club, Arteta has come in to the Head Coach position, with what can only appear to be an absolute mountain of work to do. Freddie continued to make his stance against some of the senior players & didn’t exactly paint Mesut Ozil in any kind of positive light & rightly so. We also had one of the poorest footballing performances on the pitch against Everton on Saturday lunchtime, we may be short on entertainment on the pitch of late, but off it, it’s been quite frankly a soap opera.
Where to start then? I guess we can quickly cover the match versus Everton really, as there wasn’t a massive amount to report back. To be kind, there were some small positives to take away from Goodison, we kept a clean sheet, something we haven’t done for fourteen games! It’s quite astonishing that it’s been that long, we know our defence has been awful so far this campaign, but fourteen games…. wow.
Freddie would be on the sidelines as Head Coach for the final time & he persisted with his trust in youth. Saka, AMN, Nelson, Martinelli & Smith-Rowe were all in his starting eleven as Lacazette remained on the bench alongside Pepe. It’s an incredibly pointed starting line up, there’s no denying it as it’s not the first time he’s done it. Freddie has been clear over the few weeks he’s been in charge, pointing out that a lot more is expected & should be delivered from our senior players. It’s going to be very interesting to see just how Arteta deals with the situation & what his first line up will look like on Boxing Day.
There weren’t too many chances for either team during the game & the match really did feel quite similar to the one against West Ham recently. The only difference being that we didn’t go behind & we didn’t have a blistering ten minute spell. This was again, two sides struggling for form & absolutely terrified of making a mistake when trying to progress the ball forward. It meant a fair bit of sideways football from both, with little to do for either keeper in the first half.
A small positive is that we did look a little more solid defensively, admittedly it was against a side who didn’t look like they could muster up much at the sharp end of the pitch, but when you look at the back four that did the job, you have to be pleased with that. Saka did admirably at left back, not for the first time this season, I like his attitude when he has been asked to play out of position. I also thought he did well as a makeshift wing back against Citeh last week, so credit to him for that. To complete the back four, we also had; Chambers, Luiz & AMN. Chambers was solid throughout, Luiz a little more comfortable & AMN did little wrong at right back. For the first time this season, I don’t really recall Bernd Leno making any really saves. We only had one clear chance ourselves & that fell to Aubameyang, who forced Pickford into a strong near post save, other than that, that’s all we got.
With Arteta watching on from the stands this week, instead of our away substitutes bench at the Emirates like last, he must still be filled with a lot of the same concerns. I wrote last week that he cut the figure of a man deep in thought, of what was ahead of him when watching this side & you can’t disagree with the fact that the task ahead of him is monumental. After the latest round of Premier League fixtures we now sit eleventh in the table, just eight points off the bottom three & nine off the enchanted top four. Hopefully he can steady the ship over the coming weeks & get himself off to a positive start on Boxing Day. Thereafter he has some tricky home games against United & Chelsea to contend with. Our defensive issues have been clear, but for me we also really need to see a change in our attacking football as well. We’ve been poor going forward for quite some time now, our own transition play from back to front takes an entirety to happen & our severe lack of confidence is seriously hindering our players to trust their ability & take a few risks when on the ball. Too many times are we seeing our players just take the easy option when attempting a pass, especially when playing out from the back.
So with Arteta coming in, it leaves Freddie in limbo for a short while. I hope the club finds a suitable spot for him within the first team set up, I like the honesty he gave, something we never really got from Unai Emery when it came to assessing our play. I think Freddie did an admirable job all things considered, the team has been in dire form for months & he had barely any back room staff to help him out. We have seen some small improvements in our game, a little more solidity in our defence & a win sandwiched in there as well. It’s safe to say his club legend status has not been tarnished in the slightest.
The hard work has already started & we will get our first glimpse of Arteta’s Arsenal on Boxing Day, let’s hope for a winning start & something to really build on.
We are days away from Christmas & I would personally like to wish all readers a happy holiday, wherever you are in the world. Since starting the blog earlier this year, it’s reached nearly forty countries, which just goes to show the pull our great club still has. Let’s hope Santa doesn’t just bring three points this Christmas, but a whole new Arsenal. Fingers crossed.
The Arse 