1. The Gaffer
Appointing Arteta was a huge gamble. He has only ever been
Guardiola’s assistant manager. Admittedly, you can learn to be one of the best
from a manager as successful as Guardiola, but some might have expected him to
be a cheap imitation. Any comparisons made between the two are natural and also
massively unfair. They both have their own personalities and experiences that
they take with them into their management.
Arteta has shown a variety of skills already. He’s got the
best out of his players, he’s rotated the squad without damaging the team’s
performance or moral and he’s made successful game plans to defeat some of the
best teams in the world. Fans are excited now, not because of Josh (or whoever
buys the players), but because of Arteta. The man loves the club. Trust him.
It’s time for Kroenke to give him the keys to the treasury.
2. A World-Class Tap-In
Just a few days from beating Liverpool, there would have
been some forgiveness if we had seen tired body’s and tired minds tonight.
Against City we had to have a game plan and boy did we. The match was to be won
or lost in our own 18-yard box… terrifying. The goalkeeper, centre back and one
of the centre midfielders sought to draw Cities players into the box. At some
points, even passed backwards into the box to excite the opposition. Early in
the game, Mustafi was muscled off the ball by Sterling, allowing the City man a
shot on goal. Was that intentional? A part of the cunning plan to make their
attackers more determined to put pressure on the defence. Unlikely, but it
might have had that effect.
Arsenal have the ball and have the opportunity to break
forwards, but Xhaka instructs Ceballos to pass back into the 18-yard box. The
team play keep-ball until three City players are in the area, and Luiz decides
to take the ball out and exit the phase. A succession of long, sweeping passes
find their way to Pepe on the left corner of City’s box. He takes a touch and
plays an in-swinging cross to the back post to Aubameyang. What appears a
simple sliding tap-in from the Gabion is in fact a delicate and precise outside
of the foot finish.
3. Henry-Esque
Once again Aubameyang proves how important he is to Arsenal.
His contract is Arsenal’s current conundrum. Who wants to give a 30-year-old a
huge long term contract? Not many. Having another costly Ozil situation must
scare the death out of everyone at the club, and rightly so, it’s a disaster.
But unlike the German, Aubameyang shows no sign of slowing down. If anything he
seems to be at his peak, will he defy the effects of aging and still be our top
striker at 33-34? The board’s hesitation
appears logical but we can’t afford to lose our main man now. A heavily incentivised
deal would be a perfect option.
The great Arsene Wenger teams used to love creating
dangerous counter attacking movements from corners just like this one. De
Bruyne’s in swinging corner is punched out by Martinez to Pepe, who heads the
ball back to Tierney. The Scotsman dribbles the ball out of the 18-yard box and
threads the ball back to the Ivorian, who has bombed forward. He holds the ball
up well, passes it off back to Tierney, who releases Aubameyang into the
18-yard box with a perfectly weighted one touch pass. The striker bears down on
goal from the left in an Henry-esque movement and slots the ball in between the
keeper's legs.
4. Defensive Solidary
Not just the back three, the whole team can take credit for
tonight's defensive display. We defended deep, at times in two lines of four.
City could regularly fire balls in, but our defender cleared everything. David
Luiz’s clearances stats for the season must have doubled from tonight’s game
alone.
There were a couple of shaky moments early on, but as the
defenders grew into the game, they got better and better. City were stumped.
They couldn’t play through us as they were denied space by a well organised
players, and they couldn’t win the ball when it was fired into the box. City
don’t have the players for that and our defenders were focused and on top of
their clearances tonight.
5. The Home-Grown Boy
Every sight of the Hale End boy is tinged with pain and
curiosity. Arteta and AMN played together at one time, so they should know each
other well enough. The manager has recently claimed AMN has improved his
attitude on the pitch. Will this be enough to see him stay? What does he want?
Where would he go, if he went? How much would Arsenal have to pay for a
replacement? Surely it’s better for everyone if he stays.
His recent defensive performances have been hugely
impressive. Tonight he was playing in an unfamiliar left wing back position. He
was defensively sound again, although his passing in the final third could
definably be improved. After the match, AMN dominated the hugs. It would be
especially nice to know what Luiz was saying to him at the final whistle as the
two seemed to be deep in discussion. The last week or two, has seen him up
against the best attacking forces in the league, and he has more than held his
own. It would be sad to see the talented 23-year-old leave his footballing
hometown before he has reached his peak.
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