December 17th – Arsenal 2 Brighton 0

TOTL. Still. And this was deserved. We dominated and deserved this. Even if it was painful to watch at time. This was not the Brighton of the last few years. And this was not the Arsenal of previous years. We were in control and moved the ball smartly.

Team selection is on auto-pilot. Chat-gpt could have picked this team. Apart from Raya. The bench though was a little scary. No Jorginho. No Elneny and, of course, no Partey. Luckily we have Superman to carry the entire team on his back. His presence in midfield elevates the entire team. As good as he was today I’m not talking about Have-that. Rice has become the most important player on our team. Even more so than even Saka. Today was a masterclass. Again.

Our domination started from the first minute. I’m not sure Raya had a real save to make – aside from nearly dropping the ball in the first half from a cross. And most of it came up our right-hand side. Between Odegaard, White and Saka numerous chances were created. Neither Jesus nor Have-that could convert chances. Saka was also unable to beat the goalie either. Every opportunity seemed to be spurned. By half-time it felt like this was one of those games where we’d never find a way to score.

The style and speed of play though was excellent. There was no slow build up; no hesitation. Between Rice and Odegaard we kept creating chances. We just seemed incapable of taking any. Though some of this was due to their man mountain – Dunk. Rice snapped up every tackle and shut down nearly all their advances. Meanwhile Odergaard was threading passes through for fun. One, with the outside of his foot for Saka was particularly gorgeous.

Saka was roasting poor Milner. Whoever thought that would work our well for Brighton needs their head examined, On the other side, Martinelli was unable to impose himself in the same way. He missed one glorious chance from Saka – after that Odegaard pass – and generally seemed off his game today. Combined with Zinny being pretty quiet, that meant that Have-that was the only one on the left that imposed themselves today.

When we’re missing chances at the rate we were today it gets pretty frustrating. You have to be able to convert these chances to not just win games but also compete for the league. And by half-time, I was well frustrated. It was not clear that our total domination could continue and I was sure we’d rue those missed chances. Fortunately the second half continued where we left off from the first. More control, most creativity and no ability to actually score. It’s time like this when you think we’ll need to sign a real striker in order for us to win the league.

But then you see Jesus chasing back into our own half to win the ball back. That is not the action of a normal striker. Jesus was excellent today, working so hard all over the pitch. And, thankfully, he found himself in the right spot from one of our numerous corners to break the deadlock. And soon thereafter, Brighton made a number of substitutions to open up their game and push us more. Our defense held strong even if I was surprised that the largely ineffective Zinny stayed on the pitch as long as he did. He did not contribute too much today and always seems liable to make a dangerous mis-placed pass. And it was clear the winger clearly had the measure of him. I can’t imagine what Salah, next week, might do to terrorize him (and us).

At 1-0 up it started to feel even more edgy; now we had something to lose and they started to impose themselves in the game. After watching City destroy Palace to only give up, needlessly, a two-goal lead, it felt like we would find a way to make a simple mistake to allow them back into the game.

The sliding doors moment happened when they pierced our defense on the left leaving White in their midst and cutback for Gross to miss the target. That was their clearest (and only chance). It was good to know that they also could miss their chances; though they only did it once whereas we must have missed, like, 125 chances.

Soon thereafter, after we’d finally removed Martinelli and Jesus, Trossard threaded the ball through, out of defense, leading to Eddie setting up Have-that to finally seal the game. It’s just a shame it took 89 minutes. But it allowed Have-that to leave the game to a deserved ovation. It’s remarkable how he has finally found he’s scoring touch. And you can see he’s still not up to full-speed yet. He still needs more time. He worked really hard today and would have benefited if both Martinelli and Zinny were more effective.

We even got to see a few more minutes of ESR and Nelson; the latter who dutifully tracked back to intercept a cross for one of their corners. I don’t think he’d have done that a few seasons ago. It’s important for both of them to get minutes; we need them so that we can rotate this team. Today the team picked itself. But we know from last year, that in time, a lack of rotation will induce fatigue and injuries.

Which us brings us back to Rice. He was at the center of everything good. The frequency with which he steps up to breakdown their moves is as good as I’ve ever seen. He reads the game so well and anticipates when he has a chance to breakup their play. It was just frustrating that we won the ball back so high up the pitch and then could not convert though chances. Too often either Martinelli or Odegaard seemed to want an extra touch or pass. But Rice was the springboard for all of that. And, of course, he provides the defensive cover for Saliba and Gabriel. As untroubled as they were, and as graceful and forceful as Saliba was, Rice does not let them get exposed.

This was as good a performance as I can remember. The style, pace and rhythm of our play was so enjoyable to watch. There was purpose and drive today. None of that sluggish passing and movement. Today there was an energy and assertiveness. A determination to dominate and control the game. We just have to find a way to take the chances that come our way.

This all leads into Anfield next week. It will be an intense and raucous atmosphere. In the past we have suffered under this pressure. But, with Rice, this team is different. We will need though to take our chances. After their 0-0 draw today, it’s unlikely that we will hold them to a clean sheet so we will need to find a way to score, at least once. But, again, with Rice we have the team to withstand their onslaught. We have the football intelligence to defuse their intensity by controlling the game. We showed that against both Newcastle and Villa. This will be more of a test but we’ll need VAR to stay out of the way and we’ll need a decent ref. Both of which are optimistic expectations. We did not suffer from either today so hoping that neither intervene for the second game running seems to good to be true.

As long as we have Rice I have faith. He really is remarkable. Seventeen games into the season and he only has one yellow card; he has less yellow cards than Arteta. And he’s yet to miss a game. I don’t mean to jinx him but it’s absurd that we can’t find at least one midfielder to cover for him now. As much as we worry about a lack of defensive cover, it’s clear than when this transfer window opens we need to bring someone in who can provide some cover. As long as it’s not a Denis Suarez or Kim Kallstrom.

Anxiety aside, this was a great performance today against a very good team. We made them look somewhat average. This speaks to how improved we are this season. We really are a pleasure to watch. Aside from the vicious intervention of referees and VAR, we should be further ahead at the top. Let’s just hope they don’t get swayed by the crowd up at Anfield. This game won’t define our season but it could go someway to influence how we fair during this intense Christmas period. And with Villa sneaking around, and with City soon to rediscover their normal form, we will need all the fairness that teams should expect in order to preserve our quest for the league. So far this season, I believe we have been the best, most consistent team. Only to have been robbed by ludicrous decisions.

This team, if it can keep Rice on the pitch, will continue to develop and evolve. I had always thought we needed another season to ferment and gel – along with one more transfer window – but games like today show how far we’ve come and how good a team we are. So, now let’s enjoy another week TOTL and then march onto Anfield to see how we can survive that culdron of emotion.

-LB7  

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