That was the demolition derby. Total domination and the perfect performance. Against our recent nemesis, this was the perfect repost to those that feared we would succumb to a let down after Liverpool. West Ham stole a victory at home only six weeks ago to ruin our Christmas period. Today we delivered the perfect response.
Right from the kick-off we controlled this game. Without Zinny, ESR and Tomi we saw Kiwior fill in at left back. Have-that came back into midfield in place of Jorginho. And with Jesus incurring another knock we have Trossard start-up front. Our movement was so fluid it was hard to tell who was playing in what position.
Today Trossard was electric. Even though he failed to take his chances in the first half, Trossard was the epitome of the false-nine. He was everywhere but in the center forward position. Likewise Martinelli would turn up on the right and Have-that drifted through the front-line. Whereas against Liverpool we played two holding midfield players, today we reverted back to the more attacking formation. And we swarmed all over them.
WHU set up more like Forest than Liverpool. For periods in the first half they barely touched the ball. Rice controlled the mid-field whereas Odegaard danced around their players looking for that killer pass. Saka torched Emerson and pick up his usual fouls. But Trossard shone throughout. His pass that lead to the Saka penalty was Odegaard-esque in its execution.
The only surprise was that it took 30 minutes for us to score our first goal. And that the first three came from deadballs though Saka would have put his in aside from the clear foul. Gabriel has now scored four this season. Soon he’ll be a candidate for our top scorer or, at least, our center forward position. It’s ridiculous how many goals we’re scoring from free-kicks and corners. You’d have thought the opposition would know what to expect by now.
At four-nil up you figured WHU might, after a stern half-time team-talk, would present a different proposition in the second half. Except, even after making some changes, they were just as dire. We had so much time and space to play through their lines. Even though they adopted the Forest low-block they had no intensity and an inability to mark any man. They really were pretty abject. But that can take nothing away from our performance.
This was a smooth and as seamless as I’ve seen Arsenal play. It looked so easy, we continually found the open space and the open man. Of course, it helps when you have Rice and Odegaard feeding Saka with White on the overlap. As the game progressed the speed of our passing and movement increased. We just tore them apart.
Raya was unemployed today. I doubt he needed a shower after the game. He’s only activity came from handling a couple of corners. In addition, he was able to spring us forward for some quick breaks. Aside from that he acted more like an auxiliary defender albeit largely unused.
We were so good today that even White managed to throw the ball in quickly. None of the usual dithering that we saw last week. We were so good today that we could even bring on Cedric at the end though I’d much preferred to have seen Walters get some minutes.
Given our previous results against WHU, I entered this game with some nerves and a little trepidation. As soon as the game started with Raya not punting the ball up field but instead passing it to Saliba, it took nearly three minutes for WHU to actually touch the ball. By then the pattern of play was pretty clear and was just an issue of whether we would take our chances. In truth the score could have been even higher as WHU were do demoralized, even by half-time. They had no idea what had hit them.
As impressive as Trossard was and as elegant as Odegaard was, it all starts with Rice. The solidity he provides, the protection to the defense, and the first person to receive the ball from them, enables Rice to link up all our play. His only limitation on his game currently is his inability to charge forward. We saw a few times today but his defensive responsibilities restricts him.
His goal was the icing on the cake. And the restraint he showed the WHU fans was quite ironic given how much stick they had been giving him. It showed how mindless and stupid the WHU fans are – not that this is news to anyone. Rice had given ten years of his life to that team and lead them to their first European trophy in 50+ years. Yet they booed him from his first touch to his last – which was his goal.
There were so many good things on display today. For me though, the continued focus and concentration after we swept WHU away spoke to the growing maturity of this team. It would have been so easy to have slipped up and let them score a meaningless goal. But even to the end Gabriel and Saliba were intent on keeping a clean sheet, celebrating each block like each of the goals they scored. Given what happened here last year – especially with that Saka penalty miss – it would have been quite easy to loose focus. It speaks though to the growth in this team.
Whether we can win the league is another conversation but all we can do is perform as we have for the last few weeks. While last weeks Liverpool performance was so impressive todays was as important after the emotional exhaustion that comes from a display such as that. After the destruction of Palace, Forest and now WHU, we can be sure that this team has developed and evolved beyond last year.
Each game will be like a cup-final. City just won’t drop points. And, in all likelihood the game at their place will help decide the outcome. But, we will be in the mix. And this team still has room for improvement. It’s still young and learning. And Arteta, who demonstrated tactical acumen last week, is also still learning his trade. And with his further growth (and inevitable mistakes) will come further improvements in this team. In the meantime, what a joy we are to watch. What a pleasure it is to see a team enjoy it’s football, control the game, dominate possession and create so many chances.
The truth is, when you look back to our home match against them, it all comes down to taking our chances. We pulverized them in that game but were incapable of scoring. Today, though, we took most of the chances that came our way and they just wilted. It just speaks to how fortunate they were at our place and how unjust that result was.
It’s just a shame that ESR was, again, injured. This would have been the perfect game for him to come on and play the last 20 minutes. It sounds like he picked up yet another knock. This boy has no luck whatsoever. Instead, we had to suffer watching Cedric. Oh well, nothing is perfect.
Which leads nicely to the rumblings coming from UEFA and the IFB. Blue cards? You have to be kidding. Just when we’ve introduced complexity through VAR, they want to make it even more confusing with yet another card colour. Which particular problem needs to be solved here? A sin-bin? Please, most Sp*rs players would be in it by dent of playing for those wankers. What could be a bigger sin. It really is such irrelevant nonsense. Rather than figuring out how to speed up the game and solve the VAR issues, this is where they wish to spend their time. And this in the same week when the CEO of EUFA flouted his own rules to extend his term just so he could then announce, in a truculent, spoilt-brat sort of way, that he would not stand for election again. All the while earning £3 million a year. It’s a hard life for some. And you wonder why football is a mess?
We now have another week to recuperate before heading up into the wilds of the north to face Burnley. And then back to the Champions League. We have some momentum now. It’s just that with City being City there is no margin for error. But days like today will always bring a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction that no amount of financial doping can dilute. This team is a team to be proud of. We have some truly world class players (Mr. Rice, that’s you I’m thinking of in addition to Saka, Saliba and Odegaard). And a genuinely bright future ahead of us. But, seriously how often in the Premier League can you go away and score six goals against a team in the top 10? I’m pretty sure we’ve never done this before.
So, keep that smile on your face, revel in the quality of play that you see with Arsenal, strap yourself in for the challenges ahead and know that we won’t often have to see Cedric again.
-LB7