That was tough and painful to live through even if the outcome was excellent. Three points. Clean-sheet. Surviving with 10-men. That’s what you need to be successful. Grind out a victory after dominating the game.
Of course, this game was under control until Tomi was penalized with two dubious yellow cards. The first one was a team yellow – Tommi barely had the ball after receiving it from Have-that for the throw-in. But the second one was just none existent. Tomi is an intelligent player and knew his situation. He barely brushed against Ayew. That was not even a foul let alone a yellow card. This was no different than when Eddie fell over in the box in the first half. But this changed the game. And, just to show how inconsistent Coote the referee was, Ayew who had been booked early on, also pulled back (albeit very lightly) a player later on but Coote did not call that.
It was a test we passed though and one that will help us further down the line. The will appreciate how important it is to find a way to win; to defend. In truth they barely forced a save from Ramsdale. In front of him Saliba was always in control (apart from his one slip in the second half). The vulnerability was without a left-back and with Partey at right back that they would get round the wings. But eventually with the third substitution we moved Partey back into midfield.
Fulham will be interesting. Assuming we can’t appeal the moronic second yellow we’ll be down yet another left-back. This seems to be our cursed position. First Timber then Tomi. Soon no one – apart from Cedric – will want to play left-back. Partey is clearly not a natural right-back though. He really is not comfortable defending. He was pulled out of position and seems to be one tackle away from giving a penalty in the box. Today he just about escaped. But then when he’s pushed into midfield he looks so much more relaxed and confident. Whereas at right back he tends to give the ball away.
Rice on the otherhand continues to shine and excel. Today he was dominant. He reads the game so well and quickly challenges to win the ball back. It’s early days but this looks like money very well spent. He solidifies the team, provides a backbone. And with Saliba behind him helps define the spine of this team.
Have-that still is finding his way. It says a lot about the trust Arteta has in him that he stayed on the pitch for the entire 97 minutes. He was moved into different position as the game and circumstances evolved. I’m still adjusting to his style. He is not a dominant player. He quietly goes about his business. Sometimes you have to watch carefully to see how hard he works and tracks back. He is a little too conservative with his sideways and backwards passing. But he suits our possession game and he seems to work hard to win the ball back. Of course, if I was Trossard, I’d be wondering what it will take to start a game; but the season is long.
Most of our play, of course, was down our left with Saka being the main attacking instrument. Mitchell – who might be a nice addition for us (except he can’t invert) – marked him quite well. Nonetheless, he is still our key threat. On the other side Martinelli actually had a chance in the first few minutes but took too many touches. Thereafter he worked hard and found ways to create as well.
Which leads us to Eddie. What a conundrum he can be. He hits the post and then misses a relatively more straight-forward chance. He is a natural poacher – each of these instances demonstrated that. He was unlucky with the first but will be having nightmares over the second. But he continued to work hard, make himself available against a packed-defense. And then earned us the penalty with his quick movement and thinking. A clear penalty. Sure Partey stood in the way of their defender but Eddie already well and truly lost his marker. So, thankfully, VAR did not intercede. In fact, more generally, when you think back to when VAR first appeared there is a clear change now. We are moving away from re-referring to the expected “clear and obvious standard”. Sure, it will surely fuck us at some point this year but the direction of travel is right.
At that stage it felt we’d then benefit from Palace attacking more and thus allow us to create more chances. But Coote robbed us of that. Overall though it’s clear Arteta is trying a different approach this year. It’s not clear this will work but we have to give it time. I remain unconvinced by Partey at right-back but without Zinny, he wants the ability of Partey to invert. And he wants to fit Have-that into the team. The balance though is not quite there. Odergaard did not get to create too much today. Often we played at pedestrian pace.
Of course, we’ve played two teams the live and die by the low-block. I’m not sure we’ll see that from Fulham on Saturday. And, that approach constrains the space. But it just feels like we’re a little light on the creative spark. It feels like there is too much of an imbalance in this team. We don’t have proper full-backs and we have Have-that still trying to adapt to our style of play.
Maybe against the more expansive teams we will see that creative side sparkle – as we did for long periods last year. At this point, of course, the most important thing is to gather the three points as we take the time to get comfortable with Artetas’ new approach.
I’ve already mentioned it, but how refreshing is it to see such strong players coming off the bench. Jorghino, Zinny and Kiwior. In part years that would be Numo, Sambi and Pepe (and even Cedric). So this squad depth thing is real.
Around us we see some interesting competition. Those wankers down the road have finally figured out how to play football. Just at the point they have sold their generational goal-scorer and now, instead, have to rely on Richarlison to score them goals. What perfect karma is that. And United looked, as ever, bereft of ideas. Truly a team of individuals. Brighton looks very impressive. Both on the field and in the bank.
Their bank balance blooms (no pun intended) just as LAChelsea hoover up yet more youthful players just as we realize that a little bit of experience can help guide you through. They will surely regret selling Kovacic. And while we’re talking about LAChelsea, it should be noted that while the entire summer has been spent bleating (not by me I hope) about the wanton amount of money that the Saudis have been throwing at headline grabbing players, we should not exclude LAC from this. They have spent an outrageous amount of money. It’s beyond careless. There has to be some accountability for this. As potentially damaging to football as the Saudis spending is, the more clear and present danger is from LAC behaviour. And, as ever where is the FA on this? To their credit Newcastle, with all that government money have been far more judicious. They have been targeted and careful – not wildly overpaying. LAC somehow can sweep up two £100m+ midfielders and then casually add Lavia.
If a team ever deserved to self-destruct it would be LAC (well, in addition to those wankers down the road). City look imperious but clearly will miss KDB and Liverpool seemed to have picked up a couple of good additions even if they don’t seem to be quite at the level they used to be.
That leaves us with six points and a long road ahead. We need to figure out the right balance for this team. I’d like to see Gabriel back. But, again, I think this is all part of Arteta taking the Pep approach of rotating particular players and changing formations to suit the opponents.
Today was yet another test we passed. Only 36 more to do. I have to learn to pace myself. We just have to be close by in February/March. Until then, we should enjoy this team, the results and watch in admiration as Rice, Saliba, Odergaard and Saka drive this team forward.
-LB7