This weekend the Premier League returns to action with the game between Brentford and Arsenal. During the European Qualifier break, I had some time to reflect on the Season so far & would like to share these thoughts here:
- Arsenal are missing some fluidity
- Injury Woes & the Goalkeeper Situation
- The focus of Arteta & his coaching staff seems to be on the defense
- Our competition in the league
- The high and low performers of the season so far
- Conclusion
Arsenal are missing some fluidity
The very first game of the new season started promising up to a very unfortunate injury sustained by Jurrien Timber. Since then, we have been hoping to see Arsenal getting to their fluid & vigorous best at some point. However, it seems Arsenal keep the handbrake at least partially on during the games & the wins are barely as empathic and electrifying as they were last season. There might be several reasons for it but in my opinion, it boils down to 3 main reasons:
- Mikel Arteta does some more player management & takes players off once we are winning by a couple of goals. Good for players’ energy and maybe preventing a few injuries but there are barely any 5:0 goal festivals anymore.
- A couple of injuries & change of the first-choice goalkeeper. Injuries happen in football and every manager needs to have a plan B (or sometimes even C) up their sleeves. I have dedicated a paragraph to this second.
- Arsenal are prioritizing their defense. Find a separate paragraph on this third topic too below.
Injury Woes & the Goalkeeper Situation
In Arsenal’s case, the Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey & Gabriel Jesus injuries had the biggest impact on the team and Arteta prioritised stabilizing from the back first. With David Raya becoming our new number 1 between the sticks after a few games, there probably were a few tweaks needed in the build-up play. Declan Rice needed to be accommodated as an English record signing in the heart of the midfield. Again time he could not use to work on the creative & attacking area.
All these adaptions lead to the situation that we are supposed to be stable at the back (if we do not commit simple errors like we have quite a few times this season) and still need some adaptions at the front.
The focus of Arteta & his Coaching Staff seems to be on the defense
Let’s speak about the last point above about prioritizing the defense. I saw somewhere that Arsenal were scoring the past 2 seasons as many goals (around 89) as the winner of the last 5 premier league seasons (around 90 on average). However, we conceded more goals (around 44 if I remember the stat correctly – apologies, I did not find the source anymore) than the respective league champions (around 34). Hence the coaching staff apparently decided to focus on the second stat for this season.
Our competition
Let’s check out our three main competitors currently according to the league table (1 surprise).
Man City: City is doing well as expected and is leading the table so far. In my opinion are doing well, even though a little less than everybody was shouting at the beginning of the season. They are missing their most creative and arguably best player De Bruyne due to a long-term injury, Rodri got himself a 3-match ban, Mahrez & Gündogan had been sold in the summer. Guardiola has embedded the new Central Defender Gvardiol into the team, Akanji seems to become a great bargain in his second season but still, some time was needed to find the right balance. Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, City will probably only become stronger in the next few months so we better strengthen as well & get the best out of our players! Forecast: Biggest Contenders together with Arsenal!
Liverpool is returning slowly to old strength since the revamp of their midfield. What I think is pretty impressive that they recruited their players basically without the help of a Technical Director and only got players by paying the release clause. Klopp has integrated the players well & they work, especially Szoboszlai. Well done to them for improving their performances again! Forecast: Champions League spot for next season.
Aston Villa: Surprise surprise – even though not that much anymore after last season. Aston Villa have established themselves as one of the big clubs under Emeri & they seem to be serious about their business also this season. I am not sure whether they will be able to make it to the end of the season in the same spot with the likes of Newcastle & Spurs breathing down their necks with strong squads but well done to Unai & Co! Forecast: Euro League spots
The high and low Performers of the season so far
There have been a few great additions & some continuous great performers for Arsenal. There are also a few players I would still like to see more from. Let’s list them below:
Top:
- Jurrien Timber: One competitive game & I am putting Timber into the positive signings of the season?!?! Yes!!! He had an immediate, great impact to the team! Originally a center or right back, for some reason Arteta saw his potential as a left-back & deployed him in that position – and he was excellent in all the pre-season games! He was dictating the build-up, did great tackles & played a great inverted role. Recover completely soon!
- Declan Rice: What a signing! 105 million price tag, pressure, most expensive English football player ever? NOTHING! Every single game he has played he was at least good, in most of them he was excellent or the match-winner! Calm, clever, strong, thank you for joining us Declan!
- Leandro Trossard: Left winger needed? Fox in the box anybody? Trossard is available, motivated, awake & delivers. Great guy, making the effort, and playing wherever needed in the attack. Great piece of business!
We want to see more:
- Kai Havertz: It was a weird transfer from the very beginning. Nobody understood why we were interested in him and we only believed the interest was true once the big transfer fee was confirmed. What is his favorite position? Where is he most effective? Will he change his body language? Is he physical enough for the Prem? I have seen very few glimpses of it but I need to see much much more to be won over by this raw diamond. Polish your edges against the tough opponents & apply pressure. Who knows, maybe we will get a top (ha-) quartz that conserves its value for many years to come.
- Nketiah: More glimpses, good spells, sometimes convincing for a few games but in the end not consistent enough. Nketiah has had good moments for us but every time we feel like his time is now he drops off. I wish he kept his hunger for a longer time period.
Conclusion
Summa summarum, we are less emphatic and electric in attack, we have a new midfield that needed to find & stabilize itself first, we focus on defending before attacking & the new goalkeeper has been on par but not really better than the former number 1. It has been a solid start to the season with 2, 3 small bumpers along the way but we are still on track. City will get stronger, the competitions tougher & we need to pick up the pace and improve in some areas. However, we have loads of room for improvement & if we progress half of what I think we are capable of, it can still turn out to be a good season. C.O.Y.G!!!