Tag Archives: Arsenal

Arteta’s Arsenal need to learn how to hold onto a lead

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Mikel Arteta is 5 Premier League matches into his managerial career.

It is too early to judge how he will get on, however there are green shoots of recovery.

Arteta’s Arsenal are harder to break down. Players are more determined to win the ball back and we are giving our opponents less chances to score.

However it has not been a perfect start for the Spaniard. Everything has not gone swimmingly. And there are a couple of causes for concern.

The biggest of which is lost leads.

Under Arteta, Arsenal have lead all but one game – his first against Bournemouth.

Arsenal were ahead against Chelsea with 7 minutes to go, losing 2-1.

Ahead against both Manchester United and Leeds, holding on for the win in both games.

In the last two games at Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, Arsenal went 1-0 up, only to let that lead slip and draw 1-1.

7 points dropped from winning positions. Had Arsenal held on for victory in those games, we would be level on points with Chelsea in 4th. Instead we sit 10 points behind them. Top 4 a long way off.

So why are Arsenal unable to hold on to a win?

Player Fitness

Arteta is clearly demanding more from his players than Unai Emery was, and we are suffering for it in the last 20 minutes of games as players fitness levels are not up to the level being demanded of them.

This does not mean the players are unfit. Just that they are not fit enough to do what Arteta wants.

Against Chelsea we were leading until the 83rd minute. Sheffield United equalised in the exact same minute.

Arsenal had ran out of steam in both games.

Substitutes

Following on from player fitness, questions have to be asked over Arteta’s substitutions.

Against Chelsea and Sheffield United our midfield looked leggy.

In the Chelsea game Arteta substituted Mesut Ozil for Joe Willock in the 76th minute. But this did not resolve Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi looking shattered.

In the Sheffield United draw, Arteta made just one change. Alexandre Lacazette going off for Eddie Nketiah.

Before Sheffield United scored, it was clear and obvious to everyone in the ground that Arsenal’s midfield was off the pace. Ozil was anonymous and Grant Xhaka and Torreira had run themselves into the ground.

Guendouzi and Willock had spent a lot of the game warming up. Just before the equaliser both were set to come on. Could they have been used earlier replacing the ineffectual Ozil and tiring Xhaka? Giving us a boost of energy in midfield?

When the equaliser went in, Arteta stuck with the team that was struggling to create anything. Why did he not twist? Bring om Dani Cebellos for Ozil?

Substitutions are easy in hindsight. But Arteta needs to sharpen up in this area. He needs to make that change if someone is not performing. He needs to recognise when we are starting to defend deeper as we are running out of legs. He needs to react quicker.

Second Goal

Arsenal have struggled to create all season.

The biggest changes to the team since Arteta started have been in defence. We look stronger. Look more solid. Are more of a unit.

Going forward is another story.

We are still struggling to create enough clear cut chances.

Against Chelsea we had 2 shots on target. Crystal Palace is was 3. Sheffield United 4. Bar Nicolas Pepe hitting the post and Lacazette missing the following against Palace, I can not remember a single clear cut chance in any of those 3 games beyond the goal.

Liverpool are the only team in the league conceding less than 1 goal a game on average. Using this very simple statistic, you need to score 2 goals in the Premier League to win a game. Arsenal have scored twice in the league in just 6 games this season.

If we want to convert these draws in recent weeks, we have to get that second goal.

We can point to Pepe’s penalty being turned down and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being sent off against Palace as extenuating circumstances. But these are just excuses. In neither game did we create enough to win.

If Arsenal want to start winning games again, we have to score more than 1 goal. It is that simple.

 

Arteta will get things right at Arsenal, but it will not happen overnight.

Players fitness will naturally improve as they get used to the demands put on them. Arteta’s in-game decision making will improve as he gets more experience. And hopefully once we are more solid as a team defensively, Arteta will begin working on our attacking tactics. Players will grow in confidence and we will start scoring more goals again.

Keenos

The inconsistency of VAR

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Consistency. That’s all we ask for.

I have no issue with the Nicolas Pepe penalty decision against Sheffield United. As long as VAR is consistent.

Next time a referee points to the spot after Jamie Vardy, Son or Wilfried Zaha initiate contact and goes down, I expect VAR to intervene and overturn the decision.

Likewise I understand why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was sent off against Crystal Palace. But since then how many other similar challenges have occurred and VAR has decided not to issue a red card?

VAR should not only exist to overturn “clear and obvious errors” but should also ensure a greater level of consistency in decision making. What is a penalty or red card in one game should be a penalty or red card in the next.

We have already seen with the Aubameyang red card that VAR lacks inconsistency. There have been at least 2 similar challenges since VAR upgraded yellow to red. In neither case was a red card issued.

We also know that between now and the end of the season, Vardy, Son or Zaha will go down under similar circumstances as Pepe. The ref will point to the spot and VAR will fail to overturn the penalty.

The problem with VAR is not the technology. It is those interpreting the incident.

An individuals interpretation of an incident still leads to inconsistent decision making. What one referee thinks is a penalty another might not.

The Calum Chambers “foul” for Sokratis last minute winner still baffles me. It wasn’t a foul yet the VAR decided it was. We have seen more blatant fouls ignored.

VAR can be a good thing. It worked well at the last World Cup. But in the Premier League it has lead to consistent decision making.

At the moment all it is doing is highlighting how inconsistent referees are.

Keenos

Arsenal’s top 4 hopes begin or end today

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16 games; 48 points.

That is what is left in the 2019/20.

Every year each season seems to go quicker. Just as you are thinking the season is getting going, you are already into the business end, the closing stages.

It has been a tough one for Arsenal. A season that has never really got going. 6 wins from 22 games. I have never known it so bad.

But our road to redemption has started under Mikel Arteta, albeit slowly.

4 games played, 1 win, 2 draws, 1 defeat.

That one defeat came at home to Chelsea when Arsenal were the better team, ran out of steam and were on the negative end of a poor referring decision at 1-0 up.

Whilst the wins might not have came from Arteta’s opening games, there is plenty of room for optimism.

Arsenal have become harder to break down, players are showing a greater desire to win the ball back, and it is only a matter of time until the train is back on the right tracks.

A Champions League spot is still not out of the question. Those above us – Chelsea, Man U, Tottenham – have not exactly opened up a huge gap in our time of crisis. Like Arsenal, they are just as likely to not win for 3 or 4 games as they are to win 3 or 4 in a row.

The next 5 games are key for Arsenal, starting today with Sheffield United.

If we are to maintain our dreams of getting back into the Champions League and a return of the £75million revenue that we are missing, we have to beat the likes of Sheffield United at home.

Sheffield United have been fantastic this season.

Chris Wilder has got his team working hard for each other. Organised, not conceding many. Real workman like with no ego, no superstar individuals. They have already beaten Arsenal once this season.

But they are a team Arsenal should beat if they want to show they have improved under Arteta.

Looking beyond Sheffield United, it is then a trip to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. This is a 6 pointer.

Had Arsenal held on to the 1-0 lead, we would only be 5 points off of 4th place. We lost and we are 11 points adrift. A 14 point gap with 14 games to go will probably be too much.

Victory for Arsenal would see the gap reduce to single figures.

Following hosting Arsenal, Chelsea face a tricky run of Leicester City (A), Man U (H) & Tottenham (H). Arsenal’s games are Burnley (A), Newcastle (H) and Everton (H).

The next 5 games could see a 7 or 8 point swing towards Arsenal and put us straight back into the race for the top 4. And it all starts today with a victory over Sheffield United.

Keenos