Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction

Losing football matches is never fun, but it’s fair to say some defeats are harder to take than others. If you go from zero to Wayne Bridge in the Champions League that time (sorry for triggering anyone), the needle on this one is barely above 0.1.

Mikel Arteta made more changes than I thought he would. Six from the side that beat Man Utd, and you can come up with all kinds of reasons why. Some of them, like giving players minutes because they need them and we might need them in the Premier League, make all kinds of sense, but I think it gave us a bit of a clue that for all his pre-game talk, the manager had prioritised this game in the context of our league campaign.

That said, I thought we were pretty decent in the first half. Leandro Trossard was impressive down the left, using the ball well to fashion a chance for Takehiro Tomiyasu which the keeper saved well, and he had a pop at goal himself which again the keeper was equal too. He also created an opportunity for Eddie Nketiah who poked wide at the near post after good movement in their box, and the former Brighton man looks like a good fit already.

At the other end, it was mostly about City trying to get the ball to Erling Haaland who was involved in a running battle with Rob Holding. It reminded me a bit of the game against White Hart Lane last season, but this time Rob was facing a genuinely difficult physical threat, and for the most part he did ok bar one early mistake which Matt Turner rescued him from. A yellow card just before the break meant the manager did the sensible thing and took him off at half-time, sending on William Saliba instead.

He also brought on Albert Sambi Lokonga for Thomas Partey in what I had hoped was a pre-planned change, but it turns out we have some concerns over a rib injury. Arteta said afterwards:

He had some discomfort and it was getting worse and worse. He could not continue. He wasn’t comfortable to continue. Tomorrow or the day after we’ll have to have an MRI scan and see what he has.

City were better after the break, we weren’t as good as we had been, and that midfield quality gap when Partey is not there is obvious. I thought Lokonga struggled early on, but got into the game a bit. On the ball he’s actually fine, it’s just that if Partey has 100 for defensive awareness, the Belgian is at about 10. The City goal wasn’t simply his fault, but he was far too static in the box, and it’s another performance when you can’t help but have some concerns about whether he’s the right fit for this team or not. The fact that we are very actively pursuing a midfield signing suggests those concerns are shared inside the club too.

Arteta’s response to going behind was to bring on Gabriel Martinelli and Oleksandr Zinchenko, and the Brazilian did cause some problems down the left. City were trying to smother the game with 200,000 passes, so it wasn’t easy, and when the manager made his final change, I think it was quite telling. Bukayo Saka had probably his quietest game of the season, but if you’re really serious about getting a goal, you leave him on the pitch and replace Fabio Vieira with Martin Odegaard. Instead Saka came off, Vieira went to the right, and while it wasn’t exactly throwing the towel in, I think it said something about how Arteta views the rest of the season and where his real priorities lie.

Afterwards, he was asked if he could take some pride from his team’s performance, and said:

At the moment, it’s disappointment because we are out and we could have taken much more from that game and we didn’t. The feeling that I have is we really competed against them and made it difficult for them, but we lacked something to win against a team like this.

Which I think we can all understand. Arteta hates to lose. However, in the cold light of day – leaving the Partey injury aside – you could almost call this the perfect defeat. We rotated in a big way and did not get outplayed by a much stronger Man City side who were at home. In the context of what’s to come, when they come to London on February 15th, there’s no reason why this Arsenal team should go into that game scared of them. Yes, our record against them remains a bit of an issue, but if we’re full strength and we play at our best level, there’s nothing to be intimidated by based on last night’s City performance. A word too for Matt Turner who had a very good game, not much he could do for the goal, but his decision making and distribution was really good.

There was a lot of talk about how last night’s winners might take a psychological advantage into the Premier League game, but if any team is going to do that from this game, it’s us. Of course we still have to go out and perform, and nobody should take anything for granted, it’s simply that the aura that City once had is gone. Anyone can see the gap between the teams – which was so, so, so big not that long ago – has well and truly been closed. The next step is to do what’s long overdue, and show we can beat them.

It won’t be easy, but after what I saw last night from both sides, I think that’s well within our capabilities.

—

Right, let’s leave it there for now. I’ll round-up the transfer news etc on tomorrow’s blog, and we’ll be recording the Arsecast Extra a day early for you too.

Have a good Saturday.

The post Man City 1-0 Arsenal: Defeat, but the Gunners show the gap has closed appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Join us for live blog coverage of our FA Cup clash with Man City, kick-off 20.00

We’ve got up to the second live text commentary, updates, goal clips, observations and occasionally witty asides. If you want to join the chat, register an Arseblog Live account.

To do that, go to Arseblog Live – click login on the top right, and then choose ‘sign up’ to complete the process with your username/password, or you can use your Twitter, Facebook or Google account to register.

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CLICK TO LAUNCH Man City v Arsenal – LIVE BLOG

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Morning, and happy Friday to you all.

We are in FA Cup action this evening as we travel to Manchester to take on Man City. I’ve seen plenty of discussion about how we deal with the cup competitions this season, with suggestions we shouldn’t do anything that might jeapordise our Premier League title chances. And look, I get that.

Except, the two things aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s this thing called the double that we’ve done more than once, but I understand why some people might be a little wary of how a busy schedule might impact us. What I can say though is that I’m pretty sure Mikel Arteta is going to look at this as a competition he wants to win and tonight’s game has a special significance for him on a personal level too. He was Pep Guardiola’s assistant, the two remain great friends, and he worked at City for a number of year. As yet, he hasn’t won a game against them as a manager, and with two league games to play between now and the end of the season, there’s a psychological aspect to this fixture which could well be important.

Yesterday, in thinking about this game, I was convinced we’d see some changes. Not too many, but a few. Mostly in the wide positions. For example, I think he might start Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the full-back positions. These guys were the first choice full-backs last season, so it’s not as if you’re sacrificing a great deal of quality, and they do need to play and feel included.

Similarly, further forward, I saw this as a chance to get some important minutes into Emile Smith Rowe after his return from injury – but I’ve seen some chatter this morning that he might not have made the trip. That’s unconfirmed, and it would be a bit of a shame if it were true because this was a chance to start building his match fitness. I thought he and Leandro Trossard might get the nod, but if Smith Rowe is out then one of Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli has to start. The Belgian on the left and Saka on the right probably makes the most sense.

After that, I don’t think he’ll do anything to the spine of the team. Maybe Matt Turner might play ahead of Aaron Ramsdale (maybe), but I fully expect to see William Saliba and Gabriel at centre-half and Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka in midfield. In that area of the pitch, with Mohamed Elneny injured and the club seeing reinforcements, I don’t think we have much choice. Albert Sambi Lokonga has been disappointing this season against much less impressive opposition, so it’s hard to trust he’d just turn it on against City.

I’m a little torn on the Martin Odegaard/Fabio Vieira decision. My gut feeling is that he’ll go with the skipper, but like with Smith Rowe, cup competitions are a way of including players who have been on the fringes. Not just to give them minutes to keep them happy but to make sure they’re up to speed if they’re needed in the Premier League. However, Odegaard’s quality and influence would be hard to do without, and I think he’ll form the final part of that midfield triumvirate. So, all in all, a strong side, and despite what I said about the full-backs earlier, if it was Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ben White rather than Tomi and Tierney, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

The fact is that we have eight days after this one before we play again. It’s not like we have to take into account a midweek fixture or anything like that, and while we might harbour some fears about injuries might impact us, I don’t think the manager or the players approach games with that kind of mindset. Anyone who thinks Mikel Arteta might go weak in this game for fear of something that statistically isn’t massively likely to happen hasn’t been paying attention to how he operates.

Ahead of the game, the manager said:

 It’s a big match, and a big test for us against in my opinion the best football team in the world. I’m looking forward to it because it will tell us a lot about where we are.

Obviously it is important to win and play well. That gives you more momentum, more confidence and prepares you better for the next match, and that’s our focus to do that on Friday.

Of the three times we are set to face City this season, this is the least important in my opinion, but it doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. If you go there with a weakened side and get spanked, it’s not good preparation for the league game in a couple of weeks – even if you have the ‘It’s just the cup, we made changes’ get out. Nor does it mean a win tonight will ensure three points in the league, but it’s been a long time since we got a good result against them, and that’s a psychological barrier that could be useful to break before then.

Given all that, the connection between the two managers, and the respective quality of both teams, we could see a very intense game tonight. You implement a winning culture by taking every game seriously, and both these managers will be desperate for the win. It could be a cup cracker.

Right, let’s leave it there for now. As ever we’ll have live blog coverage for you later on, and all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News. I’ll leave you with a brand new Arsecast below.

Catch you later for the game, and come on you reds!

The post Man City preview: Expect a strong Arsenal side appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Welcome to another episode of the Arsecast – the Arsenal podcast.

In this episode I’m joined by Kaya Kaynak of Football London to look at the building blocks of this season’s momentum as Arsenal sit top of the table. We chat about what new signing Leandro Trossard is going to bring to the group, discuss Mikel Arteta’s usual reluctance to talk in detail about injury but his openness to a question about Mohamed Elneny. That leads to a chat about what Arsenal want to do in the transfer market before the window closes, but how other midfield targets and the January window make it more complicated

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The post Episode 716: Arteta’s door ajar appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

When news broke that Gabriel Jesus required surgery on a knee injury picked up during the World Cup, there was a feeling of panic across the Arsenal fan base. Jesus had transformed Arsenal as an attacking force and while Eddie Nketiah made an impression with his goal scoring run at the end of the previous campaign, many wondered whether Nketiah would be able to offer the same overall output as Gabriel Jesus.

It sparked a debate that would have seemed unthinkable 20 years ago. Fans were, broadly, satisfied that Nketiah would score goals. Most would have happily made the bet that he would prove to be more prolific than Gabriel Jesus, who has scored five goals so far this season. It was “all the other stuff” fans were worried about.

Imagine explaining to someone 20 years ago that football fans would be happy to almost hand wave the prospect of a striker scoring more goals than the player he is replacing. It’s a perfectly logical line to take too, as we saw during Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Manchester United, he scored a lot of goals but his attacking colleagues saw their numbers drop as a result, which was a net negative to the team. (Allied to the fact that Ronaldo is a prick).

It’s notable that Arsenal never really won the league when Ian Wright was in his pomp. He signed for the club when they were defending champions in 1991 and they didn’t win the prize again until 1998, Wright’s last season when he was largely injured. Ruud van Nistelrooy only won one league title with Manchester United in five seasons at the club.

As soon as he was sold in 2006, United moved to a more multi-faceted front line of Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo and they won three consecutive league titles and a Champions League title. Teams with only one route to goal tend not to be dangerous enough often enough compared to more democratic attacking models.

Despite Nketiah’s obvious overall improvement when he came into the team last season, it wasn’t without cause that Arsenal fans were concerned about the loss of Gabriel Jesus. Nketiah is a far, far more rounded player than the one we were introduced to in his nascent Arsenal career and he has proved that over the last 12 months or so.

Arsenal had one distinct advantage given the timing of Jesus’ injury- time. Jesus was injured on 2nd December and had undergone surgery around five days later. At that point, the Gunners’ next competitive game was three weeks away and they had three mid-season friendlies to play as the team prepared for the return of the Premier League.

It meant that Arteta had a long build-in time to prepare. While Nketiah has clearly worked incredibly hard at developing his all round game, it would have been useless to ask Nketiah to wear a Gabriel Jesus mask and try to copy and paste the Brazilian’s approach in its entirety. No club should keep a player if they are not comfortable with asking them to play to their strengths.

https://t.co/rtUwV5ebFq This week’s column is about adjusting to the loss of Gabriel Jesus and a big opportunity for Eddie Nketiah

— Tim Stillman (@Stillmanator) December 8, 2022

Nketiah has firmly answered his doubters through a mixture of performance and end-product. He deserves to take the plaudits for that because he has clearly worked so hard for this moment and waited such a long time. But Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff have made some subtle, yet notable, changes to the way they attack to play towards Eddie’s more obvious strengths.

Gabriel Jesus operates very much as part of the left pod of the attack, rotating with Gabriel Martinelli and Granit Xhaka, leaving the right largely to Odegaard and Saka. So let’s look at what the data says, firstly about Gabriel Martinelli, who particularly enjoyed a rotating relationship with Jesus, who would often drift to the left touchline in a way Nketiah does with less regularity.

I have only taken Premier League data since, neatly, Jesus started every Premier League game before his injury and Nketiah has started every game since, which provides a direct correlation in the numbers. I also omitted the FA Cup game against Oxford, which Nketiah started, since the standard of the opposition was not representative.

We see here that Martinelli has more responsibility in possession now, he is attempting more passes with a much lower success rate. Martinelli has probably tired since the autumn which would account for some of the drop-off in his passing success rate but the story these numbers tell me is that Nketiah doesn’t play as close to Martinelli as Jesus does.

The Brazilian has made a sacrifice, taking on full-backs alone- not least since Zinchenko does not really provide an overlap from left-back. Nketiah is not drifting towards Martinelli and providing those short passing combinations or decoys for Martinelli to exploit. We can see this when we look at Granit Xhaka, who plays just inside Martinelli, and his touch data.

He averaged 53.7 touches per game with Jesus in the team and that has risen to 57.2 with Nketiah, which is a sharp increase given the five-game sample size with Eddie. A quick look at Jesus and Nketiah’s comparative touch data shows you why Xhaka and Martinelli are picking up a little bit of slack, in terms of overall involvement. Eddie’s touch data is not bad at all, he is in the 88th percentile for penalty area touches- it’s just that Gabriel Jesus is in the 99th percentile. The Brazilian wrecks the curve for overall involvement.

However, none of this means that Nketiah has a nice easy time while others pick up from Gabriel Jesus. It comes at a price and that price is that Nketiah offers a superior goal threat, since Martinelli and Xhaka have had to recalibrate their creative games a little. Needless to say, Eddie is delivering in this respect.

pic.twitter.com/MXMyx5QLDe

— FK (@fkhanage) January 24, 2023

Nketiah is no Erling Haaland, he’s not going to have three touches and somehow score four goals. He has a decent level of involvement in build-up but Arteta and Arsenal have not asked him to become a total facsimile of Jesus. Martinelli and Xhaka in particular have picked up some of Jesus’ workload and allowed Nketiah to occupy more central spaces where he can do Eddie Nketiah things.

Follow me on Twitter @Stillmanator

The post Your defence is in trouble appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

With Man City in the FA Cup tomorrow, Mikel Arteta met the press yesterday. We’ll deal with the team news and the match preview tomorrow, but most interesting part of the press conference came towards the end when he was asked about the absence of Mohamed Elneny among rumours that the midfielder could be out for the rest of the season.

Arteta said:

There are some concerns, especially as Mo never complains about anything but let’s see.

He had some issues with his knee that we are assessing at the moment and I’ll have to see how he evolves in the next couple of days.

The Egypt international reportedly picked up a knock in training ahead of the North London derby, so was absent for that, and wasn’t in the squad for the win over Man Utd on Sunday. He’s been present, I mentioned him congratulating Eddie in yesterday’s blog, so it’s not as if he’s on crutches or anything, but it does sound as if something is going on.

Mikel Arteta rarely gives much away when it comes to injuries, so for him to even say there are some concerns in relation to a question regarding Elneny’s involvement for the rest of the season might be telling. If there is a significant problem, you can understand why – with less than a week of the transfer window remaining – Arsenal want to keep that under wraps. It’s difficult enough to get deals done in January, so if every potential selling club out there knows there’s a measure of desperation, it won’t make it any easier.

He was then asked about further recruitment in January following the arrivals of Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior. The Polish international is a centre-half who has played in midfield, but my suspicion is that Arsenal don’t really have any plans to do that. Which isn’t to say it couldn’t happen in a pinch, just that I think they see him very much as another option to provide depth, cover, and competition for Gabriel as a defender.

On new signings, Arteta said:

We need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can, but in this market it is pretty complicated to do that.

He then talked about how the focus is getting the best out of the players he has etc etc, which is part of playing down our need publicly. However, reading between the lines as much as we can, it seems very much like he wants a new midfielder before the window closes. In some ways, there are parallels with the summer when we found ourselves in this very same position towards the end of the window because of injuries to Elneny and Thomas Partey. This time, at least, we have secured the attacking player the manager wanted, but it’s still a delicate enough situation.

I think every one of us would like more midfield depth, but the thing to take into account here is the very public, and rather unfortunate, knowledge that our summer target is both high profile and expensive. There’s no way the Declan Rice links were leaked by the club, they would have much preferred for that to play out behind the scenes as much as possible, but it’s out there and they have to deal with that.

Again, there are parallels to another window, this time last January. At that time, we held our fire and waited for the main target – and nobody can argue that Gabriel Jesus wasn’t the right signing in the summer. The issue was that by doing nothing we left ourselves just a little short to secure top four. This time around the stakes are even higher. What we could miss out on by a fine margin will feel much worse, even taking into account it was Spurs that beat us to the Champions League last May.

If Declan Rice is gettable in the summer for Arsenal, they should go for it. He’s an excellent player with loads of Premier League experience, and his best years ahead of him. Like it or not though, that plays a part in what happens now. Not simply from the club’s perspective and how we might need to use resources and funds in the market, but also the kind of player you can get in the last few days of the window.

No doubt Arsenal would be an attractive destination for a lot of players right now, I don’t think you’d need to work too hard to convince someone to come, but at the same time, if they see a future which means a lot of time on the bench because you’re competing with the existing midfielders + potentially someone like Rice in the summer, it might be a consideration. The fact Partey and Xhaka are heading towards the September of their careers might help, as could the relative assurance of Champions League football next season, but it’s not quite as cut and dried as it sounds. And that’s not even talking about who might be available this month as many clubs don’t want to sell in January, and quite often players don’t want to move mid-season too. Good players are usually at good clubs who have things to play for and don’t want to end up weakened in the last days of the window with little time themselves to react.

None of that diminishes Arsenal’s need, of course, but we’ll just have to keep fingers crossed that between now and 11pm on Tuesday night we can pull something off.

Right, let’s leave it there for now. Back tomorrow with an FA Cup preview and a brand new Arsecast. Until then.

The post Arteta wants a midfield signing, but it won’t be easy appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Good morning.

As you might expect, given my line of work and what I do, random Arsenal thoughts pop into my head on a regular basis. Very often, I will wake up in the morning and the first thing that I think of is the opening line for the blog – particularly when it’s a big day. By that I mean an important win, or even a difficult loss.

After the Man Utd win on Sunday, I was foostering around watching post-game stuff like I’m sure pretty much everyone else did. I looked up commentary that I might be able to remix for the Arsecast Extra intro. I re-watched the final few minutes, because when you’re doing a live blog and putting the finishing touches to a match report at the same time, you don’t really get to soak it all in as it’s happening.

The soaking. Soakity-soak. The thing is, whatever happens in a game, there’s always a bit of focus on this bit. If you lose and only some of the players take a moment to acknowledge the fans, there can be a bit of push-back. When you win though, you feel like you want to be part of the celebrations. If you’re in the stadium you stay there to watch the players, to enjoy those minutes of communion with the other fans. If you’re at home, you’re watching to see the interactions.

After United there were lovely moments. Gabriel Jesus pitch-side to give props to Eddie Nketiah, the man who has taken his place since he got injured. Mohamed Elneny, who wasn’t even in the squad, having a big hug with Arteta then giving us a big ‘EEEDIIIIEE!!” as the two-goal striker made his way to the dressing room. The manager’s face when embracing Aaron Ramsdale, who will know he should have done better before United’s second. Miguel Molina entering the coaching staff’s post-game celebratory huddle with a massive “VAMOOOOOOOSSSS!”.

Anyway, my point is, as all this was going along, that quote from Fever Pitch (the movie, I think – not the book), just popped into my head, as if my head was Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the thought was Eddie Nketiah.

“See, after a while it all gets mixed up together in your head and you can’t remember whether life is shit because Arsenal are shit, or the other way around.”

I guess that’s a feeling many people can identify with, not least when you’ve come through some lean, difficult and at times traumatic years supporting this club. But if that can be true, so too can the opposite, right?

And I realise this is maybe giving too much weight to football, because at the end of the day it’s a weird thing that we invest so much in which is completely out of our control. That’s the beauty of it, but we never really do it for anything else in our lives. You don’t turn up at a taxi rank, jump in a cab and say ask to be taken to any number of potential  destinations – then strap yourself in because the driver could make it a pleasant journey or one where he smashes into the central reservation, rear-ends a half dozen cars, before driving off a cliff.

However, I don’t think you need to do any kind of significant research to suggest that the mood of a football fan is often directly correlated to the most recent result. Winning = happiness. Not winning = unhappiness, to varying degrees. It’s simplistic, I know, but it is no less true because of that.

The difficulties and realities of day to day life, the things we all have to contend with, aren’t really made that much easier or better by football. But when it’s a big part of your life, as it is for so many of you reading this, I think it’s so important to let yourself enjoy the good moments when they come. I do think part of the ‘It’s good, but …’ mindset is self-preservation, because we know it can get better. A lot better. There’s nothing like a title win. Everyone’s favourite bus type is ‘open top’, and yes, there is a long way to go.

Except what you feel at the end of an exhilarating 90 minutes isn’t nothing either. It might end up being a small part of a wider celebration, but it’s also something to be enjoyed in its own right. Why does anyone celebrate a goal in the opening minute, for example? There are still 89 minutes to go, and by the end that early strike might be utterly meaningless. It doesn’t stop the scorer and his teammates though.

Football is about lots of things, but essentially it’s a game where a lot of stuff doesn’t happen for quite a long time, and then there’s a moment. And another one. And another one, good or bad. But those are the things that define the game.

The wins over United and in the derby in recent weeks are moments in a season which has a lot of promise. Our taxi driver is taking the scenic route (in a nice way, not the – rip you off because you don’t know the city – way), the car is purring, the windows are down and the air is warm. Who knows what lies ahead though. Roadworks? A traffic jam? A detour? Godzilla? You can’t rule anything out in football.

Sit back, enjoy the ride, and let’s take it as it comes.

—

If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, the bonus Arsecast with Ian Wright is, as you would expect, well worth your time. Check it out below, and don’t forget to subscribe to Wrighty’s House on all audio platforms now, or via https://www.theringer.com/wrightys-house.

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The post Fever Pitch Dreams … appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Welcome to another episode of the Arsecast – the Arsenal podcast.

In this episode I’m joined by Arsenal legend Ian Wright for an assessment of the season at the halfway point. We talk about the consistency of the team, proving doubters wrong, the importance of enjoying the journey as we head into the second half of the season, Eddie Nketiah’s impact and the confidence he’ll gain from scoring two against Man Utd, the January transfer window and more.

Subscribe to Wrighty’s House via https://www.theringer.com/wrightys-house – and it’s available on all audio platforms now.

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The post Episode 715 – Ian Wright exclusive appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Morning all.

Let’s start with the news that Arsenal dropped yesterday evening – the official announcement that we’ve signed Polish centre-half Jakub Kiwior from Spezia. The 22 year old’s arrival is not a surprise at this point. It was widely reported over the weekend and he was at the stadium to watch the 3-2 win over Man United on Sunday evening.

However, until those reports nobody had – as far as I’m aware at least – linked us with this player. Not quite a Fabio Vieira level out-of-the-bluer, but a reminder that we can fly under the radar a little bit with our recruitment. Obviously things like the Mudryk situation played out in the full public glare, but let’s recognise that was entirely down to Shakhtar and the way they dealt with it. It wasn’t as if Edu appeared on the six o’clock news wearing a I Mudryk t-shirt.

So, what do we know about the new lad? Well, Phil Costa’s profile piece will give you a good background on his career and his attributes. In short though, there are elements to his game which immediately stand out as compatible with Arsenal. His passing, how comfortable he is on the ball, and some real physical presence. We may not be the biggest team around, but we’re far more imposing than we were. Our collection of barely 6′ defenders has been replaced by players like Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel and William Saliba. Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey add that in midfield. Even the physical development of someone like Eddie Nketiah is notable, and Kiwior will add to that.

Like any 22 year old with relatively limited experience at the top level, there are things he can improve on. It’s often tough to properly judge a player who is in a team that struggles. Danger can lead to desperation, despite the best intentions of a defender, but clearly Edu and Mikel Arteta have seen enough to pull the trigger, backing the ability of the manager and his coaching staff to polish him up (no pun intended).

He has 9 caps for Poland, making his debut last year, and he started all four games for them in the World Cup. It looks like he’s on the right path, and Arsenal moving for a player like this before he has another year or two to bolster his reputation makes sense. It’s not completely dissimilar from the capture of Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille who arrived at 22, still really young in the life of a centre-half. Since then he’s grown into a fine defender, one of our most consistent players both in terms of performance and availability, so let’s hope for the same kind of trajectory for Kiwior. His versatility is another interesting aspect to this signing, and it’s been a feature of many of our new arrivals in the last couple of years.

Anyway, Kiwior says:

“I’ve always dreamt of playing in the Premier League. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and if I got the chance, then I knew I’d have to make the most of it because it was one of my biggest dreams. For me, it’s the best league. I’m thrilled to be here.

“It’s huge for me that Arsenal were interested and that I’m able to be here. I’m aware that Arsenal are a massive club in a top league, so I didn’t really have to think about much else. I was just ecstatic and really wanted to come.

“I love passing the ball. I like teams that move the ball and try to create chances that way. So, I’m happy that I’ve come to a team like that.”

How quickly he can settle in and be ready remains to be seen, but as we head into what’s going to be a busy time with football all the way until the end of May – and hopefully across multiple competitions – having that extra depth in the squad will be important. There are potentially another 32 games to play this season (unlikely but possible), so the more hands on deck the better.

Welcome to the Arsenal, Jakub. Knock ’em dead.

—

Elsewhere, I’m a little disgruntled that Everton have sacked Frank Lampard. I saw a lot of United and City fans moaning that we didn’t play in midweek last week, which was a bit of a surprise when our home game against the Toffees remains unscheduled. On the one hand, I understand their gripes. On the other, I think if you’d asked Mikel Arteta if he’d prefer a free week or to play at home against this shambles of a football team with its dead-man-walking manager, I’m almost certain he’d have picked the latter.

Clearly it’s no surprise he got canned. Everton are genuinely terrible and unless they did something relegation was a very real possibility. It still is, but maybe they’ll sort it out a bit. On The 30 over on Patreon, we discussed the possibility of Sean Dyche returning to management there, it would make a lot of sense in the circumstances, but for Arsenal we’ve been denied a go at Lampard’s Limp Losers, which is a bit of a shame.

It’s also quite interesting to consider where we are now, after so many years of boardroom cold war, to see at what a club ‘owned’ by Alisher Usmanov looks like.

—

Right, let’s leave it there for now. Have a good Tuesday.

The post Defensive ranks bolstered as Jakub Kiwior signs from Spezia appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

After signing Leandro Trossard, Arsenal wasted little time diving back into the transfer market to complete a deal for Spezia defender Jakub Kiwior.

But who is the Poland international, what will he bring to the side and why is he costing upwards of £20 million? Phil Costa reports.

—

Football has the wonderful ability to remind you that development occurs at different rates for players. Olivier Giroud was playing in France’s third tier at 22, but is now his country’s all-time top goalscorer. Bojan Krkić couldn’t stop breaking records as a teenager but spent his next decade in the Championship, Canada and now Japan. Similar applies to Jakub Kiwior who suddenly finds himself at Premier League leaders Arsenal, having worked his way up at Anderlecht, two Slovak clubs and Italian strugglers Spezia.

This was no story of overnight success and Spezia deserve credit for their initial intuition, signing the defender for €2m after MŠK Žilina were forced to declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic. Since joining the club, Kiwior has impressed and saw his domestic form rewarded with a call-up for the 2022 World Cup, where he started all four games for Poland. His growing reputation quickly coincided with interest from several top clubs; including AC Milan, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.

Jakub Kiwior. 6’2 CB, rarely deployed as a DM.

Arsenal fans, thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Xjdt4edsNw

— H (@ClockEndH) January 20, 2023

What instantly becomes clear when watching Kiwior is how naturally he welcomes first-phase responsibility. Those entrusted with this role are typically more senior players, tasked with dictating the tempo of their sides’ play while also being expected to handle themselves physically. Upon signing for Spezia, the 22-year-old was brought straight into their starting eleven by former manager Thiago Motta and quickly became the reference point for his goalkeeper and defensive partners. He would drop as the deepest defender in a back three – or as the spare man in midfield – turn, and spray diagonals across the pitch with pinpoint accuracy.

This will have been a major factor in catching the eyes of club scouts due to the responsibility being placed on their centre backs to progress play. Granted, William Saliba and Gabriel are statistically superior for passes attempted, passes completed and progressive passes per 90 this season, but Kiwior currently averages 44 passes per game with a success rate of 85% for I Aquilotti – WhoScored data – ranking second and first, respectively, against all other teammates. There is also variety to his passing despite those long diagonals standing out, with driven passes into midfield and delicate chips down the line all part of his playbook.

The 22-year-old is also an accomplished ball carrier which helps explain previous stints at left back and midfield, and looks surprisingly graceful when breezing past players into the middle third, sharing similarities with Nemanja Matić in how they control their taller bodies. He currently sits in the 90th percentile for dribbles completed (0.4) per 90 among positional peers in Serie A, and is often called upon to provide an alternative ‘out ball’ for Spezia should they struggle to pass through the thirds. There is a mobility and sharpness to his movement that belies his frame, which allows him to evade pressure smoothly despite the occasional sense of overplaying.

More importantly, there is a welcome steel to Kiwior despite his modern approach to defending. Only two players have blocked more shots than the Poland international (18) in Serie A this season, while no other Spezia teammate can better his 1.4 interceptions per 90 – highlighting his proficiency for pushing up, touch-tight with strikers and forcing them back towards their goal. Stylistically, he presents a large, imposing figure with the athletic capacity to defend in space, which conveniently mirrors the current role of Gabriel who is often left isolated behind Oleksandr Zinchenko when pushing into midfield.

Unsurprisingly for a young player with limited top-level experience, there are kinks to his game that need ironing out. Spezia are one of the poorer sides in Italy and concede more shots per game (16.9) than any other top flight team, which means their defenders are regularly called upon to intervene. Kiwior is no stranger to last ditch blocks or tackles, but will have to curb his habit of going to ground too easily when ushering players away from goal would prove just as effective.

There is a slight ‘all or nothing’ feel to his play which Mikel Arteta has done well to stray from – especially defensively – although this could stem from the sheer amount of pressure being faced each week. The 22-year-old will also need to manage his aggression more effectively as there have been strikers able to pin him (and spin him) this season, particularly against Inter and Lazio – with Romelu Lukaku and Ciro Immobile both able to expose that rawness.

—

Recently there has been a real shift in how Arsenal identify players, who now focus on specific attributes and qualities, as opposed to the individuals themselves. The system is clear, what’s more important is where you fit – in the five behind or ahead of the ball – and how your qualities translate to the role. When watching Kiwior it’s hard to look past his suitability for this team based on his technical level, left-footed distribution and physical capacity to defend in isolation. The raw ingredients are there, but impetus now moves onto the defender and his ability step up.

It’s worth noting that Kiwior has only spent eighteen months in a top five European league despite his rapid rise, clocking up just 43 appearances for Spezia. But he and the club will take comfort in how the current environment at London Colney offers a smooth transition to a higher level while still remaining competitive, where the defender can acclimatise without feeling an instant demand to settle.

There is no magic formula for gambling on potential. But it’s apparent that scouts have done their homework, with the players’ agent even revealing how his client was ‘enchanted’ by Arteta during conversations ahead of the move. There is total trust in the process and quite simply: who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?

The post New signing profile: Jakub Kiwior appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Welcome to another Arsecast Extra, the Arsenal podcast, with myself and James from @gunnerblog.

In this episode we look back on the last-gasp 3-2 win over Man United at the Emirates on Sunday. We discuss the atmosphere in the stadium, the conviction and belief in the team to deal with going behind, coping with Man City’s pressure, the goals coming from Hale End graduates Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah, and the significance of this win in the context of this season now that we’ve hit the halfway point. We then answer questions about how we might deal with cup competitions, Eddie’s contribution since he was brought into the side, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli’s form, new signings, and loads more.

Eddie tune via: https://www.tiktok.com/@siondefreitas/video/7183429666445741339

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Remember, you can send us questions via which we’ll try and get to each week. Send them to either @arseblog or @Gunnerblog (or both) using the hashtag #arsecastextra. Best to send them Monday morning so they get noticed more easily.

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The post Arsecast Extra Episode 508 – 23.01.2023 appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Match report – Player ratings – By the numbers – Video

Is there anything quite like a last minute winner? Maybe a last minute winner against a big rival who look like they’re going to basically nick a point in a game when they were dominated by 25 shots to 6, and in which the opposition goalkeeper acted like a right gimp late in the game.

Eddie Nketiah put an arm out across David de Gea who went down pretending to be really hurt. In some ways, I understand it, because by the 86th minute Arsenal’s pressure and momentum was relentless and he wanted to slow that in any way he could. However, he looked like an idiot, and when Eddie stuck a foot out to poke home the winner, I couldn’t help but remember that moment as I celebrated the goal.

The first half was pretty even all told. United started with some intent – the intent was to cheat a penalty, as Bruno Fernandes, with his evil chinchilla face, threw himself into Aaron Ramsdale. Nothing doing. The irony, if you can call it that, is when they played some football they hurt us. Marcus Rashford more than made the most of a Thomas Partey pass which he intercepted, nutmegging the midfielder then blasting a shot into the bottom corner. There’s always an inquest when you concede, but sometimes you just have to give the opposition credit for a really good goal, and this was a really good goal from a player in great form.

Going behind isn’t something we do a lot of, especially in the big games, so it was a test of character to see how we’d respond. Within seven minutes we were level. Good pressure helped us win a corner, from there we recycled the ball, Granit Xhaka overlapped and Eddie was there with sharp movement to head home from close range. I think the defending was poor, but credit to the striker for sniffing out the chance, and to Xhaka for a perfect assist.

The yellow card for Mikel Arteta in the first half is only worth mentioning because of his interview after the game when he was asked if he could learn from the incident. He said, “You can always get better in life, innit!”, haha.

Arteta when asked about his yellow card : “You can always get better in life innit” pic.twitter.com/ujQvN3achP

— HM (@Arsenal_DB10) January 22, 2023

A half-time change saw Takehiro Tomiyasu replace Ben White who looked a little off the pace yesterday. No criticism, just an observation. After 18 brilliant Premier League performances this season he can have an off day, but what a joy it is to be able to bring on a player of that quality to replace him. It took Tomi a few minutes to get into the game, but when he did the threat of Rashford was basically completely nullified.

We went ahead through Bukayo Saka who tormented United down their left all game. His goal felt a bit like a response to Rashford’s. Not in a bad way, just a ‘Ok, you can do that, let me show you what I can do’, kinda way. Stepping inside Cristian Eriksen in midfield he made space for a shot and curled it with real power into the bottom corner. What do you call a shot like that? A power-curler? I don’t know, I just know Saka is an incredible player, whose talent and versatility terrifies defences to the point where they simply back off because they don’t know what he’s going to do, or where he’s going to do it. That it took so long for United to actual pay him real attention was quite surprising to me.

Their equaliser was a touch fortunate. I think Ramsdale will regret trying to catch it rather than punch it, he found his path to the ball impeded by Tomiyasu and it fell for Martinez who looped a header home. To be fair to the Arsenal keeper, he had made a genuinely outstanding save just a couple of minutes before, but he’ll feel he should have done better.

Speaking of Martinez, I watched him closely yesterday, especially in light of the fact that when he chose Man Utd we brought Zinchenko in instead. It’s a bit mad to think, given how incredible the Ukrainian was, we thought Martinez could bring anything like that to the team. Maybe he could have in time, but I really doubt it. Zinchenko was just amazing. The Arsecast Extra explainer from last week about him being like the queen in chess was even more relevant. No player had more touches, and for all his craft on the ball, I love how competitive his defending was, especially in the air.

After that, Arsenal just turned up the heat to try and win the game. 12 of our 26 shots came in that period, and as you can see from the graph below, the attacking momentum was well and truly with us. Saka hit the post after again twisting a defender who knew what he wanted to do but could only just stop him; de Gea made an excellent save close range save from Nketiah; and we had corners which United on the back foot. The xG in the end was 3.2 for Arsenal to United’s paltry 0.36.

There were shades of the Newcastle game. Arsenal on top, but just missing something extra. Yesterday, we were able to bring on new signing Leandro Trossard who got involved straight away. You can see he’s got the technical level to slot into this side, and he was involved in the winner. His ball to Zinchenko was perfectly timed to beat the offside line, the ball back in was met by Odegaard and a defender, it span for Eddie who stuck his foot out to make it 3-2 and to win the game.

It’s six goals in six games for Eddie since he came into the side, and to bag two against United in a game of this importance is so great for him. Beyond that though, he’s getting better every week. I thought he had good games against Newcastle and in the derby despite not scoring, and yesterday was probably his best ever performance in an Arsenal shirt. Not only did he score those goals, his all round play was excellent. He ran the United centre-halves all day long, held it up well, and the combination of those elements with his penalty box instincts was the difference between one point and three yesterday. I know that when his new contract was issued, some eyebrows were raised, and I’ll admit I was worried about the drop-off between him and Gabriel Jesus. Credit to the manager though, he always spoke about how Eddie – who always backed himself too, btw –  could deliver, we’re seeing that right now, and it’s great.

On a day when Zinchenko was brilliant again, Odegaard majestic at times (that flip-flop pass that almost created a goal for Xhaka was out of this world), to have the two Hale End graduates be decisive made this all the more sweet. Football is a mad industry, and so often the correlation between how much money you spend and how successful you are is obvious. Here though, we had two players – who cost a whopping zero pounds and zero pence in the transfer market – deciding the outcome of a massive fixture which could have real implications on the title race. The Arsenal Academy should be proud, and it’s another reason why for any young player, Arsenal must feel like the club to be at right now. Unless you were politically strong-armed into going somewhere else, who wouldn’t want to join?

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

It doesn’t get much better than that. It was a beautiful moment, a really special one because we were pushing and pushing and pushing and the goal wasn’t coming, but it came at the end and then VAR made it even more difficult, but it was just electric, it was really emotional, really passionate and I loved it.

I spoke to some people after the game who were there, and they all mentioned the atmosphere in the stadium. I was there for the derby earlier in the season, so I have some sense of it, but every week I think it’s going to get more and more intense. We’ve just reached the halfway point of the season, it’s Arsenal’s best ever start to a league season, and we still have a long way to go. There’s no doubt the support and the connection between this team and the fans has been a real factor this season though. Long may that continue.

So, to sum up: a dramatic 3-2 home win against Man United in a season where we’re chasing the title? Don’t mind if I do. Don’t mind one bit.

—

Right, let’s leave it there for now. James and I are recording the Arsecast Extra for you later on this morning. Keep an eye out for the call for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.

We should have the podcast for you around lunchtime. Until then.

The post Hale End 3-2 Man Utd: Nketiah and Saka too hot for United to handle appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Join us for live blog coverage of our Premier League clash with Man United, kick-off 16.30

We’ve got up to the second live text commentary, updates, goal clips, observations and occasionally witty asides. If you want to join the chat, register an Arseblog Live account.

To do that, go to Arseblog Live – click login on the top right, and then choose ‘sign up’ to complete the process with your username/password, or you can use your Twitter, Facebook or Google account to register.

You can also get Twitter updates of key events – goals, cards, substitutions etc – by following @arseblog_live

CLICK TO LAUNCH Arsenal v Man United – LIVE BLOG

The post Arsenal v Man United – live blog appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Today’s game against Man United takes place after Man City’s inevitable 6-0 demolition of Wolves (Haaland 4, Gundogan, Grealish), at which point our lead at the top will be cut to just two points (albeit we’ll have a game in hand).

It’s a scenario we’ve faced more than once this season, but it will be a reminder that things can change very quickly in football, and that there is still a long way to go this season. Of course there’s nothing we can do about City, all we can control is our game and our performance, and today we face the only team to have beaten us far in this campaign.

The defeat at Old Trafford was a touch unfortunate, a touch careless, and a touch influenced by VAR chalking off an early Gabriel Martinelli goal for a ‘foul’ by Martin Odegaard which they later admitted was not sufficient for VAR intervention. Hopefully a measure of injustice is part of our pre-game build-up, but I worry about VAR today. When you see the penalty Brighton didn’t get yesterday, how can any football fan not have concerns about the standards of officiating and decision making? That was absolutely nailed on but Lee Mason just decided to ignore the obvious foul. How can that happen?

The Arsenal team news is there is no team news, at least not according to Mikel Arteta in his pre-game press conference. You never know what can happen in training before a game, as Mohamed Elneny’s absence last week showed, but assuming there’s nothing like that, it will be the same side that won the North London derby last week. What can you say but ‘More of the same, please’?

Where we do have a little extra today is on the bench, with the arrival of Leandro Trossard giving Mikel Arteta another experienced option for his front three. As we saw during the Newcastle game, that was something which could have been very useful, and fingers crossed the Belgian can make a Freddie Ljungberg-esque impact on his debut if called on against United today.

As for United, their improvement under Eric ten Hag is obvious. Having rid themselves of a preening, self-absorbed individualist, he is starting to create an actual team at Old Trafford. A useful thing given football is a team game, and not one designed to facilitate the goalscoring ambitions of a man whose Adam’s Apple looks like he’s swallowed a piece of pointy flint and it got stuck. They’re on a good run of form, and while I think they’re still some way from being the kind of United team we’ve come against in the past, they’re definitely better than they were.

They will be without Casemiro today, who decided to swerve today’s game by launching into a ludicrous challenge during their midweek game that could easily have been a red. He has been good for them, but as Mikel Arteta pointed out, they won the last game without him, so it’s down to us to make the most of his absence.

In terms of how they might rejig their midfield, the McFred combo seems the most obvious for an away game. Cristian Eriksen in midfield against this Arsenal team would be a bit of a gamble, so expect McTominay to leave one on one of our key players very early on. That might set the tone for how the game goes. If the referee is strong enough to deal with it, great. If not, I worry about how they’ll be allowed boot us with impunity then one of our players is booked for his first meagre foul (probably Saka).

Mikel Arteta says:

I think the history and the clashes and the way those two clubs have competed, it tells you everything that you need to know before the match. It’s a huge game in the league, in the country, around the world and we have to prepare for that. The table says what it says this season right now but our main focus is on being prepared for a big match.

United also played in midweek, so we might well have a bit of a physical advantage, especially in the second half. Fingers crossed at home, with a red hot atmosphere, and a result from earlier in the season to put right, we have what it takes to extend our lead at the top back to five points again.

For more on the game, we have our preview podcast for you over on Patreon. As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage of the game, and all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News.

Catch you later for all that, and come on you reds!

The post Man United preview: More of the same, please appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Good morning, a quick Saturday round-up for you.

Arsenal made their first signing of the January window, securing the arrival of Leandro Trossard from Brighton for a fee of £21m which could potentially reach £27m. As I wrote yesterday, there are lots of reasons why this is a smart signing, so there’s no need to go over them again – but it’s clear that one of the important ones is how quickly he can settle in and make an impact.

Mikel Arteta spoke about it in his press conference yesterday, saying:

“|We are really happy to have him. He’s a player we have followed for a while now. The opportunity came – we had the necessity to have a player in the frontline who is versatile enough to play in different positions.

“He knows the league, he has enough experience here and I think he can have an immediate impact in the team. We have to think short-term, but medium and long-term as well. He gives us all of that. He’s a very intelligent player. When you look at his career and what he’s done in the last few years, he’s a player that fits our way of playing.”

While the player himself said:

Arsenal has so much history and I want to be part of that history going on. That’s why I joined this project. I’m really excited to be here. I want to show myself to all the fans and on the biggest stage.

I’m really excited to see the fans in the stadium. I hope I can give you my all. I want to try and create as many magic moments as possible, and hopefully we can celebrate together.

The club made a point of saying that the paperwork was completed ahead of yesterday’s noon deadline for him to be available for Sunday’s game against Man Utd, and hopefully he can be part of the squad for that. We have a lot of football to play in the second half of this season, so the quicker gets involved the better.

For more on Trossard, Phil Costa’s profile piece is here – and for Patreon members, we do our usual new signing podcast which you can check out here. A Tross-cast, if you will.

—

The transfer news didn’t begin and end there, as I had expected – for yesterday at least. We’d barely had the news that all the Trossard stuff was done when we were heavily linked with Polish centre-half Jakub Kiwior. He currently plays for Spezia in Serie A, and reports say a £20m fee has been agreed between the clubs and he’ll travel to London this weekend to complete the formalities of the deal. He might even be at the stadium to watch the United game.

He is a left-footed centre-half who can play in midfield too (sounds a bit familiar, eh?), and it makes a lot of sense when you consider how we don’t have ‘natural’ cover for Gabriel. We have players who can play there, but Mikel Arteta likes a left-footed player in that position, and we don’t have that. Gabriel has started 53 consecutive Premier League games which is a real measure of his consistency and durability, but it also illustrates it’s one of the positions on the pitch where we’re just a little light.

The clip below a very interesting 90 seconds or so on Kiwior, a player many of us will be doing our homework on over the weekend.

Insight into Jakub Kiwior – @FMAnalysis spoke in detail about the Polish defender, his strong ball-playing ability, versatility and potential on our World Cup Standouts podcast. A snippet. pic.twitter.com/3gelDHoz3p

— Scouted Football (@scoutedftbl) January 20, 2023

From my brief look at him so far, he’s good on the ball, he’s 6’2 so gives us more physical presence, and the out-of-the-blue-ness of this one is interesting too. This is when we need to buy players. Let’s be honest, Mudryk was one we should have done last summer before it went mental. I’m not saying this scenario is the same, but this price-tag is much more commensurate to a 22 year old who just broke into his national side in the last 12 months. He’s far more experienced than Mudryk, but attackers have the special sauce which makes the price go through the roof. Anyway, this looks like smart business too.

There is also talk of signing Valladolid right-back Ivan Fresneda, suggestions that he’ll play his final game for the Spanish side today before moving to London. We’ll wait for details on that one, but we’re not short of options in that position, so it might be a case he signs and ends up loaned back. Unless we want to get him in and indoctrinated in the Arsenal way as soon as possible. He’s 18, and garnering a lot of interest, so like the one above, maybe we’ve decided to get in quickly before the fee gets out of hand.

Finally, an quite excitingly, there’s a link to Real Madrid’s French international Eduardo Camavinga. In The Standard, Simon Collings reports that Arsenal are interested in a loan deal for the 20 year old who is somewhat on the outs at the Bernebeu. He has started just five games in La Liga, and this would be a hugely exciting signing – even just on loan, because we all have those midfield worries. Personally, I think Real Madrid would be mental to let him go, but then we all know football clubs can be a bit mad at times. There are shades of Martin Odegaard in the January of 2021, so let’s see what happens.

What we can say is that after a couple of weeks where things didn’t come off in the market, Arsenal look to have moved quickly to address that. Whether we’re going in a completely different direction, or bringing forward some plans we have for the summer – or a bit of both – I don’t exactly know, but it really does feel like we’re giving it a good push for the most important second half of a season in nearly 20 years.

Till tomorrow.

The post Transfer explosion: Trossard done + links to Kiwior, Fresneda and Camavinga appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

After unexpectedly losing out on primary target Mykhaylo Mudryk, Arsenal reacted quickly to complete a deal for Brighton forward Leandro Trossard.

But who is the Belgian, what will he bring to the side and why is he costing (up to) £27 million? Phil Costa reports.

—

When it comes to scouting, few in recent years can match the track record of Brighton in English football. Following their promotion to the Premier League five years ago, they have signed the likes of Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma, Moisés Caicedo and recent World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister, from Getafe, Lille, Independiente del Valle and Boca Juniors respectively. In-demand winger Leandro Trossard was also brought to the club in 2019 after impressing for Genk, where former manager Graham Potter pushed for his arrival.

And most would agree that his £15m transfer fee was money well spent – despite a difficult ending. The Belgian has been a mainstay for Brighton since stepping through the doors at AMEX Stadium, thriving in several different positions and was even voted the club’s Player of the Year for 2022. He departs with 39 goal contributions (25G, 14A) in 121 appearances and more than played his part in establishing the Seagulls’ top flight status in recent seasons.

Hat-trick hero. @BrightonTools pic.twitter.com/QUdKjW5gTp

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) October 1, 2022

What instantly stands out whilst watching Trossard is his technical security. The Belgian lacks natural pace to create separation from defenders, but instead uses his low centre of gravity, ability to manipulate the ball and neat touches to escape pressure. Stylistically, he will not be able to replicate the hard-running, direct styles of Gabriel Martinelli or Bukayo Saka but offers Mikel Arteta more variety when looking to break down deep defences.

He currently sits in the 95th percentile for progressive passes (3.4) and passes into the penalty area (2.4) per 90 among positional peers in the Premier League – Opta data – while his 3.7 shot-creating actions per 90 leaves him in the 89th percentile; highlighting his more creative instincts.

The 28-year-old has also proven his knack for goalscoring without being prolific. This season alone, Trossard has netted against Manchester City and Chelsea, in addition to his hat-trick at Anfield back in October. There is a hint of streakiness to the Belgian but that capacity to contribute in big games could prove crucial. More importantly, Trossard is extremely decisive in the penalty area with accomplished ball striking technique on both feet and awareness to set up teammates. He is able to generate significant power with little backlift and likes to take shots on early, which affords goalkeepers little time to reset their positioning.

As pointed out by Dan Critchlow, the Maasmechelen-born forward has taken an identical number of shots with his left and right foot in the Premier League this season (19-19), which also rang true during the 2020/21 season (28-28). More encouragingly, his non-penalty xG of 4.4 can only be bettered by Saka from the current squad, which Trossard is still over-performing on seven goals. His shot selection is clearly very considered – the majority of which come from inside the penalty box – with 16 of those 34 shots hitting the target this season.

He also offers Arsenal greater versatility having played at wing-back, on both flanks and even false nine for Brighton since joining the club. While Mykhaylo Mudryk was clearly earmarked for a significant role in this team, he has only played at left wing throughout his career. Trossard comes in as important cover across the frontline – able to compete with and ease the burden on first choice options – while also taking Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Jesus into account, whose integrations will need managing after long injury absences.

Defensively, the Belgian is hardworking but must be stronger in direct duels (doo-ells?) to play under Arteta. His defensive output has dropped considerably this season compared to previous campaigns – whether that is down to instruction or otherwise remains unclear – but he often feels light and non-committal heading into challenges. Alternatively, the 28-year-old currently sits fourth in the Premier League for ball recoveries (4.5) per 90 which highlights his capacity to identify space and exploit pressing triggers.

Another habit Trossard will have to curb is doing ‘too much’ in possession, especially after beating players where he often dribbles back into trouble or gives other teammates a chance to surround him. His ‘streakiness’ was also mentioned above – there is an ongoing joke amongst Brighton fans that he disappears between November and March every year which is something to keep in mind – especially with him likely to be playing fewer minutes.

—

It’s fair to say that Arsenal fans have been brought back down to earth after failed pursuits of Mudryk and João Félix this month. The storyline was written: young players with skill and star quality to arrive and help secure a first domestic title in 19 years. Trossard may not have the same gravity but his proven Premier League quality ticks plenty of boxes for this squad and their targets.

Last January, the club opted against signing anybody after parting ways with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, leaving their top four pursuit in the hands of Saka, Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah who quickly usurped Alexandre Lacazette up front. That gamble failed – letting it happen again wouldn’t be another gamble but pure negligence. This young group are edging towards something special but desperately need help, before their hamstrings turn into dust after playing 90 minutes twice-a-week until June.

Trossard joins with experience, a high technical level and consistent output to help this group in arguably his last chance to impress at a big club. The recent falling out with Roberto De Zerbi deserves consideration but scouts will have done their homework – this was a player being followed four years ago when they bought Nicolas Pépé. Arsenal, meanwhile, are searching for all the above. Someone with top flight know-how and quality to push their attacking starlets but also protect them during the final stages of a ruthless schedule.

This doesn’t need to be the perfect marriage but it’s one that undoubtedly works. After all, we are better judges of convenience than we are of love.

The post New signing profile: Leandro Trossard appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Morning all, happy Friday to you.

Let’s start with the main story this morning, and that’s what appears to be the imminent arrival of Leandro Trossard from Brighton. Unless, of course, Chelsea decide to get involved, which might sound like a joke but I was in the supermarket yesterday and a little old lady was buying the last bag of potatoes when Todd Boehly came along, punched her in the face, and took the potatoes even though the potatoes preferred to be eaten by the old lady.

It looks like the fee will be £21m + add-ons which might take it to £27m, and while initially I thought his contract expired in the summer, it turns out Brighton took up an option to add another year so the fee makes a lot more sense in that context. I have some thoughts on this, and I can understand why – after you spend weeks and weeks pursuing a 22 year old potential wonderkid – signing a 28 year old from Brighton might feel a little underwhelming.

However, we talked about Arsenal having to pivot from one target to another, and when you can’t get a player you want, you don’t always have to go for something that’s exactly the same. You have to look at the market, especially in January when many clubs don’t want to let players go, and see who’s out there. For me, Trossard ticks a lot of boxes.

Premier League experience

Our recent recruitment of relatively young players has been a success, but it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do it – and let’s not forget that while they might have been young, almost all of them had a lot of first time football under their belts. Given the circumstances we find ourselves in this season, top of the table, the quicker any addition can hit the ground running the better. On that basis, with 116 Premier League appearances to his name, you’d hope the Belgian international can hit the ground running. Obviously there will be things for him to learn about what Mikel Arteta wants from his players, but he’s got the experience to pick that up quickly.

He can score goals, a hat-trick at Anfield this season with his ‘wrong’ foot was a good demonstration of his ability with both feet (something we know Arteta has a bit of a thing for when he adds to the squad), and he’s creative enough too. A cursory look at his shot creating actions stats on fBref stacks up pretty well with both Saka and Martinelli, even though he’s missed a bit of football for Brighton of late.

Front three depth

This season he’s played primarily on the left for Brighton, but has been used up front. I think that’s more out of necessity than choice, but when you’re a side with just one recognised centre-forward, it’s useful to have someone else who can play there. He has played occasionally on the right too. We have FA Cup, Europa League and Premier League to contest between now and May, and there is already a heavy burden on the two first choice wide players in particular.

Adding Trossard gives us the chance to rest/rotate. Having an option to come off the bench and make an impact is something he gives us too. Remember just a few weeks ago when we played Newcastle and Arteta felt none of his subs quite fit on the night? I don’t think he’d have had reservations about introducing Trossard. Maybe you nick the goal that grabs you two extra points that, come the end of the season, are vital.

Availability

The last thing we needed after a lengthy pursuit of a player ended unsuccessfully was another saga. There are now just 11 days left in this transfer window, and the quicker we made an addition the better. Obviously the fact he fell out with Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi meant we weren’t trying to prise a player away from a club didn’t want to sell. Brighton were open to his departure.

I’ve seen some people worry about that dispute, but as far as I can tell it’s not like he has a track record of bad behaviour. Albert Stuivenberg, Mikel Arteta’s assistant, was in charge of Genk for a short time, and Trossard was a player there at the time. He’d know his character, and ultimately, having spent so much time and having gone through some very difficult moments to weed out some undesirable characters at the club, the last thing Arteta is going to do is sign somebody who might undermine that. Especially now.

Reportedly Trossard hates it when he doesn’t play. Well, good. Who needs a player who is content to sit on the bench? Let him come in and compete and push those around him. I’ve really got no issue with that, and I don’t worry about disruption. I think the player will understand the circumstances he’s arriving in, what his role will be in the second half of the season, and the opportunity he has to be part of something that could be really special.

Leftovers

The other thing that spending £21m does – as opposed to £100m – is leave you with money over. We know Arsenal wanted both Mykhaylo Mudryk and Joao Felix. Those would have been expensive deals but they were willing to do them. Trossard is, by recent standards anyway, a bit of a snip when it comes to price. It means there’s still money left to do more in this window.

Whether that’s another attacker, whether it’s a central midfielder (although that’s a little more complicated – for more on that check out today’s Arsecast), or something else, we’ll have to wait and see. I suspect we’ll add one more before the end, but as to who it might be and when, your guess is as good as mine.

The deadline for Trossard to be available for this weekend is midday today, he has to be signed and registered by then to be in the squad to face United. It’s possible, but I’m not 100% it’ll happen, so let’s see. All in all, I think he’ll be a useful signing, and when you’re pushing for your first Premier League title in nearly 20 years, sometimes useful is exactly what you need.

—

Right, let’s leave it there for now. For some extra reading this morning, Tim’s column this week looks at Oleksandr Zinchenko.

As I mentioned, there’s a lot to chat about on the Arsecast, including what else we might do in January, so check out my chat with Amy Lawrence below. Have a good one.

Download – iTunes – Spotify – Acast – RSS

The post Why the Leandro Trossard deal makes sense appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Welcome to another episode of the Arsecast – the Arsenal podcast.

In this episode I’m joined by Amy Lawrence to reflect further on a f*ck off win in the North London derby, the idea of a siege mentality within the squad and how important it is, Mikel Arteta’s role in building that, the excitement and fear that comes with the opportunity that the club have this season, plus discussion of the January transfer window and the potential additions after missing out on Mykhaylo Mudryk, and more.

Follow Amy @amylawrence71

Get extra bonus content and help support Arseblog by becoming an Arseblog Member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arseblog

If you are a regular listener via iTunes, if you would be so kind as to leave a review/rating that would be greatly appreciated.

Download – iTunes – Spotify – Acast – RSS

The post Episode 714 – Painful desperation appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Most Arsenal fans would have been au fait with the concept of inverted full-backs prior to the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko. Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal very typically tilted their attack to one side of the pitch and, in Wenger’s case, the left-back was often invited to push on and play like a support winger, while the right-back tucked in and played like a support centre-half.

Even last season, Arteta’s Arsenal had the same modus operandi. Tomiyasu would shuffle across like a third centre-half, allowing Gabriel Magalhães to push over to the left touchline so that Kieran Tierney or Nuno Tavares could provide an overlap on the left-flank. That all changed during the summer when Arteta raided his former club Manchester City for Zinchenko.

Guardiola has been playing with full-backs who invert into midfield for many years now, dating back to the time he used Philip Lahm in this fashion at Bayern Munich. Following his first game in charge of Manchester City, I recall the bemusement on Match of the Day as they observed former Arsenal full-backs Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy popping up in the centre circle when City had possession.

Clearly Sagna and Clichy were not going to be longed for that particular experiment but it set the template for how Guardiola wanted to play. Since then, Zinchenko and now João Cancelo have re-interpreted the full-back role under Guardiola in much the way Philip Lahm did in Bavaria. What’s especially amazing about how Zinchenko has revolutionised Arsenal’s approach is that we didn’t really see it coming.

Arsenal have signed Kieran Tierney to a new contract and bought Nuno Tavares during Arteta’s tenure. Perhaps Tavares, with his ability to drive inside on his right-foot, offered a slight clue of the direction of travel in retrospect. But the Portuguese is very much in the “winger in full-back’s clothing” mould of Kieran Tierney.

During the summer, Arsenal cased Lisandro Martinez from Ajax before being ‘gazumped’ by Manchester United and the offer of working with his former Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag. Martinez is a left-sided centre-half who can play at left-back. He is not in the same mould as Zinchenko, who is much more of a number eight disguised as a left-back.

Now, there is some suggestion that Arsenal wanted both players and given the lack of back-up for Gabriel, that would make some sense. Upon his arrival, it was thought that the Ukrainian could offer support to both the left-back position and the central midfield. Given that Arsenal essentially had the end of their most recent campaign ruined by predictable injuries to Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney, that made some sense.

I don’t think any of us foresaw the transformation Zinchenko would play left-back and central midfield at the same time. He has totally usurped Kieran Tierney by now and Takehiro Tomiyasu is often preferred to the Scot at left-back. As Arsenal sought to lock the North London derby down on Sunday, Tomiyasu replaced Zinchenko, with Tierney deployed higher up as a substitute for Gabriel Martinelli. A year ago, Tierney was essentially the deputy captain to Lacazette, so it is difficult to believe that Arteta had always planned to oust him from the team- at least not this quickly.

Because the way Zinchenko plays left-back for Arsenal has revolutionised the team. He isn’t really a left-back at all. In essence, he is a central midfield partner for Thomas Partey and his presence unlocks other key figures in the team. He offers that technical and physical support for Partey, often joining him in the high press and providing a consistent passing option for Partey.

Zinchenko is almost like a technical contractor, popping up here and there to plug gaps when needed and provide respite to his colleagues on the ball. Much like Cancelo at Manchester City, it makes him very difficult to control for the opposition. Man-marking is not a popular tactic in modern football because no coach likes to concede a whole player from their team and you certainly can’t man-mark the nominal left-back without pulling your team’s structure out of kilter.

Zinchenko attempts 74 passes per 90, according to FBRef. No player to have played 45 minutes or more has attempted more for Arsenal this season. After last season’s victory at Watford, when Arteta bemoaned his team’s inability to “play 300,000 passes in the opponent’s half”, few would have predicted that a left-back would solve that issue. Only Thomas Partey averages more touches in the middle third of the pitch at Arsenal this season.

Few of Zinchenko’s passes, individually, are especially cutting. He has one assist this season from 0.4 expected assists. He has 1.55 shot creating actions per 90, that’s lower than Kieran Tierney, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ben White and Thomas Partey. If Arsenal are trying to play death by a thousand cuts football, Zinchenko is armed not with a gun but with a pocket-knife.

He is softening the opponent up with sly digs to the ribs. Crucially, he unlocks other players in the team who have been able to find a new level. Gabriel Martinelli stays high and wide in Arsenal’s attack and is encouraged to isolate the opposition right-back, he has no overlapping full-back to call on. Instead, Granit Xhaka underlaps by running inside him.

This explains Xhaka’s increased attacking output this season. He often finds himself available in the half-space inside Martinelli, where he can either offer the cut-back for a teammate, or else shoot himself. He is not really a central midfielder anymore, playing instead in that slither of the left half-space- the more central work has been outsourced to Zinchenko alongside Partey. Look again at where Saka’s goal against Brighton emanates, from a Zinchenko and Partey pincer movement to win the ball back high up the pitch.

HIGHLIGHTS | Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal (2-4) | Saka, Odegaard, Nketiah, Martinelli – YouTube

They are the technical heartbeat of the team and should really be considered the central midfield partnership. Some players make the system, others are made by the system. The top teams are split roughly evenly between those two poles. Top teams have a good combination of foot soldiers and commanders and Xhaka has become a foot soldier so that Zinchenko can command.

The way Zinchenko has interpreted the role has caused me to assess Kieran Tierney’s performances far more harshly than is probably fair. He is an excellent full-back but Zinchenko has totally changed my expectations of the role. On two occasions against Oxford, Tierney blasted a loose ball into touch and I sighed audibly in a manner that I don’t think I would have before.

Zinchenko’s role is not without risk, of course. It can leave Arsenal vulnerable on their left-side, especially when teams counter quickly. West Ham earned their penalty at the Emirates on Boxing Day because they were quick to launch the ball into that space and catch Arsenal out. Antony scored against the Gunners at Old Trafford for similar reasons.

However, Zinchenko has so quickly become one of Arsenal’s most important players in a manner that has taken many of us by surprise. I expected him to offer strong squad support in two key roles, a little like an Emile Smith Rowe but for the back section of the team. Instead, he has transformed the way that Arsenal can play football, popping up hither and yon to provide technical support to his teammates like an office IT support guru.

He seems to teleport around the pitch yet, strangely, never seems to be in much of a rush. I can’t picture Zinchenko sprinting; I feel like I can’t conjure the image in my mind so seldom have I seen it. Yet he is omnipresent, allowing Arsenal to create numerical superiority in midfield with ease. He might be the most peculiar transfer success I can remember in an Arsenal shirt.

Follow me on Twitter @Stillmanator

The post Zinchenko- Arsenal’s silent partner appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

Morning all.

We play Man Utd on Sunday at home, but they were in midweek action last night against Crystal Palace. Given that we have a ‘free’ week, and they played 90+ minutes, that’s useful for us. As is the 80th minute yellow card picked up by Casemiro which means he’ll be suspended for the game. The former Real Madrid man has been very good for them this season, and while he brings control, craft, quality and experience, his likely replacement – Scott McTominay – brings kicking people with impunity. A lot of kicking. So much kicking. So, so much kicking and booting of legs.

How many times will he foul someone before the ref even bothers to take notice? I estimate – and this is based on past history – around 634 fouls until the official says ‘Hey, I’ve got my eye on you. Another 12 fouls and I might think about giving you a warning before I let you make another 60 brutal assaults on someone’s ankle at which point I will  have no choice but to make the totting up gesture after which there’s no doubt a yellow card will be issued after another 6 fouls including a knee high lunge which puts an opponent in intensive care’.

It’s swings and roundabouts, innit. David de Gea is upset about the suspension for the Brazil international, saying, “I don’t get why Arsenal don’t play as we have to play in the same week and they don’t. Now we are missing one of our best players. I don’t understand.”

To be honest, I don’t really get it either. The Everton game has yet to be rescheduled and this would be have been a good time to play it, but for some reason it wasn’t. I suspect Mr de Gea needs to take this up with the people at Sky Sports and BT Sports who ultimately decide when these games take place. Squeezing it later in the season when the stakes are even higher and the pressure is mounting even further probably makes for a good broadcasting decision and decent ratings, but that’s not on us. I think if you’d asked Mikel Arteta if he’d fancied a midweek game against an Everton side who are so bad their fans have been driven to making protest banners which read like kindergarten poetry, he’d have been well up for it.

As for last night’s result, you have to say it’s decent. It looked as if United were set to take all three points before Michael Olise’s ridiculously good free kick grabbed Palace a point at the death. How long before we get the ‘Olise to Arsenal’ stuff chundering away on social media etc? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very good player and I think he’d actually give us some genuine depth, but I think we’re at the point now where anyone who does anything good and looks remotely like he’d fit is going to be spoken about as a potential transfer target. How realistic is Olise? With just over 10 days left of the window, realism starts to merge with a bit of panic, but I’d say ‘Not very’. Is this a reverse jinx? Absolutely not.

Speaking of which, Man City take on Spurs at the Etihad tonight, and after what happened in the derby with that absurd offside goal, they will be out for revenge. Not to mention the fact that Spurs beat them twice last season, so you can basically bet your house on City destroying them tonight. At the end of this game, Erling Haaland will stand over the barely breathing semi-corpses of Eric Dier, Lenglet and Romero, laughing at their pathetic attempts to suck air into their lungs as he enjoys the plunder of his four goal haul.

“HA HA!”, he will think to himself (that’s Norwegian for “HAHA!”), and afterwards, having kicked off about being the only one in front of the cameras after a bad result, Antonio Conte will drag Daniel Levy by the ear into his post-game press conference, and say, “Now, you explain why we are so bad. Cazzo fai, sfigato?!”

That will mean our lead is cut ahead of the United game on Sunday, but as we’ve shown this season more than once, when the pressure is on we can respond. There will, of course, be plenty of time to look ahead to that game over the next few days. For now, I’m gonna walk dogs.

Have a good one folks, back tomorrow with more and a brand new Arsecast.

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