Morning all.
After a disappointing defeat to West Ham, Mikel Arteta’s problem this night is to do higher towards a greater aspect as we go to Nottingham Forest in a while. Their place within the desk is likely to be one thing of a shock within the grand scheme of issues, however it’s under no circumstances undeserved. They’ve been very good this season, regardless of a number of ups and downs, and I suppose we have now to hope they’ve one of many latter performances this night.
However, I feel they’ll be licking their lips on the prospect of enjoying this iteration of Arsenal. We struggled towards Leicester till Mikel Merino got here up with the products, however when West Ham sat deep and mentioned ‘Come break us down’, we couldn’t try this. When you think about Forest’s game-plan is about permitting groups to have possession then hitting them on the break – slugging them on the break is likely to be even higher – we’re going to need to be at our greatest defensively tonight.
Then it turns into a query of how we enhance when we have now the ball, and that’s the troublesome one. Does he proceed with Mikel Merino as a false 9/centre-forward? Choices are so, so restricted, and from all the things we’ve seen he appears reluctant to choose Raheem Sterling it in any respect doable. If he did select him on the left, might Merino because the left 8 play that Kai Havertz supporting position to Leandro Trossard up entrance? That will imply considered one of Declan Rice or Jorginho on the base of midfield – and in a recreation like this Rice would the plain selection. It has labored to respectable impact earlier than, so it might be price a attempt if he feels Sterling will be efficient on the left (though I feel that’s unlikely).
Past that, maybe Merino continues up entrance, he goes with a Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard midfield trio, simply so as to add that little bit of passing vary from deep? Is Ben White match to begin a recreation to provide us a bit extra overlapping thrust on the appropriate? Might we do one thing a bit left-field and begin Kieran Tierney as properly, a extra conventional left-back overlapping on the left would assist us make the pitch larger somewhat than extra slim which tends to occur after we face sides who sit off? However then does that give Forest extra room to interrupt into?
The truth is none of those choices are ultimate, however I don’t suppose we are able to choose the identical workforce we did towards West Ham and simply count on it to be higher. I did say after that recreation that the gamers had must have been able to extra, however at this level I actually consider he has to make a tweak or two – and be certain that we have now one thing efficient on the bench if this can be a recreation we have to change late on. That’s simpler mentioned that carried out, though in his press convention yesterday he mentioned he relishes the challenges this season has introduced:
It’s been extremely satisfying to work daily with the gamers, the coaches and the workers to attempt to overcome sure conditions. If any individual tells you at the beginning of the season that by this time you should have performed 5 occasions with a crimson card, over half an hour in every of them, and you’ve got misplaced this quantity of gamers, what’s the guess you’re in the midst of the desk at the least, and you’re out of the Champions League?
However that’s not the scenario, in order that tells you the resilience, the sources and the ambition the workforce and that each particular person has, and that point has most likely been considered one of my proudest moments to work, in that sense.
If these are qualities he’s pleased with, and I can perceive why he is likely to be, he must elicit them in a giant means from his gamers this night. If we’re going to win, I feel we’ll win ugly. I might be fallacious, I usually am, however I don’t see us placing collectively the type of attacking efficiency that may blow a workforce like Forest away. It is likely to be a warfare of attrition to some extent, and we have now to make sure that we don’t give away a crap objective just like the one we did towards West Ham. After that, if we are able to nick one, and grind it out, I’d take that proper now.
This seems like a interval of the season, earlier than we hit the Interlull in March, the place the necessity to dig deep and present resilience – and a bit {of professional} delight after shedding on Saturday – shall be badly wanted. We have now a giant Champions League recreation subsequent, so going into that one on the again of a win can be very helpful. It’s price mentioning that Saturday was our first defeat in 16 Premier League video games, the slate is clear now, so let’s go once more.
For extra on this one, we’ve received a preview podcast for you over on Patreon, and as ever you may be a part of us later for reside weblog protection, plus all of the post-game stuff on Arseblog Information.
Till then, fingers crossed!
