Nuno Tavares, Mikel Arteta and Tijjani Reijnders (Pictures by Marco Rosi, Justin Setterfield, Angel Martinez/Getty Pictures)
With about 25 minutes to go at Southampton on Sunday, it was wanting like turning right into a close to good weekend for Arsenal within the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s facet produced their greatest efficiency of the season up to now on Saturday as they brushed Nottingham Forest apart 3-0 after which they sat again and watched Manchester Metropolis get taken aside by a scientific Spurs on the Etihad.
Southampton’s fightback towards Liverpool at St Mary’s, which noticed them main 2-1 after falling behind early on, seemed like placing the gloss on what had been a superb 24 hours, however then that man Mo Salah carried out his rescue act for Liverpool, albeit with lots of assist from the Saints keeper and defence.
So issues didn’t fairly end up in addition to they may have executed for Arsenal, with Liverpool sustaining their 9 level benefit over them, however to be sincere that was anticipated initially of the weekend. Any dropped factors from Liverpool on the south coast would have been a bonus.
For Arsenal the important thing factor now could be to only construct on the outcome and efficiency towards Forest, as a result of it was excellent. For the primary time in a very long time there was an actual sense of steadiness within the group. They seemed far more just like the Arsenal facet now we have develop into accustomed to during the last couple of years and they should construct on that now.
You’ll be able to see the distinction that Martin Odegaard has made, it’s been huge. However having Riccardo Calafiori again on the left was essential, as was having Jurrien Timber again taking part in on his extra pure proper hand facet. Each side of the pitch seemed balanced and that’s one thing that has been lacking.
If Mikel Arteta can proceed to have his huge gamers accessible to him over the approaching weeks then there isn’t any purpose why they’ll’t string a powerful successful run collectively. There are six winnable video games within the league between now and New 12 months’s Day, if Arsenal win all six then I’m satisfied they are going to be inside touching distance of Liverpool once they enter 2025 after which will probably be all to play for.
Liverpool are on a hell of a run, but it surely doesn’t really feel like they’re unbeatable. Issues are going their means a bit and Sunday’s recreation at Southampton was a transparent instance of that.
On one hand you take a look at it and say they gained whereas taking part in fairly poorly, which is the signal of a very good group, however on the opposite you could possibly say they’re having fun with a good bit of luck proper now that has to expire in some unspecified time in the future.
This weekend will clearly be enormous. Arsenal have to ensure they get the job executed at West Ham after which see what occurs at Anfield when Liverpool host Manchester Metropolis.
Metropolis look a little bit of a large number in the intervening time. They’re really easy to play by means of and you’d count on Liverpool to reap the benefits of that. However Pep Guardiola’s facet will know they’ll’t actually afford to lose and that may very well be harmful for Liverpool.
So I don’t suppose the title race is over. It’s too early for that. Liverpool are in an unbelievable place. However I don’t suppose any of their rivals will likely be waving the white flag simply but.
Nuno Tavares in a press convention (Photograph by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Pictures)
It’s nice to see Nuno Tavares doing nicely at Lazio and hopefully the damage he picked up throughout worldwide obligation doesn’t preserve him out for too lengthy.
However there’s no means you possibly can take a look at how he’s performing in Italy and the query whether or not issues might have gone in a different way for him at Arsenal.
It’s not like he didn’t get alternatives. He received a lot. He was simply very uncooked and didn’t actually profit from these alternatives.
You would see he had expertise and that he had the attributes to be an honest participant, however he was – and nonetheless is to be sincere – a bit too chaotic a participant for a Mikel Arteta group.
He does at all times have a tendency to begin brightly at new golf equipment as nicely after which tail off a bit. He did it at Arsenal and at Marseille, so will probably be fascinating to see whether or not he can preserve this manner with Lazio.
Offering a number of clauses are met, his mortgage will likely be made everlasting in the summertime and he’ll keep in Italy. Arsenal will get their a reimbursement on him and have a really huge sell-on clause included within the cope with Lazio.
I feel that’s fairly good enterprise to be truthful. I actually don’t take a look at what he’s doing and remorse that he was allowed to go away and I can’t think about there will likely be many individuals at Arsenal who really feel any completely different.
Tijjani Reijnders is a participant who continually appears to be within the headlines in the intervening time, with golf equipment throughout Europe being linked with him.
Manchester Metropolis, Spurs, Barcelona, Actual Madrid are all stated to be wanting on the AC Milan star, and I’ve seen Arsenal being linked now as nicely.
It’s not one thing that I’ve heard of myself and the hypothesis doesn’t actually appear to be coming from retailers of a lot substance in the case of Arsenal issues, so I’m a bit sceptical about it.
However he’s clearly doing excellent issues for Milan and is a high quality participant, so you’d count on a few of Europe’s high golf equipment will likely be maintaining a tally of him forward of the January window.
I’m nonetheless not anticipating a lot from Arsenal in the case of January although, the message we’re getting is that the main target stays on the summer time in the case of any vital enterprise.
Clearly that may change ought to a possibility current itself in January that’s deemed too good to show down, however we’ll have to attend and see if that occurs.
If Ruben Amorim didn’t already know the scale of the duty going through him at Manchester United earlier than Sunday’s recreation at Ipswich, then he actually does now.
It’s clear that there’s loads of work to do to show issues round at Outdated Trafford and you’d suppose that Amorim is beneath no illusions by way of the work that he must do to get them competing once more.
I don’t know him overly nicely because the coach, however he’s clearly a really proficient operator and he put collectively a positive group at Sporting, one which knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League after all simply a few years in the past with that penalty shootout success on the Emirates.
I feel he’s an thrilling appointment for United. He’s a younger coach who has a transparent philosophy and the proof suggests that gamers like taking part in beneath him and he can get so much out of them.
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Gamers have thrived beneath him in Portugal and United will hope that he can do one thing comparable within the Premier League. He does have loads of expertise in that squad, however I can’t see him turning issues round rapidly.
Possibly they may win a cup this season, they actually ought to have a very good probability within the Europa League, however within the Premier League it ought to simply be about steadying the ship a bit and constructing in direction of subsequent season.
If Amorim can actually begin to get his concepts throughout they usually can enhance forward of the summer time, then a number of good signings within the window might put them in a very good place to have a very good crack in 2025/26.