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Match report – Participant rankings – Arteta response – Video
Arsenal have a mountain to climb to achieve the Carabao Cup closing after a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on the Emirates final night time.
As I anticipated, Mikel Arteta picked a robust facet to face a group in good kind, and there was even an indication of Raheem Sterling on the bench to – nominally at the least – give us one other attacking possibility. The guests started brightly, urgent excessive, and discovering some house in our closing third early on.
I believe we must always have been forward although, Jurrien Timber in some way headed a thirteenth minute Declan Rice nook over the bar from shut vary. He’s received to place that one away. Tonali shot over for them after extra after good work from Alexander Isak, however because the half went on I believe the momentum modified a bit and we received extra into it. On the half hour we must always have scored when a superb first time ball despatched Gabriel Martinelli by way of. He did all the pieces proper, burst away from the chasing defenders, however crashed his shot off the keeper’s close to publish. Maybe a end to the opposite facet gave him extra likelihood of scoring, however one on one like that, you need to take your likelihood.
The results of that got here dwelling to roost a couple of minutes later when Newcastle went forward. The keeper lumped an extended free kick to the sting of the field, we didn’t win the primary header, and whereas there was maybe a fortunate deflection into the trail of Isak, Martin Odegaard was at defensive sixes and sevens, and essentially the most in-form striker round proper now made no mistake with the possibility to make it 1-0.
It was Isak who made the distinction within the second half too. His good motion noticed him drop off to obtain a go in our half (I believe we must always have been extra aggressive defensively and never allowed Tonali that a lot time on the ball), he laid it off out huge, and stored going into our field. Declan Rice is ball watching, Thomas Partey can clearly see the hazard however doesn’t react in any respect, and when Isak’s fast shot was saved by Raya, Timber was caught on his heels a bit as Anthony Gordon got here into tuck dwelling the rebound.
2-0 down at dwelling, and it was an uphill battle. Virtually instantly Newcastle dropped right into a 4-5-1 defensive form and did to make use of what Everton and others have executed this season. A low block is our kryptonite, and we battle. When you have a look at the stats, we had 78% possession after their second aim, however simply 9 pictures and 0 on the right track. Fairly how Kai Havertz missed that header I don’t know: the mitigation can be he’s spent every week on his sickbed, besides it’s a horrendous miss that might have given us a lifeline for what remained of this recreation and for the second leg.
There was a Jorginho shot from exterior the field that flew over, but it surely was all too simple for Newcastle to cope with. Crosses into the field had been meat and drink for the defence – even after we threw Gabriel up entrance late on – and simply not sufficient craft or guile to search out the correct of openings. Finally, whereas there are clearly components of our efficiency and personnel that may be analysed to dying, final night time can in all probability be boiled down to at least one easy piece of study: when you’ve fine quality up entrance, you’ve an excellent likelihood of profitable video games like this – and Alexander Isak is 100% that.
Some will argue that with out Bukayo Saka we’re lacking our Isak, and that’s not unfair. In the event that they got here with out him, and we had Saka, wouldn’t it have been completely different? Who is aware of? Possibly … in all probability … however that’s not the truth we’re residing in. He actually was the distinction maker although, scientific and environment friendly, however past that particular person high quality, I believe there are points of fashion for Arsenal to deal with as nicely.
A rising bug-bear for me is the best way we enable groups to get utterly reset by taking far too many touches in our personal half. The central defenders do it, the central midfielders do it too, and by the point we shift the ball to positions the place we’d like gamers to harm the opposition, they closed down and doubled-up on. Maybe it’s too simplistic to say we’d like tempo, however I believe that could be a key ingredient that’s lacking from this Arsenal facet.
I don’t simply imply a very quick man who can run actually quick down the wing, I imply tempo of go, velocity of thought, fast motion that may unsettle defences. There’s merely not sufficient of that on this group, so we glance one-paced, pedestrian, and change into simple to defend in opposition to when the opposition is nicely organised and disciplined. What we get is contact contact contact contact go contact contact go contact contact contact go contact contact contact go advert infinitum and it’s power sapping to observe.
That Martinelli second was unbelievable as a result of we used the ball rapidly after profitable it in our half. Bang, three passes to get us from deep to a one on one with their keeper. Sure, I know how groups arrange in opposition to us performs an element in how usually we are able to do that, however more often than not when that breakdown occurs in our half, we glance to retain possession slightly than harm the opposition. This opportunity was so hanging as a result of it’s so uncommon, and it’s a problem we now have to deal with – not due to final night time, however as a normal downside with our play this season.
I’ve seen quite a lot of speak about our xG final night time being very excessive however for me that was extra about quantity slightly than high quality. 23 pictures in whole, 6 huge probabilities, however 0 objectives. 23 makes an attempt will rack up some xG, however all of us have eyes too and we noticed that this seemed like an Arsenal group that’s badly lacking one thing – not simply within the attacking third, however behind it too. I believed Martin Odegaard was quiet once more, his kind proper now’s wretched, however the onus can’t be on him alone to create.
It does really feel like he’s lacking Saka (who doesn’t) however Rice skewed fairly a good distance left when it comes to his motion areas final night time, and that doesn’t give the captain anybody to play with when he’s in possession. Late on, we noticed how our issues had been laid naked when it was usually William Saliba pushing up excessive to play within the house that Odegaard or Saka normally function in on the correct hand nook of the opposition field. That’s not a criticism of him, by the best way, however the system which means he’s the person attempting to fill that artistic hole.
Lastly, even supposing he’s solely simply again from a knee damage, the supervisor’s refusal to make use of Raheem Sterling from the bench was notable for me. It’s not the primary time this season that we’ve been looking for a aim, and he remained unused. If he’s not even an possibility after we’re determined, then he’s no possibility in any respect and you need to convey another person in. I did marvel final night time if leaving Sterling sitting down was a type of message from Arteta to the board about what he has to work with, however when it boils proper right down to it, that is the ahead line he and Edu put collectively and he has to take some accountability for that.
There’s little question Arsenal want extra in assault, there’s no query in my thoughts that we now have to do enterprise in January, however if you fail to put money into your ahead line correctly and – on the floor at the least – prioritise defensive signings over attackers, you allow your self open to questions and criticism, and final night time laid naked a few of our switch enterprise in latest occasions. Our three summer time signings didn’t play a single minute of a giant cup tie final night time, and whereas the schedule might need performed an element in that, it’s hanging in isolation.
Afterwards, Arteta was requested about Isak, and stated:
That’s what you’ve – the actual high quality up entrance they usually could make a distinction. They’re very scientific.
They had been. We weren’t, and are usually not too usually. And it’s an issue. If might need been a primary defeat in 14 video games, but it surely additionally felt prefer it was coming. Arteta’s insistence that it’s solely ‘half-time’ on this tie is the general public message he has to ship, however he’ll know what an enormous problem it’s going to be to show it round. You’ll be able to’t say we now have no likelihood, but it surely’s very slim, and that provides a stage of significance to this weekend’s FA Cup tie in opposition to Man Utd too.
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Proper, I’ll go away it there for now. We’ll have an Arsecast for you a bit afterward this morning, so please be part of us for that. Till then, have a very good one.
