- If One of Their Key Men Get Injured, They Won’t Be Able to Cope!’
After beating Bournemouth 3-0 in the third gameweek of the season, we rose to the top of the Premier League table for the first time this season. How long we would be able to stay there, however, was another question. Fast forward to 13th November 2022, with Premier League football about to be halted for the Qatar World Cup, and Arsenal were still sitting pretty at the top of the table, 5 points clear of Champions Manchester City.
The talk then turned from whether Arsenal could maintain their position at the top of the table, to how quickly the club would drop off if one of their key men were to get a long-term injury. Well, the chance to test the critics’ doubts perfectly presented itself, as Arsenal’s player of the season so far according to many, Gabriel Jesus, returned from international duty with a knee injury that required immediate surgery and a subsequently lay-off of up to 3 months. Up steps number two forward Eddie Nketiah then. No pressure. The young striker only had to match what Gabriel Jesus was doing in red and white. That merely meant being the club’s top direct goal contributor, pressing at an inhumane rate, and being able to produce moments of flair and magic that had the fans on their feet.
Well, in Eddie’s first league start of the season on Boxing Day against West Ham, he scored a beautiful goal, helping us to a 3-1 London Derby victory. In start two? Another goal, this time at The Amex in an impressive 4-2 win over an in-form Brighton side. Start three vs a revitalised Newcastle side proved to be a bit tougher, but Eddie led the line well, as the side failed to break down a stubborn Magpies side in our first goalless game of the season. Start four? No goals, but again, Eddie led the line honourably and caused Conte’s Spurs all sorts of problems in a memorable 2-0 win at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Last, and most definitely not least, Eddie bagged an excellent brace at home to Man United, which included an elegant last-minute flick to turn in the winner, making it 4 goals in 5 PL starts for the 23-year-old, helping us to maintain our 5-point lead at the top of the table.
Even Eddie’s biggest supporters couldn’t have foreseen 4 goals in his first 5 starts of the season against sides that, as of writing this article, occupy positions 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in the Premier League table. Those 4 strikes have also taken Eddie to 9 goals for the season, seeing him quickly rise to the top of our top goalscorer chart, above Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard on 8 apiece. The young striker also now ranks in the top 3 of ALL Premier League players for expected goals (0.81), shots on target (1.99) and big chances scored (0.61) per 90. Not bad for a backup who cost the club a grand total of £0.
Eddie therefore has perfectly disproved the theory that Arsenal couldn’t cope if one of their main men got injured. He’s came in and been almost faultless, and according to many fans, led the line even better than Gabi Jesus was before the World Cup break. Who would’ve thought it?
2. ‘Arsenal Don’t Win vs The Big Boys!’
From around 2006 onwards, one of the media’s favourite nicknames for Arsenal, whether it be under Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg, or now Mikel Arteta, was ‘flat-track bullies’. In other words, the club would always fare well against the bottom and middling sides of the league, but when it came to the top sides, the club would often fall to predictable defeat, especially away from home.
Just look at the 2015/16 season for example – the last season that the club can honestly say it made a run for the league title. Arsenal failed to win away against all 5 of the other current top 6 teams, which massively impacted that side’s push for the title, allowing 2500/1 underdogs Leicester to lift their first Premier League trophy. Rewind two more seasons back to 2013/14, when the club were top of the league heading into the new year, and history told pretty much the same story. The only top six side that the club beat on the road were Tottenham, but defeats like the 6-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge, the 5-1 loss at Anfield and the 6-3 loss at The Etihad overshadowed that narrow North London derby victory, as the club quickly dropped to 4th and finished there to mark a disappointing end to what once looked an extremely promising season.
This season, however, things are different. When we went to Stamford Bridge, we imposed our will on the game and won comfortably. Don’t be fooled by the 1-0 score line, the Blues had just 44% possession and 1 shot on target all game. Only one team turned up that day. Similarly, when we went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for January’s North London derby, we won to nil away to a top six side yet again. Once again, it was a routine victory. Add to that home victories against United, Spurs and Liverpool in which the club scored 3 goals in each game, the myth that Arsenal can’t do it against the big boys when it really matters is also quickly getting disproved this season.
Even though we lost 3-1 at Old Trafford in September, I don’t think I’m being biased in saying we were the better team. We had over 60% of the possession and over 15 attempts at goal, but United executed their counter-attacking game plan well, and punished us. Not to mention the incorrect intervention of VAR in disallowing Gabriel Martinelli’s perfectly legitimate opening goal, which the Premier League has since confirmed was one of six major errors made by VAR so far this season. On another day (and at another stadium) that goal counts, and perhaps the club would still be yet to lose a Premier League game this campaign.
The point is, Arsenal are showing up in the big games this season. And if you didn’t think we passed the eye test in those games, then you’ll just have to believe the statistics, as the club won the xG battle in 5 of the 6 Premier League games played so far vs the other top six sides. This Arsenal side doesn’t just play well against the lesser teams, it also turns up when it’s crunch time against the big boys, and away from home, too.
3. ‘Arsenal are too Easy to Bully!’
Back in October 2017, a certain Brummie striker made a comment that Arsenal fans are still yet to forget over half a decade later. After falling to a 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road, Troy Deeney stated that Arsenal ‘lack cojones’, claiming that the club are easily bullied and don’t do well when they face adversity in games. Now, even though it was cheeky of a striker of Deeney’s calibre to criticise a club as big as ours, a reason that his comment cut so deep for many Arsenal fans was because there was genuine truth to it. When the going got tough, Arsenal would often get going, and not in the right way.
When a decision would not go Arsenal’s way, a goal would be conceded against the run of play, or the club would face a side who were physical and direct, Arsenal would often be quick to capitulate, whether we like to admit it or not. We were too easy to bully, and too quick to surrender when an opponent would try to put us to the sword. Even though our sides over the years have been packed full of creative talent and flair, who would go out on the field and be able to ‘out-football’ most sides, for many teams who faced us with the right attitude and game plan, we were actually quite easy to play against.
This Arsenal 2022/23 side is different though. Completely different. Firstly, this side is well drilled. Everybody knows their positions, and everybody knows their roles. Not only that, but Mikel Arteta tactically prepares differently for each side that we face; the team has a clear game plan based on exploiting the opposition’s individual weaknesses as opposed to just trying to out-pass and outplay every opponent. When you add to that the three main ‘non-negotiables’ that Arteta has imprinted into this side of showing maximum respect, commitment and passion, no player can get away with not putting in 100% in each game without getting dropped for the next fixture. Mikel is ruthless, and over his three-year tenure he has slowly ridded the club of the soft, fair-weather nature that was frustratingly part of previous Arsenal sides’ DNA.
Furthermore, recent Arsenal sides have tended to be filled largely with technical and nimble, but shorter and at times lightweight players, who were easy to dominate in the physical battles. If you look back at the aforementioned 2013/14 side which made an early push for the title, half of the outfield players would be second favourites to win their weekly physical battle. The likes of Gibbs, Rosicky, Ramsey, Santi and Ozil for example all lacked size and strength and it was almost a foregone conclusion that the team couldn’t go toe-to-toe with the Stokes, Burnleys or Chelseas of this world, especially on those tougher away days. Fast forward almost a decade later, and our current side doesn’t suffer from the same deficiencies. I don’t look at our team and think it’s not up for a battle. In fact, I put us as favourites most weeks in the duels department. Take our two centre halves and two central midfielders for example – each of Saliba, Gabriel, Partey and Xhaka are over 6 foot and can more than physically hold their own. I’d go as far to say as Saliba, Gabriel and Partey are all athletically elite athletes, and for what Xhaka might lack in that department, he more than makes up for in aggression and tenacity, which helps give the team that nasty-side that it needs (when exercised responsibly).
Arsenal can’t be easily bullied any more. Those days are long gone. This is a team that is packed with technical quality like the former sides, but importantly, this team also has size, strength, bite, and the ability to battle physically that previous Arsenal sides so clearly lacked.
4. ‘Arsenal Don’t Have That DOG In Them!’
One pertinent criticism of Arsenal sides of the past has been that the club just doesn’t have that title-winning mentality that the likes of United, Chelsea or City do. When you think of Arsenal, you would often associate the club with an innate inability to get over the line when it matters most; a lack of resilience and hardiness to do what’s required to win at all costs. Despite winning 3 league titles since the Premier League’s inception in ’92, it didn’t feel like Arsenal had winning leagues in their DNA. To that exact point, the last time that Arsenal were champions of the country was 19 years ago – in a completely different era of football.
Since that unforgettable season of 2003/04, the club has produced many ‘nearly’ sides that we have already discussed in this article. The ‘if Eduardo didn’t get injured’ side of 2007/08, the ‘technically brilliant but not savvy enough‘ side of 2013/14, the ‘really should’ve won the league’ side of 2015/16, and so on. But all of those teams were exactly that and nothing more – ‘nearly’ sides who didn’t have the bottle or know-how for whatever reason/s to maintain their position at the top of the league after 38 games when it was all said and done. Sides that ultimately the history books will forget. Yet again, however, this 2022/23 side just feels different, and seems to be displaying the sort of traits and character that title-winning sides of the past had in abundance.
One attribute that a Premier League title-winning side has to have is the ability to win from behind. In the toughest league in the world, any team can beat any team. We know that. The side languishing in 20th-place set to be relegated can turn up on any given Saturday and beat the team sitting pretty in first. It’s the nature of the beast that is the Premier League and what makes it the greatest league in the world. There’s so much quality in every side that no team can just plain sail to a title, it doesn’t work like that.
That means that when a serious team goes a goal down, it has to find a way to not only to get something out of the game, but to win. And Arsenal have done that several times already this season. When Aleksandar Mitrovic pounced on a Gabriel Magalhaes error at The Emirates back in August, the best Arsenal sides of the past could’ve hoped for was to salvage a point from the game. This season’s side, however, had a different plan. Just 8 minutes later, captain Martin Ødegaard stepped up to level the scoring, only for the same man who gave the opening goal away, Gabriel Magalhaes, to redeem himself and turn in the winner from a corner with just minutes to go. Fast forward to Boxing Day, and Arsenal found themselves in a similar predicament – a goal down to West Ham despite controlling the game. However, the team came out for the second half and scored 3 goals in 16 minutes to earn us another vital 3 points from behind. Further to those wins, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Marcus Rashford’s stunner on 17 minutes saw us go a goal down in a must win game against United at The Emirates. Well, 73 minutes later the scoreboard read 3-2 to Arsenal, as this cold-blooded side came back to win from behind for a third time in nine home league games this season.
But it’s not only winning from behind that’s important, it’s also imperative that a league-winning side can win when it’s not playing well. As the cliché goes, that’s the real sign of Champions. Well, Arsenal have done that this season, too. On the back of our frustrating 1-1 draw away to Southampton in October, the club were looking at a tough trip to Elland Road as a must win game to get back in the win column, but the Peacocks didn’t make it easy. Truth be told, if anybody deserved the win that afternoon, it was Jesse Marsch’s side. They created more, worked tirelessly, had better chances, and even earned a second-half penalty. However, in the end, Bukayo’s first-half strike combined with our spirit and dogged resilience were enough to secure us all 3 points. A hit and run style win which proved that this team can win on its off-days, too. Previous Arsenal sides would’ve dropped points that day, there’s no doubt about it.
Furthermore, being able to bounce-back from setbacks is another key feature of proper title contenders. And, once again, this team has done that multiple times this season already. When the side lost its first game of the season at Old Trafford in September under some nefarious circumstances, we won our next 8 games in a row. Ruthless. Then, when the next Premier League blip came through the draw at St. Mary’s, we won 7 of our next 8 Premier League games, dropping points only to a Newcastle side who came to The Emirates with no other intentions but to draw the game. That’s a side that has real ‘bounce-back-ability’. Moreover, this side won a fair share of those games by scoring late winners – another key feature of a title-winning side. Whether it be Saka’s penalty against Liverpool or Eddie’s flick against United, this Arsenal side finds a way to win in the last 15 minutes of games when that crucial goal must be scored. There is a never say die attitude in this team and Arsenal have proved that they can score late when a game looks like it may be escaping them.
All in all, to wrap up a lengthy point slightly more succinctly, this side has courage, fight and resilience. There is no longer a weak, soft, self-sabotage mentality in our side. This team is mentally tough and has already displayed the ability to win late, win undeservedly, win from behind and bounce back from disappointing results instead of falling into a rut – all key components of a side that has the potential to win the league. Perhaps Rio Ferdinand summed us up best on his podcast last month when he said that: ‘Arsenal feel like they can win [any game] anyhow and any way that they need to. They are the real deal’.
5. ‘Arsenal Just Aren’t a Lucky Side!’
Luck is a criminally underrated component of any title-winning side. Being able to get the rub of the green at the right moments can push a team over the line and help it to get enough points on the board to finish at the top of the table. However, without sounding bitter or biased, luck just isn’t a thing that Arsenal just haven’t tended to majorly benefit from in the last decade or two.
Whether it be season-ending injuries to the likes of Eduardo in 2008 and Cazorla in 2015 that derailed our title charges, VAR intervening to disallow us perfectly legitimate goals like against Palace in 2019 and Leicester in 2020, or drawing Barcelona or Bayern Munich every year in the UCL knockout stages for about a decade, being an Arsenal fan almost comes with an unspoken acceptance that luck doesn’t go your way when you need it to.
This season, however, things seem to suspiciously be going our way a little bit more often than usual. When we beat Liverpool 3-2 back in October for example, the Reds were not given a penalty (even with a VAR review) after a pretty blatant handball by Gabriel in the first half, only for us to be awarded a ‘dubious’ penalty of our own which Saka converted late in the game to earn us all 3 points. When we then travelled to Elland Road a matter of days later, Bamford missed a second-half penalty to level the scoring, and Gabriel Magalhaes had an injury-time red card and penalty against him overturned by VAR in stoppage time as we managed to hold on for a nervy three points.
Further to that, when Eddie scored his last-minute winner at The Emirates a couple of weeks ago and the VAR checks began, I almost expected him to be offside and the decision to go United’s way. However, the goal was correctly given, and even though he was legitimately ruled onside, the pessimist in me after years of key decisions not going our way, feels lucky that it went our way. Add to that the injury that Thomas Partey picked up in the FA Cup at The Etihad last week, the pessimist in me again expected it to be confirmed that our star midfielder would be ruled out for the rest of the season in the following days. Thankfully, however, it seems to be a minor injury that won’t rule Thomas out for a significant period of time. In past years it just feels like he would’ve been out for a minimum of 3 months.
Even though decisions have gone against us this season like at Old Trafford, and even though we have had key injuries too, like to Jesus, it still feels like we’re getting the rub of the green a lot more than usual. This is perhaps heightened when you contrast it to the usual bad luck that we have had in the past with refereeing decisions, injuries, and VAR checks. If you ask me if I think we’ve been more lucky or unlucky this season, then my genuine answer would be lucky. Whereas hand on heart, bias aside, I would answer with unlucky for pretty much every season we’ve had since 2004. Maybe the fact that we’re top of the league by 5 points with a game in hand in February is clouding my judgement of things, or maybe we genuinely are just getting a bit luckier than usual. Whatever happens, I sincerely hope that luck goes our way when we need it to in the second-half of the season and that we’re still sitting pretty at the top of the table come Sunday, May 28th 2023.
UberArsenal - Blogging about The Arsenal 
Leave a comment