Morning.
Arsenal are in Premier League action this evening, away to Brentford. The lead at the top has been cut to just 3 points after Man City’s entirely predictable win over Fulham last night, but I don’t think Mikel Arteta and his players would have been expecting anything less.
With an FA Cup tie against Wigan on Sunday, I don’t think this is the game where we’ll see too many changes. Perhaps there’s a decision at left-back between Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie, but I think the Italian will get the nod. There’s also a midfield choice to make with regards who plays with Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice. The manager was coy on the availability of Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, but with Kai Havertz set for a spell on the sidelines (more on that anon), it’d be very useful if we had the captain back.
Whether he’s ready to start what’s going to be an intense away game in the Premier League is another matter, but there’s Eberechi Eze at our disposal, and the fact he hasn’t been out of action for a few weeks makes him the obvious choice. It’s been quite interesting to see the Rice/Zubimendi partnership develop over the course of the season, and while it’s not quite a double-pivot in the way it would normally be deployed, their balance ought to give Eze a chance to play more as roaming 10, which I think suits his game better.
On the wings the presence of Leandro Trossard would be very useful, but he went off towards the end of the Sunderland game. Again, we’re waiting to see how serious that is, but if not you’d assume it’d be Gabriel Martinelli on the left, and Noni Madueke on the other side. Then the striker choice between Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus becomes quite interesting. The former scored twice in our last game, but hasn’t really clicked in a trio with those two outside him; the latter was poor against Sunderland, but brings a technical level that might be more aligned with the two wingers.
My gut feeling is that it’ll be Gyokeres, but if you have someone like Eze playing closer to him then you offset some of that. And if, for example, Odegaard is back and given the nod, he has to play higher up the pitch than we’ve often seen from him this season. Whatever your view of his form of late, there’s no argument that he’s far more effective in advanced areas so let’s see what happens there.
Brentford, as we know, are a real threat, and are enjoying a fantastic season. There’s been a lot of chat about Thomas Frank and the job he did at Sp*rs in the wake of his (predicted!) sacking yesterday, but whatever his failings there, there’s no question about the quality of the work he did at Brentford. Sometimes analysis of a manager becomes too binary, but perhaps what happened him and what’s happening with Keith Andrews tells a bigger story.
That a manager who works at a well-run club will find it difficult to do his best at a club that is a perpetual shambles, and that the well-run club can more easily identify and hire a replacement who can carry on the good work of the previous man. The environment is so important, Andrews has done a fantastic job, but – taking nothing away from him – it helps that he’s at a club that’s stable and smart; whereas Thomas Frank went into one where the decision making has been, for years and years, some way below sub-standard. The list of men who came before him tells you that story very clearly.
So, expect this one to be tough, physical, and hard work. Brentford have the second highest scoring striker in the Premier League this season, they play fast, transition football, and we’re going to have to be switched on to take all three points from this one. Mikel Arteta says:
It’s another tough game. We know Brentford at home as well, the last few results they have had, the coaching staff have been amazing. So, credit to them, because they’re a top side.
Arsenal’s job is quite simple, just win games. That’s easier said that done, of course, but as much as Arteta played down the 9 point lead at the weekend, he won’t allow his players to focus on the 3 points it is now. The task remains the same, go out and get three points. It doesn’t really matter how, it’s the result that matters, but after a solid win at the weekend, it’d be useful to tick another difficult away game off the list, and put the ball back in City’s court. Fingers crossed.
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Just to touch on the Havertz news which broke last night, it looks as if he’s going to miss about a month with a muscular problem. That’s a real blow, obviously, because he’s been so positive since he returned. Hopefully it’s one he can come back quicker from, but we’re going to have deal without him for the time-being.
But as much as it is a blow, that’s been the reality of most of our season anyway. He didn’t make his comeback on the pitch until January, and while I don’t have the time this morning to count how many games exactly he missed, but it was lots. And we did pretty well. So, while I’m as gutted as all of you, and I do worry that injuries might be our biggest impediment to success this season, I think we have to lean into the knowledge that we can do it without him, and when he’s back again it’s a timely boost.
Arteta can’t allow the players to lean into a ‘woe is us’ mindset when another player is absent. It makes life more difficult, but it doesn’t change what we need to do. I also think there are players like Eze, Odegaard and Saka who can give us more consistency of performance and end product, and onus now is on them (and the rest) to step up and offset Kai’s absence.
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Right, let’s leave it there this morning. As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage for you, all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News, and there’s a preview podcast on Patreon if you need something to listen to in the meantime.
For now, have a good one, and I’ll catch you later for the game.