Friday round-up: Rotation, Saka, fun football, quizzes
Morning all, happy Friday to you.
Mikel Arteta will meet the press this morning ahead of our trip to Sunderland on Saturday, having seen his team play very well in Napoli after making changes in key positions. I was hoping we’d see rotation, and I was hoping that the players who came in did well, because – and I realise this might just be me – I feel like he almost needs to be convinced by the idea that using his big squad to the fullest extent is a good one.
Not on an intellectual level. I’m sure he understands better than anyone this is a long season, he’s going to need to keep people fresh and rested, but when it comes right down to it, if you had to label this manager’s team selection philosophy, it’s much more ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ more than anything else. The reassurance of going away to Napoli, a difficult place to start your Champions League campaign even if they’re not quite what they were a couple of seasons ago, and playing to the level we did will hopefully convince him that this is something he can continue throughout the season. Time will tell, but it feels like he’s more inclined in this direction than in the past, although you could argue availability is better right now.
I didn’t really mention Bukayo Saka beyond the glaring misses he was guilty of on Wednesday evening. Just to reiterate, he absolutely should have scored that chance just before half-time. And for me, the one around the half hour mark was a better opportunity than people might think, but it’s been slightly obscured by the worse miss that followed. He has to be better in front of goal than that, and we know he’s capable of slotting those chances away, which is what makes them stand out even more.
However, after a season when he looked like a slight shadow of himself at times, where his movement wasn’t quite as sharp, where he looked like someone struggling with an injury (which he was), I was quite encouraged by his overall performance against Napoli, especially on top of what we’ve seen from him in our previous games too. No player had more shots (6), which tells us he’s getting into the right positions again and again, he was always involved on the right hand side and passed it at 90% (which is quite high for a winger in an Arteta team), and there was just more zip about how he played than there was last season.
He does have two goals to his name already, and while those didn’t necessarily showcase the best of Bukayo Saka (in comparison to some of the bangers we’ve seen him score), they were also illustrative of a quality in his game that I think we can see more of – being in the right place at the right time in the opposition box. I think it was Lewis Ambrose on one of our recent podcasts who referenced the kinds of goals Robert Pires used to score, when he was often the man to tuck home a rebound from close range after somebody else had tested the keeper. I really believe he can score more of those as well as finding his range in front of goal from more ‘Saka’ positions.
Some finishing drills for him, and others (!), on the training ground this week probably wouldn’t go amiss, but when you try to assess a player, you have to look at everything they do, or don’t do, and if you’re hoping to see a return to form for a player who will be crucial for us in terms of retaining the title, the early signs are encouraging.
Speaking of Lewis, I enjoyed his latest newsletter about taking a moment to enjoy where we are as a team right now. I said something similar to Phil on the Arsecast yesterday, which is that although it’s early in the season and as we get towards the business end the pressure will (hopefully) ramp up, I feel like I can really enjoy watching us play again. Last season was tough, an ordeal, albeit one with a beautiful ending. It was like pushing a boulder up a mountain at times. The promise of great reward at the top doesn’t make the pushing part any less difficult to endure. It might be the motivation to keep going (“It’s not done”), but it’s not exactly enjoyable.
Whether we’re seeing the team benefit from the pressure being lifted, whether it’s just the early season fizz of a new page being turned, whether it’s a vein of form, the fact we have important players back to something like their best, or a cocktail of all of those things, it doesn’t really matter. The football we’re playing is fun to watch, it’s impressive and effective and we’re winning games, and that’s something it’s worth taking stock of and making sure you’re allowing yourself to feel it.
I’ve said this before, but I feel like football discourse has been so badly damaged by the media landscape in which we exist. Fans, and not just of Arsenal, are being gaslit into thinking that only the ultimate success is meaningful. That there is nothing else other than all the trophies and all the success. That unless you achieve perfection, in every game, in every performance, in every minute, you’re a failure, and it’s such bullshit.
We’ll lose games this season, we’ll play poorly from time to time, we won’t go unbeaten, we won’t do the quadruple, we’ll make a mess of things now and again because we’re fallible and human and that’s just how it goes in sport. But when it’s going well, as it is early in this season, don’t forget to enjoy it. Don’t allow the fear of something going wrong to prevent you from taking these moments as a fan, which are absolutely worth celebrating and sharing with your fellow fans and friends and family, and just letting them resonate for what they are.
Finally for now, if you like a brain teaser to start your day (am I addicted to MapTap? Yes, yes I am, and my geography teacher would weep at some of my guesses), here’s one more specific to Arsenal.
https://topclubten.com/arsenal – gives you an Arsenal related quiz every day, they’re pretty fun, and you can test your red and white knowledge and see how you get on.
Also, as posted by Andrew Allen to our Patreon newsletter, this is a lot of fun – https://passmode.shop/numbers/. “It covers every match and date in the club’s history. Enter your birthday, and it will reveal key dates and assorted facts from your lifetime”. Play around!
Right, that’s your lot for now. The Arsecast is below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, and don’t forget you can join us on Patreon later for a Sunderland preview podcast. Until then, have a good one folks.
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