A comfortable Arsenal win over Monaco, achieved courtesy of three goals scored from open play, should temporarily dispel claims that Mikel Arteta’s side is overly reliant on set-pieces.
At the same time, having had several opportunities to put the game to bed much earlier, including a trio of one-on-one opportunities squandered by Gabriel Jesus (twice) and Martin Odegaard, an old criticism resurfaced – the Gunners aren’t clinical enough in front of goal.
For Jesus, who has netted once in 33 appearances for Arsenal, the malaise appears terminal – the result of a huge dip in confidence following a serious knee injury suffered two years ago at the Qatar World Cup.
Hoping things soon click for the Brazil international, Mikel Arteta says the only thing he can do is keep giving the striker minutes on the pitch.
Asked about how he boosts Jesus’ confidence, Arteta replied: “Nothing, just to put him in front of goal like he’s done today on a couple of occasions, and there are millimetres, centimetres to if the goal goes in or not.
“He was there, he looked really alive, he had created the first goal from a great move and that’s him, so we have him back he’s with us and I’m sure he will contribute to the team.”
As for how he and his coaching staff make the team more ruthless, he continued: “We have a massive responsibility. I cannot kick the ball but we can coach them, we can teach them and sometimes they have to take a step back as well, it’s a decision they have to take.
“They cannot be thinking about what they have to do, what we’ve told them as well. We try to provide the right information and right tools so they can understand the defence, understand the keeper – a lot of things that we work on – and after that, it’s their execution.
“It’s a difficult thing to do in football but they have a lot of talent to deliver that.”
Having scored 19 goals in six matches, it’s not like the Gunners are incapable of putting the ball in the net. It’s more a case of them leaving goals on the table.
Given how tight things are at the top of the Champions League standings, it’s clear goal difference is on the manager’s mind.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t score another three or four, especially in the first half, because we had some big, big chances,” he told Arsenal.com.
“That’s going to be crucial and looking at the table and how tight it is, [goal difference] is going to be really important. We’re in a good position, we still have a lot to do, so one more.”
Arsenal now face a six week break from the Champions League before the opportunity to secure a top eight finish with a win against Dinamo Zagreb. A final league phase match at Girona on 29 January will round things off. Given the standard of the opposition, we’re well-placed to avoid an unwanted two-leg play-off.
I think that’s slightly debatable. We have very few natural finishers. I would say Saka and Trossard are our only ones. Havertz is wonderful but finishing would probably still be his weakness. Jesus is a poor finisher. Martinelli scores way below his xG. Odegaard can be imperious in certain positions but is far from clinical. The truth is we have invested heavily in players that are not very good at scoring goals. I love the way we play. I love the energy and the technical quality. But I think it’s daft to assume that somehow Jesus is going to score… Read more »
113 goals 2023-24 season in all comps – 91 in the PL. Goal tally now is 48 in all comps. I really don’t see a problem here. Kai has more goal contributions now than Vlahovic besides his weakness is on the defensive side where Kai gives us much more. We have now scored more open play goals this calender year than both Liverpool and ManCity. Still we have supporters moaning. Guess they listen too much to the bollocks the pundits manufacture for clicks.
We missed a hat full of chances in the first half. Monaco were on top in the second half and probably should have equalised.
A good press & their errors and we win 3-0.
Great result. But iss everything fine? Not really.
I think you make some really good points. But I think many of us are just looking for that extra 1% that get us over the line at places like Craven Cottage. We had 2 xG against Fulham and scored once. We had 2 xG against Chelsea and scored once. We had 2.5 xG against Inter and didn’t score. We had 1 xG against Newcastle and didn’t score. We had 1 xG against Bournemouth and didn’t score. These are all games we dropped valuable points. It does feel a little like it’s becoming the Wenger DM situation where we look… Read more »
This whole striker business is Arteta’s blind spot. Because we score lots of goals over a season he thinks that we don’t need a forward. But we do. It’s the crucial tight games where a quality striker makes all the difference.
We could have drawn that game yesterday despite carving out more than half a dozen quality chances.
A quality striker takes us to another level.
Who would u sign fats? (Realistic one pls)
I personally still like Vlahovic. He looked great against City but isn’t totally settled at Juve.
Boniface looks great. Dovbyk at Roma. Openda at Leipzig. Delap at Ipswich or Ferguson at Brighton are fun young talents. Obviously Gyokeres is a strong candidate.
There’s players out there. They will cost a bit of money. But if they can come on with 20 mins to go and turn a draw into a win then they will be worth every penny.
Alexander Isak. A natural goal-scorer and Premier League proven.
He reminds me so much of Henry. He would get us 25 PL goals a season with his eyes shut.
He is the one. Good shout Fats.
Yeah. Massive points hauls are great. Scoring a record number of goals is great. But the history books will only remember we came 2nd.
Like it or not, Pep and City have raised the bar to a level that was unthinkable 10 years ago.
Now we can bitch and moan and feel sorry for ourselves or we can go up yet another level.
Arsenal will somehow contrive to have the highest total points tally across this season and the last two combined without actually winning one of them.
I totally agree with you, but on pure gut feeling it does feel like we win by a single goals less than our rivals. The 0-0 that becomes a 1-0 or the 1-1 that becomes a 2-1 etc. Usually when Pool and City have this, it’s because of Haaland or Salah. Those really tight games I think we struggle to win more than those two. When we really motor- like the spring period of last season- we absolutely put teams away. But I am starting to come around to the idea of having an out and out killer in the… Read more »
Hmmm. There’s a tangible benefit from having that one guy who causes genuine fear/chaos to defences – it even frees up space and opportunities for your other attackers who don’t finish so ruthlessly. I’m not suggesting we want that profile but imagine Alexis Sanchez coming off the bench.
the problem is not the amount, but the division over the games…
Define natural finisher though? Saka’s finishing has improved a lot in the last three years, and in that same time Martinelli’s has arguably become worse. Odegaard scored a lot of goals a couple of years ago as well, and is probably capable of doing that again with the right team structure. Havertz has also improved since his time at Chelsea. Point taken on Jesus who was never really clinical at City, but the others can clearly get better.
I feel like it’s just this gut feeling. When Saka gets a chance, I just expect the net to bulge. Same with Trossard. They score goals with calm and ease.
Havertz on the other hand – if he’s through on goal, I don’t really expect him to score. Odegaard can be a great finisher but he’s not a killer. And Martinelli just seems to lack calm and composure, especially when it’s a tight game.
It’s all a bit subjective and wishy-washy. But that’s what my eyes and heart tell me with these players.
With our style of play, any one of our 10 outfield players could find themselves in a position to score.
Look at the numbers overall, there’s really no problem.
Sterling was a good finisher. Jesus has never been.
From a financial view, it make more sense to play 2 extra games in the Champions League, with extra TV and match day tickets $$$ coming in? Obviously, it would only be beneficial if you win and make it to the last 16. From a football and tactical view, it is great to have the extra days off for the players to recover and refuel. Depending on results in the domestic cups, it would allow us to play a stronger team.
not even from a financial point of view, you get more money for finishing higher,
then you get 2m for coming in first eight, rather than one 1+1 for qualifying,
more money for each win, and so on and so forth
Good point. Forgot about the bonus for ranking.
“For Jesus… the malaise appears terminal.” I don’t think he’s about to turn into the league’s most lethal finisher, but terminal might be a little bit harsh 🙂
Already terminal with the Seleçao, in that sense.
1 goal in the whole calendar year playing as no. 9 for one of the league’s top clubs is already terminal. If he revives his Arsenal career it won’t be Jesus’ first resurrection.
Guardiola would have asked his GK to kick two penalties to send him the message that he even has worst goalscoring stats than a GK.
It’s not about talent, it’s about bravery.