Mikel Arteta may have been pleased to escape Selhurst Park with three points but after the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace, he reiterated his determination to see Arsenal become more clinical in the box.
For the second week in a row, the Gunners dominated possession and created the better chances only to spend the closing stages clinging on to a slender advantage.
In this instance, there were mitigating circumstances with Takehiro Tomiyasu’s sending off – awarded for two soft yellows not long after Martin Odegaard had put them ahead from the spot – forcing Arsenal to play with 10 men for half an hour.
In his post-game press conference, Arteta was asked whether his players are performing at the desired level.
He replied: “No, because we have to put the ball in the net more often, especially with the dominance we are having in games.
“But that’s the most difficult thing in football, so if you don’t do that, you have to do the other part, which is be extremely solid.
“We were last week and we were again today with the chances we conceded. Let’s keep playing better and evolving.”
While there’s room for improvement, Arteta also took great satisfaction with the victory. As the full time whistle went, he beamed with pride, punched the air and dispensed hugs to a team that ended with six defenders on the pitch.
“I loved it, absolutely loved it,” said the boss. “It’s a really difficult place to come. We played how we wanted to play 11 against 11, we dominated the game, we created enough chances, we missed two very, very huge chances that normally we put away, but we never gave up.
“We continued the way we wanted to continue. Eddie earned us the right to go ahead with his action, we scored the penalty and then we had to play half an hour with 10 men, which is obviously a conflict that we didn’t prepare.
“We had to adapt and I think the players worked fantastically because I don’t think we gave anything away. The subs were great, the way they came out, the concentration, the focus on how they helped the team and changed the team’s momentum in many occasions of the game, so I’m really happy.”
“We have to score more often.” Yeah, every Arsenal-fan share that opinion, but they can’t do anything about it. You can, Mikel. Buy striking power! There is still time. The window is wide open! Buy/ lone Kylian Mbappé! If just for a year – get him! What a year it could be!
May be he should play his most in-from striker (Trossard) rather than sticking with Havertz.
… rather than Havertz, who played in central midfield? 🤔
For me, first time Eddie proved he was up to the job was yesterday. Didn’t score but will get more than 20 goals if he plays every game like that.
I have to agree. That was the sharpest I have seen Eddie.. Yes he didn’t score but if he can produce that regularly he will scare the shit out of opposition defenders.. Recency bias is a bitch.. I for one have always thought he makes the wingers worse but maybe they need to get up to speed with eddies runs and directness not vice versa..
I do wonder will the day come for Eddie that everything just clicks with him and he becomes a devastating striker? I kind of feels like he had to take 7 steps backwards to make 1 forward.. he has probably been trying to clean up so many things on the ball off the ball that never came natural to him. I always felt with him he would run into dead ends and yesterday was a glimpse of everything he was involved in was a chance on goal
Why do we doubt Eddie, i certainly don’t, his goal record for England U21s is exceptional, his hold up play and pass has improved, he gets in good positions in the box, has quick pace, is getting much stronger to hold off defenders, a top professional who works hard to improve, he is only going to get better, had Jesus scored Eddie’s 1st goal this season we would be saying world class, he’s one of our own and deserves time at starting 11…
Because his 2nd touch is 99/100 a tackle? Because he can not run with ball at his feet and dribble? Because he can only finish instinctive tap -ins? I dont know..what are you seeing? Tell us…please
His hold up play is dross in comparison to Gabriel. We are being too soft on Eddie. His pressing was atrocious, Martin kept shooting out of position to effect the press because Eddie was jogging. Please rewatch. And he missed two sitters.
Thanks for that – I needed a good laugh. 😂
Have you been watching Eddie for the last several seasons !?!?!
He is not a clinical striker. Missed 2 chances that should’ve been put away first half.
EDDIE IS NOT A 20-A-SEASON PL GOALS STRIKER.
An upgrade is needed. Probably won’t happen til next summer though.
If Eddie played the way he played yesterday for any team in the league besides Us, City and Brighton he will not score. He missed two sitters. Dude is way beneath Balogun, and he is very lazy on the press, he jogs whereas Gabriel sprints. One of his shortcomings is the inability to hold up the ball, practically non existent. He plays for a possession based team, and a very good one, but he is average. We need a top striker, not many available though. His lacklustre pressing forced Martin to shoot up out of position to try and put… Read more »
MA knows what he’s doing. MA needs proper testing to find out about the new players. Timber is injured, he can rely on Rice, the unknown is Havertz. I think havertz should play even against Fulham at home. then there is the CL draw then the market closes, and by then we will have our players list for CL and EPL, and on 03.09.23 Man United, (this is when we will see what MA thinks are his best 11) after the international break, we have Jesus back by then and lots of fixture to get through, who is in forms… Read more »
Maybe we should play Balogun who has clearly proved he’s a more clinical striker than any else we have?
Gabriel and Jorginho. What brilliant subs! On fire! Zinchenko’s cameo was brilliant too. You really kill a chasing team if you keep ball in injury time the way he did with Kai and Jorgi. We needed a bit more from the wide men today but neither are playing with full confidence yet. Sure it’s getting used to the system…
Just play Trossard for Christ’s sake. What does the man have to do to start!?
Really find artetas favoritism and sub choices baffling…
Stop crying when we got 6 points in 2 games. I’m ok with people being baffled as long as we continue winning. Kai worked his socks off today and should’ve got an assist early in the game. Partey played well as inverted RB. Nketiah missed chances but won the penalty. The amount of negativity is ridiculous.
Who would you start him ahead of? Martinelli? Or out of position as a striker, instead of the guy who won us the penalty today and scored last week? I’d love to see Trossard start as much as the next guy or gal but it’s very easy to yell it out without being specific about what you’d sacrifice
I would actually sometimes have him in over Martinelli. Showing him there is competent for his place should drive him even more and Trossard is a player who seems not to need any motivation.
I’d also do that occasionally. But maybe not in the first 2 games of the season…
Definitely think we need to see him get a start soon, even if just for some rotation. He was so hot in preseason it’s a shame that he’s gotten so few minutes in the first two games while we’ve scored a total of three goals against two lower half of the table teams. I know yesterday’s tactics changed dramatically after the red card, but it would be a great time to give him a start against Fulham at home to keep him sharp.
This will probably not be popular but we look so much threatening collectively with Jesus up front. Nketia created two good chances for himself though is not able to link up with saka, martinelli, odegarrd and thus we seem a little sterile. Our system and set up requires a centre forward who can offer more. Release the hounds 🤓
Fair point , imagine what Isak would offer in that role . Eddie stays central and so pidegon holes Martinelli on the wing. Jesus drifts wide and allows marti space inside . The back 4 or 5s of defence can stay in a line knowing Eddie’s not drifting and so concentrate on the ball, if you had Jesus flying in and out between defenders it wrecks their heads . Eddies good and has a role but a more fluid no 9 and or false 9 in Trossard works best for Saka and Marti as they can interchange and be more… Read more »
100% agree. Although Eddie played well I would much rather Trossard there
Jesus is by far our best CF option and it’s no surprise that losing him would affect our fluidity. I think a lot of fans forget that he was probably our best player in the first half of last season.
Saying that, I think Eddie is doing well enough! I was surprised he started up front ahead of Trossard and even Havertz but he’s more or less done enough to repay Arteta’s faith in him so far.
Kai is getting used to the system, now that we have easier games. Jesus will be back soon, and this is a good time for Kai to get some first hand experience,
Eddie, is Jesus sub, Trossard is perhaps Kai’s sub, then with fixture niggles, tactics, who is in forms plays.
Why would it be unpopular to say that our first-choice centre-forward, Gabriel Jesus, makes us more threatening? The way he played last season until the World Cup, and the way he looked this pre-season, make it pretty clear that he is an elite player who fits Arsenal’s system perfectly. Of course we are better when he plays.
The unpopular context is nketia critique. Some on here think it’s bias against him and there’s hidden agendas 😂
Release the hounds?? How about release Eddie? He will never be tier 1 quality…Each season we have the same discussion on here…he scores in a couple of games against lower talent sides and he’s the next haaland…reality then kicks in when he goes 6 games straight doing fck all and missing from 5 yards out…then it’s dump Eddie time…rinse repeat rinse repeat etc etc…
😂
Arteta talks about wanting competition for places and 2 quality options for each position, but is also happy with a 2nd choice CF who realistically can never challenge for the starting spot if the 1st choice is available. I am gutted that it seems we will be selling Balogun but keeping Eddie.
Remember back in the early Wenger days we seemed to spend all our time with 10 men, Lee Dixon said they used to train especially for it, it was that common!
“we have to score more often” literally been saying for years that we should focus on scoring more often and ideally conceding less but noob arteta’s only just realising it
‘noob’ Arteta’s Arsenal scored 88 league goals last season.
Wow you seem really knowledgeable. What massive club do you coach?
Sarcasm I assume
Yes to yes! Finally someone’s brave enough to say it
nevermind the downvotes friend, i was amused by your comment. it’s still sad so many people failed to see it was a joke, but at least you’re not alone. cheers!
the downvotes make it funnier, it’s collaborative
Why on arseblog news, we have the press reports in different articles? Wouldn’t it better to have everything on one page?
more views maybe, or just looking to generate debate around specific topics. for me it’s kinda tiring and many times the author excludes certain parts of the interview for some reason. i just go to arsenal’s official website or check the newspapers to get the full version, sadly.
Yes, it’s about specific discussion points.
As we don’t carry advertising on Arseblog or Arseblog News, we’re not churning stuff out for views – it’s about ‘specificity’ of talking points. It’s also useful for us to find these articles as reference points when we’re looking back …
I like this approach. Give me the opportunity to express my unwanted point of view on every subject, lol.
No you’ve got it wrong – I want your unwanted view so I can disagree with it!
I don’t think we played well at all yesterday. I’m not convinced of the setup and we looked unbalanced with 4 right footed players at the back. Last year our football was free flowing. This year it looks stagnant. Against better teams we will struggle. If we only just made it pass Forest and Palace, I’d hate to think of how we will fare against the likes of City, Newcastle, Liverpool and even Brighton away, who are much better teams. And I’m sorry, Havertz is useless. He’s done nothing in the past two games (or pre-season) to warrant his inclusion… Read more »
Know where you’re coming from but trust in Arteta – he knows what he’s doing you don’t! It’ll come good or Kai will be out.
I hope so and I really do hope I am proved wrong. But, and this is a genuine question. Of all the purchases made by Arsenal, would you have bought Havertz, given what he had done at Chelsea. Jorghino can do a job in our midfield but I’m not convinced as to what Havertz has to offer??????
Did you watch us against Leeds away last year who got relegated by the way. Chill out my friend, you’re twisting my melon man.
the defence looked unbalanced. Thomas needs to play in midfield to start with.
we can try options now so that we are ready when me meet Manure in early september before the interlull,
By then we will have sorted out the Gabriel question, and Zinny’s fitness, and KT’s role, if any
Look where Thomas is positioned on kick off. That will give you a clue as to where he played ‘to start with’.
He’s not a good cover as right back when we are under attack, He is more useful just outside the box, from where he can carry out the ball and launch an attack, the defence was unbalanced we had to sustain 20 minutes of pressure from palace because we did not have any escape out. It took 4 subs to sort it out. Yes I know we had 10 men only, but it was an undue stress and if we had our straight 4 defenders Blanco, Saliba, Gabriel and Tommy, then MA would have only needed to put Kiwior in… Read more »
Totally agree. We’ve looked shit first two games. This ridiculous formation with Partey at RB, big gab on the bench, Eddie at cf and Havertz floating around doing nothing makes me scared for the rest of the season. Wtf is going on? Surely they won’t sell Gab? How else to explain him being on the bench…insane.
You guys don’t seem to understand. When the big Gab starts, there is no room for Kai. And you know Arteta can’t do that. Kai has to play no matter what. And he knows if he subs him and bring someone like Smithy, who might actually do better and put pressure to be stated, Kai will not play. That’s why Kai ha to play even if it means dropping Ramsdale
Hi Andrew. Loved the blog today (as usual) and the result – COYG – but one thing was wrong. Tommy got the first booking for the foul and the second one for the ‘time wasting’, which got him sent off – as for the commentary, they pointed out that Tommy had only had the ball for 8 seconds!!! Hardly worth a second yellow!
No he didn’t
Tenet?
Don’t try to understand it, feel it.
Apologies I got that wrong – senior moment!!! Bookings were around the other way as reported by Arseblog.
I think if we get Zini back in at left back, play with our best back four, and start Trossard (or at least get him on after 60 mins) we *might* be a bit more potent. Can’t help feel this galaxy brain formation he’s insisting on leaves us short both at the back and the front.
Nketiah is not up to it, give Trossard the No 9 role.
I’ve been asking for a prolific striker (and still do) but yesterday Nketiah showed some attributes of big strikers.
Arteta you build that team pls, don’t use your hands to destroy what you have build. Stop playing Havertz ahead of trossard before player’s and fans turn against you.
Should have bought a striker then instead of wasting money on Havertz, a player we didn’t need
Stop the needless time wasting , so frustrating and takes the attack minded impetus out of the game and allows opposition to organise and gets damaging yellows, same goes for kicking the ball away it is stupid Till Jesus is fully fit play Trossard either as a starter or bring him on when the opposition defence is tired he gives so much to the team in his defence and ability to cause problems in the defence and gives Saka, Martinelli, odeguard more than Eddie and he can score play the players in their best position when starting, can rotate position… Read more »
I am no expert but I really didn’t see the point of Havertz coming on for the second half. I know it will take time for him to adjust to our system and I know he did hold the ball a few times in the second half when we were down to 20 men, but overall his contribution was not good enough. In the first half he did absolutely nothing. We should start Trossard and ease Havertz into the same system at this stage against team that sit back against us. I also feel we get much more from Ben… Read more »
i really like the idea of our being down to 20 men.
I think that the main thing here is the 3pts, but Arteta is right. We have to score more goals and at the moment that means Eddie has to get the ball in the net, or Trossard or Havertz have to step up until Jesus is back.
Could maybe use that £50 million striker you’re trying to sell?
Purposely stayed away from commenting after last night’s result, because I honestly couldn’t be done with reading nothing but ignorant shit from the Nketiah Hate Brigade, who wouldn’t know how to tie a pair of laces properly.
Stop sitting on the fence, Q!
What are you trying to say?
Great…tell the truth about “couldn’t hit a fkn barn door from 5 yards nketiah” and we get less drivel from wee qwally…win win…
Yes we have 6 points out of 6 but those came against two of the weaker clubs in the EPL. We lack fluidity.
agreed. surprised mikel insistinng with experiemntal 11s in the premier league. thought hed keep his experiments for games that can allow it
Here’s my 5 thoughts on the game: https://theoddfather.co.uk/crystal-palace-0-1-arsenal-5-thoughts/
Novel idea, why not play players in their position? E.g. Partey in midfield rather than RB and have a better balance to the team.
Could also look at actually giving Balogan a go too, we could have used his him in pre-season to giving him more time and assessment (bar the knock).
We are talking about Gabriel Jesus always drifting, last season he did drift and left the central position vacant when he went on his marauding runs. Kai replacing Granit makes sense in that when Gabriel Jesus returns from injury, Kai who’s a better finisher can up the chances, goals and assists that Xhaka didn’t sniff, score or get last season. Also Gabriel Jesus can rest knowing that he can create for someone and vice versa. Then we have the little issue of being an area( in both boxes) threat, (did you see how Kai had the ball against Man City,… Read more »
You lost me at “Kai, who’s a better finisher….”
havertz?
better than emile for the xhaka role? dont think so …
mikele…just play trossard or balogun? Eddie 2nd touch is a tackle and the boy for all his poaching ability CAN NOT run with ball at his feet…loses his balance.cant trap ball..falls over …he might perfrom a good turn every now and again (defenders caught off balance..to his credit) but cant finish unless its an instictive tap in. Walcott looks like a cristiano ronaldo in comparison. could run with ball place his finishes and also dribble..oh yes. Maybe….just going leftfield here here…. play emile smith rowe instead of havertz? woa… what an experiment eh? not that it worked before…did it?