Five Things We Learned from Arsenal vs Norwich
Well, let’s face it, it was a win.
Arsenal grinded out a win, and they did it with minimal* fuss. A team that should have included a fully fit first team was hampered by some players returning from international duties with tired legs, while others manage to acquire themselves a severely contagious virus that apparently managed to lock down several countries. We apparently had several vaccines for it? And the countries gave the vaccinations for free? It seems like a good lot of the elite athletes haven’t heard about it. Maybe they should learn from the paralympic participants.
In any case, here’s five things we learned from the Norwich match!
*minimal as in, the stats suggest Norwich didn’t have a lot offensively going their way.
Post-Xhaka vibes
Believe it or not, I do think Xhaka is a good football player. I think he’s an even better athlete – and a very good leader. That being said, he’s also in the category of players that is so dominant in performance that if they’re fit, they play. Arsenal has, in many years, looked worse without Xhaka on the pitch, but yesterday Lokonga and AMN managed to pull the strings against a team that was flying last year in the Championship league. Not only did they do an okay job, they didn’t replicate what Xhaka usually do, but managed to play a new and more dynamic type of play. I’m sure this won’t be a reoccurring thing, but I like being able to finally see a desire to make Arsenal less Xhaka-dependant
Ramsdale is just a stand up guy
There’s a lot to like about Ramsdale, and there’s certainly going to be a lot of nice words for his performance, but first and maybe even more importantly, Aaron just seems like a good guy. From his enthusiastic reaction to the goal and the win to his effect on the calmness of the back line, he just seems like a guy you want to like. Maybe he can be our new Jenkinson? But. Like. Better performances that Jenko of course.
Minimal fuss in the back?
Teemo Pukki is very good at this football thing (and he used to play for Brøndby IF, which was my boyhood club), and he has this habit of making it very hard to be defenders because of his intelligent runs and directness. So keeping him this quiet for 90 minutes, only getting 12 passes, in which 25%, or 3 was off target, is a very good feat. White and Gabriel really looked good on the pitch, which usually has the knock-on effect of the players in front of them feeling more confident in not backing away at the slightest risk of a through ball. Of course Tomiyasu and Tierney also did well, but honestly I’m just happy with the central defenders work.
Pepe please
Pepe is better than that first half. Surely. He must be. But it seems like he has this inconsistency edge he really struggles to balance out. This time his first touch, a reoccurring problem, led many offensive moves to be neutralised early, which is really frustrating when you’re three matches into the season and still haven’t scored a goal. It’s not like Krul is an easy guy to get past as well. Finding his stride, this is Pepe’s chance to stamp down his place as a key figure. If he doesn’t, a front line consisting of Smith Rowe, Saka and Ødegaard is not a bad front line at all.
Oh Tomas, how do you do that thing so well?
Maybe everyone saw it, maybe it’s just my mind playing tricks, but every time I was Partey play, I’m waiting for him to hit that unexpected linebreaking pass. I honestly don’t know how he does it, if it’s sheer confidence or if he’s just the “hold my beer” type of player. Nonetheless, I’m just incredibly amazed by his ability to hide his pass.
Outro
I’m sure we all sat on the edge of our seat for this game. Some of us might even be left with a apathetic feeling of “it’s a win”. But it’s a step in the right direction, hopefully towards healing a turbulent start of the season. Luckily we now have the ability to calm down before the next match, which is against… Burnley.
Oh god not Burnley…
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Good discussion!
Both ways.
Where do you get your stats sq Pabst? Just asking. Thanks
If you’ve read some of my previews for last season Europa League, I used to have a list of sources at the bottom.
Most generally I use Fbref.com, since it’s the most comprehensive free statcollector available.
Sometimes I use WhoScored match center if I’m looking for patterns in play before or after a certain event, as Xhakas red card against City.
Brilliant article
Were you at the game? I’m not normally a fan of Pepe but on Saturday, he was on it! Movement, tenacity on the ball, intent. Given how unusually defensive Norwich played (most of their players prepped for 2 weeks for this game, remember), Pepe did really well.
He had an assist, the most shots (6) than any other player and critically, the most key passes (6) than any other player. More key passes than KT, Tierney or Saka. Impressive.
Also, please can you explain to me what leadership qualities Xhaka has? I just don’t see it. Sure he shouts a lot but given we don’t hear what he says, it’s unclear whether that helps. What is clear is that he shirks accountability / responsibility a lot. He blames everyone bar himself for his failings – especially ones that cost the team. It’s the ref’s fault. The crowd’s fault. Online trolls’ fault. He never apologises for costing the game (the numerous time he has done it). That’s not a leader – that’s a bum.
Not everyone is privileged enough to both have the economy to be at the matches or live close enough to go to the matches.
That being said, yes I did see the match. I also do say, in the piece, that Pepe is much better than the display he showed in the first half.
I do also take into consideration he had 6 miscontrols in 90min, with the next highest being joint Ødegaard, Maitland-Niles and Lokonga with 2.
Taken into consideration Saka, who also played 90 minutes, didn’t have a miscontrol recorded, I will push my “I’m allowed to criticize PlayerX for this” button.
I’m quite aware a lot of Arsenal fans doesn’t like Xhaka, but let’s not get into the argument about if he’s a leader or not. Every coach he played under and coaches he hasn’t played under has all said he’s a leader. Fans may not like that, but take it up with Arteta, Mourinho, Wenger or the other coaches hailing him as a natural born leader.
Was a question – not an accusation. A question because if you’re basing it on what you can see on TV, you miss so much not in shot, that’s all.
Anyway, I thought he was impressive. Looks like he got rave reviews from many folks after the game (football.london, bbc, etc). Just curious how you reconcile.
As for miscontrols… Pepe should naturally be miscontrolling more than other players because of what he is asked to do. The position is he asked to play and the way Arteta uses his right-backs often means Pepe receives long-medium range passes under pressure because no-one in a red shirt gets close enough to him. The longer the ball has to travel, the more time the opposition player marking him or his space has to get close and set. The rest of the team often has the advantage of receiving short-range passes.
Also, again on Xhaka, wasn’t prodding an argument. The issue with text is that it doesn’t carry tone. Apologies, I was actually asking the question – why do you think Xhaka is a leader? I’m a leadership coach and developer myself. I see how extroverted and vocal Xhaka is. It makes him look like he takes ownership by asserting his perspective on many issues. In the warm-up, you often see him talking to the other players, shouting and dominating the discussion. Which can look like leadership but from my experience it generally isn’t. Domination isn’t leadership.
Anyway for me, Xhaka being a leader just does not reconcile with how he behaves. Particularly how he shirks responsibility and fails to take ownership of the messes he creates. It smacks of someone in a rebellious, child-like mindset rather than an adult mindset. Leadership and ownership go hand in hand. Anyway, that’s my take.
I’m usually missing a lot, even when I’m in stadium.
So usually I try to recheck my notions with the stats available.
I’m a big fan of Pepe and I’m very happy he had the second half he had. The fact remains, though, that he had a blunder of a first half. Even the ratings will tell you that.
Re: Xhaka, there’s a lot about leadership that won’t be shown during a match.
The in match is pretty obvious – always part of the action – helps players position themselves – shows for the pass – is vocal on the pitch.
On top of that, we’ve been told he’s a player that’s always on time, that checks in on players after games, that he helps new players fit in, works hard in training and communicates with the coach. The best leaders I’ve had while playing weren’t just vocal on the pitch, but was there off the pitch aswell.