Delightful defensive display
Whisper it quietly, but Arsenal's defence is actually... good.
After years of decline under Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery 's inability to fix it, Mikel Arteta has transformed the Gunners into a side that are hard to break down.
Of course the attacking brilliance in the recent run has been most eye catching, but the fact that Arsenal conceded just twice since Boxing Day deserves some credit too.
Leading the disciplined display were David Luiz and Rob Holding.
The Brazilian has often been criticised for his at times calamitous approach to defending his goal, but against Manchester United he was picked out by Gary Neville as man of the match (although this was in no small part down to his celebrating heading away Bruno Fernandes ' free kick like a goal).
Holding on the other hand was impressive again and will have done his chances of an England call-up in March no harm after putting in such an assured display in front of the watching Gareth Southgate.
But Arsenal's defensive rebirth is about so much more than the performances of their centre backs. The entire team now looks desperate to defend.
Granit Xhaka was solid once more while Thomas Partey provided the extra protection he always does and the front line put in a shift as well (more on that later).
The collective effort is emphasised by the fact that currently the Gunners have zero errors leading to goals this season. Considering they topped that list In the Premier League only two seasons that is made all the more impressive.
Speaking after the game Mikel Arteta acknowledged the desire of his team to stop the opposition scoring goals.
"When you have to defend your box you have to be ruthless," he said.
"You have to be even more aggressive when you are attacking the opponents one because every goal it makes a huge impact on the results.
"I think in those situations everybody is defending those situations with their lives, which is what I ask them to do.
"And when that’s the case you are obviously harder to beat and you get the amount of clean sheets that we are getting at the moment."
The new attitude is summed up perhaps best by the maverick Brazilian at the heart of the Gunners' back line.
After the game David Luiz stated what his targets were for Arsenal for the remainder of the season.
"You have to be humble because we are far from the first position," he told Sky Sports. "We have to take it game by game and try to improve. And then in the end of the season we’re gonna see.
"The ambition is fighting for the first position. It has to be there. I never start something in my life without ambition. Until the moment it’s mathematically impossible we have to try."
The title may be some way off yet for the Gunners, but if they keep up the defensive displays they've been showing over recent months, then rising up the table shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Pepe's press
On Tuesday night's game Nicolas Pepe was obviously singled out for praise after scoring a goal against Southampton.
But what was interesting to note was the reason why Mikel Arteta said he'd decided to play him on Tuesday night.
"The way he’s been training he deserves his chance and today I think he did the job really well."
Something appears to have changed for the Ivorian who is now defending in a manner unheard of during his career at Arsenal so far.
We've always known he had the attacking talent. Apart from Alexandre Lacazette 's free kick that hit the bar and Willian 's golden chance, the best attacking opportunities came through the Ivorian who had a shot well blocked by Harry Maguire at the start of the second half and curled a low drive agonisingly wide closer to the end.
But what was more impressive was the against United he was again sensational in a defensive sense, leading his Gunners' teammates for most sprints in the first half with 11.
A penny appears to have dropped for Pepe who is now putting as much work into the defensive side of his game as he is the offensive.
These are the non-negotiables that Arteta demands of all his players and despite being the club-record signing the 25-year-old is no different.
Now he is finally starting to show that added commitment first team opportunities are following.
With the extent of Bukayo Saka 's injury unknown and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still quarantining, Pepe seems set for another start against Wolves.
If he can keep up this level of work for the team then you would expect that to be the next in a long run of many.
Martinelli's defensive discipline
Many heads among Arsenal fans dropped after the revelation that Saka would be missing the game through injury an hour before kick off.
The fact that he was being replaced in the starting line up by Gabriel Martinelli though will have softened the blow.
The Brazilian wasn't quite at his best, but there were a few moments in attack where he looked to cause United problems.
One that stood out in particular was a jinking run leading to a lofted pass that almost created a chance for Lacazette.
As always though his defensive awareness for someone so young was once again refreshing.
This made it all the more strange therefore, that as Marcus Rashford ran towards the Arsenal goal midway through the first half Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was heard shouting that the Brazilian "cannot defend" and to take him on "whenever you like."
Just three minutes later the 19-year-old rushed back towards his own goal to make a miraculous defensive header that prevented an almost certain goal for Rashford. Safe to say United's Norwegian coach got it wrong on that occasion.
After such a promising display it was then a shame to see him withdrawn in favour of Willian at half time.
The assumption was that maybe Martinelli had picked up another injury but speaking after the game Arteta revealed this not to be the case.
“It was a tactical decision," said the Spaniard. "It was something we weren’t doing right & I thought Willy could’ve done better & that’s why I made that decision.
"It was about a few things, something we had to treat to be much more aggressive, like we were in the second half, pressing much better, we were closer, getting the ball really high, we had better options with the ball.
"It was nothing to do with Gabi or his work ethic.”
Transfer talk
With just days left of the window it was interesting to note again the absence of Shkodran Mustafi from the Arsenal squad.
The German has been linked with a move to Liverpool in the coming days, and Arsenal seem to be pretty willing to let that happen.
He is currently the surplus foreign player in the squad after the arrival of Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid so the deal would seem to make sense for all parties.
When asked about the possibility of any outgoing action in the last two days of the transfer window Mikel Arteta admitted there was still plenty of deals which could be done.
"Well, there are some conversations at the moment going on," he said. "I spoke with all of the players about their own situation because they are all aware of the minutes that they are playing and they want to improve their situation.
"I am willing to help them. Some of them the club is willing to help them and we will try to find a solution at the end. But I don’t know whether it’s going to be the case or not."
That answer also covered potential deals for Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Calum Chambers to leave the club on a temporary basis.
In each case you could hardly begrudge any of them a move.
Willock and Nelson are in desperate need of some game time to establish themselves at first team level and loan moves to the Championship could be the perfect fit for that.
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Maitland-Niles also wants more minutes with a view to the Euros in the summer, while Chambers needs to play his way back to full fitness.
If these moves do go ahead then the Gunners may be forced into some late incoming business just to replenish the numbers around the squad.
But as things stand it looks like it's going to be a busy last two days of the January window for players leaving the club, rather than those going the other way.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZvb3RiYWxsLmxvbmRvbi9hcnNlbmFsLWZjL25ld3MvbWFydGluZWxsaS1zb2xza2phZXItZGF2aWQtbHVpei1hcnNlbmFsLTE5NzM2OTU10gFgaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZm9vdGJhbGwubG9uZG9uL2Fyc2VuYWwtZmMvbmV3cy9tYXJ0aW5lbGxpLXNvbHNramFlci1kYXZpZC1sdWl6LWFyc2VuYWwtMTk3MzY5NTUuYW1w?oc=5
2021-01-31 06:00:00Z
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