From an Arsenal perspective it’s quite quiet, and that’s fine with me. We did our job on Tuesday, and we did it very well, so for today our eyes will be focused elsewhere. Man City are in action later, traveling to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland. Can Granit Xhaka’s side please us? I’m not exactly hopeful, but you never know.
What awaits them this weekend is a match against Chelsea, and it looks like they will face them at an opportune time. Report this morning suggests Enzo Maresca is on the brink at Stamford Bridge, so Chelsea could head to City with an interim manager in charge. It’s not exactly ideal for them, and it just feels like one of those things City always seems to want to go for. I don’t have any strong evidence to support this, it just seems like their toast always comes butter side up. In a title race, every touch of the green could be crucial and this would certainly be useful for them.
Perhaps Chelsea’s ragtag band of two billion pounds of vagabonds and strays will be freed and deployed for the performance of a lifetime, but chances are their nefarious approach to buying as many completely unlikeable players as possible will see them take a big beating from a generally well-coached City side. I guess we’ll see.
What else? As I said, things are quiet on our side, and Mikel Arteta’s press conference tomorrow could give us some insight into Declan Rice’s situation before we face Bournemouth on Saturday. I liked the interaction of our trio of forwards after the final whistle on Tuesday. Both Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres were there to share a moment with Gabriel Jesus after his goal (pictured above). It’s a small thing, nothing major even, but I think you have a greater chance of success if everyone rows in the same direction.
There is still so much talk about the centre-forward position at Arsenal, and I wonder if there was perhaps an idea that whoever we signed this summer would be the number 1, end of story. Our Erling Haaland, so to speak, in terms of their team status. I don’t think we’ve seen enough of Gyokeres yet, and I hope there’s more to come in the second half of the campaign, but perhaps we should take a step back and realize that it’s unlikely that any of these will become the undisputed first choice, but all three have a role to play in different ways.
When you look at this month’s schedule, with nine games before January 31, there is a lot of football to do, and no player is going to play every minute of it. These three can really help each other and push each other, and hopefully we see the benefit of that on the scoresheet and against opposition defenses.
There was also a moment between Gabriel and Eberechi Eze, who hasn’t played as much lately as you might think. He started against Wolves but came off in the second half and has not progressed since. That must sting a bit for him, but perhaps like Gyokeres, we haven’t seen him find the consistency you would like. I say this with all due respect to Crystal Palace, but there is a step up in what is asked of you when you join a club that plays every three days all season, where the stakes are so high and the pressure is so great when it comes to presenting the most important trophies.
He may well come to terms with that. Still, there are countless examples of players who have looked a bit peripheral, or who have come to life in the second half of the season, and I think he still has a very important role to play. January will likely tell us a lot about the true depth of this squad and how the manager is willing to deploy certain players, so let’s see how it all plays out.
Right, that’s your fate for this morning. If you were too busy yesterday with the festivities etc, there’s a nice Arsecast below, recapping the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, the performance, the handshake, the Emi Martinez stuff and much more. For now: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
#Years #walk