Well, here we go, another huge game at the start of what is usually a very difficult month. Brentford, a team we are doing quite well against, but a team that will ask physical questions of Arsenal, especially after answering physical questions with a C grade during the game against Chelsea.
Brentford are a smart, well-managed team. There are no photos of their players on the training pitch the day before a big match. I suspect Keith Andrews and his team will have recognized Arsenal’s long-leggedness, and I imagine they have kept things light ahead of a very difficult away game.
Mikel Arteta? Who knows. I hope the players have done the lightest of activities since the weekend and that Arteta gives in to his starting XI preferences and brings some fresh blood into the starting XI.
Brentford have been a total mess away from home this season. They have lost five of six. The Gtech consolation blanket won’t be with them, and when you’ve lost 90 percent of your away games you’re going to need more than explosive players to get you past Arsenal, whoever they play.
They are not that good against Arsenal either. I know, you’re lazy, you haven’t checked because you just feel like they’re beating us all the time? Wrong. They have beaten us once in ten games. We are undefeated in eight. We won seven of the ten games. They just don’t make easy matches and we still remember Bernd Leno getting his hands dirty and Ben White having a disaster against Ivan Toney.
Brentford is difficult to judge against big teams. They were completely controlled by Man City and managed just one shot on target from six attempts in their 1-0 defeat. They beat Liverpool 3-2 and they beat a sorry United team 3-1 with relative ease.
The good news, one hopes, is that there are many players who should be close to being ready for this second leg.
Gabi Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Martinelli, Ben White and perhaps even Kai Havertz will be in the squad, and some of those names should start.
You can’t rotate to crazy levels, but there’s no reason why we can’t see five changes for a match where mountains of chances are unlikely to fall like a Brentford team that relies heavily on pragmatic football.
One player we haven’t seen much of yet is Christian Norgaard. He has been fit for a while, but cannot get an edge for Zubimendi. It’s a bit alarming if I’m honest, because Zubimendi is quite good at what he does, and I’m not sure we’d put Declan in a 6 if he were to drop out for an extended period.
If Norgaard can’t play a game against his old club, you have to assume that Mikel Arteta simply doesn’t like him, and he won’t see much action this season. That would mean Arsenal needing to invest in a new central midfielder in January, because you can’t just stick with one number 6 for an entire season and think you’ll get through it. It makes me quite sick of the club taking incredibly robust players and making them crock club regulars. Zubi will head that way if we don’t find a suitable way to give him rest.
Ben White has been out in the cold for quite some time, but his experience would do wonders for this match, especially considering the hours Timber has put in this season.
It looks like Brentford have unearthed another gem in Thiago. Eleven goals in thirteen appearances. A few penalties, a few very tasty goals. He is very fast, built like an English 9, and he is a real threat in and around the box. A sample from the Jupiler League, and another example of how well Brentford are managed. Mbuemo goes out for a ten-fold return, another striker comes in, plucked from oblivion, and he hits straight away. Dango Ouattara performed wonders on the left, with three goals and four assists. Kevin Schade, also a very nice man who looks to the future, was also in the mix with three goals and one assist as his contribution.
The other part of the Brentford story is watching Thomas Frank, their beloved manager, leave for Spurs and tank, then promote the regular coach from within. I’m not sure I’d say he’s prospering at all, but Brentford haven’t gone backwards. They sit smack in the middle of the table, exactly where you would probably expect a team like them to be.
But his story is an interesting one and an example of Brentford innovating within football. I saw this comment from Dave Reddin, a performance leader who has worked in Rugby.
“But let’s be honest: the specialization of coaching is still not really recognized or universally applied in football.
“I see the huge opportunity in this model, both from a team perspective, the ability to really get into the details, whether it is set plays, throws or tactical elements and phases of the game, to the technical improvement of the players, at every level.
“That’s one of the things I see the most opportunity in. If you compare the prevalence in football with other team sports, it’s still very far away.”
Mikel Arteta is certainly a coach who has adopted the mentality of specialist coaches. Bring in people who can help find edge in places where traditional coaches might not look in. A permanent coach comes to work and looks at the fixed pieces of 100 clubs to find the edge. Man City had a problem with Jover and it didn’t work, but Arteta may have invested more force in the new idea because he was greener than Pep, and he found the magic.
Arteta really seems to be more like an NFL coach than anything else. He has specialists, he has built his team of highly technical, smart players who can play different styles and have the flexibility to change roles two or three times within 90 minutes.
Keith Andrews’ promotion was actually allowed to happen because Brentford lost a manager if it was successful, so the model worked. But the rental has been good. Executive departures are so disruptive. Good people leave, young talent can be frozen out, player routines are disrupted, it’s just painful. So if it’s not necessary, why do it? Promotion from within is brave and not sexy, but Brentford have made it work for them.
Also watch out for 21 year old Michael Kayode. He’s the Italian boy who drops the 40-yard throw-ins that have caused nightmares for teams this season. He’s also a pretty decent full-back. Extremely fast, great one-on-one, and a chaos merchant in the future. One to watch.
This match is without a doubt a must win, especially with an away day at my biggest haters, Aston Villa. Get a win here, build some confidence and destroy the progress of a manager who has impressively climbed Villa to the top of the table in recent weeks.
Okay, that’s me, you absolute freaks. See you in the comments. X
#ARTETA #SQUAD #OPTIONS