This season has not witnessed the kind of unimpressive performance by Arsenal last weekend.
It was against Leeds United on Sunday,16th October, and it was Arsenal receiving a dose of their own medicine for much of the match. Leeds pressed Arsenal world without end throughout the second half at least.
They won a penalty against Arsenal and striker,Patrick Barmford contrived to miss it. Same striker had a goal disallowed just a minute into the second half. Plus there was a rescinded red-card and penalty against Gabriel Magalhães.
It was not that Leeds' pressing game was something Arsenal isn't used to, but their failing was their unsatisfactory ball handling. They needed to be more intelligent when in possession.
The major culprits in the point above were the two Gabriel's– the striker keeps holding on to the ball(to dribble) for far too long for such a match where Arsenal was under pressure; the defender, as always(even last season) is not an assured fellow on the ball,when push comes to shove. Even the impressive Martinelli also was not helping matters at times holding unto the ball so much and being crowded out. Captain,Martin Ødegaard couldn't find solutions in that kind of frantic game.
Beautiful to see Arteta haul out the captain early enough, to allow the midfield maestro, Fabio Vieira, work his magic. But the faltering guys mentioned above made his work difficult. Finally and correctly Gabriel Jesus was taken off.
You need to credit Arteta for inviting Holding from the bench,to change shape to a back three(or five) once Jesus was taken off to give Leeds a more difficult route to the goal. It wasn't the only option in that circumstance, but it was a sensible, smart option.
You can't but notice that eventhough this was not the usual vintage Arsenal attacking performance, it was a master-class in how to position yourself without the ball. The boys are so well drilled on what to do or where to go without the ball(with a leader like Xhaka offering calm, that someone like me was confident they would see the match through.
Going forward the Gunners have to amend these flaws. Now,same day the El Classico was played and after Real Madrid were two goals up,in the second half Barca swooped on them. The difference between Real and Arsenal was clear at this point– as Real protected the ball nicely whenever they got it. You need to see the beauty of a Benzema(worthy winner of the 66th Ballon d'Or,in today's event),holding unto the ball and protecting it,intelligently till he finds a player or the defenders handling the ball with confidence and sometimes dribbling out of defence to avoid Barca's press. These are things Arsenal can glean from.
In the end Arsenal got what they've been getting for most of this season– a victory! It's the first time in the club’s 136 year history that they've won 9 of their opening 10 games. This victory is even more special than before because for the first time they lead the by 4 points over second placed City. This is an exceptional season the Gunners are having for themselves. I wish them well.
Cheers
