It’s very cold here in Dublin this morning. You know who I blame? The Carabao Cup ball.
Honestly, I know we live in an age where clickbait rules, but some of the stuff around Mikel Arteta’s post-match comments has been dismal to say the least. If you think he’s really blaming the ball, you didn’t watch what he said, and it’s a measure of where we are in this media world that his words have been twisted the way they have.
Remarking on something is not the same as complaining about it. And it’s definitely not the same as blaming it. If anyone really thinks that when the manager and his staff sit around the video screens to analyse the game again they’ll come to the conclusion that it was the fault of the ball, they’re nuts.
Here’s where I think the ball might lie in the list of ‘culprits’, for want of a better word:
1 – Jurrien Timber miss
2 – Gabriel Martinelli’s miss
3 – Kai Havertz’s miss
4 – Poor defending for both goals
5 – 845 [A load of other things that we can do better when facing a team in a low block]
846 – Something else
847 – The ball (maybe).
It also ignores his post-game remarks when he made it clear what the big issue was:
It’s about scoring goals. When we miss the chances that we missed and then concede a goal, it’s always tough.
BuT thE BallS!!!!
Scoring goals. Being clinical. I find this discussion so interesting, because I don’t think there’s any doubt we can do better in that regard – but when you look at the Premier League table only Liverpool have scored more and they have the best player in the world in some of the best form of his career to make them that bit more potent. We have scored the same as Chelsea, and they have a player in Cole Palmer who is producing with incredible consistency.
Salah has scored 38% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season; Palmer is responsible for 33% of Chelsea’s goals; while our highest scorer in the league is Kai Havertz with 7 which is 17% of our total. Is that better because we are less dependable on one man, or do we miss that one man to give us the edge? I suppose it is worth pointing out that we’re missing Bukayo Saka whose 10 assists make up 25% of that total for us this season, and his 5 goals cement his contribution further. When it boils down to it, Saka is for us what Salah and Palmer are for Liverpool and Chelsea – you can’t help but wonder/hope how they’d cope with their absences.
In the Champions League, we have 11 goals from our 6 games, a long way behind some of the leading scorers, but having conceded just twice we sit in third place in that particular table right now – and it does sometimes feel like defensive parsimony is a good thing to have in Europe. Which isn’t to say you wouldn’t want more up front, but that defensive solidity remains an important platform.
My gut feeling on this, and it’s just that, is that we’ve hit something of a ceiling when it comes to what these players can produce from an attacking basis. That doesn’t mean it’s all over, nor does it mean we can’t get a bit more out of certain individuals. I think it’s obvious that Leandro Trossard is capable of more, Gabriel Jesus has only just started scoring again after a period in the barren wastelands, and if Gabriel Martinelli could produce numbers akin to his best season, we’d be in better shape up front.
The big question of whether we add to the attacking roster before the end of the month is the one that is on everyone’s lips. Right now, it doesn’t sound like there’s anything imminent, although Arteta insists we’re open to making that happen if the right opportunity comes along. I hope it does. We’ve come such a long way and made such excellent progress, and it now feels like we’ve just plateaued a little bit. An injection of something new and fresh feels like the thing we need to kick on again.
It also feels like something everybody needs right now. Not just the supporters, but the players themselves, and even the manager. A new face can have a big impact in terms of the dynamic and what they can bring to the team. If the fires are starting to dwindle, pour a little petrol on them in the shape of a new player. I hope the ownership are paying attention, because while it’s not a 100% guaranteed fix, you can breathe life back into a team with the right kind of addition.
Beyond that though, I still think we have things we can do to make us a bit more effective. As I wrote yesterday, speed of thought, passing and movement can improve. I’d like to see a bit more risk taking with passing from deep when forward players make movements which are too often ignored. If we lose the ball, we have players who can win it back, we shouldn’t be so afraid of transition moments. Sacrifice a little control, and perhaps the reward is the opportunity to go at a team who have to come forward and leave a bit of space for us to attack.
Anyway, I’m sure after he performs a training ground ritual in which he burns a load of Carabao Cup balls in front of the players using an ancient Latin incarnation to relieve of us its curse, those are things Mikel Arteta will be working on ahead of the FA Cup tie against Man Utd on Sunday.
For now, stay warm, unless you’re somewhere warm already in which case I am jealous. Till tomorrow.
