On a run
A well needed break has the Gunners firing by Vuyo Mataka
It’s amazing what time off can do to you. A break is a reset, metal and physical reset. When you fall into a rut or feel drained, take a break, reset and refocus. That is what Arsenal needed after the games they had in December. The loss to Aston Villa set the team down a path of hardship. The loss to Brighton, a hard-fought draw to Liverpool and losses to West Ham and Fulham sent the team into a spiral dive. Morale was lost and tactics looked ineffective against the opposition. The repeat fixture against Liverpool did not have the fans positive, even with the absence of Salah. That defeat had Arsenal fans looking forward to the summer break.
While the AFCON and Asia Cup went on, the team had time away to take a mental break for the league. Time to recover, refocus and reshape the team, tactically. It was a needed break for the team, and they have come back reborn. The fixtures have been kind, however, they still had to play well to win the games.
The gunners bulldozed over Crystal Palace with a 5-0 thrashing and a solid win against Forest has boosted their confidence. The true test would be a third bout with Liverpool and the Arsenal did not waver from the challenge. A dominant win over the Reds had Arsenal soaring, feeling like the title charge is back on.
With the return fixture with West Ham, the team felt unstoppable, demolishing the Hammers six goals to nil. The team is on a run and look like a true force in the league once again. They have come back from the break with drive; however, can they keep this up until the end of the season.?
With fewer games to play than the other contenders, we have more time to recover. The games will not get easier the further we get into the season; other teams will be fighting for relegation or for European places. Arsenal’s hunger will decide it they want to be contenders or champions.
The season is long and gruelling. The margin for error grows smaller every game that is played. Questions will be asked of the team; doubts will be brought up at every turn. Does the team have enough depth to win? Are there enough goals in the team to win?
The number of doubters will grow the closer you get. It is up to the players, manager and coaching staff to prove the doubters wrong. Some of the players have won trophies elsewhere.
Arteta has seen Pep win for seasons. He has seen success but is able to be successful on his own?
Vuyo Mataka
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I’m not worried about our games in Burnley and Portugal, because Arteta’s tactics seem better used for away games
But Newcastle will come to the Emirates and park the bus
Arteta’s tactics are great for counter-attack if the opposition have to press us high up the pitch, but I believe we still have problems at splitting the defense of ultra-defensive teams with strong physicality
I don’t think Burnley is going to be that easy. They are playing better nowadays. But they still show odd naivety which I am hoping they will show against us.
But you are right Newcastle at home is a difficult proposition. They park the bus and are physical. Just hope we get an early goal here.
@Gai, The Boys are in good form and confident; against a team that wouldn’t pack the bus like Burnely and Porto I have no worries. As per NewCastle, Edddie Holes and his players hardly seat back and Arsenal has a point to proof against NewCastle. I guess it will be a win win for Arsenal at Emirate not easy for any team to beat Arteta twice in Epl this season.. Our fans will also be up for it.
GAI isn’t Westham one of the most defensive sides in the league? Indeed we couldn’t break through their defence for the first 30 minutes but a tactical tweak by Arteta changed things. Ben White moved inwards,playing as an inverted RB- think it was the first time White has inverted in a league game.This change pushed Odegaard forward,in between Westham’s defensive lines,affording him more space to probe their last line.
Something else I’ve noticed is that it’s not just Arsenal that struggles with the low block. I happened to watch City Vs Everton over the weekend and that match was no different from any match Arsenal plays against a low block. They had lots of possession but Everton kept them at bay-all they did was pass it side to side in a slow manner . As a matter of fact, City completed the first half without registering a single shot on target, despite having Haaland on the pitch. I think lately we have shown that we can deal with the low block using tactical tweaks like the one involving White.
Not the first time BW have inverted
OT: Has Dan sent his predictions for this weekend.
I am not chasing but it is a great pleasure for myself and many others on here.
Not yet
Will be posted soon….
When Arsenal can put together a run of games like City and Liverpool do, then I will believe we are a legit contender for the title.
We have not displayed that consistency needed, but we are making progress. We have played well after Dubai, let’s keep it going before we start gloating.
I am glad the boys have found thier mojo and the team is playing some beautiful football.
Also, i am not so worried about Burnley and Porto as i feel we will scale those hurdles. My worry is in the number of players we have out with injuries, i am hoping they recover befor the end of february as thier contributuons will be huge to this team.
Let’s beat Burnley before thinking about Newc. They will try to frustrate us but am feeling confident with our firepower of late making us the most in-form side Away matches sandwiched around Liv are tough fixtures so we’ll need to be on it and make sure of these important points
Vuto’s rathe rhopeful piece is a reasonably good summationof what it takes to run our rivals very close and ,in his opinion, though not mine – possibly win the Prem.
Optimism but tempered with reality is always healthy.
One thing jarred with me though and that was the misleading headline describing a “super run”, whereas in reality we played and won ONLY FOUR, not fourteen or twenty four matches, three against teams we would be expected to defeat and only one against a Liverpool team that we DID BEAT VERY SOUNDLY, but who failed to play to their previous standard.
HARDLY THEN “a super run”, was it!!
At least NOT YET!
But then being premature applies to such A LOT of what we read on JA!
Of course you are going to be obstreporous but the fact is that this is the first time Arsenal have won the first 4 games of the year for 60 odd years. Nothing special!
Let us go one game at a time. But not be over enthusiastic to start going 2 or 3 games at a time. For, the Gunners cannot play 2 or 3 matches at once but a match at a time.
On the Gunners next match away to the Clarets on Saturday. There won’t be any cause for concern on the part of us Arsenal
this is true as the Gunners will surely wallop the Clarets 0-4 at the full-time of the match. The wallop could even be more than the 0-4 win to the Arsenal that I am predicting the Gunners will wallop the Clarets with.
Even the defence guru Vincent Kompany the Clarets manager has already known that the Gunners will wallop his Clarets coached team beyond recognition and will take them to the cleaners.
Therefore, Arsenal extending their winning run in the Epl to five at Burnley is not an issue. Because this will certainly come to pass at Turf Moor undoubtedly on Saturday.
Hope we can stay strong till the end of the season.