In isolation, there was little excitement surrounding Arsenal’s first visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. However, Saturday may yet be remembered as a pivotal moment in the season for many supporters. Even the greatest champions experience defining points in a campaign, and this fixture had the feel of such an occasion.
Mikel Arteta appeared visibly affected by his team’s display the previous weekend. Criticism followed, even from the most loyal supporters, and there was widespread discussion of frank conversations taking place behind closed doors. Arsenal were fully aware of the scrutiny and understood the need to demonstrate that the performance against Wolves was an anomaly rather than a sign of fragility. The pressure was intensified by the knowledge that they kicked off at Everton, having surrendered top spot, a reminder of how quickly narratives shift in football.
Responding When It Mattered
Victory over the Toffees would allow everyone connected with the club to approach Christmas with confidence, while any dropped points would have reignited familiar accusations of faltering in a title race. One assured performance was required to restore belief and calm. Arsenal returned to fundamentals, emphasising resilience and control. What Arteta has built during his six years as a manager is a side capable of grinding out narrow victories and remaining difficult to beat. The greatest compliment for the 42-year-old is that this team now embraces challenging moments rather than shrinking from them.
Arsenal managed the contest with composure throughout. There was no sense of panic, despite Manchester City applying pressure. Such experiences can only strengthen the squad for future occasions when they take to the pitch after a title rival has already played.
Composure and Belief
Even deep into added time, when a single lapse could have proved costly, concentration levels remained high. David Raya’s alertness and decision-making stood out, Victor Gyokeres showed bravery in converting a penalty he did not need to take, and Arteta even found time to remind everyone to enjoy the journey. Pep Guardiola may trust his group to deliver with smiles, but Arsenal can also approach Christmas Day content, sitting top of the table and breathing a collective sigh of relief.
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It is indeed a statement win from the lads. It should give them confidence to win more of these type of important must win games.
Good to see you be on a positive note after they defied your odds from your prediction against them.
I was also scared of the match but we ended up with 3 points which is very good.
Brighton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth are our next 3 epl games and those are 3 other must win games that are coming.
Hopefully we can win all 3 of them. Nothing less from these 3 games are acceptable especially against Villa who we should have our revenge at the Emirates.
Thats one way of looking at it and a lot of positive slants on events. We are top of the league and we should be proud. We have looked really sluggish these last few games. It can go both ways from here. We have gathered points which this last 3 years has not been a problem. The worry is, when the pressure is on, our football suffers.
It wasn’t a great spectacle and not having seen the Wolves game, I couldn’t compare them. Everton are a dogged team and I, therefore, expected a difficult 90 minutes.
Others have praised Raya but certainly in the first half I thought there was a danger of being caught out by late distribution and faffing about. Granted, his passing was pretty accurate but it didn’t help the old ticker.
Looking back, you can’t always win beautifully and I felt the rot was halted especially when taking Wolves into consideration who are in dire straits. There were intermittent spells of excitement to bring encouragement.
City have hit a good vein of form but it’s no good dwelling on that. The players have to focus on what they have to do.
city will have difficult fixtures until January and we can see what they are made of. If they can get 15 pts from 5 matches and we get 15 pts as well, it will go to the end
Our January fixtures are tougher than theirs, it includes tricky Brighton
Aston Villa our constant nemesis
then Liverpool
Man Utd not too far (though in early February)
Based on form, I don’t think we’ll get maximum points
whereas City could – based on form
SueP
The game probably wasn’t a great spectacle, but the result I must admit flattered Everton
I have a practice of reading without looking at the writer’s name, but the author must be encourage for telling it like it is.
The result against Everton was massive in the scheme of things because it ensures us sitting on top of the tree comes Christmas, that in itself is a crucial psychological advantage in this campaign with Man City breathing down our neck.
The writer is right, the win demostrate resilience, but it is the ability to secure vital points even when we are not at our free flowing best that impresses me most.
Not yet. We’ve seen this movie in the last three seasons, when Arsenal couldn’t take the pressure of being chased by the likes of Man City and Liverpool in the second half of the seasons despite having become the league leader in December
Berta and the club also didn’t help Arteta much, by signing a pricey penalty taker from Portuguese league who’s struggling physically/ technically in EPL and a luxurious CAM who can’t unlock defenses
I think we can only win EPL if Haaland gets injured
You criticise Gyökeres but which striker wouldve you signed in the summer?
And which forward in our team has vastly overperformed Gyökeres?
Answer is no one. Trossard has been great but missed a sitter yesterday. Yet his goal tally is on level with Gyö. Same with our star boy Saka. Eze has scored the same but only in 2 matches.
Fact is, all our forwards have been equally disappointing/great this season, however you want to look at it. Not one stands out against others.
Woltemade and Aghehowa were available. They’re at least bigger and younger, which would likely be more useful in set-pieces
Our goalscoring wingers are struggling because Gyokeres can’t become a front-line pivot and can’t win duels to create chances for his teammates
Imagine if we had someone better on the ground or/ and in the air for the CF position, as Firmino did in his prime or as Haaland has been doing for his Man City teammates. Our wingers could score more goals
Aghehowa comes from the same ”weak” league you slag Gyökeres for and you didnt even know who Woltemade was in the summer.
I remember summer very well and Woltemade was a name no one mentioned here. You cant cry afterwards ”we shouldve got this guy” when you didnt advocate for him in the summer.
Woltermede or Aghehawa, were mentioned. Sesko was your plug and Isak. And that would have been worse.
Sorry Woltermede and Agehawa were NEVER mentioned.
@Reggie,
Exactly! I remember the same. GAI’s choice was Sesko all summer.
You have put nail in the coffin of this daily song nowadays. GAI did you mention Woltemade even once during the summer?
Care to remind us which strikers did you advocate for?
We need a new striker.
We should have signed Victor Osimhen or Ivan Tony. Forwards who score wherever they play. We need a proven goalscorer, who scores consistently throughout the season. My patience with Gyökeres has run out and I want Arsenal to find alternatives as soon as possible. Let’s be honest, we are in the middle of the season and Gyökeres has not delivered what we had hoped for.
Squad dept is okay and I think we mentally will cope with the pressure, if we can score more goals up front.
Webster, those two strikers are good but none of Europe’s top clubs were in for either of them. I wonder why…
Herr Drier,
Who’s Webster?.
Please you people should stop criticizing victor and stop comparing him with halland..look at the type of creative players that city have at their disposal..if u put victor in that team he would deliver the goals….imagine if we had doku and saka as our wingers.oir problem the midfield rice and zubimendi should not be playing at the same in some games , I prefer eze odegard and rice in our midfield
I feel we should have signed Mateta and Semenyo. Instead of Eze and Gyokeres.
We already have Nwaneri for CAM and Eze has struggled when playing out wide on left.
Mateta is already proven in premier league. Might not be who everyone wanted but he would allow our wingers to flourish
I would have signed Osimen without a blink.. And to consider he was practically looking for someone to grab him.
I’m not the biggest Gyokeres fan but I think you’re way too hard on him. He’s working really hard. The team is still adapting to him and he’s still adapting to the team. Cut him some slack.
Besides, we still have Havertz to come and he was pretty effective for is up top in 2023/24. If we can have a similar second half of the season like we had then, I think we win the league. What cost us that season was our form in the first half.
And yes Haaland scores, but I feel we have more goals from wide areas than City do. It’s not like they have prime Mahrez,Sane and Sterling. We do have wide men capable of getting 10+ goals. That evens things a bit.
His work rate can’t hide his physical and technical deficiencies. I don’t think he’ll ever become Arsenal’s main CF with his flaws
Thierry Henry made a very good analysis about the comparison between Gyokeres’ and Martinelli’s actions when they only had one defender left to outpace. Gyokeres’ lack of pace and decision making were very obvious in that match
How many goals did those two…wol & Ago score last year.. And how do you know they would want to come to Arsenal
Nonsense….support your team in peace….so you want arsenal to be ahead by 15points..
A good team is one that can grind wins…
This league can be won on goal difference or by a margin of one point.
Arsenal can finish the season with 90+ thus season.
Keep your calm
You can take your Haaland wherever you wish but Arsenal will win the league! It is very simplistic to reduce EPL.into Haaland premier league! Where was he last season when Liverpool won it?
Haaland scored 34 goals last season
22 in the prem and missing 7 games through injury.
😂😂😂
Dont ruin it for them with your real facts when they can just throw whatever comes into their heads and present it as factual.
City is in the driving seat because of their experience and ability to go on a 10 match winning streak.
BHA H
Villa H
Bmouth A
Pool H
I expected 5 wins out of 5 and we started with an away win against Everton. Majority of our PL matches are at home so we dont have excuses left.
Current City team does NOT have that experience you refer to. That defense of their won’t win the league, no matter how many goals their storm trooper scores
Gvardiol and Dias are very good defenders.
O’Reilly is a young raw talented player at left back.
Nunes is pretty much tidy at right back.
So the defense is not that bad as you think.
The games against Brighton, Villa and Liverpool would definitely not be easy, despite the fact that we are at home.
In previous seasons we have dropped points against them at the Emirates so the lads have to step up and deliver 3 points for us.
Well said. And they shall
Good article Dan.
Our players gave their all against Everton and that’s because, in my opinion, they didn’t expect to just turn up and get the three points.
Yeah a bit disappointed by some fans negatively
I thought that was a huge win
Dropped points would have been a huge mental blow
It was a huge win. I think it’s as much about the score line and the inability to convert the chances which causes concern It makes everyone nervous which is a bit rich coming from me🤣
Ken, I refer you to my post on ball tampering in the Everton match post comments.
Answered it OG 👍
There’s one thing Gabriel Magaheas is injecting into this team that made them perform when he was there, you will understand me better if he comes back to Arsenal defence.
Honestly. Can’t wait to see him back.
A win is always welcome but the team is not playing well. Against good teams we have failed to deliver statement wins. 10 men Chelsea played much better than us, Sunderland gave us problems the whole game, and Aston Villa outplayed us. We have been winning and drawing games by lucky and not by playing better. It is really sad to see that way City have overtaken our goal difference which is a big factor in easing pressure on the team
There are a lot of things that Arteta is failing to address or maybe doesn’t need to because he likes it that way. Raya is taking time to release the ball when he has defenders open to receive the ball. He gives the opposition time to pick our players making it difficult for us to play when he finally releases the ball. Zubimendi is definitely not suitable to play as a DM in the EPL. We have seen good DMs his body size or smaller but they have been robust abd quick. I think Arteta is protecting his position in the team by not playing Norgaard. IMO if Norgaard gets a chance he might show everyone that he is better suited to the position than Zubimendi. Arteta is clearly protecting Zubimendi from competition because even when he substitutes him he doesn’t bring Norgaard in when he is his direct replacement.
Does Arteta substitute based on the game or he just do t for the sake of having another player in. Everton was sitting deep and he brings in Martinelli when Martinellu thrives on space. It was a very bad decision from someone who knows his players and how they perform. He should play to their strengths and not what he likes. We hope to win the EPL but its a long r9ng and the coach definitely needs to change a lot of things.
10 man Chelsea played pretty well but I disagree that they played better. It is also untrue that Sunderland gave Arsenal problems the whole game. They did well to get back into the game after Arsenal went ahead. Aston Villa sneaked a win in what was a tight game.
Your assessment of Zubi, does not make much sense. His role is key to the balance of the team and this team is leading the PL which is one of the strongest in world football.
there is nothing coming from Oddegaard these days
no goals nor assists.. our makeshift defense is doing
alright.. I would like to see Nwaneri and Marli get some
gametime vs Palace.. and start Noni and Eze. this result
is great in lieu of past results..
Have to agree that it is difficult to stay positive when we have Odegaard and Gyorkes our start line ups. Neither contribute much of anything . Our captain is the more disappointing of the two. Gets so much of the ball and doesn’t know what to do with it unless he can find Saka; rarely leads by example and let’s not talk about his ability to not sniff a goal. I’m worried that he has peaked and that’s pretty much it from here. I don’t know how long it will be before Arteta loses faith in him and gives further opportunities to Nwaneri and Eze. But hopefully not before it’s too late. The Villa game is the big one for me. The incentive should be there for us to seek revenge, prove a point and play them off the park. However, the dark clouds emerge and you start to think ” Yes, but Gyorkes won’t do anything, Odegaard will not inject any forward drive, Zubamendi will sit back and misdirect too many of his passes, Saka and Trossard will be nullified and someone in our defence will comit a major stuff up”. Nightmare scenario. On the other hand we could switch on the positivity, Arteta could make inspired team selections and we have a two goal lead by half time. Definitely the best statement Arsenal could make.
Arteta is never known to be big on attacking football. If he prefers to keep possession and wait patiently to score or nick one from a set piece, let it be, as long as he’s delivering results. It’s not like we haven’t seen mind numbing football when George Graham was in charged. The brand of football won’t matter much as long as we can end our trophy drought
The season is still way too long though for us to keep riding our luck and waiting for the other two teams to slip up. A must win against Villa to slow down their momentum is non negotiable.
Odegard truly needs to impact games more.
He seems to manage games and maintain possession rather than impacting the game and create goals.
But then if you give Unai Emry this same Arsenal team, he will take the league by storm.
So Arteta’s style of play might also be an issue
Very big hurdle I agree
Been saying for a while now, we’ll truly know if this team is seriously contenders by the 9th Jan
Between now and that date we have Brighton, Villa, and Liverpool amongst other games. If we are still top after those games then I believe we have a genuine chance.
It’s up to the manager and team to change perspectives of a annual mid season collapse
This is very well said.
Hopefully Big Gabby and Kai will return during this period as well.
I said it on another article, we need to find ways to win when we are not playing well, and it seems that is what we have done in the last two games. Sure, it’s not nice to watch, but I’ll take the wins.
I do hope it changes though.
I will back the boys and reserve any negative comments until the end of the season.
Next week again City play ahead of Arsenal. Most probably City win at Forest and an hour later Arsenal fight back to restore the top spot that City took. Though at home v Brighton, Arsenal need calmness and composure in the game as Brighton always are stumbling blocks in our path. Last season drew twice. Arsenal play Tuesday while Brighton rest full week.
Would be nice if teams start to play as hard against City as they do against Arsenal ! Seems one goal goes in and they give up… happens every season (bar last year)
Villa have been quite lucky based on Rogers form and their XG… been riding their luck but sometimes that can also play you into form
Be great to have Gabriel back – adds so much to the team in defence,. attack but also a strong leader and talker on the pitch !
Neil,
With all due respect, you talk about luck regards Villa and the form of Rogers.
But fail to mention the luck we had against Wolves, with both our goals being own goals, and we we’re a penalty away from dropping a further 2 points against Everton.
So I think it fare to say we’re having our fare share of luck to.
Every team has some luck but Arsenal haven’t been as “lucky” as some of the other teams in the title race.
Hahaha Neil, very sad victim attitude
Teams play harder against us than City….thought Id heard every excuse by now 🤣🤣🤣
Isn’t being a victim exhausting? No mention of the lick we’ve had? Classic victim
Not sure your attitude is anything to write home about. Man City have benefited from some poor play by a number of teams although they have to be given their due credit for being more clinical than the teams they have beaten. They have won games when chances were similar or the opposition has had better chances. Villa’s case is even more remarkable as they have been outplayed at times and yet come out on top.
Arsenal have generally dropped points in games that were equal or even when the balance of play was in Arsenal’s favour.
Are you suggesting that the more dominant team in a match should be the rightful winner? The winner should be the one with more possession and shots? If it works that way, we would have won more under Wenger when we often had more possession than we had points. Too bad it doesn’t work that way
You’re right of course, but I didn’t think that David was suggesting luck was involved. It read to me like a description of how matches don’t always go as expected
As a general point, there is so much negativity surrounding Arsenal right now, that it’s hard to believe they are top. It can all go wrong over Christmas and then the negativity will be widely be touted as correct. The opposite could of course happen and I’ll still be reading that Arsenal are lucky. Like Villa, who David described as coming back from defeat, that is overall, what Arsenal are more than capable of doing and have dug in during another injury laden season (not that I’m giving excuses 😁)
Classic David and his crew 😂😂😂😂😂
We have had no “licks ‘
Perhaps read and digest the comments before replying
PS.. most phones also have a spell check !
If Arteta rolls the dice and starts Rice, Zubi, Saka, Timber, instead of rolling out some people who have not played in a while and the youth, the season will most likely start to come apart at the seams before Jan 15th.
Neil,
You mentioned an important point in that there is double standardism in some teams. They play harder against Arsenal and lighter for whoever is the arch rival of Arsenal. Aston Villa in recent pasts gave enough number of goals to City but harder stumbling block for Arsenal. We all remember how Spurs’ Son missed that awful sitter which literally gave City the title. Even in 2016 many teams kind of fielded two teams one for Arsenal and one for Leicester. Wenger at one point said we beat emphatically Leicester twice but other teams incredibly lost even twice against Leicester. Wigan under Steve Bruce Birmigham under a Scot coach were also sheer examples. Arteta also replied that the actions of some teams are beyond what he can control. Not excuses mates.
If it’s the case that Wigan lost twice to Leicester I’m not surprised. Steve Bruce was a bang average coach.
SueP,
Good afternoon. Bruce not a bang average coach when he plays v Arsenal when he was in charge of different teams in Birmingham Sunderland Newcastle.
You can check even at one moment Steve said post match Sir Alex would be happier with this result after his team disrupted the progress of a certain team who was vying Utd for the title. No hard facts to prove these conspiracy theories but there might be a grain of truth in them.
What conspiracy theories?
Absolute drivel regards teams trying harder against some teams than others.
Do you really think the when Son was clean through on goal Against Manchester City, he suddenly thought hang on a minute, if I score this I help Arsenal.
Come on now people, Really!.
Interesting that you remember the Son chance Derek.
Nine times out of ten, he would have put that away.
It was also weird watching spud fans celebrating the miss, while losing the game.
Never underestimate what might go on when it’s the North London derby..
Having said all that, the thought that every other club play differently when its The Arsenal, is plain daft in my opinion.
Ken1945,
I hear what you say, but I still stand by my thought regarding Son. I just find it ridiculous.🤷♂️
DEREK,
With all due respect, it was a premeditated thought and action not an impromptu one in line with the pre match hype and urge of the ‘fans’ in the stad. No hard facts to prove or disprove either. It’s a wonderful intentional miss by a world class striker that memorably sent Pep to the floor.
This is the kind of thing that doesn’t allow for sensible discussions. Some teams or players may alter their approach in certain games. Sometimes this is due to apprehension or a certain anxiety about the type of game to be expected. At times, it may be subconscious.
However, to impugn the integrity of a player without evidence is unconscionable.