I think the nature of the two goals we let in vs Bayern caused a loss of confidence in Arsenal at just the wrong time (credit to Villa though, Emery said before the game that he had worked out Arsenal’s system).
The first Bayern goal was really weird: Gabriel chasing back a highball, looking over his shoulder and aware that he’s being closed-down, goes to pass the ball back to the keeper… who’s nearly level with him at the centre-circle WTF. I’m no longer going to be an apologist for Aaron Ramsdale as he isn’t good enough with his feet, and Arteta’s team needs a “sweeper-keeper”, but I don’t think Raya is good enough either. Just better at that than Ramsdale. Raya’s distribution is terrible. Most of his long-passes go straight to the other team and he does this when under zero pressure. His judgement is a bit bi-polar. Either doesn’t leave the six yard box when you want him to claim a high ball or he has a mad rush of blood to the head.
Generally I think Arteta has done really well at drilling Arsenal into a disciplined unit but maybe at the expense of individual flair… not saying it’s as bad as a Mourinho team (where creative players go to die), but it seems they’ve lost the balance of having the freedom to take a player on and try a bit of skill or whatever. Last season was champagne stuff at the cost of defensive frailty, now we’ve tightened up at the back but often look a bit lost when plan A doesn’t work.
TL;DR credit to Citeh, the bar they set is close to perfection. Maybe Liverpool can take points off them, but I think we’ve all seen this film before and know how it’s going to end.
The first Bayern goal was really weird: Gabriel chasing back a highball, looking over his shoulder and aware that he’s being closed-down, goes to pass the ball back to the keeper… who’s nearly level with him at the centre-circle WTF. I’m no longer going to be an apologist for Aaron Ramsdale as he isn’t good enough with his feet, and Arteta’s team needs a “sweeper-keeper”, but I don’t think Raya is good enough either. Just better at that than Ramsdale. Raya’s distribution is terrible. Most of his long-passes go straight to the other team and he does this when under zero pressure. His judgement is a bit bi-polar. Either doesn’t leave the six yard box when you want him to claim a high ball or he has a mad rush of blood to the head.
Generally I think Arteta has done really well at drilling Arsenal into a disciplined unit but maybe at the expense of individual flair… not saying it’s as bad as a Mourinho team (where creative players go to die), but it seems they’ve lost the balance of having the freedom to take a player on and try a bit of skill or whatever. Last season was champagne stuff at the cost of defensive frailty, now we’ve tightened up at the back but often look a bit lost when plan A doesn’t work.
TL;DR credit to Citeh, the bar they set is close to perfection. Maybe Liverpool can take points off them, but I think we’ve all seen this film before and know how it’s going to end.
