Yesterday, Arsenal won their second consecutive away game for the first time since May 2019. However, I wouldn’t blame if you didn’t realise this amid countless negative reports on Arsenal’s performance from the pundits. The BT Sport commentary team sounded truly gutted when the Gunners grabbed a late winner. That being said, I’ve already lamented over BT’s performance enough over the last couple of days, so, I shall move on and analyse what was an interesting display from Mikel Arteta’s men at Bramall Lane yesterday afternoon.
As soon as the lineup was released, the Arsenal fanbase were sent into something of a frenzy. A return to 3 at the back seemed to disappoint some, in spite of the fact that it worked extremely effectively at St. Mary’s on Thursday, and Mikel Arteta’s choice of personnel also surprised a large portion of Arsenal fans. Sead Kolasinac was a strange choice at left-centre-back and the same could be said for Arteta’s decision to start David Luiz ahead of Rob Holding as the central-defender.
However, predominantly, the original set up did work. Luiz’s ability on the ball is superior to Holding’s at the moment and his range of passing gave Arsenal a helpful Plan B. This involved playing the likes of Pépé or Saka in behind or fizzing the ball into Alex Lacazette who’s linkup play was as good as it has been for Arsenal this season yesterday. Meanwhile, crowding the likes of Lacazette, Willock and Maitland-Niles around Nico Pépé led to the Ivorian delivering one his best performances in an Arsenal shirt to date. On the left flank, we also saw glimpses of what Kieran Tierney could do going forward.
Pépé’s near miss just before half-time showed Arsenal fans exactly what such a system could do in the future if Mikel Arteta deploys it when his players are at the top of their game. Emi Martinez started the move, the Arsenal defence evaded the Sheffield United press and found Joe Willock in the middle, the Englishman played a beautiful ball through to man of the match Kieran Tierney who cut the ball back expertly to find a marauding Pépé run. Yes, the former Lille winger didn’t convert the chance. But still, his shot left Dean Henderson flat-footed and Arsenal’s patient build up play worked to devastating effect. Sheffield United couldn’t near Arsenal. Extremely promising stuff.
Arsenal began to stutter when Mikel Arteta had to tinker with the system and the 4 games in the 2 weeks began to catch up with his players. You might not want to accept it, but David Luiz’s injury hurt Arsenal. Holding isn’t quite back to optimum sharpness as of yet and his conservative passing in comparison to that of Luiz’s hampered our ability to get past the Sheffield United press. On top of this, Pépé, our main threat in the first half, clearly began to run out of steam and Bukayo Saka was struggling to influence the game from the opposite flank. Meanwhile, referee Paul Tierney stopping the game every single time a player felt the slightest touch from an opponent meant Arsenal just couldn’t find any rhythm in the second half.
Sheffield United’s attacking play starkly contrasted our neat flashes of offensive football. The Blades favoured only one route to goal and that was route one. Launching balls into the box at every opportunity. To be fair, Arsenal did pretty well to hold out as long as they did. Every long throw from Jack Robinson caused the back three problems and VAR saved us from concession from set-pieces on two other occasions. Yes, Chris Wilder’s team exemplified a brand of football which wasn’t particularly pleasant to the eye, but at the end of the day, it worked. Mikel Arteta’s ill-fated decision to start Sead Kolasinac as a left central-defender came back to haunt him as a comedy of errors from Holding and then Sead led to us conceding the equalizing goal. Another important lesson for the Spaniard on his coaching journey.
From this point onward, it truly felt like an Arsenal capitulation was on the cards. Nonetheless, Dani Ceballos came to the rescue and scored a goal which was extremely satisfying to watch. Mikel Arteta and Steve Round both would’ve been delighted about the goal for different reason. Mikel Arteta because it was gorgeous team goal; excellent build up play from the Hale End boys Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah and a cool finish from Dani Ceballos. Steve Round because his hard work on shifting the culture of the dressing room finally came to fruition. Let’s face it, Arsenal didn’t play particularly well yesterday, but the character shown to grab a late winner exemplified that the never-say-die spirit which has been missing at Arsenal for a little while is beginning to resurface. A perfect portrayal of the fact that you don’t have to control a game in order to look back on it with pride.
It is without question that the goal papered over some pretty blatant cracks within the Arsenal team yesterday. But does this really matter? In the long-term, yes. We want to be playing attractive football again. For now, no. All that matters in the FA Cup is winning games and a win is what Arsenal delivered to their fanbase yesterday. In the midst of fatigue, poor conditions and aerial bombardment, Arsenal came out on top in a game they undoubtedly would’ve lost a few months ago. If this is what Mikel Arteta can do with a side who are seemingly incapable of playing fluid attacking football, imagine what he can do when he properly stamps his mark on the team. Fear not, the future is bright at Arsenal.
