Don’t look now, but the Arsenal attack is back. With a performance that must have warmed Arsene Wenger’s heart on his 68th birthday, the Gunners absolutely eviscerated the Everton defence, cruising on their way to a resounding 5-2 victory. In truth, it could have been much, much worse for Ronald Koeman’s men, who now drop to a dangerous 18th position in the league, about a dozen places below where Everton should be with the squad they have. Meanwhile, the Gunners were able to leapfrog last week’s villains, Watford into 5th place, level with 4th place Chelsea on points.
The Rise of ‘SLO’
Who would have thought playing your three best attackers at the same time would work so well? Barcelona had ‘MSN’ (before PSG proved money trumps everything else) and now Arsenal has ‘SLO’. For the first time since preseason, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette started a match together, and the effect was dramatic. Almost from the opening whistle, Ozil and Sanchez appeared to be on a collective mission to prove their quality and win back the love and adoration of Arsenal fans with their performances, both looking engaged for 90 minutes and contributing all over the pitch. Ozil dropped deep into the midfield on several occasions to get on the ball, moving with purpose and spraying passes all over the attacking third with his customary precision.
Though both players have come under much fire off the pitch this season for their refusal to sign new deals, and struggled for form when in the starting XI, the attack looked as balanced as it had all season. With Lacazette’s finishing ability and clever movement, having an all world creator and an aggressive dribbler flanking him on either side gives the Gunners a whole new dimension that wasn’t there before. With all three players now healthy and in good form, Arsene Wenger would be wise to keep the trio together for a run of league matches, as the beginning of November will see the Gunners enter a tough stretch of games. It may have only been one match, but it would be impossible for most supporters to not get excited about Arsenal’s attacking triumvirate.
The Tactical Whole
With the return of Sanchez, Ozil and Aaron Ramsey to the starting XI, the Gunners were just a Shkodran Mustafi injury away from a full strength side. There was a fluency to the way the ball moved around in attack that has been lacking for much of the season. With Ozil and Sanchez both dropping of into space in midfield to get on the ball as often as possible, Arsenal were able to control the centre of the park more than they had been with Iwobi and Welbeck up top with Lacazette. Aaron Ramsey’s best attacking instincts are unlocked with Ozil on the pitch, with the Welshman’s tireless running taking him into dangerous areas all match long. If it weren’t for a lack of clinical finishing, Ramsey himself could have potted a hat trick.
Perhaps the most dramatic change with the inclusion of Ozil and Sanchez in the lineup is the role of Alexandre Lacazette. The striker has been struggling at times to get in sync with the way his new team likes to play, expending an incredible amount of energy making runs that none of his teammates are accustomed to looking for. Until Sunday, he had largely been asked to stay on the back shoulder of a central defender and give him fits running in behind, but against Everton, Lacazette was getting involved in linkup play before making his incisive forward runs. This gave the Everton defence fits, and allowed Aaron Ramsey the space to ghost into the box with time and space. Overall, Sunday was probably the best, most complete tactical performance of the entire season for the Gunners.
Surviving Questionable Calls
As soon as Granit Xhaka was clattered to the turf by Idrissa Gueye in the first half, the ball rolling straight to a geriatric Wayne Rooney, every Arsenal supporter present and watching on television knew what would happen next: despite having dominated the opening moments of the match, a slip up would send their opponent into the lead and the Gunners’ fragile confidence crashing to the ground. Rooney made no mistake in fulfilling his end of the narrative, but Arsenal were having none of that on this day. The goal was Rooney’s first against Arsenal in an Everton shirt since his famous match winning strike as a teenager in 2002, and came as a shock considering the balance of play to open the match was all going Arsenal’s way.
The tackle by Gueye was a clear foul with him contacting Xhaka’s knee well before the ball, and represented yet another pivotal referee decision erroneously given against the Gunners. Typically, the resultant momentum swing knocks the team back on its heels, with the game plan unravelling in front of our eyes, but there was a certain steely resolve surrounding the way the team responded in this match. For perhaps the first time all season in a Premier League match, Arsenal were the better team for the entire 90 minutes.
Cutting Out the Mistakes
Despite perhaps their most complete performance of the season, the Gunners still conceded two goals that could have been prevented. Despite Everton drawing first blood as the result of a clear foul, the fact remained that Granit Xhaka should probably never have even allowed himself to be dispossessed that close to his own goal. Everton’s second goal also came on the back of an Arsenal mistake trying to play out from the back as Nacho Monreal had his most significant mental lapse of the season. The Spaniard has perhaps been the most consistent Arsenal defender through the opening stages of the season, so such a shocking mistake was a bit of a surprise.
Against a struggling Everton side that has found goals to be at a huge premium this season, the Gunners should have never given them a footing in the match with their mistakes. Arsenal may have been lucky on Sunday to win so convincingly despite such massive errors at the back but they cannot expect to be so lucky against a fellow top 6 rival. In some ways, the lack of a perfectly played match gives the Gunners something to strive for, but too many opposition goals have come from moments in which a little more care and concentration could help avoid such silly mistakes.
Banging Down the Door
What started as a gentle tap on Arsene Wenger’s office door must now be a persistent banging. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Jack Wilshere is Jack Wilshere again. When the Englishman came on for Lacazette in the second half, the Gunners became no less threatening despite removing the only out and out striker from the pitch. It of course had to be Wilshere whose inch perfect pass split the Everton defence and put Aaron Ramsey through for his own, well taken goal. It was the perfect substitution from Wenger, giving the fan favorite the run out he had missed out on last week when Koscielny’s injury saw Rob Holding sub on instead.
Wilshere looks as good this season as he has in a very long time. Even last season, a largely healthy affair with Bournemouth, he never looked half as engaged or explosive as he has since returning to action for the Gunners. With a controlling grip over their group in the Europa League, Arsenal can afford to continue to rest their starters during their Thursday night matches, particularly with the way Wenger’s mixed squad of youth and experience have responded to their time on the pitch. Wilshere will undoubtedly play an important role as the principle creative force, along with Alex Iwobi, in the Europa League team, but surely regular, 90 minute Premier League action is not far off.
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