The idea that small margins determine success at the highest levels of sport is not exactly a novel idea.
Prior to the international break, Arsenal might have been staring down the barrel of a loss to Manchester United if Gabriel Magalhaes had a larger shoe size.
But those margins had been insufficient for Mikel Arteta.
Prior to Sunday’s game, the Spaniard was asked to assess his team’s season thus far.
He admitted that he was pleased, but stated that he desired to see more convincing victories.
Certainly not the trip to Goodison Park.
This game was always going to be close, and that much was clear from the start.
Given the two teams’ disparate fortunes, Arsenal’s record at Goodison Park over the past few years has been bafflingly awful, and this game threatened to follow a similar script to the one from last season, when the Gunners had lost in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge.
Through the quick interceptions of Declan Rice, Arsenal submerged Everton in a sea of red attacking shirts and gave them only a brief moment to gasp for air.
Though it was still difficult to find chances that were certain.
Aside from the contentious offside ruling on Gabriel Martinelli’s goal, Jordan Pickford wasn’t really called upon to make a save.
The work completed at London Colney during the previous week shines in these circumstances.
Throughout the game, Arsenal realized that short corners would be their best chance to damage this Everton team from set pieces.
Sean Dyche’s men are on another level, and while the Gunners are physically stronger than they once were, it was never going to be a good idea to engage in an aerial duel with them.
As the second half progressed, it became clear that Everton’s attempt to keep the ball on the ground was risky. Alex Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, and Bukayo Saka all had chances to score from short corner routines, making it obvious that this was Arsenal’s best chance to score.
The pressure eventually became too much as Martin Odegaard took his time to pass a short ball to Saka, who eventually worked it to Vieira on the edge of the box.
The Portuguese midfield passed it to Zinchenko, who in turn located Saka in an uncommon area of space inside the Everton perimeter.
Leandro Trossard, who received the Hale Ender cutback, placed his finish in the lone location where Pickford had no chance of making it.
Arsenal had won by yet another slim margin, but this was no accident.
Arteta told football, “Yeah, we work on everything, as every manager does, to expose the weakness of the opponents and to hide yours.”.
london spoke to the media following the game.
“That is the result of what we attempted.
Afterward, the outcomes take care of themselves.”.
Set pieces have given Arsenal’s hopes of winning this year’s title new life in a league where Manchester City has made even the smallest mistakes feel like the death penalty.
Since the beginning of the previous campaign, no team has scored more goals from corners (16), and it’s these narrow margins that could very well bring the Premier League trophy back to north London in May.
Worst mistake of Arteta.
David Raya starting a Premier League match has never seemed like a matter of if, but rather of when.
Even though Aaron Ramsdale hasn’t made many mistakes, you don’t sign a goalkeeper of Raya’s caliber to be your backup.
The Spaniard’s first start for Arsenal came in Wednesday’s Champions League group stage match against PSV, where a gambler would have likely received better odds.
Considering the situation, Arteta decided to bring Raya along for the trip to Goodison Park.
A steady performance marked the 27-year-old’s debut. Raya had just X touches, but on the rare occasions when Everton did try to press high, he was a willing recipient of backpasses.
He displayed the variety of passes he has in his arsenal after receiving the ball, with a mid-range pass out to Ben White in the right back position proving to be a particularly helpful release valve.
The Spaniard excelled at coming for crosses as well.
The rookie defied his small stature to consistently claim balls above the menacing James Tarkowski, particularly toward the end as Everton launched a late aerial assault.
But in the end, Raya played a quiet game.
The focus here was not so much on his appearance. Instead, what Arteta had to say after the game piqued people’s interest.
When it comes to a pecking order, the goalkeeping position is unlike any other. Rotation is not frequently observed.
Goalkeepers union members like Peter Schmeichel and Ben Foster almost appear to be offended by Raya’s arrival at Arsenal despite Ramsdale’s status as the team’s established number one.
But Arteta doesn’t seem to care about custom.
Instead, he made a suggestion that he was getting close to something that had never been seen in the history of football.
In his post-game press conference, the Spaniard stated, “I cannot have two players like this in one position and not play them.
It’s something that has historically been done this way.
David possesses great qualities, just like Aaron and Karl do, but we must put them to use.
“I’m a manager who is very new.
Three and a half years into this position, I have few regrets about my actions. One of them was that, on two different occasions, I felt the need to switch the goalkeeper at that precise moment after 60 and 85 minutes of play in two different games. I didn’t do it, though.
The courage to do it eluded me.
To drop to a five and maintain that result, however, I can add a winger, a striker, or a central defender. I was so disappointed when we drew those games.
“Someone’s going to do it, and it might be *gasps*.
We have another goalkeeper with all the skills necessary to act when something is happening and you want to change momentum, so why is that strange? Do it.
It’s a regret of mine.”.
One thing is to make such a radical statement in the relatively relaxed environment of a press conference, but quite another is to carry it out under the intense pressure of a real match. While it doesn’t appear that goalkeeper substitutions in the middle of games are imminent, Arteta plans to rotate his goalies more frequently from game to game.
“Now my feeling is to get everyone engaged in the team,” he said.
Regardless of the opponent, they must participate. We have to carry it out.
That’s what I’m saying.”.
Although it has never been tried before, Arteta has never been one to opt for the simple solution.
The next few months will be fascinating to watch as it develops.
Vieira seizes his opportunity.
The decision Arteta made to choose Raya over Ramsdale was not her only significant one for the day.
Kai Havertz had developed into something of a lightning rod for criticism from the Arsenal fanbase before the international break.
Even though his Gunners career had a lackluster beginning, Arteta had consistently supported the German.
The fact that he wasn’t in the starting lineup came as a surprise.
It wasn’t surprising to see Fabio Vieira take his place.
Against Everton and Manchester United, the 23-year-old made an impression as a substitute. Speaking after the most recent performance, Arteta suggested that Vieira’s status within the team was rising.
The evidence was clear on Sunday.
Vieira resembled a shadow of a player during his worst performance last season.
The Portuguese midfielder started to hide as Arsenal fell behind Southampton 2-0 at home and appeared anxious to touch the ball.
That wasn’t present at Goodison Park.
He was frequently seen requesting the ball from his teammates.
On one occasion, he even felt confident enough to criticize team captain Martin Odegaard for using Bukayo Saka rather than benching him for the shot.
The shy child who had disappointed during his first season in England was no longer there. Here was the man who, in his first full season with Porto, had completely dominated the Portuguese league.
The way Vieira approached the left eight role in comparison to Kai Havertz was perhaps the most intriguing aspect of his performance. The German has remained largely in the center, occasionally almost playing as a second striker to Eddie Nketiah.
As Gabriel Martinelli and then Leandro Trossard alternated playing the left wing, Vieira continued to switch positions. He was instrumental in both of the players’ goals on the day, starting the quick short corner move on the edge of the box that resulted in Trossard’s winning goal and providing a perfectly weighted slide rule pass for Martinelli’s first-half goal that was ultimately disallowed.
Given how frequently Martinelli and Trossard drift into the center of the field, it would seem that a player who is content to play on the wing would be a perfect fit for them.
Last season, Granit Xhaka did this countless times as the duo consistently produced quality results.
On the other hand, Havertz seems to fit less naturally.
Though this was Vieira’s day, a discussion about the German can be saved for another time.
Despite having an injury-plagued and chaotic first season at Arsenal, the 23-year-old has had to deal with being written off.
We may now be able to understand why Arteta was so certain that we would end up liking him.
A new leader for Arteta appears.
Arteta opted to be evasive about the composition of his leadership team before this match. Established senior professionals like Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney, and Rob Holding had left the team over the summer.
All three of them had held the captain’s hat during their time with Arsenal, but Arteta adamantly insisted that he would not require a formal hierarchy to take the place of their standing in the locker room.
It’s not about making a decision or anything official or public, he declared.
We have a captain, Martin, and you have seen in preseason when there are changes when you have number two and three and then it’s number four and five.
We have many leaders in the squad.
“What I’m really interested in is empowering the human qualities that they possess and ensuring that the leaders emerge because we currently have a lot of people who are capable of doing that.”.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is a man who undoubtedly appears to have benefited from that strategy. Insiders at Manchester City will inform you of his significant influence on the team there.
But from the outside, he wasn’t seen as a leader; Gary Neville, for example, questioned whether he had the right mindset to propel Arsenal up the table.
There aren’t any skeptics anymore, for sure.
It would have been simple for the Gunners to give up on their game plan in frustration as they faced a staunch Everton defense, especially as the match went on.
However, they continued to play in the manner that had led to their current reputation as one of the best teams in the nation.
Zinchenko played a crucial role in upholding the faith.
The Ukrainian attacked the minuscule openings in the Everton defense with a magnifying glass’s level of accuracy.
He was able to loop precise balls over the Toffees defense twice during each half, and it was his slide rule pass to Bukayo Saka that ultimately resulted in the game-winning goal.
This is a different style of leadership from the tackle-crunching, chest-thumping kind that Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira gave Arsenal fans a taste of.
Arteta adores the stylistic leadership
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian is certainly capable of taking a more conventional approach, and fourth official Anthony Taylor had to reprimand him for yelling tactical instructions to his teammates as he walked around the field after being replaced rather than going straight to the bench.
At the conclusion of the game, he basked in the well-deserved cheers of Arsenal supporters, fist pumping all the while as he approached them.
His importance to this Arsenal team cannot be overstated, and after missing four and a half months due to injury, it’s matches like this that serve as a constant reminder of just how important he is.
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