Arsenal are ‘boring’ and rely on set-pieces? Nope, they’re just really, really good
Arsenal are just a really, really good football team, aren’t they? Mikel Arteta’s side made light work of Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, which is no mean feat.
Why can’t this team win the lot? The argument is that they haven’t won anything for five years, so how can we expect them to win two, three, or even four trophies in the same campaign? But my word, they look very, very impressive.
You can call them boring. You can call them efficient. You can call them whatever you want. They’re just bloody good.
Tuesday evening’s 4-0 win over Atletico showed everything this Arsenal team is about. They scored from two set pieces, just because, with Viktor Gyokeres’ centre-forward instinctiveness on show for one, Gabriel Magalhaes’ eye for goal and aerial dominance on display for the other, and Declan Rice’s world-class delivery evident for both.
Mainly because of Rice’s impeccable, David Beckham-esque delivery, Arsenal are managing to make set-piece goals look stylish. Gabriel’s header to open the scoring on 57 minutes, after an underwhelming first half, was simply breath-taking. Rice knew it as well, celebrating the goal like he’d scored it himself.
The second set-piece goal was the cherry on top of the cake as Gyokeres made it two on the night, and while it was nowhere near as easy on the eye, it showed the impressive positioning of the Swede, coupled with his strength to hold off the defender and guide the ball in from a yard out with his thigh.
In between those two goals, Gabriel Martinelli scored from a swift counter-attack led by outstanding youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Gyokeres scored his first in eight, helped by a colossal deflection. But for Gyokeres, under pressure to find the net, it didn’t matter how it went in — just that it did.
While the set-piece threat was again on show, so was Arsenal’s threat in transition. Lewis-Skelly’s dribble started in his own half and took four Atletico players out of the game. The timing of the pass was perfect, and Martinelli’s curled finish couldn’t be stopped by Jan Oblak. A truly sublime goal.
Arsenal’s second half was relentless. Not only were they ruthless in attack, but they were notoriously stingy at the back. Atletico registered their only shot on target in the 77th minute.
That being said, Julian Alvarez smashing the bar from outside the box was clearly a pivotal moment. Had it been a few inches lower, the outcome of the game might’ve been completely different.
But at the end of the day, the closest Atletico came to scoring at the Emirates was from that long-range effort. Whether it’s attacking or defending, this Arsenal team is imperious.
As a collective, they’re the best team in England — maybe even Europe. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are the only possible exceptions right now.
On an individual level, there is now world-class quality all over the pitch. Every single starter deserves a special mention for their contribution against Atletico, and also for what they have produced so far this season.
Jurrien Timber is ridiculously calm and composed on the ball, and is an elite one-on-one defender. Gabriel and William Saliba are a terrifying proposition for any striker. And at left-back, having Riccardo Calafiori and Lewis-Skelly is outrageous depth for Arteta.
Rice isn’t a set-piece merchant by any means, yet his delivery might just be the best in the Premier League now that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin De Bruyne are elsewhere.
And then you have Martin Zubimendi. Just wow. What a talented player he is. Like Arsenal as a team, he has so much quality offensively, defensively, and in the middle of the park where he keeps things ticking and makes crucial interceptions and tackles.
The lack of an out-and-out centre-forward has been Arsenal’s biggest weakness for the last two seasons, yet Zubimendi feels like more of a ‘final piece of the jigsaw’ signing than Gyokeres. £60million already looks like a bargain.
Arsenal are, simply put, a wonderful football team. Love them or loathe them, you can’t deny it.
We’re not going all out and saying they will win the quadruple — obviously not. But you have to say they look good value for every competition they’re in this season. And for once, they have a squad with such serious depth that it would take an unprecedented injury crisis to stop them. They have quality throughout the squad, with Arteta enjoying the luxury of bringing Ethan Nwaneri, Benjamin White, Mikel Merino, Christian Norgaard and Cristhian Mosquera off the bench. And without captain and midfield heart Martin Odegaard, they’re not skipping a beat.
It’s unfortunate that there wasn’t a more attractive or analytical narrative for you people. Sometimes stepping back and admitting that a team looks at the absolute top of their game is enough.
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