Nothing to get excited about as Arsenal secure season’s first league win

Arsenal 1 Norwich City 0  
Premier League  
Saturday 11th September 2021  3pm    

It was a welcome Saturday afternoon 3pm kick off, in short shirt-sleeved weather for the Arsenal’s second home game of the season. There is a hope that the Gunners might be playing a lot more games at the once traditional kick off time, because they are not in the Europa League and thus not on a Thursday – Sunday cycle. However, there are seven teams in Europe – which will generally mean that the Monday (and occasional) Friday evening slots will not be troubled by any of them much of the time, and Arsenal have already filled two of those in one week in October, both at home. Oh joy. Friday evening, I can live with, but Mondays… it brings to mind the Boomtown Rats for those readers of a certain age.

Still, let’s return to Saturday and it’s fair to say that this was a ‘must win’ game in terms of Arsenal having any hope of doing anything at all this season in the Premier League. At home to a fellow relegation zone side, one hoped that the Canaries would be dispatched back to Norfolk with a hatful of conceded goals. Up front, Mike Arteta had a full complement of players to select from.

The stats indicate that Arsenal actually had far more attempts on target than normal, although the bulk of these came after they finally broke the deadlock and Norwich were forced to come out and commit more in search of an equalizer. The possession was 52% - 48% in favour of the home side, which hardly suggests - even with Daniel Farke’s side prioritizing defence – that the Gunners controlled this game. In a sense that was good, because it also suggests they were taking more chances, rather than obsession with the ball possession arc of doom. Most of the danger seemed to come from Tierney overlapping and getting crosses in, although they rarely met a team-mate in the box. 

It was turgid. Aubemeyang had two presentable chances before the interval, without beating the keeper, but for the most part, it all felt a bit flat. There were a good number of empty seats, even though the game was sold out in the upper and lower tiers (at grade C prices, it would have been a shock if it didn’t). This would have been down to season ticket holders not taking up their seats (or indeed not being able to shift them on the ticket exchange platform). For a 3pm Saturday afternoon kick off in mid-September that should be a worrying sign for the club – because they have a lot of furloughed season ticket holders who – if this kind of apathy becomes the norm – won’t bother to stump up their cash next May. Additionally, signs of the financial struggles were a big push on a matchday flash sale giving 20% off all merchandise – a month into the season. So people were buying replica shirts at £50 odd instead of the usual £65 or whatever they are charging people these days. I haven’t bought one since the summer of 2005, so can’t be sure. 

New boy Takehiro Tomiyasu had a decent enough game at right back. He’ll face far stiffer tests than Norwich, but there were signs that he could turn out to be a decent signing. He played on Tuesday in for Japan in China, but jet lag did not seem to be a factor. I have a memory from 2002 of it being far worse – in terms of adjustment – after you have travelled east. I will have to go back to Japan one of these days….

Still, enough indulgence, another player who came into the starting eleven was Ainsley Maitland-Niles. He didn’t pull up many trees, given the chance, which given the quality of the opposition, was very much presented to him. Lokonga looked more impressive, and AMN was eventually subbed, after shifting to right back with Tomiyasu’s withdrawal. That allowed Emile Smith Rowe to come on and he undoubtedly added more drive to Arsenal’s play, with four minutes after his entry, the deadlock being finally broken. Aubameyang’s tap-in after Pepe had hit the post came in the 66th minute and although celebrated by the scoreboard and the PA announcer, wasn’t confirmed for quite some time until Michael Oliver had got the nod from – of all people – Mike Dean at Stockley Park. Phew.

Smith Rowe almost made it 2-0 as Norwich tried to level things up, and will hopefully start the next match. It was an afternoon when the points mattered far more than the performance, and the next two league games away at Burnley and home to Spurs will tell us whether or not there can be justification for optimism this season. The club have spent a decent chunk of money in the transfer market, and now it is down to the manager to get the best out of the resources he has available. With the lack of European distraction – and that being a handicap for the sides that finished above them last season – there is no excuse not to at an absolute minimum, being in the top seven. And realistically, this should be an opportunity to re-enter the Champions League positions. Even with a win against Norwich, the performance didn’t really convince. In mitigation, Arteta is bedding in the new signings, and will be given time. Progress needs to be evident though, and Arsenal will have to play more convincingly against Burnley and Spurs to convince anyone this is going to be any different from 2020-21.

Finally, what significance that Aaron Ramsdale was selected ahead of Bernd Leno? It appears as if the new keeper will be given the chance to establish himself as the first choice, with Leno’s contract running down. He was certainly pumped up, both in terms of crowd interaction and communication with his defenders. Could be the kind of character the dressing room needs. And – given how recently another Aaron Rams-something was at the club, at least we don't have to think too much about a chant.

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