Odegaard steps up again to overcome obstinate Fulham

Arsenal 2 Fulham 1 
Premier League 
Saturday 27th August 2022 5.30pm   

Psychologically, this felt like a huge win, in what proved to be Arsenal’s toughest match of the season so far. Not only were Fulham very organized defensively, they were gifted a goal which made the Gunners’ task that much harder. That they engineered a win from the position they put themselves in is something that they have too often failed to do in recent seasons, and will hopefully prove that things have changed in the mentality of the squad. 

Arsenal were weakened by injuries to Partey and Zinchenko – and both were missed, Partey moreso. Elneny came in for him, whilst Kiaran Tierney replaced the Ukrainian. The Scotsman did a fair impression of his fellow full-back, at times slipping into the midfield to allow Granit Xhaka to roam forward as he has been doing in the matches so far this season, and the number 34 had a decent chance to score in the first half. Saka had a better one, but by and large, the visitors read the runs and blocked the passes. On this performance, I have a lot more faith in the Cottagers’ chances of staying up, as Marco Silva has them looking a better team than the last time they were in the top flight. 

The referee was Jared Gilet, an Australian who up until now has only been on duty at Arsenal matches as the VAR official – and often not been kind to Mikel Arteta’s side. One feared the worst, but as it turned out, he didn’t make any huge calls that raised questions about his objectivity. 

0-0 at half-time and it felt like more chances would come and Arsenal would just need to convert one. The returning Bernd Leno played well in the Fulham goal for the most part to frustrate his former team-mates, although his weakness from corners returned late in the game, which for once, was good to see. By that time, we’d seen two goals. 

Little needs to be said about the first. Gabriel was muscled off the ball in his own penalty area, and when you have a policy of playing from the back, errors like this will occasionally happen, and more often, it is Ramsdale that makes them. On this occasion, once Mitrovic had won the ball, it was an easy finish for him. Having struggled to breach Fulham’s defence in the opening 56 minutes, at least there was time for the home side to rectify the mistake. 

Eddie Nketiah entered the fray for Tierney as the need for defenders was reduced, Xhaka and Martinelli taking it in turns to cover the left side of defence when the need arose. Martin Odegaard had an impressive match, constantly on the move, demanding the ball and playing incisive passes. His game seems to have moved to an extra level this season. Whether or not that has anything to do with the captain’s armband I have no idea, but he is certainly more present than he was in the costly Spurs and Newcastle defeats at the conclusion of last season. Mind you, the formation has changed, he has more support and Arsenal are generally higher up the pitch. The old ‘arc of doom’ with the ball spread across the back line with the occasional touch from a midfield player is now taking place much closer to the halfway line. That’s a mark of confidence. Possession is one thing, but territorial advantage is a truer test of dominance in a game. It forces more errors from the opposition as space is more compressed, and feels like a big factor in Arsenal’s winning start to the campaign. 

A benefit of this development for Odegaard, as well as his growing influence, is the end product and his third goal of the season was scored not long after the hour, and gave his team a platform to go on and win the match. Chances grew in number, but were foiled at the last minute or comfortably saved, and Fulham predictably tried to interrupt the flow of the game with delaying tactics. They also had two very decent chances to score a second themselves – Ramsdale pulling off good saves on both occasions. 

A succession of late corners from Martinelli were taken comfortably by Leno, but in the 85^th minute, the departed keeper reverted to type and made a hash of one, which fell kindly to Gabriel to make good for his earlier howler by putting the ball in the net. VAR looked at a potential Saliba handball after the fans had been celebrating wildly, and fortunately, the elation was justified and the goal stood. Arsenal saw out the game, putting Tomiyasu on for Jesus to bolster the backline as Fulham’s clock eating tactics reversed 180 degrees. 

Maximum points from four matches. Top of the table. A wonderful start and winning matches that a top six side would expect to win is a healthy sign that this is a team on the up. The concerns now surround the Partey position. Against Fulham, the side could manage with a player like Elneny. Tidy, but not dynamic and not really physically dominant. With Partey’s injury record, you really would not be surprised if he missed approaching half of the Premier League matches this season. Brazil, over the years, have developed a decent number of quality central defensive midfielders – going back to the days of Dunga. Gilberto Silva, Fernandinho and Fabinho come to mind. A younger version of Casemiro is out there somewhere. Time for Edu to get busy with his Brazilian connections before this transfer window shuts the secure the next one from that particular production line. Patrick Vieira came to Arsenal at the age of 20. 

I’d consider it an excellent transfer window if there were one further signing that addressed this area. And Arsenal don’t need to pay a King’s ransom – this can be potential rather than proven. I don’t feel Lokonga is that type of player, and the other options of Xhaka and Elneny simply are not as solid or reliable in possession. Partey is a beast of a player and a massive presence in the heart of the team. But he is not going to give you 30 plus league games a season, so this is the focus now. 

Nonetheless, even without him, the way Arsenal are playing, they have the ability to return to the Champions League at the end of this campaign, and have a decent stab at winning a first European trophy for 29 years. The spirit and mindset in the team looks good. The likes of Saka and Martinelli need to have contracts extended to secure their value and ideally futures at the club. And finally, we have to see what happens when they do encounter a defeat, and the reaction in subsequent games. My hope is that the addition of the players from Manchester City will change the mentality on that front. Time will tell. Villa visit on Wednesday – let’s hope for a less stressful evening then. (And a quick word of advice for those going. It’s a 7.30 kick off – I’d aim to be in by 7pm as I can see things getting chaotic at the turnstiles with later arrivals)

To be notified when there is fresh content on my blog (generally the day after matches), follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/KevinWhitcher01