Arsenal progress in League Cup at Brentford as squad players get an outing
Brentford 0 Arsenal 1
League Cup 3rd Round
Wednesday 27th September 2023 7.45pm
It was obvious that Mikel Arteta was going to use the visit to Brentford to give gametime to the players we’ve not seen much of so far this season for this League Cup 3rd Round tie, and the side he put out performed capably and warranted their progress to the next round, although Brentford did come very close to scoring more than once. What most impressed was that, unlike the normally disjointed performances we generally see in the early stages of this competition, the team looked cohesive and in many respects not very much inferior to a first choice eleven. Granted, the youngster Sagoe Jr lacked the thrust of Bakayo Saka whose position he played in, but the team were generally tidy in possession, except for the odd lapse by Jorginho, which was a little unfortunate after last weekend.
It was a chance for certain players to make a claim for a starting spot at the weekend, not least Aaron Ramsdale who did not put a foot wrong. He certainly will have given the manager a dilemma with his performance last night. Across the back, Tomiyasu played alongside Gabriel and looked excellent, whilst Kiwior at left back provided greater solidity, albeit less creativity than Zinchenko. There seemed no inverted full back tactic, with it being more a case of Jorginho staying deep and the full backs joining the attack. Ben White continued at right back and had a more impactful game than against Spurs.
Jorginho was captain on the night and the players in front of him, aside from the aforementioned Sagoe Jr, were Smith Rowe, Havertz, Nelson and Nketiah. All players that had a point to prove. Smith Rowe obviously needs more minutes under his belt, but performed capably. Havertz tried hard but had limited impact. I was reminded of Dennis Bergkamp being taken to task for his failure to score against Hartlepool in this competition in his first season. The hope is that perhaps a goal may transform the German’s impact, although he is quite obviously a level or two below Bergkamp. Nketiah worked hard, and seemed more involved than normal, often coming deeper to collect the ball. He intercepted a poor back pass in the Brentford’s defence to set up Reiss Nelson for the only goal of the game, after only seven minutes. Nelson had a very decent chance to put his side two up after the interval but fired just wide.
Brentford did hit the woodwork, the effort tipped onto the post by Ramsdale, and made a fist of the game, but generally, one goal up, Arsenal controlled things most of the time. A flurry of long throw-ins during the second half were dealt with comfortably, and put this observer in mind of the visits to Stoke when Rory Delap was in his pomp. And at one point Kiwior cleared off the line after Ramsdale was beaten. What was encouraging was that Arteta’s side did not seem to take unnecessary risks when playing the ball around. They were crisp and tidy, reflecting that everyone seems to be on message with Arteta’s emphasis on brisk passing to avoid too much pressure on the player on the ball.
The away section were in fine voice as much as the locals were subdued, aside from a brief moment they thought their team had scored, only to be brought back to earth by an offside flag. The atmosphere was probably not helped much by the home support being rained on for much of the first half as the wind blew a heavy shower into some of the stands. Arteta bought on a mixture of subs as the game neared its end – some to strengthen the team – Jesus, Zinchenko, Odegaard, some to involve more fringe squad members – Elneny and Cedric.
Many of the players on duty last night will doubtless see more gametime in the 4th Round tie at West Ham, and with Manchester City and Spurs out, and Newcastle facing Manchester United in the next round, Arsenal could go a long way in a competition they last won 30 years ago.
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