Gunners do the expected business v Burnley

Arsenal 3 Burnley 1   
Premier League  
Saturday 11th November 2023 3pm 

It was ultimately a comfortable enough win at home to Burnley yesterday, as it should be if Arsenal have serious ambitions about challenging Manchester City for the title again. Here’s a few thoughts from the game…

 

1 – The atmosphere. There is a feeling that the atmosphere isn’t quite what it was last season, in terms of the home support being more vocal. One suggestion is that the introduction of a ballot for silver and red members, as opposed to the previous first come first served, has meant that less ‘hardcore’ regulars are attending. Maybe so. Personally, I feel that the buzz and backing for the team seems a little less this season. How this can be measured objectively is another question. Maybe people are more pumped up for the ‘bigger’ games, such as Spurs and Manchester City.

 

2 – Credit to Burnley. Vincent Kompany’s side had a go. They weren’t a ten men behind the ball side as we sometimes see from those visiting the Emirates, and did try to play their way forward. More than once they posed a serious threat to Arsenal’s goal, and David Raya pulled off a particularly excellent save at one point. On that note…

 

3 – A better afternoon for the Spanish keeper. Burnley might not have the best forwards around, but Raya had a composed match, and the goal he conceded was a deflection. No blame to the keeper. Let’s hope the errors that were creeping into his game are ironed out, given there seems little debate that he is Arteta’s chosen man between the sticks now.

 

4 – Tomiyasu returns to right back. Ben White had “some issues” after the Sevilla game said Arteta, whatever that means. It was reported before the match yesterday that he was ill. Whatever the reason, Tomiyasu returned to the position he played when he arrived at the club back in 2021. He didn’t cover himself in glory for the Burnley goal, although there were claims he was fouled. In fairness, Ben White has been beaten in a similar position more than once. It happens. It was a match that the mistake didn’t prove costly, but whoever is playing right back needs to be stronger in these situations. It happens at left back as well with Zinchenko sometimes and is a chink in the Gunners’ armour. The days of Dixon and Winterburn, Lauren and Cole are long gone.

 

5 – Zinchenko MOTM. Having said that, Burnley didn’t cause too many problems for the full backs over the 90 minutes, so nothing to criticise about Zinchenko’s performance, and his overall influence in the game was capped with his excellent finish for Arsenal’s third goal. In the absence of Odegaard, he became the main link man for his team’s build-up play, and for me shaded other worthy contenders for the pick of the players, including the other two scorers and the consistently impressive Declan Rice. Saka also, had a very decent game.

 

6 – Time to accept Havertz is not going to come good? Havertz played in place of the still injured Odegaard, and there was a thought pre-game that if he could score against anyone, it would be Burnley. He missed a very decent chance to score with a header in the first half and was hooked before the hour and replaced by Fabio Vieira. Havertz seems to lack the fluidity and seamless involvement in the build-up of his team-mates, like a fish out of water. There were a couple of nice touches, but not much else to justify his selection. The jury has been out for a while now, hoping he would adapt and come good. But for this observer, it’s time up now. Arteta has bought a dud. I do hope I am wrong, but I can see a transfer to a German club for around £30 million next summer unless this improves drastically. I know Robert Pires took the best part of a season to really find his feet at Arsenal, but Havertz has been in the Premier League for a while now. He shouldn’t need more time.

 

7 - Trossard the man. No shortage of frontman score at all costs courage from the Belgian as he went in for the header to put his side one up at the death of first half injury time. And it was an afternoon of initial concern for injured players with Jorginho getting a boot in the head at the conclusion of the second half injury time. Fortunately, no lasting damage from the looks of things. Trossard played very well against Sevilla in midweek as well as yesterday, and it looks like Eddie Nketiah might not be starting again until a Champions League dead rubber. 

 

8 – Corners. Arsenal had 13 corners yesterday and two of them resulted in goals. The corners haven’t been wonderful all season, but yesterday their effectiveness was beyond question. Match of the Day highlighted Declan Rice’s role as a barrier to Burnley’s young keeper being able to reach the ball, and the accuracy of delivery caused issues for the opposition throughout the match. Much more like it. Saliba scored the second shortly after Burnley’s equaliser to calm the nerves and Zinchenko’s goal put the result beyond doubt. 

 

9 – Up the Ten Men. There was a time when the words Vieira, red and card were heard a little more frequently than we’d have liked, but they were a long while ago. Evidently not. Fabio Vieira, on as a sub for the hapless Havertz, joined his namesake in getting his marching orders in an Arsenal shirt. His challenge was reckless if not cynical and didn’t look good on the TV replays. Fortunately, it was late enough in the game not to create serious issues for his team. However, Arsenal’s bench looked weak enough as it was so…

 

10 – The international break comes at just the right time. Hopefully Odegaard will be back after the two-week break and Jesus closer to consideration for selection. Thomas Partey we’ve pretty much given up on and for Justin Timber, we are looking at 2024-25. The club have recovered well after the two defeats to West Ham and Newcastle, despite being depleted by the number of injuries.

 

11 – Results elsewhere. A good day for Arsenal with Spurs losing at Wolves and Newcastle not being able to rely on the officials to get them out of a hole at Bournemouth. Those watching the Spurs game on the concourse inside the stadium before the Gunners kicked off celebrated loudly when Wolves equalised and upped it a notch when they scored the winner. Arteta’s side obviously had to do the business is a game everyone would expect them to win, and they delivered the three points relatively comfortably. In their next ten Premier League fixtures, there are tough away trips to Villa and Liverpool, but aside from that an opportunity to rack up the points and play weakened teams in cup matches. Second to Manchester City on goal difference after the game – albeit having played a game more, it’s been a very satisfactory start to the campaign, suggesting 2022-23 was not a blip, but a stepping stone. Long may it continue.

 

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