Just win

Just win.

That’s basically the only thought in my head this morning. After Man City closed the gap to two points with their win over Newcastle, Arsenal must respond. After the performance and result against Wolves on Wednesday, Arsenal must respond.

Mikel Arteta says:

There is not another thing that we have to do – now all we have to do is perform on the pitch.

And Declan Rice spoke to Sky Sports about some home truths being spoken in the away dressing room at Molineux:

When bad moments come, saying something and getting something off your chest that you feel can actually help the situation. So I think the other night that was needed because at 2-0, we should have went on to win the game. We know the position we’re in. But …  we shook hands the other night, it was disappointing. It was not nice, but we’ve come in now and we’re ready to go for Spurs.

The manager and the players have talked the talk, now they have to show it on the pitch, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a few changes from the other night in terms of team selection. If Riccardo Calafiori is ready, I’d bring him back at left-back. Piero Hincapie has been solid, and obviously scored against Wolves, but in the derby the Italian has a bit of x-factor that could be vital.

I can’t see any change to the Rice/Martin Zubimendi pivot, but then it’s about who plays with them. Will Arteta be considering the idea that lightning might strike twice, and deploy Eberechi Eze after his hat-trick in the last derby? It’s possible, but I suspect if Martin Odegaard is deemed ready, he’ll get the nod. If the manager bemoaned a lack of control at Wolves, it would make sense for him to use his captain, and a player he’d implicitly trust to bring some of that.

The left wing might depend on fitness with some doubt over Leandro Trossard, and I expect Bukayo Saka to move back to the right hand side at the expense of Noni Madueke. That means there’s a decision about who to play up front. Neither Viktor Gyokeres or Gabriel Jesus were particularly good in midweek, but again, if there’s some nod towards control, the Brazilian tends to be more secure in that sense. Gyokeres completed 5 of 8 passes in 65 minutes of that game; Jesus completed 9 of 10 in 25 minutes after replacing the Swedish international.

It probably speaks to the ongoing issue we have at centre-forward that I’m thinking about how they pass the ball rather than how they finish, but Jesus and Martinelli is a combination that has worked in the past, whereas the relationship between Martinelli and Gyokeres has yet to convince. It’s the kind of game I wish we had a fully fit Kai Havertz for, but I don’t think there’s any way he’s ready to start, if he even makes the bench at all. I’d also have looked at Mikel Merino up top for this one ahead of Jesus or Gyokeres, but that’s not an option so we’ll just have to wait and see what Arteta decides.

As for the opposition, they’ve had a lot of time off, which could be an advantage against a side which has played a lot of football and has displayed some traits you’d connect with fatigue. They have a new manager, and they’ll be out to make this difficult for Arsenal. Expect a lot of energy and aggression, which is normal in a derby and nothing we won’t be expecting, but we’ll get plenty to fight against today. They also have a lot of players out, so lack the kind of depth we’ll have on the bench, which may tip the balance of their fresh legs back our way.

For me, what has been most frustrating about some recent performance is that I know we are a team that is capable of much, much better. There’s no better time to remind people of that than today. Collectively we need to improve, but there are some key players in this team who you’d look at today and think we need more from them too. If you are going to go on and win the league, then one or two (or more) need to make the kind of contributions in games like this that help you write your name in the history books.

There’s nothing complicated about what we need to do today. Achieving it won’t be easy, but the message is simple. Take that focus, use the pain of Wolves if you need any extra motivation for a derby of this importance, and just win.

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For now, have a good one, and come on you reds!

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