Even though Arsenal had 72% possession against Fulham on Saturday, this game had possibly the most nerve-wracking 30 minutes of any game we have played this season. Fulham got the opening goal in the 56th minute after an unfortunate mistake from Gabriel. Last season, we would have expected Arsenal to take up to the end of the game to pull back the tie, but this time around our captain put the ball in the back of the net after just eight minutes. After that, in almost poetic fashion, Gabriel gets the winning goal in the 85th minute to make amends for his earlier blunder. It was a game that proved we are no longer the team who can’t fight back when we go behind.
The first and most obvious observation that I had when watching the game live was that Odegaard was easily man of the match material. Not only did he get the goal that brought us back into the game, but he was in complete control of the attack and created a ton of dangerous chances for us.
Along those lines, we were certainly more dangerous than the scoreline would have you believe. Fulham had to defend for their lives, and on a different day, we could have gone into halftime 3-0 up. Leno had an expectedly good game in goal. In fact, both keepers were really good in this game. Ramsdale made a few key saves in the final 10 minutes and Leno was unlucky that there was a deflection on the first goal.
In my match preview article, I speculated on whether or not there would be any rotation for this game, and ultimately predicted that there wouldn’t be. I was obviously wrong, but it was impossible to predict that there would be injuries to two key players in Partey and Zinchenko. The current narrative from the club is that pulling these players was precautionary, and not indicative of anything serious at the moment. If that is the case, then I have to give the club huge credit. That shows some big lessons learned from last season, as well as the depth that we’ve added this summer. We didn’t risk injuring our key players further by forcing them to play when they aren’t at 100%, because we know that we can manage without them for a game or two.
I honestly think Zinchenko was the bigger miss in this game. Had he been next to Elneny in the buildup play, I think we would have been much more dangerous down the middle of the pitch. I think Elneny did exactly what you would expect him to do. He was solid in the center, moved the ball around well, and didn’t make any glaring mistakes. He was a solid 7 out of 10; nothing too flashy or adventurous, but safe and dependable.
Saka had a better game on the right and had a few good chances on goal. His play was slightly more in the spotlight this game since the left side of the attack was a bit quieter than in previous games with Zinchenko on the bench. He was unlucky to not have had a goal this game, but he did technically get the assist for the Odegaard goal. It’s getting worrisome that he’s not getting those end-product numbers at the moment, but we can only hope that this is just a slow start to the season for him.
Upon rewatch, I did make a few tactical observations, the first of which relates to how Fulham defended when we built up from the back. When our center-backs had the ball, Fulham weren’t too eager to press. Instead, they both essentially flanked Elneny in the center of the pitch to make it much more difficult to play through the center, forcing us to go wide or long. This is one reason why I think Zinchenko was the bigger miss this game. Had he been able to pinch in alongside Elneny, it could have given us more options to progress through the center.
Tierney, on the other hand, tended to stay out wide. He did tuck in on occasion, but more often it was actually Granit Xhaka who would drop deep to form a sort of double-pivot with Elneny in defense, as well as in the build-up play. That didn’t stop Xhaka from also popping up in the box like he has been doing a lot more this season. I was actually surprised he wasn’t subbed off at some point to give him some rest towards the end of the game.
Speaking of substitutions, I think Arteta deserves a lot of credit for this game. There’s been a criticism of him in recent seasons that he doesn’t make tactical changes to manage games better. This game, however, you could see that he was willing and eager to make those tactical adjustments that ultimately made the difference.
When Fulham got their goal, Arteta made the bold move to quickly swap Tierney for Eddie Nketiah in order to get another striker on the field. Similarly, when we got our second goal to take the lead, Arteta celebrated for all of two seconds before immediately going to the bench and getting Tomiyasu, and later Rob Holding, onto the field to sure up the defense and defend the lead.
As for in-game adjustments, Arteta made a good decision in having Saka and Martinelli switch sides midway through the second half. This allowed Saka to better cover the hole that we created in our defense by subbing off Tierney. It also gave us the added benefit of having our wingers on the side of their preferred foot, making it easier for them to whip in some crosses since we had two strikers in the box. I’m not sure if we ever utilized that advantage, but it’s something to keep in mind if we ever end up doing something like that again.
Prior to us getting the game-winning goal, our formation looked like something of a 1-3-6 when in possession. We had Gabriel and Ben White tucking up into midfield alongside Elneny, while the rest of our forward line was hovering just outside the box. This left Saliba on his own to sweep up any long balls if needed. It shows a lot of trust in the young defender -- trust that he has certainly earned in these past four games.
My last observation, to bring this full circle, is in regards to Odegaard’s leadership qualities. A lot of people have criticized the decision to make him captain, citing that he doesn’t seem like a vocal leader on the pitch and that he can’t take a game into his own hands to make something happen. That couldn’t be further from the truth with this game. Not only did he get the goal that brought us back into the match, but he was instrumental in orchestrating the comeback, he jeered up the crowd when the team needed more support, and he had some words with Gabriel after his big mistake. He's Arsenal's captain, and he's my captain.
Arsenal now look to Wednesday as they face off against Aston Villa at the Emirates in hopes of making it a perfect August.
