Friday night. Arsenal are playing the opening game of the season away from home for the third consecutive season. The world watches with headlines ready to tear Arsenal apart when they falter once again. But not this year. Arsenal give a performance deserving of the 3 points that they ended up coming away with. Gooners can sit back for the rest of the weekend and relax knowing that no matter what happens, Arsenal have taken care of business.

For an amateur football analyst such as myself, the atmosphere surrounding an opening day fixture can make it nearly impossible to focus on anything but the excitement of the game. But upon rewatch, with  nerves calmed from knowing the outcome, a few things stood out.

1. The Obvious Standout Players

There were a few things that we could all see plain as day, even before the final whistle blew. For starters, Jesus continued his fine pre-season form by storming out of the gate and creating chaos for Crystal Palace’s back line. Although he went a bit quiet later on in the match, he still popped up here and there to create a few chances by pressing the opposing defense to win the ball back.

Ben White also had a phenomenal game from a defensive standpoint. He kept Wilfred Zaha, one of the most difficult wingers to play against in the Premier League, relatively quiet for most of the game, all while not playing in his preferred position. He did have a few misplaced cross-field passes here and there, but I could attribute that to him not being completely comfortable with those kinds of passes from that position.

Lastly, we have to talk about William Saliba. What more can be said about his performance that hasn’t already been said thousands of times? He looks completely comfortable from day one, and didn’t seem to put a foot wrong the whole 90 minutes. If he continues to have these kinds of performances throughout the season, he could easily win young player of the year in the Premier League just like he did last season in France.

2. Odegaard Didn’t “Disappear”

It’s true that Odegaard didn’t have the flashiest games last season away from home against more physical teams, and the same could be said about Friday. However, that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily disappearing from the game. What he does off the ball is likely just as important as what he does on it. He is the leader, not just because he’s wearing the armband, but because of how he directs the press when we’re not in possession. I also saw numerous occasions where he was back helping win the ball back just outside of our own box.

Crystal Palace made it extremely difficult for us to play through the center of the pitch. That seemed to be a major part of their gameplan. This is likely why we didn’t see the likes of Partey or Odegaard able to do much of anything on the ball. That is something the team, and Odegaard in particular, definitely needs to work on. However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute. I’d argue that his defensive workrate, not the fact that he’s the captain, was the main reason that he wasn’t substituted until the 93rd minute.

3. Crystal Palace Weren’t as Dangerous as it Seemed

In recent seasons, Arsenal have had a tendency to not be able to see out games. Last season, we did marginally better when we would bring on Holding to play in the center of a back five for the last 20 minutes, but even then, it would be a nervy 20 minutes full of dangerous chances from the opposition.

This game ended up tilting quite a bit in Palace’s favor during the second half. They had a majority of the possession with a few chances on goal. I suspect a lot of Arsenal fans were quite nervous until we scored our second goal in the 82nd minute against the run of play.

(Image from @oh_that_crab https://arseblog.news/2022/08/crystal-palace-0-2-arsenal-by-the-numbers/)

But after watching the game back, Palace never really looked like they were going to win this game. Not only did we have some great defensive performances from White and Saliba and a few great saves from Ramsdale, but it also seemed like our defensive structure made it really difficult for them to create many real threatening chances.

Even the top clubs like Man City and Liverpool will have to defend some dangerous plays, but in the end they see the game out however they need to, just like we did.

4. The Left-Back Position

It’s been less than a week since I predicted that Tierney may end up leaving next summer if Zinchenko nails down the left-back position. This game has shown me one of the few reasons that I think these two might be able to coexist in Arteta’s setup.

We saw two completely different styles of play from Zinchenko and Tierney. Zinchenko unsurprisingly spent quite a bit of time in the center of the pitch, rotating with Xhaka at times as the left-sided midfielder. He had a few runs down left near the corner flag, but generally played more deep and central, attempting to facilitate the front four or five attackers.

(Zinchenko’s heatmap via SofaScore)

On defense, however, we saw where Zinchenko’s real weakness lies. This is, again, no real surprise. We knew that he wasn’t a top-tier defender, but rather a midfielder who could play at left-back. I’m honestly surprised Palace didn’t target that left side of the defense more heavily. Towards the end of the second half, before he was subbed off, it seemed like Palace were getting the better of him more frequently though, and it was starting to get a bit concerning.

Tierney, on the other hand, is much more solid in defense. When he came on, you had the feeling that things were going to be okay. He also offers something different going forward: he is much more comfortable simply bombing down the left side to stretch the defense and get a cross in.

I can see a world where each of these players can be used for different games depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, or even at different points in the same game depending on the gamestate. I still think Zinchenko will be the preferred starter based on the way we want to play, but Tierney has a chance to play good minutes if he can stay fit.

5. We Can Now Be More Direct

Since Arteta took over, it seemed like in order for us to score, we needed to complete an intricate pattern of 100+ passes. At any given time, we either didn’t have the ability to distribute effectively from the back, or have the attacking quality up front to be able to receive a direct pass, turn, and run at the defense (or both).

Last season, we saw huge improvements in the defense (including the keeper) and midfield in terms of our ability to make direct, progressive passes into the final third. What was missing was a central attacking threat who could take advantage of those passes and actually threaten the opposition. We now have that in the form of Gabriel Jesus. This gives us yet another way of getting at the opposition and makes us much more unpredictable.