Late on Saturday night, a mile from the Emirates Stadium in London, Arsenal fans were painting the town red. After enjoying a straightforward Premier League win over West Ham United, many of those in red-and-white shirts followed routine and flocked to drinking holes along lively Upper Street, Islington, to debrief, refresh and keep an eye on TV screens showing Liverpool at Chelsea.
Arsenal supporters rarely rush to celebrate any Chelsea success, such is the intensity of the rivalry given extra enmity by Ashley Cole’s 2006 defection to Stamford Bridge. Loathing was temporarily set aside with a few whoops of glee as Estêvão’s injury-time goal condemned Liverpool to a second successive Premier League loss.
The champions didn’t look worthy of the name. Liverpool spent £415 million ($557 million) on players (recouping £187 million/$251 million) and looked a lesser side. New signings like Alexander Isak struggled. Old reliables like Mohamed Salah were shadows of their usual commanding selves. Had the team that supposedly “won the transfer window” lost their momentum?
Do Arsenal Have What it Takes?
So could this be Arsenal’s year? I was in a Thai restaurant on Upper Street on Saturday evening watching this merriment born of hope and hops flow past. Some of those drinking in the pubs, and feasting on Liverpool’s frustrations, weren’t even born when Arsenal last lifted the Premier League trophy in 2004.
Their elders will preach patience, knowing there’s seven months to go. But they, too, might permit themselves a stroll down memory lane along Upper Street and the open-top bus parade 21 years ago. Even the town hall got dressed up that day, cloaked in a colossal Arsenal shirt. What odds for another fitting?
Liverpool’s slip ensured Arsenal remain top through the international break, important psychologically for a squad which has had their fortitude, mental and physical, questioned since the Invincibles of 2004. Their belief has been bolstered by the strengthening of the squad. Arsenal invested £255 million ($342 million), and have accelerated momentum.
Arsenal New Signings Settling Well
Squads win titles, especially in the age of five substitutes, and nobody doubts the strength in depth of Arsenal’s now. They can withstand injuries better, and also not need to hurry them back. Captain Martin Ødegaard limped off against West Ham with a knee injury that will sideline him “for weeks,” but the arrival of £60 million ($80 million) Eberechi Eze ensures Arsenal that subtlety of touch and creativity between the lines.
The £64 million ($86 million) Viktor Gyökeres is a physical, hard-working centre-forward who can score (three Premier League goals already), fight opposing centre-backs and create space and chances for others. Martín Zubimendi, the £60 million ($80 million) midfielder, brings astute positioning, ball-winning and good passing.
All three contributed to the defeat of West Ham.
When Ødegaard limped off after half an hour, Zubimendi came on, Mikel Arteta pushed Declan Rice from 6 to 8, closer to Eze, and Arsenal had more threat. Just as Arsenal players develop into a force capable of winning the title, so Arteta matures into a manager capable of making the right decisions that shape the destiny of trophies.
Arteta’s changes ensured Arsenal controlled the game. As well as Zubimendi, Arteta also sent on such hugely capable subs as Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Gabriel Martinelli and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Arsenal already had a decent squad, now it’s enhanced.
Some disrespectful Arsenal fans petitioned against the signing of Noni Madueke but he impressed before injury. Those remaining on the bench on Saturday were signings of the calibre of Christian Nørgaard, Cristhian Mosquera and Kepa Arrizabalaga. Plus Ben White, an international defender.
No points are on offer for the fabled “winning the transfer window.” Other teams like Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur also dispute whether Arsenal did the best recruiting in the summer.
Where Liverpool Went Wrong in Summer Business
Liverpool thought they had won the window. Only Hugo Ekitiké has hit the ground running but others like Isak, Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez have too much quality not to come good at some point. When can a transfer window be declared won?
Under Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s recruitment department do extensive research into characters and qualities of signings. But two mistakes were made, both highlighted at the time.
The first was that Liverpool’s offer of £110 million ($148 million) for Isak was far off what Newcastle considered anywhere near fair for a clinical finisher with three years left on his contract. The stand-off until the £125 million ($168 million) deadline-day deal meant the striker gathered rust.
He trained on his own, missing the first three rounds of Premier League games, and is still not at full fitness or goal sharpness yet. He has managed 312 minutes, and one goal. Sweden should really be furious. He’s their most important player and yet, because of his lack of competitive edge, Sweden have to start winning qualifiers quickly if they are to make the World Cup.
Apart from Ekitiké and Cody Gakpo, Liverpool’s attack has disappointed. Nobody will be writing off such a dedicated professional and talent as Salah, the newly crowned Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year.
Wirtz, who plays off the front line, has struggled to pick up the pace and physicality but anyone who has watched him in Europe, or the Bundesliga, over the past two years knows what a talent he is. Wirtz doesn’t hide. He keeps demanding the ball, but then getting swamped. He keeps running hard.
Liverpool’s midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister was the rock on which last season’s title was built. Mac Allister has struggled with recurring injuries, Wirtz has been starting (until Saturday) but Arne Slot has to find the right balance. It’s not there at the moment.
It is important to touch on a deeply sensitive subject here. It is impossible to know how much Diogo Jota’s tragic death plays on Liverpool players’ minds during games. It must do. Jota was more than a teammate, he was a friend. It would be only human for them to still be mourning.
Liverpool’s second mistake was not moving quicker on Marc Guéhi. Had they done, Crystal Palace would have had time to source a suitable replacement. Palace’s manager, Oliver Glasner, had demanded this of his board as agreement for losing his captain and best centre-back.
Liverpool ran it down to the wire, even doing all the in-house interviews with Guéhi, but Palace couldn’t get somebody in so pulled the deal. With Ibrahima Konaté (now injured) looking a mistake waiting to happen, nerves spread through Liverpool’s defence. Even the mighty Virgil van Dijk lacks his usual authority.
Liverpool Are Missing Trent Alexander-Arnold
Many Liverpool fans might bridle at the thought but they are missing Trent Alexander-Arnold. It’s not as if their defending at right back has improved with either Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley or Szoboszlai in there. Such is the chaos at right back that Slot did not even consider sending on Joe Gomez or Frimpong against West Ham.
Konaté’s uncertainty as the closest centre-back doesn’t help security levels. Nor does Salah’s failure to track back consistently to help out. Where Liverpool truly miss Alexander-Arnold is his ability to spring attacks with a 60-yard pass; Ekitiké or Isak would have profited from those. Any side would miss a player who racked up 86 assists and 23 goals in 353 games.
Over on the left, Kerkez so far lacks the dynamism in and out of possession that encouraged Liverpool to pay Bournemouth £40 million ($54 million) for him. Kerkez, still only 21, has been replaced by Andy Robertson in four of nine of the nine games he’s started. Then Robertson got caught out by Estêvão for Chelsea’s winner. Slot tries to tackle one problem and finds another.
Slot’s usually reliable response with his substitutes seemed to desert him temporarily. He sent on Wataru Endo for Mac Allister when Gakpo was shattered. Federico Chiesa remained on the bench when Liverpool needed a forward to chase the winner.
At least Slot has the international break to reflect on how he can turn things around. As crises go, it needs recording that Liverpool are second, have progressed in the Carabao Cup, beat Atlético Madrid in their first Champions League game and lost narrowly at a hostile Galatasaray.
Arsenal are now favourites for the title, followed closely by Liverpool and then Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side have to be considered in the mix for one very good, very tall, very prolific reason: Erling Haaland.
Nine goals in seven games. Beyond Haaland’s remarkable eye for goal, there is little truly guaranteed in a Premier League that sees Bournemouth fourth and Palace sixth. There will be twists and turns to come. But on Saturday evening, down on Upper Street, some Arsenal fans dared to dream.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arsenal Ahead of Liverpool in Integrating Summer Signings.
