Second Viewing 2021-22: Arsenal vs. Norwich City

Lineup

Emile Smith Rowe ➡️  (62′) ⬅️ Takehiro Tomiyasu
Thomas Partey ➡️  (62′) ⬅️  Albert Sambi Lokonga
Cedric Soares ➡️  (82′) ⬅️  Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Minute by Minute

Analysis

After a torrid start to the season that saw Arsenal fail to score in their opening three games, the Gunners returned from the international break a new side. Almost literally. Mikel Arteta made seven changes from the team that lost 5-0 to Manchester City, including giving Premier League debuts to Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

The changes provided an immediate upgrade, especially at the back where Pablo Marí, Rob Holding, and the right back du jour spent the past three games alternating between giving the ball away and losing their man inside the box.

There was a little of that on Saturday, but not enough to concede. Arteta opted to sign Tomiyasu over someone like Emerson Royal based a clear idea of how he wanted Arsenal to play. And so it came to pass: Tierney high and wide like always. Tomiyasu tucking in on the back side.

All told, Arsenal looked like Arsenal again, right down to the two heart-in-mouth moments at the end of the game that almost saw them waste a dominant performance. Their 30 shots were more than they managed in their opening three games combined.

The stats above are evident in the game chart below, where 10 of 13 outfield players scored positively and just one (Maitland-Niles) ended up below 0. Ramsdale basically didn’t contribute. That’s a welcomed change from Brentford, Chelsea, and Man City, where there were seven positive scores combined, and Leno was forced to stand on his head.

Chart

Player Ratings

Bukayo Saka

[+9 Att | -2 Def | +7 Ovr | 90 Mins]

Saka led Arsenal with a +7 on the day, +9 in attack. He kept popping up in dangerous areas looking to turn:

Arsenal finally break through with a similar pattern: Saka picking up the ball between the lines. Only this time, he rides the challenge and drives at the Norwich box. Nicolas Pépé does the rest.

He was clever with his movement, and we all know about his technical ability. We never got a replay of here, but after watching it in slow motion I’m convinced this should have been a penalty:

All in all, a deserving Man of the Match.

Takehiro Tomiyasu

[+3 Att | -3 Def | 0 Ovr | 62 Mins]

Arteta brought Tomiyasu in for his defensive qualities, but I thought he was better offensively in this one. He’s well and truly two-footed, and clearly an upgrade on Calum Chambers / Cedric Soares. I gave him a +2 for this sequence, both for the run and the cross:

His ability in the air is well documented, and one of the main reasons Arsenal brought him in. He won seven of eight aerial duels in this one, many with towering headers:

He’ll be a good partner for Ben White.

But…

I was concerned with his defensive awareness. He let his man in behind a handful of times when he just stopped playing. Here’s the first:

I loved his speed to catch Christos Tzolis. What I didn’t love was him completely switching off after the pass goes into the box.

Here’s another one, almost as egregious:

And one more:

That last one is off the second half kickoff, which is inexcusable. Not only is he caught flat-footed, his body position is too square, forcing him to take an extra step to get up to full speed.

I don’t watch enough Serie A to know if players typically stop and admire eight yard passes. Since they don’t in Sunday league, I’ll assume he just needs to get his head out of his ass. I have faith that he’ll do so.

Ben White

[+2 Att | -2 Def | 0 Ovr | 90 Mins]

White was better than he was against Brentford. He still has a ways to go to justify a €60M price tag. There was a bit of Twitter dialogue after the game about his “three key passes,” so much so that it threatened to boil over into a meme. I’m not sure doing so warranted multiple tweets, but it’s clear he’s talented with the ball. He played Tomiyasu into dangerous areas twice within the first seven minutes. I liked this one best:

But like Tomiyasu, he lost focus periodically throughout the match. As a centerback, that’s an invitation to concede:

He clearly sees McLean coming—he looks twice—but takes a false step backwards and can’t recover in time.

He makes a similar error in the last minute of the game, taking a fateful step towards the ball that sees him sealed by Pukki as a result:

Only a Cedric Soares sliding challenge (read that again) saves Arsenal from conceding.

White’s playing almost as if he’s on the right of a back three, which makes sense given that’s where he played all last year. But this year, when he’s in the middle of Arsenal’s defense, he has to do a better job of defending before the ball reaches the danger zone. We’ll hope for better against Burnley. And another key pass or two.

Nicolas Pépé

[+5 Att | -1 Def | +4 Ovr | 90 Mins]

Pépé split opinion on Saturday. I had him with 14 positive offensive contributions, and nine negative ones. Most of his negative points came on simple miscontrols:

But he’s clearly Arsenal’s most dangerous attacking player, and essentially their only 1v1 attacking threat. Here he creates a chance for Aubameyang out of Norwich City’s own free kick:

And even though he didn’t know much about it, he still got an assist on the goal Arsenal do score. He’s unlucky not to score himself:

He had 81 touches for the game, 10 more than any other player. For a team used to seeing Rob Holding and Granit Xhaka lead the team in that category, Pépé doing so was a welcomed sight.

Is he worth the €80 million Arsenal paid for him? Probably not. I’d argue he’s still the Gunners’ most important attacking player, even more than Aubameyang, Saka, Smith Rowe, and/or Ødegaard. Arsenal don’t win this game without him.

Looking Ahead – Matchday 5: Burnley

Arsenal travel to Burnley this weekend for the ultimate trap game; Tottenham loom on September 26. After 10 straight wins spanning nearly a decade, Arsenal haven’t beaten the Clarets in their last three tries.

But this isn’t your father’s Burnley. Four games into 2021-22, they’re having a worse season than Arsenal: A draw (vs. Leeds) and three losses (Brighton, Liverpool, Everton) have them 18th in the table.

On second thought, this is exactly your father’s Burnley. Sean Dyche’s men are the quintessential hoof and hope team in the league, and they’ll hope to use all of the dark arts at their disposal to eek out a result against Arsenal. Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes will be seeking out Ben White all game.

I’m backing White. He’ll get enough help from Gabriel and Tomiyasu to neutralize Burnley’s plan-A—let’s be honest, it’s their plan-B and C as well—and the Gunners are rounding into form at the other end of the pitch.

Prediction: Burnley 0 – 2 Arsenal