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Final Result: Arsenal 2-2 Fulham (Saka 70′, Nketiah 73′ | Pereira 1′, J. Palhinha 87′)

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Kiwior, Saliba, White, Partey (Zinchenko 56′); Rice (G. Jesus 91′), Havertz (F. Vieira 56′), Odegaard (Jorginho 84′); Saka, Trossard (Nketiah 46′), Martinelli

Mikel Arteta certainly promised us that Arsenal will be unpredictable this season, as it was believed that the Gunners were a one-trick pony last season. Using the same 4-2-3-1 setup with the same starting XI for almost the entirety of the season before injuries and lack of depth in certain positions forced the manager to make some changes that took off the rails of the Premier League title challenge. Arsenal brought in some depth and much needed quality this summer with the acquisitions of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice, but in the first three Premier League games of the season, Arteta has fielded a new tactical setup that hasn’t clicked from the disjointed performances so far.

The game against Nottingham Forest was settled by a piece of individual brilliance from Bukayo Saka but Arsenal failed to break down their visitors, with Nottingham Forest finishing the game with an 0.86 xGC, which was evident that the home team failed to attack them effectively. The Crystal Palace game was a different scenario, with the red card to Takehiro Tomiyasu forcing the team to revert to Satanball to preserve the lead. 

There were some tweaks in the starting lineup, as Jakub Kiwior replaced Tomiyasu instead of Gabriel, and Leandro Trossard got his first start of the season ahead of Eddie Nketiah. 

Just when we trying to settle into the contest, Arsenal conceded after 57 seconds, which has now become a theme for Mikel Arteta’s side. After some simple passing play, Bukayo Saka inexplicably passed the ball in behind the defense to who he thought was his right back, but Thomas Partey had already gone to midfield to invert, so Andreas Pereira bore down on goal and was one on one with Aaron Ramsdale. Pereira’s idea was to lob the ball over Ramsdale, but he made a mess of that, dinking the ball at a considerable height, but Ramsdale was flat-footed and lost his bearings, allowing the Fulham player to score the opening goal of the day.

Last season, Arsenal conceded in the first minute in two Premier League games, and the ghosts of seasons past came to haunt us against Fulham. Martin Odegaard located Gabriel Martinelli with a sumptuous cross field ball but the Brazilian’s attempt was wide off the mark. Arsenal’s defense were in sixes and sevens when Fulham broke away on the break but Harry Wilson’s finishing let him down and the good chance went begging. 

Arsenal began pressing for the equalizer, and Saka reached the ball deep in the danger area and lobbed it to the six yard box, but Kai Havertz somehow managed to play the ball back to Saka in an offside position with a gaping goal in his front. However, we can attribute that miss to the pressure exerted on him by Issa Diop. Partey noticed Havertz on the clear and dinked a pass into space, but Havertz lacked the pace to reach the ball on time, with Bernd Leno smothering the effort.

Arsenal kept probing but failed to penetrate as the players kept firing very weak shots at Leno. Martinelli had a shot saved, Saka went to the byline and drilled in a cross that none of his teammates attacked, then it was the turn of Fulham to trade punches, as Raul Jimenez executed a neat bicycle kick that missed by a lick of paint and when William Saliba uncharacteristically gave the ball away to the opposition, Pereira fed Wilson whose shot was off target. 

Arsenal had a glorious chance to get the equalizer when Trossard drifted to the left wing and swung a cross that was on the money but Saka’s header at point blank range was shocking to say the least. Martinelli had two more chances to score after receiving passes from Trossard and Rice but his shots at Leno were very tame. Late in the first half, Odegaard received a pass from Saka and blasted one at goal but Leno was on hand to make yet another save. In my opinion, they were more of poor quality misses than high quality saves but hey, he was raking them alright.

Arteta responded with a half time substitution, bringing on Eddie Nketiah for Trossard to add a focal point to the attack, as Trossard tended to drop too deep in midfield for a considerable chunk of the first half. Saka continued the pressure with a well-struck shot that was saved and clearly it was evident that Saka and Martinelli weren’t enjoying themselves with this new tactical switch. Last season, Saka had Odegaard and most importantly, Ben White to work with but with Partey inverting to midfield, Saka was always isolated. Martinelli hardly works well with Nketiah, so both wingers were out of the equation.

Arteta finally saw that his current setup was taking him nowhere, so he reverted to the formation that got him the goods last season, bringing on Oleksandr Zinchenko for Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira came on for the ineffectual Havertz. This switch saw White switch from center back to right back, with Kiwior playing alongside Saliba. Declan Rice was the anchor #6 with Vieira playing left #8 and Odegaard playing right #8. 

Arsenal’s fluidity took center stage and they were rewarded for their efforts when Vieira was scythed down in the box by Kenny Tete for an Arsenal penalty. This time, Saka resumed penalty duties instead of Odegaard and scored the high-pressure spot kick, sending Leno the wrong way to equalize the contest. Three minutes later, Vieira drilled in a carefully-threaded ball to Nketiah’s path who side-footed the ball home to send the Emirates into raptures.

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!!!

Late on, Arteta took out Odegaard for Jorginho for game management, and I expected Arsenal to see the game out, especially with Fulham going down to 10 men when Calvin Bassey receiving his marching orders for a second bookable offense. However, Arsenal conceded a late equalizer to Fulham when Joao Palhinha somehow managed to fire a low drive from a very poor corner kick, with three players static in the defense, instead of attacking the ball. That goal knocked the wind of Arsenal’s sails and even the late introduction of Gabriel Jesus wasn’t enough, as Arsenal dropped two valuable points.

This results fills me with a lot of anger because this was a game that was supposed to be a routine win for Arsenal. Arteta expressed his disappointment in the post-match presser, but the manager has to take the blame for what has been a failed experiment so far this season. Thomas Partey is a monumental player for the team and adding a generational talent like Declan Rice alongside him is meant to make Arsenal’s midfield one to die for, but inverting Partey as a right back, just to accommodate Kai Havertz in the team is a very poor move. Deploying Partey there negates White’s abilities to provide support to Saka in attack, and the whole shape of the team is questionable.

What’s going on between the gaffer and Gabriel? The Brazilian defender forged an amazing partnership with Saliba last season, and Arsenal had an awesome defensive shape with both players at the heart of it. This season, Saliba is playing alone in a back three that hasn’t worked, and I truly hope we revert to our usual 4-2-3-1 formation henceforth. It is evident that Kai Havertz should be a depth option as he hasn’t justified his inclusion in the squad from what we have seen so far. 

This was a very huge disappointment.

Please ditch the new formation. 

Sayonara.

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