Arsenal once again had to work hard for their win. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
2. Why can’t Arsenal demolish teams?
It’s still early in the season, but one thing worrying me has been the lack of a killer instinct in this Arsenal side. With three victories by a margin of just one goal, the team almost always gives the opposition a chance to get back into the game.
The Gunners often score first but then take their foot off the pedal a bit, which can be very stressful. To win the Premier League, it is imperative to be better than Manchester City, and unless Arsenal can find a way to put games away like City so often do, they will concede more goals as they did against Fulham.
Of course, it’s not easy as every team that Arteta’s team faces sets up in a deep block. Other Premier League teams take risks against teams like Newcastle and Liverpool but shut up shop against Arsenal. Luckily, Everton were lacklustre today, but the players need to start smashing in three or four goals in games like these.
Continued on the next slide…
rested ahead of the Champions League on Wednesday. I’ve never heard of a goalkeeper being rested, but Mikel Arteta is a visionary, so who knows?</p>
<p>Raya didn’t have much to do in terms of saves, but he performed very well. Calm on the ball, he never panicked and found teammates with almost all his passes. He ran out of his goal nicely to snuff out an Everton attack, too.</p>
<p><a title="The concerning Aaron Ramsdale stat that suggests David Raya deserves chance" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/08/concerning-aaron-ramsdale-stat/" rel="">Fans have recently been displeased with Ramsdale</a>, who hasn’t reached the peak of his powers this season. Arteta will have been very happy with Raya’s performance, and time will now tell whether Ramsdale’s place is up for grabs or whether Arsenal will have two rotating keepers.</p>
<p>It will be very interesting to see who starts against PSV Eindhoven.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 talking point from Goodison win </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-136422" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1682,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1688201896-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1682" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1688201896-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1688201896-768x504.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1688201896-1536x1009.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1688201896-2048x1345.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Arsenal once again had to work hard for their win. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
<h2>2. Why can’t Arsenal demolish teams?</h2>
<p>It’s still early in the season, but one thing worrying me has been the lack of a killer instinct in this Arsenal side. With three victories by a margin of just one goal, the team almost always gives the opposition a chance to get back into the game.</p>
<p>The Gunners often score first but then take their foot off the pedal a bit, which can be very stressful. To win the Premier League, it is imperative to be better than Manchester City, and unless Arsenal can find a way to put games away like City so often do, they will concede more goals as they did against Fulham.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not easy as every team that Arteta’s team faces sets up in a deep block. Other Premier League teams take risks against teams like Newcastle and Liverpool but shut up shop against Arsenal. Luckily, Everton were lacklustre today, but the players need to start smashing in three or four goals in games like these.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 talking point from Goodison win </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">📸| Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard at FT 🤗 <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/EVEARS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#EVEARS</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/afc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#afc</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://t.co/k8QZeWTmvI">pic.twitter.com/k8QZeWTmvI
<p>— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://twitter.com/ArsenalBuzzCom/status/1703468750568145247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 17, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div>
<h2>3. Should Martinelli and Saka get rotated more?</h2>
<p>Of course, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are tremendous players, but I couldn’t help but wonder whether they should be rotated more given Arteta’s options on the bench.</p>
<p>Saka, especially, doesn’t look quite the same player as last season, and it surely has to do with the sheer quantity of games he’s played for England and Arsenal. He constantly plays 90 minutes and that might be taking its toll.</p>
<p>Leandro Trossard didn’t have his best outing today, but he scored a brilliant goal that was the difference between the two teams. A flash of quality is sometimes all you need.</p>
<p>Reiss Nelson must be disappointed with his lack of minutes. Every time he steps on the pitch, he looks threatening and tidy. He deserves a few chances that aren’t just late cameos.</p>
<div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="BnoPf8Gjq4"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/17/everton-0-1-arsenal-player-ratings/">Everton 0-1 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners win at Goodison</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="“Everton 0-1 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners win at Goodison” — Pain in the Arsenal" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/18/3-talking-points-from-arsenal-victory-at-goodison/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/17/everton-0-1-arsenal-player-ratings/embed/#?secret=gN5FSPOlFb#?secret=BnoPf8Gjq4" data-secret="BnoPf8Gjq4" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p></div>
<p>Just something to consider.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
