It wasn’t a line you’d essentially imagine, however is simply another reason why Arsenal now actually imagine they will win this title. Following the 3-0 win over Fulham, Mikel Arteta was requested what may be one of many recreation’s extra vital moments, which was the return of Gabriel Jesus.
“He has to earn his place like in any other team,” the Arsenal supervisor stated. “We have alternatives who can play in different positions and we have different goals as well to fill in relation to the chemistry of the players and what we ask them to do. It’s a great problem to have, believe me.”
It stays to be seen how a lot that may apply to Jesus, given that he’s nonetheless the star of this Arsenal crew, who actually raises the extent of that ahead line.
The wider level, nonetheless, is simply how different that ahead line might be. That’s the “great problem”.
It is to begin with a credit score to Arsenal that they’ve come by three months with out Jesus and are nonetheless 5 factors clear on the prime of the league. That is one thing individuals in all probability wouldn’t have anticipated when the damage occurred, and definitely wouldn’t have thought as lately as October.
That alone reveals a deeper power to Arsenal, given they’ve remained so potent even with out their finest ahead.
But they now have so many layers, with the type of Trossard solely including one other. An assault that had appeared depending on two main gamers in Jesus after which Martin Odegaard behind him now has a number of doable configurations, particularly with Gabriel Martinelli rising as a risk and Bukayo Saka evolving right into a participant with the influence of his two senior teammates. The England winger has in the previous couple of weeks turn out to be one of the influential gamers within the Premier League.
There’s then the choice of Eddie Nketiah, and the revelation that Reiss Nelson has turn out to be. If it stays true that the first entrance three is Martinelli, Jesus and Saka, the supervisor is now in a state of affairs the place he isn’t depending on them continuously working in the identical dynamic method, in a fashion that may occur with creating younger sides. The hazard might be – even, once more, if it’s a “good problem” – {that a} crew early in its cycle can turn out to be too centred on a ahead line or space that originally made them so good. There was a component of this to Liverpool in 2017-18. Now, as one instance, it seems to be prefer it’s going to be very tough to depart Trossard out.
“We try to adapt to the quality of players that we have, to put them in their strengths and positions where we want as much as possible,” Arteta stated. “Leo has very different qualities to Gabi, Martin complements him really well in terms of the space and understanding with him. It’s great to have that versatility.”
It additionally works on a number of layers itself. There’s to begin with the actual fact it makes Arsenal that harder to arrange towards.
It’s now not a assure that it is going to be the first-choice entrance three, or that they may even play in the best way they often do. Opposition sides now must have extra defensive plans, which itself isn’t simple.
Fulham, on Sunday, virtually appeared stunned by the best way Arsenal had been coming at them.
There’s then the truth that it was exactly this level of the season, particularly as we method the final 10 video games and European soccer returns, that many would have anticipated Arteta’s aspect to begin flagging.
Instead, they’ve contemporary legs – particularly in Jesus – and contemporary concepts, with the assault wanting deeper than at any level.
It’s higher than a “great problem”. It provides nice hope for a run-in that, rather more just like the Bournemouth recreation than Fulham, goes to push Arsenal proper to the restrict.
