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It was just a few days ago that post-mortems were being written, Arteta would be sacked, the club itself all but liquidated, all because we’d stumbled to a tame draw at Craven Cottage. The narrative, as it stood, was that Arsenal have been terrific at scoring from corners but couldn’t score from open play. On the first allegation, yes, it’s true: we’ve scored 23 goals from set-pieces since the start of last season. On the second, the jury is, well, hung. Our lads did quite enough against Monaco to deliver a firm verdict.
**Bukayo Saka may join the pantheon along with Henry, Bergkamp, and others…**
It’s not just his goal-scoring (although he did bag a brace against Monaco). It’s not just his creation (he now boasts 12 assists across all competitions). He seems to genuinely like this club, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a Hale End lad. He’s quickly mounting a case at being the best attacking winger in the Prem with only the irrepressible Mo Salah ahead of him. Saka has increased his goal contributions in every season since he broke through, and, despite facing double- and triple-teamed defenders, is still finding ways to create, eviscerate, and score. While he hasn’t been scoring as prolifically as he has in the past, and while it’s true to point out that many of his assists have come from corners, it’s also true that he may soon assume the mantle of the best winger in the Prem.
**The kids are alright**
Shorn of other options, Arteta made the brave decision to deploy Myles Lewis-Skelly at leftback despite Tierney being available for the first time in recent memory.. The lad didn’t merely hold down the fort; he inverted and got up the pitch, using his physicality and eye for the pass to unlock Monaco. For the first goal, he received a long, cross-pitch pass and turned inside to lose his mark and threaded a ball behind Monaco’s back line to spring Jesus who fed Saka to score. That’s the kind of audacity we’d like to see from our Hale Enders. Nwaneri wasn’t far behind, even if his contributions didn’t register on the scoreboard. Still, it speaks volumes of their potential and their growing maturity to see that Arteta both named them to the squad and threw them into the fray.
**Is Jesus misfiring?** **What about ursine defecations in deciduous ecosystems?**
Okay, yes, so he did assist Saka to open the scoring. However, he squandered any number of chances, apparently assuming that shooting straight at the keeper might result in a kind of reverse psychology approach to scoring. He found himself through on goal with only the keeper several times but found his very tame shots saved with a minimal of fuss. Looking past this competition, it’s now been 22 Premier League matches without a goal for a signing who was supposed to be talismanic and perhaps even transformative. At his best, he can still discombobulate a defense, but the chances he fluffed tonight and the drought he’s endured have to feel more and more concerning for Arteta.
**Injury crisis? What injury crisis?**
We went into this match without the services of Calafiori, Zinchenko, White, Tomiyasu, Timber, or Gabriel. The crisis, as it were, is so bad that we recalled Tierney—hardly one known to hale and hearty—for reinforcement. That said, Lewis-Skelly and Partey showed their quality and versatility, with Lewis-Skelly putting in a strong shift at left back and Partey paralleling on the right so that Ødegaard, Rice, and Merino could control the midfield. Yes, Monaco couldn’t offer as much resistance or pressing as Fulham could, for example, but it was still reassuring to see that Arteta has options from the bench—and, just as important—that he’s willing to turn to them.
**Arteta’s evolution, um, continues to evolve…**
He learned as the cone-man of one of football’s most-brilliant minds (whose brilliance might best be summarized as “buy me all of the best players”). As such, Arteta probably inherited a certain skepticism around those players in the squad deemed not among the best in their positions. Against Monaco, he showed a greater willingness to trust Academy lads like Lewis-Skelly ass well as fringe players such as Kiwior, and it’s perhaps no accident that each rose to the occasion. Arteta has frequently been guilty of over-relying on a core of trusted players, neglecting and even marginalising those who could join that core. By giving meaningful minutes to Lewis-Skelly, Kiwior, and Nwaneri, Arteta has shown that he’s willing to expand his circle of trust to include more and more players.
We now sit third in the Champions League with two matches to play. We have a strong chance at finishing in the top eight, offering us a chance at bypassing the “final series playoff” that clubs that finish ninth through 24th will have to face. To do so would offer us our best chance at advancing to the UCL final since 2006. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. We still have two matches to play, and anything can happen. For now, let’s enjoy the momentum and the confidence that flow from a confident win in which we created numerous chances from open play.
We still have unfinished business at home and abroad.