We lacked Santi Cazorla's creative passing from deep without question but I'm not entirely sure that was the main reason for our flat performance. I thought we got the ball into our front players in decent positions many times over the course of the 90 minutes, the problem was that our attacking players were just off the pace on the day. Alex Iwobi was pretty decent in the first half, probing and finding spaces in the pockets between midfield and defence as he does so well, but his teammates were off their game. Mesut Ozil who had struck a hat-trick a few days earlier was not at his best and neither was our main scoring outlet from the right Theo Walcott
Reviews
Ludogorets (h) – Alexis & Coquelin Impress but scoring Özil steals the show
From that point on it was Mesut Özil’s turn to steal the show, his first of the night was a thing of beauty. Koscielny sprinting back after the Ludogorets forward, making a last ditch challenge and then Santi’s dink over the top to Özil, who seems to have a new hunger to get forward into striker positions. His first touch was typically Özil, getting it out of his feet and into his stride, then the cool finish with his weaker foot
Burnley (a) – Mustafi Impresses As Arsenal Snatch Late Winner
We’ve all witnessed some wonderful football in recent weeks, from the victory at Hull City, the all changed line up at Nottingham Forest, the spanking of Chelsea and then the ripping apart of FC Basel, it has been some of the best football I’ve seen for a few years now I’d say but I wondered how this team would cope when our best football was harder to come by. It is pretty much impossible to play the way we have been playing through an entire season, especially in the physically demanding and competitive Premier League.
FC Basel (h) – Brilliant & Frustrated Alexis Let Swiss Off Lightly
Some of the football on show on Wednesday night was mouth watering, I cannot remember a half that provided such quality on the ball than the first 45 against Basel. Arsene has spoken about the players gaining confidence from every performance and you can see that pretty clearly. The Chelsea win has given this Arsenal team a spring in their step just as the Hull City display provided us with the platform to destroy the west Londoners, and before that the second half at PSG
Chelsea (h) – A Performance We’ve Been Building Towards Since Pre-Season
When the line up was announced on Twitter, many Gooners were having a fit that Francis Coquelin was starting the game in place of Granit Xhaka. But I think Coquelin was exceptional in the opening stages of the game, he was one of the guys that set the tone he was part of the reason we imposed ourselves on the West Londonders. His injury, picked up close to the 30 minute mark looks serious and could rule him out for a long time. He looked visibly distraught as he limped off the pitch. Arsene has shown incredibly amounts of faith in Coquelin this season when it looked like he may have fallen way down the ladder, we have to hope that the injury is not worst case scenario stuff but it looks bad.
Nottingham Forest (a) – Lucas Brace While Impressive Youngsters Impress
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has played at right back twice before in his career apparently, he looked like a typical modern day Arsenal right back. Granted he was not tested defensively as he would against better teams but he stretched the pitch and combined very well with the Arsenal players around him. It will be interesting to see if he is played as full back in the youth sides after this performance. Debuchy is almost certainly heading out of the club and Jenkinson’s future is unclear. A path could open up for him to get a place in the Arsenal squad as a back up right back but it’s very very early days. He will need to gain experience and consistency before any of that.
Hull City (a) – Iwobi’s Footballing Brain, Theo’s Been Tidying Up & Fluidity Returns
Coquelin’s role in our build up has been a cause of frustration in recent games from Arsenal fans but I don’t think that acquisition can be levelled at him yesterday. He received the ball in tight spaces between the lines and recycled quickly. He also passed between the lines without any issues. He is no Iniesta but he was fantastic yesterday. Cazorla too played an important role yesterday and linked up very well with Mesut Ozil in particular. He tired a little in the second half and was on a knife edge in regards to his early booking but it begs the question
PSG (a) – Ospina The Hero, Slow Starts & More As Arsenal Sneak Point In Paris
We did not manage to create many clear chances with our possession but that was largely because they defended much better than we did throughout the game. Mesut Özil was far from his best but 13 minutes from time he showed his quality with a lovely check back from the left of the box. Most players in the world are crossing that ball into the box but Özil does not need to cross the ball, he passes from all angles of the pitch and it was his pass that landed at Iwobi who lashed in a shot that Areola could only manage to push out to Alexis who came in late to scuff a shot off the turf and past the keeper.
Watford (a) – Playing The Game We Love To Play
Watford were not able to get Igalho and Deeney into the game for that very reason. We had a lot more of the ball and whenever Watford gained possession we forced them into mistakes.
The penalty was a definite penalty even if I did’t know it had been awarded at the time. Not a fan of penalties being stuck low down the middle but I’m a big fan of Arsenal penalties going in so I’ll more than take Cazorla’s early strike.
The penalty was all about the quality of Mesut Ozil. We needed the breakthrough at Leicester City last weekend but missed Mesut’s brilliance, this time his left footed floater was heading towards Alexis before the Watford player stupidly lead with his elbow on our forward.
Liverpool (h) – Undone From Crosses Again, Lost Alexis & More Fun Stuff
So the question is, do Koscielny and Mustafi stop Liverpool's goals? It's impossible to say really isn't it? Obviously it does not help having an inexperienced centre back pairing but I think it fits the narrative of not spending a little too conveniently. When we dropped off our intensity in winning the ball high up it looked like absolutely anybody could walk through us and create shots on our goal, especially from wide. That was not down to our centre backs. When we defended as a team in the first half there could not be a bad word said of either Chambers or Holding. In fact, I thought to myself during the game that one of the highlights of this half was Chambers