“Mikel Arteta still need to learn a lot…The player he wanted to sell last week is the only player who did amazingly great yesty”: Arsenal legend Patrick Viera slams Mikel Arteta and praise the superstar who was the best player against Wolves yesterday
“Mikel Arteta still need to learn a lot…The player he wanted to sell last week is the only player who did amazingly great yesty”: Arsenal legend Patrick Viera slams Mikel Arteta and praise the superstar who was the best player against Wolves yesterday
For a club that has twice occupied the bridesmaid’s spot over successive seasons — doing precious little wrong in pushing Manchester City all the way to the final day last year — it was notable that there was a total absence of unknown names in Arsenal’s starting line-up for this season-opener.
Indeed, the only Emirates Stadium newcomer was £42m Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori, whose competitive debut will have to wait after remaining on the bench throughout.
No, this was an entirely familiar Arsenal outfit, guided by a manager insistent that wholesale changes are not required if they are to go one better next May when they hope to be crowned Premier League champions.
Amid a paucity of transfer action over the summer, Mikel Arteta was this week asked whether the club needed to bring in a new striker to propel them to the top of the league. He greeted the suggestion with short shrift, insisting the club “have great strikers already”.
For long periods of this game, that stoic belief was tested, with large sections of the Arsenal support crying out for a clinical finisher to put the ball in the net. At the final whistle, the hosts had racked up 18 shots in a game they dominated throughout. And yet, as has so often proven the case, Arteta was vindicated. At least, sufficiently so to beat an impotent Wolves.
At times, Kai Havertz’s deficiencies were exposed, meekly dispossessed when played through on goal early on and horribly shanking a curled effort well wide after half-time. But his goal showed exactly why Arteta has such faith in the German.
Havertz bravely put his body on the line to meet the ball first, nodding Bukayo Saka’s wicked in-swinging cross into what was then an unguarded net.
Further chances came and went, Saka twice forcing decent saves from Jose Sa, Declan Rice driving over the bar, Gabriel Martinelli seeing a shot deflected over and Thomas Partey drilling wide. But victory was wrapped up with a finish of abundant class.
Just as the home fans were starting to worry that a one-goal margin might prove insufficient, Saka stood his defender up, worked the slightest bit of space and picked his spot, curling beautifully into the corner.
There was time for a late cameo from Gabriel Jesus, who had returned to the bench despite impressing in pre-season, where he was joined by Eddie Nketiah, whose future may or may not be in north London amid interest from various clubs. Fellow substitute Leandro Trossard has also been deployed as the central frontman on occasion. What was that about needing a goalscorer?
Of course, sterner tests will come than this visit of a team grappling with the habitual summer player turnover necessary for the club to fulfil its operating model. In Max Kilman and Pedro Neto, Wolves have lost both their captain and best player in recent months, banking close to £100m in the process.
Fresh from signing a new four-year contract, manager Gary O’Neil has attempted to instil a sense of realism among supporters who spent much of last season dreaming of qualifying for European football, only to tail off horribly in the final weeks.
It was to no surprise that his largely new and somewhat inexperienced side attempted to prioritise defensive surety over attacking flair. While they were indebted to Arsenal’s profligacy in front of goal for remaining within touching distance for so long, there was certainly enough to buoy the travelling supporters on their journey back to the Midlands, with O’Neil’s side growing into the match the longer it wore on.
They might, in fact, have scored with their only effort on target of the opening half, were it not for a superb save from David Raya, now a permanent Arsenal employee. Making his debut after joining on loan from Celta Vigo, Norwegian striker Jorgen Strand Larsen’s header looked goalbound, only for the Spaniard to fling his right hand out while his entire body weight was careering in the opposite direction.
By the time Rayan Aït-Nouri drove wide soon after the hour mark and an unmarked Matheus Cunha shot weakly at Raya after William Saliba had gifted him the ball, the sense of trepidation was palpable inside the Emirates. With a whip of Saka’s left boot it was released in a flash.
