A dramatic Declan Rice goal saw Arsenal emerge victorious in a 4-3 against against Luton. But while a lot of the focus has surrounded the mistakes of goalkeeper David Raya, an examination of Arsenal's goals paints a far clearer picture. This is a team that can win the Premier League title, and exactly what Mikel Arteta has been building for years.
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00:00 Hello everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here and I've gone today on the internet and I've
00:12 seen a lot of people saying stuff like "Oh Arsenal were lucky against Luton weren't they?
00:16 Oh they scraped through there, they're never going to win a title playing like that."
00:20 But by way of an introduction to this video allow me to lay out my point before you, I
00:25 don't think I've ever seen them look more like title winners than they did against Luton.
00:33 So to address the elephant and all the national radio phone and callers in the room, it's
00:38 Luton, I get that straight away, that's not the kind of place Arsenal should be going
00:42 and having any problems really if they're expecting to win the Premier League.
00:45 But at the risk of going like all Joe Pesci on this, come on, come on, you know football
00:51 doesn't work like that, you can go absolutely anywhere, play absolutely anybody and get
00:57 given a game.
00:58 What matters and what's really important in the sense of "Hey, am I trying to win a Premier
01:02 League here?" is how you respond to that, how you deal with it.
01:06 And Arsenal, more than once against Luton, dealt with it.
01:10 And they didn't just deal with it really well, they dealt with it in a way they weren't dealing
01:13 with those situations last season.
01:15 Their most recent trip to a newly promoted side, they went away to Nottingham Forest
01:19 and they got beat 1-0.
01:20 They dominated that game, they had something like 84-85% possession in that match and got
01:27 beat 1-0.
01:28 They couldn't find a way to score.
01:31 So what was different against Luton?
01:32 What has changed?
01:33 Well, this is the XI Mikkel Arteta went with and you'll notice the big glaring thing here
01:39 is the decision he made.
01:40 At left back, he wanted another central defender in the squad so they could deal with Luton's
01:45 physicality, but otherwise, pretty much what you'd expect.
01:48 And the reason this team was able to see off three separate Luton comebacks, two of which
01:53 self-inflicted which we'll talk about a little later, is because, and hear me out, they don't
02:00 have a goalscorer.
02:01 You've lost your mind there, Adam, that's absolutely crazy.
02:04 Is there some kind of gas leak in this room?
02:06 Maybe, possibly, there is a bit of a funny smell, but this is exactly the kind of team
02:11 that Mikkel Arteta wanted to build.
02:12 There was loads of talk in the summer and now that the January transfer window is coming
02:15 back around, there is loads of talk again that Arsenal should go out, break the bank
02:19 and go get a goalscorer.
02:21 Ivan Toni gets mentioned, Vala, Tala, Vala, whatever he's called at Juventus, his name's
02:26 always in the frame.
02:27 People think that's what they're missing.
02:29 But Arteta himself has said they're not really in the market for that kind of player because,
02:35 and this is going to blow your mind, if there's one player who scores a huge chunk of all
02:40 your goals, then the opposition is going to know where a huge chunk of all your goals
02:46 come from.
02:47 So the reason our man Gabi here is perfect for this Arsenal side, fucking light's gone
02:51 off, bleh.
02:52 More for saving the planet, but not when it inconveniences me.
02:57 So the reason our man Gabi here is so perfect for this Arsenal team is because he scores
03:02 some of their goals, not loads of them, and he creates some of their goals, but not loads
03:06 of them.
03:07 So what you're supposed to be, if you're the opposition, you don't know where the goals
03:11 are coming from.
03:12 So the reason I said at the start that this Arsenal team has never looked more like title
03:17 winners to me personally is because they scored four goals last night with four separate goalscorers,
03:23 and after the first one had gone in, each of the subsequent three goals was created
03:28 directly as a result of the opposition remembering the one that came before.
03:33 Allow me to explain.
03:34 So first goal comes as a result of a really quick bit of thinking from Gabi, hey Zeus,
03:38 they get the throw in and while Luton are resetting, they get it to Saka, he gets into
03:42 the box and he cuts it back for Martinelli.
03:44 If you're the opposition, what is the lesson to learn there?
03:46 Do not switch off on Saka, stay on him at all times.
03:51 For the second goal, we're on the right hand side.
03:53 Again, Ben White lays the ball back to Saka and the Luton defence, remembering what happened
03:57 the first time, think, oh, can't let Saka go, can't give him any space, and two players
04:04 get drawn towards him.
04:05 This in a fraction of a second opens up the space behind those two defenders for Ben White,
04:10 Saka plays him in instead, he gets to the byline, floats a great crossover and hey Zeus
04:15 scores the second goal.
04:16 They were so busy worrying about Saka, they forgot to worry about Ben White.
04:21 Oops.
04:22 But let's just have a quick look at what else is going on in this goal, because how is hey
04:25 Zeus able just to get a free header against a team that's got these three big centre
04:30 backs?
04:31 Yes, I see, he drops outside of the box, as he is prone to do being that kind of false
04:36 nine player, and then he arrives late, meaning there's nobody there to pick him up.
04:40 Hmm, better make sure that doesn't happen again.
04:43 For the third goal, Saka punts it upfield into the box towards hey Zeus and the Luton
04:50 defence, remembering what happened last time, double up on him in the box.
04:55 Somebody challenges him directly, that's probably his man, but they also keep a watchful eye
04:59 on him with a second player, just in case he slips through and makes a run into a dangerous
05:04 zone.
05:05 Good defending there Luton, lesson well learned.
05:06 I'm sure this won't open up an entire other opportunity for a different Arsenal player
05:10 to score a goal.
05:11 Oh wait.
05:12 Getting pulled across to Mark, hey Zeus leaves this room here that Kai Havert is able to
05:17 ghost into, hey Zeus knocks the ball across to him and he has the simplest of finishes.
05:21 Okay, okay, okay, but surely that's it now, okay?
05:24 Watch Bakao Saka, be mindful of the overlap, don't let hey Zeus get free in the box and
05:29 make sure someone is picking up Kai Havert, right?
05:32 That's four separate lessons learned.
05:34 There's no way Arsenal could find another goal.
05:40 Deep deep deep into injury time, the ball comes out to Martin Odegaard in this half
05:45 space here, an area he simply adores to cross from and Luton have just a couple of seconds
05:50 to make sure they are set right to defend the impending ball.
05:54 And if we just stop it right here as it's coming back into Odegaard, Luton have in the
05:58 area the ball is almost certainly going to arrive in, four players to mark Arsenal's
06:03 four players.
06:04 They haven't got caught out, they're set pretty well.
06:07 But already here it is immediately apparent that the best possible destination for this
06:11 cross is Declan Rice.
06:13 He's got fractionally more room in front of him and fractionally more room behind him.
06:18 Now Callum Morris here has a decision to make.
06:20 Declan Rice is not free, there is a defender in close attendance, but he is behind him,
06:25 he can't see what Rice's movement is, so what Morris should do is step across, pick him
06:31 up and make sure he doesn't get a run on him.
06:33 But in the back of Callum Morris's mind is Kai Havertz.
06:37 He knows he is also in the box and he just scored the last goal, so he's got to quickly
06:43 check where Kai Havertz is to make sure he's able to move on to Rice.
06:47 And this is not only my favourite bit about this goal, but I will bet your bones and your
06:52 balls that it is our tethers as well, as that ball is rolling back to Urdagard, Callum Morris
06:58 quickly has a look around to try and find Kai Havertz.
07:02 And this is frame by frame minute stuff, but it's just so good, right?
07:06 As he is taking that look around, Declan Rice takes a big step back, preparing to obviously
07:12 take another big one forward.
07:13 But that means that when Morris turns his head back around to see him, Rice has moved.
07:18 So he goes to move with him, but because Rice is already in the middle of doing this motion,
07:23 it basically means he throws him.
07:25 When he looks, Morris has two yards on Rice and when the ball comes in from Urdagard,
07:31 that two yards has flipped the other way.
07:34 He can no longer get across to make that challenge.
07:37 Now, admittedly, it's not great from the defender, but Rice has a run on his blindside, so he's
07:41 never going to be favourite to win that ball.
07:44 What you would want is for Morris to recognise the danger, go with him and just make it harder
07:48 for him to get a clean connection.
07:50 But that doesn't happen because he's thinking about where Kai Havertz is.
07:54 And he's thinking about where Kai Havertz is because they weren't thinking about that
07:57 the third goal.
07:58 They were thinking about where Gabi Jesus is and they were thinking about where Gabi
08:01 Jesus was for the third goal because they weren't thinking about where Gabi Jesus was
08:04 for the second goal.
08:05 They were thinking about where Pekkai Osaka was.
08:07 And the fact this makes a really beautiful, neat little chain is not a coincidence.
08:12 Mikel Arteta has built a team where you do not know where the goals are coming from.
08:18 That is the point.
08:19 Well, I'm almost convinced, Adam.
08:20 I can hear you say, but is there one really neat little statistic that backs this all
08:24 up?
08:25 Yeah.
08:26 Distribution of goal scorers across the Premier League this season.
08:29 Arsenal are joint top of that particular stat.
08:32 No team has had more different goal scorers than they have.
08:35 And I mean, since we're doing statistics, Arteta wanted to build a team that was physically
08:39 strong and resolute and could not get bullied from set pieces.
08:43 They have conceded the lowest number from them this season.
08:46 And not only that, they have scored the most from them this season.
08:50 He's done that.
08:51 Also wanted to build a team that was incredibly disciplined and patient on the ball and could
08:55 problem solve on the pitch.
08:58 They wouldn't just force things or rush them.
08:59 They would retain possession until an opportunity presented itself.
09:02 They are second only to Manchester City, the undisputed World Heavyweight Champions of
09:07 this style of football for the number of sequences in a game where they complete 10 or more passes
09:13 and more importantly, for the number of those sequences that lead to an attempt on goal.
09:19 But it's not just patience and perseverance, is it?
09:21 He also wanted to build a team that was super aggressive in winning the ball back.
09:26 On the rare times they did give the ball away, they would jump on the opposition to get that
09:31 back and create a whole other different type of chance.
09:34 And he has, they are number one in the league for the number of high turnovers, basically
09:39 any time they win the ball back in the opposition third, that then leads to a goal of goal.
09:43 And for the real nerds out there, they have the lowest passes per defensive action in
09:49 the Premier League this season.
09:50 And if you don't know what that means, it's just like on average, how many passes are
09:54 the opposition allowed to have before you either win it back or otherwise just clatter
09:59 them.
10:00 And when you have all of these different things working in harmony, what do you get?
10:04 You get a team that isn't just capable of playing brilliantly and getting big wins against
10:08 Manchester City, but you also get a team that can turn up a way to Luton with a couple of
10:13 injuries and tired legs and actually not play that well and have a goalkeeper throw two
10:18 into his own net and still win that game.
10:23 And it is those two things above all others, that's four, that can win you a Premier League
10:30 title.
10:31 So take points off your championship rivals, make sure you win those games.
10:35 But also when you're not at your best and some team you should have no problems against
10:40 score three goals against you, find something somewhere in this team to get you over that
10:46 line.
10:47 But just the bottom line here is that last season, Arsenal gave Manchester City six points
10:51 and they got beat away to Nottingham Forest and beat away to Everton and they dropped
10:55 points against Alhambra.
10:56 And coincidentally, they did all of that and didn't win the league.
11:00 And just quickly to the naysayers and the detractors who haven't actually been that
11:03 impressed with this team, who say, oh, they're not really at it this year.
11:06 It doesn't look as cohesive.
11:07 They're not at their best, right?
11:10 The top of the league.
11:11 If they're getting more points than Man City and Liverpool when they're apparently ****,
11:15 what do you think is going to happen when they're not?
11:17 Now if we may just return to stat world for a quick second, there is one slight caveat
11:21 to all of this.
11:22 The building blocks do appear to be in place for this team to finally win the league.
11:27 But there is one thing, one possible banana skin that could stop them.
11:32 And there is one other statistic that Arsenal currently sit top of the pile of, and that
11:36 is mistakes leading directly to a goal.
11:39 Now they are patient and they are disciplined, but for reasons that we'll have to cover in
11:43 another video, they have destabilised their back line and it's giving away goals they
11:48 can't really afford to give away.
11:50 And when it comes to the goalkeeping situation, it's not an ability thing, by the way.
11:54 It's absolutely something that's going on up here.
11:57 Like last night, David Rye came for a cross and put in quite possibly the meekest attempt
12:02 to get one I have ever seen.
12:04 So yes, just to wrap up my 25 million thoughts in one neat little package for you, Arsenal,
12:10 I think they look like they might win the league, but if they don't sort this guy out
12:14 at the back, either just by getting Rye's brain put back in or putting Ramsdale back
12:19 in or just doing something else entirely, they may come unstuck.
12:23 They go really good at getting four goals against Luton, but they can't go into every
12:27 game needing to find four goals.
12:30 Anyway, though, my dear, dear friend, if you have enjoyed this video, and I certainly have,
12:33 please do consider subscribing to us here at 442 on YouTube.
12:36 This is the kind of thing we do.
12:37 I think it's really cool and possibly maybe you do too.
12:40 And just an enormous thank you to anybody and everybody who voted for us in this year's
12:45 FSA Awards.
12:46 I went to the thing and I had a really nice time, even though we didn't win.
12:49 Had to sit there and do my really pleased for the winner, thoroughly deserved face,
12:54 even though obviously inside I was kind of feeling like it's a disgrace.
12:58 It's embarrassing.
12:59 That's how I feel.
13:00 And that's how everybody feels in that room.
13:02 Next year.
13:03 Meantime, though, grab me on socials @adamcleary, CLERY442 in the corner of the video.
13:06 Latest bag, I keep saying it's nearly not on sale, but it still is.
13:09 So go buy that.
13:10 Harry Kane's on the cover, Arsenal fans.
13:12 You'll enjoy that.
13:13 And until next time, I've been Adam Cleary.
13:15 This is 442.
13:16 These may be your Premier League winners.
13:18 324 what year is it? Bye!