Arsenal ignore PSG, and are in the top eight – and it is getting weird ...
By Tony Attwood
This, quite frankly, is getting weird. Arsenal dominated this match and were completely in control…. with 38% possession (!) while getting just one corner in the entire game (PSG getting five). But then Luis Enrique did describe Arsenal as the best team in football without the ball.
And certainly, the stats suggested that was so. PSG dominated the shots 10 to 7, but Arsenal when did get possession they made it pay: they had over twice as many shots on target as PSG (5 to 2).
And watching the game I had no doubt at any time that Arsenal were going to win. And neither did those around me have any doubt either. Arsenal just keep marching on as from the first to the last, seemingly the whole contingent of the PSG fans did a song and dance routine that ultimately became rather boring.
At first it (the dance routine) was slightly fascinating, but after 15 minutes it seemed, pointless and by the end was well, just annoying. There was no variation in the music or the jumping up and down in synchronised support, and it had no reference whatsoever to the game. Of course it might have done if PSG had scored, but we will never know since PSG none of their support had anything to do with this game, or any other game. It was just a ceaselessly repetitive terrace show.
Is this what away support is in France: a constantly revolving song and dance-on-the-spot routine? Or is this what happens when one club with all the money keeps winning year after year after year? If so, give it another couple of years and for PSG read ManC.
Dembélé was not playing (the Guardian called this a boost for Arsenal, pretending as ever that Arsenal can’t win anything unless the opposition helps them along). He was out for disrespecting the team. and had he been there he could have made a difference. But then Arsenal would have played a different formation, so who knows if it would have made a difference.
Luis Enrique described Arsenal as the best team in Europe without the ball. And yes, Arsenal are running at 47.6% possession in the Premier League. Last season it was 58.4% – obviously a decline of almost 11%, which is clearly planned for, and not something one often sees. Manchester City last season were on 65.4% possession, and this season are on 64.5% This looks to me like a dramatic and possibly unprecedented change of tactic for Arsenal.
The only other PL team that is trying this is Newcastle on 44.6% – otherwise by and large the higher up the league a club is the more possession it has.
It certainly is an approach that is working however, and this game could easily have gone to 3-0 just in the first half with Martinelli missing one of those which looked like it really ought to be going in.
But although we had no more goals in the second half we did have Mikel Merino on the pitch to a great roar of appreciation from the crowd.
Meanwhile, this looked to me from my seat in the East Stand like another step forward for Martinelli in his recovery of self-belief and form. PSG tried the usual tricks which they would have seen work on English TV such as the ball coming up and hitting Calafiori’s hand and everyone appealing for a penalty or free kick. PGMO men tend to give those. but of course referees in Europe tend to have a little more understanding of the game. And besides in Europe, the referees know they are going to be paid.
So yes, I think we have had it confirmed that playing without possession is part of the new Arsenal game. Arsenal didn’t drop as low as the 23% that they recorded against Manchester City, but that was probably a one-off.
The Champions League table will break the clubs into three groups after eight games, with the top eight qualifying for the round of 16, and the clubs placed from ninth to 24th playing in a two-leg knockout to reach the 16. The teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.
Arsenal are eighth at the moment after two games, but of course there are many teams that have only played once and a win for Bayern in their second game will knock Arsenal out of the top group for the moment.
However, we might note that after two games Barcelona have only three points, as of course do PSG, and indeed Celtic. AC Milan has played two and lost two.
Further, some of these clubs do look out of their depth, with AC Milan and Red Bull Belgrade both having two defeats so far. I would include Tottenham in the list too, but, it seems, they didn’t even qualify. Here’s the top eight as of this morning.
P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Borussia Dortmund 2 2 0 0 10 1 +9 6 2 Brest 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 6 3 Bayer Leverkusen 2 2 0 0 5 0 +5 6 4 Manchester City 2 1 1 0 4 0 +4 4 5 Inter Milan 2 1 1 0 4 0 +4 4 6 Sparta Prague 2 1 1 0 4 1 +3 4 7 Sporting Lisbon 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 4 8 Arsenal 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
