Have Arsenal found some steel?
Arteta’s influence growing as his boys from Brazil show Fulham how tough it’ll be
SIGNING a 32-year-old from Chelsea and springing a Premier League debut on a 22-year-old Brazilian centre-half is so very Arsenal. And in recent years they might have been the kind of moves that would have exposed the club to ridicule and defensive calamity.
Yet under Mikel Arteta, what seems foolish turns out to be inspired. Where once there was fragility and uncertainty, now there is cohesion and determination.
Willian and Gabriel, Arsenal’s new boys from Brazil, were outstanding here as Arsenal eased their way into the season. Of course, much tougher tasks lie ahead than Fulham, for whom this was as inauspicious a start as they could have made. But Arsenal are slowly building a quiet confidence.
Centre-half Gabriel was dropped into a Premier League debut perhaps sooner than Arteta might have wished. His first intervention, when he misjudged the flight of Ainsley-Maitland Niles’s pass which let in Aboubakar Kamara on goal — the pair had Bernd Leno to thank for an excellent save — looked like the calamitous Arsenal we have come to expect.
Thereafter he looked as if he had played here all his life, heading balls away like a stalwart of English football rather than a Sao Paulo native who cut his teeth with Lille in France. Asked to be the pivotal defender in the back three, he was commanding and authoritative.
Willian, another native of Sao Paulo state, is thoroughly adapted. He was busily doing those things he did so well for Chelsea these past seven years, darting in from the right, causing Joe Bryan constant problems. He provided the assist for all three goals and rattled a free-kick off the post.
‘For Willian it’s easier because he knows the league and he’s very settled here so I knew his performance will happen straight away,’ said Arteta. ‘For Gabriel it was a big chance for him to come in today. Ideally I wanted to give him some time because he’s only trained for a few days with the team. And he hasn’t played a competitive match in six months, so there was a risk of injury as well. But credit to him, he performed really well.’
Arsenal have a purpose about them under Arteta. The balance between the five attacking players and five defensive players is like a well-tuned choir, harmonising perfectly, though there were some discordant notes among substitutes Dani Ceballos and Eddie Nketiah, who had to be separated during the warm-up, after squaring up to each other. Arteta said he did not see it and, once again, it felt like we were back in the better days of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Frankly, though, Fulham made life extremely easy for them. Scott Parker said it was fitness rather than sentiment that led him to stay loyal to the men who took the club up via the play-offs, with only Harrison Reed of the new signings making his debut.
The hard truth is that they looked what they were then: a decent Championship side some way short of being able to compete at this level.
The first mistake came in the ninth minute. The lofted ball to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was chased down by the Arsenal man and cut back across the box. Yet the subsequent shot from Granit Xhaka was weak and mistimed and, as such, no danger, until Tim Ream completely missed his clearance.
Willian pounced, Marek Rodak saved well but Alexandre Lacazette was first to the rebound to score from two yards. Life is hard enough in this league and relegation-threatened teams are nothing if not defensively solid. Parker’s side are anything but. Having endured a troublesome first half, but at least being just the goal down, they effectively conceded the match straight after the restart.
In the 48th minute, Willian swung in a corner and Michael Hector just looked on as Gabriel rose to head it home. Then, in the 56th minute, there was a carbon copy of the goal they scored against Liverpool in the Community Shield. Willian — again — provided the cross-field pass from right to left to switch play and release Aubameyang.
He preys on right backs for a living. Neco Williams at Wembley and Denis Odoi here, cutting inside and then curling past Rodak.
‘People realise it’s a massive jump and we’ve seen that today,’ said Parker. ‘So for us to evolve and develop, we need to bring players into this team which are going to improve us and make us better. We have brought in players who can do that but the people in the background are doing what they can to help us and the team and make us stronger.’
Fulham are in danger of mimicking Norwich: they will play nicely, win plaudits and lose games. Parker left Aleksandar Mitrovic on the bench until the 63rd minute, citing the rigours of international duty with Serbia.
Yet it left Fulham neutered up front. They did create crosses but they all went to waste without him. By the time he did come on, the game was long gone. Still, Lionel Messi would struggle to save Fulham when they defend like this.
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Rodak 7; Odoi 5, Hector 4, Ream, 4, Bryan 5.5; Reed 5, Cairney 5; Kebano 5.5 (Anguissa 63min, 5) Onomah 5 (Decordova-Reid 76, 6), Cavaleiro 5; Kamara 5 (Mitrovic 63, 5.5). Booked: Hector, Cairney. Subs (not used): Areola, Knockaert, Le Marchand. Christie. arSenal (3-4-3): Leno 6; Holding 7, Gabriel 8.5, Tierney 7; Bellerin 6.5, Elneny 7, Xhaka 7 (Ceballos 79, 6), MaitlandNiles 6.5; Willian 9 (Pepe 76, 7) Lacazette 7.5 (Nketiah 85) Aubameyang 8. Booked: Bellerin, Aubameyang. Subs (not used): Macey, Saka, Willock, Kolasinac. referee: C Kavanagh 7.