Toronto's Ali K
Read Alan Alger's regular column, The Last Word after Arsenal matches.
Here's his take on the Gunners 4-2 victory over Dundalk on Thursday evening as Mikel Arteta's side progress in the Europa League.
..........
Arsenal’s progression into the Europa League’s last 32 puts an interesting dilemma at the feet of boss Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard has now seen his fringe and younger squad players coast through a group stage, albeit against poor opposition, with the only 100 per cent record across the two major continental competitions.
Our Europa League teams have been expressive, attacking and I think I even saw smiles on their faces during the game at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The moment of the match for me wasn’t Mohammed Elneny’s wonder strike into the top corner, it was the humble thank you from Folarin Balogun to Pepe.
The assist for Balogun’s second-goal was a part of the game we haven’t seen enough from our record signing.
Spotlight on Pepe
Pepe’s three recent Europa League games, while he sits it out in the Premier League, have almost been his whole Arsenal career wrapped up into 270 minutes.
We’ve seen a good strike, a couple of good assists and we’ve also seen him able to deliver the occasional set-piece.
But the bad side of his game has also been there with the aimless runs, mishit shots and corners. He’s a risk-taking player though, and offers that something different we don’t see elsewhere in our squad.
The assist for our fourth against Dundalk could possibly lead to an argument that he should be used centrally in behind a striker, also posing a direct threat to centre-backs rather than wing-backs who are clued up on his game.
The best way to make up for his dismissal at Leeds is to come right back in to the league squad next midweek against Southampton and take his opportunity – which will most likely come from the bench in the second half.
Victory over Dundalk assessed
A 4-2 win against Dundalk can hardly be the turning point of a season, the Irish Cup winners would probably struggle to survive in the Championship on performance ratings.
But what it does show is that players can listen to Arteta and they can play attacking football under him. Of course there were concerns at the back and to concede two goals against that level of team has to pose question marks.
Fingers could be pointed at our new signing between the sticks Runar Runarsson who, if not at fault for the second goal, was definitely questionable for Dundalk’s first.
Arteta's dilemma
The dilemma Arteta has is whether to go all in on youth and slowly start to discard the senior players who are either not listening or not capable of making changes to their game.
If a player fits the profile of the masterplan then why not get him in the squad now ahead of a more experienced but stubborn or incapable head.
The way the bottom of the Premier League table looks has actually afforded Arteta a unique free roll of the dice with our youth prospects.
Relegation form in the Premier League...
In any other season our current league form would have us languishing around the bottom three with half an eye on the absolute doomsday scenario of a first relegation for over a century.
You might think that’s dramatic, but it doesn’t take many projections of our current results to see how it could happen.
This season is unique in Premier League terms because we have four teams cut adrift at the bottom who are far, far worse than anybody else.
In my eyes that gives Arteta the opportunity to be bold and go to the board at Arsenal and lay out a long-term vision of finding out more about his younger players.
The fans would have to buy into this by excusing the odd hiccup along the way, but what’s the worst that can happen?
Which Gooners cut the mustard?
We find out which players can cut it in the Premier League while we finish mid-table?
Once you’re not finishing sixth in the table then anywhere else barring the relegation spots is just a small dent in the finances.
Arteta can then use the small amount of money available to plug gaps where youth prospects haven’t flourished or simply don’t exist.
Imagine kicking off next season with a team that have double-digit Premier League appearances under their belts of – Leno – new right back – Gabriel – new centre back – Tierney, Partey, Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles, Pepe, Balogun and Martinelli.
The new right back and centre back could be funded by the sale of Aubameyang and Lacazette, maybe even a host of other players who haven’t cut it this season.
The ‘Bellerin to PSG’ stories must have been agent-created rumours, but someone might pay top-dollar for him?
The way forward
This is a very bold strategy but once buy-in is achieved across the board, players and fans - then who else are we trying to please?
Sacrificing the rest of the Premier League season could be the way to go!
It also seems as if we have players happy and willing to play for us further down the ranks, even that attitude shift might help.
Again, quality of the opposition aside, when’s the last time you saw an Arsenal player take out two opposing midfielders with an early look then swivel as Miguel Azeez did on his debut last night.
Young Guns
Surely only the most fair-weather fans would deny the chance to these young hungry players who already know what it means to play for Arsenal and would be grateful of the opportunity. It might even spark an attitude shift in the senior ranks as they buy-in.
The alternative is a downward spiral in league form that could lead to Arteta’s departure then a new man and new ideas come in and he still has to deal with the same problems. Rinse and repeat, and nobody wants that.
Europa League draw
The Europa League draw on Monday will show us who we take on in mid-February. We can still maintain a decent first choice squad that can attack the Europa League in the new year.
The competition pitches us just nine games away from a Champions League spot. It’s our best chance of achieving that return to the elite.
There are still a handful of teams left in the pot with us that would be favourites over two-legs if we met them, but not strong favourites – and now is the time to gamble.
Whether it’s Arteta’s fault that we have nothing to lose, or the two permanent managers that came before him, or even a mixture of all three and the board.
Now’s the time to be bold!
...............
