I don't take too much from this match. I don't blame fatigue or really even poor individual player performances. I think it was down to poor tactics and set up. Like an NFL team determined to run the ball right up the middle against a defense that is stacking the box. I don't think Eze, Martinelli or really Gyokeres were the right options for a low block (would have liked Odegaard, Trossard and Merino, if all fit). Then as soon as Wolves opened things up after going down, Arteta switched to the prevent defense and let them back in. Same thing happened after going up 2-1 at Sunderland. I just think the issues from this match are very fixable and the next few matches will be very different. So while it was extremely annoying to watch, I don't think it means this team is doomed or fatally flawed.
release the ball, manOne of the reasons Gyokores is suffering in that Arsenal team.For people like me that ain’t G/A merchants, we could clearly see Wolves players started stepping out when Gyokores was substituted.Gyokores will keep making those runs, he will keep pressing, but ball-romance… pic.twitter.com/DVxtIMvVrj— TobyWrites (@tobyasky) December 14, 2025 Hope Rice also looks at himself, tbh just watch rice. pic.twitter.com/labzpTC8eb— munii🧃 (@m1nuyln2) December 14, 2025 Declan Rice was visibly pissed off after the final whistle last night... Now come to the next game with same anger. pic.twitter.com/tpd3JPhgD5— Sxnti (@PeakSxnti) December 14, 2025
Nah he's right. That was shit, and someone needs to be pissed on the pitch. These are not the efugging standards!
The worry is more about the inability to create chances against a bad packed defense, I think. Some of that is down to Gyokeres being completely useless.
I agree that's the primary worry. But a close second for me is how easy teams have been able to make that pass through the heart of our midfield to players in good attacking positions. Villa were able to several times and even Wolves were able to during that bizarre "sit back" spell after our first.
Or, the Sesko pursuit was opportunistic coming at a time when he had twelve months left on his deal, and after he decided to sign a new contract we moved on because he would then be too big a risk at the higher price it would take to pry him loose. It’s all speculation. We have no idea how much Arteta was in on Sesko.
My guess is that Arteta's top choices were Isak and Watkins. Considering how Isak has flopped at Liverpool while costing significantly more and how Watkins numbers have fallen off a cliff this season as he approaches his 30th bday, it's not like listening to Mikel would have been better. I don't think that absolves Berta if Gyokeres continues to look as bad as he has so far.
Agreed on the latter. If Arsenal had made him our main target, I imagine he would have been happy to join.
This x1000. Odegaard does not play the same way he played a few years ago. Quick passes, creative through balls and chips over the top. Now, the ball just seems glued to his foot until the opposition's defense is set.
Plus, if Gyokeres is Berta's pick, it points to a disconnect between he and Arteta. Gyokeres is not Arteta's style of striker. I had hopes that Arteta picking Gyokeres was indicating a shift in tactics to being more direct. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.
I always thought Gyokeres was just a different option and that Havertz would continue to be 1st choice
That was my hunch also. Especially the doomed sit-back stance at the end of 2T. I assumed that was Mikel‘s direction, but oddly, in the post match comments I heard from him, he didn’t own that… In fact, he kind of put it on the players? I found that puzzling
Another thing I heard Mikel say recently was that he thinks winning the league this year will take around 90 points. So right now we are on pace for 85 points. Hmm…
If that were the case, he would've been on the touchline gesticulating for the team to press up. I didn't see him do that.
Yeah, I don't think for a second Arteta was fine with the sit back stance we took right before the equalizer---even before I heard his post-match comments.
Not here to defend Odegaard....bbbbuttt is it possible that Odegaard did not release the ball because he knows Gyokeres is slow as shit?. he took the second option....still a decent
We do have an idea. Arteta tried to get him last January. Arteta tried to get him in the summer. Gyokeres was Berta's idea.
Possibly, but I doubt that Gyokeres was told he was going to be Havertz back up. Just my guess. I think at best, Arteta said, my first choice striker is whoever is in form.
Not sure if you’re both agreeing or disagreeing with each other. Are you saying that Mikel didn’t want us to sit back, yet he stood on the sideline passively, watching it happen?
Whats annoying about Odegaard burning Gyokeres in that twitter clip is if you watch Odegaard for Norway he plays that ball to Haaland. But for Arsenal every time he looks up and plays it wide. That screams tactical choice, not player choice. Early in preseason we had at times set up with a front 3 and Ode way more central meaning if a ball up the middle was on he could play it. But this season we are very much back to our Arteta front 5, where Rice is L8 and Ode is R8 and no one plays it centrally. Arteta struggles badly with low blocks and Wolves exposed it and we need to adjust.
Exactly. Obviously a number of clubs were interested to get him, but price and timing matter, not to mention the counter parties. The fact that he was available in January when his star was still high and we had an injury crisis does not mean Arteta was still high on him and willing to get into a bidding war with Newcastle and Utd over him in the summer. All evidence points to the opposite conclusion.
I'm saying that if Arteta didn't want everyone to sit back and, instead, push up, he would have been going wild on the side line. I didn't see that happen.
He didn't stand on the sideline passively watching it happen. The Athletic this morning did a break down of those 7 minutes or so when Wolves were stringing passes together, which I'd link it but it's behind a paywall. It notes that Arteta was visibly frustrated throughout that period and was yelling at the players to press man to man higher.