Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest: Odegaard key as Gunners return to winning ways

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

How nice it is to write about three points in the Premier League again. Yes, there have been a couple of Interlulls, but you had to go back to October 5th for our previous win – the 3-1 victory over Southampton.

Mikel Arteta’s team contained a couple of surprises. There was a rare start for Jorginho, with Declan Rice and Thomas Partey on the bench, while the forward line of Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus was far from our usual/strongest. We began well though, and it looked as if we’d scored an early goal through Jurrien Timber, but it was ruled out for offside.

I can’t say for sure if it was, or wasn’t. VAR took an age, and eventually decided it was, but who knows really? A blur of boots and body-parts made it very hard to tell. I also have no idea how the linesman decided to put his flag up given how tight it was, but it showed some early intent from Arsenal.

It didn’t take long to actually go ahead though. With Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka combining well on the right, it was no surprise those two were involved. A nice give and go saw Saka take the ball on, look for an angle for a shot, and despite it appearing as if he might be going too far, he rocketed a shot beyond Mats Sels and into the back of the net. A superb finish from a player we well know is capable of that.

I thought we played some nice stuff in the first half. Intricate one-touch combinations which spoke to a confidence that has perhaps not always been present this season. Odegaard had a chance but couldn’t quite make good enough contact with his right foot; Saka forced Sels into an excellent save with a first time shot from a Jesus lay-off; the keeper made a good save again to deny Trossard; and by the end of the first 45 we’d had 11 shots to Forest’s 2, and dominated possession and territory.

There was a half-time change, with Partey replacing Jorginho who had been booked in the first half. I thought he was playing pretty well, so it’s a bit unfortunate, but given how soft all the bookings were in that first half, I understand why Arteta was taking no chances. We’ve done the 10 men thing enough this season already. It was a substitution that paid off too. Partey doubled the lead with an excellent whipped finish from outside the box, and that gave us breathing space.

There’s been so much discussion of Martin Odegaard in the last few weeks, and while it’s obvious what he brings to the team in terms of creativity, I think yesterday we saw another reason why he’s so important. His game intelligence, his ability to control and dictate the tempo of the game is second to none. He can hurt the opposition in the final third, he can move them around and force them backwards when he drops deep to pick up possession in our half. His heat-map is instructive.

Forest had a couple of forays forward in the second half, but barely threatened and could not build any attacking momentum – in large part because of how we controlled the pace of the game. The captain was key to that, and afterwards, Arteta said:

Obviously, when he’s in the team, you can sense something is different. It is difficult to put a finger on it but it’s different.

He gives the team, and those around him, a sense of security when we have possession, and unsettles the opposition with the sense of possibility when he’s probing their back-line for weaknesses. I thought he was excellent yesterday, even if it was the young man who replaced him late on who caught the eye.

A cameo that leaves you wanting more has been a feature of Ethan Nwaneri’s season so far. He came on for Odegaard and immediately posed Forest a threat, curling a shot not too far wide. It wasn’t long before he got his first ever Premier League goal, combining with fellow sub Raheem Sterling before finishing smartly inside the near post to make it 3-0. It might have been his first goal in the league, but it’s his fourth senior goal of the season after three in the EFL Cup, and with a total playing time of just 230 minutes, that’s a remarkable return.

Understandably, Arteta was asked about him afterwards, and the clamour that exists to see more of such an exciting young player. I thought his answer was really interesting, saying:

I am responsible to build a career for him. You have to do that brick by brick. Today he put another brick. Now we have to put another cement, make sure it doesn’t get dry so we can put another one and that will stick.

Then we put one more layer, one more layer. If you want to put five in a row believe me it won’t work. We have to manage not only his expectation but his load as well, which is really important.

Like everyone reading this morning, I can’t wait to see more from Nwaneri, but I think if you read between the lines, there’s probably good reason for just a little caution. For me, it’s not about his talent, his potential, his ability, his mentality – we’ve already seen all of that is there. He ticks all those boxes already. What I think Arteta is referring to is something physical, where the information available to him that’s not available to us is what is informing his decision making.

How many times have we seen a young player burst through at a very early age, and suffer the consequences later in their career? Are there some growing pains for a young man who doesn’t turn 18 until March to deal with? I do think there are games he could have featured more in when Odegaard was absent, but I have to accept that my external view lacks the detail of the manager and his coaching staff.

I think what is clear is that he is someone we’re going to see more and more of as the season goes on, and that’s an exciting prospect. In all competitions he is our third highest scorer so far, and his ability to cause threat – even when he’s on the pitch for a short amount of time – might well see him find an important role as a game changing sub throughout this campaign. Until such time as he becomes a starter, at which point, I don’t think there’ll be any looking back.

Overall, the manager was pleased, and explained why he felt his team were more accomplished yesterday:

There was something else that was different. What happened is that instead of with 12 or 13 players, we trained with 19 for the first time in six weeks. Suddenly you are like, wow, competitiveness, the level, the quality, the understanding, the competition, everything rises and that’s why we need every single day to train at that level.

That’s down to the availability of a lot of players that haven’t been able to do that. When that happens the level will rise for sure.

You could see with some of the subs that he was making sure not to overload players who have been out, and even leaving Havertz and Martinelli on the bench throughout felt like something of a luxury when you consider what we’ve had to deal with. All in all, it was just what the doctor ordered. Three points, three goals, a clean sheet, and a controlled, convincing performance. A confidence boost ahead of two away games this week, with a trip to Portugal up next.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now. The Arsecast Extra was originally scheduled for this evening, but it’ll be out tomorrow as usual, so please join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Sunday.

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