Following Arsenal’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of PSG on Wednesday, manager Mikel Arteta sent a defiant message.
Despite the 3-1 aggregate loss against the Parisians, the Spaniard declared that the Gunners had been the best team in the tournament.
It’s easy to feel some sympathy with the Arsenal boss. His side had produced a match of impressive intensity at Parc des Princes and, had they scored in a blistering opening 15-minute salvo, they may well have gone on to produce a memorable turnaround.
Rather than vintage Barcelona or Manchester City, Arteta summoned the spirit of Tony Pulis’ Stoke City. Not since the 2008/09 season, when Rory Delap was hurling the ball in from the touchline has a top-level football game seen so many long throws.
Ironically, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger complained following a 2-1 loss at the Britannia Stadium: “It’s a little bit of an unfair advantage.”
Arsenal seek to impose their advantages on PSG
PSG had to face a barrage from Arsenal at the Parc des Princes, with the early stages of the match, in particular, a rain of deliveries into the home box.
Notorious fragile from set-pieces, the hosts stood up to the examination in part thanks to the excellence of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made a particularly remarkable save from Martin Odegaard.
If Arsenal’s approach lacked subtlety, it did at least show that Arteta is willing to adapt his tactics to certain situations and should be seen as a sign of strength rather than weakness.
With a depleted squad, going toe-to-toe with a technically excellent PSG side would likely have resulted in defeat.
At least by outmatching their opponents physically and in terms of their intensity, they gave themselves a fighting chance against the odds.
What next for Arteta?
Now with the dust settling on the season, the aim is to learn and improve for next time around.
To a certain extent, part of Arteta’s job is done. He will have a strong squad next season when the Champions League knockout rounds roll around. It’s simply impossible that they will be hit by injury problems as serious as they have been this term.
But smart work needs to be accomplished in the transfer market, too.
That a new striker is required is a given, so too is the presence of a fresh midfielder. Arsenal will no doubt have a surprise or two up his sleeve as well.
After all, Arteta is a manager whose DNA isn’t Pulis: it’s Guardiola. He wants to play slick football but has been pressed by circumstances into adopting a more pragmatic approach. It’s smart management, but what he needs now more than anything is winning management.
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