🎯 The main takeaway: Arsenal’s depth shows it’s value
Arsenal made five changes from the team that drew against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Normally I’d feel pretty concerned at that level of rotation for what could have or should have been a tough test in the Premier League but Arsenal’s depth really shown brightly here.
Arsenal changed both full backs, made a change in midfield, and had two changes (less so but still no Saka) in the attacking band. That is the level of change that can cause a disruption but instead we say an Arsenal team that looked fresh and ready for the challenge.
Arsenal have not been the quickest starters this season, before this match Arsenal had not scored in the opening 10 minutes and had just a single goal in the opening 20 minutes of matches. Here they started with intent taking 4 shots in the opening 10 minutes and finally breaking the seal with an early goal and a corner.
After the goal, Everton had a spell of possession but Arsenal were able to wrestle it back and then just about never let it go all game long. They had a number of decent looks where they had the sights on the goal but it took until later in the second half where the other half of the center back pairing got on the score sheet.
After what has been a tough week where Arsenal played three times in the span of 6 days, they played a dominate game start to finish. Arsenal have built a deep squad exactly for these situations and it paid dividends here.
Friend of the newsletter Giant Gooner posted this meme on bluesky and I think it nailed some of the feelings when this lineup was posted:
We all want rotation until we see our favorites dropped from the squad and then we become trusted 11 truthers. I think that all of the players that rotated in played quite well and Arsenal put together one of the best overall matches of the season, hopefully this gives some grace when the next big rotation match comes up.
This win also saw the team move into a tie at the top of the table, taking advantage of Manchester City losing away at Aston Villa.
It was a good start to the weekend.
📈 The positives:
SET PLAY FC IS BACK!!!
