3 things we learned from Arsenal’s 5th consecutive Premier League victory

Arsenal rallied to beat Watford 2-0 at the Emirates to register their 7th straight win in all competitions. The game represented the Gunners’ 4th home assignment in 10 days, and they made full use of the home advantage, coming up with the triumph.

Arsenal now find themselves in 5th, level on points with bitter rivals, Tottenham and on the verge of breaking into the Champions League spots.

The game had an ebb and flow to it right from the start with the first golden opportunity falling to Lacazette, who fluffed his lines by firing his attempted ‘dink’ wide. Watford gradually got into the game and took the game to the home team. The Hornets’ performance was miles better than the away displays they produced towards the end of last season.

As the game entered its final quarter, the match became stretched with both teams spurning glorious chances to move ahead. However, Watford were left to rue their missed opportunities after Cathcart’s own goal put the Gunners ahead. A couple of minutes later, Ozil buried a low finish to add some gloss to the scoreline.

The performance was far from a vintage one by the Gunners, and they would count themselves fortunate to end up with all three points. While the victory would serve as another shot in the arm for Emery, he would undoubtedly want his troops to improve.

Through this article, we would look at the three things that we learnt from the Gunners’ 5th consecutive victory.

#3 Torreira adds a lot of bite to the midfield

Torreira was a fiery presence in midfield

Lucas Torreira started his second league game for the Gunners against Watford and did exactly what he was asked to do. He broke up play excellently and sprung the Gunners into action on numerous occasions.

Torreira looked composed on the ball and was efficient rather than extravagant. However, with Arsenal’s other midfielders having an eye for the extravagant, a relatively simpler user of the ball like Torreira complements the midfield superbly.

Additionally, Lucas brought a lot of bite and steel to the midfield. Playing against Deeney, who had infamously accused Arsenal of lacking steel, he was like a terrier in the middle of the park, biting into challenges and not giving the opposition midfielders a moment’s peace.

Partnering Torreira in midfield was Xhaka. With the security of Torreira alongside, Xhaka was able to use his extravagant passing range more effectively. Though he was rarely accorded the time and space to pick out his teammates, he was much better than the games gone by. Moving forward, the Xhaka and Torreira partnership has a lot of potential and one Emery should invest in.

With two league games under his belt, Torreira looks like the midfielder Arsenal have been crying out for. The Gooners would hope that he can remain fit and help spearhead their charge for the Champions League places.

#2 Leno is an able replacement for Cech

Leno enjoyed a sound debut

The only casualty of the first half was Arsenal skipper, Petr Cech. The Czech international pulled his hamstring while kicking the ball, which left the door open for Leno to make his bow in the league.

Leno’s first meaningful touch of the ball resulted in him kicking it out of play, trying to play a lofted pass to Monreal. However, he quickly got his act together and made a stunning save moments later to deny Deeney. Late in the game, he made a couple of decent saves. A save when eyeball to eyeball with Gray was the pick of the lot.

Apart from a shaky moment under a high ball, Leno looked established and provided a little relief when playing out from the back. With Emery seeming intent on playing out from the back, Leno has the opportunity to make the goalkeeping spot his own.

If he can come up with similar performances, one can expect him to dethrone Cech as the Arsenal No.1 very quickly.

#1 Ramsey and Ozil can’t work together

Can the duo work well together?

Unai Emery again started Ozil on the right with Ramsey deployed in the No.10 role. Ramsey was ineffective throughout his tenure on the pitch and was deservedly replaced by Iwobi.

Ozil, on the other hand, enjoyed a similarly anonymous outing for the opening hour. Ozil though was much more fortunate to have stayed on the pitch. After the introduction of Iwobi, Ozil was a man reborn and he grabbed himself a goal after a sweeping Gunners move. The final half an hour again signalled that the duo of Ramsey and Ozil could not start in the same eleven in Emery’s current system.

Ramsey has made a living by making runs from deep and catching the opposition off guard. However, with Emery’s full-backs playing high up the pitch, Ramsey can’t be trusted to be one of the holding midfielders. The other downside to both of them playing is the fact that Ozil is shunted out wide.

Ozil’s defensive work has never been his biggest asset and hence asking him to suddenly track the opposition full-backs asks a lot of him. Thus, the best possible solution would be to play Ozil in the No.10 role.

With Ozil playing as a No.10, a case could be made for Ramsey playing on the right. However, Ramsey has played his entire career centrally and his tendency to drift inside will leave the attacking trident awfully imbalanced.

While the duo is superb technically, the pair’s defensive contributions and lack of versatility make the decision to play them together highly difficult. The sooner Emery can address the issue, the quicker he will have the team playing to its full potential.