It was not pretty, but Arsenal got the job done against Tottenham to ensure they did not lose any more early ground in the Premier League title race.
Gabriel scored their winner, from yet another set-piece, but it was the Gunners’ defensive determination and organisation that really impressed their former forward Theo Walcott, who was watching the game for Match of the Day 2.
Arsenal had an average of only 36.3% of possession over the 90 minutes, but that fell from 38.1% before they scored in the 64th minute, to only 32.2% after they went 1-0 up.
“It really doesn’t matter how they got it – it was great result for Arsenal,” Walcott said.
“They showed again that they can mix it up, because they played almost like a Jose Mourinho side to see the game out.”
‘Defending down to detail in training’
Arsenal’s victory was even more impressive considering they were without key midfelders Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, who were absent through injury and suspension.
Jorginho, making his first appearance of the season, replaced Rice and partnered Thomas Partey at the base of their midfield.
Leandro Trossard, starting instead of Odegaard, operated further forward but also had plenty of defensive responsibilities in a formation that started as a 4-3-3 but was more often a 4-4-2 when Spurs were on the ball.
While Mikel Arteta’s side were not at their best as an attacking force, they were able to shut out Spurs in the second half – particularly after Gabriel had headed home Bukayo Saka’s corner.
“As a team performance, probably the best comparison I can think of would be when Arsenal drew 0-0 at Manchester City last season,” Walcott said.
“People wanted Arsenal to be more adventurous then, but they played with a system to get that result.
“It was exactly the same here, even though they had some important personnel out, they are so well drilled and structured that they showed it doesn’t really matter who plays, because they are all drilled the same way defensively.
“That comes down to the work they do on the training ground. I was lucky enough to watch them in pre-season and the amount of coaching staff who are involved in each session is incredible.
“It makes the players’ lives so much easier when there is that level of detail, with coaches that are literally there for each individual player.
“As a squad, they are getting the same message drilled into them on a daily basis, so I am not surprised anymore when they can grind out a result like this one.”
‘Like trying to play through a brick wall’
Tottenham fired a stream of balls into the Arsenal box in the closing stages, but notably failed to create a clear-cut chance.
By the end it felt like they had run out of ideas, if not steam, as they tried and failed to find any gaps in the Gunners’ back-line.
“This win was down to a team performance, with each Arsenal player taking responsibility of where they needed to be,” Walcott added.
“I felt like Spurs went away from their usual game, which surprised me – the way Ange Postecoglou usually plays football is incredible, but I didn’t really see that from them.
“Maybe he thought he would try something different too, but it did not quite work. They put in a lot of crosses but because this Arsenal team are so well drilled, it just fed into what they are good at.
“It must have felt like they were trying to play their way through a brick wall in the second half because, whatever they tried, Gabriel and William Saliba were ready to clear it away.
“It was like watching Mourinho’s Chelsea side, and I used to hate playing against them.
“They were so well structured, with the likes of John Terry, Alex or Branislav Ivanovic, who were all incredible units in that back-line, and would organise everything.
“It would not look pretty, but they would just get results and would then end up winning the league.
“As a forward playing against them, it felt like there was only so much you could do. I would do my job by putting the ball into space but when everything you try has been denied, denied and denied again then, as a team, you start thinking ‘we are never going to score today’.”
‘Repetition the key for set-piece success’
While Arsenal were still solid without Rice at the heart of their midfield, they did miss Odegaard’s creative nous and calmness on the ball.
“It’s hard to compare him and Trossard, because they are very different players,” Walcott explained.
“Trossard, for me, is probably the best finisher at the club – but Odegaard is the conductor, the one who gets everything working and gets everyone in the team working at their best level. He even starts the defensive press.
“Ethan Nwaneri, who came on late in the second half, has some similarities as a player but at 17 he is still very young and still developing and learning.
“In time he could be the one who takes Odegaard’s role when he is not available but, whoever comes in, it is going to be hard to replace him.
“At the moment I feel like they have to play differently when he is not in the team, but we saw on Sunday that it can work.”
It certainly helps that Arsenal always pose such a threat from set-pieces, which have brought them more goals (23) than any other Premier League team since the start of last season.
“Again, that’s why these coaches have been brought into these clubs,” Walcott said. “But the key is the time they spend on these situations, every single day.
“When I was playing it was just the day before the game when you would work on set-pieces, but Arsenal do it all week. When I watched them in pre-season, they were even doing it then. They are so important, they started this process in the summer, rather than just getting the players fit.
“Their thinking is that this is where the difference will be in certain games and when you have players of the stature of Gabriel and Saliba, then of course you want to use them. It was the same with Mourinho’s teams too – Terry would always pose a huge threat.
“You hear strikers like Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney talk about the time they spent focusing on their finishing every day after training, so it became like second nature to them. That kind repetition works with practicing set-pieces too, and this is Arsenal’s reward.”