Relentless Arsenal roll on
As Arsenal guaranteed they would be five points clear at Christmas with a win over Wolves, Mikel Arteta was a man curiously filled with regret. "When a team is in that moment, you want to carry on playing obviously," the Spaniard said. "But it is not possible."
The fears that Arsenal's runaway start to the season may be thrown off track by the abrupt halt of the World Cup break were genuine. It's no secret that when a team is winning, all they want to do is play more, but the Gunners would have to wait six weeks to do so.
Would this be the blow to their momentum that would finally see them fall away as title contenders like everyone expected? Not on your life.
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Mykhaylo Mudryk bid, Arsene Wenger return and Nketiah's display
As Arsenal returned to the Emirates Stadium on Monday night it was as if nothing had changed. The Gunners set up, as they always do these days, with the intention of attacking their opponents in a 2-3-5 formation. Various players had to rotate and shift into various different positions at time but the fundamentals remained the same throughout. In the 2022/23 season, come rain or shine, Arsenal play football their way no matter who the opposition is.
It was perhaps this steadfast belief that served them well when somehow they found themselves behind. A soft penalty for minimal contact by William Saliba on Jarrod Bowen, might have been enough to spook previous Arsenal vintages, but this group seems to get better with each passing day. Confident in their game plan, the Gunners motored on relentlessly despite the speedbump and eventually suppressed West Ham into submission much to the delight of their watching manager.
"Really happy with the performance first of all and then the result," Arteta said in his post-match press conference. "The context of the game was that they were a goal up after a very single situation that they had attacking an open space where the ref decided to award a pen and then straight you saw the reaction of this crowd generating the belief and giving a lot of energy to the team. I think the team showed great composure. They showed real quality but also a lot of clarity to understand what the game demanded and they executed it really well."
It felt like the kind of incessant attacking displays that title winning teams produce. As Arsenal opened up a seven point lead at the top of the Premier League, who's to say we won't be looking back on this day in May as the beginning of something very special.
Nketiah silences doubters
Aside from the World Cup pause another reason for the slight murmurings of concern in the build up to this match was the absence of Gabriel Jesus. Many have called for Arsenal to look to replace him in the January transfer window with an orthodox number nine, but the club seem intent on using Eddie Nketiah in his absence instead.
Despite his decent record when surrounded by first team players many were still hasn't about the Hale Ender. The fact that he had spurned a couple of decent opportunities in the final preseason friendly in front of fans against Juventus hadn't helped this.
In reality though the question over Nketiah was never whether he could finish. Jesus hadn't exactly been banging them in before his injury, but it was everything else that the Brazilian brings to the team that people were worried about losing.
They needn't have. Nketiah was superb at dropping deep on the night to link play, combining with his teammates via deft tricks and flicks. One of these nearly led to a goal as Bukayo Saka netted inside the first five minutes only to see it disallowed for a marginal offside.
If anything Nketiah was doing too much dropping deep. While his extra presence helped Arsenal control the game there was a bit of a lack of presence in the box in the first half. That changed in the second half, though, and when given the opportunity in the area the England Under-21s international reminded us of what he's instinctively good at with a superb swivel away from Thilo Kehrer and finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
"He needed it," Mikel Arteta told football.london when asked about Nketiah's goal. "Every striker needs it. As well for Eddie and the team I think it’s really important yes."
In reality it is unlikely that every game from Nketiah is going to be this good and Jesus is such a unicorn of a player that even if Nketiah can maintain these levels, the Brazilian's absence will still be felt. However, you can't ask too much more from the academy graduate than he delivered last night. If he keeps up that intensity and intelligence to his play there should be a few Arsenal fans eating yet more Nketiah flavoured humble pie in a couple of months time.
Wenger returns
Watching on was the man who actually gave Nketiah his debut just over four years ago. That may be one of the few direct links Arsene Wenger has on this current Arsenal squad, but his legacy with the club is beyond reproach.
In many ways this was a performance reminiscent of the high points of the late Wenger era. A young Arsenal side spent much of the game camped on the edge of the opposition box trying to walk the ball into the net, only to somehow find themselves behind against the run of play.
The comeback though was befitting of the man watching on. Whatever you think of his defection to an organisation as problematic as FIFA, it was impossible not to have your heart warmed slightly as a roar boomed around the stadium when Wenger was shown celebrating Gabriel Martinelli's goal. Chants of "one Arsene Wenger" followed to solidify a long-awaited reconciliation of a relationship between manager and fanbase that in retrospect became far too toxic.
Key to the return was Arteta, who has been inviting Wenger back for some time now. The two have a special bond having worked closely in Arteta's playing career and the Spaniard spoke effusively of Wenger after the game.
"It was a really special day," Arteta said. "Thank you so much to him for coming. Hopefully walking through the building he’s going to feel everything that everybody thinks of him, the legacy he left here. As well his presence has to be very, very attached to this football club. Also thankyou to him for everything he did at the club."
It had been a long time coming, but some might argue that was for the best. Most Manchester United fans would tell you that the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson at David Moyes' early matches at Old Trafford proved to be more of a dark cloud than a ray of light. If Wenger had been their gazing eerily over Unai Emery's early attempts to succeed him it's hard not to imagine the effect wouldn't have been similar.
Now though the club is in a far better place and it's one of his former lieutenants who has put it there. Arteta is keen to draw on the legacy of Arsenal's great history when it comes to building the club back to its former heights. Having a living embodiment of the Gunners glorious past in attendance feels like it could well be a prelude to a potentially glorious future.
Mudryk bid tabled
It probably says something about the unhealthy modern obsession with transfers that arguably the main story of Monday night came before a ball had even been kicked. football.london understands that Arsenal submitted a first official bid for Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk which is thought to total around £55million with add-ons.
Looking at their bench last night it's safe to say that Arsenal could use a little depth up top. Injuries to Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson have left them short, and were it not for a magnificent moment of Martin Odegaard magic to set up Bukayo Saka, they could have well have been turning to 17-year-old Amario Cozier-Duberry to help break down the stubborn West Ham rearguard.
Mudryk solves that instantly. He is a player who clearly wants the move having stated his admiration for Arsenal several times before and posting on his Instagram that he was watching the West Ham game unfold. Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta admitted that he hoped he had put on a good show for the Ukrainian, but gave his stock answer when it comes to transfer rumours.
"You know that I never speak about players who are not with us," the Spaniard said. "I understand that you have to ask me the question. We said that we will try and find ways to strengthen the team [if] we find the right players and that’s what I can say."
It is thought that this first bid will not be enough to convince Shakhtar to sell. The Ukrainian side are particularly cash-strapped after losing so many of their star players for free after the Russian invasion earlier this year, so if Arsenal wanted to test their nerve, they could allow negotiations to roll on.
The Gunners though want this deal done quickly. With crucial games against Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester United to come next month, there is little time to waste and with Manchester City hot on their tails, each point is vital. Mudryk feels like the kind of signing that would give Arsenal enough strength to compete on multiple fronts but there is still a little way to go before he comes to north London just yet.
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