Arsenal find a cure for the Thursday/Sunday hangover
Arsenal have faced up to many tests this season and they've generally passed them with flying colours. Bouncing back from a devastating defeat to title rivals? No problem. Winning games from behind in the dying seconds of matches? Check. Going four months without your best centre forward? Completed it mate. Their trip to Craven Cottage to play Fulham represented a new challenge though.
The history of the Premier League is littered with corpses of promising seasons bogged down the Thursday/Sunday quagmire that comes with playing in the Europa League. Last time Arsenal were in it in the 2020/21 season they managed just six wins from 14 matches directly after clashes in Europe's second tier competition. Even this year's much improved vintage laboured to a slim victory over Leeds and a disappointing draw with relegation-bound Southampton after games against Bodo/Glimt and PSV. The Thursday/Sunday hangover is real.
This time though the Gunners necked some metaphorical Bloody Marys, went for a brisk walk and turned up in west London ready to play some of their best football of season. Admittedly it took 15 or so minutes to dust of some of the cobwebs from the return journey from Lisbon, but once they got going they were simply unstoppable.
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Antonee Robinson was saved the embarrassment of an early own goal after Gabriel Martinelli's had proved to hot for Bernd Leno to handle, but Fulham's blushes could not be spared for long. Gabriel rose highest from a Nicolas-Jover inspired corner before Martinelli followed the example of his compatriot to nod home Leandro Trossard's cross inside the six yard box.
In front of the watching Riverside stand, the Gunners produced moves that flowed like the Thames to cut through the Fulham backline at will. The standout was undoubtedly one that found Granit Xhaka one-vs-one with Leno in the box. Had it been finished off then the goal would have certainly rivalled Jack Wilshere for the 'the problem with Arsenal is they always try and walk it in' crown, but sadly the Swiss international's touch let him down at the last moment.
Right on the stroke of half time the game was wrapped up when Martin Odegaard finished off another silky move with a finish that had shades of Mesut Ozil in its composure. With three points secured and a banana skin avoided, the watching Mikel Arteta could only marvel at his side's relentlessness.
"It’s really tough when you play every three days, travel to Europe and come back and see the energy, quality, understanding, the willingness to go there again and be really dominant," he said in his post-match press conference. "It was really impressive."
After drama of Bournemouth and the lunacy of Lisbon it was nice for Arsenal to cruise to victory on the river. Many would have viewed this as a game where the Gunners were liable to drop points, but yet again they have aced a daunting test with top marks.
Terrific Trossard
As the team news came through ahead of Sunday's match the big news was of course the comeback of Gabriel Jesus, and we'll get on to that later. There is a decent argument to be made though that the even more important return to the squad was that of Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian was supposed to be out until around the international break, but courtesy of the work of the Arsenal physio team and medical staff he was able to make the starting XI just eight days after limping off against Bournemouth with a groin injury. His return could not have been more welcome.
It's no secret that Arsenal wanted Mykhailo Mudryk in January, and while the Ukrainian may be a rising star, Trossard is simply on another planet. His orbit is anywhere along the front line and wherever he goes he has the force to pull defenders out of position with him.
This is such a contrast to a few weeks ago when Arsenal were playing to a rigid classical beat with Eddie Nketiah up top. Now with Trossard in the side it's pure jazz. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, who were previously shackled to the wings by the static nature of the Gunners attack, are now free to roam where they please, and it is a nightmare for oppositions to defend. The Belgian gets the needs of his teammates, and with three assists at Craven Cottage it's safe to say he's bringing the best out of them.
The rapidity of this understanding is pretty rare though if you look across other signings in the league. Without wishing to pick on Mudryk, the Ukrainian doesn't seem to understand where he fits in the Chelsea side yet, while Manchester City are still trying to get to grips with how to adapt their game to the playing style of Erling Haaland. Trossard though has had no such issues.
"It’s football intelligence," said Mikel Arteta when explaining the Belgian's speedy adaptation. "He’s really clever to understand straight away what we want, what’s required. He’s executed it really well."
This isn't to put the boot into Nketiah, without whose goals Arsenal would not be five points clear at the top of the Premier League. But just as the Gunners attack looked like it was on the verge of a terminal decline, it's Trossard who has brought it back to life.
Jesus returns in time for Easter
Arsenal didn't exactly need any miracles when it came, but the return of Gabriel Jesus was something they had been praying for for a long time. When you consider the influence he had on the side, the Gunners ability to soldier on without their number nine has been nothing short of biblical.
Prior to the World Cup the Brazilian had started every Premier League game up top and could genuinely have been argued to be the best player in the division. In his absence though, via a huge collective effort, the Gunners have ensured that the five point gap at top of the table that Jesus left upon his injury is perfectly in tact for his rebirth.
That's not to say they haven't missed him though. Arguably the biggest cheer of the game from the away end at Craven Cottage came as the Brazilian entered the fray. Everybody loves a good comeback story, and Jesus' own narrative arc this week seems as though it could have been taken straight from the script of a Creed movie.
"He said to me a few days ago ‘I’m still missing something’," Mikel Arteta revealed after the game. "Yesterday I looked in his eyes and he said ‘I’m ready’. I said ‘OK!’ So then we had the opportunity to throw him in."
There are some who argue that with the form of the rest of the attack, Jesus isn't necessarily guaranteed his starting spot straight back. "He has to earn his place like in any other team," Arteta told football.london of his impending selection headache. "We have alternatives who can play in different positions and we have different goals as well to fill in relation to the chemistry of the players and what we ask them to do. It’s a great problem to have, believe me."
Many of the problems that existed during Jesus' run in the side were still present upon his return. In the course of his cameo the Brazilian could and probably should have scored a memorable comeback goal after being played through by Fabio Vieira, but instead fired straight at Bernd Leno.
To focus purely on that though is to ignore the transformative impact Jesus has had on this side. Much like how Denis Bergkamp raised the standards of an ailing Arsenal side in 1995, Jesus is arguably the man responsible for the culture of relentlessness that has allowed the Gunners to maintain their momentum at the top of the league. His return is a massive boost and as Arsenal enter the home stretch of the season, it couldn't have come at a much better time.
Arsenal doing what they love
By not conceding at Fulham Arsenal made history in several departments. The Gunners became the first team in history to secure five consecutive away victories with clean sheets in London derbies. With their ninth away shutout of the season they have also surpassed the record of the Invincibles with 11 games to spare, and equally the club's best ever Premier League season for clean sheets on the road (1993/94 as per Opta).
This is of course a collective effort. But if there were two players who symbolised why Arsenal have been so defensively consistent on the road this season, it was Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel.
With a three goal lead at half time the Gunners could have been forgiven for cruising a little, but these two were determined not to let that happen. When Bobby Decordova-Reid managed to get in behind with a quick free kick, almost immediately after making the save, Ramsdale raced out to Martin Odegaard on the edge of the box to lambast him for not standing in front of the ball and preventing that whole situation.
Gabriel was able to match that energy. Granit Xhaka is probably the most intimidating player in this Arsenal side, but the Brazilian had no qualms with screaming furiously at him for not closing down high enough up the pitch on a rare occasion where Fulham were able to cause problems in the second half. That intensity did not let up the whole match as Gabriel produced a celebration for a 91st minute tackle in the box that was arguably even more vociferous than the one that greeted his first half goal. A reminder again, that at this point, it was 3-0 to Arsenal!
"A lot," said Mikel Arteta when asked how much enjoyed seeing his players like that. "It’s that love for defending that 11 players have to be committed too for 96 minutes. I saw that again today. It’s going to be crucial if we want to keep winning games."
Plaudits have gone to the Gunners' attacking players all season, but it's pointless having all the decorations on the front of the house if the back door is hanging wide open. Arsenal's title challenge is certainly built on solid foundations this season and it's their relentless intensity that has formed it.
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