Arsenal’s win over Fulham has perhaps given Mikel Arteta more than Diego Simeone secured for his team ahead of crunch European decider
This season has been an emotional rollercoaster, and in these last few weeks, I’ve been finding it hard to enjoy the games – even the wins. But Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Fulham brought more smiles to my face than the club has scored goals since about mid-March.
This game was just so alien to us: such a lead at half-time and in such a dominant, free-flowing manner; there were scenes on the concourse not seen in many years, I’m told. Just for context, the last time the Gunners led a league game at the Emirates Stadium by three goals at the break was the final match of the 2022/23 season at home to Wolves.
It was almost strange how the game against Atletico Madrid had lessened the pressure on Saturday, despite how vital this match still was. Anything other than a win would have been a disaster
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But, exactly how Mikel Arteta described it post-match, they played a game which galvanised the supporters in the stands to create one of the best atmospheres of the season.
“Yeah, I appreciate the behaviour and the energy that they brought to the stadium today, because it made such a difference,” he said. “And when you feel that connection with them, we are much, much better, and I know that it has to come from us.
“It certainly came from us today, but we need to do it somehow, even when the team is not giving it probably the right reasons, because with that, I think it’s very, very, very difficult for the opponents.”
The line-up was part of that. The return of Bukayo Saka to the starting XI, Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield, Riccardo Calafiori amongst the starters and the aggressive nature which the team begun the game created a swell of momentum and belief. Fulham couldn’t hold a candle to them.
And on the performances, Lewis-Skelly… Wow! What an incredible display.
At the end of the game, Arteta and Lewis-Skelly were caught in a lengthy and clearly emotional embrace. I asked Arteta after for his thoughts on that moment and the lead-up to this performance.
“He fully deserves it, I’ve been tough on him, he had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team,” Arteta explained. “He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready.
“He’s been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play, he’s done it, and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance.”
To go from playing week in week out, earning a call-up to the England squad, scoring on your debut at Wembley to suddenly dropping down the pecking order to third choice left-back must be incredibly challenging. Given the chance to start in midfield, it was a moment that he had to grab with both hands, and he did just that.
It now begs the question, firstly, why it has taken so long for him to be given this chance, and secondly, if we could now see him used there in the near future.
“Because probably I don’t have a clue,” Arteta answered when asked that very first aforementioned question. “Maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know.
“But I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready, and the opponent is the right one to play with him in that position.”
From a goals standpoint, both Saka and Viktor Gyokeres are in focus. Two goal contributions for the right winger, three for the Swede.
After his display in Madrid, the question was whether he could build upon that and my word, yes he could. Saka is just a level above what Arsenal have when he is not there, and to be able to take him off at half-time was such a benefit.
Perhaps not as much as Diego Simeone enjoyed, but that begs its own question. The team that beat Valencia 2-0 contained exactly zero starters from the Champions League stalemate.
Arteta made five changes, which included bringing in both Saka and Eberechi Eze, who are bankers to start on Tuesday. But was the win, the improvement in form, the statement and the momentum perhaps worth more than the rest Simeone’s team enjoyed?
Perhaps that is one only Arteta can answer on Monday, during his pre-match press conference. Or instead one we will only truly have answered in the game itself.
Either way, it is very good to be around the club again. Better yet, it could potentially become the best it ever has been?
