PSV 1-1 Arsenal: That was a game of football

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal’s Champions League group stage concluded with a 1-1 draw in Eindhoven last night, which was absolutely fine all things considered.

Mikel Arteta made eight changes to the side that started at Villa Park on Saturday, using his squad as much as possible. The fact we don’t have players like Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber available meant we couldn’t change it completely at the back, but when you see players like Mohamed Elneny and Cedric from the off, you know the manager has done basically as much as he can with the senior players he has.

There was an early chance for the home side when they got in behind, but the fact we had our two first choice centre-halves playing meant it wasn’t a goal. First, William Saliba slid in to make an outstanding challenge in the box, then Gabriel stuck a foot out to deflect the follow up over the bar. PSV have won every game in the Eredivisie so far, and the last time they tasted defeat at home was November last year when they lost 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar.

The changes meant we lacked connection, particularly in midfield, but Reiss Nelson was bright out on the right. PSV hit the post with a shot Ramsdale looked to have covered, while at the other end Elneny did likewise. A few minutes before the break we went ahead when Nelson crossed for Eddie Nketiah, he took a touch and quickly fired a shot between the defender’s legs and just inside the post. A really good finish.

They were level early in the second half. Saliba was caught out by a ball in behind, they worked a shooting opportunity which went in off the far post, and on the hour mark Arteta signalled his intent to go and win the game by bringing on Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Ben White. Interestingly, Rice came on to play at centre-half, with the manager explaining afterwards:

We are very short at the back, I really wanted to try when something happens, how we are going to resolve that situation and I think it was really good. He’s played there before and we have to try in case of an emergency. I will have to make sure that we can fill the gap in the right way.

Without Tomi and Timber, our options at the back are limited, and while Ben White can obviously slot in at centre-half, that also leaves us short at right-back. In a pinch, would you prefer Rice at centre-half with Jorginho in midfield, or White shifting across which would mean Cedric at full-back? I think I’d go with the former, to be quite honest, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

PSV hit the post again, Bakayoko was lively for them and looks like a player to keep an eye on, and it looked like we had scored when an Odegaard free kick was headed in but the flag went up. At first it looked like Gabriel had scored it, but replays showed it was Kiwior who headed home. Was the big Brazilian interfering with play? Well, all 6’3 of him was flying through the air making an attempt to get the header, so it’s hard to argue he wasn’t, but it still felt a bit harsh because it was more about how poor their keeper was than anything else. He will have been a relieved man when after a check the goal was ruled out.

A mistake from Gabriel allowed PSV in behind for a winner, but the bloke was greedy and dragged a shot wide rather than play it to the back post for a tap-in, and right at the death Leandro Trossard had a great chance but the keeper made a save before Kiwior whacked the rebound over the bar. Which in some ways captured the essence of this game. A win would have been nice, a draw is fine, and we now move on to focus on more important things.

I thought it was quite a good night for Nelson who worked really hard on the ball, and off it too – making 6 tackles, twice as many as any other player, and he took the chance to show the manager he could get more minutes if the circumstances allow. Could he have come on a bit earlier against Villa, for example? And if we’re leading a game comfortably, get him on to give the likes of Saka or Martinelli a rest. I think he’s done enough to show he’s a squad player capable of that, at least.

I’ve seen a lot of post-game consternation about the fact Arteta didn’t use any of the three Academy players who were in the squad, and beyond the romantic idea of seeing young players, I’m not sure exactly why there’s so much anger about it. He explained afterwards:

I don’t think it was the right context, making eight changes already to throw them in there against a team that hasn’t lost here almost in two years, I didn’t think it was the right moment and I went on to wait to see how the game developed, but it was too much for them and as well we have three little issues, we had to make the subs and then we had no room because we really wanted to play a game as well.

If I’m being totally honest, I’m up for anything that means less Cedric, so it’s a bit of a shame we didn’t get to see Reuell Walters get a run out. That said, I think it’s easy to overlook the huge gulf between playing youth football and the Champions League. It’s massive. Yes, we’ll never know until we see them get a chance, but Arteta and his staff see these kids every day in training and understand their readiness for this level better than we do. The balance between giving a player a chance and protecting them because they’re not quite ready is a fine one, but hopefully the experience of being around the first team squad helps these guys realise how hard you to have work to make that final push from youth player to senior player.

And maybe another pertinent question is: is it more useful to us to have given a few minutes to Emile Smith Rowe than Ethan Nwaneri? It was good to see him back, and he’s a player who is, if he gets back to full fitness, an option we can call on throughout the season. Whereas a 16 year old, however much potential he has, is unlikely to be that for us at this point.

So, in the end we top the group and appear to have come through this game without any real problems. We now await the draw, laughing at Man Utd crashing out of Europe altogether as we do so, and turn our attention now to a difficult game on Sunday against Brighton.

We’ll have an Arsecast for you tomorrow. Until then.

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