Following a north London derby, where Arsenal moved to within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool and Tottenham moved closer to the relegation zone than the top four. Sam Dean joined Telegraph Sport readers for a live webchat on Thursday to discuss the fall-out from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Following a north London derby, where Arsenal moved to within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool and Tottenham moved closer to the relegation zone than the top four. Sam Dean joined Telegraph Sport readers for a live webchat on Thursday to discuss the fall-out from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night.
He answered your questions on subjects such as Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal, is Ange Postecoglou’s stubbornness backfiring at Tottenham and whether Myles Lewis-Skelly is ready for England call-up.
Is Arteta’s job under threat?
The truth is that Arteta is completely safe in his position and that, if anything, his power is actually growing at the Emirates. It should not be forgotten that, following the departure of Edu, Arsenal do not currently have a sporting director. The highly-regarded Jason Ayto has stepped up as the interim, but he is hardly in a strong enough position to decide to sack Arteta and then hire a replacement
Is Lewis-Skelly ready for England?
It was a fabulous performance by Lewis-Skelly last night. He was right to milk it when he came off as a late substitute. He is impressing every time he plays and, at this rate, I would not be at all surprised if he features in Tuchel’s first squad.
It helps the teenager’s cause that left-back is such a problem position for England, given Luke Shaw’s ongoing fitness issues. This season alone, England have shoehorned Rico Lewis (usually a right-back), Trent Alexander-Arnold (also usually a right-back) and Levi Colwill (a centre-back) into that position.
On Spurs poor derby record:
I also believe a big reason for Arsenal’s dominance over Spurs in recent years has been their flexibility as a team. If Arteta’s players need to sit deep and win the game with a set piece, they can. If they need to play physically, winning battles and disrupting the flow of the match, they can. Spurs are far less adaptable and, frankly, far less powerful. They were overrun on Wednesday night and routinely bullied.
To read more from our Football Correspondent, read the Q&A below.
03:14 PM GMT
That’s the full-time whistle on the north London derby Q&A
I think that’s about it for today! Thanks very much to you all for your time and questions and enjoy the rest of the season!
02:56 PM GMT
How important has Gabriel become to Arsenal?
From Gordon Tynan
How important has Gabriel become to Arsenal? at both ends of the pitch, and is he now more important to Arteta than William Saliba?
Hi Gordon, thanks for the question. I will start my answer with a confession: for much of the past few years, I have ascribed Gabriel’s brilliance to the presence of Saliba alongside him. You can probably see the logic here: Gabriel was decent before the arrival of Saliba, and then exceptional once partnered by the Frenchman.
I increasingly think that this assessment was harsh, though. Gabriel is not just a great partner for Saliba, but a great defender in his own right. He is also a genuine leader of the Arsenal team, in a way that Saliba is not (yet). Gabriel scores goals, dominates in the air, is composed on the ball and capable of playing a perilously high defensive line. At 27, he has it all. Better than Saliba? Not in terms of talent and class. But more important to Arsenal? At this moment in time, that is probably the case.
02:44 PM GMT
Is Arteta responsible for Arsenal’s lack of profligacy in front of goal?
From Sam Ellison
To what extent should Mikel Arteta be held responsible for Arsenal’s profligacy in front of goal? He has set-up the side to create lots of chances in the last 3 games, but the players haven’t been able to turn those chances into goals.
A lot has been made of Arsenal’s lack of a clinical striker – and that we should dip into the market for one – but have we just been unlucky, given our huge goal tally in 2022/23 and 2023/24?
Hi Sam, thanks for the question. It really is the big issue facing Arsenal at the moment. What I find most interesting about this situation is that, for much of the past few months, finishing wasn’t actually Arsenal’s big problem. The bigger concern was the lack of creativity. Chance creation was the issue, rather than chance conversion.
In the last few weeks they appear to have solved that lack of creativity, but now their finishing ability has deserted them.
There are two ways of looking at this. One is that these past few games (Newcastle and Manchester United, especially) were effectively freak occurrences which are unlikely to be repeated on a regular basis. Arteta certainly subscribes to this view, calling the United defeat a one-in-a-thousand result, given Arsenal’s dominance.
The other argument, though, is that Arsenal simply do not have enough ruthless forwards. Especially without Saka, who has grown into a deadly finisher. Kai Havertz scores plenty of goals for Arsenal (people forget that his numbers are actually pretty good) but no one would ever claim his best quality is his finishing. The same is true of Gabriel Jesus.
A personal view is that Arsenal require another dynamic in attack. Before the injury to Jesus, I thought they should target a winger. Now, though, it is clear that they are short at centre-forward. A penalty-box predator would reduce the chances of more “one-in-a-thousand” occurrences and create another layer of fear for opposition defences.
How much is Arteta responsible for this? Well, he and the club have known for some time that they needed another dynamic in attack. They chose to prioritise other players in the summer window, given the difficulty of landing targets such as Nico Williams or Benjamin Sesko. In hindsight, given the injuries, that has proven to be the wrong call.
Even if they do not sign anyone, though, it is certainly possible that the attack “clicks” again, as it did this time last year. They are certainly creating enough chances, and the general volatility of finishing might well swing back in their favour. As you said in your question, they produced huge goal tallies in each of their past two seasons without a deadly No 9.
02:30 PM GMT
Is Lewis-Skelly ready for England?
From Angry Chef
New England manager Thomas Tuchel was at the game and Myles Lewis-Skelly played very well and certainly raised eyebrows. Is he ready for England?
It was a fabulous performance by Lewis-Skelly last night. He was right to milk it when he came off as a late substitute. He is impressing every time he plays and, at this rate, I would not be at all surprised if he features in Tuchel’s first squad.
It helps the teenager’s cause that left-back is such a problem position for England, given Luke Shaw’s ongoing fitness issues. This season alone, England have shoehorned Rico Lewis (usually a right-back), Trent Alexander-Arnold (also usually a right-back) and Levi Colwill (a centre-back) into that position.
The other exciting prospect in the left-back role is Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall, who is enjoying a superb campaign. If England were to play a match this weekend, you would imagine Hall would be the starter on the left of the defence. But Lewis-Skelly is certainly making a big impression
02:22 PM GMT
With such major injury issues at Spurs, could another manager do much better?
From Bruce Jacobs
With such a huge injury crisis, could any manager have done much better for Spurs?
Hi Bruce, thanks for the question. It’s a fascinating issue. I’ll start by saying I can absolutely understand why Postecoglou does not want to deviate from his playing philosophy, despite all of the injuries. He believes that sticking to his guns will ultimately be the best way to find success in the long-term. Ruben Amorim is doing the same thing at United, sticking to his 3-4-3 shape despite not having a squad that is suited for it. Such conviction is admirable, in many ways.
And yet, I am curious as to why the attributes of adaptability and flexibility have become so unpopular among so many clubs and coaches. Is a big part of the job – and, indeed, of any job – not an ability to make the most out of the tools you have? In my eyes, it would not be a climbdown for Postecoglou to say: “right, we are missing four of our first-choice back five, let’s adapt to protect the youngsters who are having to fill in”.
Is compromise such a crime? It certainly isn’t in the mind of Arteta. It is often forgotten that he walked into Arsenal five years ago, took one look at the mess of a squad he had inherited, and decided there was no chance of imposing a Guardiola-esque style of play any time soon. He started far more pragmatically, and built slowly.
Perhaps Spurs will benefit from Postecoglou’s stubbornness in the long run. That’s what Postecoglou is gambling on, effectively. In the short term, though, I do believe it has led to worse results than more practical-minded managers would have achieved. But perhaps there really is no long-term gain without short-term pain.
02:08 PM GMT
How can Tottenham fix their poor record in north London derby?
From Sam Jackson
This is a very one-sided derby and this fixture is one in which Spurs very rarely win – how can they fix this?
Hi, thanks for the question. The first thing I would say is that it has only been a one-sided derby for a couple of seasons, really. From 2014/15 to 2022/23, Spurs had five derby wins to Arsenal’s seven. For a few years, it was basically a case of the home team winning.
In the last three seasons, of course, it has been much more one-sided. Of the past six encounters, Arsenal have won five. Without wanting to state the obvious, I think that is simply a reflection of Arsenal being a much better team: Arteta’s side are currently 19 points ahead of Spurs in the league, having finished 23 points and 24 points ahead of them in the last two campaigns.
I also believe a big reason for Arsenal’s dominance over Spurs in recent years has been their flexibility as a team. If Arteta’s players need to sit deep and win the game with a set piece, they can. If they need to play physically, winning battles and disrupting the flow of the match, they can. Spurs are far less adaptable and, frankly, far less powerful. They were overrun on Wednesday night and routinely bullied.
This speaks to the difference in approach between the two managers. Arteta wants a team that can dominate in every aspect of the game, and that is capable of switching between plans A, B and C. Postecoglou seems to be focused only on perfecting plan A. It is not my place to say which is right or wrong in the long-term, but Arteta absolutely has the upper hand at the moment. (Of course, Spurs are suffering with serious injury issues).
01:53 PM GMT
Should VAR become more involved in preventing incorrectly awarded corners?
From Ben Banyard
I understand it could be pernickety, but should VAR be able to just quietly say in the ref’s ear ‘by the way, that’s a stone wall goal kick’? We rule out goals for being offside by a shoelace but do absolutely nothing in preventing incorrectly awarded corners which, for teams like Arsenal, provide a huge advantage to score. Or is that too contentious a matter?
Hi Ben, thanks for your question. I totally understand your point, and I largely agree with it. My suspicion is that this sort of thing actually happens already. I have a feeling that many of the incredibly soft free-kicks we see at corners (when players on both sides are grappling with each other, for example) are awarded because the referee has realised that it should not have been a corner in the first place.
The problem – if you can call it that – is that such a thing can never be discussed openly and transparently. It is effectively a case of managing a game through common sense, rather than sticking to the laws. Which is a good thing in reality (in my view), but a difficult thing to explain to the public.
As for the VAR element specifically, I suppose the counter-argument to your point would be that allowing such a communication would be effectively widening the authority and remit of the VAR officials. Don’t we all agree that we want as little interference as possible? Then again, there is a difference between a VAR “review” and a little word in the referee’s ear. Tricky one!
Fundamentally, I believe the only way that football can ever truly be happy with refereeing is if we accept that they are human beings who make mistakes, just like the players do. The less accepting of that we are, the more VAR interference we are going to have.
01:44 PM GMT
Can you explain why the pass back to Kinsky was not penalised?
From Michael Tobin
Can you explain why the pass back to the Tottenham goalkeeper was not penalised when he handled it in the second half?
Hi Michael, thanks for the question. To be honest, I feel like I have long since lost my grasp of the handball rule. I feel that football has tied itself into unmanageable knots over the issue, and that it’s often effectively a lottery, depending on what the referee is feeling in that moment.
That said (and please forgive me for the above mini-rant) I believe in the case of Antonin Kinsky last night, he avoided punishment because the ball had deflected off his body onto his hand. There wasn’t much he could do about it, right? Referees were instructed at the start of this season to consider whether a player had deflected the ball onto their arms or hands, and I think this would have fallen into that category.
01:33 PM GMT
Is there concern about Odegaard’s lack of goalscoring threat?
From Soham Samaddar
Is there any concern within the Arsenal coaching staff about Martin Odegaard’s lack of goalscoring threat this season?
One of Arsenal’s great strengths in recent seasons has been their ability to spread the goals across the team. They do not have an Erling Haaland-type finisher so they require the wingers and midfielders (and the centre-backs, from set pieces) to contribute with regular goals.
It is undoubtedly a source of frustration, then, that Odegaard’s goals have somewhat dried up this campaign. A return of one goal in 14 league appearances represents a significant drop-off from his previous two seasons (15 goals in 2022/23, and eight in 2023/24).
I believe Arsenal would be more concerned, though, if Odegaard was not having chances to score. In recent games, the issue has been more about his conversion than about his positioning, or the team’s chance creation. Against Spurs last night, he had some big opportunities but simply could not take them. Against United, he missed a penalty.
Interestingly, Arteta spoke about Odegaard’s goal threat earlier this month. He made the point that the club knew he would not be able to replicate his 15-goal campaign. “Sustaining an attacking midfielder to score 15 goals, it doesn’t happen,” said Arteta. “We were very aware of that.”
Arsenal knew that Odegaard’s extraordinary goalscoring campaign of two years ago was something of a one-off, then. They do not expect him to score that many goals every campaign. But they – and Odegaard himself – certainly expect him to score more than he is right now.
01:26 PM GMT
Is Arteta’s job under threat?
From Michael Budgen
Did you not find the pre-match ‘narrative’ that Mikel Arteta’s job was under pressure, despite being second in the Premier League and third in the CL a bit ridiculous?
Hi Michael, thanks for the question. The short answer here is: yes. To be fair, I think the suggestions that Arteta’s job might come under threat have been almost entirely limited to social media, so I would absolutely take those with a pinch of salt.
The truth is that Arteta is completely safe in his position and that, if anything, his power is actually growing at the Emirates. It should not be forgotten that, following the departure of Edu, Arsenal do not currently have a sporting director. The highly-regarded Jason Ayto has stepped up as the interim, but he is hardly in a strong enough position to decide to sack Arteta and then hire a replacement. Not that he would want to, given Arsenal’s standing in the league and Champions League – and the complete transformation that Arteta has overseen.
Also, my experience of covering Arsenal for the last five years has shown that the noise around them is relentlessly extreme. Every defeat can feel like a crisis, while every victory is treated as the start of an unstoppable march to glory. The mainstream media plays a part in that, of course, but I also think it’s largely driven by supporters (in the stadium and online). In your question, you used the word “ridiculous”. I would probably use the word “reactionary”.
What is also true, though, is that there is an expectation that Arsenal should win major trophies soon. That is now the only real measure of success for the club and for Arteta, and the manager himself accepts that. If they fail to win anything this season, then it is certainly the case that the pressure on Arteta will increase.
01:22 PM GMT
Arsenal close the gap on league leaders Liverpool
Mikel Arteta’s side claimed a crucial 2-1 win against Tottenham, closing the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool. Arsenal capitalised on Liverpool’s dropped points at the City Ground on Tuesday night – delivering a determined performance in front of the Emirates crowd.
Here is how the top of the Premier League table currently looks.
01:13 PM GMT
Is Postecoglou’s job at risk?
With six defeats in their previous 10 games, a loss to their biggest rivals in the north London Derby on Wednesday night.
The result leaves them closer to the relegation zone than the top four – things are going from bad to worse for Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou.
Our chief sports writer Oliver Brown argues that his record is indefensible – leaving his job at definite risk. He argues to forget what the Tottenham manager claims about needing to entertain the fans – his approach and tactics have led to their sustained relegation form
Read the full piece here.
12:24 PM GMT
North London derby Q&A – have your say
Arsenal reignited their title challenge with a hard-fought victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, ending a run of three matches without a win in all competitions.
The result brought an end to a mini-crisis, of sorts, but it will not stop Arsenal from searching the transfer market for a new forward this month.
As for Spurs, Ange Postecoglou was furious with his team’s lacklustre performance. Spurs now find themselves in 13th place in the Premier League, 10 points behind eighth-placed Bournemouth and 14 points off the Champions League places.
Football reporter Sam Dean will be answering your questions about the game, and the two clubs, at 1pm. Should Myles Lewis-Skelly be expecting an England call-up soon? Should Arsenal target a winger or a centre-forward? And how much can Tottenham’s struggles really be explained by their devastating injuries?
