How will Arteta prepare short-handed Arsenal for derby v. Tottenham? | Pro Soccer Talk | NBC Sports

Nick and Andy massive North London Derby this weekend Tottenham against Arsenal I'll be there for PST delighted to be providing analysis reaction and much more from onsite for this massive Derby and Andy Edwards I want to come straight to you mate given some of the injuries and absentees piling up particularly for Arsenal as a Tottenham Hotspur fan that you are are Spurs actually the favorites for this North London Derby no uh they need it more than Arsenal at this Point uh when you take into consideration the circumstances uh the injuries with with odard rice out for this one for Arsenal Spurs being where they are in the project right now and they've had had a shaky start to the season a win a draw a loss three good performances I I would say and so you can see the progression from the team from year one to year two under Posta kagu uh but at the end of the day all anybody cares about on the Internet is did you win every single game and and you know did you win a trophy uh at Tottenham and so uh this is a this is an interesting point in not only the season uh but the the the post aago project because this could go a lot of different ways they show up on on the weekend and they put in a really really good performance and they show uh not just progression but they show they understand what this game means I think and the fact that they're playing one of the best teams in the world arguably the best second best team in the world but I don't think anybody's touching City at this point and you know that really gives them belief and confidence going forward if they can do what they've done in the first three games and maybe get a result against Arsenal because the intensity of this game is always going to be there um and there's going to be a little desperation I think on both sides and that's kind of strange to be four games into the season and both teams feeling that way but just all the circumstances around it and how much it could mean on the flip side for Arsenal another a loss early in the season with City looking as good as they are uh this is a real sliding doors moment I I think very very very early in the season yeah it is early in the season Nick because as Andy said there but it is quite intriguing to have a big of a game as this early in the season and we kind of saw it with Liverpool man united before the break um how it can just the narrative can change quite quickly if you lose one of these big Derby games and it get into very very long season but it can almost set the tone right it's kind of got so much extra weight in the games for fans of these teams and just the attitude and the expectations of a whole campaign that for me it's really really exciting and adds that extra layer almost to this game having it this early in the season um and I just I wonder for Arsenal um the pressure seemed to get to them a little bit against Brighton before the break and the way that they reacted to some of the challenges coming in obviously rice getting sent off just seemed to be a little bit rattled which I don't really associate with them um they seem to have calmed down a lot under Reta after some of the early years in charge but they really need to keep their call don't they in The Cauldron of the north London Dolby this weekend yeah they do over the years they have loved a red card right whether it's been something you could you could draw up or not look I I think that this might be a really good scenario for Arsenal because not because of the injuries certainly doesn't give them a better chance to win or anything like that but it it's a chance for Mel artetta to flex what he does best to show hey I've got a plan to deal with this also it seems likely Joe you you've mentioned the injuries no rice no odard it seems likely that you'll both have Thomas out there parte along with um along with georgino and those are game controllers they're going to turn this maybe into at least the Midfield into more of a fight and maybe there's just enough for them to each player having to do a little bit different than they're used to to have to focus on their task at hand that takes the occasion out of it just a little little bit so I'm not telling you that I think they're the favorites or anything like that but it's a chance for everyone in that team to put their stamp on something we've seen it over the years when say city won a game without Holland and de bruyne and rodry where you've said oh wow well you could you could have said they were gonna lose and they won anyway so I I think it's a really nice chance for them yeah and you can't understate the importance of odard and rice because they're basically been ever present since they both joined Arsenal and way they make them tick and just everything kind of triggers off of their movement and the way that they dictate the tempo and I think Andy the for Arsenal it seems that the most sense is to start geino and Thomas parte and then maybe have trossard kind of start as a number 10 and have Martinelli out left and leave has havocs up top there's some talk of havocs dropping deeper but um I feel like if you just limit the amount of changes that you have to make and just make two changes in the Central Area Martinelli out WI that's okay you can obviously bring in yurian Timber into hold a Midfield position as well and then if Calif is fit he starts left back or zenchenko left back so there's even though they are hampered by a lot of injuries right now and absentees there's a lot of options there for Arsenal and this is kind of a real test of their squad strength that they've been building for the last couple of years and you've got Spurs Atlanta and Man City coming up in the next week and we're about to find out just how strong this squad actually is so that that's one of the things about tetta that I I think is actually one of his strengths is a willing to be a willingness to be flexible with the way that he sets his team up for a couple years it was pretty it wasn't fun to watch it was downright defensive and and you know they uh they made teams really work to break them down until he kind of got some of the players in in in important positions uh I think the the holding Midfield role obviously with bringing rice in and then odard ascending to uh one of the best midfielders in the world allowed a real evolution of the way that they play but I think this is going to look a little bit like the the early days of artetta at Arsenal where they sit a little bit deep defensively because they don't have they don't have the trusty reliable players uh to have the freedom to get forward the way that they typically play with and and so I think arteta will be pragmatic in that and I think it's probably going to serve them well in this game as well because that's what Spurs have struggled with in the first three games there's no team in the Premier League that has spent more time with the ball inside the final 30% of the pitch than Tottenham this season and they've almost doubled the next closest team because they get the ball in so deep so quickly and then they have nowhere to go they have no chances it's cross cross cross and I think with William CBA and Gabrielle in the middle I think that's exactly what Arsenal want and and not really having kind of a true Target man in there for Spurs and so uh I do think it's it's not going to be the the wide openen free flowing back and forth kind of game that we're used to uh in the Der I don't think unless are just able to to Really stretch the field and and pull them out of their shape so it's like I said earlier at this point of the Season given all of the circumstances everything is in play with this game Spurs could win 3-0 Arsenal could win 3-0 they could draw nil nil like everything is in play with this one um and I do think it's going to be about who handles um what's the word not the intensity of of the derby on Darby day but just the importance of this one right now for for both sides yeah it feels like a big big time for either team to make a statement of intent about how this season is going to go for them um and Nick when we look at sort of Arsenal again artetta signning a new contract ahead of this game uh for another three years just good timing right after a bit of a a bumpy period but um this just kind of underlines where they're going the signings they made all the rest of it and of course you know Raheem Sterling potentially making his debut for Arsenal um what a way to make yourself an Arsenal hero right away have you come up with a big performance in this game I'm glad you said that because he is who I wanted to talk about I I don't know that he's going to start but I know he's the sort of player I want with his One V one and his aggression at wanting to take people on uh I want to see that against Spurs I I want to challenge them on that left side and I I wouldn't be surprised to see him in that way I I think his signing though the reason I it jumped into mind when you said that is it was a backing of artetta they're paying him probably a ton of money um they're bringing him over in a way that says you know this we don't really buy older guys we not that he's super old 29 right but we don't this isn't necessarily our profile but the manager knows him the manager wants him this is what we do now it's an argument we made last January when we said hey if you're for real go buy a center forward go go break the books and just go bring that guy in and get after it and so I I love the signing I love what that says the extension for artetta it's funny to see them even though emry might have been this guy have their have their Wenger again and it's starting to feel that way I know he doesn't have an invincibles run underneath them but tell me you don't think that this couldn't be 15 20 years yeah no definitely it's heading in that direction for sure I mean the progress year after year they've made and now we're about to see with this busy stretch of games coming up the squad they've built can it withstand a little bit of pressure they're feeling with injuries and absentees um Andy in terms of absentees obviously Micki vanen his Fitness status for Totten so important for the way they play it looks like he's gonna be fit enough to play in this game I mean that's crucial right and I think if sank is back as well you know he looked sharp could quite get off the mark in that game against Leicester to start the season but again if these players are fit this just probably for me swings the pendulum more in tottenham's favor maybe not to win but to get something from this game and with the players Arsenal have out it just really does level things up uh in terms of who's going to win this one yeah to me for this one sank bit more important than vanent actually uh really really impressed with Radu dragin the last game when he came in and played against Newcastle obviously they didn't get the win uh but displayed a lot of the qualities that van Deen has shown there at the center back maybe not quite the speed in the wheels to get back and and recover defensively uh but I would say Spurs probably have one of the better third center backs in the Premier League at this point and considering it wasn't so long ago they didn't have one or two good center backs this is a huge step in in the right direction and obviously gives them a chance anytime to take the field the reason I say that that salanki is is the uh the more important one for this one is that attack has been frustrating uh anemic just makes you want to B bang your head off the wall uh when you watch them just pass the ball around the penalty area not make entry passes not make runs in behind there's no one there to hold it up it's all about how quickly we can get forward and when teams are sitting back defensively the way that they have uh against them to start the season and we saw it a lot last year as well it's not like this is anything new and has taken post a clog Glue by surprise at this point uh I do think he is that player who unlocks a lot of things I think he makes Sun better on the left wing because he holds the ball up and he takes attention off of him and whether it's going to be kevi Johnson OD bear whoever it is on the other side uh it just gives them more space to operate and more time as well and I think you'll get better scoring chances that way and so uh there is a lot more to come from Spurs this season it's just I think there's a small matter of Posta kago can he get out of the way just a little bit and let the pieces of what's there kind of come together in a in a in a natural way versus everything having to be almost micromanaged and done to a tea the way that he wants it yeah just maybe Don't Force It quite as much as he has done so far that's the key um all right I'm going score prediction two all I think this has been quite a popular score in this uh Derby over the years so I think it's going to be level the playing fields of Arsenal's absentees for this one and I think you know if Tottenham score early it's going to force Arsenal to come out leave more gaps and it should be back and forth but we know how risky Spurs play with their High defensive line and I think that like Saka Martinelli HTS and others will get a lot of chers in this one so I'm going for two All Andy what you going for mate uh yeah same sentiment but I'll go one- one in the end Nick I'm also going to go with one-1 all right draws all round for the north London Derby PST will be there on Sunday head over to pro soccer talk on NBC sports.com for all the latest how to watch information analysis reaction we'll have you covered at all angles for a massive game it always is but it feels like it's even bigger happening this early in the season so Tottenham against Arsenal it's coming right up hi there I'm Rebecca H Studio host of NBC's coverage of the Premier League don't forget to hit subscribe to 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