The Times - UK (2020-08-03)

56 1GM Monday August 3 2020 | the times

SportFA Cup final

5

Moments within matches shape sea-
sons, even reputations. After 21 min-
utes and 15 seconds of Saturday’s FA
Cup final, Anthony Taylor, the referee,
blew for the drinks break and Mikel
Arteta set to work. In those precious
seconds, Arsenal’s head coach turned
the game, and also those doubters of his
managerial credentials into believers.
Elements of these ghost games
played in front of empty stands certain-
ly assisted Arteta, 38, whose message
carried more easily across the field to
his players, amplifying the importance
of his grasp of Spanish, French,
Portuguese and English to communi-
cate with his polyglot squad.
It is during the drinks break that his
impact is felt most fully. When Taylor
signalled the pause, Arteta’s team de-
servedly trailed Chelsea 1-0, his mid-
field overrun and bypassed. Reece

foul inside the box from a startled

Azpilicueta. Any complaints Chelsea

had over the award of the penalty did

not bear close inspection of

Azpilicueta’s laying on of hands.

Aubameyang converted the penalty,

and his second goal was even better,

turning Zouma and lifting the ball over

Willy Caballero. Arsenal ran down the

clock, Arteta making three substitu-

tions between the 82nd and 90th min-

utes to disrupt the flow and frustrate

Chelsea. There was some peak time-

wasting by Granit Xhaka heading to the

0

2

1

Arsenal

Aubameyang (pen) 28, 67

Chelsea

Pulisic 5

2

1

Arteta proves he is master of

Henry Winter
Chief Football
Writer

James, Chelsea’s right-wing back, kept

venturing upfield and Arteta, always a

man to accentuate the positive, turned

this threat to Arsenal’s advantage. He

wanted to isolate Chelsea’s right-sided

centre back, César Azpilicueta, and

unleash Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

As his players headed towards the

technical area, Arteta shepherded

them left, farther away from where

Frank Lampard was talking to his Chel-

sea players. Chelsea were in control.

They led through Christian Pulisic’s

adroit finish. It was Arsenal who

needed their coach’s intervention more.

Arteta stood in front of his players,

and in animated fashion clearly

signalled a need for greater urgency.

Kieran Tierney, the left of Arsenal’s

three centre backs, stood slightly to one

side of Arteta, right hand on hip, left

hand on drinks bottle, all ears on the

coach’s words. At 22min 18sec, Taylor

blew again and the players turned back

to the game. Arteta turned to Tierney.

For five seconds, he engaged in some

vital one-on-one coaching with the

attentive Scotland defender. Arteta’s

left hand came down in a karate chop,

cutting through the warm summer air,

indicating to Tierney the speed of deliv-

ery he wanted.

Tierney nodded and soon delivered.

Arteta demanded an overload down

the left, creating space for Aubameyang

to run at and past Azpilicueta. David

Luiz covered across, allowing Tierney

to become almost a left back and the

wing back Ainsley Maitland-Niles to

push up, enabling Aubameyang to stay

higher up the field, closer to Azpilicue-

ta. James continued to press high, the

gap between him and Azpilicueta grew

and Arsenal saw their chance.

Arteta’s players followed his game

plan, staging the ambush. Alexandre

Lacazette was dispossessed five times

and lacked a real goal threat, but his

importance to Arteta’s tactics cannot

be overestimated. When he dropped

deep, Kurt Zouma instinctively

followed, leaving Azpilicueta even

more exposed. Chelsea’s captain is a

hugely experienced defender but

vulnerable to pace, especially now

guarding such an expanse.

So many variables are still required to

make a plan come to fruition, and praise

needs to be bestowed upon Rob Hold-

ing for calmly ending a Chelsea attack,

and Emiliano Martínez, for quickly

transferring the ball to Tierney, who

was hugging the touchline. He instantly

controlled the goalkeeper’s pass and

drove the ball 60 yards to Aubameyang,

who was off and running, drawing a

... but sorry Mikel, you’ll have to wait until half-time next season

Drinks breaks midway

through each half will

not feature in top-flight

matches next season

(Martyn Ziegler writes).

The breaks were

brought in for the

restart in mid-June, to

let players take on fluids

in the heat — and they

have proved a useful

tactical tool for coaches

— but the practice will

not continue, the

Premier League says.

Tony Cascarino

on how Arsenal

outwitted

Chelsea

Most goals since

Aubameyang joined Arsenal

P-E Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)

Sadio Mané (Liverpool)

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Harry Kane (Tottenham)

Jamie Vardy (Leicester)

Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

Son Heung-min (Tottenham)

Raúl Jiménez (Wolves)

109

119

87

116

114

91

91

113

109

97

70

68

61

59

59

59

52

50

45

43

Appearances Goals

Arsenal are working so much harder

than they were before Mikel Arteta’s

arrival. Alexandre Lacazette was

outstanding on Saturday at doing the

ugly things, chasing opponents down,

suffocating them. He didn’t get any of

the glory that strikers dream about

before a big match, but he was

relentless. And although everyone will

talk about the quality of Pierre-Emerick

Aubameyang’s finishing for the two

goals, he was also working noticeably

harder than at times in the past. It’s why

Mesut Özil has no future at Arsenal;

doing everything you can to help the

team when they don’t have the ball is a

non-negotiable for Arteta, no matter

how good you are when you have it.

28

Arteta won first trophy in

his 28th match —

impressive but not as fast

as Gianluca Vialli, who

won 1998 League Cup

in eighth game as

Chelsea boss

1

Aubameyang’s winning

goal was the only shot on

target from either side

throughout the entire

second half at

Wembley

MARC ASPLAND/NMC/POOL

Aubameyang shows his finishing quality by chipping the ball over Caballero, the Chelsea goalkeeper, to score Arsenal’s winner at Wembley, while Maitland-Niles had