Arsenal Fan View: Five talking points from a big FA cup win for the Gunners

Wow.

Seemed appropriate to start with a W-word given Arsenal made sure only their W’s got on the score-sheet as they breezed past a young Southampton side in the Emirates FA Cup. The 5-0 reading of the score sure does not tell you the full story, which is why I took a look at the 5 talking points out of a goal fest at Saint Mary’s.

Arsenal’s defensive strengthen in depth has never been this impressive

First things first: Yes, this was a much changed Soton side with only Shane Long the real threat to the Arsenal defence. However, as we have seen in the past, sometimes that is all that is need to rile up the Gunners backline. Apart from an erratic David Ospina performance, last night’s back four were solid and kept things tight on a day of cup upsets. Rob Holding did what he does, playing as if he has been partnering Mustafi for ages. Hector Bellerin was doing his best to look more like a right-wing-back and captain for the cup Kieran Gibbs was keeping the impressive Sims quiet. What most of us missed was the bench of Arsenal actually had four defenders on it as well. The returning Per Mertesacker was seated alongside Gabriel, Nacho Monreal and the supposedly outgoing Carl Jenkinson. Add to that the rested Laurent Koscielny and staying-for-this-season Mathieu Debuchy, you can see just how well stocked the Gunners really are in defence. Injuries in defence have often crippled their season, but this time there seems to be enough defenders of good quality to cover while the top ones are allowed some rest.

Lucas Perez is a gem of a player

Almost everyone was talking about the scoring return of Arsenal’s English forwards and it was easy to look away from the man who was equally responsible for those goals. Lucas Perez now has been involved in 8 goals from his 8 starts (5 goals, 3 assists) in England and has been more than impressive in each game he plays. The first goal was beautifully set up by his perfect pass and then the third was again his initial pass to get Welbeck to the byline. His movement was a thorn in the Southampton side all evening and his work rate was off the charts. A lot of talk is made about how Olivier Giroud does so much more than he’s given credit for with his movement and hold up play; the same is true for the Spaniard, who gives a similar option as a number nine but with a lot more pace and hard work. Moreover his eye for a deadly pass from anywhere on the pitch was the reason for Arsenal’s fifth of the night, when Alexis accepted his pass to setup Walcott for his hat-trick. A £17m bargain, I’d say.

Arsenal’s English core dovetail beautifully

In the game vs Burnley, Arsène Wenger named his 149th Arsenal XI with no Englishmen, more than all Premier League teams combined have ever done. In the FA Cup yesterday, Arsenal had 6 English names on the team sheet, 7 if include Jenkinson on the bench. Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rob Holding and Kieran Gibbs were part of everything good happening for the Gunners. Even better was the fact that it seemed like they had all been playing in the same team for ages, with superb fluency in passing and creating space for each other. Gareth Southgate would be a happy man to see this game later on and know that despite what it may be said about Englishmen at Arsenal nowadays, there are plenty of young guns coming through the ranks and performing admirably.
The midfield battles will only get harder for Arsenal’s double barreled youngsters

It has been a long tradition for Arsène Wenger to name his young stars in cup games, allowing them the experience of first team football and the magic of the cup. This time however, he called on two of his reserves to cover for what is a threadbare midfield for the Gunners right now. Even the more ‘experienced’ 23-year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was put into the box-to-box position due to the absence of Granit Xhaka and Santi Cazorla, with Ramsey and Coquelin rested. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jeff Reine-Adelaide completed the set of three double-barreled named youngsters in the team, with all three having a very impressive night out.

Still, it must be pointed out that they were largely up against a team full of youngsters themselves and unlike their counterparts, Arsenal’s boys have been playing such cup games over the years. It was that little bit extra which saw them blow their opponent’s midfield away but it will not always be that easy. Both Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in particular must know they have a long way to go before they find themselves regularly on the first team.

Alexis Sanchez is truly just a little boy at heart

So your team is winning a cup tie 3-0 away from home and there’s a good 25 minutes left on the clock. What is your next move? Bring on your best player instead of resting him! (Smh) It was a moment of irritation as well amusement seeing Alexis Sanchez stripped and ready to come on against Southampton yesterday. Any other team who depend so much on one man running their attacking influence would want their manager to bubble-wrap the guy instead of sending him on for a meaningless quarter of the game.

But it’s time to probably accept this fact that Alexis is just not capable of staying away from the action. In what was supposed to be a smart move by keeping him on the bench for emergencies, Arsène Wenger might just consider leaving the superstar Chilean at home next time. Moments before stepping on the pitch, the ball found its way to him and his leap towards it was no different than a little child’s who’s been told he’s free to play for the evening. Sweet as that might well be, my only concern is just how much this ‘little boy’ inside him controls his actions. Not tempting fate or anything, but the last guy to quote listening to his inner child did not do the club any favors. Arsène, make him ‘sign da thing’ quickly, would you?