The Short Fuse: “It is an A+ for Brighton at the moment”

Seven games into the 2020-21 Premier League season and we have finally made it round to bringing back the always popular opposition fan interview.

And what better game to start than Brighton v Arsenal, given all there is to discuss between Seagulls and Gunners? Over the past few years, a bit of needle has developed between the clubs thanks largely to the efforts of le petit shithouse français Neal Maupay and that time he got strangled after Brighton beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Amex.

Ben White moved to the Gunners for £50 million in the summer to mixed reviews so far. He will come good, he is too talented a player not to. Not to forget Maty Ryan, who played a handful of games for Arsenal last season and obviously looked very handsome doing it.

There is that perplexing question over whether Mikel Artera is actually any good or not. And of course, we needed to know what outsiders have made of Brighton’s blistering start to the season.

If it caught all of us down here in Sussex by surprise, what on earth do regulars at the Emirates Stadium make of floundering around in mid table whilst the Albion are one point off the top?

Answering all that and quite a bit more, Nathan Reynolds from Arsenal website The Short Fuse.

What have you made of Arsenal’s start to the season and do you think Mikel Arteta is the right man for the job?

The start was poor, but not unexpected. Brentford aside, many didn’t predict positives results against Chelsea or Manchester City. Then when key players were missing due to injuries & COVID, it wasn’t shocking to see those performances.

But the international break came at the perfect time for Arsenal. Arteta got everyone back and finally got a replacement right back in Takehiro Tomiyasu.

As for whether he is the right man, Arteta is still a manager learning on the job, so there have been predictable bumps in the road and there will surely be more ahead.

Given the state of the club and squad that he walked into, I believed it would take two to three years and several active transfer markets to help move the right pieces in and out of the club.

He has the players now, if healthy, to challenge for fourth to sixth this season and if the squad gels and they can decide on how to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang next summer, they could be back in Champions League contention.

If Arsenal land in eighth or worse this season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arteta let go, but at the moment the owners and upper management all seem supportive of him.

Arsenal seem further away from the top four than they have been. Is that a result of players and managers or the owners?

It’s a series of errors from numerous individuals. The end of Arsene Wenger’s era saw some questionable signings and a failure to bring through enough academy players.

Unai Emery, whilst a proven manager, didn’t fit well with Arsenal and the supporters, plus he was dealing with a squad that needed to be refreshed.

Arsenal have spent money, especially this summer, but it has taken time to move players such as Mesut Ozil, Shokodran Mustafi, Sokratis, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of the club.

The pace of change is something that needs improvement with future work to be done to finalise exits for players like Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac.

What do Arsenal need to do for this season to be considered a success?

Sixth place or higher will see Arteta’s project moving in the right direction again. If we get to the end of the season and Arsenal have been pushing for European positions into May and have been able to go deep in one of the cup competitions, I think Arteta keeps his job for next year.

Furthermore, if the latest summer signings – Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Sambi Lokonga – all turn into positive contributors, I think that will go a long way towards considering this year a success or failure as the club looks to rebuild.

Every Brighton fan wished Ben White well following his move to Arsenal. What have Gunners supporters made of him so far?

Like so many things with the Arsenal fanbase, there is a wide spectrum of opinion. Some see him as a needed addition to complement Gabriel as Arsenal’s main centre back pairing and to upgrade the depth of the right sided centre back position along with Rob Holding.

Others were taken aback by the £50 million price tag and some issues in the early weeks of the season.

Much like Nicolas Pepe, I don’t consider the transfer fee when evaluating Ben White, that is a club management issue to be sorted out.

Since the international break and getting to partner with Gabriel, he has looked solid, and hopefully the two form a great partnership as the season progresses.

White is not the only player to have swapped Amex for Emirates recently. How did Maty Ryan fare with Arsenal? Would you have been happy to see him move to North London permanently?

He only got to play in three matches, but there was a fondness there from the fans toward him and it seemed like Ryan enjoyed being at Arsenal.

There seemed to be initial interest in bringing him in for this season and perhaps if Arsenal had secured Aaron Ramsdale earlier and sold Bernd Leno, they would have pushed for Ryan as his backup.

Looking ahead, it’s doubtful of a return, even with Leno expected to leave next summer, but if Ryan’s move to Spain doesn’t work out he might be a relatively cheap option as a number two.

Have you been as surprised by Brighton’s start to the season as we have?

Indeed, you have to say they are the club surpassing pre season expectations the most after six matches – although Brentford are a close second, currently sitting in ninth place.

With Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all coming up for Brighton, October should provide a much different test, but regardless they’ve quickly got a 10 point lead on the likes of Norwich, Burnley and Newcastle United, so it’s an A+ at the moment for the Seagulls.

Who would you pick as Arsenal’s dangermen for Saturday night?

There are at least four options here, but I’ll go with Odegaard. His influence in the midfield can allow Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe to push further forward and drift out wide as needed.

Odegaard leads the team in actions that have led to goals this season in the Premier League and we saw his freekick ability with the winner over Burnley.

Finally, a prediction for the game please?
With Arsenal fully fit – except for Granit Xhaka – and riding high after the North London Derby win, I expect a similar line up and effort from the Gunners. They’ve only given up one goal in their last four matches, so I’m going with 2-0.

Thanks to Nathan for answering our questions. You can follow The Short Fuse on Twitter – and why not have a read of the interview we did with them over on The Short Fuse website (after a couple of cans of Strongbow Dark Fruits).