Five Key Takeaways after Arsenal edged past Wolves 

Here's Charlie Ashmore with Five Key Takeaways after Arsenal made it past Wolves 

1 - Blessed relief…..or reasons for concern

Or rather a case of both. 

The thought that we had tossed away two points against a really poor side was utterly sickening.

By some distance it would have been our worst result of the season and one which would have likely meant we gave up our place at the top of the table. 

Fortunately we were able to get that late late winner and the relief across the red half of North Londan was palpable. 

It means we got away with what was a poor performance, one surprisingly lacking any real cutting edge and, more worrying still, a performance lacking energy and drive. 

This was an opportunity. Yes, Wolves were well organised – that’s the least you’d expect. And yes, they defended extremely deep starving us of space. But, guess what, they are entitled to play like that and nobody will have been surprised that they did. 

With the squad and talent we have, we should be beyond being troubled by that sort of thing and we should have solutions.

In truth we had but one solution – give the ball to Saka and let him make something happen. 

So there really are reasons for concern. We have three potentially tricky League matches in a row now – Everton away and then Brighton and Villa at home. 

I am not a fan of the early use of the epithet “must win game” but I cannot help feeling that for our title push these are indeed must win games.  Make no mistake though if we play like that in any of those matches, we will drop points.

2 - Is it too early to speak about Viktor?

As early as the first match of the season, it was apparent just how different Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz were. 

When the latter replaced the former, the all round involvement in the game that Gyokeres doesn’t offer was there for all to see. But that didn’t matter did it.  We hadn’t signed a Havertz clone.  We had signed a goal machine. I think all sensible Arsenal fans were willing to give the new boy time while he adjusted to us and vice versa. 

He has since shown glimpses - but no more - of the player we believed we were signing.  I have sympathy in that on the back of an incomplete pre-season he was then forced to play week in week out due to Havertz’s injury. And then he himself picked up an injury, quite possibly as a result of the demands on a body that hadn’t built up proper fitness over the summer due to the state of limbo he found himself in before the deal was done. 

If you are a striker, you should be licking your lips at playing the worst team in the division (indeed statistically the worst team ever in the division). 

The performance was lacking in any real quality – no hold up play to speak of and the striker’s instinct that he must have had given his record seems to have deserted him as not for the first time he was slow to react to a wicked cross that you imagine Erling Haaland would have attacked like a starving lion seeing fresh meat. 

I am not prepared to give up on him yet but he has got to start showing more….and soon,

3 - Thank God for Bukayo

Not for the first time, we found ourselves grateful to the interventions of our Star Boy on the wing. 

The bias towards attacking down the right was obvious but it is perhaps inevitable give the quality of our No7. 

Through the game it looked as if any goal we were going to score had to have the hand of Saka in it. That both goals had his hand in was no surprise even if it took Wolves players to put the ball in the net for us. 

Saka is a genuine star – a danger whenever he has the ball and even if opponents know what he is going to do they cannot seem to stop him.

The corner was wicked even if the keeper should have done better and the cross for the winner was perfect. 

So yes, thank God for Saka but…….we cannot be so one-dimensional in attack – we need others to step up in games like this and today they didn’t. 

4 - injuries…….and their effect on selection

They are becoming a self-fulfilling cycle. 

Ben White, after a period out, has to play three games in succession instead of being eased in and it is no surprise when he has to go off injured. 

Why is having to put that strain on a recovering body? 

Because Jurrien Timber is needed elsewhere because of the other defensive injuries. 

I have to say I was very surprised Myles Lewis-Skelly didn’t start – he is fresh and if he is not pickable against Wolves at home, then we have to ask if there is a problem.  

Instead we play Piero Hincapie at left back despite him excelling as a centre half, and because he is not in the middle we have to play William Saliba out of position on the left with Timber his partner on the right. 

I appreciate the injuries are making selection choices difficult but surely the back four that made sense for this game was Timber, Saliba, Hincapie and Lewis-Skelly.

5 - Complacency…..or the stuff of Champions?

That back four would surely have been selected had it been a bigger opponent. 

I can’t imagine we would have taken Manchester City on for example with the back four we started against Wolves. 

So was there a hint of complacency in the selection? And did that feed into the performance? Was there an assumption that it was only Wolves and we could beat them with our eyes shut? 

I sincerely hope not but if there was let’s hope it was a lesson learned. 

You cannot drop your levels by even half a percent in this league. 

We got away with this one – so let’s take it and move on. 

Whether we were complacent or whether it was just one of those days it has always been said that it is a sign of Champions when a side is able to win while playing below their best. 

So, glass half full: three points won and we won’t play as badly again. 

There, I feel better already!