January 9th – Nottingham Forest 1 Arsenal 0

That was shit. Eddie was shit. And this performance was shit. 2022 has given us two games. Completely different games. But we’ve lost both. Not a great start to the year. And Liverpool up next. Then the NLD. I already hear next season calling.

It’s a shame I was unavailable to review the run of matches where we finally looked like a viable, competitive, exciting team. I had other commitments. Unfortunately I was not able to solve world peace, Ukraine nor the global warming but I gave it my best shot (unlike Eddie). And, as my timing sucks, I was unfortunate enough to have time to sit through todays debacle.

All the good work demonstrated against Man City evaporated today. This was a throwback performance. A throwback to when we were insipid, lacking identify and purpose. I don’t think their goalie had a single save to make (care of Eddie). Today we carried too many players with a non-existent midfield. The fact that Holding was controlling our distribution says it all.  

Both Sambi and Tavires were disappointing. Tavires seems to be completely different from the player we saw a couple of months ago. Now he’s lost any positional sense, lost his first touch and looks lost. Did I mentioned he was lost? It was good to replace him as he was exposing our left side of defense even it was a little drastic. But when you have 5 subs it makes sense to use them.

It’s just a shame we did not replace Eddie. I don’t see how anyone can make the case that we should retain him. He will score goals in the future – just not for us. He cost us a point at Everton and today, in a similar situation, he failed to convert on the one – simple – chance he had today. It was an open header that he could not even get on target. He could not even head it. He shouldered it. How is that the quality of a premier league striker? It’s not. This is why he did not play for Leeds and why he barely plays for us. And before that he had a one on one with their defender. A Championship defender. And he could not beat him either. Eddie is a fox in the box for sure. But he is not our fox in the box. If he would have placed that header into the net the game would have completely changed. One chance and one miss. That’s what he’s there for.

Beyond the groaning disappointment with Eddie you could see the cavernous void in midfield. Without both Partey and Xhaka we had no control of the game. Patino is clearly one for the future. Just not the present. Sambi, who was at fault for their goal, was largely anonymous. He seemed to be unprepared to assert himself on the game. Maybe it’s a result of not having played for 2+ months. But he was not available to receive the ball and could not progress the ball. Hence Holding was left carrying the ball too often.

Martinelli was his usual energetic self but there was no-one for him to link up with. Eddie was isolated (by choice) and Saka was pretty quiet. Odergaard was the one we needed to see more on the ball but there was little creativity and movement around him.

I’ve always been a fan of Maitland-Niles and I understand why he wanted to leave. But how could we let him leave before this game. Ok, maybe we could not know that Xhaka would test positive. But we have always known that in January we would be short in midfield. So, why not keep him for at least another day or so? How do we think we’ll fare in our next 3 games with a midfield of Sambi and Patino? How did we not plan and anticipate this?

All the good work of the last month is about to dissipate. Let’s hope Arsenal fans have good, long memories. I’m kidding. We know the answer. They’ll be bleating and screaming to burn the entire house down. Why? because that’s what our supporters (not sure that’s the accurate description of them) will do. Please put on your big-boy pants because the next few weeks are going to be painful. We are in the early phases of transforming this club. I do not doubt that Arteta is the right manager. But this squad is too thin. When all available, our first 11, as was demonstrated against Man City, is close to where we need to be. But, once you take out a few keys players then it exposes the weakness in our squad. Today Cedric was not our worst player. That says it all. Arteta needs a few more transfer windows to fill out his squad. We should have four world-class midfield players not two. We should have 3 world-class center forwards and we have just one. We are short at right back as well. And I also worry about our left-back position. Today Tavires was awful. Ever since that Liverpool game when he undermined all the good work of the team, he’s gone backwards – and quickly. It will be interesting to see what Arteta says about that substitution.

Today we were sloppy and careless with the ball. We also lack on-field leadership. How is this possible? We looked like the rudderless team of the recent past. All our recent positive progress evaporated. I don’t really get how that happens. But what I could see what lack of ownership on the pitch. No-one shouting and cajoling. No passion. The number of times Holding sat on the ball and he had no-one ahead of him demanding the ball or making runs.

In some ways this loss could help our fixture backlog and reduce further injuries. It’s embarrassing though. Forest weren’t bad but we were spineless and devoid of any really quality. Of course, Eddie should have given us the lead (at least once). But you make your own luck and today we made none. We seemed to lack any belief. And this was a team that put in it’s best appearance only a week ago. Maybe this is what we should expect from a young, inexperienced team. And maybe we have to be thinking about next year. Except that there is a window of opportunity for us in the League and the League Cup. With Man United as truly shit as we were today there is an open window for that 4th place. But we can’t get anywhere close to that without Partey and Xhaka. And we knew we’d be without Partey. What is our plan then? What should be our expectations? I certainly did not consider 4th place viable at the start of the season and it was not a realistic target. But now we have the opportunity should we look to take it or should we stick to the add a few young, talented but inexperienced players to the team each transfer window. We need a Aubameyang replacement now. Sure, we knew he’d be gone for the CAN but not for the balance of the season. Take any Newcastle money and then re-invest it. I just don’t know whether Edu/Arteta is thinking that short-term. This is their project and I don’t think they will rush it just because there’s an opening for 4th place.

So strap yourself in for more disappointment. Hopefully not as lifeless and careless as today but nonetheless performances where we are exposed because of the lack of depth in our squad. Patino was clearly physically overwhelmed today. But he was not helped by those players around him. The lack of movement hampered him. He would have benefited from Cigarette playing but I understand why we have to protect him from playing in all these games.

I shudder to think what type of team we’ll have for the NLD. In that tense atmosphere with no viable midfield we will just have to suck up the pain and embarrassment of losing to those lucky basterds. After the excellent end of December period this is our coming down to earth. We are mean reverting. It’s just a shame it happens as we have a NLD. And we knew this would happen with Partey. I don’t know why we would not have wrapped Xhaka in a bubble this week.

So, in the short-term, we are well and truly fucked. We will have to hold on to the good memories and remember we are a young team in the early stages of rebuilding. That this is what you get – inconsistency. However, even as I try to rationalize this and (maybe) understand the context that did not stop me screaming and shouting during this game. Oh so often we gave the ball away needlessly, we lost every second tackle and had no idea what we were trying to do.

Leno was not at fault for anything today. He has to be pissed. His chances to get any playing time just disappeared. Even Cedric was not the worst one on the pitch. Even if we get Xhaka back I don’t have much confidence in Sambi. Maybe I’m being too harsh. But he seemed to hide today. And maybe he just needs more minutes to adapt. But this was Forest not Liverpool. So we’ll find out pretty soon. And I fear that outcome.

So, first review of the year is not what I’d hoped for.  After Norwich, Southampton. West Ham and Sunderland, I had expected more. We have to remember we aren’t as bad as we were today nor as good as we were against Man City. But I worry about the depth of the squad. That is what has the potential to derail this season now. And I don’t know how quickly, even with the window now open, we can address it. For sure though Eddie is not part of the solution. I’m now going to go off and search again for all that optimism I had over Christmas. It has to be here somewhere.

-LB7