Month: April 2023

TOTL still. It’s a shame this will be the last time I can say that this season.

I needed more than 48 hours to recover before providing any commentary. Actually, if truth be told, I was not going to say anything about this game as I was not able to watch the game in my natural environment. I had been on a top secret mission. Edu had personally approached me to go over to Europe and scout possible signings for last season. I had been sworn to secrecy but, unfortunately, my notes were hacked by some Russian hackers (or was it a lieutenant colonel in the US army – who can tell these days) and the recommendations are now being fed into ChatGPT in order to generate an A.I. Arsenal team for next year. All I can reveal is that this team will eviscerate Sp*rs 6-1 in Ryan Mason’s last game in charge before they hire Frank Lampard to drive them into the championship.

But back to Wednesday. This was about as predictably painful as could have been expected. To not even get through the first 10 minutes with a clean sheet and then to have VAR help them with a second goal before half-time seemed unnecessarily cruel. I mean, it genuinely looked to be offside. And with the lines being drawn such that you could not simultaneously see the moment the ball was played and the line, it made it impossible to tell. But you just knew they’d allow the Stone goal to stand. Like they did not need any more help. I’m sure the outcome would have been the same. But it was particularly cruel.

And, of course, it was Partey that had given away that free kick. In the same way he’d given away the first goal. As Holding was holding the ugly Norskman, Partey was watching KDB glide by him. As he did for the entire game. As pivotal and important as Partey has been for us this year – and last – these last few weeks it seems like he has disappeared. Not to lay the blame for this result on his feet (which he’d then lose to KDB) but this was as poor a performance from him that we’ve seen. He seemed lost and tactically exposed. That could be said for Arteta as well (though he was not actually trying to mark KDB) but the Pep moves seemed to bamboozle us.

Our two best players – Saka and Martinelli – were starved of the ball. They were completely marginalized in this game. City flooded the midfield, pushed their wingers wide and then unleashed KDB and the ugly Norskman on us. We seemed unable to adjust. Well, not until we brought on Jorginho by which time it was too late.

As depressing as it was to watch and as annoying the inevitable and unnecessary involvement of VAR, it’s hard to debate the outcome. It did not need to be 4-1 but, based on what we saw, it was clear they’d be only one winner. It just would have been more fun if the contest had lasted longer. And, for our young team, maybe this is another part of the learning process.

Maybe we can blame the Crown for snatching the title from us. If a certain person could have delayed her death, then the original schedule fixture could have occurred before the corrupt World Cup. Then, for the originally scheduled fixture, we would have faced a City team that was disjointed and dropping points. Whereas, back then, Arsenal were functioning smoothly and firing on all cylinders.  Instead, we had a City that had finally found their rhythm just as we were discovering last years end of season form.

Against a City in this form, we needed our best players to be at their best. Instead, we had Partey playing like Denilson. Jesus was completely ineffective and Zinny was barely involved. Xhaka was equally quiet. And then there’s Holding being overrun by the savage from the north without any protection in front of him. The only players that seemed to show up were White and Ramsdale.

Too often we were being overrun on the counter-attack. Partey was unable to track KDB and both Gabriel and Holding were retreating rather than pressing. Without Ramsdale’s heroics, this could have been a Newcastle score.

There was no cohesion in our play. We were unable to retain possession and vulnerable to their attacks. It’s illuminating that neither Grealish or Silva threatened us. They were just parked on the wings. And Gundogan just stayed locked in alongside Rodri denying us any space to create. Poor Odegaard was unable to exert any influence.

The good news was that we did not have to suffer Vieira coming on as a sub.

Once Jorginho joined Partey were started to gain some control of the game. By then though City were already on cruise control. But it was a distinct improvement with Jorginho and Trossard. And there was a nice little cameo from Nelson.

This was reality check though for us. This was the first big 6 game this season where we were truly outmatched, out played and out gunned. The fact that it was against the best team in Europe should provide some consolation. It’s just a shame we’ve had to play them just as we’ve lost our way; lost our form and lost our momentum. And lost Partey.

We are though still the second best team in the PL. And we remain way ahead of schedule. No-one, at the start of the season, imagined we’d finish second in the league. We had no confidence that we’d even qualify for the Champions League. The fear was another year in the NoHoppaLeague. We have to appreciate how far this team has come and how entertaining they have been. It’s heartbreaking though, that after being TOTL for so long, and enjoying our team for so long, it has to end like this. Such a tepid performance. After three other weak performances.

It does not matter how good City were, we lost this in the prior three games. In fact, just West Ham and Southampton. That would have given us 4 vital points. And, to win the league, you can’t drop points to teams like that. Winning at City is a hard ask but winning at home to Southampton, is what you’d expect from any team that expects to win the League.

Sure, there’s a chance that City might still drop points. But, who’d now bet on us picking ourselves off from the mat now? This is where we can show we’ve learned something from last seasons miserable end to the season. Tuesday we face the disaster that is LA Chelsea. As opposed to the master tactician Pep we’ll face the dunderhead that is Lampard. This is our chance to regain some rhythm and reset the team.

Arteta will be faces with a few decisions now. Does he retain Partey? Or start Jorghino against his old team – not that he’ll recognize any of their players (and not that they recognize each other). And does he find a way of starting Trossard?

I think we can reasonably assume at this point we won’t see our Big Willie again this season. I’m impressed that it’s taken this long for me to mention him. Maybe with him we could have withstood City for longer. This was not entirely Holdings fault (or even largely his fault). But it does demonstrate that as good as our team now is, we are still too exposed in certain positions.

We don’t have the squad depth to compete. And yet, at this stage of the season, we’re only in one competition. Now, we have finally made our way back into the Champions League where we will face the grown up big boys rather than random teams that we’ve never heard of, we’ll need some serious recruitment over the summer.

Wednesday reenforced the need for reinforcements in midfield. I don’t know that Rice is sufficient. We can’t rely on Partey. Neither in terms of performance nor in availability. He is just too injury prone. And (like all of us) he continues to get older. He’ll be 30 next season. And he’s no Casemiro.

It was refreshing to see Smith-Rowe but he barely contributed when he came on nor throughout the season. And Vieira is up there with other great signings like Gervinho, Pepe and Willian. So, like all of us, in order to survive and prosper next season, we’ll need more than Rice.

Arteta needs to find a way to get this team out of this funk so we can end the season, in second place, on a high. After conceding the title, it’s vital that we can regroup and reclaim our style and rhythm. The fans will remain supportive but with upcoming games against Brighton and Newcastle, we need to demonstrate we are not last years team and that we can finish with a flourish.

Writing this so many days after the pain of Wednesday is so much easier. The pain has somewhat subsided. I still can’t fathom the VAR non-offside. Nor the meekness of certain players. Hopefully Tuesday will go some way to rectifying this. This period can’t define our season. It’s so important to regain our momentum. I suspect it’s mostly mental at this stage. But, again, it’s the tactical genius of Lampard next. So that should give us some hope.

And in the meantime, I’ll continue to work with Edu to find those much needed players for our campaign next year.

So, for the last time this year, I’ll sign off and ask you to remember, until tomorrow, we’re still TOTL.

• LB7

Christ, that was painful. The last few weeks have been getting ever more painful. And this was like having your teeth pulled out while simultaneously being forced to listen to a Harry Kane interview.

Yes, still TOTL. But not for much longer. Let’s face it, if, at home, you can’t beat the bottom team in the league it’s hard to believe you can win the league.

Where to begin. Poor Ramsdale. He’s been a star ever since he become our goalie. But, like the Bournemouth mathc, what a horrible way to start. You do have to wonder whether there’s not a mental problem in this team. And then to let them go 2-0 up. Than you Theo.

Normally we start like gangbusters. But this time, sloppiness permeated the team. It seemed like we just assumed we’d win. Credit to Southampton, they put us under pressure. But, truly we looked lethargic and pathetic.

It’s no one persons fault. Well, ok, it is. It’s Salibas fault. If not him then Tommy. Since we lost Saliba our defense has been like a colander except with even more wholes. It shows how this team is so suspectable to a single injury. We just don’t have the depth of squad. Of course, we’re far better off than previous years – in innumerable ways.

But, really, today was excruciating.  This was supposed to be a game to enjoy whereas next Wednesday was going to be the night to fear. But within 15 minute fear had overcome optimism.

While I was relieved to see Zinny back that was offset by the presence of Vieira. I know it’s only his first season but how fucking awful was he today. He just does not fit. It actually took me a while to realize he was actually playing. I kept searching for Xhaka. Don’t tell me we don’t need Xhaka. Today, even though Martinelli was threatening all game, he was not help by Vieira. I just don’t get him. He’s basically useless in this team.  He’s ineffective and indecisive. His passing is weak and he takes too many touches. And his positional sense is all wrong. He takes the space others want to move into. It’s fair to say I’ll have the Ouija board out for the next few weeks praying for Xhaka to stay fit.

And then there is our Rob. Just in case you thought we’d not miss our Willie, Rob continues to dither on the ball, take too many touches and take any momentum out of our build up play. We laboured to move the ball out of our defense. I hate to think what that ugly Norwegian will do to our Rob on Wednesday.

Not that it really matters. I think the league has gone now. And that’s not just because we’ve drawn three in a row. It’s because we’ve lost our momentum just as City have found theirs. It’s funny though, we can still score goals. We just can’t keep clean sheets. We can’t defend. Did I mention that we miss Saliba.

Aside from Rob and the vacuous Vieira, we also had to witness another horrible performance from Partey. He seems to have lost his mojo. He’s always been pivotal to our success. He looses possession, makes sloppy passes and still, right at the end, takes his speculative, wayward shots. He’s had a brilliant season for us. But these last few games he’s clearly been substandard. As long as that remains the case we’re fucked. Maybe he’s exhausted from the season. It just seems like he’s run out of steam. It’s not that he was at fault for the first goal or, even the second. It’s just that his level of play, his urgency has disappeared. Along with his judgment.

In many ways, we were fortunate to come away with a point. Once you’ve gone down 1-3 and shown little sign off life, I thought we were destined to suffer the ignominy of losing to the bottom team. Southampton would have been better off using the same formation as the first half but decided to go with 5 at the back. That created more space for us. But, with Partey moving at glacial speed we barely took advantage.

Both Saka and Martinelli were our stand out players today aided by Odegaard trying hard to buzz around the pitch. They created and scored our important goals. Unfortunately, they were not helped by Jesus who seemed to have completely lost his scoring touch today. He had chances but could barely find out where the goal was.

Arteta should have pulled off Vieria much sooner. And he should never have replaced Zinny. I’m hoping he only did because of his groin. Because once he departed we had no midfield creativity. Trossard, who again shone when he came on, was infinitely superior to Vieira. Though to be fair, a dead, legless tortoise would have been an improvement. And Arteta should have taken off Partey for Jorginho. Now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d ever write.

Today was so dispiriting. It’s so reminiscent of last season. It does make you wonder whether we actually learned any lessons from last year. As I said, it speaks to our mental strength – or lack of it. I will though acknowledge that it was Zinny that gathered the team round when we went 2-0 down. There was real leadership. And this is why he’s so important to this team.

He, Saka and Martinelli can sleep well tonight. And Ben White. But poor od Ramsdale will be having nightmares about his start. He just has to forget it though. He’s bailed us out enough times this season.

Whatever happens now we have to remember that for 30+ games we were the best in the league. I also hope that this three game skid will end on Wednesday. At some point we will recover. I just fear it requires Saliba to return. And that might not be until next season.

So, without being too depressed about this – I’ve not yet turned up the gas oven – I think we have to assume we’ve blown it now. Sure, City will drop some points at some point. But, we’re just not just playing and getting the results of a team that wins the League. And, arguably, the last three matches would demonstrate we don’t deserve it. It was ours for the taking. But we’ve made too many mistakes. We’ve beaten ourselves here. Sure, Liverpool were decent against us but against WHU and today we made too many unforced errors. We were too sloppy, too careless. Those are not the characteristics of a team that wins the league.

Maybe it’s the youth of the team, maybe it’s just inexperience. More likely it’s due to the lack of squad depth. And, given the evolution and development of this club, maybe that’s inevitable. Unlike City we don’t have 24 world class interchangeable internationals.  I know that sounds like an excuse. But, if I thought we might be learning lessons – which I’d assumed we’d done last season – I be able to take some solace from today.

You can’t win the league with our Rob and Vieira having to play too many important games. I’d always thought the outcome for us would be dictated by injuries. I’d assumed it would hinge on Partey. Our recent transfers have been stellar. It’s not a surprise that the odd one or two would be failures. But this summer we clearly need another right footed center-half in addition to Declan Rice (at least). Or to find a way to make sure both White and Tommy stay fit. In some ways we are lucky that White has been resilient and not sent off (yet). Because if we lost him we might even pine for the days of Cedric.

So, sure, we’re still TOTL, but not for much longer. I’ll try to remind myself that we’re still way ahead of schedule for this team. It’s progressed beyond anyone’s reasonable expectations. It just doesn’t do anything to make today any less painful. It seems like such a waste of a golden opportunity.

-LB7

TOTL still. But, oh dearie me. This was unquestionably 2 points dropped. This felt like deja—vu from last week just without the quality from the opposition.

This will be a short one today (that’s what she said). I don’t have the heart or soul to relive todays game. It’s just too painful. And wasteful. We had this in the palm of our hands. Another perfect start only to make a stupid mistake and change the entire momentum of the game.

This was the poorest game I’ve seen Partey play for us this season. After another brilliant start it felt like we decided the game was done. Partey was taking too many touches and being too nonchalant. And then Gabriel foolishly jumped in where no tackle was required as Holding was just about the hoof the ball clear. Between the two of them we handed them their first goal.

I feel sorry for Saka. That was a crucial penalty to miss. For him, it will rank alongside his Euro miss. Though, of course, this one was way more important. No-one should care about a stupid England result. But this could have helped pave the way to our first premier league title. Of course, we’d not be anywhere close to this level without him. So, no hard feelings Saka.

At this stage though we are suffering from a crisis of confidence. We are making mistakes that are just born from pressure. I don’t believe for a minute this is unrelated to the shadow of the devil in the northwest that is lurking just behind us. But if you want to win the league you have to find ways of overcoming this mental pressure.

That first 35 minutes again was so smooth and dominant. We must though find a way to go from 1-0 up to 3-0. Maybe we can score the second and third goal simultaneously. Because, that 2-0 score line just kills us. We seem to slip into a trance and then loose drive and focus. Once they scored their first goal we barely regained control of the game. I think we were shell-shocked.

Our issue is not creating chances or scoring goals. Our issue is our defense. Today we were severely hampered by the lack of both Saliba and Zinny.  I have often stated that we need our Big Willie back to have any chance of winning the league. But, today, this was compounded with Zinny not playing. Our defense, along with a poor Partey performance – seemed under constant pressure. Neither Holding or Tierney have the composure or positional sense to play in our current team.

I’m not blaming Holding. He’s playing to the best of his ability. But, he was outrun and out played by Antonio. His distribution is uncertain and his speed is lacking. I had thought though we’d be able to get away with it against WHU. But losing Zinny disrupted our creativity on the left. Tierney tried to play as an inverted full-back but it just not come naturally to him.

There is just no way we can win the league when we carry these two. When we needed help to retain the ball and keep possession, Tierney was not able to help. And his marking for their second goal was non-existent.

After that first 35 minutes – as last week – it’s soul destroying to watch us throw away 2 points to a bang average team. It speaks, yet again, to our collapse at the end of last season. We have this title within reach. Yet, you don’t deserve to win the league if you can’t put these types of games away.

Beyond the replacements, Partey, as mentioned was poor today. As poor as I can remember. And Saka was, after the first goal, too quiet. Jesus worked hard but neither Xhaka or Martinelli (beyond his assist) impacted the game. Odegaard worked hard, making himself available at all times. But too often we were left with Gabriel and Holding on the ball.

But, I’ll come back to our defense. The stupid mistakes that Gabriel is making – the penalty and the dithering when he was being challenged by Antonio – is as a result of not having his usual partner alongside him. We need Willie back. I worry though we will go into our next 2 games without him. And for that, I fear for our chances.

Sure, there were many other results this weekend that made me laugh out loud. You have to love Bournemouth coming back to North London and, this time, leaving with all three points. Somehow, they managed to replicate us but this time against that lot. Even down to scoring the winner with the last kick of the game.

Maybe all that laughing resulted in me messing with my own Karma.

And then there was LA Chelsea being soundly outplayed and smashed by Brighton. More laughing. And more Karma for me. I mean, who in their right mind would sit down and after spending £20m on your manager decide, without the influence of alcohol or weed, that in any world we know that Lampard is a better manager than Potter?

Unfortunately, that was all yesterday. Today we can only look at ourselves. Our lack of composure and our inability to control the ball killed us today. And for that I look to Partey. OK, maybe he was also impacted by not having Zinny near him. But, once we swapped Partey for Jorginho, we finally started to regain control. Saka, after the penalty, had one more breakaway from which he failed to trouble them. And from that point on we barely tested their goal.

However, if you score twice away from home – and against WHU – you should rightly expect to win. You have to be able to defend. And today – as last week – we just looked too shaky, too unsteady.

I have to remind myself, even as we enter this seemingly dark phase of the season, that I’ve enjoyed our football this year more so than at any time in the last 19 years. We have been the most entertaining team in the league. We have elevated our game to a level that no-one expected. We have enjoyed more explosive moments, more pure Arsenal football and more progress than any of us had a right to expect. I remind myself of this as a wipe away the tears from todays result. Knowing, that we have too many critical games coming up – not just City but Newcastle and Brighton – not to ignore Southampton – just when we seemed to have lost our momentum.

We have seen other runs where we have faltered and then recovered. But this feels different. I’m not so worried about Fridays game. But I am fearful of City. Especially if our Rob has to play. We need to find that backbone that we showed towards the end of the Liverpool game. I did not see it today. We need to improve our concentration levels and not look at the scoreline.

I had hoped that we’d learned something from last week but alas this was like a painful groundhog day experience. That is worrying. You would have thought we’d have know better.

The psychological damage from this game, last weeks result and the implosion at the end of last season could become our biggest barrier now to any long-term success. If we, as a suspect we will, fail to win the league, this will further damage this young team. Even with the self-evident progress from last year and the imminent qualification for the Champions League, this will leave an enduring scar on the team. It will define us for next year. Our ability to not crack under pressure. It will become an albatross around the neck of this team. I don’t want that specter hanging over us. So, let’s hope and pray that, come Friday, we recover to make lite of Southampton, that Theo remembers his true loyalty and that Big Willie finds a witch-doctor or medicine man to enable him to put in a few minutes on the pitch.

For the moment though, we remain TOTL.

-LB7

Still TOTL. But not for long. It was nice while it lasted.

A game of two halves. Well nearly. Pre Xhaka yellow and post. Domination and then defending. Prior to that White – who could not place a pass the entire game – got a yellow. With Paul Tierney referring you would have bet that one of them would have got sent off. Instead he decided to give them a soft penalty.

BTW, have you noticed how Partey does not get yellows or reds any more? Let’s hope I did not jus jinx him.

Poor old Zinny, literally on the bench nearly in tears after making the mistake leading to their second goal. But it was coming. Somehow Sala missed a penalty. This was a crazy, intense game. Liverpool at home is a different proposition. Even though we dropped two points, we still had chances for the third goal. We could have stolen something. But I suppose we should be grateful for Aaron and one point.

Even after these dropped two points, I have a little more faith that away against City could be interesting. Not that I’m blaming Holding for any part of today – not even the penalty – but by then we’ll need our Willie back.  We were largely outplayed from the 35^th minute onwards. Arsenal of old would have found a way to lose this one. As Liverpool got more physical, we were put under extreme pressure. City, aside from the thug Rodi, are not as physical. They play more open football. And if the version of the first 35 minutes turn up then I think we can get a point. That’s all we need.

That first 35 minutes was classic new Arsenal. All rhythm, control and possession. We made them look ordinary. We exploited the space around Trent Arnold and dominated the midfield. Xhaka with Zinny were excellent. And Martinelli shredded TA on multiple occasions. White’s only accurate pass of the game open up Saka to have them running backwards. Then care of a deflection Martinelli was there to grab the deserved first goal. In complete control and without any crowd momentum, we dominated. They had the odd breakaway. We had a classic Tierney yellow card on White. And then Xhaka perfectly released Martinelii. TA out of position again resulted in Konate coming out wide. And the perfect cross was there to Jesus to put us two nil up.

Maybe it was inevitable Liverpool would come back into the game. They could not be this poor for the entire match. However, we were not helped by Tierney. For me the turning point was when Xhaka had the ball on the left hand side of the pitch and Konate took two swipes at Xhaka. Kicking him twice. Tierney, being the complete tosspot that he is, could not see a foul there. But Xhaka could, and everyone else could on replay. And thereafter, with injustice running through his veins, Xhaka allowed himself to get tied up with TA. Which both brought the mandatory yellow card and the crowd back into the game. From this point on Liverpool were fired up. Last year it was the clash between Arteta and Klopp and this year it was TA and Xhaka. But if Tierney could actually ref a game fairly this situation would never have developed.

Odegaard was pretty quiet thereafter and we could not get Saka back into the game. White, who I’m sure is less confident with Holding alongside him had his hands-full and could not release Saka. Gabriel was having to stick tight to Sala as Zinny continued to wander the pitch.

This game won’t define our season. However, if we’d lost it might have. This was such an intense, competitive game riddled with tension and fear. There were so many times when we came close to losing all three points. So, I suppose we should be grateful for a point. But having gone two up, it still feels like a lost opportunity. Maybe it’s the youth of the team. The lack of familiarity competing in the cauldron of Anfield heat. Maybe it will be a good lesson for what we’ll have to face at both City and Newcastle. And maybe the memory of last years abject performance at St. James Park will provide the experience and motivation to propel us through these games.

Jesus is so important to this team. Not just his goals and link up play. And as impressive as Trossard has been, he just does not work as hard as Jesus. Well, no-one does to be fair. And when he was withdrawn their defense just had a little more time on the ball. This is not a criticism of Trossard but more the realization of the impact of Jesus.

Martinelli continued to be the inspiration for most of our attacks. He destroyed them on the wing. But it was not Saka’s day today. Aside from not receiving any protection from the overly physical Robertson – who only got a yellow for his fracas with the linesman – Saka was not able to finish off a couple of breakaways. We were not able to press in the second half. We went into our shell.

And then we brought on our subs. One could question why Arteta replaced Zinny with Kiwior. That’s a tough introduction for someone who’s only played 10 minutes for us this season. Tierney would have been the obvious replacement. Kiwior’s first action was to clatter into a player leading to a break that Ramsey managed to repel.

Its hard to be critical of Zinny as he’s been so pivotal to our success this year. But he was skinned by TA who then tee’d up their equalizer. And even then Ramsdale will have time for two world class saves.

So it’s hard not to think this was a point gained rather than two lost. And hopefully we will channel the frustration into our next game. There is no margin for error now. And, hopefully, there is no more Paul Tierney on the radar for us either.

This is what happens when you take the Big Willie out of Arsenal. Unlike City we don’t have that strength in depth. As much as we like Rob’s hair he’s just not at the same level. We know. And I think he knows it. And I’m sure Arteta knows it. This was too reminiscent of that disaster at WHL last year. And yet again Paul Tierney was involved. He really is an unqualified Counterpunching Unadulterated Nummuts Twat. How do we end up with him refereeing our games?

But then how do most of them. I watched the Brighton game yesterday and was stunned by the ineptitude of the VAR referee. Michael Salisbury. I’ve never seen him referee but it would scare me shitless based on this performance. He disallowed 2 legitimate Brighton goals and then completely whiffed on a stone cold penalty for Brighton. How is that even possible? We could all see what he saw. It does not take a PhD in football to see that foul.

So, what was he looking at? And it’s not VARs fault. It’s the VAR referee. We saw Lee Mason and Mike Dean screwing up. But we knew them from screwing up as actual refs. This is befuddling. How can someone, whose sole job it is, to watch the game and then take 30+ seconds to re-review decide – after 3 minutes to disallow a clear Brighton goal and then within 3 seconds ignore an unambiguous foul on a Brighton player?

This is not a technology issue – this is a people issue. And the lack of ability. The VAR refs must be mic’d up so we can hear their deliberations. And they must have a timer to make their decision. The first instance where Mitoma had a goal disallowed took over 3 minutes. And then the Welbeck disallowed goal took another 3 minutes. Neither was clear and obvious. Unlike the missed penalty. That was beyond doubt fucking obvious.

Something needs to be done to acknowledge and then change the lack of quality in the VAR decisions. There are more instances of fucked up VAR decisions than there are of actual referee ones – aside from Paul Tierney. How is that possible? The refs operate under the watchful eye of 50,000 screaming fans and 24 baying players let along the managers and their coaches. Whereas these refs operate in the secluded, relaxed, luxurious surrounding of Stokley Park completely devoid of pressure. And yet they continue to mis-use the VAR technology and made endless mistakes. Make the VAR team be at each game. And put them on camera. And give them a timer to work through. The actual referee has a split second so they should not need more than 30 seconds.

This game was as intense as I can remember. More so than when we destroyed Sp*rs or when we beat, at home United and Liverpool. This was a different level of intensity. This is what can happen at Anfield. So, I think I’m coming round to accepting the one point even though we, technically, let them back into the game.

Now we have another week to hope that more City players might get injured midweek. Their fixture is against the wandering, lost, Roger-less Leicester team. So there’s not risk there to City. We have to gather ourselves for the trip to the Hammers and just pray that we can see the return of Saliba. For us to persevere, we must find our Big Willie.

-LB7

New month and still TOTL. And this was no joke. Unlike Liverpool who were brutalized by City. Just in case we’d forgotten they were lurking right behind us.

We started without the wonder boy Saka – the first time this season – but also minus our big Willie. Arteta will miss his Willie for a while it seems. Instead, we had Holding and his hair along with the return of Jesus. So, it was Holding for Willie and Jesus for Saka though we did have Partey. Whereas for Leeds it seemed they decided to concede the points and leave their few key players on the bench.

Yet this game started like we were playing Bournemouth. Right from the kick-off we were exposed on the left and Ramsdale had to make an alert save. Collective amnesia from that painful Bournemouth experience is the only explanation. Let’s see when someone else tries this move.

Throughout the first half Leeds created chances. Whereas our ball movement was slow and purposeless, Leeds were creative and sharp especially on our right. It was reminiscent of playing Palace. Maybe the useless International break had disrupted us unlike City. Gradually we started to impose ourselves on the game and regain control. It was noticeable that most good things occurred on our left with Jesus floating out there and interchanging with Martinelli. But our right side was very quiet. With Trossard operating out there we barely made a cross. Both Odegaard and White looked a little lost without their starboy. Trossard looked equally uncomfortable.

We barely had a shot on target in that first half. We could not find any penetration. While we had plenty of possession there was no fluency or speed to our play. And yet, somehow, we managed to go ahead before half-time. Jesus, in the box, put two men on their arses with the second one tapping him on the knee. That was enough for a penalty decision. Without Saka and with Jorginho (thankfully) on the bench it seemed Odergaard would step up. Instead we witnessed the resurrection of the Jesus. Not that I like penalties like that, it was enough to put us ahead. Not quite deserved but maybe it was a result of the cumulative pressure being applied.

Leeds really were pretty good though – in the first half anyway – often forcing both Odegaard and Trossard to put in a decent defensive shift. Odegaard works so much harder now out of possession. And, of course, Jesus, is all over the pitch. His energy is contagious. But it’s important to be able to grind out results. That’s what the leading teams do. So, we thankfully made it to half-time with the lead.

As we’ve seen so often, this was a game of two halves. And in the second one we turned up and resumed where we had been before the break. Our play sped up, our passing was sharper. And, most importantly, Trossard was untethered from the right hand side. He began to float around the pitch and we became more fluid. Within two minutes Zinny feed Martinelli to tee up White at the back post. We were dominant now. With Odegaard and Trossard leading the way, Jesus linked up with Trossard for the critical third goal. At this point the game felt wrapped-up. Another no pressure result, a nice stroll in the afternoon. But then Leeds, after making numerous substitutions, managed an attack, a shot and a deflected goal. Now it seemed truly reminiscent of the Palace game. But before the nerves could return, Saka fed Odegaard for a classic cross for Xhaka to nod in. It’s a shame he couldn’t have been on the end of his own cross in the first half when Jesus headed over. Anyway, that just about sealed the game for us.

That was a pretty impressive Jesus performance today. About as good as we’ve seen him. Roaming around the pitch – tracking back to defend in the second half – interchanging with Martinelli. Even if he missed he’s first headed chance thereafter he was involved in everything. I’ve tried to restrain myself in the obvious Jesus and Easter association but it’s fair to say he just about nailed his performance today, no hanging around and helped resurrect us. Yes, I’m that predictable. Sorry.

Anyway, just 9 games left now. And we’re about to enter a pretty tricky phase with some crucial fixtures that will determine whether we can actually win this league. For the moment we deservedly remain TOTL. But now the nerves will come into play. If we look down below, we’re about 3 or 4 games from finally claiming our spot back in the champions league for next season. But if our sights are set higher, then we have to find a way to grab points at City, Liverpool and Newcastle. That will define our season. And, by then we’ll need our Big Willie back. I do hope someone is taking good care of him. Because, as much as Holding is a solid player he’s really not at the same level. We saw that in the run-in last season. And we saw that again today. And there’s a knock-on effect to Gabrielle and White. Against better and sharper teams Holding will inevitably be found out.

This team is so far head of where they should be. If you can ignore the first half, we saw today yet another display of high pressing, high intensity creative football that is only really matched by City. We had no right to expect this quality of play so soon. Nor our position. Arteta has completely reinvented this team. And, as I keep saying, our best years are ahead of us. If we can somehow pull this off and stay top through the end of the year, it will be a springboard for the next 5 years. That is when this team will have fully matured. Look at Klopp’s Liverpool. They had a 5 year run. That is what lies ahead. Our promised land. We just need to keep our key players fit.

Leaving Saka on the bench was largely driven by his cold but was important. We have to be able to function without our best player. And we have to find additional players to support Odegaard and Partey. Because Vieira and Jorginho aren’t enough. Though, that’s a little unfair to Jorginho. When he came on we kept smoothly functioning. Whereas Vieira drifts much further forward compared to Odegaard. I know it’s only his first year but I just don’t think he positionally fits into this team.

But now we have to focus on the trip to Anfield. Unfortunately, they have no midweek games to distract them. Having been dismantled by a Haaland-less City they will be a different proposition at home. Klopp and the Kop will have them fully ramped up and energized for this game. I can remember too many painful performances at Anfield where we were completely overrun. Hopefully, we’ll see this more evolved and resilient Arsenal. Hopefully we’ll have the backbone and grit required. And hopefully we’ll have our big Willie back. Because I fear for Holding against the speed of Liverpool.

I’d hoped that with Haaland and Foden out, that City might slip up. And maybe they still will. They have many more games to play. But they have two full teams to pick from. And, without Haaland, they can revert to their free-flowing play of last year. But, you know, if you want to win the league, you have to be able to get points from these types of games. So, with nine games left it’s going to be a nerve tingling, bum scratching, intense few months.

It’s not possible to expect us to win every remaining game. But we can also hope that City can’t either. We need them to continue in the F A Cup and the Champions League. And we could do with someone tackling Rodri the way Rodri tackles our players. He really has turned into a thug. A fitting replacement for Fernandinho.

I’m not used to this tension so late in the season. It’s been nearly two decades since we were legitimately challenging for the tittle in April. By now we’d normally struggling to get into the NoHoppaCup. Instead, we have to remind ourselves this is what we should aspire to; that we should embrace the fear and nerves. At least though Arteta knows what involved. As do Zinny and Jesus.

So now we have another 7 days off until Sunday. Enough time to place our Willy in the cryogenic chamber. Enough time to bring in the witch doctors. Enough time to pray to Jesus. As Easter approaches we can at least expect Jesus to use his powers to help our Willy. Because we’ll need him on Sunday.

In the meantime, again, continue to enjoy being TOTL. We’ll be there for at least another few weeks. I’m off to light some incense and engage Buddha for our Willie.

-LB7