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