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