Month: November 2023

TOTL. Again. But surely not for long. This seemed destined to be a draw until Have-that sneaked in at the back post.  The goal cost $65m; money well spent. More than the value of the entire Brentford team.

We waited two weeks for football to resume after another dreary international break and we had to witness a pretty dreary game. Brentford offered little and we offered just a little bit more than that.

Naturally we have to start with poor Aaron. This was like watching a public lynching. The man seemed to disintegrate before our very eyes. He literally oozed uncertainty. All his prior confidence had evaporated. This was a hollowed out Aaron. He did not seem to know whether he wanted to be Aaron in goal or a copycat Raya. Instead, he was neither. At times it was so painful to watch. This guy was, arguably, the core of the team in his first year with us; the soul of this team. Personality and leadership. And here we are now, and it was hard to watch. It was so sad.

Every time he received the ball Brentford pushed up to pressure him and he was riddled with indecisiveness. From basically complete control of a somewhat dull game, Aaron created their best opportunities. The first one was like watching, in slow motion, a trainwreck. You could see it develop but could do nothing to stop it. Thankfully though we had Rice there to save the day – and his career. If that goal had gone in it could have been terminal for Ramsdale.

Even after the first instance of dithering on the ball he then proceeded to have a mid-throw change of mind and ended up gifting the ball back to them. And all in the first half. Ironically, when Arteta brought Raya in, he famously claimed that, in addition to there being a goalkeeper rotation, he (Arteta) had often regretted not being able to change his goalkeeper during the game. This was the game in which he should have made a change because Aaron was a liability in that first half.

The second half was less painful. But then most of the time Aaron just played it long. Their no-name goalie looked to try and emulate Aaron when he nearly gifted one to Eddie. Apart from that, Aaron seemed to calm down in that second half. Which begs the question. Why did he perform like this? It’s pretty obvious. This was a disaster of Artetas making. From the moment we had the reality distortion of claiming there was a goalie rotation, Aaron quickly figured out there was no belief in him. Raya is the goalie of the future Arsenal and there is no place for him. If there was ever any doubt, then the news leaked just before the game that Arsenal will pick up the Raya option to sign him for £27m in the summer. Just in case Aaron thought he could put in a performance to show everyone that he should be the #1, AFC managed to further undermine his dwindling confidence.

This, in all likelihood, will be the last time we see Arron play for Arsenal. I don’t know I could take another performance like this. That first error was so egregious – it’s just remarkable that Brentford could not manage to score. Against any decent team we’d have been 1-0 down. And you know that every other team will now target him. Of course, I feel so sorry for Aaron. He did not deserve this. He’s been undermined by our own staff and put in a lose-lose situation. And, Aaron lost. Next year I could see him playing in goal for Brentford.

At least though we had Rice. He is the fulcrum of this team. He is the difference. Saka and Martinelli continue to create down the wings, Jesus flutters around. The defense remains solid – even though they were barely tested today. But the difference compared to last year is Rice. When you think back to the bleating about the size of the transfer fee, you now realize how fortunate we are. He provides the platform for everything good about this team. And, as Super Rice, he can also cover for Aaron and clear balls off the line. Today, again, he was the best player on the pitch.

Saka’s performance has waned of late. As much as a love Tomi, I think the absence of White has impacted Saka. The balance on our right is just not there without White. Tomi is an effective defender and a talented player but he does not have the attacking, overlapping instincts of White. And I think that makes it harder for Saka to find space as White is not there to drag one of the defenders away from him.

Odegaard is also suffering from the lack of White. As captain, he seems to be able to convey Arteta’s message on the pitch but he’s not really asserted himself. And did not today. Most of our creativity came down our left. Zinny seemed to be a little bit less inverted than normal. But he feed Martinelli, who looked our most promising outlet. And then Trossard continued to float around the pitch. He was not always able to track back but does have a good rapport with our two Brazilians.

As quiet as Saka was though he created both instances in which we got the ball in the net. The first one, I suppose, was off-side, but by a toe-nail. I just don’t understand why it took VAR so long to rule it out. It really does not inspire confidence when it takes this long; it’s feels random. Once you saw the lines, it made more sense. But why can’t this be automated. It really does take away the fundamental enjoyment of watching games and celebrating any goal when you’re left in suspended animation as the grinch of VAR runs its eye over every facet of a goal.

Thankfully in the second instance the goal stood. Have-that finally had his moment of glory. Saka had swung over a few of those crosses in the second half for Martinelli. Each time there was a little panic in their defense. But Martinelli is not going to win headers. The substitutions worked again today. Eddie, though he made a few mistakes was more involved that Jesus. And Have-that linked up play well and then delivered the most important header of the game; care of Saka.

As Brentford offered nothing, we deserved to nab the three points. But it was a little painful to watch. Especially with Aaron. At the games end our players all flooded around him. I think mainly out of sympathy. He is clearly loved by everyone at Arsenal. Apart that is from our goalkeeper coach and Arteta. I think the also realized this was likely his last game for us.

So, we return to the top of the table. And yet we’ve still not found our rhythm of last year. Today we were just a little ponderous and lacking an established pattern of play. Unlike last year, we have the defensive solidarity we lacked but maybe at the expense of our creativity. And, unlike last year, no-one can accuse us of peeking to early. If we were only able to get Partey back to then have our ideal midfield of Partey-Rice-Odergaard. But I suspect we won’t ever see that happen. But at least for the next two games we know we won’t have to suffer watching Vieira.

It’s important for us to be able to eke out wins such as this. Away at Brentford has been the type of venue where, in prior years, we’d have lost let along alone drop two points. Today was another sign of our incremental progress. Less scintillating but equally important. We dominated for large periods of this game. And, in that last 15 minutes, once the substitutions had been made, it was wave after wave of attacks. It just never looked like we’d score. Until Have-that turned up at the back-post.

Before looking ahead though let’s review the only item of significance from the last two weeks. How is it possible for the inept FA (along with their incompetent PMGOL) to deduct 10 points from Everton? Are they too stupid to realize the impact of this decision? How we will all now naturally look in aghast at the clear distortions at Man City and Chelsea and struggle to understand how it is they are avoiding any retribution for their financial sins. Of course, their cases are separate and distinct. And City have not admitted to them. All 115 of them. But, surely the FA must realize we now expect some action on this front. To have set the threshold at 10 points and combined with the speed of this decision has now created a rod for their own back regarding these two other teams. The longer this now drags on the more the reputation of the FA will get dragged into disrepute. Given that their reputation is already a shambles if they delay too long or capitulate to City, they will end up with the same credibility as FIFA.

I feel a little sorry for Everton. Not that I’m against them getting relegated. But their sin was a mere £20m whereas City – and Chelski – have engineered financial doping at the most extreme levels. Maybe the impending Independent Government Regulator is finally causing the FA to finally focus on these cases. But if Everton are the only team penalized then it really will be beyond a joke and will just make a mockery of the corruption in our game – which must be, finally, rooted out.

In the meantime, we have Lens during the week. It would be nice to win this one and finally put the group stage to rest. As we need to rest Rice and others. There are too many important games ahead and too few players that we can truly rely on. With Partey and ESR unavailable, we need to protect the spine of our team. And the best way to do that is to be able to rest players for the final group game.  At least we won’t have to suffer any stupid international games until March. We can focus on the league. We need to watch out for Liverpool as well as City. But this will, as last year, depend on our performances in March and beyond. So, we have time to find our rhythm. But in the meantime, it’s sure nice to be back where we belong. TOTL.

-LB7

How we will miss Burnley and Sheffield United. Another three points though we had to work harder for them this time. After the injustice of Newcastle it was refreshing to get back to winning ways in advance of yet another meaningless, useless, tedious International break of two weeks. It’s really disruptive to the rhythm of this league and I can’t fathom why the FA put up with this – let alone the rest of Europe. Just as the season feels like it’s building some momentum we have to stop again. At least we’re free of this rubbish until March.

It does have the slight benefit that our injured players can hopefully recover their fitness. Not Partey. But more on that later.

Burnley are more talented than Sheffield but the game felt pretty similar. It took just one moment to prize them open care of Trossard bouncing off the post after the soaring Saka won a header in the box. There was a sense of inevitability about this. However, they managed to sneak one in. And one I could not blame Raya for. Though I’ll ponder on that and see if there’s an angle I’m missing.

Trossard was so good throughout the game. It took him a while to get going but once he did he was involved in all things creative. Without Odegaard to pull the strings we were dependent on him and the resurgent Zinny. All complemented but the perpetual motion of Martinelli. Saka was a little subdued. But then his support system of White and Odegaard were missing.

Are we the new Stoke? Or Bolton? The number of goals originating from corners is so unlike us. Maybe we’ll sign Rory Delap and start on the long-throws. Their goalie – who was so impressive in the U21 Euros this summer – was found wanting on both corners – especially the first one. Once Saliba soared to head our second goal I held my breath waiting for VAR to find some criminal office that would deprive us. A three minute gap in between their equalizer and us restoring the lead was extend of any angst in this game. I believe that was the first goal Saliba has scored since Palace at the start of last season.

Then Zinny rounded off a performance we’d not seen from him since last year with a graceful strike into the top corner. That secured the three points and allowed the substitutions to rain in. Of course, our boy Vieira found a way to pull off an Eddie tackle to get himself sent off the pitch just after coming on. At least that removes him for three games. That should give Have-that even more time to adjust. Aside from missing a header from the corner in the first half he still seemed subdued. We have to remain patient with him but the two of them don’t exactly inspire great confidence.

Of course Rice sets the benchmark quite high for new signings. He continues to excel and dominate this team. Without the rest of the midfield we are so fortunate to have him bind this team together. He must be the best midfield player in the EPL at this point. Which brings us back to the partyless Partey. He’s missing inaction now until next year. I think I could get fit in that time. He seems fated to spend at least half the season in the stands. When he’s actually healthy, he’s an absolute star. His style fits our team perfectly. And to have him alongside Rice improves the team tactically and technically. Today, against inferior opposition, Jorginho more than adequately filled in that role. But against teams not rooted to the floor of the table, we need someone with more pace and stamina.

And we are now so suspectable to further injuries. I’m fearful of even suggesting what might happen to us if Rice is suspended or injured. We have Mo on the bench and then the cupboard is bare. It would seem that we will have to dip into Kroenke’s pockets again come January. Because even if Partey is fit by then, he’ll be off to the ACN for the month of January. And then inevitably he’ll come back injured.

As improved as this squad is, it’s hard to find suitable backups for players like Odegaard, Saka and Partey. Of course, we have one in goal. But it seems poor Aaron is destined to never play for us again. Raya had nothing to do against Burnley. But at least Southgate, who still refuses to pick White, will stick by Aaron so maybe he’ll get minutes for England instead of us. Lucky I’m not bitter about Raya. Oh, any maybe he won’t be able to play in our next game against Brentford because of the loan agreement. So, finally, we can see Aaron play again – and then summarily dropped again.

Tomi was impressive at right back until he got roasted prior to their solitary goal. Once we went down to 10 men he got tested more. But having him fit and available is also key for us. He is one of our secret weapons. He can play anywhere. Well, apart from goalie. As Raya has that one locked down.

These are the games where ESR should have been playing. We miss him. I hope he does not end up like our Jack. Always hurt. Though with Jack that was because he played too many games when he was younger and, also, never received protection from the refs.

Now we have two weeks of nothing. I will miss this team. I enjoy watching them stroll around and control games. They continue to develop. We just need to protect our players until we can add to the squad. Poor young Saka looks like he could use some time away from useless Internationals. He is crucial to this team but seems like he running on fumes currently. He should be wrapped in cotton wool and protected rather than wasting his talents on England.

We are sufficiently close to City in the table. They are there though without KDB. We can’t afford any real injuries in our midfield now. Or up front. Without Jesus, Partey and Odegaard we are vulnerable. So let’s hope everyone returns from international duty unscathed. Martinelli is someone who also looks on the edge of re-injuring his hamstring. But I fear he’ll be playing for Brazil.

For the next ten days we should each be praying to our respect gods for them all to return healthy. Enjoy the break. I’m already bored by this disruption. Time to get into my time machine and jump forward to the Brentford game.

-LB7

What’s the point? And what is a point? Two questions. Both of which can’t be answered. All we’ll talk about is VAR and it’s inconsistency. How it’s introduction is causing more controversy. This was a game that should have ended nil nil. We should have earned a point. How much will that point hurt us? How much will the additional 2 points benefit Newcastle?

This was a gritty, physical game. Have-that, on another day, with another referee could have got a straight-red. It was not worthy of one but still. Jump in like that and you take your chances. But then Bruno runs past Jorginho and elbows him intentionally in the head. Clear as day light. The ref has no ability to see this but VAR can easily review this and bring it to Atwell’s attention. This is what VAR is supposed to be there for, right? Bruno, who acted liked a complete twat the entire game. He was more Anthony than Odegaard today. Bruno was petulant and violent. A performance Anthony would be proud of. And this elbow was so clearly intentional and unnecessary but clear as daylight. And yet VAR chose not to do anything?

It’s not the technology it’s the people using it. Maybe we need AI in VAR. Because we need something to correct for the unaccountable mistakes that continue to be made. Referees at at least an excuse that  they have to make split second decisions while running up and down a field with the crowd screaming at them – along with the players and managers. The VAR assistants are sat in a nice snug office somewhere in middle England. They have the technology, the time and the resources to make the correct decisions. Yet time and again they fail.

As the quality, speed and standard of football continues to evolve and improve the standard of refereeing continues to go in the opposite direction. Of course, the same technology provides more scrutiny of their decisions. So when will this change? What will it take for a complete review and analysis of the standard of our refs? And how do we improve the decisions we all have to suffer under. Because, as we stand, it’s underming the credibility of the games, the results and detracting from the enjoyment of the game. And, it’s not accountable. You know it’s not accountable because it just continues merrily along the same path with the same people offering the same platitudes. In any other business the shareholders or owners would have changed their business model or gone out of business. But here the FA allow the PGMOL to continue to drive the car full of players and fans right off the cliff.

And that was just the Bruno elbow. As for the goal itself. That’s a hattrick of decisions that went against us. I don’t see how the first one is even under debate. The ball was out. End of story. We saw this excact same thing impact Manchester United at home. The ball was out and the goal was cancelled out. So how was this not disallowed. I don’t care what anyone says, we could see it clearly with our own eyes.

Then Gabriel was clearly pushed in the back by JoeLinton. Every goal is checked right? We could all see the hands on his back pushing Gabriel. Was Gabriel already going down? Who knows. Who cares. He was pushed. And then Gordon was clearly in an offside position ahead of Raya. How can they claim any of these decisions were not clear? To everyone watching they were clear. Were they just scared of making the right call? You can’t blame Atwell. But you have to blame the VAR officials.

Of course, this all obscures the fact that Raya completely flapped on the cross. He should have punched or palmed that away. How does he miss this? Though his distribution was better today that’s yet another mistake. And this one cost us two points. But there’s no way Aaron is going to replace him. Not unless Raya has both arms and legs amputated. And even then, he’d be pushed out there with a wheelchair.

I’ll try to look beyond the incompetence of VAR (amd Raya) and focus on the other elements of this game.

We matched them physically and were clearly not outplayed. It was an even match generally with neither side actually testing either keeper. Our defense was rock solid. Having Tomi at left back helped nullify their little Peruvian. Gabriel was physically up to the task (aside from when getting pushed in the back) and Saliba was even more impressive than normal. And White was as reliable as ever.

In front of him Rice was outstanding. He was the best player on the park. There are times when I wonder whether Rice will realize he’s the best player on this team. Same as when he was at West Ham. Though we are clearly better than them, at some point he’s got to wonder whether he should be on Real Madrid. This boy is remarkable. His ability to recover, his ability to truly run box-to-box, is superior to anything we’ve had since the glory days of the real Vieira. Both Rice and Saliba are of a different class. We will need to achieve great heights to retain both of them. That’s not a worry for now but for a couple of years from now.

Without Odegaard we lacked creativity. Jorginho was able to provide cover for the defense and link the back-line, Rice made some lung-busting runs but there was no-one to unlock Saka. Martinelli worked hard and most of our threat came down our left but there were very few chances. As such Eddie, who worked hard closing them down and generally put in a very decent shift, saw no really opportunities today. Saka was as uninvolved as I can remember.  

Unlike prior appearances at St. James Park, this team turned up. They fought for the right to play, possessed the ball for long periods but just lacked that slice of luck. We won numerous corners and stood-toe-to-toe with them. As the game worn on I figured we’d wear them down and nick a goal. Instead VAR decided to award them one.

Then we started to rotate the team and bring on more of a threat. Except that included my friend Vieira who would not threaten a defenseless mouse. He’s not exactly the player we need when we’re chasing a game. Zinny helped provide additional momentum and Have-that moved more centrally but we still could not – aside from one Rice header – really threaten their goal.

This is a game that will live in infamy because of VAR. But we also have to look at ourselves. Without key players such as Odegaard and with Saka off his usual standards we really only had Martinelli to cause havoc. Trossard was unable to have an impact – though he has in the past. And Nelson remained on the bench.

As we know this is a long season. One loss – as distasteful as it was – won’t determine the outcome. Of course, it removes the margin for future errors. There is a lot right about this team. But it’s still a few pieces short of being able to win the league. This match though will help fuel the sense of injustice. When we go to Anfield and City we need to bottle this feeling and take it with us.

In the meantime, all we need to know about this game is VAR 1 Arsenal 0.

-LB7