I thought it could not get worse after West Ham. Boy was I wrong. This one needed going into the next year to recover from. What a way to end the year leaving the worst to last.
This was pretty self-evident to everyone. Here is just short list of applicable adjectives – abject, lifeless, soul destroying, ineffective, lackluster, aimless, predictable. It really defies explanation how a team could implode so quickly. Except that we’ve seen this before. Last time was in April/May but then we could blame injuries to Saliba, Partey and Tomi. Here we saw the inevitably injured Zinny replaced by Kiwor. Maybe Zinny has been carrying this for a while – which might explain his performances.
Within 4 minutes we’d scored a slightly lucky goal; it’s not like Saka got a clean touch on the ball. And then we had to wait for VAR to try and rule it out. This one started with the quick distribution of Raya and then a classic Martinelli break up field.
From then on it progressively got worse. It was like watching the life drain out of our team. So many mistakes and simple giveaways. Kiwor was exposed on the left. He’s decent player but lacking the pace to be a full-back. And, of course, he was caught out for their equalizer. But then so was White. He found it tough to mark their full-back all game long.
Saka was again off his game (again). He wasn’t able to beat Robinson with any one-on-one. Aside from missing that (difficult) chance in the second half Saka seemed lost. As did most of the team. Our triangles on the right were slow and ponderous. Odegaard seemed the only one willing to put in the work. But there was no creativity. There was no movement up front. This might have been Eddies most ineffectual game – and that’s a pretty low bar.
Eddie barely touched the ball. For someone who finally got his chance to start a game it was a utterly wasted opportunity. He did himself no favours. Of course he suffered because there was zero fluency, rhythm or pace about our game. It was a classic possession without any intent performance. We moved the ball around with no intent. Yet, when Fulham (easily) recovered the ball, they moved it quickly forward and took on our full backs. They looked the better team.
This performance was that of a team that looked at the end of an era not the start. This looked like a performance of a team in disarray; with no identity. As poor as we were against West Ham this was far worse. Against West Ham it seemed our only problem was being able to score. Against Fulham, it was much more basic. We were incapable of playing basic, fundamental football.
How does this happen and what does this say about us? How can you put in a performance like this when you have a chance to go top of the league? It’s inconceivable that we could win this league now. Forget that we’re still in contention – right in the mix. This speaks – as it did last April/May – to our mental fortitude. For every turnaround we experienced at Luton, we then have games like this. And this lack of inconsistency precludes us from competing with City (or Liverpool).
Forget that we have too many underperforming players. Have-that was anonymous. Martinelli was worse than anonymous; he has completely lost his ability to effect a game. Jesus was isolated and uninvolved (except for working back to help out in defense). We were so poor that even Rice looked uncomfortable. It’s rare you see him out of position chasing back. Or see him making sloppy passes. The spirit seemed drained from this team. The only player that looked decent was Saliba.
There was just no urgency or passion. There was no movement off the ball. Fulham – like West Ham – sat back knowing we could not pass our way through. There were no one-twos, no runs behind and no passing through the lines. We were just devoid of ideas. We really looked like a bang average mid-table team just lacking the passion of those types of teams.
Once we went 2-1 down I was as close as I can ever remember from walking out on this game. It was so frustrating and unenjoyable to watch. If we had put in the effort and created any chances (aside from the Saka one) and threw everything at them and still lost then I could accept that. But not this performance. This was reminiscent of past Arsenal teams. Ones with Mustafi or Aubameyang or Ozil. teams that were floundering for an identity.
The manner of our performance undermines all the good will that this team has built up. It undermines the entire program. Sure, it’s just one game and we’re still in the top four (just). But coming after the draw at Liverpool and then the home defeat against West Ham, it’s inexplicable for this team (especially, once it had the lead after 4 minutes), to not have the backbone, spirit or football intelligence to navigate their way to even a draw. There was an emptiness, a void, in this team that brings into question the viability of this team and it’s management.
The first question, the obvious question, is has Arteta started to lose this team? If you can’t get yourself up to win a game that would enable you to go TOTL, have the players started to tune him out? I hope that’s not the case. So maybe, it’s the fact we’ve not rotated the team. We’ve played Rice in every game. As with Saka and most other players. Is this a consequence of exhaustion over the Christmas period. I hope that’s the case.
Previously I’d argued that the winter transfer window could help us if we sold Eddie and Ramsdale to reinvest in another forward. After this game I’ve now reversed course. I’m firmly of the view that this team is not ready. That we should not burn the future for the present. Sure I’d like an improvement upfront. But rather than waste more money I’d insist that this team – as it currently is – takes responsibility and fixes themselves. Bringing in another player does not solve the problem with this team. This team needs to own their problem and fight their way out of it.
This game was so draining and frustrating it makes writing this blog even more dour and depressing. Having to relive the futility of our performance and the waste of an opportunity – against a team that everyone, recently, has used as a doormat – crushes any love for this team. It makes thinking about Arsenal, Arteta and the future too aggravating.
Even if there’s some sort of reaction or bounce in the next couple of games, it won’t remove the stain of this result. We will always carry the knowledge that – like last season – we can implode at any time. That, on any given Saturday (or Sunday or Monday….), we can quickly revert to a directionless, aimless, identityless, soulless team.
Not the best way to end a year. If only I had confidence we could draw line under this and move forward. On the basis though that this was due to exhaustion, then it comes back to our lack of rotation. Our over-dependancy on Rice, Saka. And the lack of growth in Have-that, Martinelli, Jesus and our full-backs. We have to give more time to Nelson, ESR and Jorginho. We have to share the load around the squad. This is what we failed to do last year. And here we go repeating the same mistake again. As Karl Marx said “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce”. For you youngsters out there, if. you’ve not heard of Karl Marx, he was, back in the 50’s a famous right-back for Crystal Palace.
So where does this leave us? Restore Ramsdale and get some heart back in this team. This will never happen. I’d start by resting Rice and Saka for the upcoming F. A. Cup match. Watch how Liverpool rotate their squad. Give minutes to some other players. Or phrased another way, drop some players. Let’s have some accountability. That’s two back-to-back crappy performances against mid-table teams. So hold the players accountable and give others some minutes. We’re at the half-way point now. Something has to change. Otherwise we’ll be desperately fighting for a top four spot. And if we fail then Arteta will be under immense pressure, particularly if those wankers (once they get back some of their players) finish higher than us. We’ve spent a kings ransom on this team and Arteta needs to show progress. It can’t revert to last years season ending fiasco.
So good-bye 2023. Good-bye any chance to winning the league this season. And hello 2024 and the chance to reset, learn from our history and reignite this team.
-LB7