Shit, Shit, and shit again. And more shit. And then some pooh. Yet we got a point. You have to laugh (not that’ I’m laughing) because DarVader has to be just so so pissed off. Anyway, for us, we were – what is that is the word I’m looking for? Oh, right. Shit. Just outright shit. In the first half I thought we were poor. But we managed to go in level at half time. We obviously worked on our tactics during the break because we managed to find a way to degrade our game even further and come out and play like absolute shit. Though in this case the verb should not be play but more something like exist, breath or stand.
Where to start? Oh my, any team with Jenkinson and Ramsey will make me nervous. But I thought having Ramsey on the left wing would provide more protection to Monreal. Well that was wrong. Ramsey’s passing, especially around our own box, was suicidal. There was one square pass in the first half that nearly handed them an opportunity. Overall he was just useless. He can’t beat a player one on one – he has no pace. But, to be fair, he did not decided to play on the left – that was AW decision. It just does not work. Having said that, when, in the melee of substitutions, Ramsey ended up in his favored position and he still found ways to lose the ball on the edge of our box or play passes that put other players under even more pressure. The good news is that Jenkinson was not a complete liability but having Ramsey on the pitch was like playing with 10 men. Of course, Jenkinson’s distribution and attacking sense is nothing like Bellerin. We know he’s not as valuable – that’s why he does not start. But he lacks a calm demeanor so we live in fear of a dreadful mistake. But today he did not make a costly one. But you could see that this also impacted Walcott. Yes, I know. He was on the pitch today. But he pulled one of his famous disappearing acts. Actually more of his work was defensive but if Theo wants to be a star he has to find a way to turn up for these big games.
Overall we allowed ourselves to be entirely bullied today – especially in the second half where it was totally one way traffic. If it was not for Cech we would have been out of this game in the first half alone. Whereas in the first half we had periods of possession – with which we did little. In the second half it was all one way traffic. We were giving the ball away too easily and then not tracking their movement. Sanchez was isolated and Ozil was non-existent – a worrying performance from him today; reminiscent of his disappearing acts against strong teams where we get out muscled. Again, without Santi we miss the fluency and link up play. There were too many times when Mustafi launched long balls whereas a midfielder should have been dropping short to pick up the ball. But this was symptomatic of disjointed play today. Which, to be fair, is an understatement.
That second half was as weak as I’ve seen us for a long time. I could not believe it took MU so long to score. They had so many chances. Also, BTW, that was a penalty in the first half. Monreal also had one of his worst games today. He was run ragged by Valencia all day long. Of course, the fact that his left midfield play who’s supposed to provide cover was Ramsey did not help. But all day long Monreal was schooled by Valencia. And, when Valencia nutmegged him in the box I was convinced Mariner would call a penalty. So in addition to being shit shit shit all day we were lucky lucky lucky. If that penalty had been given we would not have been able to complain. Compared to the one that was given against us v Sp*urs this was clear.
So you need luck. These decisions usually average out across the season. And it could not have happened to a nicer manager. I’ve not heard his post-match comments but you can be sure he moans and bleats about this. Te Fucking He.
Back to us. We just seemed careless today – off the pace. Some of it was due to the enforced team changes but part of it – particularly in the second half – was that we seemed to lack a leader; someone to organize us and help us keep our shape. But we were out harried when we had possession and there was therefore no fluency to our game especially in the second half. I don’t think we put more than 3 passes together. Even our goal came from just a few passes.
Of course, in the first half (20 minutes in I think) Sanchez had an opportunity to head us into the lead – it was not such an easy chance – but at that stage the teams were more evenly matched. That would have changed the game. Maybe we have an inferiority complex against MU. I find it hard to understand how we came out to weakly in the second half.
So, aside from complaining and moaning, let’s again acknowledge that AW’s substitutions were ideal (well the first two anyway). Chamberlin skinned Rashford and put in a perfect cross for Giroud to crush into the net. Our only attempt on goal the entire game. If Burnley or Bolton had pulled this off against us we would have bemoaned the injustice of it all. It also highlighted how invisible TH14 was all game. Once Darmeon picked up a yellow card I had, wrongly, assume that Theo would run at him thereafter and force him to commit to more tackles with a view to picking up his second yellow. But not once did this happen. And then the first time Chamberlin gets down the outside and puts in a cross we score. Not that I’m a fan of the Ox, but he’s got to be close to starting soon. And, back to my favorite subject, this is what we were lacking on the left side where Ramsey can’t beat his man nor put in a cross. We were so narrow and had no counter-attack.
My Coq was very hard today – he stood up to Pogba and yet did not pick up a yellow. Along with Koscelny he was our best outfield player. Elneny was solid but his a little slow on the ball and does not have the creativity of Santi (but then who does). I can see why he came off. I like AW shuffling of the team with all the changes. But I was disappointed in Xhaka. After we tied the score I thought he was careless with the ball around our own box in the left hand corner. He gave up free-kicks and lost possession too easily. Someone of his experience should have been more conscious of the game situation and been defensive in his outlook. He unnecessarily put us at risk right after getting back into the game. And then, of course, right at the end Ramsey, in our own box, looks to shepard the ball out even when it’s clear it’s not going and he losses possession to Pogba – but Mariner bailed him out. More bad judgement.
Lucky, luck, lucky Arsenal. Lucky to have Mariner as the ref, Lucky to have Cech in goal. Lucky to have one attempt on goal and one goal. Lucky to have Giroud. And lucky to come up against a toothless MU attack. So think about how angry DarVader must be. Oh, it warms your heart. They deserved to win today – by a country mile. But tough titties – they were at home and it was up to them to take their chances and they didn’t. They brought on Schneiderlin to protect their 1-0 lead; how did that work out for them?
For PSG I’d definitely bring in Gibbs. Monreal needs a few days off to find his game again. Today he and Ramsey were our two weakest players. They had one guy down their right hand side and yet nearly all the danger MU created was from that side of the pitch – including their goal. Even Iwobi provides mores protection to Monreal that Ramsey. This formation just does not work. If you’re going to play Ramsey put him in the middle. Let’s retain our speedsters and width on the outside. And let’s find out where Theo’s mo-jo went.
And lastly, this was not as unenjoyable as our home game to Sp*rs where we were expected (and should have) won. But it was worrying. We were under the cosh and vulnerable. We lacked cohesion – we did not look like a functioning team; the second half performance was as non-existent as I’ve seen for a long time. How we came away with a point I’ll never know. We were, what’s that word? Oh, right. Shit Shit Shit.
I’ll take that point though. And can we have an early ending to November?
– LB7