Author: bradybergkampandbeyond

Still TOTL. A nice place to be. And deserved on that performance even if that last ten minutes was more angst filled than it need to be. A good week all in all. A convincing destruction of Lens followed by a blistering start to the game.

This was seemed over after 20 minutes. Wolves are a decent team. Certainly, an improvement on Burnley and Sheffield. However, we dominated and controlled this game much quicker thank those games. Maybe it’s the benefit to actually having our attacking group all back and finally fit.

The only team selection issue was whether Have-That had earned the right to start over Trossard. Unfortunately, there was no debate about who’d start in goal. After Wednesday selection, we can well and truly consign poor Aaron to first the bench and then secondly another team. Rumors this week were that Wolves were interested in him. He deserves – and needs – to play somewhere and it clearly won’t be with us.

The start of this game was much more reminiscent of our play from last year. We tore Wolves apart from the start, sliced through them and were a pleasure to watch. None of the backwards and sideways interchanges were witnessed earlier in the season. And it’s not like they gave us any more room. Saka, care of the support from Tommi, looked more electric; Martinelli terrorized them down the other side. And Jesus linked up all our play.

Jesus was instrumental in both our goals. Playing more like a center on a basketball team, he joined up all our play. Firstly feeding the ball back to Saka and then playing a perfect one-touch pass back to Zinny to set up Odegaard. It’s this type of play that amplifies the intelligence and value he brings to our team. Sure it would be good to see him score more – how can that ever not be the case – but the creativity and movement he provides is not matched by anyone else we have. Maybe Trossard though he seems to prefer to operate on the left.

It was noticeable how much more Tommi overlapped and therefore provided Saka with more options. This liberates Saka and fuels our attack. The only cloud on the day was the injury Tommi picked up. Not that it’s bad to have White being able to replace him. But we need Tommi; he provides cover and competition for both full-backs. We can’t afford for him to be out as we enter the Christmas period.

We really should have put this game away earlier though with a third goal. I thought it would come before half time. And then in the second half, when we seemed to relax, we still created chances. Eddie had a one on one where he hit the post. He has to score that. And we hit the post another time and also Trossard had a difficult chance as well.

Overall it seemed plain sailing. There were a few worrying signs though. As with last week against Brentford, Zinny remains careless in defense. In the first half he made a few mistakes in possession. These were largely unforced errors. And then he proceed to hand Wolves a way back into the game,. Dithering inside our box he handed them a chance. And then the last ten minutes became quite tense. But even then, Raya had very little to do. Throughout the game Saliba and Gabriel controlled the game perfectly. These two are surely the best center-half pairing on the league. And for Arsenal, it’s the backbone of the team. I still have nightmares of the Mustafa and David Luiz combination as well as the Mustafa and Sokratis. Well, Mustafa and anyone would give you nightmares.

And in front of these two we have the majestic Rice. He had already defended their attack when Zinny decided to dither inside our box to give them that goal. As brilliant as Zinny can be going forward, you can see why City were prepared to let him leave. It’s that defensive vulnerability that keeps getting exposed. Which is the reason we brought in Timber. And the reason why we need Tommi to stay fit.

Odegaard was as involved and fluent as he has been in a long time. Hopefully this is him rediscovering his form. With him controlling the game, we looked as smooth and fluent as we have all season; that first 20 minutes was electric. That second goal was beautiful to watch. We just needed that third goal.

Back to Rice though. He was remarkable. How many times did he snap into tackles to break-up their play inside their own half. His reading of the game and anticipation is as good as I have seen. There is no way anyone would have know how good he can be for us. And there is no way we’d be top of the league without him. We should got back and apologize to West Ham for not paying enough for him. We should throw them an extra £50m. He’s worth it. What’s also amazing is that (fingers crossed) he does not seem to pick up yellow cards (or reds). I can’t even remember close calls. Yet he puts in ferocious tackles; he just knows how to time the tackles. And he provides that additional cover to Saliba and Gabriel. And that’s why we’ve conceded fewer goals than any other team. Mustafa must be so envious.

Now we just have to protect Rice. At least we won’t need him to play in that last Champions League game. We can let Jorginho and Elneny carry that one. And maybe see a little more of Nelson and others. But before that we have to play North Arsenal on Tuesday night. That will be tough; we’ve seen Liverpool struggle there. We know it will be physical but we have the team for this now.

Before departing it would be remiss to not comment on the genius ideas emanating out of the great brains of IFAB. Their latest masterful idea is to consider introducing sin-bins. And you wonder why football is in such a fucked up state? Really, when there is madness all around caused by VAR these great minds conclude that the resolution of all the anger and frustration is to introduce yet more stoppages, more subjective rules. And this time to protect the referees – to protect exactly those people most in the glare from the fucked up process and game decisions? That’s like trying to reorganizing the deckchairs on the Titanic just before it hit the iceberg. Or like, deducting Everton 10 points when City have violated 115 rules and have had no consequences.

There is so little referee abuse. Yet this is the problem they want to solve. It’s like a magician waving his hand to distract you from the real trick. With this level of stupidity, I’m surprised it was not IFAB that came up with the European Super League. When the leadership of our game is controlled by a combination of IFAB, PGMOL, FA, UEFA and FIFA is it any surprise that the continue to try and destroy this game. It speaks to the beauty and resilience of this game that they had, so far, failed.

City are likely to destroy the wankers down the road but that will still leave us TOTL for the weekend. So we can sit back and relax. And continue to admire this team. This coach. And this club.

-LB7

Still top of the league. Amazing. But soon to be caught by the Nordic giant from the North. What a contrast to last year. Five games with maximum points. Time to end the season I think. Who needs a nine month season. August is sufficient to determine the league winners.  

I was petrified that Arteta would juggle the entire team to adjust for the lack of Partey and Elneny. Instead he made the wise choice to go with the as-yet uninjured Sambi. Fortunately, against such muted opposition he was not tested greatly. However, he performed admirably and linked up the play quicker and more smoothly than our injured Egyptian. In fact, we looked a little more nimble with him there. He does though have weaknesses that others will exploit. He can’t seem to win headers and is caught ball-watching on defense. Too often he fails to track his man back as he watches their possession develop. But, all  in all, it was a good introduction for him. It’s been a while since he’s played 90 minutes and deserves time to adjust to no longer sitting on the bench.

Our attacking strength was on fall display today. Again, we came out of the blocks pretty quick. We dominated. Well, as much as we could, while Villa were hacking us to bits. It’s amazing that McGin did not get a yellow card until the second half while the wonderful Odegaard picked one up in the first half. Maybe it was their colours, but there were times when they looked like and played more like Burnley than Villa. Not that Gerrard is as ugly as Dyche. But like Burnley, if they continue to play like this they will be relegated. Though they will discard Gerrard before then.

There were so many chances to score in that first half. Our interplay was at a level they could not compete with. Jesus continues to shine brightly. Martintelli buzzed around and Saka showed signs of life. At some point he will rediscover his scoring boots. Maybe he has to learn to shoot with his right foot or learn just to stand on it. Marintelli set him up with a gorgeous chance that he missed. And there were so many skirmishes in their area that you wondered if we’d ever manage to get that opening goal.  

Martinez pulled off a number of excellent saves. And it was refreshing to hear the crowd continually boo him. Well deserved after his comments. Thankfully though the curse of our old goalkeepers returned to help us. He should have done better with that first goal. As good as Xhaka was again operating in that forward position, he should never have been allowed to advance without being offside but they could not hold their line and then Martnez should have held onto that deflection. Thankfully Jesus was alert enough to pounce and deservedly give us the lead. It was suprising how muted the Villa reaction was to going behind. We continued to dominate and miss chances.

Most of our best play came down the left. Tierny and Martinelli linked up well and Xhaka, operating in that free role, pulled the strings. He looks so much happier these days. And on the other side Odegaard continued to stroll around. Saka, aside from not scoring, flitted in and out of the game. But once he hits his stride, this team will explode. Of course, by then we’ll be playing teams that are more towards the top end of the table so we’ll need him.

The defense, while untested, was solid again today. In fact, I thought when White was taken off we actually got worse. By the end we had ESR and and Tommy on the right and we looked more venerable. First off, for their goal, Tommy has to take some of the blame. He was in front of Ramsdale and should have made more of an attempt to attack the ball. And then, while he is better at getting forward, he gave their players more space to operate in. It made me appreciate a little more the work White has been doing. In front of Tommy I was surprised at how low ESRs work rate was. It’s noticeable now once you see how much running Jesus does – and even Eddie, when he came on. ESR has to figure out how to work harder. He came on for Odegaard who was still suffering from the hacking of that thug McGin – when he was not booked.

By then we demonstrated our new found resiliency. I had the fear that Villa would find a way of scoring after we passed up so many chances and had started to withdraw into a more game management mode. But then, like against Leicester, we found a way to respond immediately. That must give us increased confidence. It started and finished with Martinelli. But this time Saka returned the compliment of setting him up. And Martinelli showed him how to put it away. And, again, Martinez, did not cover himself in glory. Maybe against United, they can sign Almunia or bring back Peter Cech.

To be able to recover the lead so quickly was so refreshing and so unlike Arsenal of the last few years. I’m still in partial shock. Of course it was deserved. But after all those missed opportunities it felt like we decided to wake up from our deep slumber to just put Villa down again. We had outplayed them and were so clearly superior. When you think back to last seasons encounters you can gauge how much progress we’ve made. And so much of it stems from Jesus. Not just his scoring but his work-rate and attitude. It infects everyone. Including Eddie. When he came on, aside from spurning one great chance, he worked so hard, held up the play and occupied their defense.

I’ve yet to mention Saliba or Gabriel. And that’s because they had little to do apart from swat away Watkins. How Gerrard left David Luis, Coutinho and Ings on the bench for so long is beyond me. Maybe he was scared of being picked apart. Maybe he did not notice that was happening anyway. But even when they did come on (apart from the freak corner) our rocks in defense held firm. We even saw a late appearance from Holding and his new improved, coloured hair.

That’s not to say the game was not annoying. Beyond the constant Villa (aka Burnley) fouling and weak referring, we had to deal with our own sloppy passing late in the game. When we should have been holding onto the ball we seemed to give it away to easily and started to lose the second tackles. It was enough to put my nerves on edge. Fortunately, Villa had no punch in them (ironic I know). Even Fulham were more threatening than this lot. As I said, hopefully they will go down this year.

Beyond this though, the most annoying part of the game was the abject camera work. And the habit of showing replays at least 3 times. While the game is going on. Or shots of either manager that linger while the game is going on. And now, whenever a player does anything, the camera goes in for a close up on that player. While the game is going on. For example, when, in the first half, when Martinez was closed down by Saka and he tried a back heel while right by his goal-line, we did not see that because we were being subjected to yet another re-run of a replay. Whoever is making these decision is an obvious moron. I can’t believe, in this age of ubiquitous iphones, streaming services and tick-tock (whatever that is), we don’t yet have either (1) picture in picture or (2) a choice of camera shots. This would alleviate the pain of being subjected to some producers idea of the collision of art and football.

So, when we next meet, we might or might not have made a few more transfers. If we haven’t it’s still going to hard to claim that this was not a great window for us. Remember this is a team for the future. One more year and one more window and we’ll have the full squad we need. But, let’s return to Sambi and Partey. As I said after Saturday, we can’t rely, unfortunately, on Partey. He was barely injured while at Atletico. But, in the English League, with its increased intensity and increased thuggery (that’s you, Villa), he can’t be relied on. And with Elneny felled by some mysterious injury, we can’t just rely on Sambi. As much as I’d like to have Neto it’s more important that we add a defensive midfield player. Once Sambi gets injured we’ll have to move Xhaka back into a position where he’s guaranteed to get booked and sent off due to his lack of pace. Not that I know who’s available at this late stage. But, as I’ve said even a blind man could see this exposure in the team. Not to say I’m a blind man, because I could see it.

This team is so exciting to watch now. It reminds me of our best Fabregas lead teams with Hleb, Carzola, Rosicky and Jack. Except that team was more mature. You have to go back to Eduardo to find a forward of the caliber of Jesus (sorry Giroud). We are close to operating at the level of the top 2 but we just need that defensive midfield cover. And we need another year or two to mature. This season cannot continue like this. Enjoy it while it lasts. It’s unreal. After the pain of the end of last season we deserve this. All I’m doing is watching the points gap with Chelski, United and that other lot. Give us as much cushion as we can to get that Champions League position. With the NoHoppaCup due to start I’m sure we’ll pick up yet more injuries. That’s what undone us last season. Even more reason to bring in a few more players. And we should also say goodbye to AMN and Hector. And all before our journey up into the red midst of the north. Let’s hope Ramsdale is fit and we have someone in midfield to demolish their cheating, faking, rollover at every chance clutching you face Fernandez.

In them the meantime, can I remind you of something? We are top of the League.

-LB7

We are top of the league. We are top of the league. I know. I said that last week. But I want to enjoy while it’s lasts. Because it won’t. And it nearly didn’t today. But we had a little luck, and we showed some resilience. And we deserved it. Arguably, we scored all three goals – if not created all three that’s for sure.

It’s funny how our center-backs have each given goals away and then made up for it and the other end by scoring. Gabriel though can’t be put in the same league as our Big Willy (I know, but I enjoyed the reference last week so I thought I’d double down on it – so to speak).

So, somehow, we remain undefeated with maximum points from 4 games. That’s unheard of. I believe the last time we achieved this was back in 1856 when we beat Collective United National Trade Society 5-0 with three goals from Fred Oracle the 3^rd. But I digress.

Now I’m just saying, you know, if a meteorite just happened to crash into the earth and destroy all football stadiums and all available football pitches and then the season would have to be cancelled then not only would we qualify for the Champions League for next year but we’d also win the Premier League for the first time in this modern era. Please note no people were injured during the making of this stupid hypothetical; it was a very specific alien engineered meteorite. Anyway, the point remains. We are top of the league.

This was all part of the grand plan when we acquired Ramsdale. Put Leno in goal at the other end and then pepper him with corners. He managed to save a few of our shots but it was inevitable that he’d go all Fabianski on a corner. Karma when you only pay us £10m for him.

It was good to see though that Zinny was not too injured so that he was able to participate in the Gabriel celebrations. When he scored that is – not when he set them up for their goal and their celebrations. We missed Zinny today. And Partey. Our Elneny worked reasonably hard but he’s a Mini compared to the Partey Range Rover. You could see the lack of creativity down our left. Tesco Tierney defends better but tends to pass sideways and lacks to the imagination of our Ukrainian hero.

Thankfully though we still have Jesus and Odegaard. Jesus is like an electric eel whereas Odegaard was majestic today. Making Ozil-like passes but with a real workrate. Some of his passes today were out of this world. He was the link up player today. Without that Zinny creativity we were entirely dependent on our Captain.  He teed up Jesus a few times who, on another day, will score. Instead it was left to Odegaard to open our scoring. Quite a nice habit he’s developing. Eventually teams will kick him off the pitch or just have someone follow him right out of the dressing room.

Saliba was outstanding yet again. He is like a Rolls Royce at the back. His distribution is everything that Gabriels isn’t. He was able to feed White and Odegaard whereas Gabriel was still too slow and rarely got the ball out to Tierney. As a consequence Zhaka was more isolated and had to come back a little further to get involved. As for Gabriel, I suppose the only good news was that he did not foul their Serb and get a red card. I hope he learned from that but towards the end of the game he nearly got caught again. Saka should never have played that pass to him. It was careless and very high risk. But Saka could not know that Gabriel would go full-on Mustafa. But, unfortunately, Gabriel has that in his locker.

Saka still has not found his groove yet. I would have thought ESR would have come on for him at some point. Saka had a few chances but still needs to sharpen his finishing. He has plenty of time to get back his mojo.

Arteta deserves credit for his changes once we went one down. Though we lost a little when Jesus was moved to create space for Eddie to zip around we made up for it in the increased intensity. Eddie should have scored. But this was not like last season at Everton. Eddie has developed and is more threatening now. But he should have scored at least once. But Arteta made the right moves. And this team showed some backbone today. Last season I don’t think we’d have won this game – we might have done enough to get a point. But to come back from one down against such a dour team as Fulham should give us confidence.

But we saw today what happens when we lose Partey. In addition to the cover for the defense we lose someone who can pick up the ball from the defense and propel us forward. So, with the transfer window still open that’s where the focus should be. Sure another attacking player – like the high priced Neto – would be good but there’s no way we’ll get 30+ games out of Partey.

There were times today where I was convinced it was one of those games where we’d have all the chances in the world but luck would conspire against us to score. We certainly deserved to win it was just not clear that we’d get the breaks necessary. That we’d actually take one or two of the chances we’d gotten. Because we had so many and seem in capable of shooting or scoring. So I’m relived that we got the goals and points we deserved. And that we back at the pinnacle of the league. Enjoy it while it lasts. The more distance we can put between us and the other teams that will be competing for 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th so much the better.

But we’ll need Partey for Old Trafford that’s for sure. Tierney’s defense will help there but we’ll want Zinny on Wednesday. And let’s hope another returning goalie can help us out as well. Hopefully the ego that is Martinez can also emulate Fabianski. It’s nice that we’ve populated some many teams goalkeepers; maybe they will be our secret weapon this year.

So, enjoy another few days at the top and pray for the good health of Zinny and Partey because they were missed today. But get used to it. And remember, this team was not built for this year but for next.

-LB7

We are top of the league. We are top of the league. Ok, the opposition has not been overwhelming. It’s felt more like pre-season at times. And we’d wrapped this up after 15 minutes. Maybe even in the warm-ups. Or maybe on the A3. Either way, this was easy peasy lemony squeezy.

Three games in and it’s a different world to last year. This team is different. As is the opposition. And it all starts with Jesus. I’ll admit I was skeptical that this was the forward we needed. I loved the idea of getting Zinny – so I was 50% right. But Jesus continues to be at the center of everything good. And he’s ignited Martinelli. That first goal had Jesus weaving his way through four of their defenders – all scared to bring him down. Then, again, he set up Martinelli but Odegaard was there to sweep up the re-bound. We continued to dominate. Bournemouth were surprisingly passive. They had no press, energy or physicality. Apart that its for their lumbering giant at center-forward. Insipid is how I’d describe them. But again, you can only beat what’s in front of you. And this lot were dead as a doe-doe. The second arrived care of Saka and, again, Jesus. Thereafter we seemed to drift into game management.

Partey hardly had to break into a sweat. Zinny was buzzing all around the pitch. From left-back, to left-wing and right midfield. He has a license to thrill. It’s a pleasure to see someone with such a high football IQ. He reads the game so well. Shame he’s not that great at defending. In front – or to the side of him – we saw Xhaka spend more time in their box than ours. He was a tad sloppy with some of his passing but overall he looks so much more at ease and comfortable with Zinny near him. And then in front you him you have the effervescent Martinelli. He should have scored today but brings an incessant energy level to this team.

Odegaard, even if we set aside his brace, was dominant today. Controlling the pace of the game, strolling around and opening up their defense. One of these days a thug i.e. Hjojberg etc, will just crunch him out of a game. But given space and freedom, Odegaard is a master at pulling the strings. There is a growing maturity in his performances. But, I suppose you have to consider the opposition.

Ramsdale has yet to climb back to the heights of last year. His defense warranted the clean sheet. But Aaron made a few mistakes, again, today both with his distribution and his physicality during corners. We know though he will come good. I want him to the England goalie for the WC; he has to displace that ugly Pickle at Everton – who should be relegated by then anyway.

Gabriel was solid as a Brazillian rock today. He was there to intercept the few crosses and raids they had in our penalty area. And he kept his distribution relatively simple as well. And alongside him we had the other star of the game; Our Willy is really quite impressive. I know. I could not resist. Sorry. But really, in addition to snuffing out any hope they had of an attack he then produced a majestic goal. Not only did it put the final nail in their coffin. It also cemented his burgeoning hero status. But what a delightful, skillful finish. And with his left foot. Between him and Gabriel, White had better continue working on being a dominant right back because those two have the center of the defense locked up. If you include his goal from last week he’s now one of our top scorers. He’s got more goals than Saka and ESR.

I remain unconvinced by White at right back. His distribution was bit dodgy again today. Too many errant passes but he did set up that second goal. It’s hard for him though to adapt to this position. And we still have Toomy waiting on the sidelines. There are so many games ahead of us that they’ll both get plenty of playing time. But it’s nice to see the exact same team selected for three straight games. And I’m sure it will be that way for the Fulham game as well.

It’s so strange watching this team this year. The ease with which they managed this game and were barely under any pressure. There’s no tension, fear or screaming – from me that is. It’s so unusual. No angst. It was a stroll in the park today. But it allows this team to knit itself together; to continue to figure out ways in which operate as a team.

The bench looks half decent as well. Being able to bring on two actual full-backs in Tierney and Tommy along with ESR, Eddie and our new Vieira. I have to remind myself how different this squad is from the one MA inherited. The progress is pretty astounding. I think it’s just Saka who’s left now. And Holding. Soon, I pray, Pepe will be gone. Nice to have him in Nice. Anywhere but North London. Removing him and OhNo elevates this team. We need a genuine replacement for Partey though. There is no way he gets through the season without his regular thigh/hamstring injury. As much as I admire our Elneny, we can’t be a serious contender without an equivalent level of ability in the backup.

And it finally looks like Hector will be finding his way back home. He deserves to return home. He served us well. He never really recovered his blistering pace after his major injury. But he’s served us loyally and I wish him well. He had a unique style and was way more sophisticated and informed than you’d normally expect from a footballer. He was a pleasure to listen too even is his fashion sense was a little off the rails.

Back to Jesus. He has been transformative for this team. He deserved a goal today. Actually he had one. But it took that monumental cunt of a VAR ref Paul Tierney to rob him of that goal. Why would it take him to long to disallow if, if it wasn’t borderline. In which case the advantage should go to the attacker. It all depends on which frame you pick to draw the line. The sooner they automate this and remove retards like Paul Tierney the better. It’s bad enough he robbed us with a non-existent penalty, a dubious sending off and then numerous missed calls against the Spuds but now he had to take a deserved goal away from Jesus. I dread the thought of this complete cunt refereeing us this season. He is completely clueless. It’s not just our games. I’ve seen him in many other games. It feels like with the retirement of Mike Dean, the FA masters have conspired to foster Tierney on us.

Back to Jesus. We have to wrap him in cotton wool now. He inspires this team. We can’t have him injured. He was instrumental in everything good today – along with Odegaard.

This was fun to watch, relaxing and reminiscent – yet again – of the Fabregas, Carzola and Rosicky days. But with a defensive midfield and a real defense. But the beauty of the game has returned to Arsenal. I know it won’t last. That there are stupid losses ahead of us, games where we will be physically mauled. Without Burnley in the league it will be interesting to see which teams try to kick us off the park.

In the meantime, let’s wallow in the glory of being top of the league. Of being the envy of other fans, by playing entertaining, fluent and beautiful football with the youngest team in the league. And we don’t have to sit through any more of that AON documentary. We don’t have to re-live the end of the season again. Let’s hope all that frustration and disappointment gets channeled. And let’s hope that MA does not have to loose his voice. Because he’s rebuilt something special here. There’s a long way to go. It won’t peak this year. But in the next two years, as this team continues to mature, it will. MA has proved those doubting fans wrong. Those dummy, temperamental, entitled fans – the ones who chased AW out because they did not consider 4^th an achievement – should now hold their hands up and acknowledge they’ve lost their right to express any opinion on Arsenal. Only I have that right. Which is where I’ll leave this for now. Happy, a believer and looking forward to the next game.

-LB7

Top of the league. Nearly. Currently Man City and Man City Reserves have the top two spots. Creativity is running through our veins. We are on fire with Brazilians. As much as Jesus will and should grab the headlines don’t underestimate the Martinelli effect. He flew around like an annoying wasp causing Forfana all sorts of problems. His workrate and enthusiasm is contagious. And he scored the all important fourth goal to finally put the game to rest. He tormented them and then helped destroy them.

We weren’t perfect today. As we weren’t last week. But we did not need to be. We were more than good enough. We have plenty of time to reach perfection. And we might not reach that this year. But this is a team that continues to evolve, develop and progress. The season is young and this team is even younger. We will make mistakes – witness “our” third goal via Saliba. But today after each one rather than wilt in the summer heat we bounced back within 2 minutes after each of their goals. That is a testament to both how weak Leicester are and to how we have developed a smidge of a backbone. We’ve not seen that in the past few years. Though it would be preferable that we did not score an own goal nor that Ramsdale let them score from a narrow angle, it’s how we respond that counts.

It’s noticeable how with Zinny in the team we are much more dominant on our left hand side. Saka has yet to fully find his form. No worries, there’s plenty of time for that. And, lacking Toomy behind him and with a slightly subdued Odegaard contributes a little. The interplay and movement between Martinelli, Xhaka and Zinny was excellent. Often we’d see Zinny come inside to play more like a left midfield player – in the same way Canseco did for City v West Ham – and that allowed Xhaka to play much further up. In addition to his goal Xhaka was way more active in their penalty box. Zinny seems to have liberated Xhaka; he’s given Xhaka the freedom to be more creative and progressive. Not that Xhaka was perfect today. In the first half he was too slow on the ball and caught by Forfana. It was Ramsdale that bailed us out.

And even after our second goal we were saved by, of all things, Mike Dean. The annoying fucker finally retires, heads up into the VAR room (wherever that is) and then proceeds to out VAR Vardy. The cheating git (not his wife) rolls over with the barest touches and get the immediate penalty call. Until Dean comes to the rescue – I can’t believe after all these years I’ve written that sentence. Maybe all those years of denying us points and goals he finally realized he owed us. Sure, it was not a penalty but it’s was not obvious to me it was clear and obvious. Not, that is, by the unreliable standards of a PL referee. But luck shone on us, and the call was reversed. What’s not to love about VAR.  Especially when it penalizes Vardy.

I loved the way the crowd responded to the Saliba own-goal. He is class. But he’s young and will make mistakes. Without wishing to revisit past nightmares, imagine the reaction if that had been Mustafa or David Luiz. But there is awareness that this boy is special and we need some patience. Though it could be argued that Ramsdale did not help with this one. Overall though it was another impressive performance from Saliba. He had Vardy in his pocket. But, this boy is a star make no mistake about it. He will banish our past disasters of the last 5+ years. Alongside him Gabriel was defensively solid. It’s just his passing that causes me  angst. Teams will soon figure out that if they isolate him on the ball it’s much harder for us to create. He has to stop trying to make those long, Toure-like, passes and just keep things simple. In the first half he tried one of those overelaborate cross-field passes that got easily intercepted and allowed them to counter-attack. Against better teams that will burn us.   

Jesus deserved a hattrick today and could have easily had one. The difference from last years center-forwards could not be more dramatic. Cigarette lacked the movement and finishing instinct and Aubameyang could only play on their last line of defense. Gabriel though can play anywhere. He drifted out to the left and right and wherever he went he caused havoc. He’s energized Martinelli – if that was possible. And he’s a goal-scorer. That first goal was sublime. Delicate and intelligent. I’m not sure that we’ve seen many center-forwards at Arsenal who could do that. Maybe the original #14 or the god-like #10. But no-one else. Only to be followed up with a poachers goal at the back post – just as we’d seen in pre-season. He had other breakaways and openings to score a third. But so far, it’s clearly been money well spent. You can see why Edu did not want to waste money on signing anyone this last January. They knew who they wanted and when they would get him. So, for all the bleating of our juvenile, emotionally unstable fans (who are all too prevalent in the AON documentary), this is what happens when you have a plan and stick with it. When you invest in the future – patiently – you end up with a world class forward. This boy has dancing feet. He will tip-toe through defenses. And his speed of thought is infectious. He’s already help take Martinelli to another level. And once Saka adjusts to the new season – and has Tommy behind him – he will also prosper.

Letting in two goals is not great. But it helps amplify that there is ample room for improvement. We were a little sloppy in defense today. They had too many chances. I thought White had another testing day – not as much as last week. But you can see he’s not a natural right-back. With his substitution through a knock, it’s going to be tough for him to retain his position. We finished with our two recognized fullbacks but I think one of them will have to be a little more patient. Zinny has to be our starter. He helps fuel our creativity.

The balance of this team has shifted though. There is no doubt now we can create. None of the stodgy sideways play we’ve seen in the recent past. With Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli and Jesus we have an electric attacking group of players with ESR, Viera and Eddie on the bench. We are gaining depth in the important areas. I’d just like to see some back-up for Partey. He was not at his best today – too many sloppy passes – but he was good enough. But when he’s not available, as much as I like Elneny, we will be exposed defensively. Tielemans did not exactly put himself in the shop window today. It did not help that self-loving Rogers played him on the right hand side where Xhaka completely dominated him.  

It’s good to see fringe players depart – Torreira has finally been deposited offshore and Mari has been dumped in Italy. We have to figure out Bellerin – who has earned the right to leave – and AMN. Both should be gone by the end of the month. Which means one more midfield player and some cover for Saka – assuming we can offload Pepe.

You can only beat what’s in front of you and today we outplayed Leicester and thoroughly deserved to win. Some of our creative play was sparkling. This team has built a foundation on which he can now launch itself. But football is fragile. We’re only one or two injuries from being exposed – as we were at the end of last season. That’s why we need a little more squad depth. But this year will be exciting. The odd disaster will come our way but this is a team you want to watch and root for. This is a real football team. One that will entertain. We just have to make sure it retains a backbone. Because that will be needed against the big boys and the more brutish teams.

• LB7

Boom. That’s the way to start a season. Welcome back. And what a contrast to last season. But before we go further, let me welcome back my reader. All one of you. I’m sure you’ve been starved of these insightful, academic, thoughtful and knowledgeable articles. It must have been tough to navigate the off-season without these reviews. But aside from deciding to not review pre-season I’ve been otherwise occupied. The usual stuff, like any of us, curing world hunger, advising world politicians on world peace (they’ve not been listening obviously) and developing various cures for cancer. Oh, and sitting on my couch eating pizza and sushi. You should try that sometime. The pizza and sushi that is.

Anyway, I’m actually excited to be back. This season will be yet another step forward to the promised land. We won’t get there this year. But it’s clear what direction we’ve going in. This off season has been as equally impressive as last year. But more on that later.

Three points well-earned at Palace; thoroughly deserved. I know one game does not make a season – and a long WC interrupted one at that – but contrast this performance with the one here last year. That first 20 to 30 minutes we were dominating. We should have been more than one up. Martinelli scored a poachers goal but also missed an earlier, easier chance care of the energetic, fleet footed and impressive Jesus. I never really got him at Man City. There he seemed peripheral without a clear role; always on the edge of the action but not central. But, for us, he was key. He lead the line, hustled their defense and generated chaos and chances. I will endeavor to refrain from making the obvious religious/god/savior references. But the presence of Jesus completely extinguishes Cigarette and demonstrated what we’ve been lacking for a year or two now.

During that initial period all three new additions shone. Zinchenko showed all the awareness and creativity that we’ve been lacking. He linked up smoothly with Xhaka and also played the ball forward. And he did not give the ball away. Imagine that. Nuno where are you? Let’s hope you were watching. Because, sure as shit, this is truly addition by subtraction. Not having Mr. OhNo on the left hand side – Mr. Utter Chaos – killed us last season. So our headless chicken is now in Marseille. I would guess they will turn him more into a Guendouzi than a Saliba. But god are we so fortunate to be shot of him. Without his crazy runs, lack of defending and general disruption, the defense looked so solid. Granted Zinny is not the best defensive left-back but there was balance there with Xhaka. Zenny, obviously, helped create that first goal.

So we are now Manchester City Reserves. I’ll take that. Could be worse. That would make us the second or third best team in the league. And there will be other similarities. Ben White will morph into John Stones. Being made to play out of position and fight for limited playing time. Because once Tommy comes back White surely will be in the bench. To be fair he won’t come up against someone of Zahas quality every week. But he got roasted so many times I thought he ended up as burned Black by the end. He game today was poor. His distribution was inconsistent, making poor passes and giving away possession too often. Zaha unnerved him today and disrupted his game. Obviously, even with a performance like this he was still a superior option to Cedric. During pre-season, where we started the midget and oh-no as our fullbacks, I was have mid-summer nightmares. So even though White was our worst player today, our weakest link, at least he kept a good defensive line.

Alongside him there was the shockingly mature and impressive Saliba. He was just plain old masterful. I’m trying to think who he compares to. You lot won’t remember David O’Leary in his prime except Saliba has real pace. He covered for White and knitted the entire defense together. Arteta received a lot of undeserved criticism for his handling of Saliba. All unfounded but part of the usual agenda of trying to put pressure on Arteta and Arsenal – both by the media and the juvenile, temperamental, jonny-come-lately Arsenal fans. Today you could see that at 21 Saliba is the real deal. Calm, composed, speedy and reads the game so well. And his distribution was excellent. Adams, Keown and Bould never had Saliba speed. Maybe Ferdinand (Rio not his little brother) would be a better comparison. He makes everyone around him better. Including Gabriel. With the defensive options available we now have a crop of defenders who can defend. Good riddance oh-no and (soon) midget-man. I just can’t figure out who can replace Gabriel if he’s injured. Maybe Tesco Tierney with Zinny at left-back. At least we don’t have to waste Xhaka at left back now.

And how good was Xhaka again today. He looks so much more comfortable in this formation. His positional sense and distribution were fun to watch as he floated around while he still made important defensive interceptions. And between him and the defense was our party man (unfortunate given the things we’re not supposed to comment on). Anyway, Partey was a joy to watch today. I know Saliba shone brightest but watch Partey closely. His one touch, speed of passing was the engine of the team today. Often he was surrounded by 2 payers but still moved the ball quickly without taking unnecessary touches. And he did not get booked.

In general, because of Partey, our ball movement was infinitely quicker than we’ve seen. With Odegaard making intelligent runs and seeing passing lanes that others can only dream of, we were a creative threat down both side of the pitch. It’s interesting that we play our two best left footed players on the right. The interplay between Odegaard and Saka – and of course, Jesus but he’s not left-footed so that does not fit into this train of thought – tested Palace all game. Saka roasted their full-back and, basically, got that second goal. If he could shot with his right foot as well – and he has more than enough time to improve on that – he would have had another. The combinations of our attacking players now remind me of that time when we had Santi and Rosicky rapidly linking up play. Except this is a group of kids in their early 20s. The future is bright. And the future is ahead of us. Yes, I know, that’s how the futures works. There will be games in this long season when we get torn apart and roasted because we are a young team but in terms of potential there is no-one in the league that can match up. Just remember our youth during those painful matches where we get out bullied and Xhaka is sent off. Notice that it is the engine room of our midfield where we have our only two players who are “old”; both 29 I think. That’s where experience is vital. Again, as with Man City Reserves they are our Fernandinho.

Ramsdale- the grinning Cheshire cat – made two crucial saves today. His distribution was not perfect today and sometimes you fear for his holding onto the ball too long. But he saved us today and gave us a clean sheet. I liked Leno but, aside from the steal price that Fulham paid, Ramsdale is so much better. It’s like comparing Tommy and the midget man.

Palace adapted their shape after the first 25 minutes. But they are so lop-sided. Literally everything came down their left. Always through Zaha. And they were most dangerous when they played long balls from their center-half over the top. White had a lot of trouble, as did Zinny in the latter stages. Which is why it was nice to see Tesco come on. I don’t think though he played more than 30 minutes during all of the pre-season. So we need to wrap him up in cotton wall to protect him.

Palace has always been a very loud, intimidating crowd packed into a small, snug stadium. Yet it was our away fans that we could hear all game. They have something to cheer now. Our signings in the last two years and the cleaning out of the squad have been pretty dramatic. Think back to who started last year at Brentford. Then go back to when the Accountant bored us to death with his team. No Mustafi, Ozil, Kolinsac, Bellerin, Leno, David Luiz, Mikkytarrien, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Torreira, Mari, etc. We just have to get rid of Pepe now. Surely we can offer him along with a bag of crisps and a year long subscription to a football magazine. I mean come on Newcastle, you have all that sports-washed money, why not give us some of it. You’ll love Pepe. He should go to Italy or back to France. He reminds me of Gervinho. Just not as ugly.

A word on Arteta. I’ll be saying the same thing all season long. As I did last season (apart from one occasion). He is the man. Yes, that is more than one word. And I’m not finished. He is clearly crafting a team to play like the Manchester first team. We have our KDB in Odegaard. John Stone, Zinny, Jesus etc. He has a plan and has unquestionably improved this team and club. I’m only two episodes into the Amazon thing but you can see he has a clear vision, understand people and has their respect. That move of having the photographer give the speech before the NLD was class. He will make mistakes, as any first time manager would, but he’s our man. Deserves our support. And needs our patience. We are not the finished article yet. Get Tielemans and cover for Saka. We need a little more steel in the team as well. But Arteta (and to be fair, Edu) has turned this club on its head. It’s brought back passion and heart. And he’s been supported by Silent Stan and his little boy. Lots of money spent. But spent well (if you ignore Pepe). So, a good day for Arteta today. When he gets us to the promised land he will deserve to be spoken of in the same breath as AW. AW never had to do the complete, top to bottom rebuild that MA has. But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s all for next season.

Two other quick observations. The first – there were no VAR interruptions today. Sure a few reviews for (non) penalties but no delays for offside. What a pleasure. There was a real flow to the game today. It makes a real difference.

And secondly, did you notice that the linesman flagged for offside when it was offside? What a novel concept. A linesman who actually uses his flag to make decisions and raise his flag. How did they come up with that idea? Pretty creative, huh?

All in all a great day, great performance, great result.

Let’s hear it – We are top of the league, we are top of the league. *

-LB7

*OK, not by the time I’ve posted this and you’re reading it.

I’m turning into a vampire. On the 44^th minute my blood drained away. Three games now. And each time I lose a little more of my limited blood supply. Soon the fangs will be protruding. On the plus side, I’ll be out at night and won’t be around to watch AFC.

Today was not on Arteta. The team selection is what we should have gone with against Brighton. And, today, we should have won this game. As against both Palace and Brighton, they shoot and they score. Whereas with us we shot and we either miss or find away to make a lumbering, giant of a man look like a good keeper. This guy is more like the jolly green giant except that he’s not jolly and is frighteningly ugly. He should be awarded a yellow card just for turning up. But somehow we managed to not take the numerous chances to score. It’s like the goal machines that was Saka and ESR has been vanquished. With Cigarette having caught COVID we finally had Eddie start a game. It was not his fault that we lost the game but it’s not like he lite the place up either.

Saka should have scored from Martinelli breakaway in the first half and then ESR should have scored in the second. Between that we had complete control of the game. Yes we were slightly ponderous and slow. But we were much but than the previous two weeks. Yet we still found a way to give them a goal. And, as we all know now, we are incapable of scoring. Three games now without a clean goal.

So when they did score – against the run of play – the blood drains out of the body because you know there is 45 mins of pain ahead. Playing Xhaka in midfield helped stabilize the team. Sambi had another solid game. He is finding his way. He was less defensive and help provide some limited momentum. Saka started on the left. I assume to give protection to Tavares. And he, muzeltov, made it past the first half. Quite an achievement. There were a few occasions when he got lost, out of position upfield. But he was not to blame to day.

Martinelli was more involved than Odegaard who was a little absent. But then he had behind him the master of all free-kicks, Cedric. Two free-kicks that were beyond embarrassing. And his overall passing today was very hesitant. He was more uncomfortable than we’ve seen for a number of weeks. At some point we have to get Tomi back – even if he’s only standing on one leg.

Unfortunately, beside him we had White putting in a Brentford like performance. There were a number of occasions where he was too slow on the ball, allowed it to bounce in front of him and was generally out played by their forward. Twice he should have cleared balls in the box but instead gave chances to them. He was nutmegged for one and then hesitant on another. Overall, he was way too sloppy. Alongside him Gabriel was more solid today so no complaints there.

Ramsdale had no real chance with their goal and aside from that had barely anything to do. One shot and one goal! Somehow we have to get a lucky break here. Though with the upcoming fixture list it’s only going to get tougher. Maybe against these other teams they will open up more and create more space for us. But I suppose this is what happens when you are relying on 20 year olds to score your goals.

We definitely got better as the game went on. The passing improved and the speed picked up. Saka reverted to the left, linked up with Odegaard and got him into the game more. But that final pass, whether it was in the inside channel to Eddie or out wide to Saka was just marginally off today. Sambi pushed up further and Xhaka was one of our creative outlets but we just could not take our chances.

So as frustrating and depressing as today was – especially on the back of the last two weeks – this was an improvement. Of course, that is a frightengly low bar and not one that a team that aspires to Europe should be measured against.  Maybe in the next transfer window we might acquire some luck. Mr. Rick O’Shea or Mr. Jammy Basterd. Because Eddie and Cigarette wont’ help us.

Maybe Arteta could have made his changes earlier but it was clear that if we’d have played for another 180 minutes we just were not going to score. At some point this dam bursts. But until then it’s pure suffering.  

I mean, let’s face it. How do you lose to Palace, Brighton and Southampton without scoring a single, clean goal? This has the potential to get a lot more miserable. Luckily there are only 7 more games for us to lose. These were our easy games. Though we’ve clearly proven that for us there are no easy games. Not this version of us. The pre International break version would have cantered through this games. Now we are on the edge of an abyss, if not outright falling into one. The only reason we’re not already dead and buried in relation to Europe is that the other teams are trying to be as shitty as we are.

Midweek will not help us but the home game against United now takes on even more significance. If we want to play in Europe we have to beat them. They are as crappy as we are. But they tend to better away from home. Somehow Arteta has to find a way to get some self-belief back into this team. We have to find a way to put the ball in the net (preferably theirs). Until then we will continue to drop like a stone. Gravity could yet drag us back to 8^th. For Chelski we should just pack the defense and play like Burnley or Bolton. Try to grind out a point. We can only hope they have to play extra-time tomorrow. They’ve had a difficult, busy schedule. Maybe we could catch them on an off-day. They will, of course, catch us on our usual, off-day.

Then it’s Man United. I don’t see what Arteta can do to change this up. Pepe can’t start, ESR has been to inconsistent. And, when you looked at the bench today, you realized how thin this squad is. Not that I’d want any of the players we dumped in January. But it speaks to the vicious cycle we’re now in. We need more players but until we have a viable team playing in Europe it’s hard to get the players we need. To build we need to retain our trajectory. We have to be able to offer some European football.  Currently, we can barely offer Premier League football.

On the bright side. Oh, hold on. There isn’t one. As much fun as it was to see that lot lose to Brighton it failed to make up for the misery today. And the feeling that we watching the dissipation of all that’s been good this season. To get so close to the Champions League and then to miss out on the NoHoppaCup will be crushing. It will wipe out any goodwill Arteta has created this season. It will put him under tremendous pressure. It will cause our best players to wonder about this project. Except that today was on them. They had the chances to win this game. It was not like we did not turn up. We were not perfect. I mean we did have Cedric out there. But we did enough to get something out of this game. Instead we made the ugliest man in the league (aside from the captain of England) look like a lifesaving goalkeeper. Our lives are just now outright miserable. And we don’t deserve this. We are better than this. So it’s time to get out the Ouji boards, Buddhas or whatever it is we all pray to. Arteta did all he could do today. Now it’s up to us. We need to invoke all our spells to give this team some luck. A penalty would be much appreciated. A deflection. An own goal. A red card for the opposition. Things we have not benefited from. Anything. So, spend you time wisely. Maybe don’t over pray for Wednesday because we’ll need some luck at the weekend as well.

In the meantime, I’m going to protect myself with some garlic and find a blood transfusion – just not from Cigarette. COVID is the last thing I need at this point. All I need is 3 points. And not from the remaining games. But from one, complete game. I’d like to win a game. Please. Pretty please. I like to enjoy watching this team again. It’s just too painful, too hard at the moment.

-LB7

Appalling Arsenal revert back to the start of the season.  In many ways, that was worse than Palace. 5 days to regroup and we came out with no game-plan, no structure and no identity. We have well and truly lost our way. The soul of our team has been stolen. This was like watching Arsenal of the last few years. All the good work of the last six months has evaporated. This team could not find its way into Europe if you gave them boarding tickets to a plane.

We are right and royally fucked. If you can’t get points from Palace and Brighton then there is no way the team could even be consider worthy of the Champions League. We will be lucky to get into the NoHopa Cup at this rate. Actually, we will be lucky to pick up any points. We were just boring, sideways and utterly uninspiring. It’s a sequence like this that can completely undo Arteta. Today his team selection was wrong, his tactics were wrong. And, during half-time, he had no influence on his team. Right from the start of the second half – after one of the worst displays at the Emirates – we proceed to continue passing sideways and backwards. Sure, Xhaka moved into midfield but basically it was more directionless football. We have lost our identity. Everything good from the last six months has disappeared. It feels like we are reverting to type. Once we get in sight of something attenable we implode.

Right from the start you could see there was no idea how to play this game. Gabriel was on the ball too much And, every pass and header from him went to their team. His distribution makes Kolo Toure look like Carzola. This far into a season and I fear for Gabriels’ longevity. Surely Saliba – who I’ve never seen play – is better than this.  Gabriel could not blame Tavares today. Brighton understood this and made sure White was pressed to give the ball up to him. But there was no outlet is midfield either. With Xhaka consigned to left back we had no-one to create. ESR was as poor today as I’ve seen him. He could barely make a pass or win a tackle. He was completely peripheral. Saka was a little better but not much. But then we could not get him the ball either. Odegaard was not involved. So that’s your best three players. And then there is Cigarette. This guy is clearly run out of juice. There was not a single contribution that he made today. That’s two games, back to back, where he was invisible. What does he need to do to get dropped? Can Eddie be any worse than this guy? And he’s our captain.

This is as hard a game to discuss and describe as any of the last year. We had momentum going into this sequence of games. We had identity and clear progress. And it’s all gone now. How can anyone have faith in this team now? How can the progress be this fragile? How can we recover from this? One injury to Tierney and the key loss of Partey and we become a Burnley like team. Our only threat came from corners. But we could barely string any passes together. And Brighton, who were pretty average, were able to tear us apart. As poor as ESR, Gabriel, Cigarette and others were, we, unfortunately, have to look at Arteta. He got his team selection wrong today. Moving Xhaka to left-back neither helped Xhaka nor the team. As much as I hated Tavares performance against Palace, he would have been a better choice. Losing Xhaka from midfield and leaving Samba to link up the team was an utter failure. You could see it after 5 minutes. Yet we persisted until half-time with that. And then how does Cigarette stay on the field for the second half. And how does it take so long to bring on Eddie and Pepe? Everything Arteta did today was wrong.

And yet, we could have gone in at half-time level. It would have been undeserved but nonetheless what the fuck is VAR doing with that disallowed goal? How does it take them 4 minutes to come to an offside decision? If it’s that difficult to determine they cannot overturn the onfield decision? And, because of the way VAR works – there is no accountability not transparency. That goal cannot be disallowed on the evidence. There was an obscured view even with all those cameras. There was no clear view. That’s’ why it took so long. Four fucking minutes? What has happened to this game? Should we bring back all the lawyers to legislate the game? Are they using an atomic microscope to analyze the frames? This was insane. How, can they make this decision? It’s the death of football. And no-one will discuss this. It kills this game (and, for us, this game). It’s pathetic. And there is no voice to push back against this usage of technology. After 1 minute they could have said they can’t tell. Any time after that has them making an arbitrary decision. Because they clearly could not actually tell – that’s why it took 4 minutes to make the wrong decision and override the referee and linesman. What a joke. But entirely in keep with the entire performance today.

It’s so dispiriting to watch this team implode after everything they have produced this season. To have us so close to qualifying for the Champions League. All that hard work and progress just being thrown away against mid-table teams. It’s like season past for fans. And it’s compounded by United losing again. It’s like we’ve decide to hand a lifeline to those wankers down the road. Here, please, take our Champions League place. Instead of putting a knife into their hopes for the future, we are not just killing ourselves but we’re saving them from another year of failure.

So what is Arteta playing at? How can his team come out so listless and devoid of a game plan? This is on him. All the good will he has generated in the last 9 months will quickly disappear if he allows this team to crash and burn. But I see no evidence that he can turn this around now. Without Partey and without Tierney we have no-one else to rescue us. We have to sort out the left back position. Maybe we can get Tommy back and switch Cedric over there. Until we sort that out Gabriel will continue to be a liability. And we can’t ever play Xhaka there. We need him in midfield.

A quick word on that refereeing performance. It was so bad he could have played for Arsenal. He allowed them to foul Saka continuously. He gave our random yellow cards. And caused the game to be stop and start and his decisions were inconsistent. He had very little control of the game. He looked – like Arsenal -out of his depth. It was not the reason we lost today. That was entirely on us. But it makes you truly wonder about the refereeing standards in the league.

Back to us. I have no idea where we go from here. Arteta seems to have lost the plot. He has to create balance in the team. He stuck with the 4-3-3 and that did not work. It was not Sambi’s fault today. He worked hard. But does not provide the link-up play from the back four that Partey does. So, someone has to help. Otherwise White and, god forbid, Gabriel, end up holding onto the ball for too long. And it takes all the pace and energy out of our game.

Today was a disaster in ways I could not have imagined. It was evident from the first minute. The slowness. The indecision. The poor passes. The poor decisions. And there was little evidence we’d learned anything from the Palace game. It was arguably worse. We were at home against a weaker team.  I just don’t know where this leaves us. I dread the next game. I dread the rest of the season. And I wonder again about Arteta. Can he reverse this decay? I’m genuinely not sure. We always knew this team was threadbare – an injury or two away from exposure. But Arteta did not help us today. My fear is he will keep things as they were today. Though any rationale dissection of this game would make you realize more change is needed. But the fact we have no stability or game-plan make it feel like we’ve gone backwards by more than 6 months. We could easily end up 9^th or 10^th now. And that could be death for Arteta. He can’t afford to let that happen. But does he have the tactical awareness to change things? I’m not sure. He will now be under real pressure. And he has to drop Cigarette. And he needs to find a left-back. And find a balance in this team. Because today was beyond awful. It was as poor as I can remember us playing – even worse than the Palace game. This period will now define Arteta. It’s his own fault. Today he chose the wrong team and did not make the in-game adjustments that were needed. At this rate he’ll be qualified to manage Man United. Today we saw the torch paper put to the last year of development. It’s beyond sad. It’s aggravating and frustrating.

This was as dreary and depressing to write as I feared. There are no silver linings. There is no light at the end of the tunnel (aside from an oncoming train that is just about to run us all over).  We have 7 or 8 game to figure this out. And I’m not optimistic. I’d like to go to sleep now and wake up in June. The next 6 weeks are going to be painful. I don’t know if I can watch much more of this. After taking us to the heights of 4^th place Arsenal are destined to break our hearts yet again.

-LB7

Yuk.

A disastrous first half, limited finishing and injuries consigned this game to the dustbin that is filled with prior encounters from previous years with Palace, Brighton and Watford. Fundamentally, that first half was one of the worst halves of football we’ve seen in a long time.

As impressive as Palace were, we were, in that first half, plain old appalling. Too many players were off their game. Too many passes were wayward. Too many players made too many bad decisions. And we lost Partey to an injury. He could be gone for a month. Or for the season. And we can’t handle that. Anyone who is foolish enough to read this blog, will now that I’ve always been worried about losing a few key important players. And, Partey is one of the key ones.

Not having Tierney was clearly destabilizing. This was yet another miserable appearance by Tavares. I know he’s a youngster but he was so off the pace. Nearly everything poor about us ran through him. His marking was at fault for their first goal and his positioning for the second. Leading into that free-kick for their first goal we had two chances to get rid of the ball . First Gabriel, under minimal pressure, headed to a Palace player. It came back to White who then also proceeded to head it to another Palace player. Before fouling Zaha. You can’t fault us for being accommodating guests. And then from the free-kick, rather than head the ball away Tavares ducked and let Anderson head it back across the goal.

Then for the second as Xhaka ran upfield, we made Palace look like Barcelona with a defensive splitting pass. But, that was only possible because Tavares dropped so deep to break our back line. That left Gabriel unsure on his position and unable to intercept the pass.

The only solution was to finally replace Tavares with Xhaka – which is not what you want to do when Zaha is on the pitch. I was amazed that Xhaka did not find a way to get sent off. Once Tavares was removed, a little more of our shape and balance returned. Of course, by then Palace went into game management mode. Unlike in the first half, we actually had some real chances in the second half. Smith-Rowe should have done better and Odegaard completely whiffed another one. Eddie hit the bar and then Cigarette should have had a penalty. Arguably Zaha got an equivalent foul but he managed to get a penalty. Today, nothing went our way.

Partey was off the pace for most of the game. His injury is worrying. And in the first half he could barely pass the ball to his own players. For the entire game Cigarette was anonymous. He was also unable to make a good pass or make any contribution. Saka looked like he still had COVID19 (and COVID 20 and COVID 21 and COVID 22). Odegaard was quiet throughout.

But it all started with Tavares. He was shocking. And he unnerved Gabriel. The left side of our defense was so vulnerable. Smith Rowe hardly got the ball in that first half. But as a team we could barely string two passes together. They pressed us more and worked harder. We took too long on the ball and were unable to find any passes.

Funnily enough – in a completely non funny way – it was Cedric that had the toughest job marking Zaha,.. But he was the one who fought the most. Who was the most physical and refused to be bullied by Zaha or anyone. If only others demonstrated the same fight.

But once you pull Tierney out of the team and have an underperforming/unfit Partey, then you’re in trouble. Today was a throwback performance. It was reminiscent of the early Arteta days. As much as things brighten-up in the second half, we were still way off the pace. We could have played for another 90 minutes and I bet we’d still not have scored.

That first 45 minutes though was enough to make you wish for yet another international break. What a contrast to how we came back from the last international break. We were so listless and passive. There was no energy or shape to our game. We did not seem prepared to engage and play them. Maybe it’s just inexperience – though with Xhaka, Gigarette and Partey out there, there were voices that should have helped us.

Let’s hope Tierney is back. We can’t let Tavares play again this season. Listen, I’ve said this many times as well. I had no expectation of finishing 4^th this season. Obviously though when you’re sitting in 4^th at this stage of the season your expectations change. But this is a young team. And, of course, we have the wankers down the road singing and dancing because they could now claim fourth – which for them really would be a trophy. So, it’s undeniably aggravating and frustrating when we lose three points and put in a performance like this. But without squad depth we at risk to these injuries. If you count up the points that Tavares has cost us (including the F A Cup tie) then it’s clear it’s time for us to wrap Tierney in cotton wool and also to provide him with 24 hour medical care and attention. For me, the lack of one player undermined the entire confidence of our team today. We lost that game in the first half. It was not all of Tavares fault. No, just about 85% of it.

I don’t really understand why I’m not more upset after a game like that. We were pretty spineless and lacking in leadership and aggression. It was in such contrast to our prior 8 games or so. Even with the rationalization ( Tavares, injuries etc) it’s still hard to fathom. At least we did not lose at Burnley .

Maybe more worrying that picking on Tavares – as much fun as that it – is the lack of goals from our center forward. Our original false 9. At some point we’re going to have to make a change. I’m not interested in the revisionism regarding Aubameyang. He really did have to go. I don’t care how well he’s planning in Barca, that was never going to happen here. You can’t blame Arteta for that. His lack of goals preceded that particularly schism. But now it looks like we’re just a little bit fucked because neither Cigarette or Eddie can score. As good as Palace were today they really only had three chances (yes, I know, without those goals they would have kept pressing us) but, aside from their penalty and the lack of ours, we had chances to score today. And we did not take them. In those crucial moments the game turned. If ESR had scored on his chance then the momentum would have shifted. Because by then we’d got our act back together.

I think we need the EPL to change their substitution rule. We need to be able to substitute referees next. We should be able to remove Ref Tierney and replace him with his namesake. Even with a knee injury Tesco Tierney could have done a better job. Not that that would have saved us today. But it would have made it more palatable.

So, we had to wait 16 days to watch this shit. I can’t imagine – or refuse to imagine – we can be this bad next time out. But we will need Partey, a fit and healthy Saka, Tierney to return and Tavares to be on his summer vacation for as long as possible.

It was nice to see Ramsdale back. Our resident Nazi can’t be too happy about that. He did little wrong at Villa. And Aaron was a little shaky with his passing and ball control today. But there was little any goalkeeper could have done today to help us.

Again, it’s the injuries that worry me the most. All teams will lose games. All team will play like shit at some point. We managed both of these today. And we needed luck. Not just with injuries. Not just with referees making the right calls. But we needed luck on the ricochets and second balls. Today none when our way. It will hurt our confidence – not just the supporters but the players – but that is part of the test, part of any normal season. How we react will be interesting.

Arteta made the right substitutions todays. Yanking Tavares – though I had hoped 30 minutes would have been enough (if not 5 minutes). Moving Xhaka to left-back and then moving to a back three. He played to try and recover but it was too much of a challenge because we just could not get the rub of the green. We needed one of those attempts to go it. Though it should be noted that their goalie hardly had a save to make.

This was just a thoroughly miserable game for us. But I refuse to go all doom-and-gloom. I’ve seen us collapse like this with a much weaker team. We are still in a good position. I would have taken this position if offered it prior to the season. Our problem is that our failure opens it up for those pompous upstarts who are incapable of winning any trophy. And that makes it much harder to accept. If only Man United weren’t such a pile of pooh. They had every reasonable chance – given the quality of their players, size of the payroll and the amount of money spent – to snatch 4^th. I could live with that. But not the wankers from up the street. That’s what makes this so galling. They have a mature, older team with experience and a son-of-DarthVader as manager. But we should just focus on ourselves. Because that’s all we can control. And we know we have the right elements and we know where we are lacking. It’s just a case of whether Arteta can piece them back together. Because we have no margin for error now.

My hopes had been on Chelski imploding and gifting us 3^rd spot. I would still not rule it out. Who would want to stay with that team of mercenaries with so much uncertainty. Maybe we are now both in a race for 5^th place. If their oligarch was still there and not trying to solve (belatedly) world peace and avoid being poisoned, he would already have changed their manager and caused yet more chaos.

There will be a lot of teeth gnashing after today. We can expect to see the usual “supporters” go into melt down. So please ignore those wankers. They rarely have perspective and a rationale thought.  Instead, we should focus our prayers on the healing of Partey and Tierney. We should get out our ouji boards and our lucky charms. Dust off those buddahs statues. Or whoever you pray to, or, if you have a direct line to the man (or women or non-binary blah blah) person who controls this mysterious universe (and the league tables and the fixture list) and ask ever so nicely and respectively if we could have these two fit for our next game. I don’t want to invoke any last supper here or parting to any seas, but we need just a little sprinkling of intervention to help us now. I would, but I’m already too busy and, anyway, I think I could do with some additional help now.  

-LB7

At least we ended up with eleven players on the pitch.

We wasted the first half performance with a sloppy second half. Within 3 minutes the game turned. Thiago played a backpass that Cigarette intercepts. He’s not able to turn and shot on goal so instead lays it off to Odegaard. His shot then deflects of Allison over the bar. Within two minutes Thiago slices a pass through our defense. Party, Saka and especially Cedric are by-passed and then Ramsey is between at the near post.

The game was not over until we presented them with the second goal soon after. I can’t count the number of times we had to clear the ball. Between Tierney then Xhaka and then finally Gabriel who decided to pass his way out of the penalty box we created another opportunity from them. And then when we cleared the ball Saka lost his challenge with Robertson to create another chance for them. This time, with everyone out of position Fermino waltzed pass Gabriel to slip in a neat goal. This killed the game off. It put a nail in the coffin of that first half when we went toe to toe with Liverpool. We were able to make them look average. But threw that away with how we came out in the second half.

Maybe we invested too much effort in the first half because it looked like we lost our legs a little. As anyone who is unwise enough to regularly read the drivel produced on this site knows, I never expected to get anything from this game. It’s just so frustrating to throw it away in the manner we did. We did not seem to recognize the change in patterns and interplay. Maybe it’s immaturity. But it just felt like a waste. An opportunity to creep up a level to really make them work for the entire game. Instead, we made it easy with sloppiness and too many mistakes. The loss of those second tackles killed us today. And it was epitomized with that second goal. The overriding feeling is one of frustration. As good as Liverpool are, we killed ourselves.  It seems, we are fated to lose every game to them 2-0.

So many things were right about that first half. They could have scored in the first 2 minutes but rather than be disrupted by their fast start we established our style on the game. Good passing and movement with outlets on both wings. Today we had real threat down our left. Martinelli was our stand out performer today. He took Trent to the cleaners today. And in the first half left him rooted to the spot on numerous occasions. We lacked that final pass. But, sorry to have to state this yet again, we missed a real striker. Cigarette was not at his best today. Aside from being too slow on the Thiago mistake, he failed to accept the quick pass from the free kick from (I think) Odegaard. And generally, he would arrive, in the box, just too late to have an impact. Outside the box he was slightly better but fairly anonymous. As good as Martinelli was though this was also offset by the lack of threat from Saka. As good as he was against Leicester, he was as quiet today.

Odegaard, aside from missing the game changing chance, was less impactful. It did not help that the center of the pitch was clogged up. But he had one or two chances to play Saka through and underhit the pass. Unfortunately, against this team, at this level, the margins are paper-thin. What you can get away with against Leicester you can’t again Liverpool. They operate at another level. When you get your chance, whether in front of goal, or to play someone through, you have to take it. There is no margin for error at the highest level. These little mistakes cost you. And we saw that today. And that’s whats’ frustrating. Of course, there’s a context here. The pressure Liverpool apply, the quality of their players. It drains you, it takes away your energy and causes the focus to meander.

Partey was again very strong. He and Martinelli were our best performers. Tierney was solid. As, I thought, was White. Gabriel reverted a little. His passing was off. The mistake he made for that second goal was annoying to watch. He should have battered it into row Z in the stands. Watch Van Dyke – he’ll do that in addition to passing it out. You have to know when and where to take chances with coming out of the back. And from the edge of your areas when you surrounded is not one of those.

The fans though were our stars today. They were vocal and engaged fully. Even after giving away those goals they were still behind the team and willing them on. Their performance was at least consistent for the entire 90 minutes. You could feel the atmosphere in the stadium. It’s just a shame the players let them down in the end.

Not that this is the end of the world. For that just cast your eyes over to Kiev. This was more a disappointment. To see the hard work of the first half wasted in such a frail manner. And I think we saw the players recognize that. We had a few other chances but never really threatened their goal after that one guilt edged chance. That’s how it goes against the best teams. And maybe we saw tiredness creep in as well. This is why you need a larger squad when you play mid-week. They were able to bring on Salah and Firmino and still leave quality on their bench. We had ESR and then it’s Pepe and Eddie. Sure Pepe changed the game against Wolves but today – like Sunday – he had minimal impact.

I’m not devasted. And I’m still impressed with how Arteta set out the team. We have not lost the race for 4^th place – that was never going to be decided today. It’s the games against those we’re directly competing with that will. And we saw enough to see that we are close to the level we need to be. But we have to find away to cut out these mental mistakes. Maybe that’s just down to youth. Though that would not explain Cedric. Not that this is entirely down to him. I can’t help feeling though that with a fit Tomi at right back we’d not have been sliced open for the first goal nor would he have been out of position for the second. I support to be fair I should be critical of Ramsdale for that firsts goal. But I won’t. Because he’s a star and he’s earned enough good will to have us ignore this one. He’s still irreplaceable. He’s still the best goalkeeper in England. I would take him over any other goalie in any other team in England. So, maybe, I’m just a little biased. He could pick up the ball and drop kick it into our own goal and I’d still find some way of defending him and blaming the goal on Cedric.

In the meantime, let’s enjoy the implosion of Stamford Bridge. Let’s hope that no-one can close out the deal. Unfortunately, someone will swoop in and buy an undervalued asset – it’s a fire sale. But whoever comes in, they surely won’t squander as much money as the Russian villain. There will at least be some fiscal control. They won’t be able to out bid everyone, they will have to operate within budgets. No-one else would be insane enough to spend go on the spreading sprees they have in the past. Nor pay off managers right after winning the European Cup. The idea that they lodge a request to have their weekend cup tie played behind closed doors also give you some insight to the caliber of people in the club making football decisions. For them to invoke the notion of protecting the integrity of the competition is behind ironic.  It’s beyond laughable. It speaks to people who have lost touch with reality. And, that, for their fans, should be a little worrying. And for us, with a ring side seat at the long awaited demise of a once irrelevant and shitty club (no, I’m talking about the one in West London).

OK, so now we’re off to Aston Villa. Let’s hope we can put today’s disappointment behind us and channel the frustration at todays sloppyness into a mistake free, and focused performance. I would be nice to see Saka shine and Odegaard have the space to orchestrate some goals. And, on the plus side, we don’t have to play Liverpool again this season. Nor see the ugly face of Jota.

-LB7