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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

A belated report this morning from our great victory yesterday. As we now embark on yet another unnecessary and distracting break from the most important sport league on the planet into an abyss of useless international matches, let’s recap yesterday

• After Wednesday, this game was like watching a slow motion re-enactment of Wednesday. Whereas on Wednesday our players were visibly knackered after 70 minutes, here we could have played on for another 70 minutes. The pace of the game, the intensity was more akin to a practice match. Villa barely pressured our backline and were surprisingly passive throughout (except maybe for the last 10 minute scramble). I expected a much tougher game but after 5 minutes you could see the speed of the game was more akin to that of a lazy Sunday afternoon.
• We controlled the entire game and came out of the blocks nice and quick – no hangover from Wednesday. We controlled the game and retained possession in a way we could only have drams of even six months ago.
• When I saw the team sheet I heaved up my lunch (fortunately it was a lite lunch). Leno in goal? OMG. In hindsight, Ramsdale being injured explains a lot about that Liverpool first goal. But my confidence going into the game was not exactly high. I suppose I do forget that during his time he was actually a good GK for us – just not as good as Aaron. And of course I feared for our distribution from the back. But, given that Villa decided to sleep walk through the game I really did not have anything to fear. So Gerrard – Steve boy wonder – the great coach, did not realize he could disrupt our game plan by putting pressure on the one player in our team who had not played for 6 months and who everyone knows can’t play out from the back. Evidently not. Thankfully he barely had a shot to save until the 94^th minute. And it was a nice reminder of prior years to see numerous long kicks either do directly into touch or right back to their defenders or Martinez. Luckily Martinelli was not running up the wing to expect passes to him from our GK,
• So this was a game between the two most recent Arsenal GKs. Each has their strengths (I think) but neither could link up their defenses nor play with the momentum and speed of our Aaron. The incremental cost of Aaron of £5+ was money well spent.
• Why do referees not give Saka even a modicum of protection. Their entire team (slight exaggeration) took lumps out of Saka throughout the game. It was clear systematic fouling. And Madley handed out a couple of yellow cards but nothing else. And somehow Cash avoided one. Of course, Xhaka got one for barely breathing on an opponent. Likewise Partey. Villa would only get one if the player decapitated one of our players and then chopped off both legs – and then only with regret. Saka – one of the shinning lights in English football who is barely 20 years old – should warrant some protection here. He’s a star of the English team and the future for this country. But week after week left backs (and others) feel free to take lumps out of him. The poor boy had to crawl and hobble off the pitch after 70 minutes or so.
• Did I mention we were so much superior to Villa. The rhythm and understanding – the ball movement – was consistent and controlled. The distance between the two teams was surprising. I’ve not (thankfully) seen Villa play recently but they were underwhelming. On the other hand, we continued to look like a team that is finding it’s identify and has established a clear pattern of play.
• If only we had a center forward. Cigarette links up play well but clearly – aside from penalties – can’t score. In the second half on the counter-attacked he had a chance, on the counter-attack, to play the final pass out to his right but instead decided to try and shot. Against better teams that might have proved crucial. And even when he was placed by Eddie, things did not improve. On another breakaway Eddie slips over in their penalty area. It reminded me of his missed header against Everton. I don’t see how, next year, either will retain their places in this squad. Both have lost their way. With Cigarette he can at least help our play. It’s remarkable really that Cigarette has so much support given his lack of productivity. When you think back to Giroud, who really could score goals and also linked up the team quite nicely, there was frustration with him because he was as slow as a donkey. But actually, given the choice, I’d take him over Cigarette. Though I don’t miss a 6 foot 3 man lying, in agony on the ground, waving his wrist every time he fell over.
• Both Eddie and Pepe were pretty shit when they came on. Pepe found ways to lose the ball and commit unnecessary fouls right at the end of the game just when we needed to relieve the (limited) pressure. Instead he foolishly tumbles over their player to create chances that they could not create himself. It makes you wonder if he has any football IQ.
• This team now gives me a warm glow. They are entertaining to watch again and no longer possess the self-destruct button of Mustafa and Luiz (and Kolinisac and…). You forget that was less than a year ago. 2021 will have to go done as one of our best transfer windows ever. Finally, we getting close to watching a team that does not hurt itself more than the opposition. That’s not to say the last 10 minutes weren’t a little scary and fraught with worry. It was never-wracking. But Partey was in control. White and Gabriel were dominant and Cedric was not really tested (fortunately).
• ESR was brilliant today. His speed of thought and link-up play was outstanding. He roasted Cash. Cash fouled him continuously and somehow avoided a yellow card. But ESR was a shining light. He plays – like Saka – with genuine joy. And we are better with him in the team. The quality of his movement, close ball control and awareness remind me just a little of Pires. ESR is that good.

So now we have a few weeks in which our players can hopefully recover for the final push. Our squad is quite thin so we need to allow for Aaron, ESR, Saka and Martinelli to regain their strength. We are in a great position now for those last 10 games. Better than anyone could have reasonably expected. This team has grown on everyone. Even the biased commentator’s are seeing something in this team now. But ahead of us lay a number of tough games. And there is limit margin for error now. And there will be real pressure so it will be interesting to see how a young teams handles that. We also have Partey and Xhaka accumulating (unreasonable) yellow cards. We can’t function without Partey. He was the key to our midfield against Villa. Lack of quad depth could really hurt us. It’s fine balance between a small squad when you’re not in European matches and the need for more players when you are. And it’s not like we’ve finished turning over this squad. We will need at least two attackers for next season if we are to progress. But for the moment we can enjoy the success of this team and wallow in the glow of yet three more points that were well deserved and well earne.

-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

Partey time at the Emirates. That was smooth looking football and we displayed no fear of listless Leicester. Not only did he score with a header but then had a shot that not only did it not end up at the back of the stadium it actually hit the target – albeit the crossbar.

From the outset Arsenal settled into a rhythm today. There was no falloff post Watford. We saw smooth link up play, control from the back and Odegaard pulling the strings from midfield. Even before the first goal we saw nicely constructed moves that warranted a goal. The corner from Martinelli looked like it was short – like the last few against Watford from Cedric – but Partey nipped in for a well deserved lead. Even then we continued to control the game and create. This week, because Xhaka was just a little more involved there was more two-sided balance.

Saka though was the stand out in that initial 25 minutes. Turning and beating his man and generally creating havoc. Unfortunately as the tide turned all their chances came down our right. And that, my friends is because Leicester targeted our boy Cedric. And it was pretty clear why. And it got worse in the second half. All their chances originated right by him. It’s not that he played badly but he continues to drop too deep to break out own line and then is exposed to balls over the top. Thankfully we had Ramsdale behind him to save us – literally.

And in front of Ramsdale we have the axis of White and Gabriel. Aside from Gabriel being smacked in the face – which would have gotten Xhaka, of course, sent off – he had a refreshingly solid and uneventful game. No mistakes and a aclear reliance on handing off the ball to White. White was a rock today. In the second hald he flung himself into a Ramsdale deflected shot to prevent an equalizing goal. Overall, his performance was nearly faultless. Of coure you do have to take into account the toothless opposition. But, nonetheless, this axis helped keep yet another clean sheet.

And then there is Ramsdale. That save in second half from Barnes (I think) even had Smooth talking, superficial Rodgers smiling and clapping. It was the game changer. That was their one chance and Ramsdale, though not quite soaring like an eagle, still displayed cat-like reflexes to prevent a certain goal. In the last two games he has not quite been at his highest standard with some dodgy distribution and unsure handling. Today he was back to his best. Some of his longer pass were pin-point. And yet there were times when he’d play direct vertical passes into Partey, Odegaard or Cigarette that would turn defense immediately into attack. To think people (cough, cough) ever doubted the money we spent on him.

The enjoyment of this game came not just from the Odeegard and Saka link-up play but the inclusion of Partey. In fact, the interplay between Partey and Odegaard was not something we’ve seen before. It’s a further sign of the evolution of this team. The building of these onfield relationships and understanding is helping glue this team together. I’d still make the argument that Xhaka is not really suited to the left sided equivalence to Odegaard but he was better today. And Tierney was involved which was also positive to see. He was further up the pitch than we’ve seen him recently. And some of his last minute defending – especially in the first half when, again, Cedric was beaten was vital. Against a better team, I don’t know, let’s say for example, eh, Liverpool we will be torn apart down our right hand side. We need to get Tomi back and it’s a shame it won’t happen before the Liverpool game.

Finally, Cigarette gets a goal. He needed that. Again, we saw good link-up play from him but limited goal threat. He had to bide his time as VAR took it’s time. It seemed they were just looking for anyway to not award that one. I think it took them 4 minutes to decided what we all knew after the first replay. By then Cigarettes’ beard had grown another inch or so and Schmeichel had tried all his mind-game tricks. But, unlike the previously missed attempts, this one was clinical and even had the benefit of having Schmeichel protest like a baby. But this was well-deserved. We had the measure of them even when they were in possession. There was a period at the end of the first half where they dominated but aside from that we had them under control. And we managed to manage the flow of the game in ways we did not against Watford.

We are now firmly in 4^th after the enjoyable Old Trafford result. We have a very  tough road ahead though. But now it’s ours to lose. So now it becomes mental. But it also requires the core elements of our team to remain fit and not sent off. If we lose Partey I doubt our chances. He has now become key to this team. He was imperious today, In control and dominant. As impressive as Odegaard was – and he was silky and smooth today – I thought Partey was the fulcrum of this team. And his interplay with Odegaard enabled him to find his way out of tight spots. He seems to be enjoying his football. Gone are the days when he only lasts 70 minutes. His evolution mirrors that of the team. So we need to wrap him in cotton wool and make sure none of the refs target him for red cards.

Liverpool is a game we can’t win. I would just like us to finish the game with 11 players.  And then quickly move on. Beyond that we have Manchester, WHU and Sp*rs. And then, if they are not bankrupt, Chelski. It’s karma. It’s hard to feel anything but smug glee to watch this spineless, classless, club that was fueled by financial doping. Their oligarch changed – for the worse – the game as we know it. As David Dein said, they parked their tanks and fired £5 notes (and now it’s £100 notes) at all the players out there. He (who shall not be named) paved the way for the Man City investment, the distortion of PSG and, lastly, the entrance of the Yemen destroyers at Newcastle. And it started in West London with him throwing around his weight to overpay any and everyone and out bid teams. He inflated the market and caused others to get sucked into the vortex of super inflationary wages and transfers. And it took, literally, a war to cause the FA to grow some balls. But selective ones. They won’t apply the same standards to Newcastle. Or the next autocrat with money. But, just maybe, the next one will realize that all their money could be locked and tied up at a minutes notice. Maybe what happened to Chelski is a warning now to others that they could get locked out of their club, unable to sell their asset or even pay credit card bills. Maybe that will give other to pause before entering our market. The vagueries of this process – the politics of it – might just be enough to scare off equivalent type “investors”. And that would not be a bad thing. It’s not like the FA has a backbone. They have haplessly stood on the sidelines for decades now. But this move, with the help of Parliament, will help slow down this process. I hope. But then money has a way of watering down resistance. I mean, the world cup is still headed to Qatar. So let’s hope by the time we have to play Chelski all their players appreciate they won’t have a team to play on next year and will all be looking to move on without caring what happens to this soulless club.

Regardless of the outcome though there can be no doubt as to our teams evolution and growth. We are pointed in the right direction. We are ahead of schedule. Just remember that while watching us get dismembered by Liverpool. With both Xhaka and Cedric on the pitch there will be too many mistakes for us to withstand their relentless pressure. Don’t be too despondent. Better to have a coming down to earth against Liverpool and then regroup for games we can not and should not lose. And try not to laugh out loud too much as we watch the destruction of Stamford Bridge in order for them to pay reparations. Justice. Karma.

-LB7

A well deserved 3 points even if we made the last 5 minutes more hectic than needed. We were clearly playing at a different level from them – and a level superior to that of our recent history. That this team has evolved is unquestionable. And now we have goals coming from different players.

Watford did not deserve anything but then they never do. They are destined for the Championship where they belong. Though after 17 seconds it was not that obvious. Hesitation by first Cedric and then Gabriel was worrying and thankfully the linesman made the right call. But thereafter, we took over and dominated. Watford sank into a low block while a combination of Saka and Odegaard ran the game.

Odegaard today was particularly impressive. Pulling the strings mainly on the right but drifting across the field. The link up play with Saka was on a different level. The first goal was a thing of beauty but beyond that the two of them – with noticeable contributions from our friend Cedric – sliced Watford apart and operated at a different level. The smoothness of their interplay and their understanding meant that nearly all our pressure came down our right hand side.

On the left Martinelli was not at the races today. The partnership with Tierney is not at that same level and Xhaka, playing higher up the field again, was not able to guide our play and his influence was not equivalent to Odegaard on the right.  And on the defensive side, in particularly in the first half, we looked vulnerable down our left side. Martinelli did not seem to track back as energetically and enthusiastically as normal. For their first goal, as well as it was taken by cheating Hernandez, Xhaka did not pick up the overlap. And let’s not forget the rolling on the ground and faking a head injury by Hernandez in the second half when White out-jumped him to head back to Ramsdale. He clearly thought we was auditioning for the Olympics. After losing the duel Whites arm grazed his shoulder but he managed to crumple to the ground and then roll 5 times clutching his face in agony. The real-plays showed there was no contact on his face – not that the commentators mentioned that. I despise this cheating. It’s all to prevalent now in the EPL. Trying to get the other player sent off and the fake head injuries which compels the referee to stop the game. A sensible rule that’s introduced to protect the players is not being manipulated to either break up play and/or get an opponent sent off. The best laid plans are paved with good intentions.  And here we see the unintended consequences. But just remember that Hernandez is an acrobatic, talented cheat.

When Xhaka was playing deeper alongside Partey he used to track these runs better. Watford continued to try long cross-field passes over Tierney. And too often he was left exposed. Though it’s funny how Tierney noticeably refused to head the ball back to Ramsdale. Maybe he’s risk averse but each time he headed it back up field it would go to one of their players. So, ironically, even with Cedric on the right we were more at risk on our left.

Cedric was reassuringly solid today. Aside, that is, that moment late in the second half when, just outside our box, he decided to pass the ball backwards to their player. A decent team would have scored but thankfully White was there to block their shot. We need Tommy back but, to Cedric’s credit he was not at fault for their goals today. Unfortunately, we need to look at our friend Xhaka. In particular their second goal started with his unnecessary and flamboyant cross field pass that went straight to their player. Then as he tried to track Sissoko, he could not quite intercept the pass. And then White should have been able to dispossess Sissoko. Maybe when ESR recovers from COVID he could take Xhaka’s spot. Or, at worst, Martinelli. But we’ll need to fix this imbalance on the left soon.

We have become a right-sided team. And that’s not such a bad thing. The fluency and creativity we saw today was at a level that was reminiscent of elements of Man City. And that speaks again to our progress. In addition to the excellence of Saka and Odegaard, there was the purring engine of Partey. What a difference, for him, when he’s the only defensive midfield player in a 4 – 3 – 3. I know Watford are useless shits, but nonetheless, Partey was yet again imperious in how he strolled around the pitch. There was even a shot from him in the first half that was reasonably close to the goal. He has established himself as the backbone of the team now; the platform from which we spring forward.

Behind him Gabriel had a shaky day. His distribution was uncertain and indecisive – by his prior standards. And behind him Ramsdale had a couple of poor passes that put us at risk. Though one of Ramsdale passes to Saka was a thing of beauty – as was Saka’s control. Going back to Saka – and who can’t – he was so dominate today. He was aggressive, direct and demonstrated ridiculous ball control. Watford really could not get close to him. And, thankfully, unlike a West Ham type defense, they did not try to hack pieces out of him.

In fact, this was not such a great day for our Brazilians today. Martinelli – aside from his sumptuous goal to create the needed breathing space – was ineffectual. Between the two of them they seemed off the pace today. Hopefully after Gabriels aberration against Wolves this will be a wake up call.

Did I mentioned how impressive Saka was today. This was the best overall performance I’ve ever seen from him; this was his best game ever for us. From beginning to end he shone brightly. He contributed in so many obvious and not obvious ways. From setting up the first goal to scoring the second and then releasing Cedric for the third. Though technically Arteta should also get an assist as the ball boy. I’m sure though that the FA, UEFA and FIFA will launch an inquiry into how Arteta could have roamed so far outside of his designated touchline area. The collective wisdom, intellect and general open-mindness of these great organizations will have to investigate how the referee and VAR did not capture this egregious violation of this little white box. I think it would only be fair if points were deducted along with the removal of various body parts.

It’s just a shame that Cigarette can’t shoot – or head. Now I know this might seem like rudimentary requirements for a striker but evidentially we’ve found a way to compensate for this minor deficit in his skill set. So, if we ignore the couple of chances he completely fluffed it would be only fair to note his link up play for both Saka and Martinelli’s goals. In both instances he provided the perfect passes for them. This is not something our prior Captain could have managed. So, while we might miss the goals he’s now seemingly discovered in Barcelona, the reality is that Cigarette actually fits our style of play. He drops off and links up play. It’s just a shame he can’t score goals.

Let’s go back to that third goal. That was as close as I’ve seen us come to a Liverpool type goal. Immediate, one-touch interchange culminating with Martinelli crashing it home. That was slick and impressive. This, along with other moments – let alone that first goal – yet again demonstrated the progress of this team. There was a calmness that permeated our game. Sure, the last 5 minutes were a little nerve wracking but overall we were in complete control playing smooth, controlled football. I’m not convinced that we’ll end up 4^th at the end of the season – and certainly not third – but, irrespective, you can see the growth. You can see the progression. There should be little doubt now that Arteta is the man for this job – the right man. The man to take this club forward. I’ve had one of two doubts after one of two games this season. But in the last month we have continued to build on our team philosophy and develop a style of play that suits our club and the players we have. I fear for suspensions or injuries to Partey or Saka. We don’t have the squad depth to sustain a long-term challenge for the title. We are no-where near the standard of Liverpool or City. But then they have a 5 year plus head-start and ‘000s of millions of dollars invested in their teams.

Now we’re down to a limited number of games. Unfortunately – or fortunately – these involve games against all the teams around us. There is plenty of opportunity for us to implode – for the referees to send of Xhaka etc – but the converse is that, with our games in hand, we can also help derail their efforts to overtake us. We don’t always have to beat them we just can’t lose to them.   I exclude the Liverpool game from this. They will beat us. I would just like us to finish that game with all of our players on the pitch. But the games again United, West Ham, Chelski and that other lot – now that’s all going to be the decider for our season. But, we’re now in the right position today – 4^th. And after performances like this today where we dominated and played great football should give us some confidence. But we’re a young team and we are still learning.

Today was another anxiety free performance. How I’ve missed these days. Goal opportunities being created out of our fluent football.  And domination of a sub-standard team. And then to see Maguire allow City to further impact their challenge for 4^th. Let’s just hope he’s not injured for our game. We need him and his ugly mug in that team. To leave you with an unpleasant picture. Imagine if the Kane and Maguire could find have way to have a child. The combination of the nose and the chine. Imagine how ugly that baby would be. Excuse me while I throw up.

-LB7

This is why we love football. This is why we love Arsenal. And this is the sound of joy typing away at the keyboard. Two great days. Both filled with tension and perfect outcomes. If we celebrated too much at Molineux, then we did not celebrate enough tonight. What a victory. Talking about having a fighting spirit! Let’s have another 9 days off please. And then go again.

I did not see that coming. As the game wore on the best I could hope for was a point. I’m not a greedy man (OK, maybe, technically, that’s not true – put food in front of me – especially bacon and I’ll show you a greedy fat basterd). I would have been fine with that. We huffed and puffed but seem to be missing that little sprinkling of either luck or skill. Cigarette was having another one of his games whereby outside the box he worked hard but inside the box he is incapable of finding the target. Saka worked hard as well but missed too many opportunities. Balls over the top that he could not control, touches that were too heavy or taking too long before shooting. Neither really tested the goalie until the end.

BTW, how was that a yellow card for Saka? And how easily did Atkinson let the game out of his control today? I like the fact that he did not want to wave yellow cards around (except for Saka). But that late substitution situation was a farce. They did not even put the board up but he tries to walk off Raul, gives him a yellow card and then he’s not even substituted. But it allowed Wolves to waste even more time. They thoroughly deserved this loss. They had chances they wasted but more than that, their attitude was to hunker down and preserve their lead once Gabriel set up their goal. They wasted a mammoth amount of time whenever they could. Sure, maybe it’s good game management but it effected their attitude. It caused them to try and hold their lead rather than build on it. So, justice was more than served with the result.

So back to the game. Right after that careless Gabriel mistake we started to assert ourselves and try and break Wolves down. It was mighty hard and we would tended to over engineer any chance we had. Aside from Saka and Cigarette, this was also not the best game for Martinelli. We missed someone like ESR today. The build up play was just a little too slow in the first half but that was also due to Wolves closing us down so quickly.

I like the way White was the one responsible for distribution from the back. And Partey – more on him later – was one of his main outlets.  With Xhaka on one side and Odegaard on the other we should have had more attacking intent. But, aside from a few passes at the end, Xhaka was fairly quite. Steady but not dominant. And as he played further up the pitch than normal, that exposed Tierney as well. And watching Xhaka try and recover once he’s beaten is like watching a tortoise in a sprint race. Odergaard however continued to push and try and create. He has a clear football IQ and, just maybe, could turn out to be the child that Bergkamp never had. A long-way to go and a ridiculously high bar I know.

The base of the team today and the stand out performer was Partey. Minus that is his moon shots on goal. Maybe he was trying to launch missiles into Moscow. His shooting defies explanation. Thankfully the rest of his game was outstanding. He was the outstanding presence in midfield today. He would broke up play, win tackles and turn upfield, then he cut through their lines and created. And he provided important defensive cover. Reassuringly, he remained on the pitch for the full 96 minutes. These gaps between games seem to be helping him. He is finally finding his groove. Today he was majestical in his control and passing. Moving the ball quickly and defining our approach.

I had felt that Arteta had waited so long to make any changes. And the first one I’d have taken off would have been Cigarette. But, clearly, every change he made worked perfectly. It’s fair to say Pepe changed the game today. From scoring the first to setting up the winner. After watching Cigarette continue to fluff his lines in front of goal it was a joy to see the masterful, calm and fluid way that Pepe took this goal. That gentle first touch followed by that sweeping shot. And that after watching us miss so many chances to get anything on goal. And credit to Eddie as well for the run and cut back. Though I’m not Eddie’s biggest fan, he like Pepe made a difference today. It also allowed Saka to switch to the left. He tried an ESR like attempt with his right foot which their goalie did well to parry. I figured that was the end of the game but Pepe brought ball back and then interchanged with someone though he was so good it could have been himself before unleashing Cigarette. It took a few seconds to register that the ball had gone in. The visual did not make sense. It’s only on replay that you realize their goalie steered it in. How else could Cigarette have got anything on target? Anyway, cue mayhem. This is the kind of come from behind victory that other teams engineer – not Arsenal. Actually, usually it would have been against Arsenal. This was truly stealing victory from the jaws of defeat.  

And it was all down to Pepe. Even though he nearly cost us a goal when they countered down their left and he could not follow his man before the ball was pulled back from them to shot just wide off Gabriel’s’ leg. He more than made up for it by jump starting us. As soon as he came on we looked livelier. That’s a nice, expensive and talented substitute to call off the bench. And today he made a difference.

At the end we had to switch Tierney for Tavares. Tavares did manage to pass sideways when you could see he was tempted to storm forward or play a risky forward pass (a la Liverpool). But he resisted the temptation. But he still stormed upfield, over-dribbled and then lost the ball to allow them to counter. He makes me nervous that boy.

What a wonderful result. What a wonderful game. Ok, it was not so wonderful. But, by the end of I was out of my seat screaming and dancing. Brilliant. That’s how you climb the table. That’s how you build a team for the future. And though our balance is still off, we are learning as a team. And we are progressing. And we are in fifth now with a clear shot at 4^th. We still have Liverpool and Chelsea to suffer through. Not to mention United, West Ham and that other lot. So, plenty of important games for us to deal with. And arguably a harder fixture list than anyone else. But, at least, we don’t have to play again mighty, mighty Burnley.

As I said, two great days. Both the manner of their loss and the spectacle of their manager having an emotional breakdown. It’s got to be hard waking up in the morning knowing that you’re the manager of that lot.  Only they could beat the best team in the land and then find a way to lose against one of the worst. How very, very Spursy. And how delightful. As much as I don’t want to see Burnley accumulate points and preserve their status that’s more than out-weighed by the delight in the pain, suffering and despair in seeing Sp*rs lose yet again. They are beyond arrogant and conceited. If only this would make them realize their station in life. To see Conte nearly burst into tears and concede he has no clue what to do was priceless. This was a successful Chelski manager – like one of their previous ones – that was supposed to stabilize their ship. We’ll, in a way he has, they now are predictable and stable. Except that translates to consistently losing their games. Perfect.

So, two great days. Two great results. It’s a shame February is a short month. But it makes up for that long January. Anyway, give Arteta credit for this one. Along with Partey and Pepe. Enjoy this victory. They don’t come like this that often. Wallow in it. And laugh out loud. If you can’t enjoy this then you’re either dead, a vampire or a Wolves fan.

-LB7

That’s how it goes when you don’t have COVID. And it’s not the first game of the season away against a newly promoted team. Compare this team to that that we put out. Night and day. And it showed today even if the scoreline flattered them.  Even with Jon Moss as the referee, there was little angst. Of course, there were no penalties for us but then we only received one yellow. And no red cards either. So, that’s what it’s like to finish the game with eleven players. And with three well deserved and well earned three points.

We should have scored in the first half and, in terms of timing, fortunate that we scored early in the second half. ESR was involved in the first half but was not penetrating enough. In contrast to Martinelli, he plays deeper and but works back better. It’s when he – and Saka – start to drift along our frontline when our creativity improves. Though it also felt that Tierney was more involved in the creative side today. He actually passed the ball forwards on a number of occasions. But that first goal was the game changer. Whereas we’d seen Odegaard – who was generally bright, lively and excellent today (against mediocre opposition it has to be said – and there, I’ve said it) spurn the chance to shoot and we’d seen Cigarette manage to stray offside for our disallowed goal – ESR was direct and confident and resulted in a great goal – even if their goalkeeper could have done better.

BTW, remember a couple of years back when we were looking to buy him before we picked up a random Icelandic goalie instead? I’m glad we left him where he was. Too many poor passes and not real presence. Whereas in our goal Ramsdale continues to lead that defense and even if one or two passes were dubious there was a number of long passes to ESR that were outstanding. But back to ESR and Saka. How energizing are these two? They demonstrated the lack of fear that seems to be overwhelming Cigarette. I’ve always been a believer in Cigarette. But I fear now he’s decaying rapidly right in front of our eyes. Today was one of the worst performances I’d seen him put in. His touch was awful, his possession was limited and his inability to score is undermining this team. Today his play defined his role – he has become our own false 9. We now play without a real center-forward but just choose to give that number of a person to randomly occupy the space a center-forward could occupy if they were in fact a center-forward. Arteta has not just emulated but transcended his mentor Pep. Arsenal have now taken the concept of a false 9 to a whole new level. None of this placing a creative attacking midfield player into a slightly withdrawn role. Nope, just put Cigarette out there and have him produce nothing and miss any chance that comes his way.

Within 40 minutes I wanted to see Eddie out there. That’s the definition of going out of the frying pan into the fire. Which, given ESRs performance, leads into an interesting conundrum. With Martinelli coming back from suspension, does ESR return to the bench? Todays performance argues for replacing Cigarette with Martinelli. Arteta won’t do that. That would remove one of our three grown-ups from the team. And at least one of the other two will get sent off in the next game and that would leave us with a child care issue for the remaining players. I think there is some FA rule about leaving unattended kids playing, unsupervised, in such a large space. So, I fear our False 9 will continue. When Eddie came on with the armband Xhaka refused to take it, so we have a false 9 and a false captain.

Brentford were boring – though not in a Burnley way – just devoid of creativity or threat. Nonetheless we handled them perfectly. Out midfield was strong. This was one of the easiest and strongest performances from Partey today. He even managed to last the entire 90 odd minutes. His passing was constructive and his tackling was perfect – and no yellow card. Xhaka, alongside him, was barely tested and seemed to coast through linking up well with Tierney and ESR.

The center-backs, like Ramsdale, were barely tested. Gabriel of course had to get one yellow for a last ditch challenge but overall they remain a pillar of defensive stability. Contrast that with the first game of the season! Alongside them Cedric remains passable but only barely. This was not his worst game – a low bar indeed – but he has a nasty habit of drifting backwards to be the deepest in our offside line of defense. We saw this against Wolves and again today. It was him that kept them onside for their token goal. But too often he drops too deep and then keeps their center-forwards onside and undermines the high line of the rest of the defense. Hopefully Tommy will be pushing Cedric back to the bench in our upcoming games. Better opposition will expose that weak link.

It’s a shame we went into containment mode after 70 minutes and allowed them some space to grow into the game. But even then I can’t remember Ramsdale having an actual shot to save. And then it became time for our favourite, most expensive player to make an appearance. Which, conveniently lead to Saka swapping sides and then dispatching our second goal in somewhat similar circumstances to ESR. Though, in this instance with a little more authority. It makes for nice headlines I’m sure – the two kids from our academy scoring both goals. It’s not fair to say the two were the difference today. With Odegaard, Partey and Xhaka we clearly controlled the game. It is fair though to say they were the only two who looked likely to score for us. They are our top goalscorers now. Pretty amazing fact. And as the season progresses, jut a little worrying.

It again highlights the paucity of goals from our main striker. But maybe it’s time to rename that position. Technically he would remain a forward by virtue of being further run the pitch. In cricket, he would be called the non-striker – up the other end of the pitch as the no-facer to the bowler – so that does not work. Maybe we could call him our Misser or our Mister Misser. Our double M. Our own M&M if you will. At some point, but surely next season, we’ll have a player who can feed off all the crosses that are put into the box. Someone who can win a header and/or even shoot on target. But a man can dream, right?

Another week then to idle away until our next game. The rhythm of this season is so different given our lack of European football, COVID cancellations and these annoying international breaks – of which we still have one more to suffer through. In a funny way, the lack of mid-week football allows time for other parts of life to creep in. But, as we know, that’s really not a healthy or good thing for anyone. No football does not equate to a real life. But it does mean that the tension, fear and worry is at least not present mid-week. And it allow our players to rest up in anticipation of their next red card or missed goalscoring opportunity. And it allows me time to rest up my weary fingers from all this typing. Maybe I can find a substitute typist. Or seek a postponement because of my other European obligations. Or maybe I’ll be called up to some international team of lost souls. Nope. Much better to stay focused on the next game. Which, it turns out, is next Thursday against Wolves. So, in fact, not an entire week before the next one. But, surely a match in which we’ll have a player sent off. And then we’ll watch to see how much they celebrate any points they might gain against us. I used to quick like that team. But after all their moaning and crying after the game at their place I developed quite a strong dislike for them. Not up there with United and certainly not with another team in London, but a strong disdain nonetheless. This will be a game unlike today. Where we will need someone to help score goals. So, lets wrap up Gabriel and be thankfully we’ll have Martinelli back. Now I’ll just telepathically try and convince Arteta to leave Cigarette on the bench for this one.

-LB7

What a great day. What a great score-line. Added one to the family and added one more win. My number 2 added one and we, care of Gabriel, got one. Not that my number 2 can read (or write, or tie his shoe-laces) so he won’t see this emotional outburst by me. Thankfully his wife has brains. 1^st new baby and a beautiful girl.  And three hard earned points. The perfect results. The perfect day.

Though Michael Oliver did his best to ruin everything. What a ridiculous decision to send of Martinelli. He ignored two clear yellow cards at the start of the game – one for them and one for us – and then proceeded to hand them out like confetti. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a referee do that. Within the space of 10 seconds penalize the same player for two actions resulting in a red – without any review or weighting given to the two offenses. The first one was not even a yellow let alone the second. Martinelli pushed the player over with a tame little push. It was not a hand to his face and it was not dangerous – so how is that a yellow card? Oliver seemed caught up in the emotion of the game. Normally he’s a reasonably sound referee. And, generally, he was relatively unobtrusive in his decision making. But this was insane.

Fortunately we now have a long history of knowing how to play with only 10 men. People talk about sample sizes. We surely have a statistically significant sample now to assess how few goals we concede when down to 10 men. And who could have imagined that Xhaka would not be the one sent off? It seems that whenever we play at Molineux – whoever the referee – we destined to finish the game without at least one player.

Gabriel was immense today. Scoring that goal was critical but resolute defending was the standout feature of his game today. He and White marshaled the defense perfectly. And that’s with Cedric on the field. Who, it so happens, was not entirely shit today. He gave the ball away too easily and often drops back so deep that he negates the attempts of the other three to hold a clear off-side line. Better teams will exploit that. Luckily Wolves aren’t one of those teams.

Today Jotta was at Anfield nipping a few goals. That signing by Liverpool was very valuable for us today. With him in their forward line we’d have lost. But thankfully they lacked any cutting edge. Not dissimilar to us in fact. Not that they had so many clear cut chances. Ramsdale had to make one or two important interventions and saves but he was not required to be the usual miracle worker. In fact, there were instances when he was caught in two minds as to whether to come out for crosses. So he rode his luck a little today but he’s earned it.

Partey and Xhaka provided coordinated cover in front of the defense. I can’t think of many times when they left the back four exposed. While it might have limited our creativity and attacking threat, the organization and coordination of the time was crucial. And especially once Martinelli went off.

Though Cigarette helped set up the all important goal we saw again how much we need a striker that can score. We’ve seen this now in too many games. That one on one chance he had in the last 10 minutes was the perfect opportunity for him to seal the victory. And it was frightening that he not only failed to score but also missed the target. These types of misses will jeopardize any chance we have of re-entering Europe (except by Eurostar). At this stage of his career, with his experience, he has to put these chances away. It undermines all his hard work and link up play. It makes you wonder what he’s doing all week in practice. Maybe he’s focusing on painting and decorating. Or, writing his first full length documentary. Maybe he should focus instead on target practice. Because today he just about got away with it. If we had drawn or lost this game then this would have been the central theme that would have dominated the discussion given the loss of Aubmayang and lack of a replacement. Not that it’s obvious to me who there was on the market to bring in. That does not matter – this would have been the story.

Towards the end the game devolved into attack versus defense. But now – even with Cedric – we have a real defense. What a transformation from two years ago. It’s something we’ve not had in 10 years. A coherent, dependable and organized backline. They are also figuring out how to play the ball out from defense in a more balanced manner. The times – and there were many – when we broke through their lines, opened up their midfield and defense. If only we had a real striker.

Saka was somewhat subdued again today. I would guess that he’s the most fouled player in the EPL. I can’t think of a game he’s played in where the right back has not at least been booked. He linked up well with Odergaard and did his best with Cedric. We need to get him more involved though. Our attack runs through the wings but not central. All good things for us start wide. And today we missed the forward runs from Xhaka and Partey. But it was a winning strategy.

We’ve had to wait six weeks this year to see us score a goal. And if someone would have said it came from a Brazilian, I bet few would have guessed it would be Gabriel. And it’s great to see the old 1-0 to the Arsenal. But this is one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed the last few weeks. No stress or trepidation in watching Arsenal. It’s far too tense to enjoy. It’s far to aggravating to witness these frequently poor referee decisions.

And can someone explain why there weren’t any games for the last few weeks – sure I know we were dispatched from the F. A. Cup. But what about the prior two weeks? Unless I’m completely deaf and dumb (no response needed to that), I did not see any international matches involving England or any other European country (please excuse me for considering England European). So, what was the break for? We forced all EPL teams to try and play through COVID over the Christmas period only to force them to take two weeks off (and fly to Dubai). It makes no sense. But then nothing the FA does makes sense. How is it that the most popular game on the planet earth is overseen by incompetent, corrupt fucking morons. Whether it be the FA, their counterparts at EUFA or the biggest criminals of them all at FIFA. It’s amazing that football is as successful as it is given the retards that have elected themselves to run the game while lining their pockets with multi-million dollar bribes, while simultaneously coming up with self-serving money making ideas for themselves such as a bi-annual World Cup. It’s bad enough they gave it to Qatar and then decided to move it to the middle of our season. God I hate FIFA. I think I might have said this once or twice before.

So, back to Arsenal. Todays points speak to character and determination. Not a great spectacle but a demonstration of team unity and focus. Not something we’ve been renowned for. And that’s not to underplay our overall performance. There were clear periods where we controlled the game and moved the ball with purpose and speed. The link up play with Xhaka on the left and Odergaard on the right provided balance. Which also explains why we use the wings to attack. You could also see the value of planting Partey in the middle of the pitch. He was in control and provided the necessary cover for the defense. He’s passing was sharper even if his shooting is still miserable.

Arteta will be delighted with this result. It was vital we got something from this game after our start to the calendar year. Whether it can be a springboard for us is too early to tell. It certainly sets us up well for the next few games before we have to deal with the run of difficult games against the big teams. But jumping up to fifth whilst pushing Wolves further down is a great start to this phase of the season.

As I’ve said, I don’t feel we have the depth of squad to realistically get 4^th place. Of course, if the other teams around us continue to find ways to lose home games (you know, like 2-3 ha fucking ha) then, maybe, by default we can get 4^th. But more realistically I figure 6^th to even 7^th will get us into Europe. The winners of the League Cup won’t use that slot because both teams will already be in the champions league. And let’s hope that 2 of the top 3 compete in the F. A. Cup final. Not that I’d want to be in that wanky new European competition. And, maybe I’m getting too far ahead of myself, but we have an opportunity over the next few weeks to position ourselves for the unlikely chance to get back to Europe. And now we’re shorn of so many players and left with this minimalist squad that would be yet another impressive achievement for Arteta. It’s just not clear I’ll be able to handle the street and angst along the way.

But maybe I’ll be able to hold young Mila’s hands, look into her eyes and then picture her playing for Arsenal Women in another 20 years from now. The next generation of Arsenal supporters is with us. Best thing #2 has ever done (no cheap jokes here please). What a great day.

-LB7

Wake me up someone. Please. That cured any insomnia I might have. No need for medication. Just put that game on a loop.

From minute one the outcome was predictable. Burnley doing their perfect impersonation of Bolton. And us doing an impersonation of a team that used to be called Arsenal. If you think about our performance against Liverpool in the first half and then for the entirety of the game against Man City. Got it? Great, discard that. Pretend it did not happen. Because that’s what we did today. We were as limp and boring as we were under Emery. Sideways and tedious. No pace. No energy and no urgency. OK, I exaggerate a little. It was inevitable that, yet again, out best chance would fall to Cigarette. And the outcome was as predictable as it was during the week. He brought together his vast experience and found a way to entirely miss the target.

Of course, we did not exactly test their goalie. It’s not like we peppered their goal. There was one ESR move from our corner when Pope made a great save. But not much else stands out.

It’s depressing to watch us to descend to the level of the opposition especially when we needed the 3 points. It’s games like this that in the past that always cost us come the end of the season. Last year it was Palace, Watford and Brighton.

Arteta today, as the game progressed, needed to mix things up and change the tactics. I know the bench is not exactly littered with Kante’s or Salahs but we seemed devoid of ideas. This was definitely a step backwards. The next match is away to Wolves – who are climbing the league now – and that is a game we can’t lose. We should have Xhaka and Partey back by then. They were missed today. That lack of experience and guidance in midfield was noticeable. And most of our players seemed a little raged.

We missed Tommy today though after Thursday it was not surprising. We still kept a clean sheet. But we lose something when White is out on the right. Holding’s distribution is just not the same quality. Compare the cross-diagonal balls from White to what we saw of Holdings long balls. (I say!).

And what’s up with Tierney? He has turned into sideways and backwards Tierney. When he first arrived he would tear up the left hand side. Now his first pass is as described. It sucks any momentum out of the game. There were two instances in the second half when he either passed inside or turned up field. And both times attacks were started. Something has changed with him. And not for the better.

Odegaard worked hard – and defended – but there was little happening ahead of him. Martinello again ran like a maniac and worked his socks off. But Saka was again quiet against a full back he could take to the cleaners. He needed to be more aggressive and more direct. On those instances that he was, we created opportunities.

Not that it explains the result or the performance but what was up with this referee.  I can’t believe Westwood was not sent off for that second foul in the first half on Gabriel. If that had been Xhaka or Partey they would have taken an early bath. Do people even know what that is? Do people take baths anymore. I don’t. But trust me I am held to the highest hygiene standards. I clean behind my ears and adhere to regular shows. But I digress. Do players take baths? I don’t think so. So maybe it should be an early shower. Or, an early Tik-Tok or early podcast. Anyway, as we saw with Partey on that first tackle on Thursday that he somehow managed to receive a yellow card for something that was only just a foul. But yet, here we have Westwood cracking into our player and nothing. And you wonder why Arsenal fans are paranoid. Though I’m not convinced we’d have scored even against 10 men.

But basically today was boring and joyless. A backward step. But just tedious. It sucked away any enjoyment for the game. It reminded us that this is truly a young lead lacking some experience and leadership. And unfortunately, our most experienced player is not part of the team anymore and the next most experienced can shoot straight.

So now we turn to the transfer to see if we can help supplement this team. To see if we can find a way to get into Europe next year. Fourth is going to be a level too far. We will benefit from no more cup competitions for sure. But I fear that will not be enough. A little help up front and in midfield is required. We know that the referees association will be planning out how to hand a few more random red cards leaving us short in midfield again.

It’s good to see the back of Kolasinac. That’s progress. But we also need to add. Even if that’s tough to do in the winter window.  At least by our next game – which is more than two weeks away – we’ll have a full and fit squad. Maybe that will allow us to re-discover our energy and urgency. This two steps forward and one step back is difficult to absorb. We’re just lucky that the teams around us are also wildly inconsistent. But at some point we need to put a run together. Otherwise 8^th place will beckon for us. I wish I could be more upbeat. Today was one the hardest reviews write just because of the tedium of it all. The drabness we witness seeps into everything after  a lackluster performance like that. So maybe the next few weeks will give me sufficient time to recuperate. Lets see.

-LB7