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This could well be my last post as I head off to Baku. Alongside DB10, we venture off into Asia for the NoHopaCup in the forlon hope that Mustafa will be nabbed by the Armenians. Why, oh why, could they not have swapped MickeyTarrien and Mustafa’s nationality.

There remains a small chance I’ll have returned prior to the CL final (assuming that is i ever return). Let us acknowledge that for any true Arsenal fan all we wish is that Liverpool win the CL final under any possible scenarios. There is no possibility of any other outcome that can be considered. If the choice is to sacrifice the NoHopCup on the alta of the CL gods then so be it. Losing to Chelski to ensure that Liverpool win is more than rationale. And if Liverpool do find a way to lose the CL final then us winning the NoHopaCup is no consolation whatsoever.

So I head off to the great NoHopaCup I do so in the knowledge that I’ve already traded our victory for that of Liverpools. If only now we could trade Mustafa. Maybe we can leave him behind. Maybe we can get the UK – as part of an early Brexit vote – to refuse to re-admit Mustafa back into the country. If that fails maybe we can have Mustafa stand for leadership of the Conservative Party. That would surely have him hung, drawn and quartered as they continue to eviscerate everything that is English in England.

If we do want to win this competition though it would seem we have to retire the old Wenger routine of pretending that football is a sentimental game. The approach that leads to us playing the second best goalkeeper because that keeper is leaving. Of course, the reason they are leaving is because they are not good enough to play in the EPL games. Consequently the #2 goalie plays in the cup games. So this year we have the wonderful Cech leaving. And somehow, in the most important game of the season (now) we are not going to play Leno. This is insane. Cech is about to join Chelski once he retires. We need to win this match. Of course, if we had not have bottled it against (you name the list) Crystal Palace or Brighton (to name a few) this would be a mute point. But here we are. Why are we going to play our second best goalkeeper? Hey, i know, why not play Jenkinson at right back because he’s likely to leave as well. In fact, using the same logic, we should play Mustafa as well in the hope that this ensures he finally leaves.

If we want to truly qualify for the CL then we have to play Leno. Anything else defies the nature of this game. It’s win at all costs so lets select our best team (minus MickeyTarrien of course).

Naturally I fear we’ll find a way to lose this game. Traveling all this way is nerve wracking for all to obvious reasons. But to then sit through such a tortuous game against Chelski – for whom this is essentially a home fixture – will be painful. This is no different I suppose from how Aston Villa and Derby supporters feel. Both sets are looking at the opportunity to get “promoted” to a higher league and it all rests on a single game. The outcome of which will generate tens of millions in additional revenue. All we can hope is that Kante is not fit and/or can’t play. Or that maybe real Madrid will swoop in with an early announcement of their signing of Hazard.

Like us they are a one-man team. One man on their team will determine the outcome for them and that man is Hazard. He is pivotal to everything they do and the one player capable of turning a game on it’s head with moments of inspiration and creativity. Likewise, we have one man who can turn a game on it’s head. As he most recently demonstrated against Crystal Palace.

So let’s pray that Mustafa remains on the bench (if not the airplane). And let’s pray for a glorious victory on Wednesday care of Cigarette and Aubameyang. And, most importantly, come Saturday, regardless of the outcome of our game, we will all be Liverpool supporters for a day.

-LB7

Deserved win against the brutes of Burnley. I confess I was not always convinced by Aubameyang. In the last month he has been as Henry-esque as you could ask. He, along with Cigarette, has carried us to the NoHopeCup Final. Sure, he fluffs a few chances but he’s always been in the right spot and has amassed sufficient goals to share the Golden Boot. I’d guess the last time we had a player that did this was Henry.

It’s a pleasure to finally win a league game – and away as well. Of course, it just goes to highlight the waste that this season has been. One win from that dreadful string of performances against Everton, Palace, Wolves and Brighton would easily have seen us automatically qualify. What a wasted opportunity.

Our first half performance was pretty dull. The only excitement was Aubameyang hitting the post and generally terrorizing their defense. Meantime, as ever, we looked the usual shambles at the back. Monreal still looks off his game. The other Greek looks a little unsteady and Mustafa is reliably and consistently a liability. Nothing new here. Insert here the usual comments on Ob1 and Mickeytarrien. There were no lessons that we’d learn today about our weak links.

It might seem the game turns on a Burnley mistake in the second half. It would be more accurate to say it turned on the introduction of Koscielny. He stabilized the team. Though at the time I was screaming at Emery. Why is he risking our premier center half in a no-name game in the cold north-west against a bunch of Burnely brutes?

The entire game Burnley were bullies. Over physical and nasty. They accumulated bookings like we accumulate away defeats. And yet, whenever one of their players is touched they complained and moaned endless. They seem quite capable of handing it out but, as evidenced by their no-talented forward Barnes, once they are touched, they all scream and argue. It started when Barnes tried to block Leno from running out with the ball post corner. Barnes was rightly booked. Though listening to the two retarded commentators, you would not think so. In fact, the entire game they seemed to worship at the feet of the down-trodden, hard-working Burnely. Almost willing them to beat Arsenal. Going to so far as to claim there was no Arsenal structure and that Burnely – at 0-0 – were overachieving. They ignored our chances and seemed to revel in the physicality and “Englishness” of the Burnley approach. This is classic of old-school commentators and ex-average pundit commentary. They seem to wallow in the football from 20 years ago – the route one football of hard knocks. Somehow, they don’t seem to grasp what era football is now operating in. It’s as though they actually believe football was better 20 years ago when players were getting kicked-off the park by thugs and other players like Barnes. Not once did they comment on the string of unnecessary and late tackles put in by Cork, Lawton, Barnes etc. Instead they lauded the efforts of their great manager Sam Dyke – surely the ugliest manager in the league.

Thankfully we were able to glow in the excellence of Guendouzi today. He was head and shoulders (appropriate for his hair) our best player. He was the one who drove the midfield forward. He was supported quite well by Elneny who played more like another center half. But Guendouzi was always available to receive the ball. His first instinct was to turn up field and build constructively. He surely benefitted from the absence of Xhaka – as did the entire team. Willock was not so great today. One or two flashes but not involved enough. And in the first half Ob1 – who the commentator kept referring to as e-Wobi – maybe he is something out of Star Wars. Or maybe he is the internet version of a wingback. Either way he was awful in the first half. Incapable of beating his man or making the right pass. As much as I’d like us to ditch him (or at least have him as one of our 3 usable substitutes) he was not as poor as MickeyTarrien. And, unlike the Armenian, Ob1 actually woke up in the second half. With Ob1 I think the solution is a first rate therapist. Someone who can instill some self-belief and confidence in him. He’s now, at the age of 23, notched up 100 games for Arsenal. Yet, he suffers from a lack of confidence and lack of willingness to take responsibility. Once or twice a season we’ll see him fire on all cylinders. When he actively runs at the defenders. But most of the time – like in the first half – he’ll opt to pass backwards, sideways or underhit his passes. However, he at least has age on his side. Whereas Mickeytarrien is being paid to close to £200k/week to be utterly peripheral. Today he was too slow to even track back and help old man Lichtenstienbergstein. Let’s hope we can take and leave him in Baku.

I was disappointed not to see Eddie start today. When he swapped with Willock the pace of our team picked up. It was great to see him get his first goal. He needs more game time. With InjuredBeck now leaving let’s hope Eddie gets his chance. He waited all year for his 30 minutes. He looked good when he came on. I doubt he can be our Rashford but he could certainly improve on what we have.  

I was also surprised that Emery started Aubameyang. I assume it was to allow him a chance of the golden boot. But how made would we be if he was injured? Luckily we had the pleasure of seeing him smile his way through the entire game. In that second half he received a supply line from Guendouzi, Ob1 and half the Burnley team. He’s not as accomplished as Cigarette with build up play. But, I’ve rarely seen someone hover on the last line of defense and time his runs so well. He is such a natural goalscorer. The first goal was calmness personified whereas the second one was stunning. This team is where it is because of our two forwards. Without them we’d be an average mid table team. Now we need to build around them.

OK, well that’s it for this season. Time to start thinking about next year. Oh, hold on. It turns out we have one more game. Next year will be dictated by whether we can beat Chelski in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere in the middle kingdom in the depths of the middle ages. Kudos to anyone who can (1) spell the name of the country of the final and (2) place the country on a map of the world. It’s beyond absurd that we have to travel there for this final. It’s insane that there are so few allocated tickets. But then corruption and football go hand in hand. It starts with FIFA and runs right though UEFA. Just listen to their self-serving plans to change the UCL format. It’s such an overreach that I hope there can be some grass roots reaction from fans. It’s out of the question to have UCL games at the weekends. The Premier League is paramount and must remain so. It’s the bedrock of the success of the EPL. The supporters of this plan are just those fucked up leagues that have no fans and just two teams. That’s you Spain, Italy, Germany and France. They need a European League because they don’t have the depth of competition locally to generate the attendance and revenues that the EPL yields.

And, this week, we have to listen to that most corrupt of people, Sept Blatter, complain that footballs is being corrupted by money. That’s like listening to Hitler talking about the evils of anti-Semitism. Surely, it’s senility on his part. As he sits there in his (still) FIFA paid accommodation looking for his £400K worth of watches that he left in his FIFA office when he was run out of town.

As we continue to watch the beautiful game and marvel at the chase for the title, admire the quality of football, and, even, gasp at the European mid-week score lines, we need to be aware that there are dark clouds on the horizon. Just as the USA is now run by a nihilistic, egomaniacal, buffoon who is intent on being the ultimate disruptor – at all costs to everyone else – without any guidance based on morals or ethics, so it proceeds with European football.

Three point gained today. A good result and one or two great individual performances. But, it just reinforces what an opportunity we blew last week again Brighton. It’s hard to get past that given the results of both Chelski and Sp*rs today. Sure, they might have played differently if we’d have won last week. But it can’t change the sense that we just capitulated just when he needed to demonstrate a backbone. Valencia was better than I feared. It’s an improvement over Marseille. And maybe we’ll find a backdoor way into the UCL.

So all eyes now turn to Baku. Fucked up Baku. Fucked up EUFA. And fucked up ticket allocation. EUFA have intentionally selected a venue where they actively acknowledge that the only airport in town can’t service more than 15,000 fans per day.  And that’s their official justification for the lack of tickets for both teams. If it were not the case that both our teams are run by remote, uberwealthy, corrupt owners, the two teams should have joined together to refuse to play in such a remote venue. It is a complete disgrace to the fans of both teams.

-LB7

This used to be a labour of love. Now it’s just a labour. What a waste today. In fact, the last month in the league has been such a waste. We’ve had so many chances to wrap up a place in the top 4 but have chosen to waste every opportunity. Of course, we know this team is not good enough. But when the chance is there you have to take it. In the exact same way Liverpool found a way to win against Newcastle by getting goals from someone we found the way to do the exact opposite. We managed not to score when we should and then gift them a goal when we shouldn’t. That’s gulf in class we have to bridge. We don’t have a winning mentality. It’s not clear we even have a mentality.

How else can you explain losing to Crystal Palace, Everton, Wolves and Leicester? Yet we can win away at Naples? We’ll surely look back on this period, as we did after Leicester won the EPL, and wonder how did we not managed to automatically qualify when the teams around us were so weak? This was our chance to really damage Sp*rs; to deny them CL qualification and cause them financial trauma. Chelski are different, because they’ll always have a bankrolled team. They will come back stronger. As will Manure. They can’t be this poor next year.

How do you give up a goal to BHA like that? First off you need to have Xhaka be as moronic as Mustafa usually is. Classic Arsenal. Get beaten on the counter-attack. Just like the days of AW. Shows how little we’ve learned over the years. Today we can’t blame Mustafa. He was not so bad today. But others were. Monreal has lost the plot. Ozil was unnervingly quiet. Mikeytarrien remains a light weight player. Even Cigarette, as impressive as he was today, made too many mistakes. Our best palyer across the 90 minutes was Aubameyang. Yet he wasted too many clear cut chances. As we will in for the rest of our lives, we missed Ramsey today. He might have found a way to score. Once they equalized we stepped up the pressure. But then, with the 3 substitutions, we lost our impetus. Just as we were creating chances we reorganized and starting playing through Ob1. It took another 10 minutes before we mustered a clear chance. In this entire time there was so much languid passing and lack of responsibility. It was not clear who was responsible for driving the team forward.  But let’s circle back to Xhaka. His first pass today went to BHA and his second went right out of play. He’s too casual and too slow. Today just proved again that he’s a liability. Not at the level of Mustafa but pretty close. And you can be sure he’ll be in the team next year.

As they say, the position in the league does not lie. We are just not good enough. We’ve seen that too often this year. Aside from Cigarette and Aubameyang we are bereft of world class players. I’ve finally excluded Ozil from this list because his contributions can be world class but the frequency of them is too inconsistent. Today was another chance for him to stamp his authority on the game.

Our defense has been crap nearly the entire year. There were periods today in the second half when it was shambles. From Monreal panicing in the box to Leno passing to their players. BHA could have easily scored a second. We were a shambles. One commentator observed that the starting 3 today would not be part of our future. It goes beyond that though. As Xhaka demonstrated, he’s too slow to defend and too casual. That penalty was just careless. The odds were that BHA would have missed any shot anyway. Immediately after conceding their penalty, BHA could have grabbed a second. The entire defense was in disarray. It was both scary, embarrassing and yet wonderfully symptomatic of our entire year. We have this innate ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This is not a team ready to be in the CL.

It’s been unappealing to review the previous Arsenal games. Not that the reviews could be any more painful than suffering through watching those games. The last run of games have been such a groundhog day experience.

The irony is that in previous years we would not even be involved at this stage in the season. By now we should be far off the pace. Unfortunately, though we have replaced Wenger with a manager who is destined to tease us with the promise of a better future. We should have read the footnotes. Better yes, but just by an inch or two. Not sufficient to actually make a fundamental shift in the club. We also have to recognize that one manager can’t change the club for the better. For the worse, for sure. We also need a management team that finds a Technical Director in a timely manner so that we can set up our summer targets. And yet, many months after our shaggy haired German has departed we’re still no further along in replacing him.

Before the season started it was clear we were not ready to compete for the league nor the top 4. As the season developed and we recovered form the first two losses, this team showed signs of development and accumulated points. But for the most part we languished in 5^th or 6^th. But then at the start of the year the teams around us decided to emulate Arsenal and throw away managers and or points. Now are expectations were raised. We even managed to beat a few of these teams and touch 3^rd place. Now we started to expect. Now we believed we were worthy of Champions League football. And this from a team that regularly included Mustafa, Mickeytarrien, Ob1 and, latterly, Elneny. By the time Emery figured out his preferred eleven we’d started to pick up the predictable injuries. The loss of Ramsey for even a few games – let alone the rest of his career, destabilized our delicate midfield balance. So after touching the un lofty heights of 3^rd place and after the dusting off from the storage area conversations regarding St. Totteringham day, this team completely reverted to type. It managed to rediscover it’s complete lack of belief and backbone. Along with Chelski and ManManure. Even Sp*rs are jealous of our ineptness. The top two can’t stop winning and the rest of us are playing like we are all teams destined for relegation – though they might be better than any of us.

How does this happen? How do Manure implode like this? How do we perform so ably against Napoli and implode against Crystal Palace? Some part of our troubles do lay at the feet of Emery. He selected Mustafa. And also Elneny. But the club bought these players. You can be sure none of these would have gotten into the teams of the top 6. Look at Theo. He barely plays for Everton. Every team has their weaknesses but ours just seem more egregious. But it’s not just these two or three players. It does not explain our last 4 league performances. That lies at the feet of the players. We fielded strong teams. But decided to put up a weak performance. Minus Ramsey there is little driving force in this team. There is no leadership. We’ve seen this for many years now. Some (cough cough) will go back 15 years to Viera. Or even to Gilberto. Torreira might grow into that. But Xhaka never will. And Kosclieny is not like that. But we need someone to take charge on the pitch and wake up players. All season long we’ve seen change at half-time that have lived up our performance. How can that be? When and why can’t we play the full 90 minutes? This all leads back to mentality. And that lay at the footsteps of all the players. It’s a cultural issue. These players require on-field leadership.. And until then we’re like some emotionally delicate species that, depending on the perfect alignment of the sun, temperature and wind conditions might deem to apply themselves. At this level of the game nearly all the players have the talent required but it’s those that apply themselves and use that talent that succeed. Likewise, the margins between teams are so fine that the collective will of a team; the mentality of the team can be that 0.05% that makes all the difference. And the lack of it will consign us to being the bridesmaid not the bride.

Today was the culmination of the entire season. Wasted chances, poor application and desperately weak defending. Maybe we should take comfort from watching Liverpool. They acquired one defender, Van Dyke, and their entire team solidified. I fear though that there is not the management acumen at Arsenal to be smart enough to go out and identify and acquire that person. Instead we’ll have many B+ players (Xhaka, Mkeytarrien, Ob1) that will never elevate the team but will always have us close by.

Of course we still have Valencia to by-pass and then, hopefully the final in some country none of us could find on a map. Maybe we’ll get lucky but I would not hold your breath. We have three remaining away games and we must won the right two. Beyond that though, we can take comfort from not being as fucked up as Manure but also be aware that we don’t have the money available to compete with them. They surely can’t be as bad next year. And Wolves and Everton will improve. And we will have an unproven manager, a weak squad and a lack of a winning mentality. Not exactly how you’d like to start off a new campaign.

I remain depressed and lacking in optimism for our future. Make some radical changes – dump Mustafa by the side of the road. Sell Mickeytarrien. Buy a world class center half and a holding mid-field player and grab Zaha from Crystal Palace. Then, maybe, would I start to believe. In the meantime, we’ll have to pray that we the restoration and rebuilt Koscielny available for Thursdays game. In the meantime, I’m left to brood over the wasted season we’ve just gone through. It’s just like that Leicester season, we’ll look back and wonder how we were incapable of directly qualifying for the CL with all the other teams fucking up.

– LB7

We just had to play an away game. Arsenal are persecuted. It’s not just Kevin Friend or Mike Dean. But somehow the EPL forces us to play away. And then, to boot, to go up north where it can be slightly chilly with the home teams fans boo-ing us. It’s just not fair. It has to stop. Where is the UN Human Rights Council. How can this injustice persist?

Crap. And Boring. And poor team selection. Some was injury induced of course. No Kosclieny, Xhaka or Ramsey. But it’s hard to watch a team with Mustafa, Mickeytarrien and Elneny. We lost the game in the first half. And then lost it again in the second half. In many ways we were fortunate to only lose by one goal.

We had a few chances. Unfortunately, Cigarette was extinguished in front of goal today. The rest of his link-up and defensive play was excellent. But that breakaway in the first 10 minutes when he was unable to get a shot on target was the game-turning miss. But I also don’t understand how that was not a penalty by Zouma who came in like a freight-train on him. But given the multiple decisions we saw thereafter by Friend thereafter it was not too surprising.

There was no luck today. Of course, that was an illegal foul throw – but you can’t blame the ref for that – that’s the linesman job. However, you never see that called. Then they had the rub of the green as, after Jagielka won the header, it ricocheted back off Kolinsac to easily score.

We then had to put up with Friend awarding every free-kick to them and every yellow card to us. The one to Sokratis, who was excellent all day, was particularly painful as we won’t have him for our next two games. Having him in the center is key to our defense. He reads the game so well and is generally calm. Unlike the idiot to his right you could have been sent off in the second half when he clattered Clavert-Lewin into the boards. I don’t mind the foul itself. Anyone playing for Everton with a double-barrel name is deserving of that treatment. But he’d had ample time to just put the ball into touch. I don’t fancy Troy Deeney without Sokratis. It was a borderline foul for Sokratis but somehow warranted a yellow from Friend. And to think Dean was on the side-line as the fourth referee does not bare thinking about.

Elneny was way out of his depth today. As he normally is. Playing him was a mistake – recognized by our half-time changes. In fact, today Emery lost us the first half by his starting selection. Throughout the game Mickeytarrien was dire. He lost the ball too often and was too slow with his release. Combine that with the ineffectiveness of Maitlaind-Niles on the right and the languid Ozil meant that there was no movement or creativity in the first half. We made this too easy for Everton. But, before all this transpired Cigarette should have scored and/or had a penalty.

Th second half was better care of Ramsey but we could not take the few chances we had; at least we had more urgency. We could have played for another hour and I don’t think we’d have scored. When you see Cigarette slip in the box after a slick pass from the surprisingly effective Ob1 you know it’s not your day. And when Ramsey puts one off-target from just around the penalty spot you know you’re fucked.  There were very few bright spots today. Guendouzi was industrious but picked up a dubious Friend yellow card which restricted his aggression. But he worked hard and tries to move forward. Paired alongside Elneny is tough on him though. Neither made themselves available for the outlet balls. And our wing-backs were both poor. It’s not often Kolinsac gets subbed at half time. But today he was shit.

But by that standard most of the team could have been replaced. They all seemed to be too weak in possession. Monreal had one of his worst games. He lost most of his duels and was always complaining and moaning but continued to allow himself to be out muscled. Of course, the few times he was strong Friend awarded fouls against him. He was beaten too many times today and added nothing going forward.

It’s just not reasonable for the Premier League to expect us to play so many away games. Maybe next year we can have two leagues. The Home BPL and the Away BPL. We would finally be champions. Then we could play in the Home Champions league. Though finding opponents to come and play us might be challenging.

Emery does not have the players or squad he needs. Elneny and Mickeytarrien and our retard German defender are not of the quality we need. Everyone knows this. Maitland-Niles is still unproven. A defense that had Kosclieny, Holding and Bellerin would have changed this game. But all teams have to withstand injuries. And that’s where our depth fails us.

But these wankey players does not quite speak to why we drop some many away points.  It’s been pleasing to have been in 4^th place (and we still are) and even 3^rd place. But there is no doubt we are not a Champions League team. It’s great to beat Man United and draw against Sp*rs but you can’t lose these games. Not when you still have to go to Watford, Wolves Leicester and Burnley. Given we have not won one of our last nine away games the probability of us winning all these games is pretty much zero. Winning one would be a starting point. But beyond that it would be a miracle.

To win one away requires a different mental attitude. Not the one that was on display today. There has to be on-field leadership and physical strength. How different are these issues from AW days? Though it’s improved it’s still, at core, the same issue. That’s where a change in personnel comes in. And that’s where transfer money becomes a big factor.

I felt resigned as soon as that goal went in; resigned to another underperforming Arsenal away performance. The game was so predictable and dreary. We even managed to make them look like a good team. All the other teams around us have gone out of their way to drop important points. They have tried to wave us through into the Champions League. But it will still require us to win these remaining games. So, start planning for the HoHopeCup for next year.

Which leads us to Thursday. Which is at least at home. But we need Kosclieny back. And Torreira. And the atmosphere will help. We will surely get a reaction. But the pathway is difficult. Arguably tougher than Liverpools. Would you prefer Porto to Napoli? But there will be motivation and focus unlike what we saw today. This week could be the making or breaking of our season. It’s the pressure end of the season; it’s time for Emery to pull this team out of the shadow of AW and those most recent failures.

• LB7

…And we’re back. Back in the top four. Back to winning big games. Back to keeping clean sheets. And back to being given penalties and back to scoring them.

Where to start? OMG, that was so enjoyable. It felt a little like last week. We came out and dominated, we were aggressive and created a number of chances that we managed to spurn. But then they also repaid the compliment. Lukaku hit the bar when it was easier to score and, Fred hit the post and in-between Shaw created multiple chances for them.

Again, Leno was outstanding today. Two weeks running now he’s literally saved us. Today was even more impressive. His positioning and reading of the game helped nullify one Lukaku breakaway in the second half. He movement off his line in the first half block Lukaku. His distribution was better. And overall, his calmness stabilized our defense.

Sokratis was brilliant again. He and Kosclieny form a solid partnership. Kosclieny always looking one tackle away from another injury. But between them they nullified ManU. But Sokratis demonstrated controlled aggression throughout the game, read the game perfectly and imposed his character on the game.

The team selection, again, surprised me – like last week. But, again, OneEye got it spot on. I could not believe he played both Ozil and Ramsey. And he dropped Ob1. And Mickeytarrien (though he could be injured). And Guendouzi. And he played Maitland-Niles and Kolinsac. And he played both Cigarette and Aubameyang. And he reverted the shape of the team to a back three. But it worked perfectly. In the first 20 minutes ManU had no response to our onslaught.

Cigarette should have at least gotten onto one of Kolinsac’s crosses. We should have troubled De Gea more than we did. It took a spectacular and speculative shot from Xhaka to beat him. But we deserved it. With Ramsey playing deeper alongside Xhaka we restricted their ability to play through the middle. And our wingbacks provided cover for the back three. Down both flanks we out played them. We dominated possession and controlled the game in the first half. Ozil was involved and Ramsey worked so hard to track Pogba that Pogba was barely in the game.

The second half was a little bit more subdued than the frenetic pace of the first half. Man U had more possession but they created few outright chances because of the organization and physicality of our defense. Whether it was Xhaka diving into tackles in our box or Kosclieny throwing himself into block shots, they are put their bodies on the line – including Leno.

Maitland-Niles was a brave choice. He started the game with inconsistent distribution and took time to find the pace of the game. But as the game wore on, while still giving the ball away or losing the ball too much, he grew in his defensive duties. He had a testing time with Shaw, Rashford and Martial. But his recovery pace and concentration saw him, especially in the second half, win all the important tackles. By the end of the game he was completely wiped-out and desperate for the final whistle. He is a strange bird this one. He simultaneously shows calmness and maturity and yet makes some shit passes and gives away possession too easily. But he was a much better choice than our German Kamikaze meathead who, thankfully, stayed on the bench the entire game – his perfect position.

Both forwards squandered too many chances today. Cigarette though adds so much more to our overall game though. He works much harder and links up play much better. But each of them is going through a dry patch. It’s amazing we keep winning without any real goal contributions from them. Cigarette had another gilt-edge chance right after our second goal after the ball bounced over Lindelof but he somehow managed to miss the target. Too often the two of them would pass up the chance to shot in order to pass to the other. They have to be more selfish; they have to stop trying to be so intricate inside the box and just shoot.

Kolinsac is such an effective wing-back and yet a crummy full-back. With Monreal behind him, Kolinsac can dominate and create down the left. Throughout the game he bullied Young and set up numerous chances. Xhaka was able to continuously feed him the ball. Ramsey and Ozil linked up well with him. Most of our breakout came down that side. He even defended every now and then.

Of course, Man U are hobbled by injuries. But for a club and team who’ve spent, literally, billions of dollars on their players, they deserve no sympathy. They certainly had enough quality players on the pitch to mount a serious challenge and they had enough chances. Thankfully though they fell to Lukaku. But we outplayed them for too long. And they were too slow to react to our tactics. Thank you Ole!.

And thank you Lee Mason for the penalty. That’s some kind of Arsenal record – two penalties in two premier league games. Both in the same area of the box and neither of them seemed like penalties. We’ve, of course, seen them given against us way to often so it’s nice to see them go our way. And this time Aubameyang managed to actually score. From that point on I was way more relaxed. I thought Man U had one goal in them but not two. We continued to create chances and failed to convert them.

Ignoring the NoHopaCup, that’s 4 points from two top 6 games. We deserved six and should have had six but I’ll take 4 and would have taken that gratefully before these two games. In both games we played with energy and drive. And each was based on a different tactical set up. One was a defensive masterclass whereas today we were more expansive and attacking. And that is a credit to OneEye. I’ve been quite critical of him in the past few months and have doubted his suitability. I still remain skeptical but I’ve certainly been more impressed over the last month or so. His selections have been braver and his tactics more varied. I have little doubt that with the wonderful AW we would not have gained these results.

Here we sit in the top four with just 8 games left. Of course, we have ample experience to find a variety of ways to through away this advantage. I’m just grateful that we’re even in this position. Through the ebb and flow of the season I would not have predicted we’d be in this position. I believe we have fewer challenging games required to secure Champions League football via the premier league than through the NoHopaCup. I did not see the Rennes game but did see all the usual dramatic, bleating from Arsenal fans after a loss. We were one nil up and had a man sent off. We then lost. Go figure! Sure, we could have managed the game better and only lost by one goal but shit happens. Our fans are like petulant children (I think I have a few of those) who go into meltdown with one poor game. We just have to win by two goals and keep a clean sheet. It’s not like we’re playing Barcelona (shame it’s not PSG or Real Madrid). You need to be able to come back and win these games if you want to progress. So, let’s see if we can win with eleven men. We had a great reaction to Thursdays game. But that game was a shit reaction to the Sunday game. Let’s hope we don’t have the same reaction to this result.  

We know that European referees just love to give out yellow and red cards. The very best European refs are better than ours in England but the average European ref is even worse than ours (except for Mike Dean). Let’s hope we get home field advantage this Thursday. And then we’re onto another (and final) stupid fucking international break.

Did I ever mention how I hate FIFA? This is the worst time of the year to introduce these breaks just as the season is coming to a climax. After 30 games (with other breaks) it’s just starting to get exciting and yet we have to hit pause. Pretty soon FIFA would have expanded the World Cup to +150 teams so all these qualification and friendly games will be completely irrelevant. But they still schedule them in order to fill their coffers with yet more money. It’s all about their money.

With eight games left the top four has some interesting permutations. Chelsea are inconsistent and it’s not clear they have the mental fortitude to get into the top 4. Manchester United, even after todays’ loss, have clearly regained their mojo and will surely find their way into the top 4. If only they could have retained Mourinho for longer.

But in terms of pressure, you have to imagine that the Rental Boys are starting to sweat. As they get ready to move into their redecorated home they have to be considering the nightmare situation unfolding. As they lose to Burnley and now Southampton, with upcoming games against Liverpool and then Man City, they are in danger of not making the top 4. If we can hold steady for eight more games we just might be able to send Sp*rs into a financial meltdown situation. It’s too early to get too optimistic. But if they can lose a few more games and fail to qualify the financial impact ($70mm+) combined with the debt burden of their redecoration could impair their ability to both retain Erickson and Ali while also failing to attract any new players. If the gods are kind to us we could see everything implode under the financial weight of their debt and then see Pottechino leave under too much pressure. Oh what a wonderful dream this would be. I would even sacrifice our position in the top 4 to Chelski if that assured us that Sp*rs were locked out of the top 4. Happy days indeed.

A great day today and a wonderful weekend of results. Once we get past Thursday (one way or the other) we’ll enter suspended animation for a couple of weeks but we can sustain ourselves with the awareness of the pure panic that must now be running through the management and ownership at Sp*rs. We managed to navigate our way through our new stadium. Let’s hope they fail epically.

• LB7

Football is a team game. And when you have Mustafa on your team you’re generally fucked. We should have taken all three points today. We were the better team. But we also had Mustafa who just had to have one of his panic, bonehead moments. Of course, Aubameyang did not help either.

The team selection was surprising but it worked. We played a controlled, counter-attack game. They rarely dominated or threatened our goal. In the second half it was just the one shot from the penalty. We shut them down and should have taken all three points. Before the game I was fearful of how we might be pulled apart and how unlikely it would be for the rental boys to lose three straight games. I would have accepted gleefully a point before the game. But now it feels much more like 2 points dropped. In watching the game I could see us grow in confidence and composure. There were too many of our players were playing too well. Too many of them actually turned up for a big game. How very un-Arsenal of them.

Leno made a brilliant double save in the first half and even if his distribution was somewhat wayward. Sokratis and Kosclieny were impervious today but my favorite player was Monreal. He was physical, defensively aggressive, creative going forward and generally impenetrable. What a pleasure it. Is to see him play as a regular left-back and how we’ve missed him this season.

Someone somewhere has made disparaging comments about both Ob1 and Mickeytarrien. Obviously that retard knows nothing about football. Today Ob1, as well as he played, was surpassed by Mickeytarrien. Both were more dominant in the first half. Ob1 in particular started strong. He took Trippier to the cleaners on a number of occasions. I’m sure having Monreal behind him helped. Nonetheless this was a more assured performance, in a big game, than we’ve seen in a while. And MickeyTarrien was excellent. He seemed to cover the entire pitch. And his distribution was excellent. Today he looked as good as he did when he first played for ManU. On todays performance (and mid-week) we can now claim that we got the better of that Sanchez trade. In the last few weeks, on his return from injury, we’re finally getting to see that creative player who can also work back and defend. These two were brilliant today.

Unfortunately, the chances to win the game fell to Cigarette and Aubameyang. Also season they’ve been so effective. But today, on the big stage in the big game they both let us down. Cigarette should have had two goals today. In the first two minutes and then later on when he shinned the ball wide. When he left the pitch you could see how self-aware he was at being taken off. Not upset with OneEye but disappointed with himself. And he should be. But at least he set up the Ramsey goal. We’ve seen this from him in the last few games – those missed chances have been hidden but the overall number of opportunities we’ve had to score in those games. But in these big games there are fewer chances. And as for Aubameyang. What a sit penalty. Even after our mental German that was the game for us right there. A shit penalty followed by a wasted chance when Ob1 cut the ball back. And, in a prior play, down the right hand side he managed to cross the ball behind the rejuvenated Ozil as he’d run into the box. Our two ace strikers letting us down; what a re the odds on that. Sp*rs have to consider themselves very lucky. From what we saw today they will have to rediscover themselves to stay in the top 4. We though are outside it now care of our gormless German.  We need to beat ManU without Torreira. It’s hard to see how our two aces can play this badly again.

How good was Ramsey’s goal? And how important was he with his work rate? We will miss him once he jumps to Juventus. Talking about box-to-box. He defined it today. As much as I love Ozil he just does not and cannot work that hard. The composure with which he sat Lorris on his arse was awesome. His link up play with both wing-backs was excellent and his ability to shut down their distribution was so important.

Guendouzi was interesting today. Funny how he only played 45 minutes. He’ll be playing more now with Torreira’s 3 match ban. He made some great tackles and with Xhaka provided the necessary defensive cover; they stopped Erickson and Son. But sometimes Guendouzi would be careless with his passing out of the back and exposure us to the counter-attack. He’s so young though that he’ll surely learn from these mistakes. But no-one would have guessed over the summer that he’d be starting in games such as these.

The referring was different today; in general, he allowed for a more physical game. Talyor gave two penalties that were not penalties. The linesman did not flag for the offside immediately before the penalty. But actually, Taylor allowed for a quite physical game in the first 80 minutes. That benefitted Sp*rs who were more physical in the challenges. Then, at the end we saw the normal Christmas handouts of yellow cards culminating in the red for Torreira. This will prove costly for us as we now lose him for the visit of ManU and two other games. Given all the other challenges in the game – the Rose one on Leno, Sissoko challenges and other Rose ones this one did not standout as any more reckless.

Today was two points dropped. But don’t tell me, any longer, that Sp*rs are a better team than us. Sure, they might be in the (non)Champions League and ahead of us in the table. But this season (in the PL only) we got the better of them. And today they had no game whereas we did. We were superior on the day and deserved to win. Replace Mustafa with any one of their defenders and we would have had all three points. So hopefully our short-term inferiority complex has been addressed.

The last five games have seen us revert to our improved early season performances. Today was a performance we would surely not have gotten under the great AW. We would not have been as tactically astute and as defensively solid (minus one dimwit German). That bodes well for OneEye. As critical as I’ve rightly been of him today we looked the better of the two managers. He got more out of his, arguably, less talented players that Pocahontas.  The substitutions were effective and we played the better football. Now we just need to buy ourselves another center-half and/or get Holding back into the team. And if we can drop our brainless German somewhere into the deep sea in the transfer window we’ll all be happier. Don’t ask for any money in return. Include a few burgers and beer. Just see if some poor soul will take him off our hands. Maybe if we leave him outside our Stadium early on a Thursday morning the dustbin men will pick him up from us and dispose of him. Of course our two great strikers were also responsible for the lack of three points but they have earned the right to have poor games. NotMusafa makes bonehead plays every single game. When insurance companies right up policies and try and define the word liability they specifically reference NotMustHave.

• LB7

The reverse fixture and the reverse result. In the first half we created chances and took them. In the second half we were pedestrian and somehow managed to miss our chances.

Southampton were not so bad actually; they started brightly and then faded as the game went on. Their high pressure tactics were effective to an extent but yet yielded us chances. Our left hand side was where most of the creativity originated. Did I ever mention what a wonderful player Ob1 is? He set up the first goal and the second and was the able to make defense splitting passes. His final cross is still a little misguided – indecision is one of his weaknesses – but today is not the day to criticize him (there will be plenty of those to come). He linked up well with Kolinsac and dominated that side of the field.

OneEye got the selection right today. A better balance to our midfield. He restored, finally, the Torreira and Xhaka axis. It allows Xhaka more freedom even if he’s playing deeper than our Uruguayan. Some of Xhakas’ cross field passes in the first half were fantastic. There was one played from just inside the right half way line he played right across the field behind their right back to Ob1 which was perfect. In that first half even MIckeytarrien looked like a reasonable player. He linked up well with old man Licthensteinbergstein. They moved the ball quickly and pulled Southampton all over the place.

Of course we gave them chances. Why would we not? We are the Salvation army of chances. Especially to teams who are too shit to accept them. This time Leno was up to the task. A couple of good saves even if he seems a little casual on the ball at times. Our defense is so much better with Sokratis in it even if we did still play Mustafi. He was not at his worse today and did seem to attempt to stay on his feet rather than hurl himself into tackles. But give me the Greek over the German any day.

That half-time team talk must have been a real snoozer because as we again proved ourselves as a team of two half’s. But this time we reversed the ordering. As smooth as we looked in the first half and as crisp as our passing was, in the second half we were slow and unable to retain possession. We gave it away cheaply. As energetic and involved as Ramsey was in the first half he was a quiet in the second. But you could see why he’d been picked. He worked hard his entire allotted time to close down and compete for the ball. We will miss him next year.

As much as Southampton controlled the second half they were unable to generate any real chances. In fact, amazingly, we kept a clean sheet. Unlike, in the fixture at their place where we capitulated under pressure, today they threatened but did not really test us. Partly that was through solid defending and partly through ineptitude on their part. After bringing on the ugly Austin they then proceeded to ignore him. He was able to get one header off to our goal. But they seemed to forget how to cross the ball to him. That’s one of the reasons they will sink into that relegation zone. They are not as poor as Huddersfield or Fulham but they have to have more desire.  They should have been throwing the kitchen sink at us in the second half but preferred to play the ball around without any incisiveness.

Ozil is back. Finally. A nice cameo from him for 20 minutes. As disappointed as Ramsey was to be removed it’s a pleasure to have Ozil back on the pitch. His vision is unparalleled. That one little flick on to Aubameyang by the half way line set up another chance. As smooth as Ozil is he still, after 10+ years in the professional leagues, can’t seem to challenge in a tackle or jump to head the ball. This is just one of the reasons OneEye won’t pick him. But when the ball is at his feet he opens up the entire field for us.

Realistically we should have won by 3 or 4 goals today. As reactive and opportunistic as Cigarettes’ goal was today it’s mind-blowing how he missed his other chance in the first half. After more Ob1 inspired interplay and Kolinsac driving into the box to see Cigarette blast it over from such close range seemed to drain his confidence in front of goal. He works so hard and links up the play so well. But today he missed too many chances. But maybe Aubameyang was an even worse culprit. Given the limited amount of time on the field he could and should have scored a brace. On too many occasions when he broke with the ball he dithered in front of goal and made the wrong choice. It seemed like his love affair with Cigarette clouded his judgement. I’m sure if he’d have been the lone striker he would have shot at goal. Or at least had conviction. But today he made the wrong choices and barely threatened their goalie. Hopefully he’s saving his goals for when they matter – in particular the game after next. But against a better team we’d have been punished for these misses.

Against these lower table teams – and especially at home – we have found the way to three points. In the waning Wenger years we would struggle in these games. So today, and hopefully against Bournemouth, we’ll earn those 3 points. The issue is how does this team figure out a way to compete against the better teams. And, unfortunately, Sp*rs are a better team. After 20 or 30 years of complete domination, their time has come. Not sufficiently for them to actually win any trophies. But enough for them to maul us and crush us at their rented place. Because our team is a solid 5^th or 6^th place team – depending on how much money Chelski want to spend, prior to being banned from any signings. We are an A- team with a, possibly, B+ manager. We’ve added a couple of talented players – Torreira and Guendouzi – but we need more. It’s unlikely we’ll make it to the Champions League this year. With the Ole resurgent Mancs looking likely to grab that spot and the quality of the teams left in the NoHopaCup, our chances are sorely limited. Though this will impact our ability to attract players so will the lack of money at our disposal. But, as others have shown, money is not everything. It is at the level of Man City but for others it’s an intelligent scouting and recruitment framework. Again, look at our recent two summer signings.

Offset that against our prior January signings. I know Aubameyang scores more goals than he misses (just) and he’s been vital for us this season. But the amount of money we splashed on him and Mickeytarrien so late in their careers was a sign of desperation not of a strategic plan to improve our team. The crux of the issue for Arsenal is that we need to be able to assess the manager. I know others want to give him a couple of years to prove himself. But live does not wait that long. If he’s the right guy with the wrong players then he warrants all the time we can give him. But if he’s not the right guy then we should bite the bullet and look to move on and progress. At this stage of the season I’m still unconvinced. And that’s not a great indication. There are so many times when he can’t seem to make the right selections and neither can he manage our more creative (and frustrating) player. Between now and the end of the season that is what I’m looking for. Some sign that this is the right guy. That this is AW mark II and not Moyes mark I. We know and understand our team. We can all identify the weaknesses and the required changes. More than half way into the season we are very unlikely to learn anything more about the players in our team. We’ve seen enough to judge and understand them. However, for our manager, the time through the rest of the season will hopefully answer that most important question of whether we have the right manager required for our future. We should not be too clouded by the three points today. It’s against the rented boys and then ManU that we’ll see the gulf in class and then judge whether OneEye is helping us or not. Not that I believe the senior management at Arsenal have the appetite for any management change. They will give OneEye at least two years if not three. Let’s just hope that does not result in mediocrity for Arsenal for the next three years.   

I’d hoped to have been a little more upbeat today. We got three points along with some creative play (minus the missed opportunities). But it’s not the short-term that worries me so much now that we’ve overcome the mighty Bate. It’s how we’re positioned for the upcoming years. So, bring on Bournemouth but keep your eye open for our longer-term future. Oh, and, come you Burnley!

– LB7

Sloppy Arsenal outwit witless Huddersfield. I used to think Cardiff were crap but this lot take the biscuit. Them not us.

It made for a dull game to watch. The entire game was underwhelming. But rather than find a way to throw the points away as we did at Southampton and Brighton today they were so bad they could only score once. And then we had to do it for them.

It’s hard to get too excited by games like today or performances like this. We did enough to win but it was a strange performance. In the second half we could barely string any passes together and yet we had chances to score the third.

We made strange substitutions today. We finished the game with Elneny and Mustafa on the pitch and we still won. I was particularly impressed with Elneny’s clearance for them when we used his body strength to push Cigarette off the ball to head the ball out for their goal kick. When he came on he seemed to play high up the field and not worry about defending. That made no sense as did taking off Torreira. But not much made sense today. Apart from the three points.

Our first half performance was pretty balanced and highly effective. Ob1 was able to contribute and set up the first goal. But why, after a performance like last week, he’s actually selected is beyond me. There is either no accountability or there’s a deficit of available players – or both. And then to see MIckeyTarrien is always worrying. But he also helped us in the first half. Both tended to fall over at vital times but both helped create our goals. And we should have had more in both halfs. Whereas they had no clue until they reverted to playing like Burnley.

How impressive was Mustafa today? One of his most consistent performances. Right from his first pass he was able to deliver it directly to the sidelines through a 90% success rate of finding the space just on the other side of the touchline. His distribution today was consistent and thoroughly embarrassing. He really does look clueless but safer in a back three than back four. Some of his passing was truly laughable and pathetic. We’re just fortunate that it was against a rag tag Huddersfield.

Unfortunately Maitland-Niles seems to have been studying Mustafas’ ways. A number of crucial infield passes completely exposed our defense – one in each half. As polished and calm as he looks on the ball he’s decision making is too Ob1-like for me. And the simple mistakes are a little worrying. The square pass just outside the corner of the penalty box in the second half was particularly suicidal.

Today Guendouzi and Torreira reverted back to prior games. Neither seemed that comfortable and neither was as influential as last week. Often they were overrun in midfield. Neither was able to create much – that all came from the wings via Maitland-Niles, Ob1 and Mickey.

In truth Huddersfield, if they had even one of our strikers, would have been able to score a couple of goals. But then we had numerous chances in the second half that Ob1 managed to fluff. Against a decent team we’d have paid for those mistakes.

This review is as disjointed as our game today. There was very little to admire but it never seemed like we’d lose and, once we sneaked the first goal, quite likely we’d win. But there was little to inspire us. We rarely were able to put passes together. And that was compounded by the sloppy play of Mustafi, Maitland-Niles and Kolinsac. Too often we’d give the ball away cheaply and get out muscled.

This was a blah game. But still one we had to win. Leno was pretty suspect today. That one time in the first half when he came charing out to intercept their free-kick was unnerving. His distribution was not great either – kicking out of bounds a couple of times.

Cigarette worked hard; competed well and picked up a goal. On a number of occasions good runs and positions were wasted because Ob1 was unable to make the right pass. Maitland-Niles is a mini-clone of Bellerin. Very effective when he’s attacking, with a great touch and nice footwork but careless in defense and poor with his defensive passing.

Unfortunately Mustafa is a bigger clone of a dead, one-legged elephant. Which, in many ways, is insulting to any elephant I’ve met. And I’ve meet a few in my time. They surely have a superior football IQ to Mustafi and get paid a hell of a lot less. Today was borderline funny to see to which supporter in the stand would the ball go to. Right from his first misplaced touch. Luckily there was Kosclieny alongside him, still working his way back to full fitness just before his retirement to the French Mediterranean. One perfect clearance stopped a certain goal. But overall he’s so much calmer and experience than our German retard. But then so is a dead, one-legged elephant.

Now we’re off to the NoHopaCup. A couple of games against a team no-one has ever heard of (no, not Arsenal). Maybe Ozil will get some playing time. I would hope so but doubt it will happen. I’m also hoping that Torreira was removed as a precaution. And dare I say it, we need Xhaka back so we can play three in midfield. And then we need to find Aubameyang. But as long as we don’t misplace Cigarette I’ll remain an optimist.

-LB7

Let’s start with the good news. We don’t have to play these guys again this season. The bad news is that Ob1 is still alive.

Even by our immeasurably low standards our start was breathtaking. How is it possible for Ob1 to be such a num-nuts. How low a football IQ do you have to have in order to try dribbling out from the corner of your own penalty box? And in the first minute of the game? Stupid does not do justice to this level of incompetence. Through most of this season we’ve actually seen this muppet improve and contribute more. But today it was a throwback back to the bad old days of the last few years. Shocking and embarrassing. Thereafter Ob1 was anonymous. His confidence was shot and he contributed nothing. He was a liability on the right hand side the entire game; scared of the ball and scared of their players. Though he has some ability and skill I’m pretty sure that at this point his fundamental problem is two-fold. A lack of confidence and self-belief and absence of football IQ – though that could be three reasons. And it was that lack of awareness (is that four?) that caused him to make the wrong choice at the wrong time.  Of course the mistake was amplified by Mustafa dawdling out and keeping everyone onside. Another one with no clue how to play the game.

No sane person actually thought we could go up there and beat Man City. But we should have at least been able to give them a game and to show progress in this team. How can you then give a goal away within the first minute. That is beyond belief and reminds us of the days under Arsene.

Let’s flip to the good news – because there was some. Torreira was outstanding – resilient, hard-working and relentless. Alongside him Guendouzi had his best game possibly of the season. Combined, these two work so hard. Unfortunately their wing-backs let them down. But back to the good news – Monreal was excellent in defense as was Kosclieny who continued his resurrection. Cigarette looked dangerous and Aubameyang likewise worked hard. Unfortunately, this formation lacked any creativity (cough cough Mr. Ozil) so neither really got a sight of goal. In the second half we did not have a shot on goal.

Against a team with such quality and skill as Man City you need your full complement of players. Unfortunately any team with both Mustafa and Ob1 fails that test. Both were abysmal. Ironically, the fear had been the inclusion of Lichtenstein. He’s just a few years younger than me and slightly slower off the mark. But when you have the lack of intelligence and commitment in front of you from Ob1 you merely expose the old man to the elements (him not me). They were always going to target Lichtenstien today. All three goals came from that area of the pitch. And each time it was Ob1 who was culpable. I was surprised that OneEyeEmery did not make the change at half-time. In the big games you need to see who turns up. Not Ob1 that’s for sure. I can’t therefore blame Licthenstien for being old or at fault for todays goal. Maybe my disappointment in the abject performance of Ob1 has blinded me to the mistakes Lictehnstein made. But you can’t blame him for being old – blame God for that.

The surprise today was that we managed to equalize. And then show some fight. In a reversal of our normal behavior, after the shabby goal we gave them, we actually played well in the first half. It was the second half where we disappeared. Of course, some of that was due to the effort we had to expand in the first half chasing their shadows. They really are a good team. But, today, in the first half we went some way to matching them. So, it was not all bad news.

The shape and organization of the team was better. We were more disciplined and played more as a unit.  The defensive cover that Torreira provided was excellent. He only got beaten a couple of times when he guessed (wrongly) which way Silva was swaying. And then Guendouzi would link up their play quickly. And both dropped deep to receive the ball. Not that that stopped Mustafa smashing the ball upfield to their players. Did I mention that this guy is crap? We need one of our Greeks back ASAP. It’s remarkable that Mustafa is incapable of modifying his game to learn any lessons. In the same way I’m incapable of making new observations about his incompetence. By the start of the next season he’ll be gone or relegated to the number 4 center half.  

We had our first glimpse of Suarez today. Too soon to judge but he looks light weight. I think my arm weighs more than him. He had the Ob1 uncertainty in defending and was easily pushed off the ball. He’ll have to adjust to the physicality of the game in England. But he got off the ball quickly and meanders in field looking to be involved. I just need to figure out why he needs both his names on his jersey. Is that because he wants to make it more expensive for us? Is it because we’ve got another Suarez hidden somewhere? Either way, his bar for grabbing a place in the team is pretty low. Today was not the day to judge him.

OneEye might have learned a fair amount today about his players. He’s now got a young midfield backbone. He’s now settled on two up front. He’s just got to figure out how to link them up into the overall play. That’s where the enigma that is Ozil comes into play. Why we did not get rid of him in the latest window is puzzling. I believe he’s still one of the most creative players in the EPL. If I was manager he’d be one of my first picks. But if you don’t believe in him and won’t pick him then offload him now. OneEye should have pushed him out. Or whoever is now running our club. We should have offload him to PSG. Keeping him is a waste if you don’t believe in him. If your formation and tactics don’t allow you to select him for any games against the top 5 what’s the point? If you can only pick him when playing home games against the bottom 6, do we really need to spend that money? We should have forced him out. Again, I think he should be playing. Look at Coutinho at Liverpool. He did not defend by they found a way to make him excel. This is what worries me about OneEye. He has a world-class player but can’t seem to manage his resources to get Ozil into the team. So as well as we were organized today it was hard to see how we could recover from their second goal. He prefers to bring on a player be are not interested in retaining rather than Ozil. Here’s a player, Ramsey, who we should retain, that we won’t. A player that is destined for Italy with no future at our club. And yet, he gets more playing time than our most creative player? How does this make any sense?

At the start of the year we had low expectations for this team. And we might reach those levels. We won’t finish in the top 4 and we might or might not be successful in the NoHopaCup. But, as when Leicester won the league, I think we’ll look back on missed opportunities. It’s not often that Chelski will be this inconsistent. It’s not often that ManU will fail to play for the first half of the season. We had our chance to boost our chances of the top 4 but we’ve blown it. And we’ve done so because we’ve all been fixated on the long-term progress of this club. Looking for a verification that OneEye is the right guy and that this club is going in the right direction. But that also means our lowering of expectations has allowed us to miss an opportunity. Next year is going to be way harder than this. Which brings us back to today. After that shocking start we found a way to recover; to stabilize the team and make a competitive game of it. But you can’t carry two players and one grand-parent.

– LB7

That’s more like it. We should only play at home. No more away games. Then we’d be champions again. Glory be ours. Home is where the points are. To be fair it helped that Chelski were shit. But we were pretty good.

Team selection was key today. No Mustafa. Maybe he’s injured. We can but hope. Back to a back four even without Monreal. And Torreira in midfield. So that’s better.  And we turned and played for both halfs. Maybe that makes up for playing neither last week. We started with a high press game and put them under pressure immediately. Before we took a well deserved lead Aubameyang missed another chance. That’s a nasty habit he’s developing. Luckily we had CIgaerette on hand to score a true strikers goal. Somewhat reminiscent of his Liverpool goal, in a tight spot he demonstrated delicate control and then a poachers awareness of the goal. Maybe Torreira distracted their super expensive goalie a little who was still counting his money as the ball went in on the near post.

The pressure was pretty relentless even though Chelski had a perfect chance for Pedro to equalize. Our setup was very different from previous weeks and it benefited us. Ramsey was pressing Jorginho and, just like Ali did, it denied Chelski any fluency. Today was about the team selection. As buggered as it was last week, today, it was better. Ramsey in midfield at least linked up the play and pushed forward. And he worked really hard the entire game.

Cheklsi really were off their game for the first half and we should most probably have taken the lead earlier and, possibly, scored more from the chances they created for us. Right from the off David Luis gave us the ball in the final third. The numerous mistakes like that peppered their first half. But our press helped amplify their lack of focus.  

I’m not entirely convinced by Guendouzi on the left. Both he and Kolinsac seemed pretty vulnerable today. Both seemed to work hard but Guendouzi did not help us too much creatively. Most of that came from the other two midfielders. Playing Torreira on the right was also unexpected leaving Xhaka in the middle. I’m not sure that brings the best out of either but today I think it was largely about nullifying and denying supplies lines to Hazard.

I’m still a little unsure as to how we managed to keep a clean sheet. I suppose it helps when Leno only had a single shot to save through the entire game aside from the header that hit the post. In fact, I wonder whether Chelski studied the wrong video from last week. Maybe they decided to mimic our play against West Ham. Chelski were lackluster and unable to close down anyone. They passed sideways and did not trouble the goalie.

The defense looked better and Kosclieny seems to be finding his way back to some form. But surely having Sokratis alongside him is more comforting than Meathead Mustafi. Today, mostly, they held their line quite well and were sensible in their distribution. With these two in the center the overall balance of the team was better and functioned more as an actual team. The contrast to last week could not be greater.

Maybe we need a home London derby each week. First Sp*rs and now Chelski. Of course, in-between we’ve been pretty crappy. It’s hard to determine whether OneEye is closer to finding out his best team and best formation. To his credit, he is not afraid to make tactical adjustments in the game – unlike AW, and, seemingly, Sari who stuck with the same approach until the wonderful Giroud appeared. It’s rare our crowd serenade another teams player, but in this instance, it’s excusable. We’ve missed his dashing good looks.

Ten minutes into the second half it was clear we should win this game as Chelski had limited invention and we’d adopted a mentality of shutting the game down. We let them have plenty of possession and then contrived to give them the ball straight back but still they could not do anything. There were periods where they reminded me of us trying to tip-toe through a packed defense with the perfected complex inter-passing that we so rarely execute successfully. We could have put the soon-to-depart Cech in goal today and still have won. So, thank you Cheklsi for playing such a limp and lifeless game. Your homage to our performance last week is much appreciated.

We needed this win. I know that seems like a pretty obvious, redundant statement. I believe that’s the general intent each week. However, given the turn in atmosphere at the club over the last week or so, I think there was a genuine need to change the sentiment for this club and team. If only for 90 minutes. Last week was truly atrocious and brought into doubt – based on the last 5 weeks worth of results – the end to the OneEye honeymoon period. So now, as we enter the first full year of our union, the first cracks have begun to show. Is OneEye the right man for the job? What the fuck is going on with our finances? And why are we in such disarray with our January signings and overall recruitment strategy? All these issues remain to be resolved but it’s more palatable armed with three points.

It feels like, over the last few weeks, we’re balancing on a knives edge. Just a few degrees away from self immolation. OneEye has not helped by dissipating all the goodwill he’d inherited both from his signing and the string of positive results. Maybe it’s natural that a new manager will modify and change his team strategy, alternate various players in order to figure out what works best for the players he’d got. Today that tinkering worked perfectly. Of course, we have had the advantage of watching this squad for too long so we already know who should be playing and who should be permanently injured. I’d just assumed that a professional manager would have figured it out sooner. And that’s not to assume that next week won’t rotate the team again. I’d expect to see Ob1 come back in. As the only player to perform last week he can consider himself unlucky to have been on the bench.

Obviously, the clear negative from today is the Bellerin injury. That had all the hallmarks of a season ending one. I fear it’s ACL or some other knee injury that will sideline him for many months. We know that Lichtenstein can’t replace him. Maitland-Niles is the best we’ve got and he’s not that great. This leads back to our transfer policy and whether we’re looking to bring in experience or youth. And begs the question of whether we have any money in the bank to pay for what we need.

At this stage it seems pretty clear we’re not going to make any earth shattering or influential January signings. We need players but we’re going to have to wait. But it now seems that OneEye has realized he needs one of Ramsey or Ozil to be the creative hub of the team. And yet we look like we could lose both – one to Italy and one to the stands. I have to assume that OneEye is not intent of treating Ozil how DarthVader treated Pogba. Not that the two players are quite comparable. But the similarities with the managers is a little disturbing.  Listening to OneEyes comments during the week it seems that he’s being a little too vocal about the Ozil situation. He’s backing both of them into a corner. It was not Ozil’s fault he signed that contract. No-one forced Arsenal – whether it be Gazidis, Sven or Raul – to offer that contract. Surely they understood the economic reality. Maybe they should realize that you can’t let players get into the last year of their contract. Ozil did – or rather his agent did. I’m sure Ozil will play in the NoHoppa this week and maybe he can resurrect his career with us. But distractions like this don’t help the club. Nor the worrying questions about the finances.

Today helps to clear some of the gloom. But, remember, this is a long, perilous journey we are embarking on.  The is no clear roadmap for us and, unfortunately, no clear leadership either. As happy as I am that silky-smooth Gazidis has departed, we need to have some management direction and control. This was always going to be a tough season. It did not start with belief that we’d end up in the top 4. But after seeing the weakness of ManU and Chelski our expectations rose.  We have to see real progress and evolution. Today we saw a few signs that’s still possible. We had a real performance today. But we also need consistency. Both from the players and the manager.

Away at Cardiff is a reality check. Are we a team that can just turn up for home London derbys or are we a team that can consistently compete away from the New Highbury. Only then can we have some faith in this team. Just keep Mustafi in the stands. Maybe the final solution will be a German-less team.

-LB7