A New Era, a Clean Sheet and AFTV Backlash

It has been quite a week for Arsenal. Although I'd actually go so far as to say that the least interesting part of it was the Everton game - a bore draw that was absolutely excruciating to watch. Just one shot on target the entire game (perhaps Aubameyang could have done better with it?), but there were nonetheless a few positives that can be taken from it.

Firstly, a first clean sheet in 15 games; entirely unexpected. And secondly, and with perhaps a glimpse into how Arsenal's first team may develop over the next few years, a quite surprising number of teenagers selected from the start. There was nothing startling in the perfomances of Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli and Nelson (not to mention Maitland-Niles, who had a much better game than last week), but as a message to the more senior players and perhaps to the fans it was interesting.

Mikel Arteta - to nobody's surprise - had been appointed Head Coach the day before; so I'm sure that it would have been almost impossible for him to have had much of an impact on proceedings. I'm also of the opinion that if he didn't know it from sitting on the opposition bench the previous week his view from the stands would have impressed on him the size of the job in hand (here he is speaking with Edu prior to kick-off).

Nonetheless I, for one, throw my support behind him (what choice do we have, frankly?), and hope that his reputation as a man who improves players both tactically and mentally, and as a disciplinarian, bears fruit over the coming months and years. There is certainly work to do with rumours of attitude issues amongst many of the most key players. Perhaps this time we will see the famed 'new manager bounce' that Freddie couldn't give the team, and with Chelsea (twice) and Manchester United up very soon I think that we're going to need it.

As for the game; well Everton, on the back of a win against Chelsea and a draw with United, were extremely disappointing. But I'm prepared to give Arsenal some credit for that, as they kept them comfortably at bay for the entire game and for a change Leno had almost nothing to do. But I suppose that the cost of the clean sheet was that very little happened at the other end of the pitch either. We did see the players at least start to try to move the ball more quickly, but the lack of confidence was there for all to see. But it's a start and I'd hope to see Arteta's influence come through pretty quickly as he has already said two things that really interest me: 

Firstly, about the players: "I don't want them hiding. I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn't buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture. There are things to change, absolutely, because they're not performing at the level that we expect them to. I will have to help them and to help them I need to know what's happening; I need to understand how they're feeling, what they're lacking. If I get to reach that point, then I can help them. Then they will trust me and then they will follow me."

And secondly about style of play: "I want the football to be expressive, entertaining. I cannot have a concept of football where everything is based on the opposition (a dig at Emery?). We have to dictate the game. We have to be the ones taking the initiative, and we have to entertain the people coming to watch us. I'm 100% convinced of those things, and I think I could do it."

All music to any Arsenal supporter's ears, I would imagine.

And now, talking of Arsenal supporters; some videos of scenes post-match hit Social Media on Saturday afternoon - videos of what is perhaps the start of a backlash against the notorious AFTV - a YouTube channel that is a laughing stock amongst fans of other clubs. For those who don't know, AFTV's presenter, Robbie Lyle, gives a platform to a small number of regular interviewees (and now extremely minor celebrities) who are almost always extremely critical of the club and the players. This serves to do three things: 1) stir up resentment and anger amongst other fans, 2) give supporters of other clubs the opportunity to take the mick out of Arsenal and its supporters, and 3) make Robbie a lot of money, as with over one million 'followers' his is the second most monetised YouTube channel in world sport. In other words, he is making money out of his own club's struggles. 

Now I could live with much of that; if only Robbie allowed other supporters to give a more positive or balanced view (something that I try to do in my 'somewhat' less read blog). However, he has stopped interviewing the more positive or optimistic because they're not 'click bait'. Controversy means clicks, at the expense of fair reporting.

So when these videos emerged of Arsenal fans chanting: 'Arsenal Fan TV get out of our club' - and I'm sure that this was orchestrated, but nonetheless... I could sympathise with what they were doing. The club is in a poor enough state without Robbie and his cohorts fuelling the fire, and if this is the beginning of the end for AFTV I won't be sorry. I've never watched the channel (except for a bit of research) in any case.

OK, that's more than enough from me. I'd like to write about Liverpool's rise to becoming the best team in the world at this moment, and about the racism that quite staggeringly came out of Tottenham - of all clubs - this weekend, but this post is quite long enough already. But there'll be more from me after Bournemouth, and then the games come thick and fast. But I'll post when I can.

Wishing everyone the Compliments of the Season. And Come On You Gunners!

We Won The Argument?...

So, in much the same way that the Labour Party 'won the argument' - according to its auspicious leader - at the General Election, Arsenal 'won the argument' at home to Manchester City. In other words, they got stuffed out of sight.

It was fortunate in many ways that City 'declared' at half time, because I feel pretty sure that if they'd have wanted to go for it, they could have racked up a hatful of goals against a disappointing, disjointed Arsenal side that essentially didn't seem to know what it was supposed to be doing. It looks to me that in the space of 18 months Unai Emery has managed to transform the squad from one who at least looked to play progressive football under Arsene Wenger to one that looks afraid to do anything, either with or without the ball. That needs to be coached out of them very quickly.

It is clear that Freddie has failed his audition, but to be fair to him he has been set up to fail; he's been trying to turn this around with little proper support from within/above - like turning up for a singing audition, being told that you have no accompaniment, and having to perform accapella. It is clear that the players have an affection for him - witness the hugs and happy scenes after the West Ham game - but that's hardly enough. So it is absolutely critical that Arsenal get their next appointment right, quickly, and give him full support.

What I can't get my head around is how disorganised the Club are. Tottenham sacked Pochettino, and had Mourinho lined up to announce the next morning. Napoli sacked Ancelotti (who wouldn't be my choice to take over Arsenal by the way, although I'd be happy enough with Pochettino) and had Gattuso into his office the next day too. Arsenal barely had a short list when they relieved Emery of his duties, yet even when we saw it it showed muddled thinking. It's shambolic. I think that we are starting to see why Barcelona let Sanllehi go.

And the lack of organisation is reflected on the pitch. Almost all over it, in fact. And City showed us quite how big the gulf between the top of the table and Arsenal has become. They have better players, obviously, and less injuries, but they showed Arsenal up all over the pitch. All three goals were down to exploiting clear weaknesses in the Arsenal set-up, but frankly they could have picked and chosen where to dissect a clueless Arsenal side. De Bruyne summed it up afterwards when he talked about the Arsenal front line's failure to track back - only Martinelli bothered, in fact - but not only were Arsenal overrun in midfield but there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to what Arsenal were trying to do; either with or without the ball.

I'd give credit to Leno and Martinelli - and to an extent poor Bukayo Saka, thrust in at left back, and Emile Smith Rowe, who at least showed Ozil how it was possible to actually run around in the number 10 slot - for their performances, and to Torreira for at least trying hard, but the rest should hang their heads in shame. There was no discernable plan, I grant you, but there was also no discernable effort either. Maitland-Niles looks out of his depth and is having his career ruined at this club, and Chambers and Sokratis were a shambles. Kolasinac looked good going forward whilst he was on the pitch, but his defending is atrocious.

In midfield, Guendouzi had another really poor game, and needs to spend time on the bench (and with a coach during the week), and Torreira looks to be trying to do too much when he'd be better off just sitting in front of the defence. And Ozil, Pepe and Aubameyang should probably return their wages (I shall gloss over the Ozil glove-gate incident, which was much ado about nothing, but I think that the Club needs to lay down some rules about the use of social media by players. For all that he is quite correct in what he tweeted, I'm not sure that it has had the effect he'd have hoped for; the Chinese government is not an enemy that I'd choose).

So we saw no ball press, and a propensity to back off, and back off again, when City were in possession. And so they picked Arsenal apart at will. Three lovely goals as they played around and through an almost non-existent midfield; and as I say it could have been worse.

And now here's the thing; the foul count. Arsenal 8, and City 23. Yes, Arsenal could barely get near the ball, but there was something almost refreshing in watching City's clever rotational fouling whenever Arsenal looked even slightly threatening. Even though they probably didn't need to bother, City worked as hard as they needed to out of possession, whereas that's not something that can be levelled at Arsenal. There is so much to learn.

I know that the team has a number of injuries, but that doesn't excuse the lack of effort; especially from the senior players. It's probably worth giving some more of the kids more playing time, without overdoing it of course. Due to the injuries, I think there's a need to go back to three central defenders plus wing-backs for the next game or three; let's see.

Everton next; big game. See you after that. In the meantime, a new broom needs to be swept; and quickly.

A Game Of Three Thirds

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to report on an Arsenal victory! Yes, the mighty West ham United were put to the sword on their home ground by a rampant Arsenal on a cold and blustery East London evening.

Well, if only that were true...

For an hour, Arsenal were utterly abysmal, and I was starting to wonder if they were ever going to win another Premier League game. Because, and in case you aren't aware, West Ham are a really poor side; yet they were leading and frankly comfortably holding an Arsenal side that looked terrified to do anything with the ball. Which was bizarre, because West Ham were very happy to let them have it.

To be fair, Arsenal suffered a good deal of misfortune during that first hour, and not all of it was of their own making. Bellerin was forced to withdraw from the side during the warm-up, and Kieren Tierney fell badly onto a shoulder after a tussle with Antonio; hopefully it's minor, but it didn't look that way.

But as to what was of their own making; well, they looked very tentative in possession, moved the ball ponderously, and looked frightened to do anything but play the safe ball every time. The lack of confidence was quite obvious. And whilst West Ham are really not very good, they made far more of their far more meagre possession than Arsenal. In fact, I don't recall a single decent opportunity created throughout a dreadful first half, when it looked like the nightmare would never end.

Freddie had made some interesting changes, drafting in Chambers at centre-back for Luiz, and giving Martinelli his first Premier League start. Chambers was solid, and Martinelli found himself on the fringes from his left wing position for much of the first half, but still showed flashes of both ability and desire. The problem, however, is still in midfield, where Xhaka had a truly dreadful game; epitomised by an awful 30-yard cross-field ball that ought to have led to a goal. It looks like it's time for Guendouzi to come back in and replace him on Sunday. Torreira, however, was considerably better in a more withdrawn role; yet still looking to move the ball forwards when he could.

For the West Ham goal, which came from a corner, I counted no less than 5 individual Arsenal errors in a 10-second period. None of Martinelli, Aubameyang, Kolasinac, Xhaka (especially) and Maitland-Niles covered themselves in glory there. 

One would have expected Arsenal to have come out blazing in the second half, but for 15 minutes it was more of the same. It was clear that nothing that Freddie had said to them had made a difference, and that they needed to self-start; somehow. Because there is enough individual quality in the side to make the difference; especially - and I'll say it again - against opposition this poor. West Ham are possibly the worst side in the division, from what I've seen - although Watford are clearly pretty bad too, and I don't think much of Bournemouth either.

And then, after just under an hour, a switch was flicked. A flowing move from which Torreira's astute ball out wide found the overlapping Kolasinac, and his pull-back was side-footed home by the busy Martinelli, who had made an intelligent run. It just might be that the 18-year-old future superstar has been the one to kick start Arsenal's season.

And from then on the result was a foregone conclusion, as West Ham heads dropped and fatigue started to catch up with them. First Pepe, with a trademark cut in and left footed curling finish, and then Aubameyang (inevitably) - all three goals in the space of 9 minutes and something of the Arsenal swagger was back.

However - and I'll say it yet again - we have to take this result with a huge pinch of salt. The opposition was dire, and bigger tests are very close on the horizon with a wounded Manchester City - an entirely different kettle of fish - due at The Emirates on Sunday. It'll only be after that game that we'll be able to see if this result was anything more than a flash in the plan.

But for now let's bask in that rare feeling - we've actually won a game. So here's a thumbs up from Freddie!

I'll be back on Monday. Hopefully with a report on more good signs for this group. As they say, it's the hope that kills you.

Thank you. Next...

I went to the theatre last night. It was months in the planning. I'd reasoned with impeccable logic that there was no way that Arsenal were going to have a match on this particular Thursday evening;. Thanks, Amazon Prime...

I'd been looking forward to it for months. Sir Ian McKellen's farewell tour; a three hour one-man show from a genuine national treasure. And it was excellent - even if there was a little too much Shakespeare and not quite enough Gandalf. And I even got to shake the great man's hand during the interval!

So there I stood on the wrong Piccadilly Line platform at King's Cross St Pancras, watching Arsenal fans streaming onto the eastbound platform whilst my wife and I were waiting to go to Piccadilly Circus. A part of me was regretting missing Freddie's first home game in charge. But as it turned out, I'd made absolutely the right decision.

And it all went wrong once I got home. Having managed a 'news blackout' for the entire journey home, despite sitting in a train carriage with what I now realise were ominously subdued Arsenal fans, I foolishly decided to watch the midnight rerun on Amazon Prime.

And so it was, as I finally hauled myself off to bed at 2.30am - in a foul mood - that I realised that things are far worse than even I thought they were.

I'm not sure what Emery has done to this group of players, but they seem utterly devoid of confidence and frankly any idea of how to play football at this level. But it all goes back much further than that; over ten years of steady decline have now turned into a full-scale fall off of a cliff. I'm sorry to be proved right, but as I predicted as a worse case scenario the current ownership simply don't understand English football, nor the ethos of the great institution that is Arsenal Football Club. And as a result, they've set it back so far that it may be irredeemable in the near future; look how long it took Liverpool, for example, to get back to the top table.

Years of neglect and mis-management - including missing out on both Guardiola and Klopp in the past few years - since the move to the new stadium have left Arsenal miles behind where they should be and where they need to be. How they go about getting back there I wish I knew, but they need to be bold. Somehow, I suspect that the sort of resources they need to throw at this project is the sort of money that this owner is simply unprepared to spend.

And the foolish and short-sighted thing about it is that he bought the club as an investment vehicle, yet is presiding over a gigantic fall in the value of his investment. As I say he didn't - and doesn't - understand what is required.

And so to the game. It started OK; for about 10 minutes. Until Brighton realised that they  had absolutely nothing to fear.

I wasn't 100% happy with the team selection, which looked strangely shaped, but I did prefer it to the previous one. At least Torreira was in the side. But the combination up top looked and felt wrong, and the defence is inevitably a disaster waiting to happen. Coupling any combination of the available central defensive personnel with a refusal to insist on at least one central midfielder sitting and shielding them was simply asking for trouble.

And so it proved. It's going to take a lot to coach Emery out of this team, and the invitation to attack was very much taken on board by the opposition; the goal was coming and when it came was well-deserved. Arsenal were terrible, and got exactly what their meek play was asking for.

And so they left the field - not for the first or last time - to boos from the sparse crowd.

Understandably, Freddie made a change at half time, bringing on Pepe for the unfortunate Willock. It was a shame for the youngster to be scapegoated for an appalling first half team performance, but something had to be done after a new nadir in a season of nadirs.

And Pepe's introduction did make a difference. Suddenly, with the Fab Four all together, Arsenal started playing with verve and energy and equalised - albeit from a corner - as Lacazette's header looped in at the far post.

But then the switch went back off. I have no idea why. Did they feel that the job was done; because it most certainly wasn't. Foot back off the pedal, and Brighton were back in charge.

And the goal came as a result of lack of closing down, and of Luiz losing his man on the 6-yard line. But what options does a Manager have when Luiz is arguably the best of the centre-back options he has available? And so Arsenal huffed and puffed after that, but never quite looked like getting anything out of the game; and left the field to even more boos from the 10,000 or so who stayed to the bitter end.

If this was part of an audition for Freddie to get the job full-time, I'm afraid that he has failed it already. As he himself said afterwards, the players are lacking in confidence, but surely it is part of his job to reinstill it. There has been no 'new manager bounce' here. As it turns out, selecting Freddie as interim has been like Spurs plumping for Tim Sherwood, or Everton for Big Dunc.

A look at the league table shows that Arsenal are in dreadful form. No wins since early October, and now on their worst run for fully 40 years. A series of draws and defeats against sides they should be dealing with comfortably.  Please note, by the way, that this one was Brighton, 16th in the table and on the back of three successive defeats. They've lost to Watford and Brighton, and drawn with Norwich and Southampton. Teams that under any normal circumstances Arsenal should be taking care of with little difficulty. No more is that the case, and this is freefall; relegation form.

How they are going to turn this around I do not know. Of the mooted candidates I'd want Rodgers, but why on earth would he leave Leicester City now, for any money? But one thing is for sure; an experienced Manager needs to be appointed; and damn quick!

It's West Ham on Monday. And Everton quite soon. But I'm not sure it matters who they are up against for the foreseeable future. I think they'd struggle against Vanarama oppostion at the moment. And it gets worse, because over the next few weeks they have to face City, United, and Chelsea (twice). Quite where they'll be in the table after that little lot is anybody's guess.

I'll be back Tuesday, as the West Ham game is on Monday. I'm going back to bed.

Plus ca change

Plus ca change... or same old, same old...

New manager, new start; one might have hoped for. But whilst one could detect some improvement in the way the team was asked to play it is clear that there is no quick fix; and certainly not one that a couple of training sessions could sort out.

I can't imagine that anybody could have guessed the line-up at Norwich with any accuracy. Freddie was as full of surprises as his predecessor, with the inclusions of Kolasinac, Mustafi and Xhaka all difficult to anticipate. The reversion to 4-3-3 seemed sensible, but square pegs were being fitted into round holes; and in the case of the defence, entirely the wrong-shaped pieces!

Despite my misgivings about the personnel chosen, I was pleased with the start the team made. They were looking to pass the ball more quickly - and indeed forward - far more than before. And they should probably have been at least one goal up before the inevitable happened. My fault, actually; I was just thinking that that attitude and speed of play looked promising, but I'd be interested to see how they'd react to going behind... when that's exactly what happened.

And in a season-long theme, this was an entirely preventable goal. As, I may add, was Norwich's second - plus a host of other chances that Arsenal offered up. As we've seen before from this group, a combination of losing the ball, failing to track back and pick up runners, defenders failing to close down the man with the ball... it all added up once again to another busy afternoon for a beseiged Bernd Leno.

The key, of course, is not to over-commit going forward, and Freddie needs to look at that. If there's any comparison with an Emery set-up, it's that the full-backs, encouraged to push very wide and far forward, left gaps in behind that the central midfielders were unable to plug (and that's where both Norwich goals came from). As we've seen before far too often, the central midfield was conspicuously absent when they were needed. And that's why I'll say, at this point, that Torreira is a key member of the squad and the sooner Freddie realises that, the better.

Fortunately some mental fortitude - and a slice or two of good fortune for the first equaliser - meant that they got out of town with a point. But make no mistake, the team is lacking in organisation and confidence, and is currently in relegation form with just 4 points from its last 6 matches and no win since early October. That's what got Emery the sack, and that's what Freddie has to sort out.

Here's a list of immediate requirements:

Personnel 

• Calum Chambers is not a right back; don't pick him there. The sooner Bellerin gets fit again, the better
• Mustafi should be nowhere near the first team. He is a massive liability. Whilst Sokratis has been fairly woeful all season, he is still a considerably more reliable defender than the German. And David Luiz is... David Luiz. 'Mercurial' would be a kind description for a man always with a mistake in him. The trouble is, who do you leave him out for? Either way, any combination of Luiz, Sokratis, Mustafi, Chambers and Holding is unlikely to give Premier League attackers sleepless nights. What could be worse than pairing Chambers and Holding ? They can't do much worse than what we saw at Norwich
• Adding the unreliable defending of Kolasinac into that mix was an error. Tierney must play
• As alluded to above, Torreira should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Of the midfield personnel Arsenal possess, he is the only one who could genuinely be regarded as having the mindset of a defensive midfielder. Which is of course the reason why Emery wanted him to play further forward (oh, and that was irony...)
• You know what you're going to get from Xhaka. Which is not quite enough, due to his lack of mobility. However, when Guendouzi has a bad day - as he did at the weekend - you start to wonder if he needs a rest. Or if not, a lot more coaching on positional awareness, strength in the tackle and tracking back
• Ozil on the wing? I'm sorry, but no. He doesn't have the pace for it. Put him in the hole
• Lacazette; an enigma. Effective at home; poor away. Makes no sense. He escapes the away day criticism that Ozil gets, however, and I'm not sure why
• I'd seriously look at giving Martinelli a Premier League start. A star in the making

Tactics

• With the team lacking confidence - and speed of thought when the ball is lost - I'd sit Torreira in front of the back 4 and tell him he's not allowed over the half-way line. I'd look to play Willock (for his energy) close to him and Ozil a bit further forward
• What happens in Transition is what is hurting the side most. That's what needs to be drilled into this side; how to respond to losing the ball
• Up front, things should take care of themselves. Aubameyang, plus any three from Lacazette, Martinelli and the invisible man, Pepe, should do the trick. Positional rotation from that group will keep defenders on their toes. The key to keeping the score down is what goes on behind them. Hopefully, the energy of Torreira and Willock will deal with that

New Manager

As I said in my last piece, an experienced man is vital for the team at this stage. And here's something to ponder; if a club are happy to fork out £50-70m on a striker, what's the problem with paying a £14m release clause to get your man? Brendan Rodgers, please. ASAP. Or Poch (no release clause!). Or at a pinch perhaps Rafa Benitez. Experience is key.

Transfers

It's going to take a while to sort this squad out. After the last window, we thought that Arsenal had done well, but a centre-half is desperately needed in the next window (no, we cannot wait for Saliba) and hopefully by then some confidence will have been restored by Freddie. But he has to get the right pegs in the right holes!

It's no fun being an Arsenal fan at the moment, is it? Until Friday, post-Brighton. 

We love you, Freddie!

And so the axe has finally fallen. And not before time! Hallellujah!

The performance and result - and possibly the size of the crowd - were the final straws for Arsenal's owner and Board. The fans had, of course, had enough long before now.

There's no point going into detail about the Frankfurt match, except to say that it followed a familiar, depressing pattern. But it was clear beforehand that pretty much everybody had given up on Unai Emery, and that it was only a matter of time before his head finally went onto the block.

Certainly the fans had seen enough weeks ago, players were hardly knocking themselves out (see Lacazette's reaction to his equaliser at the weekend) and the Board have finally been forced to act (I understand that it was Stan himself who cocked the bullet for Vinai and Raul to pull the trigger). There's negligence from the Board here; it was clear that there was no turning back weeks ago, so why not do the deed during the Interlull?

Questions were being asked after the capitulation at the end of last season. And the summer honeymoon ended at Watford - quite some time ago. And it's been downhill from there.

So what's next? Well for starters, there's Freddie Ljungberg. And for my female readers, I offer you this:

That photo, of course, is from his days as the face of Calvin Klein... and it's a damn fine reason to give any man a job, in my wife's opinion. As she said to me earlier: 'You can keep your Mourinhos - it's no contest!'

I'm not really sure what we can expect from such an untested individual, but he knows the club well, can speak perfect English, and can be expected to stamp something different on the team. Perhaps with the aid of that other heart-throb, the ubiquitous Robert Pires. But he doesn't have the requisite badges, and so must surely be merely a temporary measure whilst a new man is sought.

Freddie has quite a task on his hands, but his first thoughts as imparted to the press were that he wants to put a smile back on the faces of everyone associated with Arsenal, and that would be an excellent start.

There's a lot of chat out there about the 'short list' of possible candidates, but from what I read it's made up of Allegri, Rodgers, Ancelotti, Arteta and Nuno Espirito Santo. Each of them has both Pros and Cons, and I'll  run down the most important of them before I give you my verdict; the man I'd like to see taking over - and why.

Max Allegri
Pros                                                                       Cons
Vastly experienced                                                Doesn't know the Premier League
Knows how to set a team up defensively                 Language skills untested

Brendan Rodgers
Pros                                                                       Cons
Went close to winning the title with Liverpool     Had 'only' won trophies at Celtic
Has transformed the Leicester squad                    Didn't come over well in 'Being Liverpool'

Carlo Ancelotti
Pros                                                                       Cons
Vastly experienced in many leagues                      Is getting on a bit
Won the title with Chelsea not long ago               Query whether his methods have been superseded
                                                                                                     
Mikel Arteta
Pros                                                                       Cons
Been learning under a master coach                      Has zero managerial experience
Knows Arsenal and the Premier League well     

Nuno Espirito Santo
Pros                                                                       Cons
Has done a fine job at Wolves                               Not done quite so well elsewhere
                                                                           Jorge Mendes connection taints him

Of other possibles mentioned in the media, Pocchetino would be unlikely (but OK by me), Benitez has no reason to leave his vast salary in China, Eddie Howe is just a No, Chris Wilder would be left field, and the likes of Freddie, Paddy and Thierry are simply lacking in the requisite experience and gravitas for the job at this stage of their careers (despite knowing the club very well). Tuchel or Ten Hag, anyone? They're not being mentioned at the moment.

And before I name my preferred candidate, a word about the owner and the Board. And it is that he/they need to very quickly get with the times and change their outlook on football, and Arsenal's position in it in particular. More decisive action is required, from decisive individuals, starting right now. It is time to start with a clean slate in order that the club does not go down the route that Manchester United went down. Lessons must be learned from that, and this managerial appointment is crucial for not just the rest of this season but for possibly the next 15-20 years. Once you slip, it's a very slippery slope and it's very difficult to climb back up it.

And my preferred choice is... Brendan Rodgers.

Reasons: He knows the Premier League well. He has transformed the Leicester squad from an underperforming rabble under Claude Puel; he is ambitious; his teams play attractive, progressive football and despite the current trajectories of the two sides Arsenal is a bigger club than Leicester City and is likely to remain so for a considerable time.

I'm expecting disagreement... But here we go. I've said my bit, and I need to get this out into the ether. I'll be back Monday.

What Are They Waiting For?

Another match day - another disappointing performance and result. This is getting to be very repetitive.

So, after an Interlull that saw the Arsenal decision-makers back their man - but a major managerial change elsewhere (I'll come back to that) - ended with another limp display from an Arsenal side devoid of confidence and, from where I sat, as poorly set up and badly coached as ever before.

The decision to go with 5 at the back against a side languishing at the bottom of the table, and who had recently lost a game 9-0, baffled everyone I spoke to. If there was ever an opportunity to play Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe in the same team then this was it; 4-2-1-3. But there's little point in trying to guess what Emery is going to come up with.

And yet, despite having three central defenders, Arsenal found themselves a goal down in under 10 minutes. And despite working their way back into the game it was clear to me that tactics were at a premium. Some players pressed the ball; most did not. The central midfielders showed little or no discipline, and Southampton's three continually passed the ball around Arsenal's two - and with considerably more tempo too I must add. The full backs were pushing on so far that the outside flanks of the central defenders were continually exposed. At least one of the forwards was having to continually drop into midfield to help out or even to get a sight of the ball. There were gaping holes in Arsenal's central midfield - yet again. Everything Arsenal did - with the exception of Tierney's movement on the left - felt laboured.

Bringing Pepe on at half time left everybody wondering why he hadn't started. As much as anything else, leaving him out is another example of poor man management to go alongside that of Ozil, Xhaka and Torreira over the past few months. And don't get me started on Ramsey from last season!

To be fair, as a result of the change of formation Arsenal did look better and played with considerably more freedom for a while - until the inevitable happened and Southampton re-took the lead. A definite penalty - yet another one conceded! - and it's worth analysing the reasons why the team does give so many away. I think it's simple - lack of proper cover from midfield leaves the defence exposed time and again. The results are inevitable.

So Arsenal huffed and puffed, and got their equaliser (in front of a three quarters empty Emirates Stadium); yet barely celebrated it. And the game ended to a chorus of boos, as the first half had. Yet another draw, 4 wins out of 13, and below Sheffield United, Burnley and Wolves in the table. And over the past month it's frankly relegation form. The chants of 'We want Emery out' are getting louder on a match by match basis.

The issue isn't just the results. It's the lack of clarity of style, of execution, of thought process. I don't know of a single Arsenal fan who doesn't want a change of Coach at this point. The next three games are as winnable as this one was - Norwich, Brighton, West Ham - but I have no confidence in 9 points being delivered. And after that? Manchester City, Chelsea twice and Manchester United in the space of 5 weeks!

Now don't get me wrong; I've got nothing against Unai Emery as a person; he seems a perfectly decent chap. I just feel that he can't coach or man manage - not at this level at least. And despite having backed him only two weeks ago, I wonder if the decision-makers are already having second thoughts. Something needs to be done to cut the levels of negativity and toxicity inside the ground, and an evident lack of confidence amongst the players - almost as if they've stopped playing for or believing in this Coach - would indicate that it's not going to come from them.

The latest statement from the #WeCareDoYou group sums up how Arsenal fans feel at the moment, with matters both on and off the pitch not meeting our expectations. Here's a link to it, via @arseblog. https://arseblog.news/2019/11/wecaredoyou-issue-new-statement-as-arsenal-crisis-deepens/ - I am 100% in agreement with it.

We are of course not privy to what goes on at London Colney, but if we can see the issues, it defies belief that the decision-makers cannot. It is clear that Emery is on borrowed time, but the question is: How long has he got?

And that brings me on to major managerial changes, and the decisive - not to say divisive - action taken at Tottenham Hotspur. There are many things that one can say about it, and that's been well-documented elsewhere, but I would say this:

This type of change of Coach often starts a merry-go-round, and there is no reason why Arsenal should not take the opportunity to jump on it. Having foolishly missed out on both Guardiola and Klopp in the last 6-7 years, and with a change clearly required, now is surely the moment to move. Especially with up to three other Premier League clubs perhaps also about to make a change. And would I take Poch, in the unlikely event that he want to come; the answer is Yes. Of course, most Spurs fans wouldn't have taken Mourinho given the choice, so one has no choice; but I'd be happy with Poch. At least he'd organise us!

And talking of Mourinho, he's now done the treble, and the axis of evil is complete. The man has now managed Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. He's done the treble of the three teams in almost every Arsenal fan's Most Hated. He is the Darth Sidious of football.

And so on to Thursday and, I suspect, the smallest Emirates crowd in history. Arsenal qualified, Frankfurt fans banned, Ticket Exchange disabled, and it'll be cold and wet. 20,000 if you're lucky, and a possible glimpse into the future if action isn't taken.

And then on to Norwich away. Three points? Don't bank on it.

They Call It 'Noise'?

So, as anticipated, Arsenal slumped to defeat at Leicester over the weekend. There's plenty to analyse, and lots of fallout since then.

The 'new'/old formation of playing three at the back, tested in Portugal (with different personnel) the previous Wednesday, got a runout, and whilst one could see the logic in it, it does very much depend on the personnel and to me it simply looks like Arsenal do not possess sufficient quality at centre-back, irrespective of the formation. Chambers did OK - notwithstanding that he lost Vardy for the crucial first goal - and Luiz would be the natural choice for the middle of the three - but Rob Holding was poor, unfortunately (isn't it funny that a player is always remembered as being better than he really is when he's out injured for a while?).

Bellerin needs games in order to get back to his best - he's much better going forward than defending in any case - and Emery's decision to play Tierney on Wednesday and Kolasinac at the weekend was frankly baffling.

In midfield, the enforced absence of Xhaka and the injury to Ceballos left Guendouzi and Torreira as the default starters, and further up the field Ozil got the start he deserved just behind Aubameyang and Lacazette.

I've got no gripes with that team selection, to be honest. It was worth a go. However, the passive way in which the team was asked to play meant that it frankly didn't matter what the formation was. From the very first minute it was clear that there was to be no 'press' - and this was something that we all thought that Emery's teams were reknowned for - as the forwards and midfield took up their positions but did not approach the ball. And it didn't take long for Leicester to realise that they had a lot of time available to do their thing as they slowly but surely pushed Arsenal back.

This tactic of inviting teams on is something that I simply cannot get to grips with. Even in my extremely low standard Tuesday evening game players do what comes naturally and close down the man in possession. Yet up against players of the quality you find in the Premier League Emery just lets the opposition get on with it. And this has to have a lot to do with the fact that Arsenal are constantly out-shot by their opposition; and it makes no sense whatsoever to me.

However, Lacazette missed two gilt-edged opportunities midway through the first half, and it felt like one of those days that at least one of those chances had to be taken. And it also felt like it would only be a matter of time before the pressure told on the Arsenal rearguard, as Leicester's confident midfield wore away at what was in front of them.

When the first goal went in, I think that all Arsenal fans knew that the team's number was up. With the second, it was absolutely all over, and there was simply no response whatsoever from Arsenal. One shot on target all match, and that a feeble, scuffed effort in the 20th minute, sums it up as another ultimately disappointing performance.

So to then hear from the manager - and then later from the Board (as briefed to the normally reliable @David_Ornstein) that they felt that Arsenal had been in control until Vardy's goal... well, I don't know what game they were watching, as I was getting more and more nervous on my sofa the more the game went on.

And there was more disappointment to follow. We'd all got ourselves up to believe that with the slump in results, with personnel issues throughout the squad and the dressing room splitting into cliques, with the statistics worsening with every game and with every passing week indicating that this manager is not up to the job, that the Leicester game might be the watershed that forced the Board's hand. Not that any proper Arsenal fan would want the team to lose, I must add; simply that the gap to top four is widening, and that it is plain that action needs to be taken before it's too late.

Yet the brief that Ornstein was given was that the Board continue to believe in Emery - contrary, I would say, to ALL the evidence - and are prepared to give him until the end of the season. At which point it will almost certainly be far, far too late and Arsenal's slide from great team a mere dozen years ago to mid-table mediocrity will simply gather pace. In which case they are following the pattern of the previous set of decision-makers; that of sitting on their hands and hoping for the best. They will be culpable, of that let there be no doubt.

To make things worse, Ornstein then wrote that the Board feel that their 'project is sound, well-planned and will bring success, provided the external atmosphere allows it to do so', and that they 'accept that the absence of domestic matches will increase the "noise" around Emery and they are determined not to let it influence their thoughts or actions.' In other words, they appear to be blaming the fans - and thus disappear all the Brownie Points they had gained over the summer and in the early weeks of the season. Cue angry protests and thousands of empty red seats, I would imagine. Clearly, it's the fans who pick the team, coach them and send them out twice a week playing with no defensive shape, little ability to shield the defence and with a paucity of creativity as the cherry on top. I hadn't realised!

I can't put it better than @arseblog when he wrote this morning that 'perhaps the Arsenal board should take note of the fact that Brendan Rodgers was only appointed in February 2019, and in that time has done more to improve the team than Emery has in 18 months at Arsenal. In fact, he's a very good example of how changing a coach can bring improvement. He couldn't use the transfer market when he took over, he just coached his players better than Claude Puel and connected with them in a way that the Frenchman could not.' It's also worth chucking in here that Rodgers lost his star centre-back in the summer and was not permitted to replace him; but he just got on with it, with the players at his disposal.

One can only hope that it turns out that the statement from the Board is the dreaded Vote of Confidence... the one that precedes a change of coach, that is. But it doesn't look that way.

To compound the sinking feeling that Arsenal fans are going through on a match by match basis, what a terrific match Liverpool and Manchester City served up! There's not as much between the sides as the 3-1 scoreline would suggest, but that's where Arsenal were a dozen or so years ago - fighting it out at the very top of the table with their main rivals, and putting on a show of high energy, tempo and skill of the very highest level. How I long for those days!

And think about this; just over 4 years ago, when Jurgen Klopp left Dortmund, Arsenal had the opportunity to bring him in to replace Arsene Wenger - just as they had with Guardiola two years before then. They sat on their hands - as they are doing now - and look at the result.

There's another dreaded Interlull this week. See you after the real football re-starts - unless there's good news, that is...

I've Seen More Than Enough Now

Post Wolves: I've been sitting at my keyboard for the best part of five minutes now, not really knowing where to start without finding myself repeating myself yet again. But in summary... I think that Arsenal are in a negative spiral that is going to need drastic action to avert a very disappointing season. I have not had a 'good ebening'.

From where I was sitting the team, and particularly the manager, got exactly what they deserved against Wolves. The only bright spot was the restoration of Ozil to the team (although if the whole thing with Xhaka hadn't blown up last week I'm not sure we would have seen that) and as we all know the guy simply oozes class. We saw some good defensive work from him too.

As for the negative, I simply could not fathom the formation all game. Was it 4-4-2, 4-1-2-1-2 with a diamond, or 4-3-3? All I could see were massive gaps in the midfield once more being afforded to the opposition for exploitation. Picking the personnel he did, why was Guendouzi (who had a particularly poor game and is not suited at this stage of his career to receive the ball facing his own goal) at the base of the diamond and not Torreira? What precisely was Ceballos's role? And what remit had been given to Ozil?

What we did see was the by now traditionally slow start. I can't understand why it seems to take the team 10 minutes to work the opposition out (Palace game excepted) when what we know of Emery is that he does lots and lots of homework. But if that's truly the case I'm really not sure what questions he is asking himself, as Wolves were all over Arsenal for the first dozen minutes and were unlucky not to be at least a goal up; if not more.

During the course of the game we saw - once more - all that is wrong with Emery's Arsenal. They took the lead (and for the fourth time in three matches squandered it), probably against the general run of play, but Emery's innately conservative tactics and lack of clarity meant that the equaliser was inevitable.

And this time things were worse, for it was as a direct result of the bizarre decision to replace Torreira with Saka and Arsenal's failure to adjust to the new formation that they conceded just three minutes later. Two things immediately wrong with that decision:
1. Why change the formation to something more attacking when in front with 20 minutes left, and 2. Why (yet again) replace Torreira when Guendouzi was having a shocker?

And then... and then... with less than 10 minutes to go, and with the players pushing hard for the win, the only thing Emery could come up with was to swap his left backs? Mortifying.

The sad facts that sum the match up are that Arsenal had just 10 shots compared to 25 by Wolves, and that after the 32nd minute Arsenal did not have a single shot on target. This simply isn't acceptable, and rather than making progress performances are now going backwards.

As for what Emery said in his press conference - surely he was watching a different game to the one I saw. I disagree with all the following: 

'We worked on different tactical situations well today.' No, you didn't!

'We didn't concede a lot of chances in transition.' Yes, you did!

'When we were winning 1-0 we knew in one moment they could score and they did.' This is a conservative/negative outlook and it's not good to show this to the players. They were at home to Wolves; not away to Manchester City!

...' tactically I think we worked how we wanted.' Really? Then you really do have a problem!

For all that the introduction of Ozil gave the team a shot in the arm, the rest was turgid, mundane and predictable. And it means that all the optimism that the summer transfer window engendered has now dissipated, with those raised hopes making things even more disappointing.

So that's two points out of the last 9, garnered from league games with Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers, when it would have been reasonable to expect at least 7. And not forgetting the fortunate Europa League win and demoralising cup defeat at Anfield sandwiched in between.

I'm not sure what those in charge are waiting for, as far from taking advantage of the current woes of Tottenham and Man United, Arsenal are outside the top four and allowing Leicester to pull away from them. And the next game? - Leicester away... massive; and I'd expect Leicester to win and thereby open up a gaping 9 point gap!

It is evident that the players are confused by what the manager is trying to get them to do, and the Xhaka incident and the fallout from it suggests that he is now starting to properly lose the dressing room as well. The optimism we all had, based on the clearing out of some of the more expendable players and the signings of Tierney and Pepe, plus all the hopes built around the likes of Willock, Nelson, Saka and Martinelli... they're all gone now.

Sure, it depends on one's expectations, but based on the summer we had I think that we could reaonably have expected progress towards a genuine challenge for a top four spot. We've had these personnel issues centreing around Ozil and now Xhaka (the whole captaincy vote thing struck me as utterly bizarre), but aside from those I think that most fans are struggling to see any clearly defined style of play. We are just not sure what Emery is trying to do, and I don't think that the players know either.

We knew that there would be problems coming out of the 22-year long 'legacy' management dynasty of Arsene Wenger - look at Manchester United to see what may await Arsenal FC - but it is clear that whilst he may have looked like the answer 15 months ago, Emery is most definitely not the answer. The honeymoon finished a year ago, the relationship looked on the rocks after the disastrous finish to last season, and for all the excellent 'marriage guidance' in the summer old habits have since been reverted to.

What's to be gained by waiting for the inevitable loss at Leicester (which will be followed by another 'interlull')? Emery out. Now. Before it's too late. Because failure to qualify for next year's Champions League will see Aubameyang and Lacazette on their way, and Arsenal will find themselves facing Tottenham-like levels of time spent in the football wilderness.

But, please, no, not Jose Mourinho. No. No. No. No. No! I don't have to spell out why.

Until next week.

#emeryout

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad Arsenal world

Well, well, well. So much to cover from an afternoon of drama, pathos and black comedy at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Some of which actually left me wondering why I bother to make the journey to watch my team, I'm sorry to say.

I've got a lot to cover in this article; from the Palace game there's team selection and tactics, Martin Atkinson and VAR, Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery. Outside of that I am going to touch on Thursday night's fortunate Europa League victory, racism and even rugby union. Bear with me, please:

Firstly, I was delighted to see Kieran Tierney's name finally in the starting line-up. To my mind, one of several personnel changes I'd like to see made to the team (which would also see Bellerin, Holding and Torreira starting). However, I was somewhat bemused by the tactics when the game started. Guendouzi and Ceballos were split wide in front of Xhaka, which a) left gaps in central midfield and b) inhibited the forward runs of the full backs, who often found the space they wanted to move into already occupied. With Palace sitting deep, we also saw how difficult it was for any of the forwards to find space - and especially, how little decent ball they received all afternoon. I'll come back to that.

Despite the normal sluggish start (why this should be I simply do not know, as for a man who loves a video Emery never seems quite prepared for the opposition and Arsenal should, of course, be taking the game to the likes of Crystal Palace), everything in the garden looked rosy as both centre backs scored from successive corners - 2-0 after just 10 minutes and we thought/hoped that we could relax a bit. But the game settled down into the normal turgid routine to which we are becoming used - slow passing between the centre backs and midfield, often followed by a long diagonal. Agonising to watch, frankly, as it sucks all the ingenuity out of the players. But at least we were two up, so we could live with it.

Then followed the first Atkinson howler. He booked Zaha for an apparent dive over Chambers' outstretched leg - couldn't wait to get his card out, in fact - but VAR overturned that decision and awarded the penalty. Quite rightly, now we've seen the replays, but here the flaws in the system are revealed.

Firstly, let's be clear that it was a(nother) appalling call by Atkinson. Secondly, there are remarkable similarities between this incident and one in the Bournemouth game a couple of weeks ago for which Pepe ought to have been awarded a penalty and following which Anthony Taylor, on VAR duty that day, is reported to have said that he felt that it was a penalty but didn't want to overrule the match official (who was, by the way, Martin Atkinson). Now if that's the case, what the hell is VAR there for if not to overrule a clearly wrong decision?

Let's also not forget the incident on Monday evening when Sokratis had his shirt pulled whilst jumping to head the ball at a corner, in full view of referee Mike Dean (fast now becoming only our second least favourite referee) and which the VAR official chose not to review.

What's hard for the supporters in the ground is that we are unable to see what is being looked at, which makes spontaneous celebration well-nigh impossible and which frankly makes it advantageous to watch the game on tv instead. And this was clearly illustrated with the chalking off of Sokratis' late winner (the images below illustrate the incorrect reason it was disallowed - legs tripping him up, hands on his back, Cahill falling over him):

So firstly, if anything it is Chambers, surrounded by three defenders, who is being fouled so it could in fact have been a penalty. Secondly, not a single Palace player complained when the ball crashed into the back of the net. Thirdly, VAR is supposed to overrule clearly incorrect, objective decisions, and this one is as subjective as it gets. And finally, it took over a minute before the VAR review started and a further half a minute for it to be disallowed.

There's a screen sitting on the side of the pitch for referees to look at incidents such as this. I understand that this has not been utilised even once in the Premier League this season. Contrast this with the NFL, which uses it all the time and whilst NFL officials get some subjective decisions wrong they at least get the final say on them; not one man sitting in a darkened room 100 miles away. And contrast the difference with the way that rugby union deals with such incidents.

And here's the most extraordinary thing. I left my seat soon after the goal was chalked off, as it was very late in the game and I have to collect my disabled son from his seat 4 blocks down and get him out of the ground before the crowd piles out. And whilst I was walking through the concourse, tv screens were showing the reason why the goal was disallowed; something that the crowd were denied and who therefore had no clue as to the reason. What's to stop that being shown on the big screens inside the ground, I simply do not know.

In short, Arsenal are getting a rough deal on VAR, with the only goal decision overturned in their favour so far this season the one at Old Trafford when Aubameyang, three yards onside, was inexplicably flagged off by a linesman who had clearly taken leave of his senses. And in short, yesterday Arsenal were robbed of victory by an incorrect, subjective VAR call. And lest we forget the extraordinary decisions that have gone against Watford and Everton this season too. VAR is already broken.

OK; I think I've done that to death, so I shall move on - to only the second most contentious issue of the afternoon.

Following Palace's equaliser, Emery decided to change things and chose to bring on 18-year-old winger Bukayo Saka for our esteemed captain, Granit Xhaka. Now, Xhaka's substitution on Monday night was apparently greeted by plenty of cheers by the travelling Arsenal fans, but that was nothing to the crowd reaction yesterday as it felt like 30,000 people cheered the sight of the number 34 going up (not me, however - I do, nonetheless, own up to having booed Emmanuel Eboue once, but I think you'd all agree that that's understandable).

However, what followed was a soap opera rolled up into a single minute. I honestly feel for Xhaka. He's struggling to have a big positive impact on matches and he didn't give himself the arm band. But he didn't help himself by dawdling his way off, arms outstretched, and thus pushing up the decibel levels as cheers turned to boos. He should have got off the pitch as soon as he could - those few seconds could have made a difference at the end - and that's what started the booing.

He threw the arm band in the direction of Aubameyang, refused a handshake from Emery, allegedly swore at the crowd and tore off his shirt before disappearing directly down the tunnel. He was quite rightly distraught, as were many of the squad (particularly Torreira, whose place he is taking up), and I have to say that I totally condemn the behaviour of those Arsenal fans who behaved in the way they did. I understand that the players have rallied around Xhaka, and that's good to hear. For all our views on whether Xhaka should be in the side, let alone captain, the actions of the crowd were indefensible.

Where this leaves Xhaka going forward, or indeed Emery whose choice as captain he is, is another matter. And I'll now turn my attentions to the Manager. Arsenal social media is becoming more and more vociferous in its criticism of Emery, and as I've said before I no longer believe that he is the man to take the club forward, and with still no discernable style of play, forwards being starved of service by the formation, and little sign of any of this changing, his position is clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable. And for a side going for Top Four, a total of one point gleaned from matches against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace is unacceptable.

I understand that Josh Kroenke was at the game, whilst Stan was also in London yesterday (albeit to watch his beloved LA Rams at Wembley). Clearly, Xhaka-gate turns the spotlight further onto Emery too.

It's also worth noting that as Arsenal huffed and puffed in the search for a winner, the few hundred voices that had been singing the Ozil song on Thursday were joined by thousands more on Sunday. The decision to leave him out of all these matchday squads is apparently a club decision, not Emery's, but it's simply bonkers in my view. The team is crying out for something different, and Ozil is best placed to deliver different - if not from the start then certainly in the last 20 minutes of a game.

Just a quick mention of a few other things that probably deserved more attention. Firstly, the dreadful performance on Thursday evening that ended with those two moments of magic from Pepe that'll hopefully ignite his Arsenal career. Again, Emery's selction has to come under scrutiny as a lightweight midfield of Torreria, Willock and Maitland-Niles was overrun in the first half. The latter two have probably taken a step back as a result of that, and I supect that AMN could do with a loan after Christmas.

Secondly, racism in football as highlighted in Bulgaria last week. This sort of thing is a sign that humanity needs to take a good look at itself, and England is by no means clear of it - as we saw with Yeovil, of all places, the following weekend. As the stench of antisemitism rises, society needs to take a good look at itself and football is a microcosm of that.

And finally, I've had a couple of excellent Saturday mornings these past two weeks watching England's rugby union team reach the final of their World Cup, culminating in a pulsating defeat of the mighty All Blacks. So come on boys - bring it home!

Until next time.

Plot lost

I sit here, head in hands, at my keyboard following another shambolic Arsenal performance, this time resulting in a soul-destroying defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Sheffield United. As those who know me are aware, I usually like to be proved right, but when I wrote in my last piece that I could see Arsenal dropping points they should not do in the very near future I rather hoped that it would not be immediate!

I make a point of not looking at punditry and social media straight after a match, as I prefer to make up my own mind and not regurgitate other peoples' views. However, having now taken a peek I have to say that the jury very much appears to have reached its verdict over Unai Emery, and at a much bigger majority than the Brexit decision was made. 

Whilst some will argue that chopping and changing the Manager is a bad formula and cite Manchester United's post-Ferguson woes, I'd suggest that if you have the wrong man, you have the wrong man. He has won the Europa League a few times, and won loads of titles with PSG - I could do that, frankly! - but he didn't set La Liga alight and I'm becoming increasingly convinced that he won't do that in the Premier League either (as it happens, this piece from Arseblog spells this out more eloquently than I could - https://arseblog.com/2019/10/did-arsenal-give-unai-emery-a-job-he-cant-do/)

Alarm bells sounded for me as soon as I saw the team sheet. Surprised not to see Holding in the line-up. Shocked to see Kolasinac retain his place at the expense of a fit again Tierney. Annoyed to see Xhaka in the side, and not Torreira. Angry that Ozil hadn't even travelled! Now I'm not the Manager, of course, and I'm not privy to what goes on at London Colney, but that's not close to the side I'd have chosen.

And whilst Arsenal started OK, were denied a blatant penalty (well done, Mike Dean - and if I may add; what precisely is VAR for?) and Pepe missed a game-changing sitter (there are guys in my weekly football game who would have buried that with no difficulty), but from the moment Sheffield scored things looked bad as they pressed high and put everyone behind the ball. For all the possession stats, Arsenal barely created another decent chance, Aubameyang was starved of the ball (for the second game in a row), and cross after cross rained into a jam-packed penalty area and was cleared with little fuss. Ceballos barely made a difference when he was introduced (Lacazette's introduction did help, to be fair), and where was Mesut Ozil, the can-opener? Back home in Golders Green, of course!

So 69% possession but just 9 shots, and only three of those on target. Unacceptable on any level, and something must be done about this. Either by Emery, or if not it should be taken out of his hands. I've been increasingly concerned that he is not up to this level, and this type of performance only serves to reinforce that feeling.

And as for the goal that was conceded; basic and obvious defending. Just look at this still; the centre forward left unmarked, and right in front of Leno, and nobody on the posts. Schoolboy stuff:

So a thoroughly deflating performance, when the opportunity to cement third place in the league was right there to be taken up. And in the first of a series of eminently winnable matches. This, barring a change in the mindset of both Manager and players, does not bode well. Thank goodness for the opportunity to see the kids on Thursday.

I've got plenty more I want to cover - e.g. Arsene Wenger's autobiography, VAR and even England's Rugby Union team, but that's going to have to wait until next time. I'm too wound up. 

Until next time.

Gotta love Twitter...

So, Arsenal got back on the winning track in the Premier League with a laboured 1-0 victory at home to Bournemouth on Sunday.  But the most important thing is that victory was secured in a weekend when traditional Top 4 rivals Spurs (oh dear!), Manchester United (they're in disarray) and Manchester City (wow - what a shocker!) lost, along with this season's hopefuls Leicester City and West Ham United.

Arsenal fans should be very happy to move up to third place - a single point behind City - and to put a bit of daylight between themselves and those mentioned above. However if you looked at Arsenal social media in the aftermath of the game you'd get a different flavour. So before I go over what I took from the game, I want to cover this sense of disappointment and 'entitlement' that I saw all over social media. A sense of which I both understand and share.

You see, Arsenal fans been spoilt recently. No, seriously... Because if we're trying to compare what we're seeing now with the peak Wengers years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when we saw some of the very best football we could ever imagine, we are going to be very disappointed. But lest we forget before Wenger's arrival we witnessed the George Graham years of 'Boring Boring Arsenal' and 'One Nil to the Arsenal' - and one could therefore say that these days we're merely reverting to the norm.

Now I'm not saying that this is good, or right. But the prime consideration is always the win. However - and this is where I find myself agreeing with some of what's being written - football pitches are pristine, players are more skilful and more athletic than ever before; and of course Arsenal attract some of the very best players in the world. So why is it all so painful to watch?

I actually think that this game sums up all that is lacking as regards the tactical mind of Unai Emery. A decent start and almost total first half domination, and a half-time lead. But something happened at half time, and it can only be what Emery said to the players in those 15 minutes. Because the second half was an entirely different game. Arsenal made Bournemouth look really ordinary for 45 minutes, but then seemed to sit back and invite them on after the break, showing a distinct lack of both energy and ambition. It's OK to go by the motto of 'what we have, we hold' if up against a team at the same level, but surely not against Bournemouth? They were absolutely there for the taking, but were allowed to make much of the second half running.

And I have to blame the manager. We're seeing a continued lack of ambition. Midfield - the engine room of any side - remains a mystery. And on top of that you'd really have to start to question the in-game decision-making. So yes, we'll take the win, but the warning signs are there and I really can't see that a club with the ambition of Arsenal, and with the sort of money that's started to be spent, is going to reach the heights under him. He is in the second year of his initial two -year contract, and whilst if we look forward really optimistically to a Top Four finish and winning the Europa League - all a bit far away in October I grant you - I would not be confident for next seaason were he to still be in charge. For all that it would be very difficult indeed not to roll the contract on.

The problems of early in the season are simply not being addressed, and they stem from the midfield where I truly feel that Xhaka is the problem (have I said this before?). He is simply not quick enough, not athletic enough, not dynamic enough to give the team what it needs; which is cover for the defence and the ability to transition quickly to attack. If, as I suspect, Emery is trying to turn Arsenal into a counter-attacking team that soaks up pressure and hits hard and fast on the break - although I can't think of any reason why he is happy to give up the initiative so often during games - then I don't see that Xhaka can help him deliver that (but despite all my criticism, I'd nonetheless like to congratulate him on becoming a father earlier today).

And whilst upgrading the defensive personnel should certainly help, it's not the only answer to the defence's inherent shakiness. Yesterday Sokratis was nowhere near his best, but Kolasinac performed better - funny what competition does for you! - Luiz played well and Chambers impressed again in an unfamiliar role.

Of the others, I'll single out Ceballos who I think we can see why Real Madrid sent him out on loan - he lacks presence and consistency to my eyes; Aubameyang who, almost starved of service, had a quiet game - notwithstanding that he missed an outstanding chance in injury time; and Pepe who started brightly including one dazzling dribble past three players, should have had a penalty and began to look a little bit more like the player we're hoping to see until he faded badly in the second half. Of the rest, Leno made some critical saves (as usual), Guendouzi was his typical dynamic self and Saka had another solid game, with added flashes of brilliance.

I suspect that we'll see some drastic changes to the side after the international break, with Tierney and Holding coming in and Bellerin soon after, Lacazette returning after injury, and hopefully more of the dynamic Joe Willock. But if the midfield issues are not addressed, Arsenal are going to drop points that they should not in the near future.

Just four more small things.

Firstly, I enjoyed Thursday night's performance and thumping win over an admittedly dire Standard Liege far more than the Bournemough game. There was plenty to be excited about going forward - provided Emery gets over his Xhaka fixation, that is.

Secondly, this is an Ozil-free zone. I think, sadly, that the fat lady is clearing her throat as regards his Arsenal career.

Next, Tottenham and United are in a right mess. They looked disinterested and not prepared to fight at Brighton/Newcastle respectively. Long may that continue.

And finally; Sadio Mane. If that was a penalty, I'm the Pope! I'm sorry, but that he had that awarded and Pepe didn't when he tumbled over Rico's outstretched leg is something I simply cannot understand. Can somebody please beat Liverpool ASAP!

No game until October 21st. I'll be back after that. Have a good one.

Glass half empty?

A couple of days late due to circumstances beyond my control, here's my take on the Manchester United game on Monday. But to make up for the delay I promise to devote a paragraph or two to anything of interest or amusement that may have occurred in the Champions League this week...

So what's your take? Is your glass half empty or half full? Personally, I was somewhat disappointed by both team selection and then by the amount of respect shown to what is by any stretch of the imagination one of the poorest United sides of the last 25 years.

Yet again, in selecting Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi, Emery's inherent conservatism shone through. That combination stifles the ability to move quickly in transition, and more importantly with his insistence on playing Xhaka at the base means that Torreira - in my opinion Arsenal's best defensive midfielder - is being asked to play a role to which he is not suited.

Xhaka himself had a perfectly adequate game, and Guendouzi was a dynamo as usual, but Torreira is not a box-to-box midfielder and it is not fair to him to play him as one. For me, I'd like to see the triangle inverted and (and this is if Emery insists on selecting Xhaka) I'd prefer to see two midfielders at the base - select two from the three names mentioned above - and Ceballos or preferably the more dynamic Joe Willock further forward.

And United were there for the taking. They're not very good, but the way the team were set up meant that Arsenal were unable to take advantage of that. And please, I don't want to hear that we're well placed in fourth spot after seven games and three of them have been against Top 6 rivals - we could have beaten Spurs and United, we should definitely have beaten Watford, and I'm still inclined to blame the Manager for not having done so. It's he who sets the team out, and thereby sets the tone. Until proved otherwise, I'll maintain that Unai Emery is not the man to take Arsenal to the next level.

And so to the incidents that framed the game; the two goals that were amongst very few moments of excitement in the entire 90 minutes.

There's this photograph, which has led to Xhaka being pilloried by many supporters, but it's somewhat unfair on him. I'm not his biggest fan, as you must know, but the still is misleading. He isn't ducking out of the way, but was attempting to head the ball clear. Unfortunately, the ball took a glancing deflection off of Sokratis, and without that Xhaka would have got his head to it (and it would have hurt!). For me, I'm pinning almost all of the blame for the goal onto Sokratis, who didn't get out fast enough and who then compounded that error by going to ground and turning away from the ball. If he stands up, the ball hits him flush in the stomach or chest, and does not threaten the goal. Instead, the deflection off his hip gives neither Xhaka or Leno the chance to react.

As for the equaliser... well, the first question one has to ask is what precisely caused the linesman to flag. The still quite clearly shows that it is nowhere near offside, and from the moment we saw that on the television we knew - long before the supporters in the ground - that the goal was going to be given. I mean, it's not even close!

Aubameyang took the chance with aplomb, as one has come to expect, but questions need to be asked. What if the referee had blown his whistle on seeing the flag? It was a game-changing moment, and for all the semantics of arguing the toss over a centimetre or two (as we have done over the past few weeks) this wasn't open to any sort of interpretation.

Anyway, a point at OT is not to be sneezed at - for all that it could have been three - and we move on. I hope that we're moving to a point where we have our first-choice full backs available, and Holding forces his way into the side at the expense, I suspect, of Sokratis. 

But midfield is still a major issue. It is badly organised, decision-making is poor, and the structure isn't right. The heart of the team is what is holding progress back. I've suggested a solution above, and that would perhaps address issues going forward, but it's the lack of protection for the back four that is the major problem. I've written before that in being continually exposed the defence is leaving itself open to ridicule, but it's not really their fault. It's freestyle and gung-ho, and will continue to mean that stupid goals are given away. If supporters and pundits can see this, then why can Emery and his obsession with video analysis not do the same?

So we move on to a massively rotated side against Standard Liege, and then a hopefully more controlled performance in what promises to be an entertaining game against Bournemouth on Sunday. I expect two wins.

And as promised, I return to the matter to which I alluded in the very first paragraph. To what could I be referring? I'm sorry, but it needs to be done - let's all laugh at Tottenham while we have the chance. Who knows (or cares) what's going on in that dressing room but it looks like they're going to reach a major watershed at some point this season. As per the Bayern result, they deserve all the ridicule they are getting, and some of those memes are hysterical. But to put things into perspective, they are still very likely to qualify from that group, as the other two sides are not very good. Still, one has to take one's chance to have a good laugh whilst one can.

Until next week.