Mustafi mustafis as Vardy returns to haunt pedestrian Gunners

Arsenal have underperformed for three matches in a row. Or perhaps they had overperformed previously; I really can't be sure at this stage. But this uninspiring 1-0 loss to Leicester City, on the back of a pretty dreadful performance in Vienna earlier in the week and the unambitious if narrow defeat at The Etihad, has now got me sending out distress signals.

By the way, I did not pay £14.95 to watch the game. It's an outrage that season ticket holders  - at the very minimum - cannot have free access to home games. I will not be utilising the Box Office option, and there are other ways of getting access to live feeds (or so I'm told...).

If the Leicester game was a Whodunnit, the script would have been pretty transparent from very early on. Arsenal dominating possession - but not doing much with it - for vast portions of the game, only for the scourge that is Jamie Vardy to (inevitably) come off the bench to take advantage of a Mustafi error (the final photograph in this piece shows quite how far out of position the German was) and score the only goal of the game. Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, but by the end it was so, so predictable.

So firstly to team selection; and as expected with the arrival of Thomas Partey Arteta reverted to his preferred 4-3-3 formation, with Luiz and Gabriel the central defensive selection (of the club's plethora of centre-halves, it's quite astonishing that the returning Mustafi was the only other one available for selection). With Willian out injured, Saka joined Aubameyang and Lacazette up front.

Arsenal scored early, with Ceballos' corner flicked in at the near post by Lacazette. The goal was disallowed, however, for a dubious offside call against Xhaka, who was deemed to be interfering with Schmeichel when in fact he was not. 

And this decision changed the course of the game, with Leicester - playing without a recognised centre-forward - adopting the same low block, rope-a-dope tactics so successfully employed by Jose Mourinho late last season.

And truth be told, once more Arsenal - despite dominating possession - created very little. The pace of play was too slow, and apart from the option of Luiz playing long diagonals from right to left all we saw was the sideways passing that has frustrated Arsenal fans for probably 7 or 8 years now. What somebody like Cesc Fabregas could do for this group!

And so Arsenal made it pretty easy for Leicester. There was little threat, with Aubameyang - perhaps not 100% - once more quite ineffective. I can see why Arteta wants to play him from out wide, but his strengths are frankly elsewhere. The midfield were neat and tidy - Partey included - but there was no spark and very few chances were created. One for Lacazette following a move started by one of those Luiz diagonals, and another for Bellerin who had to concentrate too much on hitting the target and who failed to generate enough pace with his volley; and that was pretty much it.

And then to the key part of the game. At pretty much the same time as Vardy was preparing to make his entrance, Luiz went down holding his right quad. The only option on the bench was the returning - and barely match-fit - Mustafi. And whilst he was mostly perfectly adequate in what he did, Mustafi's failure to read the play as Tielemans fed Under, nor to track the run of Vardy, left the striker with a fairly routine header from the Turk's cross. Catastrophe!

And here's the problem. Plan A is not particularly imaginative, and there doesn't seem to be much of a Plan B, with Nketiah currently the only alternative - Pepe flashes more cold than hot, and Martinelli is months away. Answers need to be found, and quickly!

I'll just touch on the performance and result in Vienna on Thursday. A dire first half showing - almost reminiscent of some of the dross Emery served up for us at around this time last season - combined with some Keystone Kops footwork from Leno, left Arsenal trailing... to the third best team in Austria! Thankfully, firstly David Luiz's header and then the one moment of class of the entire game just 4 minutes later, ending with Aubameyang scoring his first goal since the first day of the season, put Arsenal back in control; and from then on it was a cruise. But it needn't be like this. Arsenal need to do better.

I'm not saying that the 'honeymoon period' is coming to an end for Arteta. After all, he delivered the FA Cup and European football. But I do feel that he needs to add an extra dimension, or spark, to the team's play. Whether that will involve pushing Ceballos further up the pitch, or perhaps playing Saka in 'the hole', I don't really know. But it does feel that a new dimension is needed. I hate to mention Mesut Ozil at this stage... but boy, there are days when we really do miss him!

And so to the prospective cakewalk at home to Dundalk on Thursday evening, followed by a visit to Old Trafford. I predict a very low scoring encounter.

Stay safe, one and all. Until next week.

Nothing To See Here...

 And so, after an interminably long and dull Interlull, Arsenal were back in action on Saturday evening. And, if the line-up wasn't quite a surprising as others have been, the formation certainly was.

Far be it from me to criticise Mikel Arteta - and this was Manchester City they were up against, after all - but I do wonder if he out-thinks himself occasionally. And, of course, I'd rather have it this way than get smashed by Manchester City, as has happened all too frequently recently, but if I had to sum up the performance I suppose I'd go with timid, uninspiring, tentative and... a little boring. After all, this lot had shipped 5 in their last home game!

And so to the game itself. And firstly - why the blue kit? There was no reason why Arsenal could not have played in their 'proper' kit - the red and white. But there's merchandising to consider, isn't there. Ridiculous!

And then - and much more importantly - the formation. On paper, with neither Lacazette or Nketiah selected, it looked for all money that Aubameyang was going to be up top. And yet... and this is where I question the over-thinking - Arteta chose to play an inverted formation with Willian up the middle. And it simply didn't work. Both Auba and Pepe were too wide to influence the game - when Arsenal had possession, that is - and it also inhibited the ability of the wing-backs to make an impact. One could see what the plan was, but it was essentially all too crowded out wide, but with a gaping hole down the middle!

The only player who got to express himself properly, I would say, was Bukayo Saka. He found himself 'between the lines' more often than any other Arsenal player, and had one of Arsenal's most serviceable chances - good save from Ederson here:

Throughout, Manchester City dominated possession, as might be expected, but as a whole Arsenal held them off fairly comfortably. Of course, they had chances - Mahrez had one as early as the second minute, cutting inside and firing just wide with his left foot - and they continually pegged Arsenal back.

However, there were opportunities to get forward, and I suppose that I was a little unhappy with the lack of ambition from Arsenal. It wasn't until City had scored that a little more attempt to get forward was shown, and there were immediately that chance for Saka, and others for Auba (finally in from the left) and Pepe.

And when Arsenal needed to switch formation and up the tempo late on... well, their hearts didn't seem in it. It was almost as if they'd prefer to settle for a narrow defeat than really go for it and end up losing by two or three. And I suppose that it's a measure of how far this team has come in just a few months that we can be disappointed by that. And I really wanted to see Aubameyang start up top!

And so, on another weekend of thrills, spills and controversy all over the Premier League, our game was rather insipid. Of high technical quality (particularly from City, of course), but we could have done with a bit more excitement. And a bit more excitement would have involved - and here's a theme oft mentioned - some more chances created by Arsenal, whose chance creation stats have been low for a while. I'd almost be thinking about mentioning Mesut Ozil here, but perhaps Thomas Partey (who sneaked in a 10 minute cameo) might help in that regard.

A few other points to mention. Firstly, I counted no less than 9 cynical fouls by City players during the game. Tug-backs, niggly tackles from behind, blocks etc. That's how they keep teams pegged in; they pile the pressure on, and then when they lose the ball commit a foul as high up the pitch as they can. As an opposition supporter, I don't like that.

Secondly, Sergio Aguero. What was this about?

He's touched an official. A female official. So not only is it out of order because he touched an official, but it looks like a sexist act at the same time. Words should be had, at the very least...

And finally, this:

Walker on Gabriel. I'm not saying that it's a penalty, but it's a high foot, and it's frankly reckless. It could easily be a penalty, and the thing that annoys me is that VAR did not even review the incident!

I'll now just quickly cover what else went on over the weekend - I'm writing this on Monday, so if there's any controversy tonight it won't be included:

There's the two incidents in the Liverpool derby. The reckless 'tackle' - I'd prefer to call it an assault - by Pickford on van Dijk that will see the latter out for the season, Should have been a red card for one; but the loss of this wonderful and vital player could easily scupper Liverpool's entire season.

More points dropped from a winning position by Chelsea. Great going forward; a right mess at the back. Good.

And then there's Tottenham. 3-0 up in no time at home to West Ham, and cruising. If they'd have gone 6 or 8 up you couldn't have argued. And yet... with less than a quarter of an hour to go a daft free kick given away leading to a goal, followed by an own goal by the ever unreliable Sanchez, and then a completely needless challenge by Aurier that led to a goalmouth scramble and Lanzini's thunderous 25-yarder. Oh, how we laughed! 

Not even Jose Mourinho can prevent the inherent Spursyness of Spurs. It's simply in their DNA.

And so to the indefatiguable Arsene Wenger. I say indefatiguable because he's not stopped doing interviews! But... for all we hoped for something hard-hitting it's all a little bland; the book, as well as the interviews. It's lovely to hear his dulcet tones once more, but the book is entirely uncontroversial, and the interviews don't reveal much either. To be expected, I suppose.

Except that he has let slip at the book launch how much he and Sir Alex Ferguson actually hated each other at the height of their rivalry. 

And the other thing that interested me was how disappointed he was at the 2006 Champions League Final loss; as he said, it would have put the seal on that era, starting in 1997, when Arsenal had a truly fantastic team.

I also couldn't help fail to notice that at the launch of his autobiography, at the London Palladium, the theatre looked packed - with very few people wearing masks. Now haven't we got this all wrong - you can pack an indoor arena like that, but you can't watch a football match outdoors? Indeed, I hear that clubs can run hospitality at grounds, but if there's a view of the pitch it has to be hidden and one must watch what's going on right under one's nose on a television screen instead. Utter madness!

Anyway, Arsenal are back in Europe on Thursday, followed by a tricky game against Leicester City. I hope that there'll be good news all round to report on next Monday. Cheerio.

Interlull - but it certainly hasn't been quiet!

Well, despite it being an 'interlull' - whoever thought it was a good idea to have footballers jetting off all over the world during a pandemic needs locking up, if you ask me - there's quite a lot to report on from Arsenal Land. So this is another long one...

Travel arrangements made it impossible for me to blog in a timely manner on the Sheffield United game. So I'll start there, and then dwell on the shock results of that weekend.

So, compared to some of the excitment elsewhere, this was a fairly routine win for Arsenal over an obdurate Sheffield United side who, whilst they remain without a point this season, I see in no danger of going down. 

Talking points were: 

a) David Luiz's pull on Burke's shirt, for which he was fortunate to go unpunished (cue the normal headlines, and it's difficult to put his treatment up against that of 'poor old Harry Maguire') - but weigh that against the thuggish challenge from Berge on Aubameyang which left him writhing in agony and clutching his ankle, and led to his withdrawal from the Gabon squad (small mercies), but which was airbrushed by Sky and the press, and

b) Another promising show from Bukayo Saka, culminating in a well-taken headed goal. And the noticeable difference in the side when Pepe was introduced; let's hope that this game will be a watershed for the latter's Arsenal career. He looked to be combining well with Willian and particularly Bellerin, and took his goal beautifully - making it look easy when, moving at the pace he was, it was anything but

And so three more points bagged, making it 9 out of 12 and the only defeat at Fortress Anfield, home of the Premier League Champions and favourites this season too. But wait... Liverpool's entirely unexpected and crushing 7-2(!) defeat at Villa Park was merely the second of two headline-grabbing results; the other being Manchester United's humiliating 6-1(!) home defeat to Spurs (and that despite the award of a first minute penalty). A quite extraordinary three hours of football, with the result at Old Trafford causing much mirth all over the country (although it's obviously somewhat unfortunate that it was Spurs who did the damage, of course).

On these games; firstly, this embarrassment follows on from a previous home defeat to Crystal Palace, so something is clearly very wrong at Old Trafford. The momentum of the end of last season has come to a thumping halt, and United suddenly look like a very ordinary side. Yet Solskjaer still clings to his job; lest we forget that he took Cardiff City down a few years ago... 

On the other hand, Spurs look awesome - going forward at least - with Kane and particularly Son rampant. That's 18 goals in their last three matches! Fortunately a) they don't look quite so hot in defence or central midfield and b) they're Spurs, so..., well, you know.

And as for Liverpool; well, unless Villa have suddenly found the blueprint for playing against them - their uber-high line was exposed again and again - we can probably treat that result as a massive aberration. With Thiago and Mane to return, and hopefully for their sakes Adrian never to be seen in goal again, I reckon they're still as good as we all think they are. The pressing against Arsenal was almost super-human.

And in discussing those two results, Manchester City's two dropped ponts at home to Leeds almost sneak under the radar...

Moving on to Transfer Deadline Day, and the Eleventh Hour signing of Thomas Partey - 'the new Patrick Vieira', we are told - from Athletico Madrid. The manner of it (including the shenanigans with Houssem Aouar) has been well documented, and what I can comment on what went on is that firstly if you're going to impose the strict requirements that Athletico did on the Partey contract and totally refuse to negotiate, then you shouldn't expect to be angered by what Arsenal did - which was, of course, completely legal (if a little underhand). And secondly, it's all the more amusing for being underhand because if you're Diego Simeone, the Master of Anti-Football and now with a forward line consisting of Diego Costa and Luis Suarez, then it must be quite difficult to take the moral high ground and still be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning...

So what will Partey bring to Arsenal? Is he the 'missing link' that we've been waiting for since Paddy left? Well, by all accounts he's quite a monster of a player; strong and athletic (and quick with it), capable of playing as a DM or in a box-to-box role, and a decent passer too. How he fits in remains to be seen - especially who Arteta partners him with - but I'm wondering if this will soon mean that the Manager switches to his preferred 4-3-3 formation -  the one that personnel shortcomings have meant he has been unable to do since he arrived. That remains to be seen, but I suspect that there'll be no formation change for the next game (Manchester City). Anyway, I'm sure that we're all intrigued.

What's just as important as far as the City game is concerned is whether Kieran Tierney is permitted to play or forced to continue to self-isolate. He is of course Arsenal's best defender.

It is worth reflecting at this point that Arsenal did not do a good job of moving players on in the Window. Martinez sold (to the disappointment of many), and Torreira and Guendouzi out on loan, and that's it. So Arsenal remain 'stuck' with Sokratis, Kolasinac, Mustafi and Chambers, William Saliba is in limbo, and then of course there's Mesut Ozil (what's going on with him one can only speculate, and I'll come back to him later). This is  as a result of a poor transfer policy over maybe the past 6-7 years, and it's going to take this regime at least another year to sort out.

Moving on, it was good to see Bukayo Saka get his England debut; and not long after AMN. That's testament to their quality, and to the work that Arteta is doing with them. Saka looked a little lost early on, but grew into the game; it would have been nice if Grealish had passed to him a bit more often, though. Plus in passing; Eddie Nketiah has broken the England under-23 scoring record - he's very much a work-in-progress, however.

And now to Mesut Ozil and - and I never thought I'd have these two in the same paragraph - the saga of Gunnersaurus Rex. 

There are at least two aspects to this, and I'm sure it's far more nuanced than we can possibly know, but I believe that the football world are unanimous in being appalled at the treatment of poor old Jerry Quy (the man in the dinosaur suit) - laying him off is another Arsenal Football Club PR disaster. And then to see Mesut Ozil hoving into view as Jerry's saviour?... well, some might say that this was a pretty cynical PR opportunity grab by the Ozil camp.

Whatever is going on with Ozil - and I'm personally very upset by it - cheap point-scoring is not the answer. The club and the player need to reach an amicable agreement, as the current stand-off is an embarrassment for all concerned. From a personal point of view, I am extremely upset that we are unlikely to see Ozil in an Arsenal shirt again. Thinking about the greatest Arsenal players of the modern era, he's up there with Bergkamp and Henry; with Fabregas, van Persie, Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez. In fact, he's one of the most skilful players I have ever seen, and I love to watch him play. An outstanding talent, going to absolute waste - and at £350k a week - plus an £8m 'loyalty bonus' to boot! Madness.

I think I'll cover the two big autobiography stories of the past couple of weeks in my next post. I haven't read Arsene's yet - it only arrived in the post yesterday - and I am yet to order Lord Bendtner's (although by all accounts it's very interesting). However, I want to quickly cover Project Big Picture.

It is clear and obvious that football finances are skewed badly in favour of the Premier League and especially its biggest clubs, and that this needs addressing. That has been known for years; the rich with all the advantages - and getting richer - while the rest suffer. And yes, just a small adjustment in the percentages would make a massive difference to the finances of the pyramid below. However, this ill-thought plan has been seen for what it was - a cynical, opportunistic power grab (led by Liverpool and Manchester United, but make no mistake they're just the fall guys - I'd be certain that the rest of the so-called Big Six are involved). By all means make the gesture, but make it sustainable and above all don't seek to take advantage of others' misfortune. Shame on you!

Right, that's me (finally) done. Easy game coming up... back on Monday.

Stay safe, whatever Tier you're in.