Saka Brightens Our Mood Again

Successive victories, but this one achieved in an entirely different manner to the previous one. A hard-fought win over a well-organised but limited Brighton side was achieved in a match very much of two halves. 

Unaccountably following the emphatic win over Chelsea, Arsenal were extremely tentative almost throughout the first half - even though there was apparently little to fear - and didn't wake up until after the interval. If there was a difference between the two oppositions, it was that Brighton were prepared to make up for whatever deficiencies they have by means of hard work, which is something that Chelsea were palpably not prepared to do. Arsenal were forced back by a disciplined press, and therefore found little space to work in until they finally took matters into their own hands and picked up the pace following Arteta's half-time team talk. Brighton bent, and finally buckled, as Arsenal found space on either side of the two outside central defenders.

As far as team selection was concerned, Arteta made just a single change. Lacazette probably didn't deserve to be benched after his performance in the previous game, but it was understandable that the manager would wish to see how his best centre-forward would fare with the same assistance afforded to the Frenchman on Saturday, so Auba came back in following his calf strain. 

It was, however, difficult to judge how it worked, as Brighton - pivoted by the impressive Bissouma - stopped at source much of the progressive football we had seen against Chelsea and had the Arsenal midfield looking back as opposed to forwards for large tranches of the first half. This led to one or two errors - one especially horrible one from Elneny - and it was thanks to Leno's fine save from Jahanbakhsh (easy for you to say...) and the fact that Potter had gone into the game with all his main centre forward options on the bench that saved some blushes. With the triple threat of Saka, Martinelli and Smith Rowe almost completely nullified, there really is little else to report positively on during a turgid first 45 minutes.

Arsenal came out with a lot more purpose after the break - as I say, they could afford to as there was little to really worry them - and despite Brighton claims for an early penalty when Dunk went down in the box at a corner it was pretty much all Arsenal for much of the second half.

On 50 minutes Martinelli fed Saka down the left, and following a powerful run his cross was met by the onrushing Aubameyang, who could scarcely believe it as Sanchez's fortuitously outstretched knee prevented the ball hitting the back of the net. The first time, really, that we had seen Arsenal get in behind Brighton and a blueprint for the winning goal.

In swift succession, Martinelli and Aubameyang himself sent decent opportunities over the bar as Arsenal finally began to find their mojo. Saka was becoming more and more influential, popping up all over the front line, and his close control and instant acceleration was the main contributor to the change in the pattern of the game. To think that this guy is a mere 19 years old...

Arteta replaced the largely ineffective Martinelli (still very much feeling his way back after injury) with Lacazette in the 66th minute, and seconds later Saka turned Burn on half-way, raced 40 yards at full speed down the right and turned the ball inside to the Frenchman, who was in acres of space a dozen yards out. One touch to control the ball, and a second to plant the ball cleverly around Dunk and inside Sanchez's near post. A neat finish, a mere 21 seconds since his entry onto the pitch, but the goal was really all about young Saka.

And that was that, really. Saka went down with 15 minutes to go and had to leave the field - apparently it's nothing too serious - but apart from that Arsenal were able to repel the pea shooter efforts that Brighton attempted for the rest of the game with great ease. 

So that's 6 points from the last two games, and with so many other games being drawn the vast gap that had separated Arsenal from the top half of the table - let alone the top 4 or 6 - has just started to narrow. There's a long way to go, of course, but with fixtures against West Brom, Palace and Newcastle to follow we should be targeting maximum points and a leap back up the table. 

Fingers crossed for that. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you stay safe and well. I'm sort of expecting football to join the rest of the UK in a 'circuit-breaker' some time very soon, and that may upset the momentum; but in direct contrast to what Bill Shankly once said, I'd suggest that life or death is more important than football.

‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly!

 On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.. a 3-1 win over Chelsea!

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Although I think that we'd be foolish to get too carried away by a single decent performance and victory amongst the dross that we've been subjected to recently. Nonetheless, the optimist in me hopes to see the blueprint from this match - for all that the personnel changes may well have been forced upon the manager by illness - carried forward. 

I've not been alone in wanting to see more youth involved, and some more progressive football played. Whatever the reason for it happening in this game, it certainly worked out for the best. 

All over the field, Arsenal looked much more like a team - not a mere collection of individuals too constrained by fear to feel able to express themselves properly and perform decisively at decisive moments. The combinations of Bellerin and Saka on the right, and Tierney and Martinelli on the left, caused Chelsea no end of bother. And with a proper Number 10 in Emile Smith Rowe in front of them (for all that he needs to build up his stamina for this level), it took much of the burden of creativity away from the midfield duo, and enabled them to concentrate more on what they’re best at. The tempo was higher, the passing was crisper and more penetrative, and everything looked so much more balanced. There was simply more energy on show, everywhere, and with a bit of space and some willing runners in front of him the much maligned Xhaka looked transformed. 

On the other hand, one has to take account of the fact that Chelsea were terrible. If there's a team in this league that are less than the sum of their parts, it's Chelsea. For whatever reason, they got very little going until very late in the game - what they did do was almost exclusively down to the exciting Hudson-Odoi - and with the talent they have that's inexcusable. But I'd like to credit Arsenal for stopping them, as much as I think the spotlight may need to fall on 'Fat Frank' here.

And so to team selection. I was pleasantly surprised to see Smith Rowe in the side, and a more dynamic looking forward line. I wasn’t surprised to see Auba merely on the bench, but was frankly disappointed to see Xhaka restored to the team immediately and AMN and Ceballos back out of the side. On the other hand, it’s probably true to say that in the absence of Partey the Swiss is our best available midfielder - why that is would be a discussion for another day. So he sort of has to play...

The absence of Gabriel (and Luiz; along with Willian) through illness/COVID protocols meant that Mari was the obvious replacement at left centre back. And it was telling that Arteta felt that he couldn't rely on either Ceballos or Pepe for this game.

Of course, I wasn’t to know what Arteta had planned on the tactics front, and that was again a pleasant surprise. From the start, Arsenal looked hungrier and more progressive than they have for weeks. They started quicker - well, quicker than they have for a while - and took advantage of an unaccountable lethargy in the Chelsea ranks. Only Mount, and to a lesser extent Pulisic, looked capable of creating anything going forward, Werner looked off the pace and it looked like Abraham was incapable of bringing even a bag of cement under control! As a team they failed to track back, and looked shorn of effort and ideas.

Martinelli almost scored in the very first minute following good interplay between Bellerin and Saka, and for the most part it was the combinations out wide that exposed Chelsea, with Smith Rowe linking them up through the middle. Xhaka and Elneny mopped up everything behind. 

Chelsea were pushed back, and following an exquisite trademark sweeping 30 yard pass from Xhaka that let Tierney in down the left, James brought the Scotsman down. Stone bonk penalty in my book, and I have no idea what Gary Neville, on commentary, was on about. Lacazette sent Mendy the wrong way for 1-0.

I’d have expected a reaction from Chelsea, but there was none, and right before half time Saka’s drive infield led to a foul from Kante 25 yards out. From that, Xhaka despatched his traditional one goal a season with a rocket into the top corner. What a hit!

Lampard made changes at half time - including replacing the bitterly disappointing Werner with Hudson-Odoi, and that did make a difference. But it was only minimal, as Arsenal’s continued sharpness all over the pitch meant that the domination continued. And then we saw something quite exquisite, as Arsenal moved down the right in a sequence of swift passes. Leno to Holding, to Xhaka, to Lacazette, to Xhaka again, to Bellerin, to Smith Rowe.... and he then spotted Saka in space. Our young star stepped into the penalty area untouched and somehow lobbed Mendy from 20+ yards - with the instep of his right foot! Whether he meant it or not I don’t know, but on the face of it, it was a thing of beauty. 17 seconds from back to front.

And it could have been more. Martinelli missed another good opportunity following another swift break brought about by his own breaking up of the play, Lacazette almost took full advantage of a poor clearance from Mendy, Elneny crashed a shot against the bar and Holding nearly followed it in, and on the whole we didn’t have a moment’s worry... up until the last 5 minutes or so. It couldn't be more ‘Arsenal’, could it, and I had scary visions of it all subsiding into a 3-3 draw...

Firstly Abraham chested in a Hudson-Odoi cross, and Chelsea then won a 91st minute penalty when a tiring Mari was late to a challenge on Mount. Fortunately for our nerves - because 5 minutes with the score at 3-2 would have been excruciating - Leno saved Jorginho’s quite pathetic spot kick and we could relax.

Now, I'm sure that Arteta must have learned a lot from this performance. How he can better set up his side, and the advantage of having players at the top end of the field who are willing to play daring, progressive football and selflessly create space for others. The thing is, we've been advocating something like this for weeks, so why he hadn't been able - or brave enough - to see it is another matter. He's been too prescriptive in what he's been trying to do, I feel, and has been relying too much on his experienced players to deliver. Perhaps the shackles will come off now? Certainly, extra energy has come with the arrival of Martinelli and now young Emil.

However, the next few games will present a different sort of challenge. Brighton will probably come out to play - they generally do - but after that Arsenal are going to be facing low block after low block. WBA have been somewhat transformed by the arrival of Allardyce, but both Newcastle and Palace are badly out of form and Arsenal must seek to take advantage of that. I'm not suggesting for one moment that 'it's back on', but there is suddenly room for optimism. Hopefully the nadir has been reached, and the only way is up.

This surely is the way forward now. Arteta simply must stick with this.

Fingers crossed. See you in a couple of days. And keep safe, please.

I'm Running Out Of Adjectives

I wasn’t planning to post again until after the Chelsea game (which I’m sure we’re all looking forward to...) but I’m unable to hold myself back after the lamentable effort against Manchester City. I very rarely switch the television off (I’ve sat all the way through 8-2s and 6-0s), but I almost did last night - and as soon as the third minute!

Before I get into what went wrong this time, I’ll start with team selection - although many would claim that this is where it started to go wrong! Firstly, the selection of Runarsson, who’d had a dodgy game against Dundalk, didn’t fill me with confidence. And to select Mustafi and Kolasinac as two of the centre-backs in front of him suggested a recipe for disaster. Was Arteta trying to win the game, or merely give squad players some playing time?

In front of the back 5 there were no real surprises, but I'm sure that we were all delighted to see Martinelli back in the side from the start (although he's clearly not match fit). However, I'd have hoped for a slightly stronger bench, and would have liked to have seen Smith Rowe from the start.

And so off we went, and the first (but by no means the worst) embarrassment came as early as the third minute. Following a passage of play that had seen Arsenal's only two touches be a hurried clearance by Maitland-Niles and a pass blocked by Martinelli's chest, City opened Arsenal up down their left. When the cross reached Jesus in the six yard box for a simple header, Arsenal actually had no fewer than 4 players and the goalkeeper in there. Yet none of them were able to put any pressure on the goalscorer. Mustafi and the goalkeeper were both highly culpable, but one has to also look back to see how easily Arsenal were cut open. 

And it was at that point that I reached for the remote control. I've still got to watch the final of Masterchef; The Professionals (love that show!)... but I hung on. And for a while City toyed with Arsenal, but didn't seem too bothered about putting them out of their misery. Until - and it can only really have come from him - Martinelli put in two successive dangerous crosses, the second of which was bravely headed home by Lacazette. 

The young Brazilian was the main bright spark on the night (there were decent cameos from Smith Rowe and Balogun later on), and he almost latched onto a decent through ball from Willock late in the first half - just a fraction late, and the goalkeeper caught him a really hefty blow to the shin or ankle - minimum a yellow card, I thought (only goalkeepers get away with challenges like this one), and he was down and in apparent agony for several minutes. 

He lasted until half time, and three minutes into the second half, before giving up the unequal battle. I'd hope it's nothing more than bruising, but one has to question Arteta's thought process in allowing him back on the for second half - especially after the recent experiences with Thomas Partey and David Luiz. He was replaced by Pepe, who along with many of the side contributed precisely nothing to the cause.

A quick word on Dani Ceballos here. For the second game in a row, he tried to win a penalty by claiming that he'd been far more badly hurt than he really was in a penalty area 'tussle'. This simply doesn't look good, and I wish that he - and all professional footballers - would cut it out and concentrate on winning games by dint of their own abilities. He was caught by Fernandinho, perhaps somewhere around the chin or throat, so to go down screaming and clutching his eyes was quite shameful and embarrassing to witness.

Anyway, on to the 54th minute, when Runarsson dropped into the net a Mahrez free kick that I think my wife could have dealt with safely. And from which point the game was effectively over as a contest. https://twitter.com/i/status/1341494590428295169

Now, I have to feel sorry for the guy. He didn't select himself, and Arteta would want him to gain experience at this level. But he hasn't looked up to it in the Europa League, his positional sense and kicking were poor all night, and serious questions need to be asked about how he got signed in the first place. I've seen some really quite poor goalkeepers in an Arsenal shirt over the years, but he goes directly to the top of that list, I'm afraid. If Leno gets injured, we really will be in a pickle. That new Villa keeper looks quite good; perhaps we can put in a bid for him?

Five minutes later, Foden latched onto a clever through ball to clip the ball around the keeper and into the net - he was clearly offside, but there's no VAR in the EFL Cup (ludicrous). The final nail in the coffin was a free header for Laporte 6 yards out, which came as a result of the entire defence apart from the statuesque Kolasinac playing offside. So, three horrendous pieces of goalkeeping/defending and an offside goal. Lucky is something that Arteta is not; but they do say that you make your own...

Because... if you go through the team he selected you have to ask serious questions. Why select players who have no future at the club? People who have failed us again and again. Here was an opportunity to give some kids a chance. From what I saw last night Mustafi, Kolasinac, Cedric, Elneny and Pepe can all join Runarsson on a coach to Heathrow. I've no idea what's going on with Reiss Nelson - his name wasn't on the latest injury bulletin - but why the likes of he, Smith Rowe and Balogun couldn't make the side I do not know. And surely this was an opportunity to give William Saliba a game in the first team, because we're not going to learn anything new about Mustafi and Kolasinac at this stage. Goodness, but this squad is in a real state, and it's a pity that we can't change 40% of it in one fell swoop next month.

So - plus points from the night? Very few. Lacazette worked hard and took his goal well. And as I say, Martinelli and to a lesser extent Smith Rowe and Balogun did well in the relatively short time they spent on the pitch. However, AMN, Gabriel, Ceballos and Willock were pretty anonymous, and the rest of them were downright poor. This really was a wasted opportunity for Arteta. 

Look, I just had to publish this extra blog post. I was one of very many fans who were excited about the appointment of Arteta, but it it is glaringly obvious that he has a big struggle on his hands and needs some experienced help. There is nobody around the club who can do this, apart from Edu (who I imagine must be quite busy himself). I'd be looking around for somebody with some Arsenal DNA and some high level management experience for him to bounce ideas off of. Because otherwise we're heading down the plughole very quickly. 

I hold out zero hope for Saturday - for all that Chelsea hardly looked scintillating on Monday evening. But the following sequence of matches - Brighton (A), WBA (A), Newcastle FA Cup (H), Palace (H) and Newcastle (H) - are going to define our season, and whether Arteta stays or goes. The squad needs immediate surgery, but even as one of Arteta's biggest supporters I'm not sure at this stage that I'd want to give him in excess of £50m to spend next month.

I'll see you again on Sunday. Wishing you the compliments of the season, and do please stay safe.

Spineless. And Toothless.

And so it goes on...

Yet another defeat - this time at the hands of an in-form Everton side - leaves Arsenal rooted in the bottom 6 of the Premier League table for Christmas. A single win in the past 9 Premier League games is not the type of present we were hoping for.

And so a team, lacking in confidence and now shorn not just of Thomas Partey, but of the suspended Gabriel and the suddenly injured Aubameyang - its spine removed, in other words - had a difficult task on paper and, frankly, and even harder one on the pitch.

With Aubameyang out, Nketiah was once more preferred to Lacazette. Surprising? Perhaps. But I think that what was more frustrating was to see the ease with which Willian was restored to the side. As for the rest of Arteta's selection; well, there were no additional surprises there. 

However, with 9(!) now permitted on the substitutes bench, I am sure that Folarin Balogun can count himself extremely unlucky not to have made the squad. Raw and thoroughly inexperienced he may be, I nonetheless sense from what I've seen (against admittedly extremely inferior Europa League opposition) that he has a touch of the Ian Wrights about him. We'll see him on Wednesday, surely?

Now, a 2-1 defeat doesn't look too bad, I suppose. But the critical moments of the game and the underlying stats tell a different story. Arsenal had 58% possession away from home; pretty good, one might say. But they managed to conjure up just 9 attempts on goal,and just two on target - including Pepe's penalty (the other a 96th-minute opportunity for Saka), from all that possession. So here was another side (like Sp*rs) happy to concede possession to Arsenal in the happy knowledge that they had very little with which to hurt them.

Add to that the lack of engagement from midfield, which helped Everton in those crucial moments. Keane was allowed to run 30 yards and unleash a decent long shot early on. For Everton's first goal, they were allowed too much space and for the cross to be made too close to goal (Holding was unlucky to deflect the ball goalwards), and for the second, the corner from which they scored would not have been conceded (terrific save from Leno by the way) if anyone had got close to Calvert-Lewin to prevent him getting a shot away. All I can conclude from this is that Elneny is not (surprise surprise) the answer.

And at the corner... well, from being the only side yet to concede from a set-piece this season Arsenal have now let in two from near post corners in three games. Surely a personnel issue in both cases, and one that must be addressed on the training pitch.

Pepe took his penalty (rightly awarded) coolly. However, he didn't do much else of note and I have a sense that he needs either better players around him, or the team to be doing better overall, to really make his mark on this league. Ceballos was quiet; disappointingly so. And Willian once again didn't contribute much, and I found it miraculous that he lasted the full 90 minutes. What we would have all noted, however, is that the main threat came through Saka and/or Maitland-Niles (preferred to Bellerin). Youngsters who definitely deserve to keep their places. And we saw a cameo from the returning Martinelli - he's going to walk into this side once he's fully match-fit.

Everton really didn't have a moment's worry in the second half, despite all the Arsenal possession, until injury time. What Arteta needs to find is a set of players, or a formula, that will get the opposition thinking. We all know that Arsenal can line up as a 'low block', but up against one they appear almost clueless.

Actually, talk of the 'low block' is relevant to the next two games - Citeh in the EFL Cup and then Chelsea (our FA Cup semi-final and final victims of course). It's almost possible to feel optimistic about those two games, as we know for sure that the onus won't be on Arsenal to make the running in those games.

By now, surely, Arteta's thoughts must be turning to the January transfer window and how to shake up his squad. Well, I've given it a bit of thought, and I wonder if he can start some drastic work right now. 

Edu admitted last week during a Fans' Forum that it's clear that 'a player with creativity in the middle' is desperately needed. So... Mesut Ozil - either bring him back into the fold for the last 5 months of his contract or pay him off, and invest in some creativity immediately. If Arteta can't get the player he wants until the summer, then he must surely restore Ozil in the short term?

Mustafi, Kolasinac, Sokratis and maybe Bellerin (now looking unlikely to ever be the player he was post-injury) to be moved out of the club. Hopefully Xhaka too. Saliba to come back into either or both squads? Why not? And if Torreira is coming back (Simeone doesn't fancy him, apparently) he can also come straight back in, please. I know that he doesn't want to be in England, but unless he can be moved directly from Spain to Italy in January then needs must...

But please - no more sniffing around the Stamford Bridge dustbins. There's generally a good reason why these players are no longer wanted by Chelsea...

Arsenal are in a massive slump, as we all know. There are two aspects to this. A short-term fix, and a long-term plan. But they need to go hand in hand and the club must now invest in and properly utilise the excellent crop of young players coming through. Saka, Martinelli and Maitland-Niles are the three most important, but there's also Saliba (hopefully), Willock, Nketiah, Balogun, Nelson and Smith Rowe to consider. The future doesn't look quite as bleak if we consider this; but the team firstly need to get out of this slump. 

For Manchester United post-Ferguson, read Arsenal post-Wenger. United aren't out of the woods yet, and Ferguson left many years (and 4 managers) ago. We knew there would be a lot of pain, and it hasn't helped that of the Executive Team that was set up half a dozen years ago to ease the post-Wenger pain all are now gone. I don't weep for Gazidis, or for Sannlehi. But I was sorry to see both Mislintat and (especially) Cagigao go. 

There seems to be a void of genuine football experience at the club now; oh how we relied on Arsene Wenger for so much more than we thought... we have a rookie manager, and rookies elsewhere too. An old head or two may be needed to help steady the ship and stop it sinking.

I don't hold out much hope for the next two matches. The big ones, sadly, are the away fixtures at Brighton and WBA that follow. How has it come to this?

On a cheerier note, it's good to see The Axis Of Evil (i.e. Mourinho's Sp*rs) going through a bit of pain at the moment too. Three successive disapppointing results for them. That'll have to be our Christmas present.

See you after Boxing Day. Have a good, safe and healthy one :)

Injured Patient Shoots Himself In The Foot Once Again

Before last night's game, Arsenal had never lost 5 consecutive home games in their entire 134-year history. However, this current run of form is the worst I can personally remember (not quite going back that long!) - but perhaps dating back to the terrible mid-sixties under Billy Wright? - and here were Southampton, rolling up at The Emirates in third place in the table and full of confidence. 

I had been allocated tickets for this match, but that particular avenue of pleasure had been closed off (spurious Fawlty Towers reference...) by HM Government. So it was back to the sofa. And once more I wasn't able to sit comfortably for much of it. 

I was glad to see personnel changes; two enforced and two tactical. Eddie was worth a go (Aubameyang back on the left), and I was extremely happy to see AMN back in the starting line-up. The other changes - Ceballos and Pepe for Xhaka and Willian - were very much as expected.

However, things didn't start well. Southampton came out quickly, looking composed and pinging the ball around with confidence, while Arsenal struggled to get on the ball and to do anything constructive with it. Once more, Bukayo Saka was the brightest spark in that respect - and by a considerable distance. Southampton obviously saw Saka as the main danger, as they flattened him twice in the first 5 minutes!

All in all, it was difficult to ascertain a plan from Arsenal, whereas Southampton's was clear. Whilst Ings was quiet, Adams and Walcott were both lively, and they were well prompted by Ward-Prowse and especially Romeu, who was unrecognisable from the limited, inhibited player of previous seasons. But once more Arsenal were apparently left to freestyle their way; which is surprising considering how much Arteta likes to bark orders from the touchline. I'm going, for the moment, to put this down to lack of confidence - as Arsene Wenger used to say, it takes a long time to build up confidence, and a moment to shatter it.

And it didn't help that, up against Southampton's giant centre-half pairing, the ball wasn't sticking to Eddie long enough to enable him to bring others into the game. Pressing was somewhat selective, but the Arsenal midfield did look more mobile without Xhaka (some may argue that it would do that if you selected a couple of fence panels in his place...).

But there was very little end product on show, frankly, although thanks to Saka some inroads were being made on the left, and twice Pepe got into shooting positions coming in from the other side, but failed to really trouble the goalkeeper, and Ceballos had a decent hit from range that flew just over the bar.

And so it was that Southampton took the lead via (inevitably) Theo Walcott, who finished with unaccustomed aplomb from a through ball from Adams, to whom the ball had broken following a collision between Gabriel and Elneny in the centre circle. Tierney, covering for Gabriel, was caught wrong-footed by the excellence of the through ball and whereas playing in an Arsenal shirt Theo would have either shot straight at the keeper or wide of the far post, this time - of course - he chipped the ball over the advancing Leno with alacrity. 

And celebrated. And why shouldn't he? I had no problem with him doing that. He'd been deemed surplus to requirements at Arsenal, and that's that.

And so Arsenal were faced with another uphill battle, but I did hold out some hope because I believed that those on the pitch were better equipped for the task than in previous games. And whilst it was clear that Southampton took their foot off the gas for a while, Arsenal started to force their way back into the game, and came out quickly at the beginning of the second half - Arteta's words once more clearly ringing in their ears.

And the equaliser was quite lovely. Saka's solo slalom past three defenders and quick pass to Eddie, the latter's immediate release to a running Aubameyang, and the skipper finished in typical style from a dozen yards. Drought over; we hope, anyway.

And now to return, regrettably, to lack of discipline, as Gabriel firstly flattened Adams on the half-way line and then kicked the ball away, and under 5 minutes later pulled Theo back in the centre circle. Two yellows, off, and down to 10 once more. Meaning that yet again a draw was the best we could reasonably hope for. Footnote - Gabriel apologised on Social Media immediately after the game, but we're still waiting to hear from Granit Xhaka.

Arteta brought on David Luiz for Eddie at this point, as he had to do, and the Brazilian marshalled the defence really well as Arsenal settled back into 'low block' mode. Apart from one or two scares - Redmond hit the bar and Djenepo looked extremely tricky in tight situations - the half hour was dealt with pretty comfortably. And going into injury time Holding was unfortunate with a towering header that hit the Southampton bar following a corner.

And so, in the end, a draw was achieved. Better than what has come before, yet ultimately disappointing, because with 11 players on the pitch Arsenal might - just might - have come away with all three points. Whether it's ill-discipline or plain idiocy, this spate of sending offs has to stop. Along with Pepe's against Leeds that's three in 5 matches, and now 7 in the year since Arteta took over. What this means about the mental state of the players and the group one can only guess, but I'd imagine that some of it comes from failing to meet their own expectations. But there's no excuse for it.

Moving forward, we've got three tough games coming up. Everton at the weekend, Citeh in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and then Chelsea on Boxing Day. The team needs to build on the improvement - moderate as it was - that we saw against Southampton, because the situation remains precarious. Luiz will come back into the side, I'm sure, and I suspect that for the moment Arteta will revert to three centre-backs, with AMN and Saka at wing-back. What we have, I would hope, we hold.

Meanwhile, what the next transfer window holds remains to be seen. But one thing it doesn't hold is the signing of reported target Dominik Szobozlai, who has signed for RB Leipzig. But the creative void needs to be filled; otherwise it's going to be a long, hard battle for Arsenal this season.

Just a quick word on developments at the top of the table, and I am prepared to admit that I cheered Firmino's late winner against The Axis Of Evil as loudly as I had Aubameyang's equaliser. Has it really come to this?

Until Sunday. Stay safe, please.

Too Good To Go Down?

Well, Arsenal reached a new low yesterday in 1-0 defeat to Burnley, but there is no indication that this is as low as they can go. In the next three weeks they face Southampton (currently sitting third in the table), Everton (who have just beaten Chelsea), Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and then Chelsea themselves, before two 'relegation six-pointers' at Brighton and West Bromwich Albion). From where will the next goal - let alone point - come?

We know that success in football is cyclical - Liverpool have taken a long time to get back to where they were in the late 80s and even early 2000s, and the likes of Newcastle and That Lot still wait..., but it's also worth bearing in mind that Manchester United were relegated in 1973 (they came straight back up again) -  ditto That Lot in 1977 and Chelsea in 1988.  And Manchester City sunk as low as the equivalent of League One in 1998. 

So no club has a divine right to stay in the Premier League, and the smug smiles of Arsenal fans on the back of 95 years of unbroken presence in the top division have been very firmly wiped away. To think that it was only 17 seasons ago that the side went unbeaten throughout an entire season, and 15 since they unluckily lost a Champions League Final. What a scandalous fall from grace this is, and the club are an absolute laughing stock now.

So let's analyse what went wrong against Burnley. And I'll start with the selection. For Arteta to proclaim that 'everybody starts level', and to laud the youngsters' performances and results in the Europa League, and then to start almost exactly the same side as last weekend (Elneny for the injured Partey), sends completely the wrong signals. He continues to expect players who let him down week after week after week to suddenly click and come good; but there is little or no evidence to back that up. As I said last week, changes need to be made in order to change the fortunes of the team, and yet he sticks with Bellerin, Willian, Xhaka (I'll come back to him, I assure you!) and with Lacazette in the 'number 10' role. Admittedly, he was slightly stymied by the enforced absences of Pepe (suspended) and Nelson (head injury), but there was plenty he could have done.

Graham Souness said post-match that he feels that only three of that side deserve to be in an Arsenal side, but that's a bit harsh - I'd let Leno (from what I saw on Thursday, Runarsson is nowhere near ready), Tierney, Holding (not his fault yesterday or last week), Gabriel, Saka and Aubameyang keep their places and that's 6 - but I'd happily sling the other 5 out of the side with no compunction whatsoever. 

But the thing is, Arsenal didn't play that badly - just as they didn't last weekend. At least at face value, they didn't. It's clear that the reason for all the crosses is Arteta's lack of faith that anybody can make the sort of defence-splitting passes of which Ozil is capable (to think that Lacazette is the answer defies belief, frankly), but it's a crude and low percentage form of attack. And yet, despite that, Arsenal created enough chances in the first hour or so to have won many games, if they'd have had a little more luck or been more clinical. Lacazette and Aubameyang (both twice) Saka, Holding, Tierney and Bellerin all had a clear sight of goal but failed to find the net. Unfortunately, I can see Arteta looking back and thinking the same thing, and then picking almost an identical side on Wednesday (for all that Xhaka and Bellerin are suspended for the match). 

Burnley, by contrast, had just one opportunity in the first hour. Holding was drawn out wide, a cross came in and Gabriel stepped up instead of staying with his man to leave Wood with a decent heading opportunity, which he fluffed badly.

And so in the end naivete and a lack of confidence - plus rank brainlessness - did for Arsenal once more. Personnel, playing system and mindset need to change - and quickly! Could a few youngsters do any worse than this?

And it all starts going wrong in midfield. There is little to no creativity in there with Xhaka and Elneny as the pair, but to then watch Xhaka's movement and what it does to the rest of the side is painful. So... Tierney goes forward, Xhaka rotates back into the left-sided central defender position to cover - thus emptying the midfield - and in doing so forces the 'number 10' (yesterday it was Lacazette) to come far too deep in order to receive the ball. Thus there is no way to transition properly - apart from the low percentage method down the wings. To add into that the ineffectiveness of the right hand side (Bellerin and Willian were both poor again yesterday) and what have they got to offer as an attacking force?

What is clearly needed is somebody in the midfield with the ability to carry the ball forward and to make a different type of pass. And in the continued absence of Ozil at least Ceballos gives something of an option, as does Willock, Saka or even the untested Smith Rowe. But Arteta continues to stick with Xhaka and Elneny, and I really cannot fathom why. Certainly, Ceballos absolutely must start on Wednesday.

And so to Granit Xhaka... we all know the history; the sendings-off, the disgraceful strop a year ago against Crystal Palace, the high number of clumsy fouls committed every week - yet this time he's gone a(nother) step too far. At a time when Arsenal were in complete ascendancy - in fact, I had tweeted less than a minute before that I felt that it was 'surely only a matter of time' - and had been slightly unlucky not to have been ahead at that point after a fast start to the second half, when he firstly made a trademark body check on McNeil and then for no good reason whatsoever grabbed at Westwood's throat. Inevitably, following a VAR check, he was given his marching orders and the game changed completely. For me, this is the last of many last chances for Xhaka. He adds little to the team and takes a lot away from it, and if the rumours are true that he is wanted in Italy then I'll happily drive him to Heathrow on January 1st.

And there were only two incidents in the rest of the game worth reporting. Firstly, a bizarre piece of 'marking' from Elneny at a corner for which he too was lucky not to be sent off, and then Aubameyang's unfortunate flicked header into his own net - the first goal all season conceded from a set-piece, and entirely the wrong way for Auba to break his goal drought. And that was that... Arsenal never looked like getting back into the game from the moment Xhaka walked, and certainly after the goal.

So now what? Well, I'm not privy to what goes on at London Colney, but this is the side I'd pick for Wednesday:

Leno

Cedric, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney

Maitland-Niles, Ceballos, Willock

Pepe, Aubameyang, Saka

But is Arteta's job safe now? Well, I would think that he has plenty of credit in the bank because of the FA Cup win and is surely therefore in no imminent danger, but he must start doing things differently now. As Einstein famously said, the definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again, yet expecting a different result. How apt.

I'm 'fortunate' to have won tickets in the ballot to attend on Wednesday. Whilst it's wonderful to be back watching live football, and I'm excited to be doing that, I can hardly say that I'm looking forward to it.

Anyway, I'll be back with you on Thursday. I'm not optimistic, but hope is still just about triumphing over expectation.

Entirely Predictable Thing Happens In N17 In An Entirely Predictable Fashion

Before I start this post, I'd just like to mention that there is a good chance that I may be accused of plagiarism this week, because having read @arseblog this morning I note the post that I had planned out and half written before I went to bed last night bears remarkable similarity to his. Great minds think alike - or something, anyway...

And so Arsenal sank to inevitable defeat at Tottenham. Much as I was hoping not to have just typed those words, I know that I was hoping against hope prior to the game; and indeed predicted what actually transpired days beforehand.

Frankly, I could have saved myself a lot of exasperation and grief if I'd have written the skeleton of this post yesterday morning, gone about whatever other business I had - there was, by all accounts, an enthralling Grand Prix taking place at the same time - and then fleshed out the report some time later. Because what I watched was, if I compared it to a tv crime drama, the most obvious of whodunnits.

There are those who will point to 70% possession, more shots, more corners, more crosses (I'll return to this) and pitch maps that saw Arsenal 'dominate' the game, but if there was ever a case of 'lies, damn lies and statistics' this was it. Because even the most blinkered of Arsenal fans would have been able to see that Tottenham were comfortable throughout, knew precisely what to do and how to do it at all times, and in Kane and Son have two top class footballers who can - and will - punish any side with ruthless efficiency almost at will.

Compared to that Arsenal looked like a team without a real plan, hoping to freestyle their way through the match, yet without either the conviction or commitment to deliver. It was all so thoroughly disappointing, and equally thoroughly predictable. Gary Neville on Sky commented during the second half that Arsenal could analyse their performance and ask themselves what more they could have done, but this is the problem - this set of players, with this set-up and this plan, could not have done any more. The problem is simply that they are easy to predict and easy to defend against, and the nature and timing of the goals they conceded only served to exacerbate the frustration.

Now, I'm taking nothing away from Tottenham here. They were efficient at all times, ruthless when they needed to be, and are a very good side fashioned in the image of their manager (and in an homage to Arsene Wenger, who wrote his entire autobiography without mentioning the man's name, I will do the same). They did an entirely predictable and clinical job on Arsenal - and hardly bust a gut in the process. They delivered two fatal first half blows, and then sat back and watched Arsenal huff and puff in front of them. It was simply too easy for them.

These were two superbly taken goals, scored as I say in the most predictable of fashions on the back of ruthless counter-attacks when Arsenal over-committed and then failed to snuff out the clear and obvious danger. For the first, a diabolical cross from Bellerin was cut out by the first man, and three touches later Kane (allowed too much space in the centre circle) controlled the ball and released Son on half way. The Korean bore down on goal unchallenged with nobody to engage him as Holding backed off and Bellerin and Willian struggled to recover their position (the full back finally over-running the ball as Son cut back inside) and a 30-yarder was caressed inside Leno's far post. Stunning, and I have to admit that I couldn't help but applaud it. But so preventable. 

And the second was eerily similar, as from an Arsenal attack another terrible pass from Bellerin in the general direction of Aubameyang was easily cut out, Lo Celso accelerated into an entirely vacant midfield (Xhaka had over-committed and Partey, injured, could not keep up with the play) and fed Son who - with Tottenham four on two as they bore down on goal - drew the exposed Holding before feeding Kane, who crashed the ball in off the bar. Clinical, and yet made so easy for them by the tactical ineptitude of the rabble they were up against.

And thereafter Arsenal dominated all the stats, but barely did anything of note. A couple of chances for an out of form Aubameyang that he ought to have done better with - a free header over the bar was inexcusable - and a couple of flicked headers from Lacazette, and that was essentially it.

And so to a slightly fuller analysis:

Team selection - well, I'd have selected the same back 4, and perhaps the same front three (probably Nelson for Willian tbh), but I had serious misgivings about the midfield selection. Because if you're likely to be outnumbered by Tottenham's mobile midfield three, why chose a Thomas Partey back from a single training session in three weeks, and the almost totally immobile Xhaka to play up against them? And so it proved that whilst Xhaka bumbled about, fouling everyone that he could catch up with, and Partey's efforts meaning that not only was he having to do the job of two men, but do it whilst patently unfit. As the break for the second goal was taking place he was stepping off of the pitch injured. Madness. 

What was needed against the players Arsenal faced yesterday was 'legs'. For me, either Elneny (a limited player but with boundless energy) or the versatile and exuberant Maitland-Niles were what was needed in there. Otherwise Ceballos, who at least prompted an increase in tempo when he came on at half-time, would have been a better choice. Every match that passes with Xhaka in the side ought to be his last in an Arsenal shirt. And now, of course, Partey faces another lay-off - and this is a player with an almost exemplary fitness record before he rocked up at London Colney...

And as for creativity... well, a decent performance against a Rapid Vienna side who might struggle to beat Portsmouth does not make Lacazette a creative number 10 against a top Premier League side. There are numerous better choices for that role in the squad, including Willock (dropped for this game), Willian (this role might wake him up), Ceballos himself, Saka or even the totally untested Emil Smith Rowe. The utter folly of leaving Mesut Ozil out of the Premier League squad entirely is shown up week after week after week. For all that Tyler and Neville were suggesting during commentary that his ship has sailed, he is absolutely world class with the ball at his feet.

As for crossing the ball as a main tactic... I'm sorry, Mikel, but crosses are a low percentage way of creating chances; we all know that. That might work with Peter Crouch or Andy Carroll in the side, but of the 74 Arsenal goals Aubameyang has scored a grand total of three have been with his head. So what's the point? 

And it's not as if the crossing was much good. From the left, Tierney and Saka delivered some decent stuff, but from the other side both Willian and Bellerin had the most appalling of outputs. Which leads us back to the lack of creativity in midfield. As well, of course, as the inability to prevent the rapier-like thrusts of the opposition. And Burnley, who Arsenal face next, are hardly going to be concerned at a plethora of crosses coming in; that's how they do things, and their defenders are well used to dealing with them.

So what has gone wrong? Well, we all know that there have been years of dreadful squad and resource mismanagement, going back to the last two to three years of Wenger, and whilst both Gabriel and Partey will, I'm sure, end up being seen as excellent signings they have very little quality around them. And to exacerbate it I feel that Arteta is failing to make the best use of the resources he has available. Bellerin needs time out of the side (or a move), Xhaka should be dropped permanently, and both Willian and Lacazette should drop to the bench. The youngsters cannot do any worse than that lot, and at least they know each other's play and won't suffer what Willock on his own in the side suffers - because the older players don't trust him enough to give him the ball. Instead now we have to wait for Partey to get fit again, and for Gabriel Martinelli (in whose absence has turned into a peak Cristiano Ronaldo in peoples' minds) to return.

Mikel, what have you got to lose? Drop the players you've been relying on, upon whom you clearly cannot rely. Wholesale changes, please. Burnley is almost a relegation 6-pointer :(

Stay safe, guys. Let's hope for a better performance and better news next week.