Brentford Receive A Right Royal Thrashing

In what has been a difficult and momentous week for this country, Arsenal fans were cheered by a result and performance that both took their minds off of the sadness, and cemented their place at the top of the Premier League table - although it's early days of course. In doing so, both club and supporters were able to put last year's massive disappointment at this same venue firmly behind them.

Of course, Arsenal are much-changed since then. Just 4 players from the equivalent starting XI made the side this time round, with Arsenal looking an entirely different outfit. Last season Arsenal were bullied and strong-armed to defeat; but this year it was clear from kick-off that this game was never going to follow the same pattern.

Yes, as I've said, it's early days; but this performance had shades of how Manchester City and Liverpool have been dominating opponents over the past few years. Vast swathes of possession, territorial dominance, coupled with a massive desire (and ability) to win the ball back within a few seconds of it being lost. Brentford barely had a moment's peace as Arsenal made their dominance pay throughout. The result was never in doubt.

Arteta has his side exceptionally well-drilled to deal with whatever the opposition throw their way. Preparation is key, and barring that one panicked set of substitutions at Old Trafford it's been paying great dividends. His continued barking of orders must be infuriating at times, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The dark days of last Autumn (and I guess this Spring too) look well behind him and his team.

Points of interest:

1.    Gabriel Jesus continues to set the tone, pressing hard from the front, giving defenders nightmares, and continually looking to bring his team-mates into play. He is relentless in doing the dirty side of the job, and he drives the team forward continually. He's the most fouled player in the PL this season, and yet here's an anomaly (or at least I hope it is) - he's already been booked 4 times this season (leaving him one match away from a very early suspension). For Manchester City, he was booked a total of 22 times in 236 appearances (once in every 10 or so matches), but for Arsenal it's 4 in 7. As if we needed any further evidence of how Arsenal are refereed differently to other sides...

2.    William Saliba, inevitably serenaded by the away fans from kick-off, got the vital first goal. Most importantly, however, I reckon that if he'd have turned out his pockets after the game he might have found Ivan Toney in them, such was his dominance over Brentford's striker. And to hear that he'd barely trained over the previous 10 days - wow! 

3.    Granit Xhaka. Whatever Arteta has seen in him to play him in this new role has been revelatory. Freed to a large extent from having to occupy the deepest midfield position, he's been showing a side to his game that I think we can honestly say we didn't know he had. We know that, given time on the ball, he can both see and make a pass. But to watch him do a passable impression of Cesc Fabregas really does make one's eyes pop open! That inch-perfect cross for Jesus' goal really could not have been bettered. Man of the Match for me

 

4.    Fabio Vieira. If we thought that we might miss the injured Odegaard, we couldn't have been more wrong. A terrific debut from the Portuguese, full of promise for the future and capped by a fabulous strike. Depth is one thing Arsenal missed badly last season - especially towards the end - but whilst numbers are still lighter than we'd like that's not going to be the case this time round

5.    Thomas Partey - a little rusty in possession (perhaps understandably after a few weeks off), but he brings such security to the team. Maintaining his fitness is going to be crucial to success this season

6.    Ethan Nwaneri... hands up who'd barely (or never) heard of him. But now the youngest PL player of all time at the tender age of 15 years and 181 days (born in 2007, and was less than a year old when Spurs won their only trophy this century). Extraordinary. But, of course, Arteta could only have risked him from the position of security that his starting XI had given him. Good luck to the boy, but I expect that we'll only see fleeting glimpses of him for a while yet

And now for the most pointless Interlull of all Interlulls - bad timing, and helping to make things extremely difficult for Premier League clubs going forward. When it's over, Arsenal have no less than 9 matches in October, and will have to find the resources to play Saturday - Thursday - Sunday - Thursday - Sunday - Thursday - Sunday - Thursday - Sunday - Thursday - Sunday - Wednesday - Saturday right up until the stupid, idiotic, brainlessly and corruptly organised World Cup. Such is the price of success. 

And it's Tottenham next, of course. They've become even more dislikeable (were that even possible) with the signing of perpetual irritant Richarlison. They need to be taken down a peg or two. They're (somehow) in third spot, but anybody who thinks that is a fair reflection of their ability should note that they've so far played the teams sitting 20th, 19th, 18th, 17th and 14th - along with 'only Fulham' and a Chelsea side that were in disarray at the time (Tottemham were extremely fortunate to get a point in that game on the back of Romero's hair-pulling assault on Cuccurella, you will recall). So, provided that Arteta doesn't fall for the Conte 'rope-a-dope' (Mourinho-lite, one might say), I think we'll be fine.

Meanwhile, we can relax. We are, after all, top of the league. COYG!

Game Management, Moments... and Referees!

The thing is... I really dislike Manchester United. They're second on my list; you can guess who are top. And losing to them when Arsenal had been the better side was hard to take. A combination of naivety, losing out marginally in important moments, and - and I'm at it again - bizarre refereeing cost Arsenal the points in this one.

You've all seen the game, but here for me are the salient points:

• United started out the stronger, and dominated the first 10 minutes possession-wise. However, even in that time, Arsenal had a very decent opportunity, and both Martinez and Varane committed fouls that on another day, and at another venue, may have seen them receive yellow cards

• The disallowed Martinelli goal is hard to take. In all honesty, if that had been the other way round, I'd probably have felt hard done by if the goal hadn't have been chalked off. But the issues I have here are two-fold. Firstly, we'd seen in the previous game a goal from Leicester where Tielemans has barged a Brighton player off the ball in the build-up - so where's the consistency? And secondly, did Tierney waving play on constitute a 'clear and obvious error' from him enough to expect the VAR to intervene? The answer to the latter question is quite obviously No, by the way

• And the interesting thing about that goal - disallowed or otherwise - was that it completely changed the pattern of the game, and Arsenal dominated possession from that point and right up to the middle of the second half. The problem was that they didn't create enough chances, and didn't test De Gea sufficiently. And United scored on the break; nicely worked, I'll grant you, but a disappointing collective defensive effort from Arsenal

• Following Saka's well-taken equaliser (Happy 21st Birthday, Bukayo), the pattern of United being forced to sit back and try to hit on the break paid dividends as a stray pass was intercepted, players were slightly out of position, and the rapid Rashford pounced. Arsenal's inability to get to grips with Eriksen and the weasel-faced Fernandes in midfield cost them dearly. Lokonga had a solid enough game; but he is no Thomas Partey

• And then... naivety. I think that Arteta panicked as he turned to a triple substitution with fully 20 minutes to go, which disrupted the shape and balance of the side. And within two minutes it was 3-1, and game over. Frankly, there was no need to go gung ho so quickly. There was plenty of time, Arsenal were still essentially on top despite being behind on the scoreline, and of course the perceived wisdom is to make one change (maybe two) and allow that to bed in before making further changes. Three at once was simply too many for the team to cope with

And so it was moments, and game management, that led to the defeat. I would sincerely hope that the team - still the youngest in the Premier League despite the recent acquisitions from Manchester City - and the manager both learn from this. They're still a pretty good side, and they're still top of the Premier League table, despite the defeat. 

But there is a third element that bears discussion, and that is the officiating.

Yes, I know that people say that we Arsenal supporters have a bee in our bonnet about officiating, but I remain continually amazed at how so much seems to go against us. And on a truly awful weekend for the PGMOL, what was by no means the most controversial VAR decision changed the course of the game.

But it wasn't just that. As I alluded to earlier, both Martinez and Varane could have received early bookings, and McTominay was up to his usual tricks throughout - he'd clearly seen what Tyrone Mings had got away with last week! Late on, substitute Mcguire got away with manhandling Nketiah in the penalty are; again, nothing. All without even a word from the referee; and yet Saliba was booked for his first (and frankly quite innocuous) foul of the match.

Now, there's simply no point suggesting that there's a conspiracy against Arsenal. Supporters of Aston Villa, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Leeds United and Everton all had far more pressing reasons to be angry with the officiating last weekend in an absolute horror show for the officials. But yet again it was circumstances and a lack of consistency on what the thresholds for foul play are that did for Arsenal on this day. That the match was officiated by a man who lives in Salford, or that the VAR - also based in Greater Manchester - has now been removed from VAR duties after his Palace/Newcastle howler the previous day - is neither here nor there. All we can ask for as football supporters is consistency and impartiality. And we are getting neither. What we are in fact getting is incompetence.

Anyway, we move on. ESR appears to have picked up an injury, which will affect plans for midweek in Switzerland. After that it's Everton at home - and although they have improved recently, they're extremely beatable. The next unbeaten run starts now.

COYG!

Villa Won't Play Ball

A dynamic and fascinating match - Arsenal's fifth victory in a row to start the season - illustrated how far they've progressed over the past year. And also how far they still have to go to breach the gap to the top.

Because at the same time as Arsenal were absolutely dominating Aston Villa in the first half, but only managing a single goal when 4-0 would have been a perfectly fair reflection, Manchester City went in at half time three goals to the good against Nottingham Forest. And whilst Arsenal struggled to put Villa away - making life very difficult for themselves in the process - City put another three goals past Forest to complete a comfortable 6-0 victory; whilst Arsenal ended up with a mere 2-1 scoreline.

Of course, comparisons are essentially unfair. City are much further along the line than are Arsenal; almost the complete team, in fact. So complete that they can afford to let two of their 'fringe' players leave for Arsenal (plus Sterling to Chelsea, of course), and replace one of them with the hottest property in world football. But for the moment, whilst Arsenal keep pace with them at the top of the table, we can dare to dream. Because at the end of the day it's not how you get the points - it's that you get them; full stop.

Still, I hope that the Celebration Police managed to hold themselves back for once... the fools!

Talking points from the Villa game were as follows:

Firstly, the first half performance was the best we've seen of Arsenal this season. Coming off of 4 successive wins, that's quite a statement. But for me they were simply sensational. All action. Tremendous pressure on the opposition. Creators of many chances. And roared on by a crowd that can really start to stick two fingers up at any suggestions of a 'library'. We're with you all the way, boys.

Even when Villa equalised in the second half - and I'll come to that - the support was unwavering. A moment to take stock, and then a massive roar: 'ARSENAL! ARSENAL! ARSENAL!' Fantastic! The crowd can take the 'assist' for the almost instant response - less than 90 seconds and the team were ahead again. 

It's worth noting that they've conceded 4 goals so far this season, but then scored themselves 1, 3, 8 and 2 minutes later. The sign of a team that believes in itself and has the mental fortitude to fight back from adversity. Of course, that's unlikely to continue throughout the season, and there will be days when it doesn't happen. But if we compare that to last season, when Arsenal came back just once from a losing position to gain all three points... well, it's quite a remarkable turnaround.

Now to refereeing. I'm sure that Arsenal fans were looking forwards optimistically following a summer when the likes of Dean, Moss and Atkinson all retired. But from what I've seen so far, their replacements are merely carrying on with the anti-Arsenal 'conspiracy'. We've seen how poor they've been as a group for some time now, but at least we knew what to expect. 

But this new group. Gillett? Hopeless. England? Incompetent. Coote? Weak. But Robert Jones, you were an absolute disgrace in this game! Bookings for shirt pulls - three of them - were balanced out by allowing the Villa midfield to kick seven shades of **** out of their counterparts. How Kamara got away without a booking I do not know. McGinn made at least two possible leg-breaking challenges. And how Bukayo Saka didn't get a penalty for Mings' first half body slam I will never know.

And then, of course, the equaliser. For all one could say that perhaps Ramsdale could have been stronger, in an incident virtually identical to Brentford's goal on the first day of last season we saw an Arsenal goalkeeper having his arms pinned to his sides by a forward who was obstructing him. In both instances, the goal ought to have been disallowed. If that sort of thing occured the other way round, I'd expect to see it chalked off. I simply don't know what the officials were looking at.

 

And so I suppose that to come away with victory against an admittedly poor Villa side despite another 90 minutes of refereeing incompetence bodes well for the future. However, I'll get my excuses in early for Sunday at Old Trafford, and Arsenal-hating Paul Tierney.

As for individual performances, I thought that Lokonga did a perfectly adequate job at the base of midfield - aided and abetted by the extra support afforded to him, which actually did nothing to stop the red tide towards the Villa goal. William Saliba had possibly his least effective game so far this season; caught under the ball a couple of times and having a number of decent tussles with Watkins - but he was still pretty damn good. Kieran Tierney looked a lot more like his old self. with the cobwebs now blown away. Xhaka was tremendous, popping up everywhere. Odegaard did his usual oiling the wheels thing, and got kicked all over the pitch for his troubles. Up front Saka got his second assist in two matches, but does need a goal. Jesus was his usual catalytic self and was in exactly the right place for his goal. And Eddie came off the bench looking like a cross between Ian Wright and Thierry Henry - he must be learning a hell of a lot from Jesus, and he must be worth £30m+ in the transfer market now.

But for me the man of the match was Gabriel Martinelli. He must be a nightmare to play against. Constantly on the move and on the edge; and now with the end product that was lacking the previous season. He ran at Cash all night and caused havoc on the right hand side of the Villa defence, took his goal superbly on the half volley, and was denied a sure fire contender for goal of the season by a wonderful save by Martinez.

 

So it's 5 out of 5. But the first real test comes next as they come up against a revitalised Manchester United at Old Trafford. The bar was admittedly low for United, but they have improved and look a lot more solid than they did a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, injuries permitting, I think that Arsenal can and should go there with confidence.

Just a word on TDD (Transfer Deadline Day). As I suggested in my last post, I felt that the focus had to switch from a winger to a midfield player, and for all the summer talk about Tielemans it was Douglas Luiz who Arsenal identified as their TDD target. But for the second time in 24 hours, Villa wouldn't play properly; this time figuratively kicking Arsenal instead of literally. Frankly, I don't understand why they wouldn't sell - they bought Dendoncker from Wolves, Luiz has less than a year on his contract and is free to speak to foreign clubs in 6 weeks' time, sits on the Villa bench most weeks... and Arsenal offered as much as £25m at one point. Illogical. 

This means that with Partey probably out for another month, Zinchenko for a week or two, and Elneny for quite a lot longer, Arteta will have to hope that Xhaka and Lokonga stay fit and in form; or he'll be looking to the likes of Ben White to step into midfield. Yet again, Arsenal look short in a key position, but at least we can understand that the search is for the right type of player, not just anybody. 

Meantime, we move on with optimism to Sunday. COYG!!!