It's Been A Blast!

And that's a wrap! A lovely Sunday afternoon, much enjoyed by all present (unless you're a Wolves fan!). And, frankly, it's been a pretty decent season. I reckon we'd have all taken it had it been on offer before it kicked off, but there's always going to be that nagging regret, isn't there?

It was a typical sunny end-of-season carnival in the sun against a team that appeared to have left for their summer holidays some time ago. Lovely jubbly; and it's a real shame that the game didn't have anything meaningful on it, because they're exactly the sort of opposition you want if you need to win your final game to sew up the title. Hey-ho...

I'll give some thoughts about what's been achieved - and give out a few awards - a little lower down in this piece. And this won't be my final contribution of the season, as I'm intending to follow up with a 'What's Next' piece later in the week.

But let's deal with the Wolves game first. And also the Forest game that preceded it; after which I did not post as I had literally nothing positive (or indeed different to anything that hadn't been said over the previous few weeks since the start of the so-called 'bottling') to say about what was to all intents and purposes a terrible performance from both Arteta and his players. To sum it up, the selection and formation didn't make much sense to me, the play was absolutely pedestrian - so much so that I reckon that if they were out there now playing Forest right now they still wouldn't have scored! - and Odegaard contributed his third assist for the opposition in the past 6 weeks. Yes, the winning goal was unlucky and yes, Jesus was denied a stone bonk penalty by another joke of a VAR non-decision. But sometimes you've just got to go out there and do it yourself; and Arsenal could not.

And so on to the stroll in the sun: Same XI from Arteta, somewhat to everyone's surprise, but I guess that this was a different type of 'test' to the previous week's. And following a slightly slow start, two goals from our soon to be departing Swiss midfield dynamo, Granit Xhaka, quickly turned the afternoon into a proper party. The first a simple header from a pinpoint right-wing cross from Gabriel Jesus, and the second following clever play from Bukayo Saka (back to his devastating best today) and a sumptuous back heel from Odegaard which, perhaps slightly fortuitously, found its way to the unmarked Xhaka just 8 yards out. 

Granit was serenaded following both goals, fluffed the chance of a hat-trick when he slashed at a later opportunity, and was afforded a quite loving standing ovation when he was substituted in the second half. Bearing in mind what happened that day in October 2019 at home to Crystal Palace, it's been a remarkable turnaround for a player who has divided opinion - of that there can be no doubt - but who has always worked his socks off (sometimes possibly trying TOO hard!) - for the cause. A 'captain without armband', and a powerful personality both on and off the pitch; those qualities will be missed next season if - as we suspect - he heads off to Leverkusen in the summer. 

To hear him serenaded with 'Granit Xhaka; we want you to stay', brought a little tear to my eye and - I suspect - to his too. I don't think that I was ever 'Xhaka Out', but I do remember thinking that there was no way back for him, whether I wanted that or not. However, Arteta challenged him, and he responded. What a final season it has been for him, and I'll give a bigger tribute to him in my next piece.

The third goal, again before half time, came from Starboy himself - fresh from his contract signing - following some delightful interplay on the right involving several players. Saka received from Trossard, chopped back inside Kilman, and curled a sumptuous shot into the far corner. Arsenal were running rings around the left hand side of Wolves' defence, and it was no surprise at all that their left back, the badly-named Bueno, failed to make it out for the second half. Bueno he certainly was not!

For the 4th, Trossard was released down the left by Jorginho's raking vertical pass and put in a perfect cross for Jesus to head powerfully into the net at the far post. The 5th was Kivior's first goal for the club, and came about in a scramble following a corner. An absolute stroll. And a very pleasant 45 minutes followed at the end of the game, with a few speeches and the customary - and well-received - Lap of Appreciation in the Islington sun.

Of course, it's difficult to take this game too seriously in the context of what had come before it. The previous few weeks have been painful to witness; poor results since failing to hold on for the win at Anfield ultimately costing the team what would have been an unlikely title based on pre-season expectations. Nonetheless, given where the team were in late March, it's been a disappointing couple of months on the whole.

It's an opportunity missed. 8 points clear at certain points, but unable to get over the line. The collapse was, unfortunately, spectacular - and spectacularly depressing - and can be put down to a number of factors. The key must be to learn from what went wrong, and to ensure that it cannot happen again. 

So why was the last quarter of the season such a letdown compared to what had come before? Let's examine the two main factors:

• March 16th; Europa League home tie with Sporting Lisbon. Takehiro Tomiyasu comes off with a season-ending injury. Followed minutes later by William Saliba following him down the tunnel and into the treatment room. Alongside Sporting's late equaliser that knocked Arsenal out, this was a very, very bad night for the club.

Saliba had been a revelation all season. Perhaps not back to his brilliant best following the World Cup; but the double loss of him and the versatile Japanese defender on the same evening were blows from which the team never recovered. Whatever the merits of playing Saliba on that night were, only Arteta can answer, but the injury was/is chronic and could have occurred at any time, I guess. Either way, with Rob Holding the next taxi off the rank ( he clearly didn't feel that Kivior was ready), this was a night from which Arsenal's season never recovered.

Throughout the season, Arteta had been asking Thomas Partey to do two jobs in the single pivot role, and he'd been generally magnificent. But the loss of Saliba behind him made the dual role too onerous, as he suddenly had extra ground to cover and the Ghanaian's form fell off a cliff.

• Player rotation; or rather lack of it. Arsenal made considerable fewer changes than any other side in the Premier League. Less than half than made by Pep Guardiola. Ultimately, the hundreds of extra minutes got into the legs of the players and they ran out of gas. As they had the previous season.

Arsenal's first choice side is a match for anybody's. But scratch below the surface and we were left with the same players who'd got the team into 5th place the previous season, and 8th the one before that. The new signings had pretty much all been starters, and it was clear from the lack of changes that Arteta did not trust his squad players. Mistake? Yes. But Arsenal are a year ahead of where anyone expected them to be. They were supposed to be challenging for 4th or maybe 3rd - not going for the title. There hadn't been time to address the squad in full over the summer. There hadn't been any preparation for a title challenge.

Could more have been done in January? Perhaps. But hindsight is a marvellous thing. A summer that saw Zinchenko and Jesus come in, and the return of Saliba, followed by the signings of Jorginho, Trossard and Kivior in January; that looked enough at the time. However this summer there can be far less excuse! There'll be plenty of 'churn' and Arteta, Edu and Garlick have got their work cut out to maintain and improve a squad that'll be playing Champions League football next season; thus requiring a jump in both quality and quantity.

I'll be discussing this - as will loads of others over the next few days and weeks - in my next offering in a few days time. Expectations are higher now. We have to trust the owners, the Board, and the Management to get it right. One way or the other, it's going to be an interesting summer!

Now it's time for a few end of season awards. All of which will be up for discussion, I reckon:

Player of the Season - Martin Odegaard. Has kept the wheels well and truly oiled. The heir apparent to Kevin De Bruyne's crown

Young Player of the Season - Bukayo Saka. Was also in the running for the main award

Most Surprising Player of the Season - William Saliba. Who knew he was this good? Was also in the running for the above award

Biggest Disappointment of the Season - Fabio Vieira. Needa a summer in the gym

Best Moment of the Season - Reiss Nelson's 98th minute winner vs Bournemouth. Scenes!

Performance of the Season - Newcastle United away. Although Spurs away ran it close

Most Disappointing Performance of the Season - Manchester City away. Outclassed

Best Song of the Season - 'Tequila/Saliba'

That'll do; for starters anyway. Honourable mentions for their contributions go to... well, most of the team! Ramsdale, White, Zinchenko, Gabriel, Partey, Xhaka, Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard, Jorghinho... it's been a hell of a season!

And so we wait to see what the summer brings. Look out for my speculation very soon... COYG!

End Of The Line

So that's that, then. It's all but mathematically over. And if we're relying on Chelsea to drag it out a little longer; well, that ain't going to happen, is it?

The writing has been on the wall for a while now. For all the talk of 8 point leads, the fact remains that in Manchester City the 19 other clubs are up against a bloated, doped up monster that's capable of hunting anybody down. Peak Liverpool barely beat them to the title once (and that in the pandemic season); otherwise this would be 6 in a row, and 7 in the last 12. They literally 'broke' Liverpool for this season, too.

People say that the Premier League is the most exciting and well-contested of all the big European leagues, but frankly that’s only from second place downwards. And if they weren't good enough already last season, they then signed The Terminator - the freakish cherry on the cake. The playing field is tilted, and the sooner those 100+ financial charges are dealt with, the better. The fact that Arsenal got themselves so far into the conversation is a miracle in itself.

I saw this tweet yesterday that sums it up: 

I don't want this to seem like Sour Grapes. But it all feels hollow, boring and inevitable now. But boy; it was certainly fun while it lasted! I can excuse the dropped points at Liverpool, but the next two draws against West Ham and Southampton, in the lead up to the 'showdown' at The Etihad, were when we sensed what was coming. For the players, it was almost as if they were fixated on that game two weeks too early. But the fact that City felt that they had to play as well as they did in tearing out our internal organs is nonetheless a sign of respect. And from then on it's been uphill all the way - until Arsenal hit a vertical wall on Sunday. This train stops at Falmer. Arteta himself was brutally honest after the game. He knows exactly what we need!

There'll be a fuller analysis from me - and many others - after the season finishes. And it'll be largely positive. But for now I'll cover what happened against Brighton, and something of what it may have told Arteta about what he needs to take this side further.

Just the one change; Tierney for the injured Zinchenko. And whilst the former is a better defender than the latter, it wasn't the type of change needed for a match against a side like Brighton. And a look at the bench told you all you needed to know about where Arsenal are in their growth; the drop from the accepted First XI to the next group is too big when you compare it to several other PL squads, let alone City's. I'll come back to this later.

I sensed very early on that this was going to be a difficult day. Brighton are a very decent side. They’ve got an innovative coach, and play in a similar style to Arsenal. And to Manchester City too, obviously. Probably not what Arsenal needed at this stage of the season. And, as it transpired, they're comfortably the second best side to have visited Emirates Stadium this season.

From early on, it was also all very niggly and stop/start. Martinelli was very fortunate to get away with an early challenge on Mitoma that could only be regarded as merely clumsy if you’re being charitable. The fact that neither he nor Caciedo, who exacted revenge on the Brazilian with a nasty tackle from behind soon after, were booked by referee Madley meant that it felt like it was going to be one of those days when too much was going to be allowed. And so it proved, with plenty of what used to be known as ‘professional’ fouling all over the pitch. 

I thought at the time that Madley was horribly inept, but on watching the game back - yes, I made myself suffer! - I can see that he can only be blamed for unnecessary leniency. The problem with the tackle on Martinelli, however, was that it meant that he was soon out of the game.

The first half was pretty even, as I’m sure you saw. Brighton saw more of the ball, and probably shaded it, but we had our chances. Odegaard (twice), Jesus, Saka and Trossard - who certainly did not cover himself in glory against his previous employers - all failing for similar reasons.

Brighton looked very comfortable indeed zipping the ball about, and it seemed part of Arteta’s plan to let them have the ball and try to hurt them with turnovers. The problem was, as the game developed, that Brighton gained in confidence and Arsenal looked off their game - passing accuracy was down and the home side posed only intermittent threats. Although, as I say, they could/should have been ahead at half time but for a lack of composure in front of goal. 

The game really turned on the half hour, when Mitoma - who had been getting little change out of Tierney - was switched to the left and faced up to a leggy and out of sorts Ben White. Enciso had exposed him earlier in the game, and his lack of pace was ruthlessly exploited thereafter. A clever move by the impressive De Zerbi. 

So 0-0 at half-time. Neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory. But on the back of City’s earlier demolition of an absolutely pathetic Everton side, the sight of Mount Everest was already looking too daunting. How that Everton side put 5 past Brighton earlier in the week will remain one of football’s great mysteries!

And while the game turned in Brighton’s favour on the back of an early second half goal that could have been disallowed for a foul on Kivior (it does look like Ferguson impeded him), it really started to feel inside the ground that we all just wanted to be put out of our misery. 

The crowd had been pretty good in the first half, but everything went flat at that point. It just felt like there was no way back, as Brighton dominated, and Arsenal had nothing left to fight them with. Ben White was a shadow of his early season form.  Jorginho suddenly looked like an old man in midfield. Saka looked knackered. Trossard was trying too hard to impress. Odegaard was ineffective. Partey looked half fit. In a repeat of last season, Arsenal were running on fumes once more.

And there was so little from the bench. Yes, we have a few injuries, but when the best we’ve got to offer is Reiss Nelson then we know that the game is up. Arsenal huffed and puffed for a while, and both Nelson and Trossard (again) went close, but Brighton held them off with relative ease and looked in almost total control throughout a second half when I spent a considerable time with my head in my hands. Our race, I sensed, was well and truly run. 

When Trosaard’s optimistic flick rebounded off of MacAllister's knee, leading to substitute Undav (where do they find these players???) cleverly lobbing Ramsdale for 2-0 I - along with 10,000+ other supporters - had seen enough. Much to my daughter’s disgust - ‘Dad, there’s ages to go yet. You don’t know what might happen.’ - I told her that we were leaving. Because I did know what might happen. Nothing good. I've read this book before. We were cooked. And we therefore missed the third goal as a result; we were halfway down Drayton Park by then.

Now look; I don’t want you to think of me as a ‘fair weather’ fan. This team have given me great pleasure and entertainment for 9 months. I was first taken to Highbury in 1966, for goodness' sake. The club is a part of me. I was a North Bank regular from 1974, when the team weren't very good. But it didn't matter - they were My Team. I’m proud of what they've achieved this season, and to be a supporter of the greatest football club in the world. But on this occasion I let my disappointment get the better of me. In two weeks' time, no matter what, I will stay until the end - and until well afterwards - to show my appreciation of My Team and My Club.

But we - and the Arsenal hierarchy- now know how much more has to be done to try to get close to bloody Manchester City. Yes, we know that if found guilty (and surely their lawyers aren’t going to fight off 100+ charges; even on technicalities) they will be sanctioned. But that will not mean that the likes of Liverpool and ourselves have trophies awarded to us ‘posthumously’, so to speak. They’ve inevitably sucked the life out of the rest of the league - yet again - with their highly-skilled, highly-paid, metronomic relentlessness.

Nonetheless I bloody love this team, and what they’ve achieved this season. They’ve over-achieved, of course,  and they had us daring to dream. They’re ahead of schedule, and as a result the lack of squad depth has meant that they’ve come up short. But I won’t listen to that ‘they’ve bottled it’ theory. Yes, Sunday was another day when they fell short of the high standards they set for themselves in the first half of the season, but there are reasons - and I don't have to spell those out.

But it’s the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, with their much bigger squads, who’ve ‘bottled it’, if anyone has. They should have been in the hunt, but they haven’t been close. They have vastly underperformed - and don’t get me started on Chelsea or Tottenham! Let supporters of those clubs have a good laugh if they wish; but they should be looking a lot closer to home - and they know it!

Yet City can leave out Stones and bring in Dias. Play Alvarez instead of De Bruyne. Mahrez for Bernardo Silva; Foden for Grealish. They’ve got Laporte, Dias, Stones, Akanji, Ake and even Walker just to cover central defence. We’ve got Rob Holding, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah... 

What Arsenal need to avoid in the summer is the sort of problem that any fast-growing business can suffer when they start to boom; a lack of resources to fund the growth. And I'm not talking about money here - although we could easily find ourselves up against the combined might of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia AND Qatar next season if the United takeover goes the way we don't want. I'm talking about the tools - the players - to feed the growth spurt. Because there are mighty gaps still to fill.

So Arteta and Edu now need to be ruthless. The likes of Jesus and Zinchenko have made a massive difference to the quality and mentality of the group. Others have stepped up; imposed their will; come of age. But there's no room for sentimentality now. In order to compete - and now in the Champions League too, with the extra riches it will bring  - Arsenal must kick on. A bigger and better squad is required. Many of the ingredients are in place. Now they must start putting them together; moulding them; adding the icing on the cake. And if that means that we lose some of our favourite players in the next rebuild, then that's what will have to happen. 

We all know where help is needed. It remains to be seen how it maps out. But the Board and Management need to be ambitious on the back of what they've achieved this season. Sell it to Stan, and get those funds out of him. Move the dead wood on. Get in more game changers. Having seen what the LA Rams have achieved recently with proper financial support from KSE, I/we have to believe that Stan and Josh will do what they need to do.

There are few more attractive prospects for ambitious players than Arsenal at the moment. So, Mikel and Edu, get out there and sell that dream. We shall overcome. COYG!

Happy Birthday To Me!

So... Sunday was my birthday. I had a lovely day - spoilt by family and friends, and lots of lovely presents - but the most unexpected and exciting gift of all was to see my Arsenal back to form as they ground out a well-deserved victory at St James' Park; a venue at which they'd been absolutely trounced a year ago. The last time I had such a great Arsenal-themed birthday was the day they laid on a special party for me... no wait, that was 2006 and the final game at Highbury. Bittersweet, that one, in fact.

By way of coincidence, when I moved to my new seat at The Emirates I found myself next to a lovely chap called Matt. We got talking, of course, and it turned out that he is exactly 20 years younger than me. To the very day. He moved to New York a few years ago, but very much retains his Arsenal connections. He's on Twitter as @mattkandela, and is part of the formidable team with @LeGrove and @iJohnnyCochrane who form the fabulous The Arsenal Opinion Podcast. Well worth a listen, and thanks to Matt for the shout out on Sunday night's On The Whistle pod. Matt and I both got exactly what we wanted for our birthday! As did this group of wonderful human beings:

Anyway, I've rambled enough. On to the game. And let's face it; this was the one game (after City away of course) that we'd been dreading the most. But Mikel Arteta managed to turn last year's negatives into a great big positive, with Aaron Ramsdale revealing that the last thing he'd done before the team had left for the stadium was show them the clips from  All Or Nothing that had shown their reaction to the devastating defeat last season that was the final nail in the coffin of their Champions League qualification hopes.

And boy; did it work!?! They took everything that Newcastle could throw at them (legally and illegally), rode their luck to be fair, and won the right to impose themselves on their hosts in a performance that shows that they absolutely deserve to be right up there fighting for the Premier League title.

Just the one change from the Chelsea win, with Martinelli replacing the somewhat unfortunate Trossard. Kivior and Jorginho kept their places, and the only other question that may have occupied Arteta was whether to replace Zinchenko with Tierney. But, to be fair, he's stuck to his guns all season, and it's been only rarely that Arsenal have failed to impose themselves on their opponents - and the Ukrainian is a key part of that.

A fast start from Newcastle was anticipated, and that was exactly what we got. No surprise for them to play at 100mph, as they'd done in the corresponding fixture last season, and as they've been doing recently, with several big wins - including a side-splittingly amusing 6-1 mauling of Tottenham Hotspur - showing on their recent record as they moved back into (a distant) third place in the table. 

Arsenal did ride their luck. Murphy hit the post, and a penalty award was (rightly) overturned by the VAR. But Arsenal soon managed to impose themselves on the game, continually looking to impose their style, and soon Ramsdale reverted to playing out from the back instead of going long as he'd started doing early on.

And it wasn't long until Arsenal took the lead. Martin Odegaard, who just 10 days ago had had an absolute dog of a game at The Etihad, leading by example (as he had on Tuesday, to be fair) and firing home from range; in and around the legs of both Joelinton and Botman and past the unsighted Pope on 13 minutes. They'd weathered the storm, got on the front foot, and the captain led by example and struck the first blow. Interestingly, in doing so he equalled Kevin De Bruyne's PL record of most non-penalty goals in a season by a midfielder with 15. Remarkable.

Although it was by no means one way, as Newcastle continued to attack with great pace and vigour. The rock that is Gabriel, alongside Jakob Kivior holding out, although having to rely on the likes of Granit Xhaka for whom this was the perfect type of game.  

And with the goal, Arsenal had earned the right to play the game on their own terms. There were three one-on-ones with Pope before half time, as Martinelli, Saka, and then Odegaard again were denied by the Newcastle keeper. On each occasion they were played through by through balls that were extremely vertical, as Arsenal took advantage of the spaces left by Newcastle pushing so hard.

It was, in truth, an absolutely superb game of football. Yet another game this season that's been an absolute treat for the neutral observer.

In the midst of it, the cool head of Jorginho was plain to see. Constantly seen exhorting his team-mates, and cool and calm in possession, this was precisely why Arteta bought him and precisely why so many Chelsea fans were wrong to be pleased to see the back of him. He doesn't have the physical prowess of Thomas Partey, but one thing he does have - and in spades, is personality. He was - alongside Odegaard - the hub of this Arsenal performance, and we don't win this game without his calming influence and organisational skills.

Interestingly, Newcastle reacted quite badly throughout at the game not going their way. Over-aggressiveness and petulance were very much in evidence, and I'm still shaking my head at how on earth Bruno Guimaraes got through the game without at least one yellow card! Xhaka (inevitably), Jesus and Saka bore the brunt of their bad behaviour, but what stood out for me was that Arsenal had started - and continued - to take time out of the game from the moment they took the lead. The very tactics that had riled us Arsenal fans at The Emirates were now being applied the other way. It was glorious to watch. Newcastle are renowned for this - it's something that Eddie Howe's been practising since his Bournemouth days - so to see him getting a taste of his own medicine was a pleasure. And it only served to wind up the Newcastle players, fans and side-lines. Tempers flared both on and off the pitch, but Arsenal always looked in control of their emotions. It was great!

That Odegaard chance happened in the seventh minute of injury time in the first half, and it looked like Arsenal may pay the price for missing that chance - and the others - as the second half started as the first had with Newcastle hitting the post once more. And still the game went to and fro, with Shaer denied by a point blank save by Ramsdale and Martinelli now hitting the crossbar. Xhaka made a magnificent interception as former Gunner Willock shaped to shoot. Breath-taking stuff; simply too much to describe. 

Arteta blinked first as he took Zinchenko off in order to shore up the defence with Kieran Tierney. In truth, Zinchenko had been barely able to 'invert' as he'd been so busy defending - and had, on occasion, not covered himself entirely in glory in those endeavours. What Tierney lacks in ball skills, he more than makes up for with other qualities; grit and sheer-bloody-mindedness for starters.

Finally, on 70 minutes, the crucial second goal. Arsenal sprung forward quickly from defence and Jesus released Martinelli. He dribbled 50+ yards almost uninterrupted, got to the by-line and crossed low and hard. Shaer, kindly, stabbed the ball into his own net. Thank you very much; and from then on I for one relaxed completely - there was no way back for the opposition. Not this time. And for Shaer, who'd been extremely lucky to avoid sanction for what I saw as a deliberate elbow into the side of Saka's head not long earlier, this was karma.

Lots of personnel changes at this point - but no sign of ESR still - and truth be told for all the pressure Newcastle exerted (St Maximim in particular; such a tricky, unpredictable player) Arsenal never looked like buckling. Partey for Odegaard was a particularly sensible substitution, as a midfield of Partey, Jorginho and Xhaka is not one built for giving anything away whatsoever!

More Newcastle-style professionalism followed at every opportunity, with Ramsdale at the forefront of that of course. And some late 'handbags' involving Nketiah and the ubiquitous (and iniquitous) Shaer saw them both booked. And most importantly more time taken out of the game. Great fun!

Great celebrations at the final whistle, of course. A masterclass, really, at an extremely difficult venue - there aren't many more intimidating than St James' Park. Arsenal exhibited the fortitude of title-chasers, both physically and just as importantly mentally. There were a number of noteworthy performances, but for me Odegaard and Jorginho take the main plaudits. The thing about selecting Jorginho over Partey is this; it's very hard to take on this Newcastle side in a full-blown physical battle. They're too fast, too big and too strong. Arteta appreciated that he needed something more cerebral, and that's what you get with Jorginho. What he lacks in physicality (he has the turning circle of an ocean-going liner, to be frank), he makes up for with a cool head and masses of experience. There still a place for that in football, despite the game - and the players in general - getting bigger and faster. These stats from the game say it all:

A shout out, too, for Gabriel Martinelli. Whilst Saka is starting to perhaps look a little jaded at this stage of the season, he drove Arsenal on, and Trippier backwards, providing a constant outlet for his defenders and getting hte 'assist' for the crucial second goal. Flowers...

So the big question is: 'Is it back on?' Well, from a psychological perspective I'd say that it's become clear to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City that Arsenal are not going away. We're hanging onto their coat tails, and they cannot afford to let up for a moment! They're at a desperate - and suddenly revitalised - Everton next; sandwiched between the two legs of their CL semi-final against Real Madrid. It's squeaky bum time for them now, and they know that we're ready to pounce should they slip up.

It's maybe a 10-15% chance for Arsenal. But that's better than none. Brighton at home next. Tough, but winnable. Come on Real. Come on Everton. And COYG!!!

Banter Club Well And Truly Bantered

Oh, how the mighty have fallen! 

I didn't quite realise what a shambles Chelsea have become until I saw them play in the flesh. And Arsenal - down on form and confidence - could not really have asked for easier opposition. Because, without playing that well, they dominated Chelsea in the first half, and had put the game to bed before the half time whistle.

I know that this is an Arsenal blog, but with two of our 'rivals' currently in disarray it's worth having a good old laugh at their expense. Let's deal with That Lot from up the road first. Because just when you think that they can't get any more Spursy than they already are, they go and trump themselves. How absolutely hysterically funny was it to see them fight back from another diabolical start and three goal deficit at Anfield (of all places!) to equalise in injury time, and STILL manage to go on and lose the game! Who knows what delights they'll be serving up for us at the weekend!

But here's the thing. I asked a few people around me which club is bringing them more amusement at the moment; Tottenham or Chelsea. And they all plumped for Chelsea. Because the entire club, from top to bottom, appears to be in complete disarray; and that's ALL down to the new, clueless ownership. How they could have believed that they - with zero experience of European ’soccer’ - could waltz in and outmaneouvre grizzled, veteran owners who've been in place for years is beyond comprehension. And so they've landed themselves with a bloated squad - who’ve had almost all their confidence sapped out of them to boot - a huge FFP issue about to hit them in just a month's time, zero chance of European involvement next season, and Super Frankie Lampard ‘at the wheel'. We can take a pretty educated guess at to why Tuchel left, and we can but wonder how they could have dispensed with Potter without having a plan. Absolutely shambolic.

From an Arsenal supporter's point of view, it's nothing more than their generally obnoxious fans deserve. So many people were saying that it's only when they turn up at Nuestra Casa that we realise quite how despicable their away support are, and that they're actually worse than Tottenham and Manchester United fans. It was so good to watch around 25% of them leaving before half time.

I'll come back to fan interaction later, but I think I can now go on to the game, and to Arsenal's comfortable victory. 

Pre-match, it was good to see Arteta shake up the starting XI. Not surprising to see Partey rested, and the Manager had to come up with a solution to the Holding problem. But Martinelli can consider himself unlucky to be dropped. Let's call it 'rested'. Jorginho was given a start against his former club, there was a well-deserved recall for Trossard on the left, and most intriguingly a first PL start for Jakob Kivior. He did fine, but I'm not sure what dealing with this version of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proves about his readiness, to be frank.

And I'm also not sure what this selection is going to mean when it comes to Sunday, because Newcastle are an actual organised footballing unit. Something that cannot be levelled at Chelsea, whose sole plan seemed to be to get N'Golo Kante to run around a lot and hope that he made something happen. They certainly had no idea about how to defend against the movement of the Arsenal players; specifically Xhaka and Odegaard, who wandered wherever they fancied without fear of being hindered in any way.

Although Chelsea had the odd moment of hope in the first half - specifically a decent run and shot from Chilwell (one of only three players in a blue shirt to have played as if they cared; the others being Kante and right-winger Madueke) - it was essentially all Arsenal as Chelsea were at 6s and 7s defensively; there for the taking. Chalk and cheese compared to the previous game, and it must have felt like a stroll in the park for Arsenal after their recent chastening experience in Manchester. If I were Frank Lampard, I'd be beating a path to Sky or BT's door come the summer. Coaching and Management are clearly not for him.

Two exquisitely taken goals by Odegaard, and a third from Jesus the result of a goalmouth scramble which saw at least three Chelsea players sat on the floor as the ball crossed the line, were the tidy sum of Arsenal's endeavours in that first half. Game, set and match. And they hadn't needed to be anywhere near their best. Jorginho, serenaded by the home fans, must have enjoyed himself I’m sure. 

Second half - more interesting. I think that Arsenal, in looking to give Chelsea the thrashing they truly deserve, rather turned the game into something resembling an NBA play-off game, with play going from one end to the other for the first 15 minutes. In that time, Arsenal could have notched another goal or two - one goal-line clearance from Thiago Silva springs to mind - but at the end of that passage of play it was actually Chelsea who pulled a goal back; Madueke's somewhat scuffed shot bouncing over Ramsdale. Not good defending at all from Zinchenko to allow him in on goal, to be honest.

And for a while I think we were all concerned. 3-1 is comfortable, but 3-2 would have been another matter. Even though it's this very poor iteration of a Chelsea side that they were up against, I'm sure that nerves were kicking in on the field as well as off of it following the recent sequence of results. But fortunately Arsenal adopted a play-it-safe approach for the remainder of the game, and saw it out without much more concern.

As for Chelsea; they are a shambles. Azpilicueta is clearly finished, Thiago Silva looked disinterested, Kovacic barely broke into a run, Sterling looked a shadow of the player let go by Manchester City in the summer, and Aubameyang was literally invisible; you only knew he was there when the Arsenal fans (rather harshly) booed him. He did single-handedly win us an FA Cup, after all. 

I felt sorry for Auba, to be honest - chucked in for his first start for months and forced to feed off of scraps - and then unceremoniously hooked at half time. Lampard had picked the wrong personnel, and had failed to organise them in any shape or form. They looked down on confidence, and on the beach (Margate; not The Maldives!). Havertz, Gallagher and even Mudryk made a positive difference for them when they came on, but they got exactly what they deserved. 

They’re fortunate that they've already amassed 39 points, because I can't see where they're going to get another one. The thing is that there’s a good number of excellent players in that squad. On paper, anyway. They need to chuck out their deadwood, and get somebody to organise the rest into a coherent unit. Not that I care. I'd recommend that they give Fat Frank an 8 year deal!

So, as I say, little to be learned from the performance. The acid test of the Arsenal squad’s well-being will come on Sunday at St James’ Park. And I guess that they’re still on City’s coat tails - on paper at least - so they must keep going. It would be a great shame if the season were to fizzle out now.

Just to finish on a note of high amusement… the banter between the fans. Started by the Chelsea, of course. Apart from their highly original and imaginative chanting of ‘Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!‘, they commenced with their highly witty ‘Champions of Europe - you’ll never sing that!’. To which they got a resounding ‘Going down! Going down! Going down!’ in response. They followed up with 'We won it all!', to which we responded with the traditional 'You bought it all!'. And which, as successive goals rained in, moved on from ‘One-Nil to the Arsenal’ to ‘Chelsea get battered everywhere they go’ and concluded with ‘Are you Tottenham in disguise?’. All finally completed by a rousing chorus of ‘Super Frankie Lampard!’. I think we broke them. Oh, how we laughed!

Anyway, we now move on to tougher opponents. Newcastle, followed by Brighton. Just stay in touch, guys. You never know (well; you probably do)…

I’m sure that there’s lots of planning already going on behind the scenes at London Colney. Rumours of a £200m ‘war chest’ are sloshing around. There will be some player sales to add, but I’m not sure that even those monstrous sums will be enough to keep Arsenal up with ‘the Joneses’. The sooner the PL deal with those 100+ financial impropriety charges, the better. And if that Qatari prince gets hold of Manchester United, it’ll put those poor little old Kroenkes up against no less than three oil states - no chance of competing with that lot. Do something, UEFA etc!!!!!

In the meantime, the dream is not quite dead. COYG!