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.