Sometimes, when watching Arsenal play, I feel as if I'm in the unwitting audience to a long-running comedy show in which the same running gags are used again and again; albeit in slightly different ways - but with a common theme. And thus it was during this Europa League Quarter Final first leg.
I'm not usually of a mind to post after a European game, but having woken up at 5am with thoughts of this - yet another opportunity missed in an entirely similar way to previous missed opportunities - I've decided to get up and type. Update - sorry; I had work to do today or this would have been out much earlier :(
Now, there's been quite a bit of extra talk recently about whether Mikel Arteta is really the answer. Are Arsenal making progress? Could we do better under a more experienced manager? Have Arsenal got a clear way of playing? What are his plans for the summer? etc etc. And whilst I think that the club hierarchy are invested in him, and that we are 'stuck' with him for another season no matter how badly things get - and I really, really, want this to work! - I'm starting to have genuine doubts about him. And I so wish that this wasn't the case.
Here's what I see:
- a struggle with 'man management', on both an individual and collective basis
- something of a control freak
- inability to read how the opposition are going to play
- inability to react 'in-game'
- poor use of substitutes
- 'playing favourites' and at the same time 'freezing out' certain players
Now, it's easy to start being critical when things aren't going well - and the players have to take a deal of responsibility too, of course; it's them who go over the white line and play, after all - but I'm simply not sure that the tactics are clear, whether they are being allowed to express themselves fully, and whether they are being motivated in the right way. I know that years of mismanagement have meant that the squad is still a hotch-potch of players of diverse skill sets, but for me there's simply not enough clarity.
Perhaps the younger players in the squad are not the answer, but there has been plenty of chopping and changing in the fringes of team selection that has nonetheless led to Maitland-Niles and Willock leaving on loan (and doing pretty well, let's face it, at their new clubs), extremely limited playing time for Martinelli, Nketiah and Nelson, and the exciting Balogun feeling so disillusioned that he is probably going to leave in the summer. All this whilst others get chance after chance, and fail again and again. Don't make me name them - you know who I mean!
We've seen examples of man management that have appalled me. Pepe 'thrown under the bus' after his sending-off at Leeds, Aubameyang publicly humiliated during the North London Derby, and a collective slaughter of the entire team at the weekend. Would you be minded to play for a manager who would do this to you in public? I don't see how he thinks he may be currying favour with the press or the fan base by doing this.
He has issues with reacting during games, and with his substitutions. I don't think that anybody can dispute that point. Why is it that he cannot see what to us - mere fans - is very evident?
So what precisely was Arteta's 'cunning plan' for Slavia Prague? Just like the long-running 'cunning plan' in Blackadder - when the plan was never cunning at all - this one made as much sense as the one in the final series that involved the troops marching very slowly towards the opposition, and immediately being mown down. As the idiot General Melchett said: 'Doing precisely what we have done 18 times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time!'
And for me, the plans for this game were incomplete and unclear. I didn't much like the selection, I was unimpressed with the tempo, and I thought that the way that Arsenal set about pressing the opposition were, for want of a better word - half-arsed. I have never liked seeing a centre-back pairing of Gabriel and Holding, because neither is comfortable enough in possession (boy, are we missing David Luiz!), I'm uncomfortable with Cedric at left-back (he is too!), I'm never happy to see Willian in the starting 11, and I was annoyed to see Lacazette start, and Aubameyang on the bench against a team who are known to play a high line.
And now I'll turn to the game itself, and specifically the lack of tempo throughout the side. I was disappointed particularly with the half-hearted nature of the press, with players going individually - and that's never enough. I recall one moment when Xhaka went to press, but Lacazette was back in the Arsenal half! Muddled thinking, and/or muddled execution.
Despite this, Slavia looked poor defensively, especially on their left where Saka continually rinsed the full back. And their goalkeeper's kicking was making Leno look like Ederson! Chances were created - Saka should have scored after been played through by Holding, Holding himself headed over from Cedric's cross, Willian was unlucky with his free kick, and how Lacazette contrived to miss his big chance is beyond me - there are guys in my Tuesday night Walking Football game who would have buried that with no trouble whatsoever.
Not that Slavia didn't have their chances; it wouldn't be Arsenal if they did not. Leno made one notable save, and they went close two or three times.
It was clear that things needed to change, and I hoped to see something at half-time. Martinelli to up the tempo, for example. But - and I simply don't understand this - it took until 73 minutes (finally, Martinelli for the ineffective Willian) to see the first change. After Arteta had made a point during his pre-match interview about the usefulness of having 5 substitutes available. And 5 minutes later no less than three more changes. Madness!
And the second set of changes made a massive difference. The tempo went up, and Arsenal opened Slavia up. Aubameyang couldn't steer a decent opportunity on target following some excellent interplay, and a few minutes later he showed strength and no little guile to feed Pepe in on goal. The winger's pace and lovely dinked finish gave a glimpse of what he is capable of.
But then... Arsenal inexplicably went to sleep and decided to rest on the 1-0 score line, and this gave Slavia hope. They started pressing, and I wondered to myself if minute 86 had been too early to score. On 88, Smith Rowe was replaced by Ceballos, and I started to dread the consequences of that.
And, lo and behold, a combination of lack of confidence and ambition led to a load of faffing about (I've stolen this image from@arseblog)...
...the needless concession of a corner. Pepe was unable to clear it properly, Cedric (who had been largely responsible for the faffing about) found himself on the wrong side of his man at the far post, and Leno's chocolate wrists failed to keep the ball out. Shambolic; and of course another variation on 'stupid ways to concede a goal'.
Of course, the players should have managed those last 5 minutes or so much better - they should have gone for a second goal to kill the tie in my opinion - but I'm going to point some blame at Arteta. He should have made the substitutions earlier - with more time on the pitch, those players would have created more chances - and taking off Smith Rowe sent out completely the wrong message.
And we suddenly have struggle to qualify against a side who haven't lost at home all season. Totally unnecessary.
Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I have a 'pet' troll who used to post negative comments on every piece I published. I've managed to block him by moderating all comments, but he still sends me messages. I am peppered every week with similar stuff: apparently, I am 'boring, one-eyed, repetitive and don't have thick enough skin to take criticism'. And Arsenal fans in general are 'entitled'.
I am 99% sure that I know who the guy is - he's a smarmy, unpleasant bully, and a Spurs fan to boot - and I take exception to all that apart, actually, from the 'entitled' bit. Yes, we probably do feel entitled; but who wouldn't after watching the sort of stuff we lapped up around the turn of the century. That all that has gone away so quickly is incredibly depressing.
But can we see it changing soon? Only if Arteta starts learning very quickly from his mistakes. Or if we end up somewhere between 8th and 10th, and don't at the very least get to the Europa League Final, I doubt that it will be long into the new season before the pressure becomes unbearable. Once fans are back in the ground, then he's going to be in real trouble!
But I really hope it doesn't come to that. I am desperate for him to turn things round. We can only pray.
I'll be back on Monday, with a report on what had better be a resounding victory over Sheffield United. As you know, we're very good in the 7pm Sunday slot...
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