A Riddle, Wrapped In A Mystery, Inside An Enigma...

So said Winston Churchill when once asked about Russian Foreign Policy. But what's that got to do with Arsenal Football Club? I'll come to that.

But firstly; I'm a blog post behind, for which I can only apologise. It's been a difficult week or so for me personally, with a small health scare that involved a couple of tests - thankfully all clear - followed by the death of a family friend that hit us all very hard indeed. I've just not been in the mood... and it does of course put football into perspective.

And so to a Compare and Contrast of the two Premier League matches so far, a quick comment or two on the almost meaningless Carabao Cup romp, and then some thoughts on the Transfer Window and a few extra titbits...

To compare and contrast I've broken my analysis down into topics: Expectations, Preparation and Absentees, Tactics, Fortune and What Did We Learn. So let's go:

Expectations

Two vastly different looking tasks here.  First up, Brentford's first match back in the top division in a lifetime, their new ground full of fans for the first time. Comparisons in advance, perhaps, with the 3-0 opening day romp against newly-promoted Fulham last season and with the hope and expectation of some early points on the board - especially with matches against Chelsea and Manchester City next up. 

Against that, a frank acceptance that European Champions Chelsea are - under Tuchel - way ahead of Arsenal in every way at this stage. And no more than the outside hope of even a point, frankly.

Preparations and Absentees

With Thomas Partey - crocked by Ruben Loftus-Cheek in an unnecessarily robust challenge two weeks prior - already ruled out along with long-term injured Gabriel, and with England's Bukayo Saka three weeks behind the rest of the squad in his preparations, the last thing Arsenal needed was to lose both Aubameyang and Lacazette to positive Covid tests on the day of the game! So that's the spine of the team - with the exception of Granit Xhaka - who we are all rather surprised is still with us - missing. With Nketiah also out injured, a front three of Pepe, Martinelli and Balogun looked lightweight. As did the whole team on the night!

Nonetheless, I'm really not sure what Arteta had prepared for, because I think we all knew what to expect from Brentford; yet Arsenal didn't look ready for the onslaught - and paid the price on what was, on the night, something of a 'perfect storm'.

And against Chelsea, I'm not sure what we really expected. For all the additions to the squad, so many were still missing. Just a glance at the Chelsea bench - let alone the team! - would make anyone tremble. And once more, the loss of another player (in this instance new £50m (!) defender Ben White) late to a positive Covid test would have sent any preparations into disarray. I think that's it's safe to say that Arsenal's starting line-up in a month or so will bear little or no resemblance to the one that began at Chelsea.

But yet again one could certainly query the tactics; but not the effort that the players put in. I do wonder, however, whether losing Ben White so close to the game meant that Arteta felt he had no choice but to stick with a back 4 instead of mirroring Chelsea's 3-4-2-1 formation - which ultimately (along with Chelsea's superior personnel in almost every position) cost Arsenal the match, of course.

Tactics

 

I've already alluded to this, but I feel that in both matches Arteta got it wrong. Whether that was dictated by circumstances or not I don't know, but I have grave concerns over his ability to change the direction of a match when things are going badly. If we laymen can see the problems, I fail to understand why he cannot see and react to them.

Everybody knows how Arsenal play, because there is a template, so it's easy to plan. And Brentford's tactics were obvious from the start. Pass, pass, pass in the Arsenal half, and press high when they lost the ball. And with no real outlet up front - Balogun was mostly comfortably mastered by Brentford's trio of centre-backs - there wasn't much that they could do to change things. The huge reliance on Smith Rowe's ability to carry the ball to the opposition - in the absence of Saka until late in the second half - was never going to be enough.

There were one of two bright spots in the side. Lokonga had a promising debut. Smith Rowe looked lively throughout. Tierney looked good going forward. But elsewhere White and Chambers were outgunned by Toney, and the Brentford centre backs had Balogun in their back pockets almost all day.

Against Chelsea, Arsenal already looked to be up against it based merely on the difference in quality of the personnel. But - and despite the absence of White - the failure to choose to match up with them formation-wise meant that they were always going to find ways through. With Mount and Havertz often dropping deep to receive the ball, Xhaka and Lokonga were continually outnumbered - I also noted that at times they found themselves on entirely different wavelengths; which didn't help. 

Additionally, Lukaku had Mari 'pinned' all day - a total mismatch. Chelsea were able to feed the ball in to the Belgian whenever they wanted, and he'd spring the attack in whichever direction he fancied. And to see Tierney having to tuck in to try to deal with that threat, and thus leaving James with the freedom of Islington was painful to watch (whilst I am willing to forgive Saka almost everything, by not tracking back he left Arsenal's left hand side utterly exposed for both goals). And from 2-0, I sensed that despite Arsenal's better second half showing they were merely managing the game.

Fortune

You always bemoan your luck when you're down. But Arsenal have been unfortunate already this season. Balogun could have been awarded a penalty at Brentford, having been caught by a trailing leg. And both of the Brentford goals ought to have been disallowed; the first because the ball had gone off the field and the second because Leno was clearly being held down in the box. Thanks, VAR...

Against Chelsea, I don't suppose that it would have made much of a difference in the long run but I felt that James brought Saka down in the penalty area late in the first half. A body check, with no attempt to play the ball. 

So that's three debatable decisions already, in just two matches. Disappointing.

Illness must also go down as misfortune. Losing Aubameyang AND Lacazette hours before the first game of the season - Arteta apparently wanted the match postponed - would have thrown plans into disarray. As would losing White the day before the Chelsea match have done. The completely unnecessary injury suffered by Partey wouldn't have helped either.

But one makes one's own luck too. Transfer business remains unfinished, I am sure. And both Ramsdale and Odegaard have arrived late. A right back is needed for sure. I've never understood why Arsenal continually put themselves on the back foot by leaving their transfer business so late. Plus there must surely be outgoings, as for a team not in Europe the squad remains completely bloated.

What Did We Learn?

Well, that until we see the shape of Arteta's first choice eleven the only thing in evidence is that nothing much has changed over the summer. Arsenal are easy to read tactics-wise, and still appear to have a soft centre that can be exploited. I'm not expecting anything from the City game, which will mean no points from 9; which is disastrous. But hopefully we'll see something more like the reconstructed side on the field for Norwich.

I do see hope going forward. But to start so far on the back foot is very unfortunate. And if we don't see results straight after the Interlull, then surely Arteta's job will be in jeopardy. 

On the other hand, I do see many glimpses of potential, so I still remain optimistic. And I desperately wish that the doom mongers would back off - at least for the moment! 

But against that hope I felt that against Brentford Arsenal were predictable, both physically and mentally weak, and simply didn’t look prepared for the fight. And against Chelsea they were completely outgunned.

However, going forward I think that I can live with a line-up that looks like this:

Ramsdale

New Signing - White - Gabriel - Tierney

Partey - Lokonga

Pepe - Smith Rowe/Odegaard - Saka

Aubameyang

All of which makes this start to Arsenal's season a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. There is much to be revealed.

And so quickly to the Carabao Cup and the ritual slaughter of West Brom's reserves. I'm simply not reading much into it at all, but I was delighted to see Saka looking considerably sharper than he had on Sunday, and Aubameyang - not just for his hat-trick - but the fact that he looked sharp; constantly making good runs. Of course, Arsenal had the freedom of The Hawthorns due to the West Brom high line, and so played right into Arsenal's hands. Good, and we move on to a home tie with AFC Wimbledon (rubs hands with glee...).

So what do we expect from the rest of the Transfer Window? Well, hopefully a new right back; three of our current right backs don't really look fit for purpose, and Maitland-Niles doesn't seem to want to play there. And a load of departures, I would have thought? Nketiah, Nelson, Bellerin, Kolasinac, and Willian are names I can instantly recommend to depart. And whilst I'd personally like to keep hold of the afore-mentioned Maitland-Niles, I suspect that he may well be on his way too. At least there’ll be a little clarity to the aquad once they - alongside Saliba and Torreira, who have already gone on loan - are out of the picture. However, there's very little time to get all that done. I hope that a lot of it is well-advanced.

A few little add-ons here:

1.    Firstly, as I mentioned, I expect nothing but defeat at The Etihad. A draw would be a major achievement. Nothing else to add to that, really - except I'll be back with a post-mortem early next week

And now a couple of things to come out of the two Premier League games so far:

2.    Brentford super-fan Woody; a Downs Syndrome boy who loves his football. Even as a thoroughly pissed off Arsenal fan, it warmed the cockles of my heart to see the pleasure he'd got out of the result.

3.    Chelsea fans! It was great to be back at The Emirates on Sunday. However, I was also reminded about some of the unsavoury things there are about attending football matches, and the Chelsea fans brought it all back to me. 

Now don't get me wrong; some of my best friends are Chelsea fans, and clearly individually there are some lovely people amongst them. But... firstly, I understand that they instigated a punch-up or three upon exiting Arsenal Station en masse, as they emerged singing 'Bukayo Saka - you let your country down'. I believe that they got what they deserved as a result of that. 

And secondly, the massive gloating entitlement of them as a group. Clearly, the irony of the fact that the club is bankrolled by a billionaire who has written off the best part of £3bn since he took the ailing, mid-table club over in 2003 is lost on them. 'We know what we are; Champions of Europe' and 'Champions of Europe; you'll never sing that' were heard constantly from their little corner. Along with the tuneless 'Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea. Chelsea.' which passes for witty repartee down The Bridge. What an obnoxious bunch they are!

Anyway, I'm glad I've got all that off my chest. 

Sorry that this has been such a long one. Next week, I'll be back to normal. COYG!