Remember Novembers? The month that Wenger Era Arsenal supporters used to dread? Regularly, the month when things started to wobble? Well, we got through November unscathed this season, but January has been a pretty horrendous month, has it not? 5 matches with just a single goal, three red cards, two goalless draws; and knocked out of two cups. Plus the NLD postponement debacle. And a depleted squad. And yet...
I'm not quite going down the doom and gloom route today. A glance at the Premier League table will tell you that Arsenal's Top 4 aspirations are completely in their own hands. Two points off of fourth place, and with a game in hand. And whilst the result against Burnley was disappointing, two of our rivals lost. So there's all to play for.
But I can't see how they can achieve their aims without reinforcements. Whilst the 4 players that have been loaned out/released this month are all fringe players who weren't getting any sort of look-in, the squad is looking very bare. AFCON, injuries, disciplinary issues and general tiredness have eaten into that even more... and then there have been the idiotic suspensions. Of which I'm sure we'd all agree that of Thomas Partey was the most idiotic and avoidable of all; even more idiotic than Granit Xhaka's latest transgression.
Here's a quick recap of the Liverpool defeat before I move on to Burnley: and I'm afraid that for all the hope that had been engendered by the magnificent rearguard action at Anfield, the second (or first?) leg looked difficult from the moment we heard about the squad issues that surrounded the calling-off of the NLD. Tiredness and injuries that had been exacerbated by the loss of Xhaka at Anfield were of the sort that could not be cured in just 4 days, and so whilst Tomiyasu and ESR returned for the game - many others had looked like they were running on fumes too - neither looked fit. Indeed lethargy surrounded the entire performance, and from the moment that Liverpool took the lead that really felt like it.
As for the Partey debacle... well, he'd kindly rushed back from AFCON - where Ghana were shockingly eliminated by Comoros (!) - but can hardly have been in sufficient shape (either mentally or physically) for a game against one of the world's best teams. But because the squad is so lean, and because things were so desperate, Arteta threw him on. With devastating results. And it wasn't just the avoidability of the sending off; it was the knock on effect for Sunday.
The problem with lack of squad depth is that there's so little experience to bring on to try to change things. And we saw that in the second leg, and again against Burnley. Promising as the likes of Patino, Salah Eddine and Hutchinson are, it's literally men against boys. We saw how the most promising of our under 23s - Balogun - struggled right at the beginning of the season when Arteta was forced to start him. These guys, with barely 10 minutes of First team experience between the lot of them, would be eaten alive out there! And so even with the squad down to its Redknappian 'bare bones' it was easy to understand why Arteta didn't want to risk any of them. Of the 4 January departures, that of AMN is really the only one that could be questioned. But it must have been difficult to stand in the guy's way with a 'please play a few games as a stand-in, and then I'll let you go' message; when he'd had very few minutes over the previous couple of months. That's hardly an inspirational offer, is it?
And so to Burnley; and starting with the news that Tomiyasu's calf injury - which under normal circumstances should have kept him out against Liverpool - had flared up again. With Chambers also unfit - apparently merely on the bench to pad it out - White moved over and Rob Holding took his place. In midfield, it looked like Lokonga - the only 'senior' available central midfielder - as an inverted single pivot with Odegaard and ESR ahead of him. And thus the folly of the two cup sendings-off came back to haunt Arsenal.
The bench was Leno, Tavares, Nketiah, the injured Chambers and then the under 23s. So at a time when it would have been really helpful to rotate - ESR still isn't fit, and a rest for Saka would certainly not have gone amiss - there were no viable alternatives.
The stats for the game told the tale. 76% possession, 12 corners, 20 shots (that's a lot for Arsenal - but 13 of them were from outside the penalty area), 564 accurate passes (but no less than 275 of them in the Arsenal half), and no less than 34 crosses (inclusive of corners and free kicks to be fair). But only one 'big chance' created, and no goals.
The pattern of the game was dictated by the shape that had been forced onto Arteta by the enforced absences of Xhaka and Partey. With Odegaard and ESR too far up the pitch, Arsenal struggled to get the ball to Lokonga, and so the pattern was often a series of sideways passes followed by a raking crossfield ball from White to Martinelli on the other wing. Fabulous accuracy from that distance from an aesthetic point of view, but ultimately useless. On the rare occasions that Arsenal did manage to find a bit of room in midfield to beat the Burnley press, chances of a sort were created, but nowhere near enough I'm afraid. And as for the large number of crosses; well that's as Aaron Ramsdale said afterwards, 'meat and drink' to Burnley.
What was notable, however, was the amount of time the ball spent off the pitch. Despite Arsenal players - and the crowd! - continually drawing referee Coote's attention to the amount of time-wasting at restarts, he did nothing about it. In excess of 30 seconds per goal kick and for free kicks, and in excess of 20 seconds even for throw-ins. I doubt that the ball was in play for 60 of the 90 minutes, and this really added to the frustration. Although I suspect that Arsenal probably wouldn't have found the net if they were still playing now!
And of course some inevitable controversy, as Westwood's nasty challenge on Tierney led to a yellow card, when to the naked eye - even from the other side of the pitch where I sit - it looked like a red. And moments later an elbow by the same player on Gabriel.
Time and again opponents are not punished for bad challenges on Arsenal players; yet far more innocuous challenges committed by Arsenal players receive the ultimate penalty. This year we've had Godfrey's stamp on Tomiyasu's head, Mane's elbow on the same player, Harry Maguire's blatant penalty area tug, McArthur's assault on Saka, and now this from Westwood; none of which have received a punishment to fit the crime. Some of those would have led to prosecution had they taken place on the street! I'm no way condoning or defending Arsenal's appalling disciplinary record, but it's been more clumsiness and bad decision-making than malice that has warped the statistics.
And so the game meandered to its inevitable and frustrating conclusion, with sections of the crowd booing the team off. But they cannot be faulted for lack of effort; they are tired, and it's been the squad issues that have led to Arteta being forced to pick this XI that have done for Arsenal over the past two weeks. The short break before the next game on February 10th will be much appreciated.
But Arsenal's football heirarchy cannot afford to sit back and do nothing during this break. The next few days are critical to the way the season is going to pan out. With no additions, Arsenal stand no chance of ending the season where we all hope they will. But so far it's been 4 Outs (with perhaps two more still to follow) and Zero Ins. And reinforcements are desperately needed, both up front and in midfield.
The optimistic pursuit of Vlahovic looks over now, but there must surely be options out there. Even if there's no purchase, some sort of loan for the rest of the season - and then an all out attempt at one (or even two) of several striking targets may have to be the way to go. Talk of Calvert-Lewin, Isak and David may be just that for the moment, but there must be an opportunity to pick up a player of sufficient class who may be out of favour at a big club. The obvious one is Jovic (a player I've always liked the look of) at Real Madrid. In midfield, I'm not sure that Arthur Melo is particularly exciting me. But I would be interested in Wijnaldum - not getting a game at PSG and again a player I've always thought could do well at Arsenal.
Arteta is in the USA, meeting with Kroenke, and I'd hope that Stan's current good mood - Colorado Avalanche are on a roll, and the LA Rams are into the NFC Championship Game - might persuade him to dust off his cheque book again this week. Internal solutions are limited, and on the assumption - sad in many ways - that Auba is done, then maybe Arteta could look at Martinelli down the middle.
Fingers crossed for new faces, anyway. And with this enforced break I'll give you some time off too. I'll be back in a couple of weeks.
Away to Wolves is a big game! COYG!
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