My son is an Arsenal fan - the whole family are, to my (and my wife's) credit - and he, along with myself, is fortunate enough to have an Arsenal season ticket. He is also wheelchair-bound, so I drive him to matches. And last weekend it was my wife's turn to accompany us to the game.
On the way there I was getting particularly worked up - as I always do when it's Tottenham - because it is of course imperative that we put them back in their box at every opportunity, and I wanted to be right up for it by the time we got to the ground. We owe them after last season, don't we?
My wife was surprised - although we've been married for 34 years - to hear me winding myself up to the necessary pitch, and kept telling me to dial the 'hatred' down. She hasn't attended too many NLDs, so maybe she'd forgotten. But as soon as she sensed the atmosphere and the game started, and she saw how Tottenham were set up and how they were playing, she changed her tune. She soon realised what was at stake. Not just a NLD, but also Football versus Anti-Football. Good versus Evil. Freedom versus Repression. However you want to put it, really...
Tottenham have good players, are well organised and have a certain 'style'. I've been saying all season, having had the misfortune to watch them a few times, that they're actually sh*t. Well, of course they're not; but what they in fact are is an old-fashioned Italian-style team playing in the Premier League. They are boring to watch - almost soporific, in fact - with a dreary willingness to sit back, soak up pressure and hit sides on the break. Conte teams are like latter-day Mourinho teams; and you can't say worse than that. It's anti-football; the antithesis of entertainment. If you're suffering from insomnia, put the telly on and find a Tottenham game to watch; you'll be out like a light before you know it.
And that's fine, if you like that sort of thing. But even Tottenham fans of my acquaintance can't bear it. What ever happened to 'Glory Glory'? And, make no mistake; because they've got good players, a fine forward line and a direct way of counter-punching opponents, they will win more games than they lose. The Conte way has always been to rely on solidity and to hit hard on the break - and to be fair he's had success with it elsewhere - and they had some sporadic opportunities early on with which they could have done better. But xG and 'field tilt' will find him/them out eventually. Fashions in coaching change, and Conte is becoming something of a dinosaur in that respect.
And apart from one 5-10 minute spell just after they'd equalised - an entirely avoidable series of events from an Arsenal perspective, as I'm sure you've seen - Arsenal simply dominated them. Relentlessly. And without mercy. In games against the top sides, if Tottenham play like that they will simply get rolled over. No way can they possibly repeat last season's results against City with the type of passive defending that they exhibited on Saturday. These days, you simply can't just sit off. And they are currently comfortably second best when compared to this vibrant Arsenal side.
And so to the game. Good news - Arteta had everyone back and could name his strongest possible XI. And the pattern of the game was swiftly established; Arsenal looking to play all the football, and Tottenham looking to stifle, to break up play by whatever means, to throw themselves to the floor Italian-style - and let's face it, with a forward line of Son, Kane and Richarlison that gives them the entire width of the pitch to throw themselves onto - and in particular to try their very hardest to get Gabriel Jesus, on his '4 yellow cards' tightrope - booked.
Professional? Maybe. Cynical? For sure. But it didn't work. They had the odd opportunity on the break, where a better final ball may have got them in on goal, but Arsenal's sheer relentlessness ground them down. Partey's well-worked and beautifully executed opener (22 passes prior to the shot, I believe) - his first successful attempt in 65 from outside the box for Arsenal, the statistics tell us - was no less than Arsenal deserved.
The second goal came as a result of Saka driving at the defence in trademark style, a Lloris howler, and typical opportunism from Jesus. Last year, we wouldn't have scored that goal; no way would Laca have had the instincts to be where Jesus was.
To be honest, I didn't see the ball go in; I'd turned away when I saw the goalkeeper fall on the ball. But he's got that in him, has old Hugo. From then on, the result didn't look in doubt. But the sending off clinched it. And the Tottenham threat faded completely. I had a sense, as the match progressed, that Son's heart wasn't in it, and that Harry Kane was starting to look 'old'.
The red card incident occurred on the other side of the pitch from where we sit, so we weren't quite sure what Emerson Royal had done. But it was a bad enough one; although having seen it on television it’s one for which you'd perhaps hope to avoid a red card if it was your player who committed the foul, but would be annoyed if it wasn't a red if you were on the other side. Comfortably, on balance, the correct decision. And Conte then waved the white flag with his substitutions, of course.
There was frustration that it took so long for them to receive any other cards. Dier was eventually cautioned. Romero committed several yellow card tackles. Hojbjerg and Bentancur could have seen yellow too. Kane and Richarlison are directly into the Premier League Snide XI and Son is, as we know, a sneaky baby-faced piece of work. Arsenal, on the other hand, are of course all angels...
And on the whole, barring Xhaka's error that led to the goal - he made up for it with another superb performance - and Gabriel's clumsy tackle on his snarling, idiotically coiffured compatriot for the penalty itself - it was a pretty flawless performance all round from Arsenal. Particular praise must go to Ben White, who kept Son very quiet and spent quite an extraordinary amount of time overlapping Saka, William Saliba (consistently magnificent), both Partey (understatedly superb) and Xhaka, and to Jesus, who always sets the tone. But whilst I'd give those players all 9/10, I'm not going lower than 8/10 with any of the others.
And so we remain top, despite another scintillating display from Manchester City and their freakish centre forward. How long it will continue, who can tell? Because it's Liverpool next - and boy, are we due a win over them?!? Preceded by Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, of course - but our reserves ought to have too much for them, one would expect.
It's going to be key to avoid injuries and suspensions in order to keep up anything like this pace. But it's not entirely inconceivable. It's quite clear now that Arsenal are The Real Deal this season. Much credit to the entire club, from top to bottom, for the transformation. Manchester City are of course exceptional - with added depth - so at this early stage I'm looking at a possible respectful second place finish. Although City did still manage to concede three on Sunday, so...
Top of the league, yet still under the radar. That will probably change with a win next weekend. In the meantime, let's keep looking down.
By the way, I have a friend who flies light aircraft. He took a photo of North London from above yesterday, and sent it to me to use here. Here it is:
COYG!
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