First of all - an apology. I didn't post after the Everton defeat; which some people might see as a cop-out. But... firstly I was away for the weekend, with an almost non-existent signal during the game itself, and then a hectic itinerary. And, when I did get home on Monday evening, I got ill. The dreaded man flu struck me down, and I was out of it for fully 48 hours. By which time it was frankly too late - too much water under the bridge. So I knocked any thoughts of posting on the head.
And so we move on to a sort of 'double post' - along with my thoughts on the rap sheet facing Manchester City. Anyway, and mostly concentrating on the Brentford game, I'll crack on...
At Everton, Arsenal ran into one of those 'perfect storm' things. Sean Dyche is everything Frank Lampard is not. Competent, pragmatic and with the ability to organise his players into a cohesive unit.
'Fat Frank' is another example of why great players rarely make great managers. And Dyche an example of a journeyman player with the right set of skills to give him a successful management career. And because Arsenal were a little off their game, what Dyche drilled into his players was enough to inflict the necessary damage. I know that this is simplifying things, but I'm really here to talk about Arsenal vs Brentford.
But here's the thing; it generally doesn't take long for other clubs to work you out in the Premier League, and I'm seriously starting to wonder whether Arsenal have been 'sussed'. There's half a season's evidence on how Arsenal play, and opposition coaching staff have had quite a while to work out how to try to counter it. Brentford have a certain way of playing against teams who they know are going to dominate possession against them, and both game plan and execution were almost faultless. They are a very good side; well organised, although frankly with just a single 'star' player - one who I would imagine will not be with them next season. Ivan Toney - the most effective player on the pitch... by a mile!
For me, it does feel the Arsenal are starting to look somewhat predictable. That doesn't mean that they're not a very good side. They dominated possession and were almost constantly on the front foot. But Brentford had their plan - sit very deep indeed and strike hard on the break - and they actually looked in control (certainly for the entirety of the first half) despite seeing little of the ball, and there was a humdrum aspect to Arsenal's play.
What is becoming something of an obsession about 'inverting' Zinchenko - thus additionally somewhat exposing Gabriel I should add - means two things. Firstly, there is something of a 'disconnect' between the Ukrainian and Martinelli that leaves the latter somewhat isolated. And secondly it means that Bukayo Saka, on the other flank, sees much less of the ball than he should. The key combination between Starboy and Odegaard isn't used enough, to my mind, and adjustments need to be made. Our skipper was once again not at his best - also somewhat starved of possession (whilst at the same time we are seeing that Granit Xhaka's ceiling has been reached) - and Arsenal failed to exploit the unpredictability of the Odegaard/Saka combo. Ben White makes for a really unpredictable triangle, I should add.
It came as no surprise to me that Arsenal's goal was created on the right, when brilliant improvisation between Odegaard and Saka led to the latter finally getting in behind the Brentford defence, and the latter's perfect cross was stabbed in - for his first Arsenal goal - by Leo Trossard. And from that point Arsenal should have seen the game out. But before I go on to why they didn't, a word about the officiating.
Firstly, it was clear that part of Brentford's game plan was to ensure that the ball was in play for as little time as possible. I cannot locate the precise details - despite a deep trawl of the internet - on how long it was, but it felt like well under 50 minutes (Everton did the same last week btw). And it was clear from literally the first minute that this was part of the plan, as Raya stood with the ball at his feet for over 20 seconds. Referee Peter Bankes - a quite useless specimen in my opinion - allowed Brentford to waste time throughout without interefering, and two extra minutes in the first half and 5 in the second weren't even close to making up for it. It's clear, let's face it, that if the ball isn't in play then you're not going to concede any goals!
I'll cover the equaliser in a moment, but at this stage I need to reiterate that Arsenal didn't help themselves. It was all a bit of a struggle and - as I've already mentioned - predictable and even ponderous at times - and they can count themselves as fortunate not to have gone in one or even two goals behind at half time. Mbuemo had a goal disallowed, Henry missed a very presentable opportunity, and Toney hit the post when he ought to have done much better as he made Saliba look quite ordinary for large parts of the game. Throughout, Toney was a menace, and if there's any centre forward in the Premier League (with the exception of Haaland) that I covet then it's him. He'd do a fantastic job for Arsenal, in my opinion. The cloud of an investigation into gambling hangs over him, but I can see no other downside to making a sizeable bid for him in the summer.
The likes of Brentford and Brighton are really starting to put the pressure on the so-called Big 6 these days. Quite a compliment to how those clubs are run - and there are plenty of similarities (if you know, then you know).
And so to the equaliser. Saliba conceded a free kick as Toney pinned him - for me, it was six of one and half a dozen of the other - and following some heading pinball Toney headed in unmarked at the far post. One could argue that it was down to Arsenal to ensure that the opposition don't win 5 headers out of 6 in their box... but on the other hand three of the 5 were down to players being offside or blocking off defenders - or both - and there were actually two offsides in the sequence of play. VAR Lee Mason - another useless specimen - ruled that Pinnock wasn't offside/interfering with play from the initial cross (he was; he blocked Gabriel off) and the fool took so long in checking that aspect of it that he failed to notice that Norgaard was clearly offside in making the assist for Toney. A travesty, frankly - and something that UEFA's semi-automatic VAR offsides would have indicated clearly and swiftly.
Nonetheless, credit where it's due. And it's due to Brentford. Despite just 31% possession - they had less than that at The Etihad and yet actually beat Manchester City earlier this season - they were, to be honest, more than worthy of the point they took. They deserve to finish high enough to play in Europe next season, and good luck to them.
Arsenal are of course still clear at the top of the table. But Wednesday's heavyweight clash with City looms ever larger now. City are of course a long way further ahead in their development, and their huge squad depth may well make the difference on the long run in to May. Avoiding defeat in midweek at the very minimum is now absolutely imperative.
A quick word on the rap sheet facing Manchester City before I go. There's been a lot said about it, and I'm sure you've seen or heard it, but the most pertinent thing that can be said in commentary on the matter is that there's not a single football supporter in the country whose first reaction wouldn't have been: 'Well... of course - we knew that, didn't we?'...
However, not only breaching regulations and behaving in a non-commercial and non-competitive manner - not purely the sole domain of the UK Government as it turns out - but hiding it and being uncooperative? That should increase whatever penalties they've got coming. Who knows how this will play out, but for the moment there's a title to win, for all that the playing field is not level (just ask Liverpool). Meantime, what are the chances of Erling Haaland getting a double hat-trick at Burton Albion or Hartlepool next season?...
COYG!!!
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