I've given it a couple of days to think about it, and to let the dust settle a bit. But I've made a point of not reading or listening to other people's opinions on where Arsenal are at this point, as I wanted to share my own opinions - and claim them as my own. I expect that they'll coincide with lots of other stuff that's been seen or heard; but these thoughts are original and unsullied by other people's. Anyhoo...
Firstly, I'm going to have to take some responsibility for what happened early in the game on Friday. I am Jewish, and whilst I've come to some form of 'peace' over going to Saturday games, Friday nights are sacrosanct in our house and it took A LOT of persuasion for my wife to agree to allow me (plus my son and one daughter) to go to the game. The once-in-a-lifetimeness of it being a key factor. And so, I feel, The Almighty took it upon himself to ensure that Arsenal were one down within a minute, and two within 15. 'That'll learn ya'!', I felt I could hear Him telling me.
But moving on... and I'll quickly cover the game before going on to what the next 6 weeks may hold. And there's no better place to start than the goals that Arsenal conceded.
It would appear that Ramsdale didn't spot the lurking Alcaraz when he tried that pass. Or perhaps he was simply trying to be too clever for his own good in playing it. And then I didn't feel that he covered himself in too much glory with the attempted save either. Now what he saw I don't know; but I also don't know how many options he had for a vertical ball. First minute and all that, so a simple sideways pass may have been more sensible. Partey was pointing at Rob Holding. Poor, and up against it immediately - but we've seen this before against Bournemouth and there was obviously a long time to go to rectify matters. Decent Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired goal celebration from the goalscorer, by the way...
For the second goal, the ball was lost in midfield - an errant pass from Odegaard. And Southampton were quick in transition. What was clear, however, was that the defence wasn't holding its line; Holding had dropped off of Alcaraz and given him the opportunity to collect the ball and turn. Thereafter Walcott's run - one we've seen many times before - caused some indecision in Gabriel. The Brazilian hesitated, and Walcott nipped around him and tucked the ball away with the sort of precision that we wished we'd have seen from him more often when he wore the red and white, and before Ramsdale had time to react. Good of him not to celebrate, though; classy.
And suddenly Arsenal were right up against it. 15 minutes in, and not two goals up as against Liverpool and West Ham, but the polar opposite. And they huffed. And puffed. But barely had anything to show for their efforts until Bukayo Saka, back on form (frankly only he, Martinelli and substitute Trossard come out of this game with any real credit), jinked to the touchline and pulled the ball back for Martinelli to half-volley though the crowd for 1-2.
The pattern of play was as expected at this point, with Arsenal dominating possession, but leaving the opposition opportunities on the break. A late goal line clearance by Alcaraz from a clever header from White following a corner was nonetheless the closest Arsenal got to equalising in the first half.
All the while Southampton goalkeeper Bazunu was becoming Public Enemy Number One, as he took what felt like ages over every restart. Well, what would you have done? Dragging the taking of goal kicks out when the home team is losing gets a different response to when it's 0-0, and he wasn't the worst we've seen by any means. 20 seconds a pop; so 10 seconds longer than really necessary. And, frankly, the referee added on all that accumulated time in any case.
I ought to mention at this point the missing Granit Xhaka (illness). Many would have selected Trossard to replace him, but Arteta gave an opportunity to Fabio Vieira. And it's fair to say - and I'm being generous here - that the Portuguese did not step up to the plate. He is, of course, a different type of player to Xhaka, but he always seemed to be in the wrong place to my eyes, Either hidden from a passer's view, or moving in the wrong direction to receive the ball. The difference here was that whilst we're used to seeing Xhaka time his runs between the lines, Vieira was already there. It's as if he didn't quite understand the role he was being asked to play.
Either way, it looks clear to me that he's simply not ready for the Premier League, and may never be. He's lightweight and easily knocked off the ball, and doesn't at this stage have the ability to impose his will on the opposition by way of his quality in the way that Mesut Ozil did. No surprise to see him hooked early in the second half, but perhaps a surprise that Arteta didn't make that move at half time. Trossard, in that role, made things happen. My daughter's half time summation was: 'I'm p*ssed off with Ramsdale, and Vieira is sh*t!' A budding Roy Keane, there, I think...
Southampton went further ahead early in the second half, of course, as Arsenal conceded another embarrassingly easy goal. Two men lost at a corner. One flick on to the far post, and a simple header past the scrambling Ramsdale. Pathetic, frankly; and the crowd started to get quiet. And, also frankly, somewhat restless. This was supposed to be the simple three points to open up a gap. Yet the pervading air, as time ticked on, was one of resignation. Amidst all this, barely a decent chance was created, and certainly no shots on target. Gabriel Jesus should have done much, much better, with one chance a mere 6 yards out, which he stabbed clumsily over the bar. Having a centre forward who doesn't score enough goals is a major problem. Even allowing for everything he does bring to the side.
And so it was, as the stadium started to empty - people were leaving all around me (fickle... fickle) - that Arsenal scored twice in quickfire fashion to level things up. First Odegaard with a trademark curler, and then Saka, who pounced on a rebound following a decent effort by Reiss Nelson. 3-3, and the best part of 10 minutes to go including injury time.
A word on Nelson here. Firstly - and it's nothing to do with him of course - we're all wondering how he's getting on the field before Emile Smith Rowe. Only Arteta can answer that one, I guess. Clearly, the latter isn't showing enough in training, and that's a worry for us when we consider a player who is an England international, and very much 'one of our own'. But Nelson's cameo was once more highly effective. Just 10 minutes or so on the field, but he drove the team on from the left, got the assist for the equaliser, and almost as importantly put on the turbo jets to chase back a good 60 yards and put in a crucial challenge as Southampton broke swiftly down their right. Committed.
The winning goal, as we know, did not come. Trossard's dipping shot hit the bar, and that was the closest Arsenal got. Frankly, had they pulled that out of the fire, it would have made the Bournemouth comeback look like a walk in the park. And what it does mean is that they absolutely must get something from The Etihad on Wednesday. A win would be awesome (if unlikely). I'd take the draw now. But defeat would mean that the dream is over; City would be two points behind with two games in hand. And whilst their run in is brutal, they'd have too many points to play with. Anything but a defeat for Arsenal would mean that the dream is still alive.
So how should Arteta tackle the rest of the season? If it's giving me sleepless nights, then goodness knows what it's doing to him! I've been thinking long and hard, and my view is that in the likely absence of Saliba until next season he needs to adapt his formation to the players he has available, and not continue to try to get his players to fit a formation not suited to their capabilities.
By this I mean that he has to look at the effect that the presence of Rob Holding is having on the rest of the side. And look, it's not his fault. He is what he is, and we know what he is. He is a perfectly serviceable middle of the table Premier League centre half, but Saliba is elite, and Arsenal are gunning for the title. The fact is that this season has come a year early in Arteta's 'process', and this means that whilst he has a first XI that can match up with all but the very best, there isn't enough behind that - and that's why Holding is number two at right-sided centre back.
Holding lacks the Frenchman's poise, recovery pace, positional sense and quality on the ball. That's pretty much everything, frankly, but most centre halves don't stand up to the boy in comparison, to be fair - at 21, he is destined to be a superstar. But the difference in their respective attributes means that it has affected the players around Holding. Gabriel looks much less self-assured. Ben White is looking a little bit too much over his shoulder. And most importantly the fact that the back line now has to be a little bit deeper to counteract Holding's lack of pace means that Thomas Partey is having to cover quite a bit more ground than he was before; and that has led to a marked drop off in the Ghanaian's effectiveness.Here's Southampton's second goal, which illustrates so much of this:
The Zinchenko inversion into midfield puts Gabriel under further positional pressure, and so whilst I've toyed with thoughts of three centre backs and wing backs (meaning Saka at right wing back, which I don't think we should countenance for a moment!), moving Zinchenko into midfield and bringing Tierney in, or dropping Trossard into one of the number 8 roles I think that the switch needs to be from 4-1-2-3, to 4-2-1-3. Help for Partey - a double pivot to replace the single pivot. Ideally, that should be Xhaka - provided he has recovered from his illness - and that would enable him to drop in to left back to cover Zinchenko's incursions. I believe that Arteta should adopt this, and stick to it until the end of the season.
Except... Manchester City present a unique set of problems. Grealish and Mahrez are massive twin threats on either side of the field, and I wonder if Tierney wouldn't be a better bet up against the latter than Zinchenko. Not that I want to leave the Ukrainian out of the side, so if Xhaka isn't ready on Wednesday maybe drop Zinchenko into the second pivot role. Not Jorginho, who is neat and tidy on the ball, and a calming influence, but who in my opinion lacks the pace and mobility to deal with the rotating City midfield.
Elsewhere, there's Haaland vs Holding to consider. And it's enough to give any Arsenal fan nightmares! Over the course of 90 minutes there's only going to be one winner there, and what this double pivot would do would be to enable Arsenal to cut off much of the supply line, making it more difficult for the likes of De Bruyne to feed the beast. What do you think?
Of course, this formation limits Arsenal's ability to spring forward, but there's enough pace and guile in the 4 up top to do enough damage. For the City game, the absence of the injured Ake is great news. He had Saka bottled up last time. The alternatives to the Dutchman probably won't be able to do that.
Anyway, this is what's been keeping me preoccupied over the past 48 hours. It's the moment of truth now. Let's not give up hope quite yet.
Before I sign off, I feel it only proper and correct to laugh at Tottenham. I know that you will join me. Of course, despite everything that we're suffering, it was St Totteringham's Day on Friday. On top of that, they just got rolled over by Newcastle (our main concern here is that we still have to visit St James Park ourselves...), and their next two games are home to Manchester United and then away to Liverpool. The gap is, in fact, a chasm! And if they weren't enough of a laughing stock they've now sacked their Caretaker Manager. Who does that? For all that we're suffering as the PL title may be slipping away, (don't) spare a thought for them and their fans. And we thought that Chelsea were the crisis club!
Anyway, enough of that nonsense. Roll on Wednesday. COYG!!!
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