Worst Red Letter Day Ever!

Bit of a long one, is this...

Well, that would appear to be that, then. We've been given a great run for our money, and given the behemoth a bit of a fright for 7 and a bit months, but ultimately it looks like Arsenal are going to come up short. And let's face it; we were riding a wave of excitement and optimism, but we knew all along what we were up against. And last night we saw how terrifying they can be.

There are many facets to consider in looking at the hammering that Arsenal received last night, and I'll cover as many as I can here. Please feel free to comment below as to whether you agree or disagree with me. As I say, there's a lot to cover, so let's crack on:

Worryingly, losing one player should not have been enough to have derailed the entire season. 10 of the 'normal' starting XI started last night. But the loss of William Saliba has had repercussions throughout the side. The loss of his qualities; poise, reading of the game and recovery pace alongside his not inconsiderable quality on the ball, has affected the entire balance of the side. That night at home to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League - such a waste of effort in the context of going for a Premier League title - can be seen as the moment that the wheels started to come off; because we lost not only Saliba but Tomiyasu too. Thus forcing Arteta to either play Holding, or get very creative indeed.

Additionally, this match needn't have be such a defining moment if Arsenal had taken some better form, and a better set of recent results, into the game. But the damaging draws at Liverpool (excusable) and West Ham (less so, especially in the context of a missed penalty), and at home to bottom side Southampton (frankly inexcusable). a tally of 7 points instead of the three gleaned would have meant that they could actually have afforded to have lost to Manchester City. It's not just the loss of points that has been the issue; the consequent sapping of confidence has been just as crucial.

However, I'm not going along with this 'They've bottled it' narrative. Nobody but Arsenal get accused of this. I refuse to accept it. They're an inexperienced group on the whole, and must surely be given the benefit of the doubt. Yes, they have succumbed to the pressure, but I honestly don't believe that they've crossed the line into 'bottling' the title. That's a cheap and disingenuous jibe.

Of course, there is a massive difference between the personnel available to Mikel Arteta as opposed to that available to Pep. This is easily explained. City are backed by limitless state cash, are many years ahead in their 'project' and have both the quality and quantity of players to show for those years they've been shopping in the most expensive places, are coached by a genius - humble and pleasing to hear him say on BT Sport last night that having managed Bayern, Barcelona and now City he's always been given the best tools that money can buy - and have 100+ Premier League charges regarding financial impropriety to answer in the next few months to boot. No sour grapes from me, though... 

By contrast, Arteta is literally Pep's apprentice, many years behind in experience and at the very beginning of his own 'project'. It's even unfair to put up similarities to the Liverpool side who had been running City so close over the past few years. Vastly experienced manager; and a much more rounded and experienced squad to boot with the likes of Van Dijk, Thiago, Fabinho and especially Salah and Mane to name just a few. Frankly, with the surprise demise of Liverpool and (hilariously) Chelsea, if it wasn't for Arsenal this season would have been an absolute procession!

However, I'm going to put in a few provisos here. Because the performance left an awful lot to be desired. So it's worth examining why that was: 

Firstly, team selection and formation: and there were to be no surprises for Pep, as Arteta elected to do exactly what he's done all season. Xhaka back in, but still more number 8 than number 6 as it turned out, thus leaving Partey exposed as the single pivot. There were many things that Arteta could have done, but he stuck to the tried and trusted; something that worked over the main course of the season, but has ceased to do since Saliba went out of the side.

For fans to recognise the problem of having Holding in the side, but for Arteta not to, is something of a concern. That he chose to leave Partey as the single pivot against vastly superior opposition than anything faced since Holding was reintroduced was, for me, bordering on negligent. Not that I'm having a go at Holding; as I've said before, he is what he is and we know his deficiencies. But for me Arteta did not make the necessary adjustments to help him and the rest of the side out. Partey, so comfortable with Saliba behind him, had struggled against West Ham and Southampton. So to ask him to take on the herculean task of doing two huge jobs against that opposition was asking for trouble. And it unsurprisingly proved beyond him.

And now to the match itself. And almost as soon as it started the problems were self-evident. Pep had played with his formation; thus throwing a lot of Arsenal's plans out of the window. The roles of Stones, De Bruyne and Haaland were all subtly different to what Arteta must have been anticipating, and the latter two in particular exposed both Partey and Holding almost immediately. 

After a relatively quiet start, City's first meaningful attack led to a goal. City beat the Arsenal press almost on their own goal line, and a single long ball did enough to lay waste to Arteta's plans. Holding didn't go in hard enough on Haaland - an early 'reducer' may have been in order - but the big problem was that Partey was left flat-footed by the Norwegian’s pass to De Bruyne. That split-second delay, as the Belgian ran into the space behind Holding and swiftly side-stepped Gabriel, with Partey trailing in his wake and Xhaka miles away from the play, was enough. Brilliant finish by De Bruyne, curling the ball around the flailing Ramsdale.

And from there on the pattern of play was established. What little confidence Arsenal had left was knocked out of them in one blow. They could barely lay a glove on City, who soon established themselves as completely different class. Men against boys, as they say. 

City pinged the ball around at will, as Arsenal huffed and puffed in vain. White blocked superbly after another brilliant Haaland/De Bruyne combination exposed the heart of the defence. De Bruyne then returned the favour, and Haaland forced another save out of Ramsdale. Haaland shot just wide after a single long ball up City's left to Grealish opened the defence up far too easily once more. Ramsdale saved a snap shot from Haaland with his feet. A single opportunity from outside the box for Partey was all that Arsenal could muster. It looked absolutely hopeless... but it remained just 1-0 until injury time when Partey clattered into Haaland 25 yards out. 

De Bruyne's beautifully flighted free kick landed on the head of Stones, who headed home but looked suspiciously offside (in fact, I'll take my conviction that he was offside to my grave!) - and the flag duly went up. The VAR nonetheless found an angle to show that White's boot was playing him onside. Clearly, White wears size 48 boots... I mean; look at this!

Look, it wouldn't have made any difference to the result. City were awesome. Magnificent. They could easily have been 5 goals ahead by half time. Arsenal found it impossible to press City effectively in any way. They continually failed to beat the City press and to get the ball out to Saka or Martinelli. And frankly they looked unable to string more than a couple of passes together. Like rabbits in headlights. But it was nonetheless, after getting so close to the whistle, absolutely demoralising for Arsenal to concede again right on the stroke of half time.

Half time, and time to regroup. And boy, was there a lot to do. But Arteta appeared to make no changes, although Arsenal at least competed... for a while. For on 54 minutes it was 3-0, and that was that. Odegaard gave the ball away really cheaply in midfield, De Bruyne flicked it on to Haaland and hared after him into the space vacated by Holding as he went to intercept the Norwegian's run. A simple ball back to De Bruyne, and another brilliant finish. And I momentarily toyed with switching the television off...

And at this point some Arsenal players started to lose their heads. Thereby showing more passion than they'd shown in and around the ball. Xhaka (inevitably), White and especially Partey failing to cover themselves in glory as they found the only way they could respond to the utter dominance of City. Unseemly. 

The introduction of substitutes soon after started to disrupt City's rhythm, and actually helped Arsenal's, and for maybe 10 minutes - and especially after Holding hammered home Trossard's pass following a corner - the remotest chance of a comeback looked on. 

But it was short-lived, frankly; and Haaland got his inevitable goal late on as Mahrez exposed the left side of the Arsenal defence to feed the beast. 4-1 felt like we'd got off light.

Look, they're very good - and they were awesome on this night. Surely the best club side at the moment, and - should they go on and win the Champions League this season - possible the greatest ever. Haaland is clearly the missing piece in the jigsaw, and his signing was the reason why Pep was happy to sell Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal. Good grief - he let Sterling and Zinchenko go as well; and they improved!

As for Arsenal... well, I've talked about why they couldn't compete. But going through the performances man by man I'll say this:

Ramsdale - continually left exposed. Let in 4 goals but I'll still give him 6/10

White - had to work hard alongside Holding, and up against Grealish. Just 4.5/10

Holding - Holding is Holding. 4/10

Gabriel - exposed continually by onrushing forwards. 4/10

Zinchenko - fazed by being back at The Etihad. Anonymous. 3/10

Partey - I felt sorry for him; continually left exposed by the system Arteta deployed, but nonetheless is starting to look leggy at this stage of the season. 3/10

Xhaka - almost invisible. 3/10

Odegaard - a disgraceful performance. Anonymous. Barely raised a canter. Gave away the ball for the third goal. 2/10

Martinelli - Tried hard but hardly saw the ball. 5/10

Saka - ditto. 5/10

Jesus - like Zinchenko, seemed totally overawed by the occasion. 2.5/10

Subs; I'll give Trossard, Nelson and ESR all 6/10. They made a little bit of difference, even if City had taken their foot off the gas at that stage.

And Mikel Arteta? If I say that he didn't cover himself in glory, that would be an understatement. Out-thought pre-match. Made no allowances for what his team were up against. Failed to adapt as the game developed. The apprentice has a lot to learn from his master. A hell of a lot. But this is not to say that he hasn't had a brilliant season in leading Arsenal to where they are. Yes, he's made (rookie) mistakes, and must surely learn from them. To use some motoring metaphors, he and his team have led the others a merry dance for long stretches down the motorway whilst others have spluttered - I'm looking at you, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham! - but have unfortunately started to run out of petrol at precisely the wrong time and as a sky blue juggernaut has hit top gear.

If there's any small consolation to take from the evening, it's that Champions League football is mathematically assured now. This summer must be the time to grow and upgrade the squad. He should know that he needs a right back or right-sided centre back, a left back (should he choose to let Tierney go), a number 6 AND a number 8, right wing cover for Saka; and he has some big decisions to make at centre forward.

Meantime, his team have to prime themselves to pounce in the unlikely event of a massive City banana skin or two, and to ensure that they finish in second place. Chelsea next; chalk and cheese, as they say. There is no more out of form side in the Premier League. Arsenal need to take their frustration out on them.

Oh Arsenal we love you! COYG.