A Tale Of Two Dispossessions

First of all; a disclaimer. I am fortunate to have a season ticket. My blogs are based on what I observe at the ground from block 17. I do not read blogs, listen to podcasts or even watch match analysis on television before writing these pieces. My thoughts are all arrived at independently of whatever is being said elsewhere. 

The only thing I will do before I write these posts is watch the 5-minute highlight reel on arsenal.com. I wouldn't want anybody to think that I'm merely re-hashing what other people may be saying. Saying that; this piece is out a day later than I'd like - my computer does not get used on Yom Kippur, as my time is spent either in Synagogue or in quiet reflection. But anyway; here we go:

I've got a few headlines to run through on the back of what on the face of it was a disappointing 2-2 draw with The Old Enemy. They are as follows:

• Tottenham are a lot better than I thought they were
• For once, I disagreed strongly with Arteta's choice of starting XI
• The Raya/Ramsdale debate
• Injuries played a distinct part in the result of this match
• Taking chances - do Arsenal need a centre forward?
• Giving away sloppy goals at home; this has to stop!

Along with Paul Merson, I was expecting Arsenal to win this game. However, a number of factors started to change my thinking as game time approached. Firstly, the news that the in-form Leandro Trossard had suffered a training injury, meaning that Arteta's first choice replacement for Gabriel Martinelli was also unavailable. Secondly, the slightly depressing news that both Cedric and Elneny had made it to the Arsenal bench; lack of depth and it appeared that Arsenal were already getting perilously close to an injury crisis in mid-September! 

And then there was Arteta's starting XI. After Wednesday, I'd been hoping/expecting to see Gabriel Jesus restored up top in place of Nketiah, with Vieira posted out wide left and Havertz at left 8. The key, for me, was to hope to see the chaos that Jesus might inflict on the rash Romero and the raw Van Der Ven. It was something of a surprise and disappointment to see both Jesus and Nketiah named in the starting XI, and no Havertz. 

Now I've got nothing against Eddie Nketiah. He has done a good job - in shortish bursts - for the team, and scored some crucial goals, but his effectiveness does tend to wane after maybe 5 or 6 starts. He's not of sufficient quality to be making consistent starts for a title-challenging squad. He's Premier League level, for sure, but he's not elite; and I just felt that there were better alternatives available to Arteta for this particular game. As it turned out, Eddie was a little on his heels throughout the game, and was fortunate to last the 90 minutes; firstly by somehow not being substituted, but also for a late, reckless challenge on the goalkeeper that could easily have seen worse punishment than a yellow card.

And so to the game itself. And it's clear that their new Manager has made Tottenham a considerably better side almost immediately. For starters, he's actually letting them play some football! They have some decent players, and are clearly an entirely different proposition to the past few years. Which is, in its way, quite amusing. Just imagine if Levy had have employed a Manager who got them playing like this whilst Harry Kane was still with them. What a missed opportunity!

But it was still clear to me that Arsenal remain ahead on a level playing field in any direct comparison. The chances that were created early on were in the Tottenham box, and with a bit of fortune it could have been 2-0 before Arsenal did finally take the lead. Jesus's effort from a tight angle (from a glorious ball from Saka) was well saved by Vicario and then Eddie, set free by a Tottenham mistake, would have done better to pull the ball back to Vieira than shoot directly at the keeper from, again, a tight angle.

When Arsenal did take the lead, it was well-deserved as they were on top. Saka had already forced Udogie onto a booking, so the defender had to try to manage the situation as Starboy picked the ball up on the right. White's overlapping run drew another defender, and Saka cut in to shoot. As it turned out, the ball would have gone wide, but for the intervention of a stray Tottenham knee which sent the ball flying in the opposite direction to that the goalkeeper was diving in. 1-0, and me jumping up and down saying: 'I really hope that was Romero!' Because I don't like him at all - and it was indeed the violent little Argentine who was responsible; so almost double the pleasure for me!

And now we can move on to the goalkeeper debate. Because Tottenham finally created a decent chance, and frankly Johnson should have done better with his attempt on goal. But his somewhat tentative effort was in the only place that Raya, flying back across his goal from near towards far post, could have saved it. It looked really spectacular, and indeed it was. If just a tad on the lucky side.

But that was by far the most impressive thing Raya did all day. For the first equaliser, his was one of several mistakes that Arsenal made to concede. I must, however, heap praise on that annoying little toe rag Maddison - who I've not forgiven for diving and getting Ainsley Maitland-Niles sent off a few years ago - for a lovely clipped ball - with back spin! - over the top to free Kulucevski. Raya merely flapped at Sarr's deep cross instead of dealing with it properly, Rice's clearing header wasn't decisive enough, Toe Rag turned Saka the wrong way and crossed from the by-line where Son somehow got a deft flick to the ball somewhere between the despairing efforts of no less than three defenders. Annoying! And especially just before half time. Although it had, to be fair, been coming.

In between the two goals, however, came the moment that defined the match for me. Maddison (aka Toe Rag) dallied on the ball on the edge of his own area and was robbed by Jesus. Having done the difficult bit, the Brazilian could only blaze a shot over the bar. A bad miss, in any game and under any circumstances, having created the chance for himself, and I reckon that at 2-0 that would have been Game Over. But when Tottenham had a similar opportunity in the second half, they took it. A tale of two dispossessions... and yet another sloppy goal given away at a time of vulnerability. This has to be excised from the psyche of the Arsenal players immediately. Enough now!

And so to the question that's once more going to be rearing its ugly head yet again. With Jesus not as clinical as we'd hope - for all his other attributes - and Nketiah not good enough to succeed in the upper echelons of the Premier League, do Arsenal need to buy a centre forward? The talk is once again of Ivan Toney. Here's somebody who I believe has the right characteristics to do well for us. But whether his chequered history will put Arteta off remains to be seen. He's certainly likely to be the most available PL centre forward in January. Maybe Eddie could go the other way? Otherwise, we'll be wating until the summer and for somebody like Ohsimen? It's sooner rather than later for me...

As for the rest of Raya's game; well, the narrative has been that the reason that Arteta may prefer him to Ramsdale is because his kicking is of a higher standard. Well, it hadn't really been so on Wednesday and there was evidence here that, under pressure and in the cauldron of an NLD, he couldn't cope. His distribution was no better, and probably worse than, that of Ramsdale. I, for one, was very disappointed at his failure to live up to the hype. Ramsdale will surely be back on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. On Saturday, we shall see...

1-1 at half time. And then the shock news of two Arsenal substitutions. One, that of Vieira, came as no surprise, as he'd be knocked from pillar to post in the heart of a competitive midfield battle. But the second change, that of Jorginho for Rice, did not bode well. Rice has a back injury, apparently, although it's supposedly not serious. Let's hope not, because with Partey also out I don't fancy the thought of Jorginho playing the full 90 minutes in back to back games twice a week.

But, before the Jorginho mistake that turned the game on its head, Arsenal re-took the lead from the penalty spot. For me, despite all the discussion around the VAR check for handball, it was an absolute no-brainer for any referee. The ball strikes the hand of Romero (yes - excellent news - him again) from White's shot and irrespective of whether his hand and arm are in a natural position or not the ball is heading for the back of the net without the interruption. Stone bonk for me. And Saka chipped the ball down the recently vacated centre of Vicario's goal for 2-1. There was also the question of whether Romero could have been sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. But that got lost in the euphoria, I think.

But, barely had we sat down, when the scores were level again. Jorginho dwelt on the ball 25 yards out - directly from the kick-off - tried a trick in order to escape the twin threats of Toe Rag and Son, and the former robbed him before feeding the latter, whose finish was quite sublime. Heads in hands all over the stadium...

Look, it can happen to anybody - but for me if Rice - who had straddled the midfield like a colossus in the first half - had played the entire game there is little doubt that Arsenal would have won the game comfortably. And as it happens, Arsenal had much the best of the rest of the encounter without creating too much - one decent chance for Havertz which he blasted high, wide and not very handsome being the best opportunity, perhaps - and Tottenham created little in the last half hour. 

One of two of the substitutions took me by surprise. Big Ange took off Son and Maddison and replaced them with Richarlison and Hojbjerg - very much settling for the draw - but the choice of Jesus to be replaced by Nelson, and not Nketiah, was not greeted warmly by the supporters. I can only assume that the Brazilian is still not deemed fit to last a full 90 minutes.

And so we had to settle for 2-2. Judging by the noise coming out from the other end of the Seven Sisters Road, this 2-2 scoreline is the biggest 2-2 they've had since the one they achieved in 2004 when Arsenal won the league at the old ground! Bizarre. But it's fair to say that Tottenham are going to do better this season than we'd hope.

Here's the thing: (whisper this quietly) I quite like this Postecoglou guy. He seems a decent, grounded, sensible bloke, who wants his teams to play decent football. I can only hope that his players start to let him down on a consistent level in the very near future. But with no European football and not even the Carabao Cup to get in their way, and with Bentancur on his way back soon, I can see them challenging for a Top 4 spot throughout the season. Especially with Manchester United looking disjointed and Chelsea, hysterically, in complete and utter disarray.

This post has been long enough without me even mentioning - let alone going into any detail - Arsenal's Champions League return on Wednesday. Suffice it to say that it went exactly as we'd have hoped! And that's all I've time for on that without adding another 1000 words...

And so we move on. Blighted by injury - and let's hope that those to Rice, Vieira and, most worryingly, Bukayo Saka, are not too serious. Because it's two games a week for the foreseeable future. The big bright spot of the weekend was the sending-off of Rodri and his subsequent three-match ban which means he will miss the game at The Emirates on October 8th. No Rodri and no De Bruyne - perhaps this is our chance in what - now that Arsenal are already 4 points behind Manchester City - is a Must Win game.

COYG!