If You Want Entertainment...

Well, a win is - at the end of the day - a win. But it was difficult to feel entertained by this narrow, if comfortable, victory over a limited Ipswich Town. This was, in fact, the second home game in a row in which Arsenal really struggled to impose themselves on a low block - and this is a problem that Mikel Arteta is going to need to solve pretty quickly, as more and more managers cotton on to how to contain and frustrate the Gunners. If you want entertainment in North London, you need to pop up the road to N17; although you'll need blood pressure medication. At The Emirates, however, it can often be quite tedious, I'm afraid to say. Your choice - do you want to see your team win, or do you want to suffer the agony that That Lot would put you through?

The choice of line-up was no surprise to me. I got it spot on - Martinelli on the right in place of the injured Saka, and with Jesus in red hot form Havertz into a fluid 'left 8' role. Declan Rice, with his extra mobility, was preferred to Thomas Partey at the base of midfield. There was the opportunity to rest and rotate, I guess, but as often is the case Arteta was taking no risks. Interesting to note, by the way, that with no less than 4 possible alternatives sitting on the bench it was once again 18-year-old Miles Lewis-Skelly who made the starting XI. And the lad did well; showing deceptive strength in the tackle against bigger and older men.

For Ipswich Omari Hutchinson, who had turned down a contract offer from Arsenal a couple of years ago to go to Chelsea, who then loaned him out to Ipswich; where he made an excellent contribution in The Championship last season following which he made a permanent move to Suffolk, this was justification for the move. He's now playing regularly in the Premier League, and despite not having a brilliant game was comfortably The Tractor Boys' biggest threat on the night. This despite being frequently booed by the home crowd. Good luck to him, I say!

Following a first-minute scare - there was one in both halves in fact - Arsenal soon took over and pushed Ipswich into a very low block indeed. But it was low tempo stuff, very much reminiscent of the Everton game but this time with none of the extra ingenuity offered by Bukayo Saka, and we were back to watching what I call 'umbrella passing'; side to side with little or no variation. Painful to sit and watch, to be honest, with Ipswich looking fairly comfortable as they compressed the space. It was only when Arsenal tried something a bit different - a long ball over the top from Raya to Jesus, or a driving run into the heart of the defence from Jurrien Timber - when anything exciting looked like happening. 

Finally, following 23 minutes of very little happening, Trossard went on the outside of the right back instead of cutting back inside or laying the ball back to MLS, and from close to the goal line played an inviting cross across the 6-yard box, where Havertz was loitering with intent and crashed the ball into the top of the net. 

Thank goodness! - and now surely Ipswich would look to come out and play a bit? Well, not really; although they at least pushed their block a bit further up the field and Arsenal found themselves pushed back by 20-30 yards, despite continuing to have almost all the possession. There was very little to show for it all the way up to half-time - one decent long-range effort from Rice and a superbly deft finish from Gabriel Jesus from a ludicrously tight angle that unfortunately came from a run that took him marginally offside being pretty much it. By which time, with little to keep them entertained, most of the crowd had made their way gratefully into the concourses for a beer.

Second half, and Ipswich did come out to play a bit more. They won a couple of free kicks from decent positions, and even a corner or two. And what this did to an extent was to create a little more space for Arsenal to exploit. One excellent run from Havertz led to a corner from which Big Gabby is surely still wondering how he didn't score. 

The introduction of Merino for Jesus made something of a difference for Arsenal, who  looked in better shape as a result, and whilst they remained comfortable for the rest of the game it wasn't scintillating stuff to say the least; an upturn in tempo from Odegaard, who had a fine second period, being the main - indeed only - highlights of the second 45 minutes. One slalom dribble deserved to be rewarded by a goal, but Muric tipped the Norwegian's shot over the bar. And from that corner Odegaard's cross found Rice 12 yards out, the latter's crisp and goal-bound volley blocked despairingly by a defender. A late curled effort from Merino could have made the game completely safe, but Muric got down to push the effort away. And that, frankly, was all the excitement to report. 

And so, with little controversy to report, I'll jump onto a new bandwagon. One that I do occasionally bring up, and one that drives this old curmudgeon mad. And it's this: I am sick and tired of endlessly having to get up and down in my seat to accommodate people in my row who arrive late, leave 5+ minutes before half-time for a beer and come back 7 minutes into the second half. Or cannot control their bladders. And this happens in every row, so we're having to get up and down as the same thing happens one, two, three rows in front of us. And people take no notice of any action that may be taking place; wandering down the aisles as a corner or free kick is being taken and blocking peoples' views. People around me are fed up of hearing my patented phrase; 'It's OK - I didn't want to see that bit anyway.' The stewards are useless, frankly - indeed, I once got told off by a steward when I got back 30 seconds late due to a long queue at the urinals when I said I wanted to wait for a break in play: 'I can't have you blocking the entrance, sir'. I mean, FFS! For me, theatre rules should apply. If you're late, you have to either wait for a long break in play to go to your seat, or watch on the screens. Especially the serial offenders who you can set your watch by; always 15 minutes late! As I often say: 'If the game started at 3.30am, she'd get here at 3.45!' I'm fed up with it!!! What do you think, guys? Does this behaviour ruin your enjoyment like it ruins mine? 

Right; now I've got that off my chest we can look forward to watching everyone else play before us yet again. At least the players get a few extra days rest before visiting injury-ravaged Brentford on Wednesday. 

We've also heard from Bukayo Saka, who’s messaged us from his hospital bed. Get well soon, Starboy; we need you!

COYG!

Jesus Is Resurrected - Plus Some Really Bad News

I've waited to write this piece until we had some idea of the extent of the injury suffered by Starboy on Saturday. We need, of course, to think about the implications of that; but there is plenty to discuss from the Palace game even without that. I'd also like you to join me in having a damn good laugh at both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who are both having a terrible time at the moment. Oh, and I almost forgot the continuing woes of Manchester City. But I digress...

Interesting team news from Selhurst Park, with a clear indication that Arteta had taken the handbrake off for this one. It was inevitable that Jesus would start after his midweek hat-trick against the same opposition, as the Manager accommodated Havertz in the side by taking one defensive-minded midfielder out of the side. So, with Rice deemed not fit enough to start, it was Partey at the base of midfield and a dynamic front 5 of Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Jesus and Martinelli ahead of him. An interesting selection, and one that will be occupying Arteta's mind going forward.

Yes, there was an extra zip up front as Arsenal - as usual - dominated possession; this time moving the ball more swiftly and thus putting real pressure on the Palace back line. But when they lost the ball... suddenly, a soft underbelly was clear for all to see. Partey isn't the most mobile of players, as we know, and he was exposed on several occasions as the likes of Saar ran beyond him and directly at Saliba and Gabriel. It was also interesting to note how less assured the central defenders looked without a shield in front of them. 

They sat a little deeper. Saliba made a wrong decision not to engage Saar that led directly to Palace's equaliser and also lost the ball to Saar in an extremely dangerous position, with only a superb point blank save from Raya preventing a second Palace goal. Gabriel was then booked for pulling Saar's shirt - the Senegalese was causing an awful lot of problems to Arsenal.

At the other end, Arsenal scored no less than three times before half-time. Goal Machine Gabriel Jesus with two - one an absolute beauty curled right into the top corner of the net from the edge of the area following a corner - and a third from Havertz, who couldn't miss as he followed up a Jesus header that rebounded off of a post. 

Gabriel also hit the bar with a header from - guess what - a corner. It doesn't seem to matter what the opposition do to defend corners - Palace, like Monaco before them, left three players up - Nicolas Jover seems to have an answer.

But here's the dilemma for Arteta. Does he sacrifice an element of control by player an extra attacker, or does he revert to a more cautious system with a second more defensive midfielder in the side. It's a delicate balance, and one that should surely be based on the opposition's ability to threaten. Arsenal are always likely to dominate and outscore the likes of Palace, but I certainly wouldn't want to see it against the likes of Brighton, let alone Liverpool. It's a difficult one.

So 3-1 to Arsenal at half time. But despite the entertainment the most significant moment had occurred as early as the 23rd minute, when Saka sat himself down following a run and cross, and signalled that he needed to come off. He limped off extremely slowly - much to the annoyance of Palace (Lacroix ran across to remonstrate) - but it's clearly serious as he left the ground on crutches, and initial suggestions are that we may not see him again until March. That is very bad news indeed, and he'll miss some really important matches.

There's no point in dwelling on whether Arteta has 'over-played' Starboy - he does seem to feature all the time, though. What's more important is how the Manager adjusts the line-up to compensate. With Sterling likely to miss his moment due to his own injury (he'd hardly excelled himself in midweek to be fair), the alternatives are not obvious. Perhaps Arteta will take a leaf out of Arsene Wenger's book and play a promising young player slightly out of position in order to give him an appreciation of what that role means (I vividly remember him doing that with Aaron Ramsey). In this case, I'm talking about Ethan Nwaneri. The alternatives would be Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz or Jesus out there. We shall see. We know that Arteta likes his wingers to cut inside and get involved with their number 8s; of the afore-mentioned foursome only Havertz is left-footed. But so is Nwaneri. This will be fascinating.

Palace continued to cause problems early in the second half, and could have pulled back to parity as Raya kept them at bay with two fine saves. Both centre backs were curiously both under par at the same time (it's the loss of a shield ahead of them, I'm sure - and that'll concern Arteta). and it took a fourth goal to finally take the wind out of their sails. By which time Arteta had reacted by bringing Rice (and the returning Califiori) on - and whilst Dec was on to give more solidity to the midfield the space he was able to find pushing forward in the left 8 role led to an assist for Martinelli (Jesus missed a sitter seconds before, thus denying one of my mates a decent pick-up at the bookies on his 70/1 bet for the Brazilian to notch a second successive hat trick), and then a goal of his own to make it 5 - curling the ball into the far corner as he ran on to Califiori's neat pass. But as Palace coach Glasner said afterwards: 'Give Arsenal a crumb and they take the whole cake!'

So 5-1; and thank you very much for that. But I can't let this post pass by without having another dig at the officials. In this case referee Hooper, who appeared to have his priorities all wrong throughout. He warned Raya about time-wasting at a goal kick as early as the 19th minute (which other club suffers such treatment?). He booked Timber for taking a few seconds too long at a throw in, in the 35th minute (again, find me an instance of any other club being treated like that). Lewis-Skelly tried to steal a few yards at another throw (nobody else ever does that, do they?) - and Hooper chose to award the throw the other way by means of punishment. But when Clyne went through Califiori from behind, with undue force and virtually standing on his ankle, it was merely a yellow card - the same punishment meted out to Timber for delaying a throw in. The officious little pr*ck!

Anyway, on to happier things. City lost at Villa - that's now just one win in their past 11 matches. They've lost their aura, and are having no luck whatsoever. About time... United contrived - having lost 4-3 at Tottenham in the League Cup - to go down 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. New Manager bounce? They're languishing in 13th place in the table.  

And as for Tottenham! Look, we all wanted them to do us a favour against Liverpool, but one thing you can rely on is not being able to rely on Tottenham (I still wake up some nights sweating at the memory of Son's miss against City last season). Decimated by injuries, it was always unlikely that they were going to get anything from the game; but in managing to concede no less than 6 goals - and it could easily have been more - well, you just have to laugh. They have forwards who don't work hard out of possession, a weak defensive midfield with Bissouma a total liability, and had three of their 4 defenders playing out of position. And have no discernible tactics... interestingly, though, they did score three times; thus giving hope that Liverpool will leak goals at inopportune moments as the season goes on. But as an early Christmas gift you can't beat watching Spurs getting battered. #AngeIn

The gap to Chelsea was closed as they - like Arsenal - only managed a goalless draw with Everton (now there's a team that's fun to watch...). And so we move on to a home game with Ipswich Town (which ought to be routine) and then two tricky away ties - at Brentford and Brighton. Without Saka. Not insurmountable, but the margin for error gets smaller with every passing match day. One thing looks pretty sure; Arsenal are going to have to go to Anfield and beat Liverpool.

Anyway, we move on 'with hope in our hearts'. I'd like to wish those who celebrate either a Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah, and I'll see you on the other side. Somebody nonetheless needs to have a quick chat with Gabriel Jesus - his timing may seem off as he's resurrected himself for the wrong festival... If we stick to 'reborn', then he's OK.

COYG!

Lack Of Spark Means More Dropped Points

If there was ever a day to chant 'Boring Boring Arsenal', then Saturday's lacklustre display at home to Everton was very much on the list. A thoroughly uninspired and unexciting performance meant for a drab draw against extremely limited and unadventurous opposition. And if there was ever an illustration of the limitations of this current squad it was laid bare for all to see.

Bizarrely, If you'd have merely watched the highlights on Match Of The Day you'd have thought that Arsenal had battered Everton; done everything they could except score. But it looked and felt anything like that in the ground. Despite 77% possession, a season's record 682 passes (and 92% accuracy) and 8 corners to 2 (the first conceded in three games, by the way), this was as sterile a performance as it could be. Sure, Everton  were fresher as they hadn't played for a fortnight, with Arsenal having had three matches in that time, but even so...

Just 13 shots in the entire match, despite the overwhelming possession. Only 5 of them on target. And an xG of just 1.22. On the rare occasions they did get a sight of Pickford's goal, he was able to defy them. Or rather; Arsenal didn't make enough of the few clear-cut chances they created.

He's a funny one, that Jordan Pickford. Looks clumsy. Terrible with the ball at his feet. Often caught out of position or on his heels. Yet capable of making some great saves and - somehow - England's Number One. Bizarre. But let's get back to a bit of analysis.

It was clear from the Everton line-up what they were going to set out to do. Three defensive midfielders, and two trolls at centre half. Little in the way of ingenuity, and just Calvert-Lewin up front; to whom they lumped the ball frequently.

As far as Arsenal were concerned, at least Arteta saw the sense of popping Timber back to right back, as MLS made his first Premier League start. Gabriel fit enough to take the place of Kivior. The supposed 'dream' midfield of Rice, Odegaard, Merino finally on the field together. Martinelli preferred to Trossard. But - and this turned out to be crucial - no place from the start for Thomas Partey.

And it all felt a bit off from early on. The first chance of the game fell to Everton when Doucoure - who had all the time in the world to shoot from the left of the penalty area, managed to take so long to get the shot off that Gabriel could sprint 20 yards and fling himself in front of it. And that was actually the last opportunity that the away side had. 

The best chances did fall to Arsenal - mainly the skipper - but he/they either failed to trouble Pickford (one chance had the goalkeeper rooted to his line as the ball sped wide of an upright) or found him in good enough form to keep the ball out. Saka was inevitably the main threat; and frankly the only consistent one, as too many players had off days. It was he who had the best chance; Pickford throwing himself down to his left to keep Starboy's first time shot out.

It was painful to watch. 682 passes, but so much of it was in front of Everton. Pass. One touch. Another touch. Pass. And repeat… The old and detested 'umbrella football' was back on show as Arsenal shifted the ball from side to side but failed to even attempt to penetrate the massed ranks of blue shirts. It was slow, ponderous, agonising. The ball was moved more slowly at times than it is in my weekly game of Walking Football. Not a great advertisement for Arteta-ball, I'm afraid.

Havertz was quiet. Martinelli ineffective. Merino almost invisible. Odegaard nowhere near his best. And so it was inevitable that Arteta would look to try to change things up. But, if anything, the changes made things even worse. There was simply no need to have 4 defenders out there against such an unambitious low block, but he left all 4 on until very late. Odegaard the first to be replaced; along with Declan Rice. Thus removing much of the guile and a lot of the drive in one fell swoop. The substitutes fared no better - indeed probably worse - than those they replaced. Trossard was off his game. Nwaneri got a full half hour but failed to make any impression; but it's wrong to expect a 17-year-old to be the saviour. Jesus was almost non-existent; failing to act as a focal point at any stage. Jorginho is not the answer when you're chasing a goal. Raheem Sterling didn't even make it off the bench. 

It was only Partey who made much of a difference. Some clever passing, and one driving run into the penalty area saw him sandwiched between two defenders. I've seen them given... to City and Liverpool, but not to Arsenal. Frankly, apart from the Ghanaian, Arteta's substitutions actually made things even worse! Yes, he was decisive. But he was also wrong this time. The chances dried up, and Everton were really quite comfortable.

The thing is this; if you have so much of the ball in front of such an unambitious low block, you have to try something different. Looped balls over the top. Get round the sides. Get players close together around the box and try to work triangles. Not just pass the ball across and back again. too slowly to make a difference. Entice them out. They could just sit and sit and sit; and that's exactly what they did. It was agonising to watch.

As I said up top, this match illustrated what is clearly lacking in the Arsenal squad at the moment. Ingenuity, pace, and a quick and aggressive centre forward to mix things up a bit. These were needless dropped points, and Arteta must know that he needs to take action in January. As it turns out, this squad feels weaker than the squads of the past two years, with a number of players well below their best; Zinchenko, Jesus and Sterling have been very disappointing, and none of the new signings have yet been able to make a proper mark.

And so we move on. It's a marathon, as we know, and there's still a long way to go. Meantime, we can take consolation in the demise of Manchester City, who have now won an unprecedented one game in their last 10. Sacked in the morning?...

Two matches against Palace this week (hi, Eddie). League Cup followed by a Premier League game. The second of which is far more important. Let's try to keep the faith.

COYG!

The Fulham Bogey Strikes Again

Fulham 1 Arsenal 1. More points dropped to our latest 'bogey team'. Was it one of those days? Or was there more to it? 

Let's take a closer look. And firstly at the starting XI, which saw Timber at left back in the continued absence of Califiori, Kivior continuing to deputise for the injured Gabriel, and Partey taken out of midfield to cover for Timber at right back. Jorginho into midfield. Trossard preferred to Martinelli. 

And questions can immediately be asked, frankly, about this. We have been able to see what a fit Thomas Partey adds to the team. Much to our collective surprise, he has remained fit for longer than at any time in his Arsenal career, and as a consequence of this long sequence of matches has performed at a consistently high level. In midfield. 

Partey can do an adequate job at right back, but when in possession tends to look to move infield as opposed to offering overlapping options to Saka and Odegaard. Timber (and Ben White) can do either/both. Partey is far more effective in midfield, where he can put his close control and top level ball distribution to full effect.

Arteta's decision to shift Timber over to left back - made because he has the option to use Partey on the right - even though (despite injuries to Califiori, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu) he had Lewis-Skelly and even Kieran Tierney on the bench - meant moving too many pieces of the jigsaw around. As a result, the balance of the side was affected and something was lost in the middle of the park. I don't want to see Partey at right back again unless the situation is desperate.

 Unusually, Fulham manager Marco Silva had changed both formation and style, moving from a more open and expansive style of play to - with Lukic drafted into midfield alongside Sander Berge - one designed for defensive mobility. His teams tend to do well against Arsenal (a win and a draw last season, for example), and here he had read the situation well once more. 

Not that you'd have noticed early on in the game, when Arsenal completely dominated the ball for the first 10 minutes. As far as Fulham were concerned, it looked like being an extremely long afternoon as they hardly had a kick for fully 10 minutes. But they scored with their very first attack. And whilst I hated it, I had to admire it. Their first proper bit of possession, and they made the most of it, with almost every player getting a touch of the ball. Then Jimenez found Tete and went off on a sprint. I'm apportioning no blame to Kivior, who was outpaced and out-manoeuvred by the brilliance of Jimenez's movement as he sprinted onto Tete's through ball and took Raya on early. Saliba was a split second too late getting over to block, and Raya had left the very far corner of his net exposed. Jimenez hit that exact spot.

Now, the stats for the match show Arsenal with 67% possession, 6 corners to 0, 12 shots to two, and Fulham scoring with their only shot on target (out of that grand total of two). But, to be honest, despite all that possession Arsenal simply didn't make enough of it. Too much of it was in front of Fulham, who held Arsenal comfortably at bay for the most part. Saka was once more the most effective attacker, but it does feel that there's a lack of sufficient creativity in the team.

And so, whilst it was 'all Arsenal', it felt like there was something missing. It's impossible to expect to rely on Odegaard and Saka at all times. Trossard flashes in and out. Havertz another who blows hot and cold. And the left 8 position remains a problem, with Rice not a good enough alternative going forward to make that his own, and new signing Merino actually something of a Rice clone. 

As regards the alternatives sitting on the bench, both Jesus and Sterling have been bitterly disappointing so far, and there's only the potentially brilliant Nwaneri in whom Arteta seems to have much trust. The departures of both ESR - ineffective in this game for Fulham tbh - and Vieira has left Arsenal short in the creativity department.  Whilst the squad looked strong enough on paper at the beginning of the season, it remains to be seen what plans Arsenal have for the January window; although I cannot see them buying a winger, a centre forward and a creative player - all required - but something needs to be done.

And so of the 12 shots - only 4 on target - none held particularly high Xg tariffs, apart from for the goal (Saliba's second in two matches as he steps up to take the place of the injured Gabriel; but Havertz should be embarrassed to have failed to hit the target himself from all of 4 yards), and the extremely presentable opportunity that Partey missed. Both - please note - from corners. And so it's quite simple; not enough is being created from open play, and a key needs to be found to that. Although it's worth arguing that they get all these corners because they force them by dominating possession, and they score from so many of them because of the quality they have developed at them.

It's not that Arsenal aren't a very good side. But they can - and must - be even  better; and it's clear where they can be better. In this game, Fulham's Xg of a mere 0.16 yielded a crucial goal. Arsenal's 2.03 yielded just the equaliser. And at the end of the day it's kudos to Fulham, whose hard work paid off.

Of course, it's easy to say all this in hindsight. Had Saka's late header from Martinelli's cross stood, we'd all be saying: 'Phew! Got there in the end, but we deserved it on the balance of play.'  But Martinelli had strayed just offside on the build-up, and that was that. Offside is objective, and he was a bit unlucky to be caught as two Fulham players moved up at the very last moment to catch him. Pity; it was very nice play from Martinelli - apart from the obvious. - and a well-timed run and finish from Starboy

Nonetheless, this was a better result than that achieved at Craven Cottage last season, so we can thank small mercies for that amidst the angst. And it is worth noting that we're in the midst of a slightly easier run of league games, and comparing results to last season's for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City for all remaining matches reveals that Arsenal will remain ahead of City, and overtake Liverpool. Let's hang our hats on that as we crane our necks upwards to try to find Liverpool.

Before I look forward to the two matches this week, I just wanted to take a moment to laugh at Manchester United; and especially at Tottenham Hotspur. A home defeat for United is always fun, and I'm sure that the size of the task facing Amorim is becoming very clear to him. As for Spurs, this is another two goal lead blown; they are making quite a habit of it. The only unfortunate thing is that it was Chelsea who benefitted. Meantime, City also dropped points, which is always handy.

And so to the Champions League, and a home game with Monaco - who are only behind us in the CL table on goal difference. This is by far the most difficult of Arsenal's three remaining fixtures, and a win in this one will go a long way to cementing the club's place in the Top 8. Any win would do me, but I suspect that it won't be easy. Monaco have already beaten Barcelona this season, and you'll certainly recognise several of their players on Wednesday.

Then, on Saturday, it's Everton. And - in all seriousness - they are awful, so we can probably expect a relatively easy ride there. 9 points out of 9 are critical in this series of matches - Everton, Palace, Ipswich. Let's get it done.

Believe. There's no reason not to. COYG!

Set Piece Again - Ole Ole!

Whilst Manchester United are currently something of an irrelevance when it comes to title talk, I am reminded once a season of why I cannot - and never will - abide their bombastic, self-aggrandising supporters. They've currently got literally nothing to live off apart from history (illustrious as that may be), and they are so far away from recapturing those days that a home game against Yanited these days has nothing like the intensity of matches against the likes of Liverpool and Citeh. Except... to hear those fans and their ludicrous chanting about events that occurred two generations ago makes my blood boil; so much that I wanted to see them humiliated as soon as I started to hear their inane drivel as I walked over the bridge to the stadium at 7.30pm. 

When the game itself started, it took them all of 5 minutes to start the Vieira chant; reliving an event that took place fully a quarter of a century ago. Since Feguson left, they've been in a rut, so past glories is all their fans cling to. Mainly their Golden Season, 1998-99 (which of course all revolved around a single missed penalty). I promise you that I will circle back to 1999 later. Just to prove a point. 

So what of the game itself? Well, loads of rotation from Amorim as he tries to work out if he's got even 11 players of sufficient quality to put out on the field. But the big concern - remembering how the left hand side of Arsenal's defence was caught out by Liverpool a few weeks ago - was the loss to injury of both Gabriel and Califiori. Whether United had the personnel to take advantage of that was another matter, but there was concern at the news that Kivior and Zinchenko were both starting.

The first half was cagey, to say the least. United were forced to defend for much of it, and showed little or nothing going forward. Apart from an early Martinelli goal disallowed for an obvious Havertz offside, Arsenal had two excellent chances to go ahead; both from corners; Partey bundling the ball just wide, and Martinelli firing high and wide from 10 yards out when he should have done better. United's only sniff at goal in the entire period was a Dalot shot that flashed across the goal following a free kick. Of course, the threat from corners was a) well-known and b) a sign of things to come. And I suppose that what needs saying is if you don't want to come under pressure from corners, don't sit deep and invite the opposition on to you, because the more they attack, the more likely they are to win corners.

For Arsenal, the returning Partey was bossing the midfield alongside a back-to-his-best Declan Rice - this was unquestionably the latter's best performance of the season so far. Partey himself was finding loads of room, and playing his trademark lofted passes to release Arsenal's forward players. Elsewhere, Garnacho was ineffective and Hojlund got nothing out of either Saliba or Kivior. Odegaard was obliged to take up some different positions to normal on the right - coming a lot deeper at times as United sat deep and he looked to draw them out - whilst the only area of doubt was the dilemma posed by the interesting positions that Mount was taking up on United’s right when their three centre halves looked to build up play; bisecting Zinchenko and Martinelli.

So 0-0 at half time; and we knew that Arsenal could play better than they had done. I doubt that the news from St James’s Park that Liverpool had let in a late goal to draw will have been too much in the players’ minds - they had their own job to do irrespective. But it certainly affected the crowd. 

And it was soon clear that Arteta’s half time messaging had got through, as Arsenal upped the intensity and drove United even further back. Early chances for Martinelli and Rice were merely a precursor for what was to follow. The corner count mounted up, and the breakthrough came before the hour as Timber made himself enough space to flick Rice’s delivery beyond Onana into the net. His first goal for Arsenal, and fitting reward for a very exciting young player. If he hadn't have been lost to inury after a mere half an hour of last season, Arsenal may well have won the title.

United barely had an answer. Just the one opportunity (until very late on) when a few minutes after the first goal, from another free kick (conceded by Zinchenko, who was promptly replaced) De Ligt’s header was spectacularly kept out by Raya ('should have held it'; as my father would undoubtably have said)…

Amorim’s changes made no difference - Rashford looked disinterested, Zirkzee looked nothing like worth the money forked out for him, and Anthony was greeted by the home supporters with a rousing chorus of ‘You’re f*cking sh*t!’

Zirkzee’s first contribution was to have a header at yet another Arsenal corner cleared off the line by a team-mate - or would have been a lovely deft own goal. And by this time Arsenal were well on top. But it was still only 1-0, and at 1-0 you never know. And then from yet another corner Saka’s deep delivery was headed back across goal by Partey; the ball cannoning off of Saliba’s right buttock (despite the attention of three defenders) and into the net to put the points to bed.

Just the one tiny scare late on, when a well-worked free kick between Bruno and Anthony saw Raya having to block the latter’s attempt at goal; but The Weasel Brothers were kept at bay (Bruno and Anthony are both high up on my ‘Premier League Players Whose Faces Need A Punch’ list. 

And that was that. A controlled performance, as the team continues to improve. And a special mention in despatches for Jakub Kivior, who had a really solid game as Gabriel's replacement. He's a left-sided centre-back, who often gets played out of position - and sometimes exposed - at left back by Arteta. He's a solid enough option, and Gabriel in particular was suitably impressed by his replacement. 

And now to the fall-out from the game. And further evidence that Arsenal are treated differently to literally every other club… Set Piece FC. Boring FC. The New Stoke City. Really?… Anything to do Arsenal down. And especially from salty United fans who need to take a good look at themselves. Their only chances in this game came as a result of set pieces. And excuse me if I'm wrong, but didn't their miracle recovery to win the Champions League in 1999 come as the result of taking advantage of two late set pieces. Hypocrites!

Arteta has been making it clear for at least a couple of seasons now that he wants to leave no stone unturned in trying to make Arsenal as good as possible in EVERY aspect off the game; and when you’re up against a machine like Manchester City, such attention to detail is not only commendable, but absolutely necessary. So for the club to be criticised for being so good at set pieces is absolutely ludicrous.

Arsenal scored 91 Premier League goals last season. And that’s a lot; and they certainly weren’t all from set pieces. Sure, since the beginning of last season they’ve racked up 22 goals from corners, but the maths would tell you that they’ve scored almost 100 from open play in that time. So to call them boring, or reliant on set pieces, is lazy and quite pathetic.

Pulis’s Stoke City ran at a 40%+ record of set piece goals. Arsenal score far more goals than they ever did, and they’re running in the low 20%s. Against United, Arsenal chalked up 13 corners to zero; which is representative of how much they dominated territory and worked the United defenders. Try to score from open play, and if those attempts end in the winning of set pieces, then make the most of those too. It’s that obvious. 

So what’s the big deal? I’ll tell you what it is… like with pretty much everything else, it's envy - pure and simple. Get over it, people. We are The Arsenal.

I love it. I love that these set pieces are being turned into ‘events’ by Arsenal. They love planning and executing, and they love finding new ways of confusing defences. And I love that every set piece goal they score gets up the noses of opposing fans. Get over yourselves, and get better at set pieces. 

Anyway, we move on. A game every 3/4 days is the professional footballer's ‘burden’ at this time of year. And for Arsenal next is a visit to high-flying Fulham. They’re up to 6th spot following a comprehensive defeat of Brighton, so they won’t be easy. Arsenal lost there last season, so there’s no question of taking it easy at all. 

But Arsenal simply have to keep winning. Despite Liverpool’s draw, the gap is still 7 points. Additionally, Chelsea are still right in the discussion, and despite a poor sequence of results City aren’t far behind. It’s a question of grinding out the results. So…

COYG!

Two Big Wins In A Week - But A Word Of Caution

The return of Martin Odegaard has engendered, as we anticipated, an upturn in the fortunes of Arsenal. He has got quickly back to his best, and has made a massive difference to the team. Indeed, it has suddenly started raining goals in the same way as it did towards the end of last season.

I'll just run through what I took from the victories in Lisbon and Stratford, and then put a slight downer on the situation. It's simply that I feel that in order to kick on further, Arsenal need to do a few things better. And also have a decent chunk of luck as the season progresses.

Anyway, let's start at the Estadio Jose Avalarde; a stadium where Manchester City had crashed to a 4-1 defeat only a few weeks ago and what looked on paper to be a tricky fixture. But from very early on the result was never really in doubt. With Jurrien Timber very much getting in tune with Odegaard and Saka on the right in place of the injured Ben White, and with both Declan Rice and Thomas Partey helping to overload the right flank, Arsenal picked Sporting apart. 

Early goals from Martinelli (from a cross from Timber), and Havertz, who was handed the ball on a plate by Saka (go back and watch Partey's lofted through ball to Starboy; a thing of beauty) put Arsenal in cruise control, followed by Gabriel's trademark header from a Rice corner - a massive exclamation mark right at the end of the first half. This, from a team who had failed to score in either of its previous two away games in this season's Champions League, felt like a warning shot to all the competition.

We expected some sort of response from Sporting after half time; and got one as they came storming out of the blocks and pulled a goal back from a corner. Arsenal weathered the storm - which lasted a quarter of an hour - and soon put the game to bed when Saka clinically converted a penalty following a foul on Odegaard. I'll come back to weathering the storm...

Late on, substitute Merino fired in a vicious shot that the keeper could only parry out into the path of fellow sub Trossard, who nodded home a chance that - like Havertz's earlier - you or I would have put away. Not that we would have had the pace or foresight to get into those positions, but you get my drift... A perfunctory celebration greeted the icing on the cake; but we/they should enjoy every goal.

I cannot leave discussion of this game - Arsenal's biggest away win in the competition since, inspired by no other than Thierry Henry, they beat Inter Milan by an identical scoreline as long ago as November 2003 - without touching on Sporting's prolific Swedish striker Gyokeres. There are those who - I've read and heard - have suggested that Saliba and Gabriel had him wrapped up and in their pockets and that therefore he's not as good as his stats suggest. But even Erling Haaland has struggled against those two, and there are plenty of defences in the Premier League who I can see really struggling against his pace and directness. 

I liked what I saw, but there is the question of value. He's 26, which for me is the beginning of prime time for a striker, and whilst I wouldn't say that he's worth £100m or such ludicrous amount I'd like to try to prise him away (perhaps even in January) for say £60m. Arsenal are banging in the goals, but that's not to say that they can't improve on Havertz and Jesus; because they certainly can. I've mentioned Gyokeres in previous posts this season. And here I saw nothing to suggest that he wouldn't be a great help to Arsenal. With Arteta's coaching and system, and better players around him than currently, I really fancy him.

The game at London Stadium had similarities to the Sporting game in several ways. A Gabriel header from a well-worked corner (I got American Football vibes - blocking opponents off; inspirational stuff). A tap in at the far post for the left-winger - in this case Trossard - from a cross from Saka (and for Partey's lofted through ball against Sporting read Odegaard against The Hapless Hammers). Saka fouled for a penalty; having opened up the West Ham defence like a can of soup in the same way as Odegaard had on Tuesday. And less than a minute later it was 4 as Havertz ran on to Trossard's through ball and effortlessly slotted the ball past poor Lukas Fabianski. 0-4; and having beaten them 6-0 last season when at the same stage of the game it was only 1-0 we had fantasies about breaking all sorts of scoring records and reaching double figures. West Ham were simply awful.

   

And then, suddenly, a change in the direction of play. Complacent defending from Gabriel and Califiori saw a through ball split them and Wan-Bissaka - not tracked by Trossard - beat Raya at his near post. Moments later, Emerson hammered home a simply un-saveable free kick (I didn't think it was a foul, by the way) and suddenly there were 'only' two goals between the sides, and the tv commentator of course referenced Arsenal throwing away a 4-goal lead at Newcastle all those years ago... yawn.

Thankfully any sting was taken out of the day when poor Fabianski inadvertently punched Gabriel in the head when trying to clear a corner. Flappyhandski... Quite unintentional, but a foul nonetheless and therefore a penalty. The incident reminded me somewhat of a penalty that Declan Rice gave away against Tottenham last season; not realising that an attacker was closing in to nick the ball off of him, and clattering him to the floor. Bad luck... and Saka buried the penalty and further justified my decision to captain him in Fantasy Premier League. 5-2 at half-time; and an virtually incident-free (quite boring, in fact) second half meant that Arsenal took three extremely comfortable points back from East London.

So... what about my doubts - despite the great week - about this Arsenal team? Firstly, of course, there remains the fitness of Odegaard. We've seen what the loss of Rodri has done to Manchester City, and losing our skipper had almost the same debilitating effect. Any team losing its talisman is inevitably going to suffer.

But more importantly for me is the loss of concentration that almost let both opponents back in. In a similar way in both matches, in fact. You simply cannot let your guard down at any point; a big lesson to be learned in my opinion - and especially with such a yawning gap to make up to Liverpool. There is no room for switching off whatsoever.

Secondly, injuries... neither Merino nor Partey were available on Saturday, and I'd hope that the issues were minor because the games are coming thick and fast now. Arteta needs to take care of a lot of this squad, because they're not all as robust as we'd like them to be. But choosing to rotate, instead of being forced to do so, is critical.

In the meantime, the gap remains at 9 points to Liverpool as they took advantage of match scheduling and timing to meet a Manchester City team at a very low ebb. Yes, they have an extraordinary record so far this season, but they have ridden their luck; whereas most of Arsenal's luck has been bad. Arsenal need the tide of luck to start to turn soon. In the meantime, the boys are on a roll, with plenty of winnable games in December. Starting with Manchester United on Wednesday; and I want to see us crush them!

COYG!