A Strange Sense Of Calm And Clarity

Bizarre, isn't it? Whilst there will always be those supporters who react negatively to adverse results and start blaming all and sundry (and there have been plenty of them making their voices heard since the final whistle went) - from the manager all the way down to the tea lady and Win the dog - there really needs to be a sense of perspective following the defeat at The Etihad. And I feel strangely serene in the aftermath of such a momentous game. Because we now have clarity.

Admittedly, this was Arsenal's fourth successive domestic defeat (over three competitions), so one could hardly describe the team as in form, but there was plenty to take out of the game on the positive side. This was not - in the main anyway - the tentative Arsenal of the past few weeks. It was far more like what one would expect to see from prospective Champions/Champions League winners; especially at such a crucial time of the season. And I intend to dwell on the positives today.

Team selection: and whilst the continued absence of Timber, Calafiori and Saka is having a negative effect on a lot of what Arteta wants to do, the return of Odegaard was/is a positive sign. I was vastly cheered when I read the team news, as for all that he has had a difficult season, and has his flaws, his presence in the side has a critical influence on how Arteta wants the team to play. If he can stay fit for the next month or so, it can only be positive for Arsenal. Because...well,  just take a look at these staistics from the game:

In order to accommodate Odegaard's return, Arteta chose to go back to playing Ebere Eze off the left wing. Again, something I was pleased to see, as it felt key to me that he wasn't the player sacrificed to make room for the return of the skipper. And I was also happy to see Kai Havertz selected to play up top. The only big decision after that was the choice of right winger, with Arteta choosing to go with Madueke (recovered from the knock he received in the week). He could have gone with Gabriel Martinelli, of course... but they are both - shall we say - 'mercurial'. One is never quite sure what to expect from either of them. 

Further back, the manager chose to go with Mosquera at right back over Ben White. Something I wasn't sure about at all; contemplating the young Spaniard having to deal with Jeremy Doku had me in a cold sweat. I may have plumped for Ben White. A centre half playing out of position against one of the slipperiest customers in the league - not ideal... It is clear and obvious that the continued absence of Timber and Saka on the right hand side is having an adverse effect on the way the team is able to play.

The last thing I wanted to see was Arsenal merely attempting to hold off the home team; that's pretty much impossible to do. And it was important to see what Arteta had learnt from the Carabao Cup Final. And Arsenal did start positively, with the game pretty 50/50 early on. Although David Raya almost had a disastrous moment very early on as he dawdled and made a gigantic mess of a clearance - as if some of the lessons from Wembley had not been heeded - but he got away with it. Gary Neville on Sky, who is so very annoying and who I truly wish that I could mute, did make a fair point on this; that that sort of error is the thing that Arsenal most needed to avoid. 

There was also a 'heart in mouth' moment when Gabriel leant into the ball in the penalty area as he attempted to deal with a shot from Cherki, and managed to deflect it onto the post (and back into the grateful arms of Raya). A fair shout for handball and a penalty there, but perhaps it was his shoulder that made contact.

At the other end of the pitch, Arsenal were exerting pressure and forcing turnovers high up, leading to a series of corners. From one, Mosquera headed wide when he probably ought to have made the keeper work. The away side were taking the game to City when they could, combining well in the right areas of the pitch, with Rice and Odegaard firing the ball about, Eze showing off some excellent ball control, and Havertz making a real nuisance of himself. Compared to last week's insipid showing at home to Bournemouth, this was 'chalk and cheese'.

But, as we know, it was City who drew first blood. Hincapie could not head a clearance far enough away from goal, and Eze wasn't strong enough in the challenge as he looked to clear the ball further. The ball fell to Cherki, whose mazy run - reminiscent to me of Eden Hazard at his best; or even of Maradona! - bamboozled no fewer than 4 defenders. It looked like he had the ball on the end of a piece string, as he manoeuvered it from right foot to left and back again before stroking it between Saliba's legs and beyond Raya and just inside the far post. A beautiful goal, frankly; for all that there were a number chances to prevent it. And the last thing that Arsenal needed.

And yet... for all that David Raya had 'got away' with one early in the game, Donnarumma made a fatal error very soon afterwards. A mere 107 seconds of play later, in fact. Arsenal had gone long from kick-off, and conceded a throw in deep in the City right back area. Nunes chose to go back to the Italian, and a fatal mis-control of the ball allowed the pressing Havertz to close him down. The ball deflected off of the German's boot and into the empty net. Miracle of miracles... Arsenal were level! I had always thought that the Italian keeper, for all his superb shot-stopping abilities (remember how he single-handedly held Arsenal off in last season's Champions League semi final), was not a patch on the brilliant Ederson with the ball at his feet and was therefore a surprise choice for Guardiola to bring into the City squad. It took until April for me to be proved correct.

And so to half time. City certainly the better side on balance, with Doku making life very difficult for Mosquera, the imperious Rodri and the irritating little goblin Bernardo Silva setting the tempo in midfield, Cherki pulling the strings every time he got onto the ball and Haaland making Gabriel in particular work very hard; but - at that stage - the advantage was with Arsenal in the battle for the title. 

Martinelli for the ineffective Madueke at half time. And with Doku and his tricky feet continuing to give Mosquera - by now booked - a hard time, the Brazilian's defensive qualities looked like they would be called upon. Although he didn't start well; his first two touches of the ball causing problems for his team-mates. And whilst City continued well on top as the second half started, starting firmly on the front foot, Arsenal continued to pose a threat on the break, with some vim and vigour back in their interplay for the first time in weeks. 

Haaland almost scored following a corner (hitting the outside of the post), and moments later, on the break, Havertz missed a very presentable opportunity as Donnarumma raced out to smother his shot. An interesting moment not long afterwards, as Havertz, who had nipped just in front of Khusanov 25 yards from goal, was nudged off of the ball and to the ground. For me, that's a foul, and I was out of my seat and screaming at the television. Although it's fair to say that I'm probably biased. If Anthony Taylor sees it the same way as me, then Khusanov has to walk, VAR upheld the non-decision... but Havertz would have been clean through on goal. Very annoying. 

Not long after came what may be a season-defining moment, with brilliant play to create himself a yard of space on the edge of the box from Eze... and his curling low shot beat the goalkeeper, hit the inside of the post and rolled agonisingly all the way along the goal line. Wonderful play; and incredibly unfortunate for the buzzing Eze.

The moment that defined the game - and the final result - came not long afterwards. City were continuing to overload and underlap on the wings, and Martinelli allowed O'Reilly to stride away from him. Zubimendi could not get over in time to engage, and Mosquera was left one on one for the umpteenth time against Doku. The Belgian cut inside, where Zubi left O'Reilly in order to try to intercept the ball. But it bypassed him and found its way back to O'Reilly, and the young Englishman's pass across the area was met by Haaland. The result - inevitable. Although... was Haaland fouling Gabriel as he switched direction? He had hold of his shirt for sure.

From then on Arsenal were obliged to turn up the tempo, and to their credit they did do that. But City's central pairing continued to exert too much control for this viewer's liking. Nonetheless, chances were created. Gabriel's header following a free kick hit O'Reilly (I thought handball at first) and was deflected onto the post. How many times did the woodwork come into play in this game?!?

White replaced Mosquera. Trossard for Eze (much to my surprise and annoyance, as I thought that Odegaard was inevitably starting to fade), and finally - and probably too late in the piece - Gyokeres for Zubi. For City, Rodri was forced off; seemingly injured. As my father would assuredly have said were he still with us: 'I hope it's nothing trivial!' And Arsenal were pushing, as we prayed for just one more chance. Which came in the latter throes of injury time, as Trossard's superb cross from the right wing was met 10 yards, out, and centrally, by the head of the onrushing Havertz. A bullet header, but inches too high when he simply had to keep it down. And that was that. The final chance to shape the run in differently.

In the interim, the away side were very fortunate not be down to 10 men. Yet another in a series of tangles between Haaland and Gabriel - and there were many - saw them squaring up forehead to forehead. A little bit 'handbags', if unseemly, but Gabriel then moved his head onto the Norwegian. And here I have to admire Haaland, because I could name dozens of players who would have over-reacted/simulated in response; thus leading to an inevitable red card. Much to his credit, Haaland took the 'all's fair in love and war’ attitude, stayed on his feet, and Taylor merely pulled out the yellow card. Big Gabi does need to control himself in moments of stress... and that moment would/could/should have led to a three match ban.

But that was that. Yet another defeat. But strangely, as I say, this doesn't feel anything like as bad as did last week's. Last week's performance was insipid. Pitiful. Lacking in every conceivable way. This result left me with an entirely different feeling.

Before, there was despair. That yet another season was fizzing out into nothing. But I have seen some hope here. Because quite a bit of Arsenal's early season form felt like it was on its way back. A full week off now before Newcastle at home, before the first of the Champions League semi final matches. And still tons to play for. Odegaard on his way back. Hopefully some better news on the three missing players. Arsenal can still cross at least one finish line in front. 

Let's take a closer look at the run in now. Because it's all crystal clear. A straight shoot out. If both teams win out their remaining matches, it will come down to goal difference. And to me Arsenal's run in looks slightly easier. Newcastle are completely out of form. Fulham are on the beach. West Ham are fighting relegation; but they're doing that for a very good reason - they're not very good. Burnley at home surely a formality. And Palace away on the final day; and, crucially, we need Palace to reach the Conference League Final, because that's just three days later and they'll surely be resting lots of players... Meantime, City have to go to both Bournemouth and Everton, and face Aston Villa on the final day. It ain't over.

What I liked about this performance is that we saw some 'fight' for the first time for a while. Where it had gone, I wish I knew, but the team's mojo had been sucked dry by cup final defeat. I guess that confidence is like a tall building. You go up the stairs towards success, but come down much quicker in the lift... hopefully the players and staff will have taken the same positives that I have. One thing is for sure; they may not win anything, but they're not bottling it...

And to the naysayers I'll say this again. It ain't over until it's over. And it ain't over.

Just before I go, a few other bits and pieces. And I'll start with a word on Alex Manninger. If you weren't an Arsenal fan before the year started with a 2, you won't know who he was. But he played a crucial role in Arsenal's 1997-98 double winning season, coming into the side when David Seaman got injured. He played a key role, keeping numerous clean sheets; including in the defining 1-0 win at Old Trafford. And had the game of his life in Arsenal's FA Cup quarter final win over West Ham, making maybe 6 or 7 vital saves. RIP.

I'd now like to finish with a word for all you miserable gits who have given up on this side. You don't know how lucky you are to be Arsenal supporters! Imagine supporting That Lot down the road; deeper in relegation trouble with each passing week. Or a Chelsea fan, perhaps? That's now 4 successive league defeats without scoring a goal for them. Get over yourselves, and get behind the team.

COYG! 

It's Happening Again

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a huge sense of deja vu over what's been unfolding in front of our eyes these past few weeks. In truth, Arsenal haven't played well for probably two months now - the game against Tottenham notwithstanding; but, let's face it, they are garbage! And the performances are starting to reflect themselves in the results.

I can remember foolishly expressing thoughts (not on here) in early February that the title race was likely to turn into a procession. Boy; do I wish that I'd kept my trap shut! Almost since then, Arsenal's form has fallen off of a cliff; of course, at the very same time that Manchester City traditionally come on strong. And I think that this actually bears some analysis.

Year after year, we see Pep rotate his squad early on in the season - occasionally and seemingly inexplicably leaving players that we'd expect to be automatic starters on the bench for week after week. Results often reflect that, but they somehow stay in touch. And then, as the season heads towards its climax, he puts his best team out again and again and again. They hit form. They hit rhythm. And they look to be unstoppable. It does help, of course, when one can find £100m+ in January to pinch the best players from two other Premier League sides - and that's irrespective of the historical charges of financial mismanagement that continue to sit over both them and the league as a whole. But leaving that aside, on a sporting level they look absolutely formidable at the moment, with their midfield and wingers on fire, and Haaland reaping the benefit.

By contrast Arsenal look leggy. Fatigued. Lacking in drive and focus. With key injuries. Foggy of thought and deed. And this must surely be because when they looked formidable themselves in the early part of the season, Arteta played his best team again and again and again; wearing them out to a point when they appear to have nothing left at this crucial time. There would have been little harm in rotating one or two players out throughout the autumn, but he has run his key players into the ground.

Timber's muscular issue is down to exactly that. Calafiori cannot stay fit for more than a couple of games at a time. Hincapie pulled up in an international match with a muscular issue. The centre halves have been forced to have time out themselves. Odegaard has suffered innumerable injuries this season, and cannot stay fit. Rice is knackered. Zubimendi is out on his feet. Saka remains out weeks after we expected him back. Havertz is struggling to regain form and fitness. Eze is barely back from his own ill-timed injury. Trossard is unable to regain his early season form. It comes to something when such an expensively assembled squad seem to be leaning so hard on a 16-year-old to see them over the line!

What is - or was - the answer? Well, I'd never be one for wholesale changes at any point, but the failure to use so many of the squad players to rotate the starters out is frankly unforgivable; and is coming home to roost. Sure, the squad players aren't as good as whatever we all regard as the First XI, but judicious rests for one or two key players over the course of a week or two would surely have paid dividends. Mosquera could have played more. White, whilst never having regained his high standards of previous years, could have taken some of the burden off of Timber. MLS has been given little game time, and the lack of use of Christian Norgaard is negligence bordering on the criminal. Saka has been overplayed, and is suffering the consequences of that. Nwaneri sent away on loan. Merely swapping one or two players out at a time would and could have made the difference. Yet here we are.

I haven't posted on here since after the Cup Final. Which, on top of showing up how much the Pupil still needs to learn from his Master inflicted the sort of psychological damage on the Arsenal squad that only makes the physical frailties appear worse. Heads have dropped, energy levels have gone through the floor, and nothing short of drastic surgery is going to solve this. 

But the schedule is relentless. Don't get me started on the way the football authorities in England treat their top representatives compared to the French and Germans, by the way... It's the second leg against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday, and then the season-defining return against Manchester City - which by the way I am dreading - on Sunday. City - now out of the Champions League - will have a full week to prepare for that.

So what would I do if I were the Manager of Arsenal for the week? Well, firstly I'd take a few chances on Wednesday, in order to keep some key players fresh for Sunday. For all that there's an opportunity to get to a Champions League semi-final, Sunday is far more important! We have the lead, and we should go for the jugular.

Sporting are nothing like as dangerous a side away from home as they are in Lisbon, so I'd take a few calculated risks (this without knowing how close the likes of Timber, Calafiori, Odegaard and Saka are close to returning). Start Mosquera. Keep MLS in the side in order not to risk further damage to either Ricci or Hincapie. Start Norgaard for Zubimendi (this is a must for me!). Put Kai up top to give Gyokeres a little break. Start Trossard in order to leave Martinelli as the 'finisher' on that side. And go easy with Eze.

Let's see.

Meantime, I want to take a quick look back at the defeat to Bournemouth. A defeat that said everything about what has gone wrong for Arsenal this season. Sure, Bournemouth are a decent side, and were well rested following the inordinately long break due to internationals and then the FA Cup semi-finals (whoever designed that weekend to have zero Premier League games needs stringing up!). But we are Arsenal! 

Make no mistake; Bournemouth were the better side. They exploited Arsenal's lack of zip, pressing the player on the ball, creating overloads and causing chaos throughout. They forced Arsenal into indecision, and into mistake after mistake. For their first goal, White and Saliba's relative positions were incorrect, and MLS failed to track Kroupi into the box. Sure, there was a really unfortunate deflection in there, but you make your own luck. For the second, pressure on Raya led to an injudicious pass, and to the ball not being properly cleared. They won the ball back, and a clearly suffering Zubimendi let Scott run off his back into acres of space. 

You could argue that these were two isolated incidents, but that's not the case. The lack of energy and focus was palpable. Most of the players seemed paralysed by indecision - starting with Raya! Arsenal could barely string a decent move together. Raya himself stood over the ball for seconds at a time - again and again. The defensive line couldn't beat the first press. And the time it was taking to get the ball back into play from throw ins was an embarrassment, as players visibly hid from the ball. Rice excepted - and with some help from Eze when he came on - the midfield was dysfunctional. Havertz had a shocker in there. Zubimendi's effectiveness was almost at zero. Martinelli was almost invisible. And Madueke had yet another one of  'those' games - although to be fair to him Michael Oliver ought to have taken action on his marker Jimenez early on. The ball would not stick to Gyokeres. 

And for all that the crowd were desperate to get behind them, all we ended up up was being frustrated time and again by the seeming lack of response from the players. My wife, next to me, did her bit, as did supporters in front of and behind me. But I could sense the mood and I became very introspective; something I am not proud of. The stats told me afterwards what I already suspected; David Raya made the second most passes of all Arsenal players, and received no less than 38 back passes. The amount of risk-taking that went on when trying to play out from the back merely heaped more and more pressure. So many players close to our own goal; thus bringing theirs up the pitch. And a virtually empty midfield. When you're going for a title, this is completely unacceptable. Forwards!!!

If Arsenal got a single thing right on the day, it was to ensure that when they were awarded their penalty that Gyokeres took it. I've not seen anyone hit the ball as hard from the penalty spot in my lifetime watching football. When Havertz picked up the ball, I was screaming: "Give it to Gyokeres!" He did; and the Swede smashed it home.

Arteta made three very early changes to try to change the course of the game, and it did help that Eze started to knit play together a bit more where Havertz had been unable to do so. But Petrovic in the Bournemouth goal hardly had a single significant save to make. In truth, it was fairly easy for the away side, and Arsenal got precisely what they merited from the game - nothing!

How did we get into this rut? Well, we can trace it back to the series of poor performances over the past couple of months. But the psychological damage from the Cup Final may be terminal. With the FA Cup defeat merely compounding that. Make no mistake, Arsenal are in a very difficult place at the moment, and Arteta needs to get them to bounce back immediately. 

A change of tactics may help. Less of the formulaic 'control' nonsense, and the opportunity to display a bit more flair, and play with more freedom. That may be what I'd be drilling into the players. I'm sick of the 'umbrella of death' tactics, and have been crying out for weeks to see more vertical passing, and more attacking through the centre of the pitch.

The other thing I'd like to see is some bravery. A willingness to take the game to the oppostion, and take them out of their comfort zone. There has simply not been enough of that at all for some considerable time now. Opposition teams have known what to expect from Arsenal. It's all too predictable. It's time to step things up; because not being prepared to take chances is simply not working. As Thierry Henry himself said after the game: "You can't be in a title race and play like you're protecting something instead of going to take it. If you keep dropping points like this, don’t talk about the title. You're giving it away. Again!"

All we can do is get behind the players, and try to drive them on by force of will. It's becoming more and more difficult to keep the faith, but a double is still on... difficult as that may be to believe at the moment.

I mean... it could be worse. We could be Spurs fans.

COYG!