Let Me Count The Ways...

There is a famous and oft-quoted sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning that begins: 'How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways'. To me, this Arsenal team have their own version, that begins: 'How Can We Concede A Goal Stupidly? Let Us Count The Ways'. Because it appears that each week they find another way to shoot themselves in the foot. Anyway, I'll come back to that shortly, as part of my dissection of the Jekyll & Hyde performance at West Ham on Sunday.

And so to team news, following the strange, timid and lacklustre performance that saw Arsenal scrape through their Europa League tie against Olimpiakos on Thursday. 6 changes as Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers, Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette came back into the starting line-up.  And for the first... oh, half hour I suppose, Arsenal played as if they were complete strangers to each other, barely having a kick as as largely functional West Ham side totally dominated every aspect of the game. Sky put up a graphic after 10 minutes that showed that West Ham had had 33 touches of the ball in Arsenal's final third of the pitch, to precisely none by Arsenal at the other end.

On 15 minutes, West Ham took the lead when from Antonio's run off the back of David Luiz (who, along with Granit Xhaka, is inexplicably selected for every game irrespective of the rotation that goes on around the pair of them) and found the unmarked Lingard - bizarrely discarded by Manchester United - on the edge of the box and his half-volley fizzed past Leno into the top corner of the net.  A lovely finish, and nothing less than both sides deserved.

Just 90 seconds later came the latest in the chapter of defensive accidents to which I referred in my opening paragraph. Saka brought down Antonio (it was soft) on the edge of the box and as Arsenal started to wander back into their positions for the free kick the enterprising Lingard (a player who I find as irritating an opponent as any) released Bowen on the right side of the penalty area, and he beat Leno's poor effort to save at the near post. If one is going to be slightly churlish about the officiating, the free kick was taken 5 yards back from where the foul occurred and Jon Moss was reaching for his foam canister; but frankly it was down to Arsenal simply switching off. Following other bizarre incidents - Villa, Wolves and Burnley spring to mind off the top of my head - this was just another example of rank lack of professionalism. 

Arsenal finally woke up at 2-0, and even worked Fabianski (who once or twice showed why we had given him the nickname Flappyhandski) at one or two moments, but after 32 minutes it went from bad to worse as once again an attempt to play the ball out from the back led to Arsenal losing the ball just 25 yards from goal.  Coufal's cross was headed goalwards by Antonio (who had got above Luiz), and Soucek got the final touch. 3-0; and this against a West Ham side who are, as I say, functional and decent (and outperforming all expectations this season) - but no more than that. Utterly embarrassing for an Arsenal side who had barely turned up.

Fortunately, Arsenal pinched a goal back a few minutes later, when Chambers' cross was controlled well by Lacazette and his fierce shot - actually going just wide - was deflected in by Soucek. And this gave the visitors the momentum going into half-time, and out the other side. Odegaard started to prompt from the number 10 position, and West Ham started to show some cracks as Arsenal finally - via the Norwegian and Laca, who started to come short to receive the ball - found space between the West Ham midfield and defence. They should have had another before half-time, as the Frenchman's through ball released Saka, who could only shoot tamely and too close to the goalkeeper.

The second half began with Arsenal rampant. Lacazette had a clever lob cleared off the line by Diop, and then fired the ball straight at Fabianski. Luiz almost got his head on an Odegaard free kick. And then - following a quickly taken free kick that probably wasn't a free kick - Chambers ran on to Odegaard's clever reverse pass to get in an excellent low cross, which was hammered into his own net by the retreating Dawson. He had no choice but to play the ball, as Aubameyang would have had a tap in, but that made it two own goals of course; and West Ham could probably count themselves a little unfortunate as the award of the free kick was trivial. Still, I'm sure we weren't complaining.

It was at this point that Jamie Carragher remarked that Chambers was reminding him of Cafu, which I'm sure made us all chuckle. Any resemblance to the skilful marauding Brazil right back of yesteryear is purely coinicidental, but the man brought in to play at right back mainly due to his extra height had turned provider not once, but twice!

From then on it was frantic, with chances at both ends as Arsenal pressed for the equaliser. Benrahma had a couple of half chances following a break, but couldn't get the ball out of his feet, and Antonio contrived to hit the post from two yards. 

But the equaliser arrived on 82 minutes when another lovely pre-assist pass from Odegaard found substitute Pepe, whose exquisite cross with his right (i.e. wrong) foot picked out Laca at the far post for a bullet header of a finish.

And the action wasn't over. Rice's barnstorming 70-yard (yes I said 70-yard!) run ended with a fierce shot that Leno palmed away. And there was still time for 'Cafu' to get in another cross which Fabianski beat away with two strong hands.

So what should we make of that? Well, Laca admitted after the game that the players had not performed to instructions for the first half hour, and that would explain a lot. But Arteta must find a way to get them to perform for the full 90+ minutes, and to cut out the stupid concession of goals. It does seem that Arsenal are unduly punished for these crass errors - much more than other sides - but the way to counter that would of course be not to make them.

Positives are the way that they fought their way back into the contest from a seemingly impossible position, and the excellent performances from Chambers, Lacazette, and especially Odegaard. At this point, with more points dropped, there is little margin for error with some tricky fixtures still to come. And the team are into the quarter-finals of the Europa League - with a perfectly reasonable draw that may yet see a reunion with Unai Emery in the semis, and perhaps Mancheser United in the final. But first there's an Interlull, and then the not insignificant obstacle that is Liverpool to come to The Emirates.

I feel that it's proably worth at this juncture just to have a quick laugh at Spurs, following their elimination from the Europa League on Thursday night. I for one cheered the Zagreb winner as loud as I ever cheer an Arsenal goal. Jose Mourinho appears to be the new 'specialist in failure' and must be clinging to his job. Plus surely Harry Kane must move on over the summer if he ever wants to win a trophy.

Back in a couple of weeks. Stay safe, please...

North London Is...

And so, thankfully, North London has turned red once more. Honours even for this season; bar the inevitable two-legged Europa League tie that's sure to be drawn on Friday, that is... 

I like the above image - it encapsulates my love for Arsenal and at the same time my 30-year career in the print business. Lovely!

This is the game that I look most forward to/dread the most in any season, so I - along with thousands of others I am sure - felt the pain of absence from the ground partcularly keenly. And I'm sure that, especially in a game like this, the players miss the extra intensity that the crowd gives them.

And so to the game - and there are several talking points from it.

Firstly, the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the starting XI, which according to 'sources' was down to his late arrival at the ground - and it's not the first time that he has been late. I've seen a photo of his extremely distinguishable vehicle stuck in a traffic jam in Muswell Hill just after noon; quite simply, he should have left home earlier.

Seeing as Arsenal won, I think that we can say that Arteta's decision to drop him from the team 'for disciplinary reasons' was correct. Had they lost... well, that would have led to an entirely different reaction. I think that it's right to impose standards on the players - as one should in any employment situation - but there is of course a precedent for letting one's captain get away with stuff at our club; George Graham had a different way of dealing with Tony Adams. But that, of course, was pretty much a different era. 

And so Lacazette came into the side in his place, and along with the inclusion of Smith Rowe (for Willian)  I think this made a lot of sense, as that meant that the Arsenal press was going to start from the very top of the pitch. Although this was made redundant by Spurs' 'tactics' - such as they were. Because Arsenal dominated the ball from the first minute, and the opposition barely had a kick. Much of the attacking was going down the Arsenal left, where Bale - who looked utterly disinterested throughout - was failing to track back and help the over-faced Doherty, as Tierney roasted him time and again. Xhaka fired over. Partey almost put Saka through. Lloris's hurried clearance from way out of his goal left his goal exposed, but the ball didn't quite fall right. And then the impressive Smith Rowe's 25-yard thunderbolt crashed against the bar with the Frenchman grasping at thin air. So close!

A minute later, things improved even more as Son finally had the opportunity to break into a sprint - and did his hamstring, to be replaced by the charming Erik Lamela (of whom much more is to follow). Many big games are coming up for Tottenham, including the Carabao Cup Final in 6 weeks; it may be touch and go for Son. Hey ho...

Arsenal continued to dominate. Partey shot wide from distance. Laca did the same from considerably closer. Everything was still coming down the Arsenal left, where Hojbjerg was having to do Bale's dirty work for him. And still Spurs hadn't had a shot. In fact they'd barely been in Arsenal's half.

On 28 minutes, Lamela inexplicably flicked his foot at Xhaka as they stood together. Three minutes later he did the same to Luiz. Goodness knows what possesses him to behave like that, and the frustration for Arsenal fans was that referee Oliver didn't see either incident - both of which would have been deserving of a booking. 

And just a couple of minutes later, with their very first shot, Tottenham were ahead. With what not even I can deny was a spectacular finish from... Erik Lamela. Bale's long crossfield ball was cushioned back into the box by Reguilon. Moura - comfortably Spurs' best player on the day - laid it back to Lamela, and he rabona'd it into the far corner (for those who don't know what a rabona is, it's a technique first used in Lamela's home country of Argentina - although not thought up by anybody called Rabona - where the player crosses his kicking foot behind his standing foot to strike the ball). Stunning, of course - although if he had a right foot he wouldn't have needed to bother. Just saying... 

Spurs a goal up, and totally against all the run of play; but going a goal up at The Emirates has not often boded well for Tottenham, as we all know. And for once Arsenal didn't let their heads drop, and were straight back at them. Again down the left, as Tierney's through ball let in Smith Rowe; and somehow his low cross found its way back to the edge of the penalty area, from where Cedric crashed a shot against a post. And once again, as the weakness exposed by Bale's appalling attitude and Doherty's failure to show anything in any one-to-one challenge allow Tierney to square for Odegaard, whose deflected shot - to add an extra layer of pleasure; Lloris would have saved it easily but for the intervention of Aldeweireld's heel - squirmed into the back of the net. Two in two games for the Norwegian, and Arsenal deservedly back level just before half-time.

Half-time, and Pepe came on for Saka, who was feeling his hamstring. Just a precaution, and to be fair the boy's not been at his best in the last couple of weeks. A combination of lack of rest, and finding himself a target for rotational fouling, have led to his very high standards slipping slightly (magnificent 87th-minute assist for Aubameyang against Benfica notwithstanding). And truth be told not much happened for a little while, as Mourinho made a couple of changes himself - including removing the ineffective Bale from the fray.

And finally some meaningful second half action as Lacazette, running on to Pepe's incisive through ball, was thumped by a despairing Davinson Sanchez. Now, Laca had already completely miscued his shot, but the ball was still in play and Sanchez's challenge was both clumsy and reckless. I know that Spurs fans cannot understand why that's a penalty, but a challenge like that is a foul anywhere else on the pitch, so how can it not be a penalty?

Lacazette, yet to miss a penalty for The Gunners, sent Lloris the wrong way as he found the very corner of the net.

And still plenty of excitement to follow, as first Lamela finally found his way into Oliver's book for a lunge at Partey on 69 minutes, and then 7 minutes later put his arm into Tierney's face as he attempted to fend him off. Second yellow, and if that was a little harsh (perhaps a BAFTA nomination for Tierney there), then we shouldn't forget the snidey kicks in the first half that went unpunished. Anyway, he's a Spurs player, and was already very much on my 'snidey' list, so who cares?

Two minutes later, this: https://streamable.com/79phu0. Ball long gone, quite deliberate, and... nothing. At the very least that's a yellow card, and possibly a red. But, as The Shearer Law dictates, an England captain can do no wrong in the Premier League. I hope that they look at it retrospectively. Here's the moment of impact - and it's far worse than what Lamela received his second yellow for:

And here's a funny thing, which shows the continued Arsenal mental fragility. With 11 men against 10, Arsenal suddenly retreated into their shells. Actually, I'm going to put that mostly down to the appearance of Willian, who replaced MotM Smith Rowe. But for whatever reason Arsenal were firmly on the back foot for the rest of the game, as Harry Kane finally began to play a bit of football (as opposed to auditioning for the WWE). He had a goal disallowed for offside (a brilliant header, to be fair), and had two presentable free kick opportunities, the first of which crashed against the far post - with the rebound falling to Sanchez; his shot headed away by the solid Gabriel. And whilst I looked on between my fingers (my daughter actually left the room) Arsenal held out.

Afterwards, Mourinho was his usual charming self, He had the good grace to admit that Spurs had been poor, especially in the first half, but the bad grace to blame referee and VAR for the penalty award. For me there was no doubt about the award, and that's just sour grapes. Still, why should I care - anything that makes Mournho miserable makes me happy. And as for Jermaine Jenas' performance on MOTD2... such biased (and blatantly incorrect) punditry shouldn't be permitted, and I wish it had been Wrighty in there with him and not Keown, who hardly defended his club's honour.

And so to the return leg with Olimpiakos on Thursday, and a tricky game at West Ham on Sunday. Back after that. Stay safe. And don't forget... North London Is Red!

You've Got To Be Kidding!

Almost 48 hours on, I still find myself shaking my head at how Arsenal managed to leave Burnley with just a single point on Saturday. In a game that they dominated almost throughout profligate finishing, the bizarre and inexcusable concession of the equaliser, and an absolute stone bonk penalty not awarded meant that the team's chances of finishing in a European spot in this season's table are further diminished.

So to pre-game, and a surprise start for Calum Chambers, with Hector Bellerin on the bench and Cedric nowhere to be seen. I guess Chambers' height at set pieces may have been a factor, and he had a solid enough game (without offering much going forward). As for the rest of the selection, it was as I think we all expected, with Willian retaining his place and Auba back down the middle.

Arsenal were on the front foot from the start, and scored early on. Leno rolled the ball to Partey on the edge of Arsenal's penalty area (nb for later, please), and he drove cleverly through the midfield by means of a one-two with Xhaka before releasing Willian, whose run stretched the Burnley defence. The Brazilian found Auba moving in from the left, and following a couple of stepovers our skipper fired low towards the near post - taking Pope by surprise as he failed to keep it out despite getting a hand to it. For a change, the early goal had gone Arsenal's way.

Arsenal continued on top as the first half wore on, restricting Burnley to hopeful punts upfield (although, to be fair, that's how they play, isn't it?), and Auba, off balance, missed a half chance when Lowton's clearance fell near him in the box. And then, on 22 minutes, came the first instance of profligate finishing as Saka, whose attempted one-two with Auba had somehow ended up at his feet just 5 yards out, inexplicably failed to at least make Pope work.

There were further opportunities - Auba was almost put clean through on goal by Xhaka's long floated pass, but Pope came out quickly to head the ball clear in the right back spot; if he's been a split second later he'd have been in real trouble. And then Saka didn't make the most of a decent run and pass from Auba. And then, calamity! 

Chambers from right back to Luiz; Luiz across to Leno; Leno short to Mari; Mari to Tierney at left back; short again back to Mari as Burnley began to close in; back to Leno, and then Xhaka came short to receive the ball inside the area and facing his own goal. He took a touch, which invited Vydra closer, and then his blind pass across the area in the direction of a wide split David Luiz only found the hip of Wood, which deflected the ball into the net. Probably 5 opportunities to clear the ball long in the space of 10 seconds - Leno mostly responsible for not doing so - and once again Arsenal had found yet another new way to concede a stupid and embarrassing goal. 

I personally don't have much issue with playing it short from the back in general, as Arsenal have generally learnt to do it quite well over the past few months - and remember, it was Leno's short ball to Partey that started the move for the goal. Burnley, however, had not watered the pitch, so it was a bit bobbly and lacking the slickness of a normal Premier League pitch; and look, that's their prerogative and suits their game plan, so I'm not criticising them for it. But the problem is that it was Xhaka, not Partey, who had come short - too short as it turned out. And when Xhaka is involved you just never know...

And so from a position of total dominance, Arsenal somehow found themselves only level at half-time. It took them a while, and a couple of substitutions, to shake themselves out of their self-induced lethargy/misery, but with the arrival of firstly Pieters for Burnley, and then Pepe (for Willian) things started to hot up a bit. 

First, Pieters went through the back of Lacazette and that resulted in possibly the loudest scream of pain that I've heard on any football pitch since lockdown started; he caught his achilles, I guess, and got a booking for it. And not long after Pieters handled the ball not once, but twice, when faced with Pepe in the penalty area. The first time was probably ball to hand but the second... well, it's difficult to believe that neither the referee nor (especially) the VAR could possibly deem that it wasn't deliberate. Hand away from the body and moving towards the ball, and it wouldn't have looked out of place on a basketball court. A clear penalty in the view of practically everybody - except the two people who mattered; referee Andre Marriner who saw it clearly enough in real time, and VAR Kevin Friend, who is no friend of mine. The decision beggars belief.

And that's another VAR decision that's gone against Arsenal, so if anybody could possibly let me know when precisely it's going to even out over the course of the season I'd be very grateful. As Arteta said afterwards: 'If that is not a penalty, will somebody explain what is in this league'. ' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEj1YKCnkaI

That incident woke Arsenal from their slumber, as they once more began to dominate play and created chance after chance - many of them more than decent - but failed to put any of them away. There were, however, two moments in the space of a minute when Burnley might have pinched it. The first when our mate Pieters caught a volley from 25 yards quite beautifully, and Leno was forced to back-pedal to turn it over the bar, and then when Wood was played through by Vydra, but Leno's outstretched boot saved the day. 

Otherwise, Arsenal saw 75% or more of the ball for the last 15 minutes. And in an incredible sequence of misses firstly Pepe failed to get any sort of decent contact, 8 yards out, to Tierney's low cross, when it looked easier to score. Then Pepe's right foot volley from Saka's perfect cross hit Pieters on the shoulder and bounced up onto the crossbar. Marriner, perhaps trying to make up for not giving the previous penalty, awarded this one and also gave Pieters a red card, but it was obvious that this would all be chalked off and it duly was. 

In injury time, Aubameyang's shot from the middle of the area was blocked by Mee, and moments later following some ping pong Saka had a shot blocked and Ceballos (on late for Partey) crashed the rebound against a post.

And that was that. A breathless finish, but justice was not done. Arsenal should have been comfortably ahead by the time they conceded that stupid, stupid equaliser. And then there were the two penalty incidents, and the woodwork saving Burnley not once, but twice. Games like this must be won, but that's two more points dropped, and things are looking bleak as we peer up from 10th place.

But there's still plenty to play for over the next week or so. Olimpiacos in the Europa League, sandwiching a game against The Middlesex on Sunday. They're back in form, with Bale finally remembering recently that he's a footballer. It won't be easy.

Let's hope for a change of fortune. Until then, stay safe.

Did The Real Willian Just Stand Up?

Much to the surprise of most fans, a much-rotated Arsenal side comfortably got the better of Leicester City on Sunday.

I think that most supporters would not have been surprised by the amount of rotation that Arteta - now apparently targeting European glory over progress in the Premier League - made; the 6 changes including rests for Saka and Aubameyang, and with 'notable' recalls for Pepe and Willian. However, that all pointed to a long afternoon, coming up against a Leicester side sitting in third in the table and smarting from their Europa Cup exit on Thursday evening.

To enhance the early pessimism, Arsenal conceded their usual early goal - the result of a catalogue of individual and collective errors. Tierney was stranded ahead of the play as Xhaka and Willian contrived to lose the ball to Tielemans on the left touchline 35 yards from goal. As he drove towards goal with Xhaka in his wake, Pablo Mari channelled his inner Mustafi and backed off, backed off again - and then backed off a little bit further... to be fair, he got no help from Elneny, who made no attempt to go to the ball from his central position, but surely Mari should have simply engaged Tielemans and left Vardy to somebody else? And as a result Tielemans got almost all the way to the 6-yard box before driving the ball hard and low past Leno and into the far corner. Shambolic all round, to be frank.

To give them credit, Arsenal responded well, dominating possession and building momentum as Leicester sat back. And it wasn't long before they were awarded a penalty when the tricky and ever-dangerous Pepe was brought down on the edge of the box by a combination of Ndidi and Tielemans. Unfortunately, however, VAR found that the initial contact had been made by Ndidi just outside the box - despite Pepe falling inside it - and the penalty award was rescinded. But this should have served as a warning for Leicester, as Pepe tormented third choice left-back Thomas for the rest of the half.

Arsenal continued to dominate, as Maddison-less Leicester struggled for ideas apart from the occasional long-range effort. Vardy was kept quiet and, let's face it, Iheanacho is no Dennis Bergkamp! Barnes was doing his best, but had his work cut out defensively in front of poor Thomas on the Leicester left.

Willian had looked motivated and involved from the start - for all that there were a few too many backwards passes - and it looked like his cameo in a winning cause against Benfica had ignited his Arsenal career. It made a pleasant change to see him driving at the opposition for a change, and hopefully he has his mojo back (I believe that Arteta should take some of the credit, if that is the case). Meanwhile Smith Rowe did what he does best, linking the midfield and attack, and leading the press alongside Lacazette.

The threat of Pepe finally got Thomas booked on 37 minutes - I thought he should have had his card a few minutes earlier - and from the resultant Willian free kick Luiz's late run and flicked header into the left corner of the net levelled the game up. A nice routine and a goal Made In Chelsea, dare I say; and it was nothing less than Arsenal deserved at that stage.

Moments later ESR sat down, looking rather forlorn, and he was replaced immediately by Odegaard. It's precautionary, thankfully, and hopefully not too serious. Like-for-like, though, by Arteta, with no change of formation. And before the end of the half a penalty was awarded - by VAR; and why he needed referee Tierney - who had unaccountably allowed play to go on - to go over and take a look I do not know. Ndidi's hands were raised as he attempted to block Pepe's shot and it was as clear as day.  Was it a penalty? Yes, Ndidi! 

The move had started with some really decisive play and 30-yard run at pace by none other than Willian; which was good to see.  Laca slammed the penalty kick home with consummate ease; his fifth successful Arsenal penalty out of 5.

I'd had a WhatsApp message around 15 minutes in from a friend (who's always pessimistic about Arsenal's chances and loves to have a dig at Arteta) bemoaning the slow start/lack of plan etc., but I responded that we were the better side despite the scoreline, and for a change I could gloat a little as Arsenal turned round at half time a deserved goal to the good. To be honest, though, this said as much about the opposition than it did Arsenal. Shorn of not only Maddison but also Perez, and with Vardy clearly not at full throttle, they had offered very little indeed.

And at half-time Thomas - a red card waiting to happen if there ever was one - was replaced by Albrighton. But anything that Rodgers may have had planned was almost immediately undone as Barnes went down - entirely under his own steam - and was carried off with his right knee in an inflatable cast. He's an exciting player, on the fringes of the England squad, and I wish him well. And with his departure so ended any chance Leicester had of getting back into the game.

Just minutes later and Xhaka - who had as good a game as I can remember - won the ball in midfield and fed Pepe, who drove infield from the right. A quick pass to Odegaard, who with quick feet released the closing Willian, and the Brazilian's flick was slotted home from a yard by Pepe - who deserved his goal.

And that was it, really. Game dead and buried with over half an hour to go. The only other notes I have are a) 20 minutes into Partey's legs, b) Saka got his rest and c) Auba came on late on and nearly scored, but there's no sign of Gabriel Martinelli. Leicester did wake up in the final 5 minutes for a late, forlorn push. But it was all too little, too late.

And on the back of the excellent result against Benfica - never in doubt, eh? - this has turned into a good week for Arsenal. And just a few thoughts on the Europa League tie:

Firstly, elimination at the last-32 stage would have derailed the entire season, and re-raised doubts about the Manager. Secondly, Dani Ceballos won't look back on the game with much fondness, having conceded the free kick from which Benfica equalised and then gifted Benfica the lead in the second half. And thirdly, we have to thank the determination of Kieran Tierney, the sheer class and brilliance of Bukayo Saka and the predatory instincts of Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang for getting Arsenal through... to a reunion with Sokratis. But we're through, and on balance deserve to be - Arsenal were comfortably the better side over the two legs.

Onwards and upwards - a week off ,and then a tricky visit to Burnley - for all that they looked diabolically poor at Spurs over the weekend. Long may that form continue.

Stay safe. Back in a week.

City Stroll To Emirates Win

This was an absolute walk in the park for Manchester City. It was only 1-0, but the gulf in class was evident - from start to finish. City scored ridiculously early, and held Arsenal at arm's length with consummate ease for the rest of the game.

Arsenal were caught cold early on (I'm sick of these slow starts!), in a quite majestic opening 7-8 minutes when City scored once and could have had a further two or three, and that was the end of the game as a contest. Throughout the rest of the game, I never felt that Arsenal were going to score, and feel that even if they had then City would have simply broken out of second gear to score again.

It is clear that Arsenal are miles behind this quite outstanding City team/squad - 11 on the pitch but they have another dozen or more players who could seamlessly drop into the side. It goes to show what a difference it makes to have unlimited cash to spend, but irrespective of that this City side are probably the greatest club team I have ever seen - and I include the 2007-12 Barcelona team with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi (and others!), and also the great Arsenal sides of 1998-2006 in that.

Of the 11 who started Dias, Cancelo and De Bruyne are absolutely world class, and Sterling and Mahrez (a vastly under-rated player in my opinion) are not far behind. And Pep has got them purring, no matter who plays; just look at the players not selected for this game!

Liverpool, who won the Premier League last season, are suffering in this one because of their great centre-back misfortunes. But that amount of injuries would not affect this City squad, as they have so much talent in reserve, and Guardiola's biggest problem would appear to be keeping them all happy - perhaps that's why he rotates the side so much.

For me, Arsenal had a single player on show yesterday who could make his way even into the City squad, and that's Bukayo Saka. Of the rest of the squad, Tierney may come close - but he was caught far enough out of position to allow Mahrez his sumptuous assist - and I'd expect that Partey would do well there too. And that's it.

And so to the game, and on seeing the Arsenal side I couldn't help but wonder if Arteta was prioritising the Europa League over a game he felt he could never win. Pablo Mari came back into central defence, and Elneny was preferred to Ceballos in the continued absence of the aforementioned Partey. Odegaard was preferred to ESR, and Pepe came back into the side on the right with Auba up top. We'll certainly see changes for Thursday!

The game started, and it was clear that Pep had a plan. The Arsenal full backs' starting positions are often quite high up the pitch, and Sterling and Mahrez were soon exploiting this. Mahrez almost played in Sterling after just 45 seconds, and just a few seconds later the Algerian's brilliant trap and close control mesmerised Tierney, and his exquisite cross was headed in by the giant (5'7") Sterling at the back post. Holding should have done much better with the cross, but it was brilliant from Mahrez. And Sterling even had the time and presence of mind to angle his header away from Leno and into the side netting.

After that, City played like they were in a mere training session. Arsenal spent long periods chasing shadows, and for much of the first half it felt like they were being occasionally allowed the ball on sufferance. Things got a little better in the second half, but in truth City were cruising. They had a total of 611 passes, but a mere 15 shots - merely indicating how they felt able to treat the match like a kickabout in the park. Whether playing around or through Arsenal, they did pretty much what they wanted. The use of the diagonal ball also did a lot to confuse Arsenal.

They also have this clever knack of snuffing out possible danger with tactical fouls. They don't get into too much trouble because they're so high up the pitch most of the time, but it's something we are all aware of. And Cancelo was unnecessarily harsh on and late on Tierney at one point, and also inadvertently kicked Holding in the head late on - cue the 'concussion substitute' appearance of David Luiz.

This is supposed to be an Arsenal blog, but I can't help but major on City, who are a delight to watch. However, getting back to matters in hand, I'd say this: I have no idea what game Arteta was watching! I know that he would want to big his side up, but they really got the run-around, and to suggest anything else is being somewhat 'economical' with the truth. How he could say that 'We were on top of the game' with a straight face, I do not know.

Nonetheless, Arsenal kept at it, and that should be admired - I suppose. But too many players were ineffective. Odegaard had a quiet game. Pepe and Aubameyang did almost nothing (I remain to be convinced by Pepe, for all I'd love him to succeed), and I feel that Arsenal are more effective with Auba playing off the left. It's unfortunate, with Thursday in mind, that Saka didn't get even a bit of a rest. 

It is clear that Thursday's game is the most important of the next two. We need to get through in the Europa League, and Leicester away on Sunday is considerably more difficult. After that, it does get a little easier - what isn't after a game against City? - but it's crucial to stay in touch. Any decent run could see us back on the coat tails of the European spots, but perhaps I'm being too optimistic.

The truth is that we're not very good, but neither are we very bad. We can't judge our merit against a side like City - they are THAT good - but there are points to be picked up in the next few weeks and if we can tuck a Europa League Last 16 spot in there, then that should bring some confidence. Expect plenty of changes for Thursday, and Benfica are certainly beatable. I am as confident - as confident as this Arsenal side can make anyone feel - that we can qualify.

Stay safe. Back in a week's time.

Black and White, and shades of Grey

I've always been amused by how football fans view the fortunes of their team. Form tends to be temporary, but it's the path your team is on that is most important.

Take Arsenal. All through November and for most of December things looked bad. Arteta was relying on a group of experienced players who simply weren't delivering for him. Things looked so poor, and the trajectory looked so bad, that the 'R' word even started to get bandied about. And then, with Arteta almost forced to play Smith Rowe at home to Chelsea, the tide turned and they suddenly looked far more like what we'd been hoping to see all season. 

A series of decent performances and results, and Arsenal were apparently flying. All of a sudden, even the Top 4 didn't look out of the question. And then, on the back of an extremely unfortunate result at Wolves, and an admittedly somewhat tepid display at Villa Park, Arsenal were cr*p again.

Were they really? Of course they weren't! But we all get sucked into narratives, don't we? We all know where Arteta needs to improve his squad, and the decisions and trades he is going to need to make in the summer. The team is by no means the finished article, but I think that we can now see that there is a nucleus of players around which we can expect the team to revolve over the next three or four years. And for the moment results and performances are going to be somewhat up and down.

Other fans suffer just like we do. Are Liverpool suddenly rubbish? - no, but missing van Dijk, and at the same time all of his most likely replacements, and the whole team looks out of kilter. Did people really think a couple of months ago that Tottenham were ever contenders to win the Premier League? - no, of course not; not even their fans seriously thought so. Were Chelsea, with that wealth of talent in their squad, really going to underperform so badly for too long? - again, no. Sure, it needed a change to a more experienced Manager, but the change has been instantaneous and they're now back on the sort of trajectory one might expect. That's just three examples, but I could go on.

And so we come to Arsenal 4 Leeds United 2. And who bought into the narrative, as Leeds huffed and puffed their way back into the game from 4-0 down, that Arsenal's huge lead was really under threat? I certainly didn't. But the Sky commentators - including Alan Smith, who I wish would occasionally channel his inner Ian Wright and be more bullish about his former club instead of trying to be a little too impartial - tried to make it interesting by reminding us of the Joey Barton (and Phil Dowd) -inspired 4-4 draw at Newcastle all of 10 years ago. But I was never concerned, even when it became 4-2 with a quarter of the game to go. Honestly!

And so a quick recap of the game itself, with Arteta choosing to rest Rob Holding, and to give Martin Odegaard a starting debut in place of Pepe. Ceballos was the inevitable choice to replace the sidelined Thomas Partey, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returned in place of Alexandre Lacazette. Bielsa-inspired Leeds, a side known to never stop running and therefore always likely to pose a threat - their game against Everton a couple of weeks ago was the most entertaining match I've seen this season - were missing the key figure of Kalvin Phillips.

The game started with Arsenal noticeably pressing in similar style to Leeds, but always with the threat of getting exposed by their opponents hard-running. Bamford had a tame early header, before in the 13th minutes Xhaka's clever pass found Auba coming in from the left - where he had been alternating with Smith Rowe - and he did Ayling with a step-over before sliding the ball inside Meslier's over-exposed near post for 1-0.

In the 28th minute a marauding Luiz run right into the penalty are nearly led to a second for Auba - well blocked in last-ditch style by Ayling. And 5 minutes later controversy as, following a neat interchange with Odegaard, Saka was brought down in the area by Cooper. I thought it was a penalty, if not for the tangle of legs but for a push on Saka's shoulder, but referee Atwell was summoned to the screen by the VAR and ruled it out. Unusual to see a VAR decision fail to go our way, eh...

But almost immediately Meslier dwelt on the ball, lost control momentarily as Saka closed him down, and fouled our young star. This one was a clear penalty, and Auba crashed it inside the side netting with aplomb for 2-0.

On the stroke of half-time, it was three. Saka's mesmerising waltz across the penalty area caused havoc in the Leeds defence, and soon Ceballos' clever nutmeg of Klich let in Bellerin, who completed Meslier's dreadful half by beating him at his near post. 3-0, and surprisingly comfortable against a seemingly outclassed Leeds.

And Arsenal didn't ease up at 3-0, with Saka driving at the Leeds defence, and a combination of pressure on the ball from himself and Cedric leading to the ball breaking for Smith Rowe on the left. His clever dinked cross found Auba alone in the six-yard box for a simple header and his hat-trick - his first in the Premier League, incredibly.

At which point, Arsenal went into cruise control, and soon regretted it. Because Leeds do not stop working, no matter what the score is. 10 minutes later a towering Struijk header - another goal conceded from a corner; I'm not convinced by the choice of man-markers at set-pieces - made it 4-1. on 68, Costa cut it to 4-2 with a neat finish, beating Xhaka to a cut-back. 

In between those goals, Arteta had chosen to replace Smith Rowe with Willian. Now, I have no idea how that change would have been greeted by a full stadium... well actually I do; there would have been boos. And whilst Arteta is doing everything in his power to kick-start the Brazilian's Arsenal career it is looking increasingly less likely that he is going to succeed. Once more, Willian was really poor, and I'd almost feel sorry for him - it it wasn't for the massive salary he is drawing. Certainly, I'd be happy to earn in two years what he tucks away every week!

And fortunately that was pretty much the end of the game as a contest, with Leeds failing to create much else, and Aubameyang just inches away from a fourth goal as his rasping shot crashed against the bar. Elneny came on for Odegaard - who'd had a tidy enough game for his first start for three months - to help shore things up. Saka continued to show his brilliance to the end - hitting the post at one point - and the only other moment of note was an injury-time collision between Ayling and Auba which resulted in a nasty knock to our skipper's ankle. Thankfully, he looked OK by the end as he strolled off with a match ball.

And so what did this match show? Well, either Arsenal are a bad team who occasionally play well. Or they're a good side who had been unlucky over the previous couple of games. Or probably something in between. From what I've been watching recently in the Premier League, Manchester City are head and shoulders above the rest, Leicester are possibly next best at the moment, and as for the rest... well, it's a pity that Arsenal have so much ground to make up to get into the Top 4, because I don't see too much else to worry about. 

Saying that, the fixture list does look tricky over the next few weeks, and I suspect that whatever blueprint Arteta discovered for this game may have to be torn up for the next, which is against City. I suspect we may see Laca back in the side and Auba on the left, as it'll be important to press from the front. 

Before and after City, it's away (in Rome) and home (in Athens) Europa League ties against Benfica. The world has truly gone mad!

Stay safe. And don't forget what my father always used to say: Leeds are Weeds!

Conspiracy Theories Rool - OK

And so, another defeat. Opinions range from: 'We're cr*p; Arteta out!' through 'We didn't get the rub of the green - again', to 'We deserved to win the game and it's a conspiracy!'. And all of these views have some merit.

So to the bare facts of the game. And firstly, to our relief, Mat Ryan was passed fit to start in the enforced absence of Bernd Leno. Elsewhere, the only other change was Gabriel for the equally suspended Luiz. I'd sort of expected a rest for ESR, perhaps, and a start for Martin Odegaard, but Arteta chose not to tinker. Aubameyang remained on the bench.

Regrettably, the first thing that Ryan had to do was pick the ball out of the net. A poor pass from Cedric on the left corner of the penalty area caught Gabriel a little on his heels, Traore nipped in and crossed, and Watkins swept home via a deflection off of Holding (who might have been a little closer to him, I suppose - but 87.265% of the blame goes to Cedric for this one). An appalling start, in just the second minute.

I immediately noted, by the way, that from that very moment Villa started to waste time. They took just a little too long for my liking over every single restart, but referee Kavanagh didn't seem to notice. Perhaps it was my imagination, and I suppose that every second counts when you're losing. I also noted that Ryan didn't touch the ball again until the 21st minute.

It also occurred to me that most other sides in the Premier League are simply more 'professional' than Arsenal - by that I mean pragmatic, or cynical if you like. I see it in almost every Premier League game I watch. Maybe Arsenal are clinging a little too much to the old Corinthian spirit; more general fair play than many other sides. Alternatively, I may just be rambling...

Anyway, time-wasting aside the game settled down into end-to-end stuff, with Arsenal generally moving forward with purpose but unable to break through the Villa rearguard, and almost everything Villa did going through Grealish. The England international is, as we all know, 'the most fouled player in the Premier League', and that's hardly a surprise when you watch him go to ground at the slightest contact. Talented and skilful he may be - and in spades! - but I find it all a little bit unedifying.

Arsenal were not at their fluent best in this game. Lacazette looked to be dropping a little too deep at times, and Pepe was having one of his 'headless chicken' days - constantly in the wrong place at the right time. Laca, nonetheless, once or twice almost released Saka through on goal. Almost...

On the half hour, Xhaka's direct free kick - awarded due to a foul on Saka by 'the most fouled player' - was headed for the very top corner, but Martinez quite superbly tipped it wide of the upright.  In a statistical anomaly, which BT Sport were delighted to point out, Xhaka's effort was somehow Arsenal's only shot on target in what was in fact a very even and quite entertaining half of football.

Almost immediately, a clever turn in the area by Traore set him free on goal, but Ryan read his attempted chip. And then came the first moment of controversy. Holding's long clearance was flicked on by Lacazette, and Saka was in a foot race with Konsa. The Villa defender brought him down at the second or third attempt, thus denying Saka a clear run on goal - admittedly 30 yards out, but nobody was getting to him. A red for me, but not for Kavanagh, and VAR took a mere cursory look. But Targett wasn't getting there, was he?

Minutes later, Nkamaba became the second Villa player to be booked for an assault on Saka, who was being fouled in rotation at this point.

The free flow to the game continued into the second half, with both teams looking likely at different times. The best chances fell to Watkins at one end, and Pepe at the other. And amidst all that, from a wicked Saka corner, Lacazette was penalised for a foul. Because, apparently, it's an offence to have your shirt almost pulled off in the six yard box? Here's a close up view of Lacazette fouling Martinez...

Aubameyang replaced the angry Lacazette, and soon after Odegaard replaced... not ESR, but Cedric; thus sending Saka back to left back - as Arteta went for broke. Soon after came the worrying sight of Partey coming off with what looked like a recurrence of his thigh injury. This is as bad news as the result! 

And much to most people's chagrin he was replaced not by Martinelli, but by Willian. And whilst pretty much dominating from then on, with the exception of a chance from which Odegaard should have done much better there was little to worry Martinez.

And so to talking points, and they're fairly clear and obvious to me:

1.    Arsenal are really missing Kieran Tierney. Cedric is half the player he is; he fails to offer anything like as much as the Scot either in defence or attack, and on this day I'm pretty sure he doesn't make the mistake that Cedric made for the goal

2.    I'm veering somewhere in between 'We didn't get the rub of the green - again'' and 'We deserved to win the game and it's a conspiracy!'. On another day, Villa may have gone down to 10 men, and Martinez's tug on Laca would have yielded a penalty. I simply cannot accept that it's a conspiracy, for all that we get a lot less of the rub of the green on VAR than many other clubs I could mention. I merely put it down to the diabolically low standards of refereeing in England. After all, did we not have another example of that with the Soucek/Mitrovic incident?

What I would say is that I can think of many, many more instances where Arsenal have suffered via VAR than been helped by it - and I'm sure that there must be some figures somewhere. Instances where almost identical incidents have led to different outcomes when an Arsenal player is adjudged the offender than the other way round. If I can locate enough information, I'll do a piece on it.

The whole concept of VAR needs a hell of a lot more work, and the sooner the Technical Director of FIFA (whoever he may be) can give better guidance on many aspects of its use in conjunction with Referee supremo Collina, the better.

For me, I'd rather go back to simple human error and put the whole thing on hold. 

But I'd also like to see Law changes regarding 'initiating contact', with the threat of retrospective bans for players for duping officials by dangling a leg, or exaggerating a dive. That's going back to my point on 'professionalism' - the game is too sanitised these days, and collisions that a few years ago wouldn't have raised an eyebrow are now pored over again and again. And every time a pundit says 'Such-and-such player was clever there...', my life shortens by a month. Because its football, Jim, but not as we know it

3.    As for Arteta's claim that Arsenal 'once more dominated the game' and deserved to win', I think that there is an element of deflection here. He didn't have his finest hour on Saturday; he shuffled his pack all wrong maybe three times - moving Saka to left back, over-crowding the side with number 10s, and bringing on the totally ineffective Willian when Martinelli was surely the better option. 

As I mentioned at the top of this post, there are some calls for Arteta's head, and he doesn't help himself with such muddled thinking. Nonetheless, it'll take a lot more for him to go any time soon, as Arsenal are too invested in him at the moment - we can't behave like Chelsea because we simply don't have the funds available to do so.

However, this particular tirade was borne out of frustration. Because the fixture list over the next month is really tricky and could see the side cut well adrift from any chance of European qualification. It's Leeds (H), Benfica in the Europa League sandwiching Manchester City (H); then Leicester (A), Burnley (A), Tottenham (H), West Ham (A) and Liverpool (H). Ouch!

Anyway, until next week... 

Stay safe.