Newcastle Dealt With, But Bigger Tests Await

Newcastle at home. As anticipated, it was comfortable, but certainly not spectacular. But three points, some more promise for the future, and consolidation in fifth place ahead of two tough away trips. 

68% possession. 24 shots. As the crowd very eloquently put it: 'You're rich; and you're f*cking sh~t!'. More goals would have been nice, but let's just bank the win and move on.

There were a few talking points, nonetheless. The first of which was the continued selection of Tavares over Kieran Tierney at left back. Personally, it's not something I agreed with. But on the other hand, Tierney had not been at his best this season (in keeping with the rest of the team) before he got injured, and barring his big mistake at Anfield the young Portuguese has done little wrong (saying that, some of his shooting was quite comical against Newcastle!). But he's been essentially solid defensively, and does love to get forward at pace; so I can understand Arteta's decision, even if I don't agree with it. In fact Tavares has done enough, I feel, to keep his place at Old Trafford - although Jadon Sancho is something of an upgrade on the ponderous Joelinton.

The second talking point was the complaetely unsurprising decision to reinstate Odegaard in the number 10 role in place of Alex Lacazette. Harsh, perhaps, on the Frenchman, who made a big difference on the team's link-up play since he got back into the side. But he's off in the summer at the very latest; so with a win a high probability on Saturday it was probably sensible to look at younger alternatives. 

It was probably unfair to judge and single Laca out following the defeat at Anfield, but Arteta didn't change any other personnel. And to be frank I thought that Arsenal looked extremely lethargic and disjointed for the first half hour against a strictly limited Newcastle side - whether that was something of a 'hangover' is debatable, but if you had to hand pick a fixture after Liverpool away it would probably be this one. 

Nonetheless, there's very little action to report on from the first half as it took a while for Arsenal to get up to speed. Lokonga's cross found Saka racing in at the back post, but he could only poke it wide on the stretch. There was Dubravka's routine save from Odegaard's free kick, and Ramsdale's superb tipping of a Shelvey effort onto and over the bar.

Followed by a moment that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will want to forget as he managed to merely hit the post from two yards after the Newcastle goalkeeper had pushed out Smith Rowe's header to his feet. 

And nothing much else to report in a somewhat turgid first 45 minutes.

This certainly wasn't our skipper's day. Again, one might say... and to be frank, whilst he's been laudably 'leading the press' over the past few weeks, he's not been at his best in and around the penalty box, has he? But I honestly don't think that it's lack of effort that's doing for him; for me, he's simply past his peak. And combine that with Laca's age etc. we do have a looming problem up top.

Whereas we have either experience or potential in depth in other areas of the pitch, centre forward is an area that needs to be addressed in one of the next two transfer windows. Lacazette won't be here next season, Auba will be gone the season after at the very latest, and the alternatives are all youngsters (Nketiah; unfortunately not going to make it at the club - Balogun; needs a loan to toughen him up - Martinelli; super cameo on Saturday, but questions remain as to whether he can consistently deliver). I'd suggest that Arsenal need a 24-26 year old proven performer to fill that gap. Names are being bandied around, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I also note that some people are moaning about Partey's contribution. And whilst it's not been spectacular, and not what we might have hoped for from a £45m player, he's a DM, and it's fair to say that injuries have meant a year or more of truncated runs in the team. So let's look to judge him in May. I, for one, am happier with him in the side that when he is not.

And so to the second half, when it was clear that Arteta had demanded his team raise the tempo. And from the moment the second period kicked off a goal was coming. And on 56 minutes it arrived. Neat interplay involving Lokonga and Smith Rowe, and then Tavares' clever reverse ball to Saka, who had overloaded the left hand side, who crashed the ball home from the angle. And so we could relax.

Saka limped off after 66 minutes (it looked bad, but apparently is not) and was replaced by Gabriel Martinelli - a man with very little game time so far this season, and a point to prove. And so he did - a run bent around the disjointed Newcastle defence, and a brave and spectacular volley as he met Tomiyasu's exquisite chip whilst facing being flattened by the onrushing goalkeeper. With just his second touch, and a mere 90 seconds of getting onto the pitch. Sumptuous.

And he should have had a penalty late on, as Lascelles left his mark on him with a clumsy, badly-timed barge.

Questions are now being asked as to whether Gabi has done enough to replace Auba in the starting line-up. And whilst I can understand that his cameo, allied to Auba's drop-off, might get people thinking that way, Arteta would be a brave man to do that at Old Trafford. I wouldn't like to be making that call; one way or the other. 

It would be remiss of me to fail to mention T*ttenham's humiliating defeat in Slovenia last Thurday, so I shall do so now. Suffice to say that I was still laughing out loud a good 5 minutes after the game had ended. Glory Glory!

And so to the traditional 8.15pm on a Thursday kick-off time for Manchester United away, live on the freely accessible Amazon Prime. The travelling fans will be cursing those who have arranged this. Nonetheless, I wish them a safe and happy journey home. I'll be back to report on it on Friday. COYG!

Perspective Required After Anfield Wake-up Call

It didn't take long, did it? One defeat and #ArtetaOut is trending again. I've honestly no idea what's wrong with our fanbase.

I'm not sure quite what we were expecting at Anfield. Sure, I'd have taken a draw before kick-off, and a win would have been extremely surprising, for all of Liverpool's apparent slight recent drop off in form. And whilst a 4-0 defeat fitted perfectly with Sky's narrative - for starters - for all that it was emphatic it didn't feel like some of the others have felt. We've been there in the past and been two or three down in 20 minutes, but some form of resilience was shown, and the goals were down to either sublime play or self-inflicted wounds.

But let's make it clear; if you regard the success of a football team as a cycle (or at least something circular, like a clock face), then Liverpool are somewhere around 12 o'clock - they are one of the very best sides in Europe, have played together for a good 4 years now, have a well-established way of playing and half a dozen players who are the envy of the rest of the Premier League. Whereas Arsenal are just starting to move on from 6 o'clock - where one felt they could barely go any lower - and this side have played less than a dozen games as a unit. So give them a break!

Arsenal's season will not be defined by how they do against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. Any points gained against these sides should be regarded as a bonus (and yes, there are those who say: 'We're Arsenal; we should expect to beat everyone', but this isn't peak Arsenal 2004; it's trough Arsenal 2020/21). Those three afore-mentioned sides are streets ahead of the rest of the division, but 4th place is very much up for grabs. West Ham lost at the weekend, as did Manchester United (in freefall), Everton and Leicester, and for Arsenal to maintain 5th spot after the start they had is in fact nothing short of remarkable. Arteta out? You must be mad!

Of course, I'm not absolving the manager for Saturday. Not by a long chalk. Captain Hindsight might tell you that he should have picked a different team or even formation, and should have had a different game plan. But he's trying to establish a style of play and that only comes with strings of matches. And let's not forget that this is the youngest team in the Premier League - it's inevitable that disappointing performances and results will come along the way. But as long as the trajectory is up, then that's all we can hope for.

Captain Hindsight told me that Arteta should have played three central defenders, including Tierney, on Saturday, in order to help combat the irresistible threat of TAA and Salah on their right hand side. This would also have helped even out the numbers in midfield (where Arsenal were continually engulfed). And he told me that they should have abandoned playing out from the back and trying to beat the press. But Captain Hindsight is merely playing with my mental health. And whilst Liverpool are bloody good at the press we actually got through it on several occasions, but were unable to take advantage. Although, to be frank and honest here, essentially Arsenal couldn't cope with it, mistakes were continually forced, and the pressure was almost incessant.

I'm not saying that Arsenal could have won - by no means! - but a little less misfortune might have changed the narrative slightly. Sure, Liverpool were on top almost throughout (without Ramsdale, it would/could have been much worse) but, as I say, what did you really expect?

Just a couple of things that I particularly wanted to draw your attention to:

1.    The Arteta/Klopp 'bust-up', and how it 'changed the game'. This is a red herring; if anyone thinks that Klopp wouldn't have got hold of his team at half-time if the score had still been 0-0 and revved them up for the second half, then they'd be wrong. All the incident may have done is started the process a dozen minutes earlier. But - and see below - Arteta was 100% correct. Because...

2.    Sadio Mane is a snide, niggly piece of sh*t footballer (for all his talent). He continually dishes it out, but then goes down at the slightest contact. A modern day Drogba or van Nistelrooy. In the very first minute, he threw an arm into White's face. Should have been booked. He went through both White and Tomiyasu in the period before he clothes-lined the full-back (again no booking), and booted White into the air with the ball off the pitch - all before half-time - whilst at the same time also managing to win free kicks by throwing himself to the turf on maybe three occasions. But it's Anfield, and it's Michael Oliver, so we don't expect justice to be meted out. 

This, according to Klopp, was 'nothing'...

Finally booked for this, after the two previous 'nothings' and two tackles from behind. And lest we forget what he did to Kieran Tierney in last season's corresponding fixture...

People might tell me that all that is Sour Grapes - and no, it probably wouldn't have changed the result - but it's easier to play/hold out against 10 men than 11. And I stand by my opinion of Mane; an easy nomination into the Premier League Snide XI alongside the likes of Maupay, Marcos Alonso, James McArthur, Richarlison, Jonny Evans, Vardy, Almiron, Shane Long, plus of course Kane and Son - the ultimate snide double act.

Liverpool are a fine side, so defeat is no disgrace. They have players who I'd take in my side in a heartbeat. TAA, VVD, Salah (for all that he has the sort of face that you just want to punch!) and - especially - Fabinho. 

If there's one player in the league who I covet, it's the Brazilian. You can keep your De Bruynes, your Fodens and your Lukakus; here is one player who'd make a massive difference no matter what team he plays for. I think he's fantastic at what he does.

So, as Aaron Ramsdale said after the game, we put this to the side and move on to the considerably less formidable challenge of bottom-of-the-table Newcastle United on Saturday. Starting then, we will certainly have easier matches than the one we just had. In fact, just about every match we play will be easier than that one. COYG!

And just before I go, I'd like to complain about... Watford! Sure, you got your fabulous 4-1 win over Manchester United. But you've ruined the fun for the rest of us. Those two late goals are what finished Solskjaer off. If you'd have just held on to 2-1 he'd probably still be in charge. Disappointing...

I'll be back next week.

Kevin, You are Nobody's Friend!

Arsenal's 1-0 win over Watford - a scoreline that by no means tells the whole story - has been overshadowed by a little controversy. I'm not sure that even the most die-hard Watford fan can truly begrudge Arsenal the three points based on the pattern of the game, but the moments leading up to the winning goal left some questions to be answered; and I shall attempt to do so below.

A very good friend of mine is a Watford season ticket holder. And he likes to go on - a lot! - about the 'dark arts' allegedly perpetrated by the evil that is... AFC Bournemouth(!?!). I'm not sure that anyone else has noticed tbh. 

Anyway, I have advised him to take a look a little closer to home after Sunday's Ranieri-inspired performance by his team. 19 fouls committed during the course of the game, many of which went unaccountably unpunished by way of a card by the utterly ineffective Kevin Friend - who must, in my opinion, take much of the responsibility for the way the match panned out.

Friend failed to punish (the somewhat rotund these days) Danny Rose for a series of assaults on Arsenal players - the one on Lacazette for the penalty was perhaps in itself worthy of a red card, let alone a yellow - and also let Josh King get away with plenty after his first-minute booking for an elbow swung into Gabriel's face. Kucka, who finally received his marching orders late on, was another who had a somewhat 'robust' game, and it was clear that Watford were intent on roughing Arsenal up at every opportunity, and on a rotational basis - aided and abetted by the pathetic efforts of Friend to keep control (yet Arsenal 6 fouls committed; 4 bookings - need I say more?).

Here's a little montage of Rose's 'tackle' for the penalty - no card of any colour (and a 5 second delay before Friend awarded it!):

Friend's inability to stamp down on Watford's shithousery from early on merely encouraged them to keep at it, and prevented a free-flowing game of football from breaking out. Arsenal, admittedly, were not at their best by any means, and were frequently berated by the crowd for not moving the ball quickly enough. But they certainly had enough possession - and enough chances - to have won the game considerably more comfortably than they did.

And for that I'm afraid that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang must take a fair deal of responsibility. He worked very hard - as has been his wont for much of this season - but very little went right for him. It was his mis-control that led to the ball breaking to Bukayo Saka in the fifth minute to strike home from an offside position - he ought to have scored himself. He missed his second successive penalty - top save by Foster, who had a terrific game (he needed to, to be honest), to be fair - when the crowd were hoping that Laca would take it (although he was probably groggy after Rose's attack!). And he diverted a late goal-bound shot from Odegaard into the net from an offside position. He will assuredly have better days.

Anyway, there can be no doubt that Arsenal deserved to win, but that it came about in the way it did was a little unfortunate. Watford's shithousery had just started to include going down and feigning injury - to add to the rotational fouling - and from one of those instances Rose played the ball into touch. However, by the time he had done that Tufan had 'struggled' to his feet (he'd barely been touched, by the way) and Arsenal decided not to return the ball. They would have done had he been actually injured, I'm sure. 15 seconds later, the ball was in the net - well-taken by ESR by the way; he's getting onto the score sheet as regularly as the best attacking midfielders have ever done. But not before Watford had one or two opportunities to clear - and no, that wasn't a foul, Watford fans; it was a 'coming together' (VAR agreed on that).

And to be fair, for all their gamesmanship throughout the game it's nothing less than Watford deserved. Because what they did deserve from the game was zero points. One shot on target - in the 83rd minute - under 40% possession - and a foul count to be ashamed of. Fortunately for them there are some really poor sides in the Premier League this season, and they may therefore survive. But they're not very good. They're certainly got a better chance of surviving under this manager than the previous one, but judging by the trigger-happy nature of their owners I can't envisage what might happen if - as all known form indicates - they lose their next 4 league games.

A word here for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who was drafted into the side for the injured Thomas Partey and had a man-of-the-match performance. More grist to the mill, and reliable cover for January's AFCON departure nightmare. Good luck to him.

The other stand-out player for me was Ben(jamin) White, whose forays into the opponent's half are becoming a hallmark of his performances. It certainly helps to keep opponents guessing when we have someone who is capable of such play in the side.

Anyway, for Arsenal it's up to 5th spot, only two points off of fourth and a mere 6 off the very top. Who could possibly have imagined that at the end of August? There's a long way to go, of course, and it's Liverpool away next...

Talking of Liverpool, it was great to see them lose yesterday, as that meant the end of the last unbeaten run in the division. Happy Invincibles Day for yesterday, everybody. And to continue my alleged 'obsession’ with Tottenham, that's yet another game - Antonio Conte notwithstanding - that they failed to register a single shot on target. Ho hum...

Anyway, another Interlull beckons (congratulations to ESR for getting his first call-up to the senior squad earlier today), and then it's that big test at Anfield. And Liverpool could be in better form, so...

Back in a couple of weeks. COYG!

Ramsdale Epitomises New Found Character And Resilience

And so the Arsenal bandwagon rumbles determinedly onwards. And upwards. So much so that I think that we can safely put the horrendous start to the season firmly behind us now. The perfect storm that led to those three performances/results has now been replaced by a strong tailwind that continues to carry Arsenal back towards where we all know they belong.

The vast majority of supporters were seriously doubting 'the process' after those three games. And if nothing had changed, they'd have been right to do so. But the mass introduction of the 6 players signed in the summer has seen the resurgence that we'd all been wishing for, featuring a visible change of attitude and commitment from front to back. And now, with a settled side, I'm starting to feel that Arsenal are going to be a match for perhaps all but the best that the Premier League has to offer. There will be ups and downs, of course, because this is essentially a young side, but I think that we can all see that the direction of travel is firmly heading towards sunnier climes.

Of course, a major test of that will come on November 20th with a visit to Anfield. But results this weekend have shown that even the best sides have their issues and off-days. That game is sandwiched between home games with Watford and Newcastle, so I suspect that the Curse of November is rather less likely to strike this year.

And what is more important is that Arsenal are now starting to compete with - and beat - the sides they need to beat in order to push on towards a return to the fabled Top 4 spots. With Tottenham, Villa and Leicester all seen off in the space of 6 weeks, and a hard-fought point won at Brighton, we can definitely start to look up now. And it's incredible to think that Arsenal now find themselves just three points off of fourth, and 5 off of second (!), a mere 7 matches after failing to gain a single point from their first three.

And so to the game at the King Power on Saturday. Same starting XI as for Villa - meaning that White had recovered from whatever caused him to come off the pitch on Tuesday - and frankly there was no reason to change it. The central defensive pairing is looking solid, Tavares has proved a more than able deputy for the injured Tierney so far, and Lokonga is quickly learning what is expected of a Premier League central midfielder. Up the top of the pitch, Auba certainly seems a much happier performer with his mate Laca out there with him and is leading by example.

Ans then there's Aaron Ramsdale. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't sure about him - actually I was less sure about the size of the fee, I think, than about the man himself. But he blows us away week after week, does he not? Culminating in his quite brilliant save - an extra brilliant one amongst a slew of great blocks and saves on Saturday - from Maddison's free kick. Oh. My. Goodness!

Although, as my dearly departed and much-missed father would certainly have commented: 'He should've held it.'

As we have now come to expect, Arsenal started quickly, nearly taking the lead in the very first minute following a lovely run by Saka, but it wasn't long before our wonder boy's beautiful in-swinging corner was headed home by Gabriel. On Saka's 100th Arsenal appearance, I must mention. And on 18 minutes it was two, with a swift counter attack - started by Partey and followed by more trickery from Saka that led to some penalty area pinball - that was finished off, Lampard-like, by ESR.

Of course, we expected Leicester to find their feet in the game and to come back into it. And this they certainly did. But they met with firm resistance as the Arsenal defence held firm for the most part. And when they didn't... there was Ramsdale. Saves like the aforementioned one from Maddison, but also from Iheanacho (following a rare misplaced pass from The Staffordshire Ederson), from Evans on the follow-up from the Maddison free-kick, and also Lookman and Barnes (twice).

Some thoughts on this: Arsenal's fast starts and early goals are forcing opposition to change their plans. This is good, but there is still something of an element of Arsenal failing to react swiftly to these tactical changes (something Arteta needs to look at; but he's getting away with it at present), as they are forced onto the back foot for sometimes long periods of matches. Of course, it is unreasonable to expect any side to maintain that intensity for 90 minutes, but Arsenal as a team must continue to learn to manage matches better - and this will hopefully come with experience. 

It's OK to drop back into a 'low block' when under pressure, but there is also a need to look to find a way out of it and to try to press higher up the field. That threat must always be there - otherwise, it is inevitable that goals will be conceded. If the opposition see no threat - just that low block - that merely invites more and more pressure. A microcosm of that is pulling everybody back for a corner - I hate that! Leave one up, and they have to pull two or even three back. And in the same way it's not OK to just defend, defend, defend. There needs to always be an out ball - or at least the threat of one. Otherwise it's just a siege.

But again on Saturday, Arsenal's defence bent but did not break. A clean sheet and a win at a difficult venue. Thank you very much.

Another quick take on Ramsdale, and this is it:

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkcLmp4r6hw. Bantered by the Leicester fans in the 'traditional' way, this response shows the character of the man. I cracked up with laughter at the time, and others noticed it too. What's not to love?

And so to Watford at home on Sunday. And the reasonable expectation of three points, which will hopefully continue to carry Arsenal upwards. If you can be bothered to look back, I did mention in this blog even whilst Arsenal were languishing in 20th place that 20 points going into the forthcoming international break was a reasonable expectation despite the awful start to the season. And we're on course for precisely that. 

Top 4? Well, it looked like a pipe dream two months ago, but that is no longer the case.

Just a quick mention on referees and VAR - aren't you sick of it all? Two weeks ago McArthur's assault on Saka was not reviewed by Mike Dean, despite him being invited to do so by the VAR ('punishment' from PMGOL followed, but that's not the point). Andre Marriner took an age to award Chambers' goal on Tuesday; it's almost as if he wanted to ignore the buzzing on his wrist. And on Saturday two almost identical incidents saw Laporte receive a red card for a foul on Zaha, but Evans just a yellow for doing the same to Auba. Conspiracy? Nah...

I cannot end without a word on our neighbours... another manager bites the dust, and I believe that it's now 7 managers since their last trophy, won in 2008 under Juande Ramos. And I'm finishing off this article on an auspicious day - because November 2nd 2021 is precisely 5000 days since they lifted their one and only trophy this century. Big club... it's all Glory Glory with them, isn't it?

And for all Arsenal fans concerned that 'winner' Antonio Conte is taking over at The Toilet Bowl - don't be. Even Jose Mourinho failed there. 

Lads; it's Tottenham. And no, I'm NOT obsessed with them - but they are the gift that keeps on giving. In any case, Conte is clearly the wrong choice. They should have gone with fish'n'chips entrepreneur Harry Ramsden. After all, Tottenham get battered everywhere they go!

I'll be back next week. COYG! 

Arteta’s ‘Lightbulb Moment’

As I was driving around on various errands on Friday afternoon, my mind was mainly occupied by thoughts on Arteta’s team selection later in the day. Hopefully, I pondered, he would have learned the lesson about isolating Thomas Partey as he had done on Monday. And he would surely find a place in the starting line-up for Alexandre Lacazette after his fine cameo and crucial goal on Monday.

Thinking about how he might fit all the pieces of the jigsaw into place, I got to wondering if he’d set the team up looking on paper like a 4-3-3, with Auba nominally playing off the left, but actually go 4-2-3-1 with Lacazette playing more of a link role in the hole behind the skipper. Which was exactly what he did, and we got to see this celebration yet again:

So either we are both geniuses, or it was merely bloody obvious? I go for the former, obviously... But perhaps it’s just possible that he has finally hit upon the best way to utilise the resources available to him. His resources; because this is finally his team. 

Could this be his ‘lightbulb moment’; the flash of inspiration that finally changes the fortunes of the team and starts to bring them back towards contention? Have Arsenal, in Arteta’s own words, just gone 'bang’?

Projecting forward, I’d suggest that the building blocks of a half-decent side are in place almost all over the pitch (the forward line will need to be addressed over the next couple of seasons, obviously). Recruitment has (finally) been good, and Arteta appears to have now hit on a system that suits the personnel. 

And so to the game, and starting with team selection. Tierney’s injury was something of a surprise, I guess, but as it transpired Tavares’ first Premier League start was a resounding success. He’s raw, to be sure, but he’s quick, powerful, and completely fearless. 

We’d probably been expecting Saka to miss out in the aftermath of McArthur’s assault on Monday (I’m still angry with Mike Dean - we saw a yellow upgraded to a red in the United/Liverpool game, after all), but as it turned out it was Pepe who made way. The other, and perfectly understandable, change was Lokonga - a genuine central midfielder - for Odegaard, who’d looked like a fish out of water in that role on Monday.

Of course, it wasn’t obvious (Sky were certainly fooled!) until they lined up quite what the formation would be, but I was delighted to see that Arteta had gone with the formation that I’d hoped he would. And it put Villa on the back foot straight away.

So from very early on, I had few concerns about any downside to my hopeful Tweet:

Lacazette, by dropping deep, not only gave Arsenal an extra option in transition - flanked of course by our two superkids - but also put continual pressure on Douglas Luiz, the Villa ‘pivote’. And behind him the presence of Lokonga close to Partey made the latter’s life so much easier.

What I also liked was the willingness to play a quicker, more ‘front foot’ game. It was slick, there was much more of a willingness to move quickly and attack between the lines, and quite simply Villa were unable to cope with the intensity. It’s a great pleasure to not have to witness ‘umbrella football’ for a change.

Of course, Villa’s shape didn’t help them. Why they’ve changed it since last season I cannot fathom. But three centre halves and the wing backs pushed up often means that there are gaps in behind, and Arsenal continually exploited those channels, pulling the centre halves out of position continually. 

Moments that illustrated the change of intensity from the very start included ESR carrying the ball inside and forcing the defence to back-pedal (he did it all game, in fact), Saka finding space in the right channel more than once, Tavares’ marauding runs down the left and Ben White’s confident 60 yard burst. Auba had the ball in the net early on, but a very marginal foul called against Laca saw it ruled out. Partey unluckily hit the post following a free kick awarded against Mings, who’d been unable to cope with Saka yet again. And a couple of minutes later the Ghanaian’s shoulder helped an ESR corner into the net. It was the very least that Arsenal deserved.

And all of this stemmed from the added solidity given by the presence of Lokonga alongside Partey. And what I’m trying to illustrate here is that this added central solidity - something that was palpably lacking on Monday - allowed Arsenal to attack from wherever they liked.

Arsenal’s injury time penalty award was perhaps somewhat fortuitous, but of course we’ll take it. And it led to the first bit of interesting by-play regarding ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez. First he tried his patented mine games trick, and Laca put him in his place. And then the Argentinian saved Auba’s spot kick, but was powerless to prevent him from clipping in the rebound. He was gutted!

Martinez had already been on the receiving end of a few boos and cat-calls from the home fans, due to his well-documented continual desire to talk about the manner of his departure from The Emirates, and he was now the pantomime villain. Comparisons with Ramsdale began to be made in the crowd, with ‘Aaron Ramsdale - he’s better than you’ ringing around the arena. Highly amusing, and I guess he asked for it. As I Tweeted at the time:

And now a word on Ramsdale, who had very little to do throughout the entire first half, but what he had to do in the second half he did really well. And his distribution is nothing short of superb; at Ederson levels, in fact. Those Arsenal fans who doubted his signing have all been silenced, and he’s already a cult hero. He’s exactly what we needed.

Villa’s half-time change of formation did cause a shift in the direction of play, and Arsenal’s defence bent, but did not break. Whilst at the same time Arsenal looked just as potent going forward as before. As illustrated by ESR’s goal, which came about as a result of Auba’s exquisite flick around the corner to set him free. As Jamie Carragher said on commentary, our blond bombshell runs just as quickly with the ball as without, and there was little doubt that he would bury the opportunity. 

And here’s an extra bit of by-play with Aston Villa, who you may recall made a couple of derisory bids for ESR in the summer. We were apparently after Buendia (who was apparently playing in this game?…), and we can see who got the better end of things. I’m not sure how much money might be needed to prise Emile away now, even if anyone tried. A minimum of £75m, and certainly not the £30m that Villa offered. 

Laca came off, exhausted, after 66 minutes - quite rightly to a standing ovation. And Odegaard slipped into the number 10 role that clearly suits him a lot more than central midfield. Lokonga was relieved by forgotten man AMN with 29 minutes left, and he did well too. In fact, nobody in red could be marked under 8/10.

The only downside in the entire game was Partey chickening out of a challenge on the edge of the penalty area that led to Villa’s goal. Ramsdale was absolutely furious - and it didn’t do much good for my Fantasy team either! But there’s nothing else negative to report, and hopefully we can see the momentum continue into next weekend. It’s a good test - Leicester away is not easy.

And now finally a quick word on Manchester United. And here it is: hahahahahahahahaha. Of course, any day that both United and Sp*rs lose is a good one; but that was special. Solksjaer is doing a wonderful job, and certainly gets my vote of confidence.

For United's mauling to have taken place on the 17th anniversary of the Old Trafford Conspiracy that cost The Invincibles their unbeaten run - once again, karma.

I’ll be back next week. I’m the meantime - COYG!

Laca Rescues Arsenal From Arteta's 'Cunning Plan'

You know, I really don't know what to make of Mikel Arteta any more. For a man in his first job... well, it's one that's increasingly looking too big for him. He seems to be over-complicating things; trying to reinvent the wheel - and out-thinking nobody but himself.

Football is essentially quite a simple game. And at Premier League level the opposition is extremely well scouted. There are essentially no secrets. 

So why, when he fully knows that Crystal Palace play with three central midfielders - without fail - every week, would he choose to go into a game against them with Thomas Partey; plus a man for whom central midfield is not his natural position?

Of course, it's not quite as bad as going with just Partey - and literally nobody else - in a crucial European semi-final as he did last season. But it does indicate another lesson not learned. Because Palace absolutely had the run of midfield on Monday evening.

It's all very well trying to get all your 'best' players on the field at the same time. But if it doesn't work formation-wise, then to me it's pretty damn obvious that you shouldn't stick square pegs into round holes. And for all of Martin Odegaard's qualities, tackling and the positional sense to play in central midfield are not what one immediately thinks of. When I saw the team, I immediately thought that the shape was simply wrong. And I'm no coach; that's for sure!

You've just got to look at what the best English teams are doing at the moment. With Chelsea, irrespective of the opposition, it's two of Jorginho, Kovacic or Kante. Liverpool have Henderson and Fabinho; at least one of them always plays. Against Atletico in their European tie, Klopp whipped off Keita at half-time in order to get both of them on the field in order to nullify the threats the Spaniards had been posing. Even Manchester City will use Rodri or the now aging Fernandinho in there (and increasingly often Bernardo Silva) . (I'm not bringing Manchester United into this discussion, by the way - they're as much of a shambles in central midfield as Arsenal are). And it's that element of control of the ball which the most successful clubs use as a springboard. Always have - always will... so what the hell does Arteta think he's going to achieve by going against that grain?

I could see what the plan was. The trouble was that it was a stupid plan. A plan so 'cunning' that Baldrick would have been pleased with it. Play all round the outside and keep out of central midfield - what sort of a plan is that? It took Palace by surprise, I suppose, because Arsenal were on top early on; looking good and getting the early goal.

But totally unsurprisingly the experienced duo of McArthur and Milevojevic, supplemented by the high energy levels of the promising and exciting Gallagher - got to grips with the matter in hand and held court for all but those first 15 minutes or so. Of course, it does help when they've got one of the greatest central midfielders of all time as their manager (I'll come back to that). But 15 minutes was all the time Palace needed to get used to whatever Arteta was trying to do.

What the lack of coherence meant was that Arsenal were really poor out of possession, and slow to organise themselves and get the ball forward when they won it back. By which time Palace tended to be back in their shape, and that made it difficult to make the necessary progress and chances. Odegaard himself didn’t make a single tackle all day - he didn't get close enought to any opposition player to be able to do so - but equally didn't find himself in areas in which he could influence the game going forward either.

And Arsenal had no answers once (Zaha-less) Palace had worked them out. Partey and Odegaard didn't work as a team, found themselves either isolated, in the wrong place or too far apart from each other time and again, and the gaps between the lines were enormous. The fans worked it out soon enough - there were groans from all around me and all around the ground from as early as the 20th minute as the tide of the game turned - but Arteta did not effect a change until half-time (and whether the injury to Saka forced that or not I guess we'll never know).

I'm not going to dwell too much on the details of the game. We all know what happened. We scored early, but didn't/couldn't push for the second as they took control. McArthur should absolutely have been sent off for that assault on Saka (Saka had been booked for a snide one a little earlier - after two or three of their players had got away with similar, but kudos to Mike Dean for doing what he tends to always do to Arsenal). 

Ramsdale made a terrific save from Gallagher's volley with literally the last kick of the first half. Lokonga came on for Saka at half-time, but still hasn't got the experience or positional sense for the Premier League in my opinion (so empty was our midfield at times that I was expecting to look round and see Guendouzi back in a red shirt!). Partey and then Lokonga were both caught in possession and within seconds the ball was in our net (too much backing off by the central defenders if you ask me...). 

And then the frantic finale when Vieira repeated Wenger's old mistake of inviting the opposition on - I still recall with disgust the two injury time goals Sp*rs scored to make it 4-4 all those years ago - and Laca scored an equaliser that Arsenal almost certainly didn't deserve.

So yet again we take a point that was frankly barely deserved. And what's of most concern is that the 3-1 win over T*ttenham is now starting to look like a bit of an outlier. For Arteta's sake, both results AND performances need to pick up - and quickly.

From what I saw on Monday, we've got the wrong ex-Arsenal midfielder as manager. Of the two in the technical areas on Monday evening, one is a colossus - in more ways the one - and the other a small man trying to make his way. I still want it to work out for Arteta, but I sense that we're all becoming less and less convinced that it will with each game that passes. Villa on Friday is now a must-win, or he's surely going to start to come under severe pressure. 

I'm not in a good place with Arsenal at the moment. Can you tell? Still... COYG!

One final note here - on Mohammed Salah; who is rightly being lauded for his currrent form and end-product. He is scoring fantastic goals every week, and people are raving about him. As they should be. But it's worth mentioning that he's not the first to be doing the extraordinary on a consistent basis in the Premier League. I give you one Thierry Henry... lest we dare forget.

And that's it - Friday night for Villa at home, so I'll be back with you over the weekend.