Ron Was Right?

 Happy Monday all. 

Now, other than the fact that I have opened this week's blog in the style of an all-staff email from that manager at work we all hate (you know who I mean), I'd like to start by summing things up with a Harry Potter quote. Watching Arsenal these days feels a bit like Ron's prophecy reading in the third film: "You're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it".

You see, my experience as an Arsenal fan these days is a strange one - I'm over the moon at how results are panning out across all four competitions and our defence is proving to be more robust than a Nokia 3310 wrapped in bubble wrap. 

However, I can't help but feel like every second spent watching our games at the moment is tantamount to a form of torture that should be considered a war crime. The nerves, the anxiety, the fact my heart beats so fast over 90+ minutes that I question whether I'm in need of medical attention or if I'm about to start floating in the air and develop super powers. 

We just seem to be obsessed with going a goal up and then sitting back and trying to see it out. When we do attempt to increase our lead and kill games off, our attack appears to lack the quality needed to execute. Despite this, I go to criticise the attack but I'm faced with stats that say something different - such as the fact that we are the first Premier League team to score over 100 goals this season. I feel like I'm being gaslit on multiple levels here, which is not something I thought I'd say when talking about games of football but there you go. It's not just that crazy ex of yours - Arsenal can do it too. 

We seem to be passing the 'stats test' but failing the 'eye test'. It makes it difficult to know which narratives to believe or subscribe to - is it: 

"last season we would have lost/drawn those games - that shows how good we are now"

or "these games shouldn't be so tight, we are lucky as on another day they equalise and we draw/lose them"

There are many other narratives I could draw on, such as "champions grind out results" or "in cup competitions it's just about the result". Ultimately, I wish we could be a bit more comfortable, dominant and convincing in our victories. 

The midweek game against Brighton was a tough watch until (credit to Arteta) the substitutions made things a bit more comfortable to see out. I thought we couldn't make the ball stick at our feet and many of our players were lacking the technical quality level to create clear cut chances and put the game to bed. This resulted in a nervy 1-0 to the Arsenal which was made even worse by the fact that I had the City game on a second screen at the same time. When both games went to 7 minutes of added time simultaneously, I was about ready to check myself into the nearest medical facility with cardiac issues. The euphoria at the final whistles, coupled with the fact that we managed to make Fabian Hürzeler want to cry, felt like a somewhat worthy payoff in the end. 

A quick word on Hürzeler - as someone who isn't the most likeable at the best of times, maybe you should focus more on your team's declining form this season and less about trying to do your best impersonation of the guy from Come Dine With Me who couldn't handle losing: 

Who needs AI when I can make that? 

We are in a much stronger position now at the top of the league table, and a win at home to Everton would put us in a commanding position to back up the increased points margin we earned last week. It's also nice to be able to focus on some other competitions now that they are all starting to crop up again. I think you could see more and more in our recent league performances that we were just feeling the pressure and fatigue after a relentless run of huge games, with the Brighton game typifying this. 

Speaking of, wasn't it so nice to have a relaxing, run-of-the-mill win against lower league opposition on the weekend? Oh wait, no we made a meal out of that as well. I think the playing surface had some type of effect on our top-level players, who sprain an ankles if they play on surfaces below a 10,000 thread count (see Trossard and Calafiori coming off). 

I think Mansfield made a fantastic account of themselves and it was a proper old school FA Cup tie. Arsenal's positives to take away, other than the result of course, was the fact that Max Dowman looks absolutely electric. I love the way he plays and weaves through the opposition in a way that I don't think we have elsewhere in the squad. He was unlucky not to get a goal and I think we need to manage this player so carefully to ensure he continues to develop in the way that we all hope he can. Even though it's been limited and often in friendlies/youth football, every time I watch him he excites me and has an effect on the game. I can't wait to see more of him over the next few years, and kudos to the club for keeping him tied down and getting him to this point. 

On the other side of the coin, I think we had some shaky performances in the team, particularly looking at the two Gabi's up top. I thought they really struggled to adapt to the conditions of this match, almost as if they were refusing to adapt or expecting to just waltz by the Mansfield defence. I expect the manager will have a lot to say about it behind closed doors, as it falls well below the 'fogging estandards' that he demands from everyone at all times. 

Next up, it's the return of the Champions League and a trip to Leverkusen. I believe we can get through this tie and that we should have enough quality to remain largely untroubled by them, but I don't subscribe to some of the takes I've heard recently about how we are going to win by 4, 5, even 7 goals. This is still a top side in a top European league and going away to their ground won't be easy, no game at this stage is. I would like to go into the second leg with a strong lead so that we don't need to exert ourselves to the maximum trying to chase the game at the Emirates, but any lead or possibly a draw is a decent result here. 

Following that, it's the return of the league as we host Everton on the recently arranged Saturday fixture. I'll be at this game so please let me know in the comments what instructions to shout at the players from my seat 100 miles away at the top of the North Bank. I'll make sure they hear every one. 

Everton sit 8th in the table currently just 5 points shy of the top 6, with possible European football next season to play for. This means they will be well up for this and this will not be a straightforward game. I expect them to keep a rigid defensive structure and we will need our best attackers to start rediscovering their creative ideas if we have any hope of continuing our winning form in the league. 

Here's to hoping it all plays out how we want. See you next week! COYG