Devastation Well-Known

Well, I feel dejected, how are you all? 

As many of us expected, Arsenal were not capable of going to Man City and winning. It puts us in a precarious position where it's a straight shoot-out to the title over the final five games, and if I were a betting man then Arsenal would not be the horse I'd be backing in that scenario. 

Yes, the performance was encouraging, the best we have played in a while, but it still wasn't quite good enough and it leaves our title chances on the brink. 

We came out impressively at the start of the first half, taking the game to City when everyone expected us to sit back and play for the 0-0 like a couple of seasons ago. We had some early threatening chances but couldn't quite make them count. Then Ryan Cherki (I really hate him now, but he's a fantastic player) danced through our defence far too easily to make it 1-0 to the home side. Thankfully, we didn't let our pressure drop and it led to us immediately responding as Havertz pounced on a fatal error by Donnarumma. The game then settled a bit as the first half drew to a close. 

As the second half got underway, I think City came out the stronger side and the substitution of Madueke for Martinelli at half time (one I supported) did not work out as we hoped. It was like playing with 10 men as Martinelli consistently failed to carry out his role in our high press, allowing the likes of O'Reilly to waltz through the midfield in acres of space and get the ball to City's danger men. Gabriel couldn't keep Haaland at bay forever and the Norwegian won the shirt pulling contest to slot home a second for Man City. 

I think both teams got away with potential red card incidents (Havertz being taken out as the last man, albeit softly, and the stupid Gabriel head push into Haaland). I'm glad neither were given and the game was allowed to flow a bit more, but that's as much praise as I feel comfortable giving to the referee, who I thought gave some dodgy decisions to both teams in little phases throughout the game. 

Arsenal, despite being second best for large parts of that second half, had some glorious chances to win the game or at least draw. Eze's stunning turn and shot at the post was sublime, just the kind of magic you need in these games. I can only assume he was taken off for fitness reasons as otherwise he is the kind of player you keep on in a game like that and I can't understand the tactical reason for hooking him. Gabriel hits the post with a chance from a set-piece, just when you need us to be set-piece merchants again! Then the two Havertz chances - the first one perhaps you can point to the ball into him not quite being perfect enough - the second one he has to head in. That was the chance. The chance that could be the difference between the title and second again ole ole. He at least has to get it on target!

Let me be very clear - this game is not where the title will be lost if we don't win it - it will be the results vs Liverpool home and away (especially at home where they had virtually no attack), United at home, Brentford/Forest/Wolves away, Bournemouth at home...you get the idea. 

Once again it is hard to escape the questions over the mentality of the club (that includes the players and the manager) at crunch time, when the pressure is on, to get us over the line. We had multiple chances to go several points clear in this title race and make the game at the Etihad irrelevant, but each time we couldn't quite do what was needed. Even if you were being kind, the loss to Bournemouth at home was the real killer blow for me. To go from the chance to be 12 points clear, to the likelihood of it coming down to goal difference within the space of a week is quite remarkable in some respects. To turn up how we did at home to Bournemouth given the opportunity we had in front of us showed me signs that the mentality issues run deep. 

I also think mismanagement throughout the earlier stages of the season have really come to pass in our recent slump. This includes squad management and recruitment, because either Arteta didn't rotate his squad enough to prevent late-season fitness issues like the ones we have, or he didn't recruit the correct players meaning we couldn't afford to rotate due to the quality drop-off that would present itself. For example, was Nørgaard not good enough to have been purchased as the midfield rotation? Or is it just that Arteta didn't use him enough when he should have in certain games this season? 

Madueke was bought instead of the fabled left-winger we were crying out for last summer. He couldn't do the business in that position early in the season and Saka couldn't stay fit for most of the campaign, so Madueke was re-branded as right-wing cover. He has been marginally (at best) better in this role but still nowhere near the level required to win a Premier League, especially given how much we paid for him. 

Gyökeres was supposed to be the signing to finally push us over the line. The clinical striker who finishes the chances like the ones Havertz missed yesterday that turn losses into draws and draws into wins. Has he been terrible? Some say yes but I say no, given he is our top scorer this season and his numbers compare favourably to other strikers' debut seasons for Arsenal. However, I've seen the notion floated around that Arsenal as a team would have scored more goals this season if Havertz was leading the line rather than Gyökeres for most of the season. I find this interesting because with Havertz up top for the majority of the game yesterday, we looked a more cohesive attacking outlet than we have looked for a long time. Despite this, the bar was set very low and we still lost the game with our only goal against City being from a goalkeeping error. 

So which signings have worked from last summer? Eze sort of/ maybe/ kind of/ I suppose/not really? Zubimendi is up for debate and I don't think you can call Nørgaard a success, so it's murky waters for the midfield. Kepa has cost us massively in the cups this season, so the goalkeeping signing isn't covered in glory (granted he is a backup keeper). That leaves Mosquera and Hincapié who I think have been successful for their first seasons in England. This continues a consistent pattern we have seen under Arteta where defensive signings seem to be his forte, whilst we continue to waste significant expenditure on attacking signings that don't quite fit the bill. This has to improve going into this summer. 

But enough about the summer, there will be plenty of time for full inquests and discussions on recruitment and this season's mistakes after the season is over. For now, all we can do is look ahead to the next game. We get a luxurious full week off to prepare, a rarity for Arsenal these days, and we could go into the Newcastle game in second place for the first time since September. It's obviously not 100% guaranteed, but to put it one way - if City don't beat Burnley I'll start looking for pigs in the sky. 

Newcastle will be a tough test and the team must build on the green shoots from the performance at the Etihad to turn results around immediately. We are off the back of a torrid run of results and are now in a position where every game is must win. There is no longer any room for error and it still might not be enough if City score more goals than us. That's the position we have put ourselves in and that is the position we have to now deal with. If you thought every game had pressure on it before, wait until this weekend where it is win or bust against a side that causes us problems historically, even if they have been struggling of late. 

I apologise for the negative spin on these posts of late, but I have to tell you what's on my mind. Maybe we can end on the one positive you can always rely on. It could be worse, we could be Sp*rs. 

Until next time!