This Saturday, Premier League football returns to the Emirates Stadium. In more than one sense, it feels as if we’re going back to the beginning.
Back to the beginning in that we also opened up the campaign with a match against the Citizens. In the Community Shield at Wembley, Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners. Something tells me it won’t be quite so easy this time round.
Back to the beginning too in that this feels like the start of the season proper. It’s ridiculous that transfer deadline day falls several weeks in to the campaign. Squads are rarely fully assembled until the end of August. Everything that occurs prior to the deadline feels curiously underbaked. Business is not done, teams are in flux – even the Champions League contestants are still to be decided. In truth, those early matches feel like little more than an extension of preseason.
Arsenal’s performances have reflected that mood. It’d be fair to say the Gunners haven’t quite got going yet. We laboured to a win against Palace, scrambled a point at Everton, and scraped past Besiktas in the tightest of two-legged affairs. Our last outing was the dispiriting draw at Leicester.
In time, we might be grateful for that dour draw – not because I expect the KP Stadium to prove a particularly fearsome fortress, but because it probably went a long towards prompting the purchase of Danny Welbeck. Had Yaya Sanogo scored any sort of goal in an Arsenal victory, Arsene Wenger might have been convinced to persist with the fallible Frenchman. Instead, our problems in attack convinced him to move for a new striker.
Welbeck might not have been Wenger’s first choice. The indications are that he made late enquiries for Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao, only to discover he had been beaten to the punch by rivals.
At 7.30am on deadline day, Wenger telephoned a reputable football agency and asked them to help broker a deal with Manchester United and Welbeck’s brother and manager, Chris. Talks began over a £3m loan deal. By the end of the day, amid fierce competition from Spurs, Welbeck had signed a five-year deal with Arsenal for a fee of £16m. It may prove to be a masterstroke.
Anyone unconvinced by Wenger’s decision to bring the athletic Mancunian in should be forced to watch England’s 2-0 victory over Switzerland on Monday night. Welbeck grabbed a brace in an electric display, showing pace, power and a surprising dose of composure.
It’s back to the beginning for Welbeck too. He’s left behind the club of his life for a new start elsewhere. You have to admire his courage. This prodigiously talented son of Manchester has left home to make his fortune.
He couldn’t wish for a better start, facing off against the club he has been raised to regard as rivals. A goal on Saturday would make it a memorable occasion for all involved, and restart the season with a bang.
This was an entertaining but ridiculous game…
Both sides are renowned for their attractive attacking play, and that manifested in an end-to-end encounter. However, without wanting to go all miserablist and Mourinho-esque about it, to proclaim this game a “great advert for the Premier League†would require overlooking some truly diabolical defensive play.
When you look at clashes between the Premier League’s title-chasers, they are typically cagey, low-scoring games. The stakes are high, and the margins fine. This match, however, was played with all the reckless abandon of a preseason exhibition match.
City will take plenty of plaudits for their stylish swashbuckling, but it’s worth noting that their defending was nearly as bad as ours.
Nearly, but not quite.
Our defending was awful…
This was as bad as it’s been for quite some time. Bear in mind, it’s the first time Arsenal have conceded more than two goals in a game since our opening day defeat to Aston Villa.
The Villa game was something of a freak result, but against City we got the hiding we deserved. I think the last time we defended this badly was probably in the 5-7 farce against Reading last October. This time, however, there’s no Martinez or Djourou to hold up as a scapegoat: to a man, we were poor.
It’s not just the back four who were to blame…
One of the major strengths of the team this season has been the way they’ve defended as a unit.
However, in this match the back four were badly exposed. Arsenal’s midfield simply did not provide the level of protection we have seen since August.
It’s something of a fallacy that the best form of defence is attack, but it’s certainly true that a good form of defence is possession. However, Arsenal didn’t look after the ball sufficiently well today — witness Mesut Ozil’s loose pass that led to City’s crucial third goal.
The timing of the goals was particularly painful…
Conceding an early goal to a set-piece was a huge blow, but at that stage there was plenty of time to claw things back. However, every time Arsenal dragged themselves back in to the game, they turned around and subsequently fired a bullet right in to their own foot. There has been a lot of talk about physical fatigue, but repeatedly conceding just after scoring suggests we’re mentally tired too.
Jack Wilshere should have been one of the fresher players…
However, I thought he was shockingly bad on the day. It was actually quite arresting to see such a technically-gifted player repeatedly give the ball away.
When Flamini was withdrawn in the second half, Wilshere was asked to play the the defensive midfield role. It was something of a disaster.
There’s an understandable desire among Arsenal fans to protect Wilshere: he is a huge prospect and is still recovering from an equally huge lay-off. However, performances like today show just how far he is from getting back to his best.
I’m sorry, Mikel…
Prior to the game, I was one of those who advocated the dropping of Mikel Arteta. Arsene Wenger clearly felt similarly, as he left the Spaniard on the substitutes bench. It was a bold, ruthless selection from Arsene, which I admired — but sometimes gambles fail: Arteta’s positional discipline and intelligent use of the ball were badly missed. I fully expect Arteta to be restored to the side for the Chelsea game.
Olivier Giroud tried manfully…
Considering how little he must have left in the tank, I was impressed by how well Giroud put himself about for most of the game. However, he is now without a goal in five games, and allowed several alluring opportunities to score pass him by. Arsene Wenger was not amused:
One suspects that Sergio Aguero would have snapped up one of the chances Giroud passed up. As good as Giroud can be, Arsenal still have room for improvement alongside or ahead of him.
Of course we were tired…
Before the game, Arsene Wenger insisted he would not blame our heavy fixture schedule. His post-match press conference suggests he’s changed his tune. Several key players looked utterly drained by the 70th minute.
There’s no doubt that City have superior strength in depth. Arsenal have many excellent squad players, but City have no squad players. Almost every footballer in their possession would be good enough to start for them regularly. When they rotate, there is no discernible drop in quality. When we rotate, we play Bendtner.
The one positive was Theo Walcott…
Walcott took both his chances well and showed that he could provide some much-needed support for Olivier Giroud. If he can stay fit he will certainly add a different dimension to our attacking play.
The incident between Ozil and Per wasn’t pretty…
When Ozil neglected to go over and clap the travelling fans, the usually placed Per lost it a bit.
It’s a consequence of frustration on both sides. Ozil was probably embarrassed by the scoreline and his own mistake, and wanted out of there ASAP. Per, as a committed defender, would have been furious to have shipped six goals. I wonder too if he didn’t hold Ozil a little responsible for that misplaced pass when the game was finely balanced at 2-1.
Emotions run high — that’s normal. Hopefully that charged atmosphere can be channeled in a more positive way ahead of our next game.
It’s all about the response…
If Arsenal overcome Chelsea in the next game, much will be forgiven. However, that’s no easy task: Arsene Wenger has never beaten a Jose Mourinho team.
Having been roundly trounced by City, it’s tempting to wonder just how costly that Gerard Deulofeu goal last week might prove to be. Arsenal’s cushion has disappeared and our seat at the top of the table suddenly feels a lot less comfortable.
The stark truth is that Arsenal have lost to each of Manchester United, City and Chelsea this season. Beating the likes of Spurs and Liverpool is one thing, but that titanic trio provide the real acid test. Arsenal will need to win their home games against their closest rivals if they are to stand a chance of lasting the pace.
All the talk before this game was of the exorbitant prices fans were asked to pay to watch the match. It felt particularly expensive for Arsenal fans when Laurent Koscielny’s red card effectively ended the contest after 10 minutes.
In fairness, it might not have been much of a game regardless. In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger admitted:
“Overall we started too timidly, with not enough authority in a game like that, and we allowed them to dictate from the start. We paid very early from it.â€
It’s a relief to see him be honest and avoid laying all the blame at the door of referee Mike Dean, who I believe got most of the major decisions right. From kick-off City were more purposeful, more organised, and more commanding. They looked like the home team. What happened in the tenth minute simply compounded problems that were already alarmingly evident.
I think Laurent Koscielny is probably Arsenal’s best all-round defender, and yet I wouldn’t have him in the first-team. It’s a paradoxical statement about a bewildering player. For all his excellence, his time in English football has been littered with some major errors, and his decision to bear-hug Edin Dzeko to the ground inside the penalty box was inexplicable and yet entirely in character.
Was it a foul? Certainly. Did it deny a goalscoring opportunity? Yes. Although Tevez ultimately reached the ball, it was only Koscielny’s intervention that prevented Dzeko getting there. If pulling someone’s shirt as the last man forty yards from goal warrants a red card, then rugby tackling someone to the ground six yards out should definitely do the same.
Some fans have suggested that Dean’s decision “ruined the gameâ€. I didn’t hear them making the same point when Emmanuel Adebayor was dismissed in the 17th minute of the North London Derby. We know Dean enjoys the limelight and will gleefully make a big call given the opportunity, but it took Koscielny to be stupid enough to give him that chance. For what it’s worth, I thought Dean did a decent job with a difficult match, and made the correct call with Vincent Kompany’s late dismissal too.
Back to the penalty. I didn’t fancy Dzeko to score the spot-kick at all, and indeed Wojciech Szczesny made the first of several important saves to deny the Bosnian. Without another impressive performance from the Pole, the score could have become humiliating.
The fact we survived the penalty with our clean sheet intact made the way we gave away the two goals all the more infuriating. First the team failed to switch on as City took a quick free-kick and released James Milner to thump brilliantly past Szczesny; then Kieran Gibbs was caught in possession and duly punished as Zabaleta crossed for Dzeko to tap in via another Szczesny save.
City were in complete control of the game, and though the second half introduction of Olivier Giroud gave them the occasional scare, they never looked less than comfortable. The fact they managed nine shots on target as compared with Arsenal’s four tells you that they looked more like adding to their tally than conceding.
I was relieved that the scoreline wasn’t more embarrassing. Arsenal have difficult fixtures to come in this month, and a home humiliation would have been hugely unhelpful.
Afterwards, Arsene Wenger was unusually unguarded about the failings in his team:
“We need to be a bit more confident in this kind of game. We want to do so well that we are a bit up tight. I’m not angry, it’s frustration that you do not see from the start what this team is capable of.â€
We are not, he makes clear, seeing the best of the players we have. Questions must therefore be asked of the man being tasked with coaching, organising and motivating them: Arsene himself.
I’d also query today’s team selection. The manager seems to harbour a desire to reunite Koscielny and Vermaelen for the big games. He tried it against Chelsea back in September, and we combusted. Today produced a similar result.
Theo Walcott got the nod in the central striker’s role, and although it was something of a thankless task today, was entirely unconvincing. Amid rumours of an imminent new deal, a cynic might suggest his performance was that of a man who has now got the golden handshake he’s been after.
I was more immediately concerned by his failure to provide any kind of outlet for our embattled midfield. He never came and showed for the ball in to feet, and was dominated by Kompany and Nastasic throughout. Whenever we created space wide, we neglected to cross as Walcott doesn’t have the capacity to provide any kind of aerial threat.
It’s worth noting that of Walcott’s 14 goals this season, only five have come while playing through the middle. While I’m not convinced that Olivier Giroud is good enough for a side with top four ‘ambitions’, he remains the best centre-forward we have, and should be starting games.
The injury to Mikel Arteta is obviously a blow, but throwing the very rusty Abou Diaby back in after three months out was a strange decision. Leaving him on at the expense of Oxlade-Chamberlain after the sending off was arguably stranger. A red card to a centre-back robs you of one substitution; leaving a barely fit Diaby on effectively robs you of another.
Perhaps Arsene wasn’t fussed, as he knew that Olivier Giroud was the only attacker available on the bench. The unexplained omission of Arshavin and Rosicky meant that of the six outfield substitutes available, three were defenders and one a defensive midfielder. The absence of player capable of coming on and changing the game was palpable, which makes Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to enter the transfer market all the more infuriating.
Asked if Arteta’s injury would prompt him to move to reinforce the squad, he replied:
“To find players of a calibre of Arteta, available in January, I wish you good luck.â€
Cry me a river, Arsene. You had the summer, but you ‘kept your powder dry’. Since then you’ve had four months to identify players to improve the squad. You’ve now had a full two weeks in which you could have actually bought someone; a period in which we’ve failed to qualify in the cup and dropped five league points.  Stop moaning and do your job.
The real positive for Arsenal was the performance of Jack Wilshere. Faced with adversity, he was fearless, bold, and brave. City did their best to kick him out of the game, and he responded time after time with driving runs that represented our only real hope of getting back in to the game.
In a match in which the talented but timid Cazorla was anonymous, Wilshere emerged as our true playmaker. Our true leader.  The class and courage he displayed was reminiscent of one Cesc Fabregas – a player who ultimately left Arsenal because the club failed to build a side befitting of such a unique talent.
If Arsenal and Arsene continue to neglect their responsibility to improve the squad, Jack will go the way of Cesc. And Van Persie, Nasri, Clichy and Song. Jack’s enthusiasm and love for the club was entirely evident against City, but no player is immune from disillusionment.  Years of stagnation and decline will wear that affinity thin.  We’ve seen it before.  Let’s not let history repeat itself.
After his thumping free-kick against Aston Villa, Arsene Wenger revealed the secret behind Mikel Arteta’s shooting: his unusually small feet.  Well, rarely can such pies pequeños have been responsible for sending such reverberations through the Premier League.  Arteta’s 87th minute strike has not only continued our propulsion towards Champions League qualification, but also seems to have handed the title to Manchester United.
On the evidence of yesterday, City do not deserve to be Champions. Â They played without fight, without passion, and with plenty of fear. Â When the game was poised at 0-0, they looked more scared to fail than eager to triumph. Â It was a curious twist of fate that this crucial defeat for them came against a side whose mental toughness has often been openly questioned. Â Anyone watching this game would be forced to conclude that it is City, not Arsenal, who have the flaky psychology.
As for Arsenal, the victory was fully deserved. Â Arteta and Song were the foundation of the victory – after City lost Yaya Toure to injury, they were unable to cope with the tenacity and technique of our midfield pair. Â Ahead of them, Tomas Rosicky buzzed around effectively, whilst Robin van Persie seems to be regaining sharpness – only the post and, comically, his own man denied him a brace.
We waited a long time for the goal, but in the end justice was done. Â There was justice also for Mario Balotelli, sent off for a second bookable offence after the referee somehow failed to notice his potentially career-ending lunge at Alex Song in the first half. Â Balotelli is a curious case: the press are loathe to condemn him because they love the soap opera. Â Why, though, Â has Mancini been so loathe to condemn him? Â It can only be because he shows ability on the training ground that makes the circus seem worthwhile. Â However, he’s never shown anything like that form on the pitch, so I’m not unsurprised his manager’s patience is wearing thin.
Arsenal now look ahead to a clash with relegation-battling Wolves. Â I say ‘battling’ – they haven’t shown too much fight in recent weeks, and look doomed. Â That said, it wouldn’t remotely surprise me to see them raise their game for our visit. Â Every match between now and the end of the season is a big one, and after losing at QPR hopefully the team have learnt that allowing concentration to drop in this league will almost always result in painful punishment.
I’m actually typing this from holiday in Mallorca, so am going to scoot off back in to the sun now. Â Happy Easter everyone.
