The day started before dawn when I escorted the dog into the frigid garden to do his business. Checking my messages I saw that TTG was already headed to the match from his lavish country estate, but was surrounded in his carriage by Hammers en route to their match with the Chavs, in their quest for mid-table mediocrity. Hoping he would be able to safely navigate the riffraff in his personal carriage, I settled down to coffee and watched part of the early game before giving the dogs a real walk, getting home in time to see that Mikel Arteta had made no changes to the team that faced Everton:
Ramsdale
White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko
Ødegaard Partey Xhaka
Saka Nketiah Martinelli
Our guests, the Bees of Brentford, were lined up on their side in a 3-5-2 formation, which quickly reverted to a pack of eight players behind the ball when the Gunners were in their attacking end, like this:
Raya
Ajer Pinnock Mee
Roerslev Janelt Norgaard Jensen Henry
Toney Mbeumo
Looking to recover from the disappointment of last week’s second league defeat, Arsenal aimed to extend their five point lead at the top over Manchester City, who will host Aston Villa on Sunday. The Bees have been the league’s form club since the World Cup, and stood seventh in the table before the match so the Gunners knew they were in for a battle. Friday on Sky, Paul Merson called this Arsenal’s biggest game of the season, saying “If you start backing up defeats with draws or another loss, it soon mounts up and before you know it, the table looks completely different. So, you have to bounce back.” Sandwiched between the Goodison goof-up and Wednesday’s showdown with the defending champions, this game represented a critical moment in Arsenal’s season. But after Arsenal weren’t able to hold their 1-0 second half lead, it now makes a win against Citeh even more critical than it seemed prior.
The first half started evenly enough but before five minutes had gone, Arsenal came in for a scare when Toney got control on the right and sent in an excellent cross that left-back Henry sent far to the right of goal despite being in an excellent position. Ramsdale just did enough to put Henry off despite not being able to claim the cross himself but it was a bit unnerving for Arsenal to be giving away a good chance like that so early.
On the attacking end, Ødegaard was stringing together some nice passes and Arsenal were dominating possession but with no telling end product. Zinchenko, who seemed to have a greater share of the Gunners’ shots than his total of zero Premier League goals would seem to indicate he should be taking, missed a decent rebound chance, putting his right foot effort over the bar. Contending for a high ball in midfield, Saliba was fouled by Toney who headed to Mbeumo, who then put the ball in the net after the whistle had gone, although the commentator (and apparent Brentford fan) seemed to think Toney had done nothing wrong. Saka was pushed in the box by Henry but did not go down, instead sending a weak effort straight at the keeper, making me wonder if a penalty would have been given had Saka gone down immediately upon contact.
Brentford was disrupting Arsenal’s rhythm in midfield, and preventing the Gunners from getting behind their packed defensive lines. Partey sent a speculative effort high into the crowd and a hint of frustration seemed to be creeping in. The Bees came down the other end, strung together a couple of passes, and the ball came to Toney in front of an open net but he sent it off the top of the bar. Another let-off and some worried murmurs from the crowd. Ben White’s excellent defensive header prevented another right wing cross from getting to the head of a Brentford attacker at the far post, and from the resulting corner Xhaka’s face got in front of Mee’s goal-bound free header.
Arsenal had some half-chances but at half-time I felt they were lucky not to be behind, and Brentford’s defensive set-up seemed to be working a charm, with a low block that looked similar to the way Everton had set up last week. Checking my texts I saw that ATG had a similar question to the one I had been asking myself, namely “Why are we trying to thread it through the middle all the time?” — but in fact neither were we having any luck going around them and sending in crosses because the Brentford defenders were handling everything in the air with seeming ease.
Halftime: Arsenal 0 Brentford 0
Neither manager made any changes at half-time. The first five minutes of the second half saw Raya save decent shots by Saka and Ødegaard after well-worked Arsenal moves. On 56 minutes Brentford had another excellent chance but Toney shot just to the right of Ramsdale’s post after the Arsenal defense looked passive.
Finally, Arsenal made a breakthrough after Ødegaard slipped in Saka on the byline, and his beautifully placed cross found the foot of substitute Leandro Trossard, who had replaced Martinelli a few minutes before. The ex-Brighton man made no mistake, hit the back of the net, and a cry of relief rang out from the home crowd. In celebrating his first goal for the Arsenal, Trossard raised his hands to his face and seemed to gesture as if he was looking into the crowd with binoculars, but cool goal celebration or no, he chose an opportune time to open his account with his new club.
Arsenal 1 Brentford 0 (Trossard, 66 minutes)
Arsenal seemed fortunate to be in front, to be honest about it, but I was hoping that they would gain enough confidence from the goal to be able to up their game and see it out for the three points. Unfortunately, just seven minutes later Brentford controversially scored the equalizer when they were allowed to play a game of head tennis in the Arsenal box until the ball was headed to Toney who did not miss an open net this time.
The controversy came into it after VAR reviewed the build-up play which showed two possible instances of off-side. The commentators said that referee Peter Bankes and VAR referee, Lee Mason as it turns out, were focused on the earlier instance, but after the decision of no off-side was announced, we were shown the later instance of off-side which on my viewing showed that the goal had indeed been off-side. All of which might make the casual observer wonder, Why does VAR exist if the officials charged with implementing it are not able to identify the plays that require VAR review? Speaking on the BBC, former Liverpool midfielder and Arsenal antagonist Danny Murphy commented: ”I am lost for words at the incompetence of the people doing (VAR) … Arsenal fans will be upset, the equaliser does look offside when it was headed down.” Never one to overstate the obvious, I might point out that if Danny Murphy is saying that Arsenal were jobbed, you might take it seriously.
Arsenal 1 Brentford 1 (Toney, 73 minutes)
After Brentford scored there were few clear chances left on either side but it was Arsenal applying most of the pressure at the end. Zinchenko shot past the right hand post, Saka shot over, and Trossard and Saka nearly set up Nketiah right in front of goal but the ball was just out of his reach.
Officiating questions aside, I have to admit that on the general run of play Arsenal probably didn’t deserve all three points. I thought Brentford played an excellent game and fully deserved their point. Where that leaves Arsenal is in a worse position than they were last week, but not in free fall by any means.
Come on Villa and come on the Arsenal on Wednesday, is what I say. Three points against our closest rival would do a huge amount to turn around our current mini-malaise, but it also wouldn’t hurt if Super Mik comes up with a wrinkle or two that the other managers haven’t thought about yet. Keep the faith, ‘holics.
Cheers bt8. To slightly add to the controversy, from my vantage point behind the goal, it looked more like the free-kick should have been awarded in our favour.
Massive match on Wednesday now (which I will not be able to watch, whether this is a blessing or a curse I don’t know…)
Thanks bt8, well-balanced report of a frustrating day. I thought we were the better team 2nd half after a fairly even first half and deserved the three points but I am certainly biased. Trossard’s timing on his run in for the goal was excellent and, as Ollie alluded, the free-kick award against Saliba was nonsense.
As for VAR, well it’s a long season and shit happens but that’s the second time Mason has dumped on us and surely he should be stood down for a couple of months. Won’t rescue our points but the standard will never improve if people aren’t accountable.
Excellent report, bt8. That’s how I saw it.
OM@2, you are betraying worryingly liberal tendencies. I would sack Mason for further evidence of gross incompetence. I never want to read that he has any future role in an Arsenal game. Indeed I would give him a lifetime ban from football and put him out to grass. Shooting is too good for him. A horse whip comes to mind as a sutiable implement.
And here is ex-Spud Danny Murphy’s view:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/64614015
A curious day. Thanks bt8 for an accurate match report. I left the ground impressed by Brentford and especially Ivan Toney, pleased with our second half performance and delighted by our peach of a goal. I was irritated at our giving away a goal with 15 minutes to go. I trudged away thinking that a draw was a fair result (it could have been worse, Brentford had more big chances than we did and we could have lost). Brentford are the form team in the league and this was by no means a poor outcome. We have hit a bit of a wall with our creativity and are getting just a bit predictable. Time for a shake up.
But then, on the way home on the train, I saw many images that showed that there was at least one offside in the Brentford goal. When I watched MOTD, I found the usually anti Arsenal Danny Murphy describing it as an awful decision. With my morning coffee I am told that VAR official Lee Mason “forgot” to draw the lines which would have shown the offside. I don’t know what to make of it. I try not to get angry because it’s bad for my blood pressure.
I don’t know what to expect of Wednesday. I will, naturally, be there cheering the team on. COYG
This is an excellent report Bt8 and your overall conclusion is spot-on. We didn’t deserve all three points but it was galling to be thwarted by incompetent officialdom again. I also thought the referee was weak and allowed them unfettered time- wasting in the closing stages .
I am worried as are most of the Gooners I know. C100 had sensibly been warning us about the threat from Brentford and though we pushed back most Gooners were worried after a poor performance against Everton . Toney was the focal point and bullied Saliba all game though an incompetent refereee gave the fateful free-kick the wrong way when Toney grabbed Saliba .
It feels a bit like the end of last season after we beat Villa and then lost to Palace, Southampton and Brighton . This team is stronger mentally than it was but is not oozing with character . Teams have worked out how to restrict our wingers and working through the middle Nketiah ( who I like) isn’t physical or tall enough to dominate PL defenders especially giants like Brentford .I wish ESR was fit . He is an interesting alternative to Xhaka and a big improvement on Vieira who at the moment is Dennis Suarez 2.0 ( remember the original ?Not many do ) We need Jesus back to stretch defences and ESR to run at tiring defenders . We also need to get behind teams more . Hopefully Citeh will let us play more but it’s a pivotal moment in our season on Wednesday
Mr Foy, it is not enough to claim “human error” and think that is an end to the matter! It happens too often and twice this hopeless buffoon has had a greater impact on the outcome of an Arsenal match then anyone on the field. I demand:
1) the sacking of Lee Mason
2) an investigation of his bank accounts
3) a replay.
Some hope, eh?
Cheers bt8 – well handled frustration that feels like a loss rather than a draw.
Lee Mason. The official who gave Everton a goal against us when Louis Saha was 5 yards offside, insisted this season that Paul Tierney disallow a goal he wanted to let stand for us at Old Trafford, and now this – the idiot forgot, hold on, FORGOT, to draw the lines that would have shown even him that the assist for Brentford’s goal was offside.
The incompetent, ego maniacal, unaccountable, nit wits who run our game are demonstrably not fit for purpose. We were not the only ones to suffer yesterday, but Mason has now cost us potentially 5 points this season alone. Were these idiots consumer goods, we could return them to PGMOL and get our money back. Sadly there is no Consumer Rights Act for referees so we simply have to put up with whatever dross we are given – sorry, pay for.
The usually excellent Guardian published an article in the week by Max Rushden, who was trying to illustrate his view that there is no bias and no agendas among officials in the Permier League. He made some decent points. On the radio today though, his response to the possibly pointless suggestion that Arsenal should take Mason to court was “are Arsenal going to take Nketiah to court for missing one against Everton?”
One big difference here, Max. Nketiah didn’t have 3 minutes to make his mind up about how to shoot and then forget to do it anyway.
If I figured out how to upload it, this is the image in the Daily Fail showing the two instances of offside mentioned in my report. The commentators reported that the referees were only considering whether instance #1 was offside, decided it wasn’t, and resumed play. Seconds later the TV showed instance #2 which indeed is obviously offside. If they are going to stop the game anyway they might as well get it right before starting play again or am I missing something?
Sorry guys. Our bad. No hard feelings eh?
Norgaard’s butt is way offside. Does Howard Webb bring chocolates?
A fair assessment of a game from which Brentford deserved a point but from which we should have had all three, bt8.
Mason ‘forgetting’ to do his job as VAR beggars belief. It is either incompetence, senility or corruption. Any one is cause for dismissal.
Mason has cost us potentially five points already this season . He’s incompetent. Yesterday’s error was awful
Fair & balanced BT8, unlike the officials. Yes, they got crucial offside decision wrong for The Bees goal but as you said “Brentford played an excellent game and fully deserved their point”.
We were not very good. Brentford could have been 2-0 up at HT. Too much tippy-tappy horseshoes from us. Note I sad horseshoes and not horsesh*t.
Maybe our old friend Unai & his Villains will produce today? Unlikely but wishful thinking.
We must not lose on Weds. I’d start Trossard for sure. And give consideration to Tierney and Tomiyasu.
Up4Grabs
You make a good point about the game and I agree we need to freshen the team . However Tierney has a problem because he doesn’t / maybe can’t play the Zinchenko inverted role ( not many can) and I think against Citeh and probably most other teams Arteta wants to play that way . Frankly , and this is not a universally held view I think Tomiyasu is a better full back than White although both are very good
I commend to all an, as ever, excellent comment from Mike McDonald:
Re: TTG. Personally, I was astonished that Arteta thought White could do a better job than Tomiyasu when the latter did so well last season. The only thing that has astonished me more is how well the team has done with White in that position, for which White must deserve part of the credit. Tomi and Tierney must not languish on the bench endlessly though, they have much to give us.
@3 😂
Well, I am a liberal…..
As expected Villa couldn’t help.
Biggest game of the PL season on Wednesday and we are in it!
Keenly observed and excellently analyzed review bt8!
The refereeing fiasco for their goal was the type that has visited Arsenal way too often down the years, VAR or no VAR. The kindest comment I can find in myself to make about it all is to repeat something I had heard many years back: a fool with a tool is still a fool. 🙂
Saliba found it tough yesterday against Toney, and would definitely be the kind of learning experiences that are fully expected of a 21 year old playing his first season in PL, no matter how imperious he has mostly been. I think Benjamin White has exceeded all expectations in his thoroughly convincing right back performances this season, and while he hasn’t played particularly poorly I feel Tomiyasu back in his right back role would have helped Saliba and the rest of the defense. His second half performance against ManU was indicative that he is coming back to his last year’s form and the post-WC dip is coming to an end.
Interesting to see Zinchenko blasting those long shots, something he almost never does. Was that just frustration in not being able to break down the stubborn low block or was that predetermined? I felt while taking Xhaka off bringing Tierney for him and moving Zinchenko in the Xhaka role would have offered a bit more tactical variation at that stage and with Trossard’s direct angled runs towards the goal would have given Tierney the chance to deliver crosses between the goal and the defense, the kind of deliveries Eddie really thrives on. Eddie has been brilliant but in matches like yesterday’s Jesus’s glue-like close control of the ball in the penalty box would have been genuinely helpful.
Congratulations to Trossard on his first — of what one hopes to be many — Arsenal goal. I was paying attention to his movements off the ball and thought those were excellent. He also seems to be genuinely two-footed. Even though starting him in place of Gabi may seem like the most obvious choice, I wonder against our Wednesday opponents and their high quality positional playing whether Trossard for Eddie in a more dynamic front three — interchanging positions — will be more effective.
bath@18: Thanks for the link. Always enlightening to have a coach’s view and Mike McDonald usually offers an insightful take.
It struck me watching the second half that Arteta had told Saka and Martinelli to play even more inside as a way to negate the double teaming on the wing and make room for White and Zinchenko to go wide and behind. Yet it didn’t yield the big chances we needed. It is not the best use of Zinchenko, and White often made the run but didn’t get the ball. Having Saka and Martinelli switch wings, as McDonald suggests, might have been the way to go, though I doubt it would have solved the double-teaming issue.
Dr F@21: Interesting thought about playing Trossard as a 9. He played there on more than one occasion for Brighton.
I thought Saliba didn’t do too badly against Toney overall, given what he was up against. The moment where you saw Saliba’s inexperience against Toney’s battle-hardened craft was the free kick Toney won by wrapping his arms around Saliba’s back. Any defender in that position has nowhere to put his own arms but up and forward, and it looks like he is pulling the forward back, especially when a beast like Toney is also backing into him. But the free-kick invariably goes to the forward. And we all no what that led to. Thankfully, VAR….oh!
Bath
I loved Mike’s tactical analysis and his point about switching the wingers to beat the low block is very sensible BUT
I think his point about Conte is rubbish. The guy has had cholecystitis . Mike’s surely too sensible to indulge in frankly stupid conspiracy theories . I don’t think he will be there next season but they will want him for the rest of the season especially that game with Milan .
As for his comment about Partey it’s a very irresponsible observation . If Arsenal seriously thought the case against him was very strong he wouldn’t be representing the club. He’s been bailed to July, there is no court case then.Investigations of this type take a very long time . He should stick to football commentary .
The points we lost this season because of refereeing errors …
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12809315/arsenal-victims-of-another-var-error-against-brentford-how-many-points-has-it-cost-them-this-season
TTG@24, you are absolutely right on both points, sir. I focused on Mike McDonald’s analysis of our difficulties breaking through a well organised defence and must confess to having totally ignored those two preposterous speculations as I have learnt to do with such nonsense over the years. I should have qualified my recommendation but I had mentally totally dismissed those observations. I fully agree that Mike should stick to football commentary.
One consults a football coach for neither the diagnosis of upper abdominal pain nor for sound legal judgement, if one has an ounce of sense.
PGMOL says that the VAR issues were caused by human error.
Much like human error caused mistakes prior to VAR, without wasting the time and further controversy caused by it’s existence.
Seriously, what is the point of VAR if the technology either doesn’t work or is misused by incompetents like Mason who, incidentally, was a shit referee in the first place so how did he get this job?
Until Artificial (unbiased) Intelligence can be used, VAR should be scrapped. Over the course of a season, how much worse can the judgement of a referee and two linos really be from a system that is clearly broken and not fit for purpose?
UTA.
Bath
Totally in agreement. Mike adds huge value in analysing games and I hope his insights on penetrating a low block find their way to Mikel ! I’m sure we all remember Myles Palmer who was a biographer of Wenger but latterly seemed to need to add ITK insights to genuinely very worthwhile commentary on the club
Conte has been living at the Landmark Hotel at Marylebone for over a year . I use it fairly often for meetings and have seen him there ( he opened the door for my daughter ) I understand he had to head back to Italy for surgery but you will know much more about the technicalities of gall bladder surgery than me . He looked quite fragile on Saturday but that might be through watching Eric Dier defend
We’ve rightly not discussed the Partey situation and even as an exiled Brit he is not au fait with the British legal system the matter is very sensitive and his comments might well inflame opinion and create more ill-informed speculation. If a Ghanaian citizen were to be charged with a serious offence he couldn’t just schlepp off to Italy or Spain as his passport would be seized
My understanding third hand is that Arsenal believe in his innocence and feel that until he is charged he should be free to represent the club . Not all supporters feel the same way but my limited experience of being involved in rape cases and sexual assaults is that aside from being utterly ghastly to listen to there is a lot of misinformation flying around .
I don’t know Mike but I’m tempted to suggests he avoids the subject but the genie is out of the bottle now
On Partey, we have been well served here by withholding any comment and speculation until the matter is concluded and should continue to do so. We, and the club, are also right to presume innocence, although I understand that contingency planning would be sensible and a piece of long-term squad development planning. It is not as if we don’t need another DM.
I took Mike McDonald’s comments on Conte with a mound of salt. They were so untypical of him that I assumed it to be an anti-Spurs joke that misfired badly.
Noosa@27: VAR is turning out to be not a means to correct the on-field mistakes of a set of not-very-competent referees but a doubling down on the opportunity for them to get things wrong.
Balogun scored his 15th of the Ligue 1 season this weekend. Nice goal with a powerful run through the middle past defenders and flawless left footed finish on the bottom corner.
Swiss Ramble has a comprehensive and clear exposition of the PL’s financial shenanigans charges against City. It is a long and detailed read, but well worth the time.
https://swissramble.substack.com/p/manchester-city-charged-by-the-premier?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Re: Ned. @30: That sounds an awfully lot like the symptoms ofan organization with a lot of money to waste
Ned ,
Thanks for attaching the Swiss Ramble link. I suspect this process is inevitably going to take so long to conclude we will forget all about it ! I got the impression from SR’s measured conclusion that Citeh have got it all to do to escape on all fronts . If they did it would completely destroy the credibility of the Premier League who must have considered this very carefully before bringing the charges .
The only way this concludes swiftly is that Mr. Pannick believes that Citeh are so deep in the mire that their only recourse is to plea bargain and to try to mitigate on the areas which carry the highest penalties . There will e a lot of noise from the rest of the PL ( including us) and despite the strong support from the media for big clubs from the North- West some papers/ blogs will brief against them . Pep will be a lightning rod. If he sees this going to custard for Citeh he will walk to emphasise that he was not complicit in this. If that happens Citeh will have an almost impossible job to evade a lot of the charges
Pep to be managing in La Liga before the Summer is out?
Pep might be at PSG !
TTG@34: The PL is its clubs, Not good odds for City when 19 out of 20 are judge and jury, independent commission or no.
Thanks Ned @32 for the link. I hope to live long enough to see the results.
The allegations are clear enough, Shitteh have systematically cheated in a
number of way over a number of seasons.
If guilty what should happen is firstly a financial penalty commensurate to the gain
and secondly a punitive sanction for each season. The punitive sanction should be
be financial and also include the relevant points deduction for each season, plus a ban
from European competition equivalent to the number of seasons for which they
transgressed. As SR notes Shitteh would then be open to legal action by any parties that have suffered loss by their actions. When all this happens the cows will accompany the pigs to the airport for take-off and then return home.
My best guess is that if it starts to look really iffy then Shitteh’s owners will negotiate
a no admission of liability financial settlement with the PL and just put it down to
the cost of doing business.
>>>>>>>