The pre-match ritual for this game was unlike any that I have previously experienced. No fine Italian food and wine, not even the Ruby Murray much beloved by CM100. I had planned a nice pre-match piece of pork belly accompanied by the Wine Society’s California Old Vine Zinfandel 2018 and while I did partake of these delights the whole experience was dominated by the force of nature. Not Covid-19, but an extended Wagnerian thunder and lightning storm that struck while the pooch and I were walking in the fields below our village. Initially, we sheltered in a copse at the edge of the field, standing a strategic distance from the tree trunks given the risk of emulating the fine Scottish inside forward John White who sadly played for a second-rate outfit before he was fried taking shelter under a tree on a golf course in the 60’s.
After fifteen minutes, with the rain intensifying and us slowly getting as wet under the canopy as if we were out in the open with ongoing thunder and lightning, we legged it the mile or so home getting soaked to the skin. After a reviving hot shower, I attempted to warm up for our game by watching the Villa v Blades match only to discover that the TV was dead. Changing the fuse and a consultation with Google established that the lightning had zapped the power board. Not the best pre-match build up I’ve ever had.
Mikel surprised me by going for youthful enthusiasm and new blood rather than experience:
Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Mari, Tierney; Guendouzi, Xhaka, Willock; Aubameyang, Nketiah, Saka.
Subs: Martinez, Luiz, Kolasinac, AMN, Ceballos, Nelson, Pepe, Martinelli, Lacazette.
In his pre-match interview Mikel said this was a very emotional game for him and that he had picked what in his opinion was the best team to win this game. Sokratis apparently has a thigh strain. Torreira was deemed unfit earlier this week. The pre-match talking point was no sign of Özil in a 20-man squad! Mikel said he was going to address that after the game.
Apparently, Arsenal flew in just an hour or two before kick-off to avoid the infective risk of a visit to Mancunia. It was pissing down there too of course. A leveller? Time would tell.
We lined up with Eddie in the middle, PEA on the left and Saka on the right. Willock seemed to be our deepest midfielder. Early on, Eddie ran onto a ball over the top but was called off-side. This was followed by a free kick on the edge of our box from a clumsy Mari challenge that Leno touched over. After just four minutes Xhaka tripped over Guendouzi and knackered his right ankle forcing an early substitution by Ceballos. I could hear TTG cheering.
Both teams began using a high press and playing out from the back which I have to say we did far better than I’ve seen us do previously. After 12 minutes Saka put a nice ball into the box which was flicked wide by Eddie from 6 yards. We looked quite silky in possession and after 17 minutes had shared possession 50:50 with Shitteh.
A flick from Jesus allowed Walker to run into our 6-yard box and play a dangerous cut back that fortunately fell to Mustafi and Mari rather than to a teammate. After 20 minutes, Mari went down clutching his left ankle, limped off and was replaced by Luiz. Saka looked lively on our right but was caught offside on too many occasions. Our press yielded a chance from the edge of the box for PEA who sent it well over. At the other end, good tracking back by Ceballos allowed him to intercept an incisive through ball from de Bruyne to Mahrez.
We were competing well in midfield and giving as good as we were getting in the first half hour. As their lack of stamina kicked in, both teams now started dropping off when they lost possession. Eddie appeared to be causing Shitteh problems. Running towards the Shitteh box, he was wrestled to the ground by Garcia but Taylor strangely saw nothing illegal. Even Gary Neville saw that foul. A shot from the left of our box by Sterling was palmed away by Leno who then made another good stop from Silva’s turn and shot in our box which was then cleared by Ceballos. Shitteh seemed to be finding a groove and we were reduced to counterattacks as Shitteh possession rose to 59% as they began to dominate the midfield. Leno made a superb save with his right foot from Mahrez running onto a de Bruyne ball into our 6-yard box. Another superb ball into the box by de Bruyne saw Sterling dink it over Leno and the bar from the same position. Could we survive to half time with our goal intact?
At the other end, a curling Saka free kick was almost met by Mustafi on the stretch in the Shitteh 6-yard box. Just as it looked as if we would survive to half time with our goal intact, a sloppy mistake by David Luiz in added time gifted Shitteh a goal. He was standing at the edge of our box and let a speculative de Bruyne punt bounce off his thigh into the path of Sterling. He fired it high past Leno into the far netting. The goalie had no chance of saving that.
HT Oilers 1 Arsenal 0
In summary, we matched them for 30-35 minutes but were under the cosh for the last 10 minutes of the first half and but for Leno’s three excellent saves would have been behind before David Luiz gifted Sterling his goal.
Neither club made any half-time changes. The second half began as the first ended with Shitteh calling the shots. A long ball from Ederson found Mahrez running into our box but his first touch was a pass to Leno. Mahrez then ran into the box past Luiz who put a hand on his shoulder and the Shitteh player threw himself to the ground. Taylor had no hesitation in blowing for a penalty and waved a red card at Luiz. There was no reprieve from VAR. Uphill from here. De Bruyne sent Leno the wrong way and killed the game on 50 minutes.
Oilers 2 Arsenal 0
Saka moved to left back and Tierney stepped inside to centre back with Ceballos. Sterling then slid into Mustafi with studs up. VAR reviewed it while Mustafi writhed in agony – no card. Fortunately, Mustsafi was able to continue but it was surely now damage limitation. As we came towards the hour mark Jesus hit a long-range effort straight at Leno. Leno then made an excellent interception from a low Mahrez cross across the 6-yard box as several Shitteh forwards rushed in. At 64 minutes David Silva and Mahrez were replaced by Foden and Bernardo Silva.
Ceballos, Guendouzi and Willock kept working in midfield and Nketiah was lively up front but PEA was utterly anonymous throughout the second half. Nketiah, Willock and Guendouzi were replaced on 67 minutes by AMN, Nelson and Lacazette, adopting a 4-4-1 formation.
A chip from the left from Silva was touched by Sterling in our box for de Bruyne to run onto but the shot was well saved by Leno. It was a relief to see de Bruyne replaced by Rodri as he had put in an impressive performance. Shitteh were moving the ball well, pulling our defenders around and when we broke out their high defensive line repeatedly regained possession as we approached the halfway line.
At 75 minutes Tierney received a yellow for a late challenge on Silva 40 yards out. Rodri blocked one of our players running out of the wall to block a pass to Silva who waited on the right of our box. Fortunately, Leno saved the shot as the block wasn’t penalised. The commentators hoped that VAR would have intervened had a goal been scored! Rodri then got his deserved yellow for a foul on Ceballos. Fernandinho came on for Jesus.
A long Arsenal punt upfield led to Ederson wiping out Garcia on the edge of the Shitteh box after 80 minutes. Players from both sides looked shaken by the state of Garcia but Ederson seemed to find it amusing. Gundogan and Aguero seemed to have been slipped onto the pitch while Garcia was being resuscitated. It took 8 minutes for him to be stretchered off and Shitteh had no more substitutes.
10 v 10. Game on? Could we pull one back in the 11 added minutes? No. We seemed to get on the front foot for the first time in ages but as a result Shitteh moved the ball nicely through our defence and Sterling fed an unmarked Aguero running in from our right. His shot hit the post but the rebound fell to Foden who cracked it into the net past Leno.
Oilers – 3 Arsenal- 0
Our use of the ball in their half just didn’t compare though we did try to make something happen. I remember Shitteh’s expensively assembled side under Mancini coming to our place and embarrassingly playing for a 0-0 draw but steady investment of another few hundred million pounds of oil revenue has opened up a major gap in quality between these teams. At 95 minutes Silva cracked a shot wide from inside our box when he looked odds on to score then Aguero hit the side netting as he ran unmarked into our box from our left.
In reply, Lacazette worked hard to regain the ball in midfield and was then found by Saka on the left but his ball into the box for Nelson was cut out. Then a Nelson cut back from the right found PEA on the edge of the 6-yard box. Surely? A consolation? He scuffed his shot which was turned away for a corner that was wasted. A shot on target, perhaps? Apparently not! Another nice Arsenal movement involving Nelson and Lacazette ended in a poor pass by PEA as we tried to build another attack on the edge of their box.
Mr Taylor then blew his whistle to put us out of our misery.
FT Oilers – 3 Arsenal – 0
I think 3-0 was a fair reflection of the gap between these teams. We started well with Eddie making good runs behind the Shitteh defence but we wouldn’t have got anything out of this match even without Luiz’s critical contributions. I don’t think the enforced substitutions early on made a substantial difference to the outcome. Overall, we had only 33% possession. Shitteh had 20 goal attempts vs 3 from Arsenal, with 5 v 0 on target. Frankly this Arsenal team doesn’t look good enough to make top four this season. Mikel almost certainly knew the size of his task before this match.
There were a few positives. Leno was outstanding and MotM for me. Without his contribution, we would have been dead and buried by half time. Tierney looked as good as we’d hoped when he was playing at left back. He was pulled around a bit late on playing at centre back but can’t be heavily criticised for that. Eddie was busy up front, looked our biggest threat in the first half but faded later as our possession dropped off. Saka looked effective both at wide right and when he slotted into his recently habitual position of left back. Lacazette and Nelson both looked lively late on and tried to turn the tide.
PEA was anonymous throughout and Luiz’s contributions were disastrous. That should clarify the contractual issues as presumably does the absence of Özil (which was for tactical reasons according to Mikel). Our allegedly constrained financial resources have to be invested into our young players and to building a team that is greater than its parts.
We have too many CBs already. There is absolutely no point investing in keeping error-prone Luiz as an option though Mikel says today hasn’t changed his view. Credit to David Luiz that he came out for a post-match interview and said that tonight’s result was entirely his fault. He added that he wants to stay. I don’t.
PEA has scored many fine goals for us over recent years but he is 31 the day after this game and is not part of our future. I suspect at least part of him wants to leave Arsenal to win medals and if we get a half-decent offer, we should take it and invest in Saka, Eddie and Martinez. Finally, we simply have to find two players that are nowhere to be seen in this squad: a player who will dominate the midfield and a new playmaker/Number 10 who will create the opportunities for our forwards that we have failed to create all season.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Onwards.
A very fine and fair report – lightning quick I
might say.
As MA said afterwards everything that could go wrong
did go wrong – with the notable exception of Leno.
We will need a much improved performance next time
though at least we have a game under our belts
and Brighton don’t.
With Papa injured, Luiz banned and presumably Mari out
it will be Mustafi / Rob next time. Time for Rob to put the
case for his defence perhaps.
Excellent report Bath, even though I enjoyed your account of sheltering from the storm with the pooch far more than the part about the game. Stellar job in trying circumstances.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Excellent report and insightful conclusions bath!
As much as I love Auba, I am afraid if I were to analyze his contractual situation objectively I will have to agree with you. He has days like today not infrequently and even though he will most likely remain an elite goal scorer for at least a couple of more seasons Arteta’s high-energy gameplan in PL may be too much for him physically. As long as he doesn’t join another PL team and we invest the money we get for him wisely I will be okay with him leaving.
Also agree about the midfield. It is tragic how we — of all teams in PL — have become so bereft of guile, control and quality in the midfield. Even just a few years back we had Arteta, Santi, Rosický, peak form Özil. I know Xhaka is not the best suited for PL, but at least he brings some technical quality to the midfield. We will need him for the rest of this season. And next season we need two established #8s one of whom can also play as #10. Otherwise there will be huge pressure on Willock or Saka or Reiss or AMN or ESR to be consistent throughout the season, which is very unlikely given the stage of their career.
Poor Leno! I think he has been our player of the season. Let’s hope for better defensive organization in front of him for the remainder of the season.
The reason I first came to Goonerholic and remained was the erudition of the Guvna and the main denizens of the bar and the commonsense and intelligence of the reaction to events. Bath, you have surpassed yourself with an enjoyable, imaginative , honest and balanced view . Thankyou for lifting the spirits after a crushing and depressing defeat. There is a chasm between Citeh and ourselves and Citeh have not proved good enough .
We need a reboot after a disastrous last few months under Emery and we will suffer hugely financially , perhaps more than almost any other PL team because we won’t have the sort of financial cushion provided by the owner .
Our future has to be in following a Dortmund like model, investing in youth, finding and honing exciting young talent, believing in them , occasionally selling on to finance growth ( this is where the impact of Kroenke owning our club will really be felt) and as fans we must be patient and proportionate in our analysis. We are at the start iof a journey that starts in mid- table and only requires proper Arsenal fans to come along fir the ride. Fans like the quality people in this bar who understand the DNA of our club . Believe in Arteta and give him time . Many of this team won’t be part of the project and after tonight I’m deeply grateful for that!
Wonderfully detailed stuff, sir. Good job. We missed a senior player of Ramsey’s calibre last night.
Your penultimate para states the necessary. I think I would add a quality CB (in addition to Saliba) to the “must have” list. I’d love to think that both of our cruciate recovery duo will recover fully but I’m far from sure that either will reach the level that top four/title wins require (and it goes without saying that Luis, Mustafi and Papa have no future at the club – but, I’ll say it anyway).
TTG, “investing in youth, finding and honing exciting young talent, believing in them , occasionally selling on to finance growth ( this is where the impact of Kroenke owning our club will really be felt)” just like Arsene did (and where the impact of Peter Hill-Wood was felt too).
Arteta’s leadership and some excellent young talent are currently the club’s strongest features for hope in the future. Both need strong support.
I want to know more about the hours before the game Bath. How was the pork belly cooked? What accompanied it? Tell me more about that Californian Zinfandel, not a grape I normally would choose. What foul Caledonian oaths rent the West Country air when the discovery was made that the Gogglebox was zapped? Will you thriftily try and get it repaired or take this opportunity to upgrade to 4K? Was the Wife of Bath supportive or did she tell you to pull yourself together, it’s only a game of fitba?
I think we should be told. Your readers are eager to know.
Excellent and balanced review of what followed the TV trauma. If truth be told, I actually found myself rather admiring the beauty of City’s play. Once de Bruyne and Silva had shaken the rust off they played some lovely stuff and only one outcome was likely. Sideshow Bob just made sure. Looking at the line ups before the game, my son and I feared the worst when we saw those midfield match ups. We need more quality and inspiration there as much as a whole Adams of centre backs. Truly Arteta has a huge job to do. What on earth is going on with Ozil? Does the boss really want Luiz to stay?
The games will come thick and fast now. Brighton on Saturday, a game I had a ticket for back in mid March, together with plans for some seaside fish and chips and a pint of Harveys on the South Coast. I’ve gone all TTG and can’t see any chance of Europe next year.
I don’t like this quote one little bit. Is our club being heavily influenced by an agent?
Thanks guys. That match was not an enjoyable watch (on the laptop, with a Word window open alongside) and amply demonstrated how far we have fallen. I too admired the slick passing and movement of Shitteh which reminded me of the teams I had the privilege to watch for the decade between ’96 and ’06. If Mikel managed to return us to the top without substantial financial support then he’s an even more accomplished magician than Arsene.
As to the pre-match victuals, the pork belly was a delightful M&S ready meal which was served with rice. Zinfandel has long been one of my favourite wines and I was interested to read recently than DNA analysis has shown that it is the same grape as Primitivo, another of my favourite tipples. Yes, I turned the air blue when I discovered that I could not revive the TV with either abuse, physical violence or chemotherapy. The set was a very good Pioneer, sadly no longer built and it must be 15-20 years old so owes us nothing. A new Samsung has been ordered from John Lewis. A week without the goggle box will be therapeutic. The WoB was very philosophical. It’s one of her great strengths.
Cheers Bath!
Great detailed report Bath,
I’m not bothered about this game but I’m not going to deny that I was hoping for a little bit better. This was just an honest confirmation how far behind City we are and what massive task Areta has ahead of him.
Roll on Saturday please 😀
Just to add this Ozil saga is beyond belief now you have 5 subs available and you can’t use him? I hope someone at the club has balls to get this resolved for once and for all.
C100 is right to raise the issue of the Joorabchian tweet. It smacks of tail ( agent) wagging dog ( world-renowned football club ) . Many around the club believe Sanllehi and Edu are far too much in cahoots with Joorabchian and one or two of the mega- agents. This is exactly opposite to Wenger’s philosophy who thought agents, particularly the big, flashy ones were the spawn of the devil and to be avoided at all costs …because their fundamental purpose was in lining their own pockets rather than advancing the interests of Arsenal Football Club . It might have worked for Wolves but Wolves , while a famous old club, are not a club on the scale of Arsenal at the moment .
Deals like Soares, Luiz and Mkhitaryan ( and many others ) haemorrhage money for little obvious benefit and a lot of that money is trousered by various agents . Philosophically we must decide if the cost of a scouting organisation with global reach is feasible or whether agents ( or one or two ) can replicate this and force exciting deals through .
I mentioned Dortmund earlier on. Sven Mislintat was part of their success in building their team but he lasted just over a year working for Sanllehi . Time will tell whether it was a wise decision to part company and indeed whether Sanllehi is the man to revive our fortunes . Jury is very much out now
Bath, Congratulations on making reading about the game more uplifting than watching it was. A much-needed morning-after tonic, and the more so for being an honest and clear-eyed account.
I am not sure if it is the 20-point gap in the table that indicates the gulf in quality between us and City (let alone the 42-point gap with the league leaders) or the fact that they could bring on Aguero as their fifth sub and still leave Sane on the bench unused. Either way, Arteta has a monumental task on his hands.
@7
To be honest the change from
AW’s approach is stark but I
think fans wouldn’t be bothered
if our team improved – it hasn’t
had any effect I can see
TTG: Agents optimise their income by the rapid churn of high-priced transfers and exorbitant salaries. If we can afford neither, or want to go the Dortmund or Red Bull route of developing talent, we have no option but to have world-class scouting backed by equivalently outstanding data analytics.
Cheers Baff. Tough one to do much with but you managed an excellent report anyway. Well played.
I have a sense that Arteta and Mislintat would have made a great team. Losing the German was not something i liked at the time but he had lost the power struggle and we needed everyone pulling in the same direction, so there was not much to say. Now we are futher down the line and Raul has not been convincing anyone. Suddenly Mislintat and the ideology he represents seem like missed opportunities, seem like a more ‘Arsenal’ way of operating than having Joorabchian offer us tweeted updates on the inner workings of the club. Emery and Mislintat were perhaps not a great fit, but i am gutted that we got rid of Sven before we got Arteta in. Between them i think they would have been a much better bet to get us back to the top table than any management team with Raul in. I hope i am wrong.
The weirdness of yesterday’s game definitely meant that i cared a lot less about the result than i normally would have. I expect a surreal few weeks to end this season.
Thanks Bath !
What a miserable night to have to report on but a job extremely well done.
I hope Mikel Arteta is given the backing he needs to be in with a fighting chance of returning us to where we want to be. It is certainly a huge task from here.
Too late to the party today to add anything that hasn’t already been said about this post, so apologies for the lack of amazing insight. Congratulations on an excellent report, bath, may you have many more pleasant matches to report on in the future.
I have to admit, though, that I’m a little baffled by some of the comments above. Do we really need to lose a match 3-0, playing for half of it with 10 men, to tell us that we aren’t at the same level as Manchester City? Really?
And, I’m completely confused about the management team at Arsenal. I’m sure I recall Gazidis’ arrival being greeted here like the Second Coming. Similarly, Sanhelli, similarly Edu. Finally I don’t remember mass wailing and gnashing of teeth when Mslintat left.
Be that as it may, I am surprised and disappointed if the club has indeed abandoned a widespread scouting network in favour of exclusive use of agents. Outsourcing is a strategy that can only succeed if you are richer than the next man, an idea that is very much at odds with a self-sustained model.
Still and all, it’s only one game, and it was against many people’s pre-season tip as champions. The real crunch matches, in which the team simply must do well, will be against Sheffield United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and, particularly, The Scum.
COYG
FFS. It never rains but it pours. We also seem to have all the bad luck going when it comes to these Spanish loan deals. To think we were worried about muscle strains.
Rob Holding? You don’t say? I think Steve Bould may also be in contention for Brighton.
Nature abhors the vacuum that is an empty Arsenal treatment room and rushes to fill it.
And it seems you can’t have too many CBs after all.
baff, that was a tough piece to write, and you did it very well. i appreciate your ability to write while watching; it’s all i can do to put stuff up in the drinks, i know i’d have to watch it again.
so no luiz, no marí, no chambers, no mavro. mus, holding, and papa for brighton. both corners with basically one backup (plus saka), we’d better hope neither hector nor tierney…no, i won’t say it. sigh.
and our poor midfield is without its anchor, either lt11 or xhaka. i don’t see anyone of guendo, amn, or ceballos who can really hold deep, with discipline (amn might be the most likely candidate, short term). and no real creative sparks if özil is playing to his standard of late (if at all). maybe ceballos. but amn/guendo/ceballos doesn’t do much for me, and amn/willock/ceballos (while doing more) is just too lightweight a group. we need someone built like kola or papa with the ball skills of lt11 or willock to sit deep…any candidates cheap on the market, raul?
Thanks Scruz. I didn’t think I could do it either but I guess I’ve proved to myself that the hackneyed old aphorism that necessity is the mother of invention is correct.
To become a contender again, I think this team needs three key players that don’t currently exist in the squad. How we are going to fund their acquisition, I don’t know but I’m not against selling some of the assets we still have to do so.
I fully agree we need a midfielder with the defensive nous of Torreira but the commanding physical presence and leadership qualities of a Vieira. I love Torreira’s attitude but he’s not going to wrest midfield domination away from the likes of Shitteh. Is Partey that man? There’s been lots of noise about him but that means little otherwise we can expect the arrival of Frei, Given, Huntelaar etc etc.
I’ve already mentioned the playmaker. We used to have so many creative midfielders and now, barring the resurrection of Özil, we don’t have anyone with the stunted creativity of Hleb let alone the genius of DB10. Watching KdB pulling the strings on Wednesday night was a reminder of what we used to have and need to recapture.
BtM @5 identified the third missing ingredient. A dominant CB who will command and organise the backline and bring calm and confidence to the defence. We haven’t had anyone approaching those qualities since Koscielny left and even he fell short of the ideal. I guess I’m hoping Saliba is that man but he will have to have the precocity and arrogance of the young TA6 or DO’L5 if he’s going to be that man and such precocity is rare in CBs who tend to reach their peak later than other outfielders as they have to learn their trade by experience rather than by innate instinct.
MA8 has a huge task. I hope he has all the necessary support at executive and owner levels.
Appreciating all the comments about our shortcomings so visible against City, but also agreeing with Pangloss that these shortcomings are very old news.
Also thinking it is another case of it being the hope that kills you. A hope that was growing in the first half hour when Arsenal were actually playing like the better team, or at least staying right with the defending champions.
Is Vieira the Younger available?
If there is anything to the reports that Luiz wants a two-year extension to stay, then we should say thank you and good-bye now. One more year, I could accept.
We are all pining a lot on Saliba, who is 19, has played only 36 senior games and missed more of Saint-Etienne’s league matches this season with injury than he has played.
Pangloss,
My own view on the management situation will explain my own position but I, of course cannot speak for others . Gazidis was initially trusted as he was effectively a Wenger pick and because Wenger was predominantly respected in this bar . When Holic and I ( and others ) had exposure to him at some functions at the club I think we sensed a bullshitter par excellence. As time has gone on his legacy diminishes still further .
I am on record on this site as praising the current management team who did a capable job of restructuring last summer ( although this did include buying Luiz!) . The finances were in a very big mess and some good streamlining went on but the job takes longer than one close season. The big concern would appear to be whether the Sanllehi/ Edu axis operates in a way that is conducive to the club’s future health because of the reliance on agents. I think the resignation of Chips Keswick suggests the Arsenal establishment has reservations.
Very good comment on Arteta/ Mislintat by GSD which I agree with and a very insightful note from Bath on our onfield challenges . Re your comment about Citeh and assuming you haven’t yet seen the match I think the depression arose because the chasm between them and us appeared so wide . I think we all hoped the gap might have narrowed
Luiz had as bad a cameo as you
could hope or hope not to see
but he wasn’t a bad signing.
Though personally I think he’ll
leave next week I am not
that bothered if he stays. I’d rather
sell Papa or Mus to be honest.
We are a big club languishing in
9th – the jury is out on pretty
much everyone at the moment.
RIP Sir Ian Holm, well known
for Bilbo Baggins I suppose
but a great actor in many other
things.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
someone didn’t lock the gate 🙂