{"id":7876,"date":"2023-05-14T19:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T18:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7876"},"modified":"2023-05-19T17:35:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T16:35:22","slug":"after-the-lord-mayors-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7876","title":{"rendered":"After the Lord Mayor\u2019s Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1490108684\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1490108684?et=gMGNNw-xTexlSj3s9PSuWQ&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=sp2kHjHdXh3p19aNenFjJNCRuuH1lyuypEfQ2dd-01E=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal stumbled to a depressing and deserved defeat against a classy and very streetwise Brighton side who scored two avoidable (very avoidable) second half goals embellished by a late breakaway goal by Estupinan to earn a victory which delighted the ghastly Gary Neville. His enjoyment of Arsenal\u2019s demise was tangible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have had a very strange, not to say unpleasant, last few weeks and my belief in our ability to win the title evaporated completely when we were outclassed at the Emptihad. So, the last few games have been played (for me) in a strange atmosphere where results, while ostensibly important, have been irrelevant. We\u2019ve been certain of finishing second for a long while, but anything more exciting is out of reach. We\u2019ve still produced encouraging moments leavened with some inexplicable ones (3-3 against Southampton).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our game with Brighton followed Citeh\u2019s comfortable win at Goodison and my sense from my sofa was that the atmosphere in the stadium had been killed a bit by events in Liverpool. If we had a chance, today was it and if Citeh had dropped points the Grove would have been rocking.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead the game began in a soporific atmosphere. We had left out Zinchenko and retained Jorginho and within a few minutes had to replace Martinelli. The whinging Manchester turd, Gary Neville (backed up later by Roy Keane) saw much more offence in a mid-air challenge from Martinelli on Mitoma which Caicedo took umbrage to, than I did. Caicedo chopped down Martinelli a few minutes later and he was eventually replaced after 23 minutes by Trossard coming in to face his old club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brighton are a very capable side who dominate possession and were the more assertive side in the first half. They play possession football at speed and here we saw Mitoma skin White regularly while Caicedo provided the strength and thrust that would have been very useful to us and may be next season. Today we had a whole cluster of players who had shockers. Xhaka was pedestrian in midfield, White had no clue how to deal with Mitoma, nobody in midfield had the zip or quality to contend with Brighton. Trossard had a poor substitute appearance and Jes\u00fas lacked the physicality to take on the Brighton defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will avoid reciting the litany of chances for both sides. Brighton dominated first half possession but created fewer chances although Enciso missed a great opportunity after Mitoma skinned White. \u00d8degaard drilled wide, Trossard had a shot deflected onto the bar and Steele saved from Jes\u00fas at the near post. The big difference between the sides was confidence. Brighton were assertive and positive; Arsenal, with \u00d8degaard subdued, had less rhythm and Saka who has worked incredibly hard this year seems to have lost his spark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal\u2019s best period was added time in the first half where they developed some momentum and saw \u00d8degaard and Saka go close. The referee Andy Madley confirmed the regular impression that he gives me that he is out of his depth in dealing with Premier League players. He misinterpreted several situations, and should certainly have booked Caicedo. Brighton were very quick to foul tactically (especially Enciso) but they probably felt the more comfortable of the two teams at half-time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half-time Arsenal 0 Brighton 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal began the second half quickly but soon lapsed back into the pedestrian and cautious approach we saw today. This was a cue for Brighton to dominate. They took the lead on 50 minutes when Enciso headed home from a central position with Kiwior seemingly injured after sustained pressure in the air from the Seagulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Brighton 1 (50 minutes )&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal\u2019s response was much more subdued than usual and involved a string of substitutions. Partey, Nelson, Nketiah and Smith Rowe replaced Xhaka, Jorginho, \u00d8degaard and Jes\u00fas. The reluctance to harness the drive that Smith Rowe gives us was hard to understand and he entered the game at a desperate stage. What are the plans for him?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We started to take greater passing gambles and a weak flick from Trossard who had moved into midfield rebounded to Undav who lobbed Ramsdale on 85 minutes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Brighton 2 (85 minutes)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neville was almost priapic as Brighton exploited the space Arsenal were leaving and may well have achieved orgasm in added time when Ramsdale pushed out a long-distance shot to Estupinan who joyfully netted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 0 Brighton 3 (90 + 3 minutes)&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal\u2019s effort did not drop and a couple of shouts for penalties (highly optimistic) went rightly unheeded by the hapless Madley. Sky seemed to want to turn the moment into a realisation that Citeh had won the title although in reality that happened weeks ago at the Etihad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Final score &#8211; Arsenal 0 Brighton 3&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3-0 home defeats are thankfully rare and when they happen create huge concern. It is easy to overreact after a wonderful season where we have exceeded our expectations massively. But this was a poor performance<strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong>The&nbsp;team seemed to lack energy, direction and personality. Partey was a bit part(ey) player today but seems to have radically lost his mojo. Xhaka was totally ineffective and the side generally lacked mobility and incisiveness. I suspect the anti-climactic atmosphere had something to do with this and this Arsenal team is still, lest we forget, a work in progress. Let\u2019s view this result with that perspective and hope that the key deficiencies today are ones that Arteta can remedy. Certainly, despite a wonderful season there is always more to do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s enjoy our last two matches and regard today as a blip, hopefully one from which we can learn. As for Brighton, they clearly have an extraordinary scouting system, a clear if pragmatic, tactical approach which produces exciting football and several players I\u2019d like to see in red and white next season. I desperately hope we do not get the negative critics piling in having had to wait patiently for months to round on Arteta. Premier League football is demanding and I think we can excuse one shocker. But a good end to the season is very much required after this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Arsenal stumbled to a depressing and deserved defeat against a classy and very streetwise Brighton side who scored two avoidable (very avoidable) second half goals embellished by a late breakaway goal by Estupinan to earn a victory which delighted the ghastly Gary Neville. His enjoyment of Arsenal\u2019s demise was tangible. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7876"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7904,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions\/7904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}