Arsenal Season Review

That was the season that was for Arsenal and it ended up with us failing to qualify for European football for the first time in 25 years. When judging Mikel Arteta’s progress as the Arsenal manager it’s hard to ignore that statistic and the season can surely only be judged as a failure. Of course there were highs and lows throughout the season, but his inexperience and pure stubbornness at times were key factors in our second successive eighth finish in the Premier League for me.

The results prior to Christmas put us in real trouble in the Premier League and we were as low as 15th before results eventually improved. Those results and performances picked up with a 3-1 win at home to Chelsea and we went on a great run which almost put us back in the reckoning for a top four finish. As we progressed in the Europa League our Premier League results and performances suffered though and ultimately for me it was during that period that we lost out on our European ambitions.

When we eventually went out of the Europa League to Villarreal in the semifinals our league form improved and we won our last five games to leave us only six points off the Champions League places. We did better against the rest of the “big six” than we have done in a long time and we more or less bossed the games against the bottom six, but the points we took against the teams who finished around us in the league just weren’t good enough. Aston Villa, Wolves and Everton all beat us at home and away and that’s where our European ambitions died.

For me the jury on Arteta has to be out as he made some very strange decisions at times and his inability to admit his mistakes and rectify them is a real negative for him. Those strange decisions included the decision to loan William Saliba out after spending so much on him and it appears he’s still not sure he wants him at the club next season. Surely Saliba has to be one of the players who we attempt to build our future on and I only hope Arteta can find a way to include him.

The signing of Willian was apparently down to Arteta too and it was probably the worst decision of last season. Not only was he paid an absolute fortune because we got him for free, but he kept Pepe out of the team for the first few months of the season no matter how badly he played. When Pepe came into his own in the new year he showed exactly what we wanted him to show and his performances consigned Willian to the bench.

I don’t think there’s any point in going into what happened with Mesut Ozil because I don’t think any of us know what really happened or why it happened. Suffice it to say he plys his trade elsewhere and it was for the best in the end because he had very little to offer the team towards the end of his time at Arsenal. Ozil came on to the scene at a young age and I think that has taken it’s toll and his best years are well behind him now.

The fear of losing seemed to play too big a role in Arteta’s thinking for too long, but when he eventually loosened the reins we actually played some good football. However the changes were almost forced on Arteta due to injuries and it was only when players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe took the chances that came their way that the team improved. They have both become crucial parts of our future now and the sooner Gabriel Martinelli joins them in the starting lineup the better for me.

One of the most curious decisions Arteta made was to play with a false nine in our Europa League semifinal first leg against Villarreal. We somehow got away with a 2-1 defeat and only had to win the home leg without conceding a goal to progress to the final, but our lack of ambition in the second leg was almost unforgivable. His claim afterwards that we were the better team over the two legs was just wrong, but I thought we should have been the better team if he had got his selections and tactics right. 

Villarreal went on to beat United on penalties in the final and we missed a great chance to pick up a trophy and qualify for European football too. I think Arteta put too many eggs in the European basket and we paid the price when Villarreal knocked us out. There are those who think it’s a good thing we have no European football next season, but I’m not so sure.

For a start it’s difficult to attract players to the club with no European football to tempt them and there’s also the loss of revenue from TV money, prize money and gate receipts (when the fans return). We played seven home games in the Europa League last season and that’s an awful lot of money lost to the club to give those games up next season. The biggest miss could be the inability to give youngsters and fringe players their chances in European group games and those games were where the likes of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli cut their teeth.

We have a huge summer ahead of us with the possibility of quite a few players leaving the club and the need to sign some new players too. Despite doing so badly for so long we ended up only six points off the top four and we have the makings of most of a very good team in my opinion. We need to add the right players to improve that team and Arteta needs to allow the players to play with a little more freedom too, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t at least put in a real challenge for a top four place next season.

If I had to sum up last season I would say it was desperately disappointing in the main with some glimpses of real promise and possibilities for the future. Arteta has been given a chance to redeem our second eighth place finish in a row, but failure to improve next season will surely signal the end for him. I want things to work out for him, but I can’t say I’m overly convinced they will.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Can Arsenal Progress Under Arteta

This season has been a strange one so far and it’s been a pretty frustrating one from an Arsenal perspective. Every club has had to deal with the worldwide pandemic and it’s affects on revenue and it’s been no different for Arsenal. While all of this has being happening we’re in the middle (well actually still pretty much near the start) of our rebuilding process under Mikel Arteta.

He hasn’t been at the club a year yet and we can’t expect miracles given the squad he has and the limits imposed on transfers by the pandemic. Luckily Arsenal have a very talented crop of young players coming through and some of them have been able to step up when required. He did deliver the FA Cup against some pretty tough odds and it looks like the defensive side of our game has improved for the first time in a few years.

Our problems at the moment lie in attack though and our inability to score goals is hurting us badly. So much was made of our lack of victories away to any of the “big six” in almost six years that it was a huge relief to finally end that run at Old Trafford last month, but that 1-0 win was the only points we have taken and the only goal we have scored in our last four league games. As it stands only the bottom four clubs and Wolves have scored less goals in their first eight games despite Arsenal possessing one of the best strikers in the world.

While a large part of our problem might be the inability to make chances at the moment it’s very hard to look beyond why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is being played on the left when it seems obvious to one and all that he should be played as the central striker. With him in the middle we can surely play two attacking players, such as Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka in the wide roles and they can supply him with the chances he needs. For me Alexandre Lacazette isn’t good enough to hold the position ahead of Aubameyang and playing him there is hurting us at the moment.

Of course the failure to sign a creative player in midfield has had an affect on our creation and the demise of Mesut Ozil hasn’t helped either. The signing of Thomas Partey has given us some real class in midfield, but we need someone to play in front of him and whoever else is chosen to play alongside him in a defensive role. I think the manager might hope Willian can play there, but he’s looking less likely to do so with each passing game. 

With Ozil completely out of the picture it could mean the only real option is promoting Joe Willock to first team duties. Willock has looked the part in our Europa League games so far, but it’s a big step up from the Europa League to the Premier League. He offers us something different at the moment though and that’s something this team is badly missing. 

When our strikers struggle to score goals it’s a real problem for the team because our midfield just doesn’t have enough goals in it. Willock could possibly be the player to get those goals and it might just be the time to see what he can do.

In the latest 2021 odds to win the Premier League, Arsenal sit just below Leicester at 50/1. The Gunners had an upset defeat at home to Villa in their last game and Villa are listed below them at 66/1. It’s difficult to understand how we have reached a point where Leicester are shorter odds than us to win the league and Villa’s odds aren’t much longer. I know it’s early days in the season, but it’s not easy to argue with those odds.

For me a big part of our problems besides the lack of goals is the lack of pace in our game. We’re too comfortable just to keep possession and work the ball through the team with nobody willing to take an opponent on or make something happen. We’re really struggling to open teams up and the ability to take players on and beat them is one that cannot be underestimated.

We only have to play two of the big six in our next 12 games and that run has to give us an opportunity to make up some ground on the teams ahead of us and put some points on the board. We’ve been out of the Champions League for far too long and there’s a real chance of making the top four this season, but only if we can find some attacking flair. The players may have reacted well to how the manager wants them to play, but now he has to concentrate on improving our attacking options and getting that across to the players.

I think he’s the right man for the job, but it’s not easy watching Arsenal at the moment. When so many fans are left sitting in their homes because of the pandemic it appears that every little problem with the team is under the microscope and that’s understandable with so little else to do at the moment. He needs to keep the fans behind him and he could be in danger of slowly losing them if he can’t solve our attacking issues and make watching them more enjoyable.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Brighton Previewed

The return to football didn’t exactly work out well for Arsenal on Wednesday night when they were well beaten away to City. They were already struggling to withstand a dominant City when David Luiz had a brain freeze and handed them two goals as well as bagging himself a red card. It left us with nowhere to go and we were lucky not to lose by more than the three goals City put past us.

The excuse offered by Luiz after the game beggared belief and it’s difficult to understand how he could have been in the match day squad given his state of mind. He might not have started the game, but the early injuries to Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari meant he came on along with Dani Ceballos. His subsequent suspension along with the injury to Mari severely limits our choices in the centre of our defence for the rest of the season.

Elsewhere Mesut Ozil didn’t even make the match day squad despite 20 players making the trip and it leaves questions to be answered about him too. We didn’t get to see record buy Nicolas Pepe at all despite our complete lack of penetration in attack and the more you think about the game the worse the conclusions you draw about it. I realise different players would have been at different levels after the lockdown, but I found the decisions on both players by Mikel Arteta puzzling to say the least. That’s not to say I don’t think Arteta is the right man for the job as I think he will turn us around, but it’s going to be a slow and sometimes painful task.

At least we have the chance to bounce back quickly away to Brighton this afternoon and it’s a game we just have to win if we are to keep any hopes of catching the top five alive. On the plus side we have played a competitive game since the lockdown and Brighton haven’t which might just give us an edge. However, that game didn’t go well to say the least and it can’t have done much to build confidence.

I think Arteta will have to make a few changes to refresh the team as well as shaking things up a bit. He will have to bring someone in to play alongside Shkodran Mustafi in the centre of the defence and I suppose Sokratis Papastathopoulos is the obvious choice while Rob Holding could get the nod too. Kieran Tierney looked pretty good filling in there when Luiz was sent off at City and it meant Bukayo Saka was able to play at left back too. I think we’ll see Sokratis in the team and who would have believed only a few months ago that Mustafi would become our most reliable central defender.

Hopefully Xhaka will overcome his injury to take his place in the team as our options without him are very limited. Maybe Lucas Torreira will be ready to play, but I doubt it which should mean Matteo Guendouzi plays again. I thought he was one of our better players against City, but maybe that’s because some of the others did so little.

Without Ozil we have absolutely no creativity in our midfield, but I doubt if we’ll see him play and it’s hard to know what the future holds for him at Arsenal. It’s been so long since we saw the best of Ozil, but he performs best with good players around him and he’s been starved of them far too often at Arsenal. Even taking that into account his output has deteriorated immensely and his future at the club has to be in doubt. 

He won’t be going anywhere though as it would be impossible to offload him in the current climate given the enormity of his wages. I would love to see him back in the team at his very best, but good performances from him have become few and far between and it’s telling to see Arteta follow the example of both Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery in leaving  him out of tough away fixtures. If he doesn’t play it leaves room for Joe Willock or Ceballos to complete the midfield. 

I think we will have to see a change in attack too, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has to be in from the start with the other places up for grabs. I would like to see Gabriel Martinelli and Pepe in the team and I hope they can offer more in attack than the team did against City if they get the chance. Despite our shortcomings against City we still have some pretty good players and we should be favourites to win against Brighton.

Aubameyang wasn’t exactly impressive against City, but he is our best player and without him in it the team look highly unlikely to score. We’re going to have to find a way to score more goals if we’re going to climb the table and he’s our best hope of doing that. Who knows where he will be plying his trade next season, but it’s beginning to look like it won’t be at Arsenal.

I was full of hope with the season coming back, but it didn’t take long for Arsenal to crush that hope. I’m trying to believe in the team ahead of Brighton and I know they’re capable of taking the three points, but they will need to show so much more than they did at City. If they don’t win I honestly think it will be time to throw in the towel in our quest for a top five finish and hope we can win the FA Cup.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Have To Beat Newcastle Today

It’s been two long weeks since Arsenal played a game and the lack of anything resembling real football in that time made it drag. Thankfully they return today when they play at home to Newcastle United in what I can only describe as a must win game. It’s the first of three home Premier League games in a row which give us a chance to make up ground on the teams ahead of us in our quest to finish in the top five.

With the news of Manchester City’s two season ban from European football that top five place has become an awful lot more important. Despite Chelsea struggling for quite a while now they still look odds on to finish fourth, but City’s problems should mean the team who finish fifth take their place in the Champions League next season. City will of course appeal the decision and fifth place might fade into insignificance again, but for the moment at least our hopes can be raised.

As it stands we have eight points to make up on Sheffield United who currently hold fifth spot, but we have a game in hand. Our next three fixtures provide us with that opportunity to take nine points and the table will look an awful lot better if we can do just that. Considering our current run of results it’s far from an easy task, but considering the opponents it’s certainly not one that’s beyond us either.

After Newcastle today it’s Everton and West Ham at home in our next two league games and neither of them are much to be afraid of either. Everton have improved under their new manager, but West Ham are in real trouble and could find themselves in the Championship next season. First things first though and the need to beat Newcastle cannot be understated.

We have made plenty of progress since Mikel Arteta took the reins, but too many of our games have ended in draws and it’s time to turn those draws into wins. We have only won four of our 12 home games so far this season and even more worryingly only one of our last eight. There was a time not so long ago when teams feared coming to the Emirates and we beat the majority of Premier League teams without having to even perform at our best.

The defensive improvement under Arteta has been absolutely great, but it has been partly at the expense of our attack. It will take a while for him to find the right balance between them in the team, but from what he has said recently it looks like he’s more than well aware of the situation. I expect him to give the players a little more attacking leeway today and hopefully it will be enough to unlock a very defensive Newcastle team. Despite their defensive set up they have only kept one clean sheet away from home and only Villa have conceded more goals on the road.

Arteta has a few decisions to make in his team selection today and the first of them surely has to be whether to persist with Alexandre Lacazette or not. He hasn’t scored in his last eight league games, but all of his goals have come at home and the manager has stated how he sees him as a vital part of the way he wants the team to play. Like quite a few other fans I would like to see an attacking trio of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Nicolas Pepe on one side of him and Gabriel Martinelli on the other side.

That trio offers us the pace and goal threat which I think we need so badly, but I’m not so sure we’ll see it. Who supplies the ammunition for them is another thing and as much as I like Mesut Ozil it’s hard to argue with the stats which show he just isn’t the player he used to be. Maybe a home game against Newcastle might be the perfect game for him to perform, but there’s a very real prospect of him warming the bench yet again today.

We have missed Aaron Ramsey’s ability to arrive late in the box and score the goals this team is so badly missing and we didn’t manage to replace him when he went on his merry way last summer. Joe Willock has shown glimpses of a player who might be able to fill that role, but he’s certainly far from the finished article. We don’t have the midfielders to add to our goals tally that we had in previous seasons and it’s really hurting our results.

In our seven league games under Arteta we have only scored eight goals and while we have only conceded seven goals in those games it’s still a pretty poor return. Arteta has addressed the defensive issues to a certain degree and now it’s time to address the attacking issues. With the right team today we can at least start to bring some joy back to a season that has been almost bereft of it since the opening day.

As poor as our results have been we have been no worse than any of the other teams chasing fifth place and an improvement from us could be enough to make fifth place ours. To have drawn more than half of our 25 league games is quite incredible and surely we’re due a few wins starting with Newcastle today and followed by a run of six games where the three points are ours for the taking.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arteta’s Arsenal Slowly Improving

Mikel Arteta hasn’t been in charge at Arsenal too long, but the signs are already very encouraging. We might have only won once in his six league games at the helm, but we have only lost one game too. The trick is to start turning some of those draws into wins and that’s when the real progress will be evident.

The draw at Chelsea on Tuesday night had to be a huge boost for Arteta and the players too. To twice come from behind to get a 2-2 after playing for over an hour with 10 men showed real strength of character and commitment from the players. While we can be unhappy with both of the goals we conceded the players defended very well when under a lot of pressure.

The contribution of Gabriel Martinelli in the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a huge boost and Arteta has to now consider him as one of the first names on the team sheet every week. His 67 yard run and finish for our first goal was simply magnificent and it’s been too long since we saw a goal to raise our spirits as much as that goal did. Thanks to Hector Bellerin’s late equaliser that Martinelli goal got some reward on the night and we took a very unlikely point given the circumstances.

There is no doubt we have some real issues in terms of personnel, but we also have some very good players to call on. I’m still longing to see a front three of Martinelli, Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe and the options it will give us in terms of pace and finishing ability. Playing those three players together would leave no room in the team for Alexandre Lacazette, but it has to be something for Arteta to try as he looks for some balance in our attack.

It’s our lack of goals and goalscoring opportunities which is holding us back at the moment and I think those three up front might help to solve that problem. The fact we have virtually no scoring potential in our midfield is a real worry too and it’s not something which can be easily solved with the players we currently possess. Maybe Joe Willock could be the player who can make runs from the centre into the box to offer that threat, but he would have to start ahead of Mesut Ozil to do so given our current formation.

Arteta is going with two more or less holding midfielders which is perfectly understandable as it gives us a platform to build on and some added protection for the defence. The current first choice duo don’t offer too much in terms of scoring intent though except for the very rare screamer from Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira occasionally breaking free of his defensive shackles to pop up in the box. It’s an issue which will probably be best solved in the transfer window and that probably means waiting until the summer.

The Liverpool model has been looked to as one to aspire to with their midfield adding very few goals, but their front three scoring heaps of them. To be honest Aubameyang, Martinelli and Pepe (if they were the trio) would have to add about 50 league goals a season between them to match the output of the Liverpool trio. It’s a big ask for them and they might get there, but it will take time.

For them to do so we need our two fullbacks to contribute as much as their’s do and we’re currently a long way off that. The return of Hector Bellerin is very welcome on that count and getting Kieran Tierney fit again would be an added bonus for that target. Even with those two back they would have to improve their final ball an awful lot to match the assists Liverpool get from their two full backs.

The one place where we’re actually getting a good return is from our set pieces with our central defenders doing their bit in front of the opposition goal. Our corners have been very good in the main and I don’t think any other team has more goals from corners in the league so far this season. If only they were as good at keeping the opposition out at the other end.

Overall I am really hopeful with the direction we’re going in, but the signs are it will be a slow and laborious task to try to get us back among the elite teams of Premier League football. Arteta certainly talks the talk and the signs so far are he might just walk the walk too.

We face a trip to Bournemouth tonight in the fourth round of the FA Cup and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put out a fairly strong team all things considered. With Aubameyang serving the last game of his suspension I’d be surprised if Martinelli didn’t start and we might see Eddie Nketiah at some stage too. I imagine Matteo Guendouzi will come into the midfield while Emiliano Martinez will play in goal with Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles probably getting a look in too.

It’s been almost a week since our last game and the players have plenty of time to recover after this game too so fatigue shouldn’t be a factor in team choice. Bournemouth managed to win their first game in quite a while last week to climb out of the relegation zone, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they rested a lot of players tonight with that relegation battle in mind. They’ve struggled to score goals for a long time this season and their defence has become very leaky too.

We should see whether we have improved since we drew 1-1 away to them very early in Arteta’s reign and I hope those results will be positive. We’re still struggling to create chances away from home and every player other than Aubameyang has struggled on the road. A strong display tonight should give us even more optimism after the result at Chelsea last week.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Leeds United: FA Cup Preview

With their first win under the stewardship of Mikel Arteta under their belts Arsenal head into FA Cup action tonight when Leeds United come calling. It’s the only competition we have won since 2004 and the three wins in the last six seasons were a welcome boost to our morale and our trophy cabinet. During that time the greatest Spurs team since who knows when failed to win a single trophy of any significance, but I suppose that’s nothing new for them at least.

There’s two trains of thought on the FA Cup this season I suppose with the prospect of one of the major trophies always something to be aspired to, but we also have to be conscious of our requirements on other fronts. Finishing in the top four has to be our number one priority, but it’s going to be very difficult for us considering how the season has gone so far even with the hope Arteta’s arrival has brought. If we can’t finish in the top four the Europa League is the only other way of getting into next season’s Champions League and it has to be prioritised too.

That doesn’t leave much consideration for the FA Cup no matter whether we have won it more times than any other club or not. The thing is though as it stands we won’t even qualify for the Europa League for next season and it might just be a good idea to treat the cup seriously as a back up plan for Europa League qualification. It’s not exactly a nice thought to consider finishing outside the Europa League places in the Premier League, but it’s one that has to be considered at least.

I still think a top four finish is within our grasp as those above us have been almost as inconsistent as we have so far until you reach the top three. It’s going to be a big ask though as we still have to travel to City, Chelsea and Spurs as well as playing at home to Liverpool and Leicester. It’s hard not to be optimistic though after the performance and win against United and even the performances against Chelsea and Bournemouth.

I don’t think we have to go all out with our team selection tonight, but I think we need to make sure we have plenty to offer from the bench in case things aren’t going our way. Leeds have a pretty good away record so far this season with eight wins in their 14 games and they have scored more goals on the road than any other team in the Championship. They’re currently on top of the table and a return to the Premier League has to be their primary concern so they could be tempted into a fair few changes tonight too.

There’s a possibility we’ll see up to four players returning from injury tonight with Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Dani Ceballos and Gabriel Martinelli all possibly available. Those four will all be pushing for a place in our strongest team so they will add real strength to the squad and some quality to the team tonight if they start. We could also Eddie Nketiah play up front after he was recalled from his loan spell at Leeds and he has a lot to offer too.

Otherwise I expect to see Matteo Guendouzi and Nicolas Pepe both start tonight. Guendouzi is currently seen as being behind both Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka in our strongest 11 and he needs a bit of game time while Pepe has been out of favour so long that he can’t be suffering from the fatigue others might have from the busy festive schedule. I wouldn’t mind seeing Pepe and Martinelli on either side of the attack with Nketiah through the middle and Ceballos behind them.

Whatever team we play we will be expected to win though because we’re at home to a side from the league below us. With Leeds likely to rotate too I think we should be strong enough to win through to the next round and we definitely don’t want a replay. Most of all I hope to see the players continue the progress they have shown under Arteta and for those who get a chance tonight to really try to make an impression as well as winning of course.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Manchester United Preview

The Mikel Arteta era at Arsenal hasn’t gotten off to the best start in terms of results so far, but the team have shown some encouraging signs at least. He has a huge job on his hands trying to reverse the rot that has set in for years and rebuild some confidence in players who are clearly lacking in it. I had hoped for a victory at home to Chelsea on Sunday and for a long time it looked on the cards until we pressed the self destruct button in the last 10 minutes.

It’s hard to see what any manager can do about individual errors and I think we would have won the game until Bernd Leno’s error handed them an equaliser. He will surely be able to drill them into the better defending which would have stopped Chelsea getting their late winner. Shkodran Mustafi simply had to make sure Tammy Abraham couldn’t get the chance to start the break which led to the goal and he should have taken a yellow card for the team to stop him. It’s a tactic which City used all the time when Arteta was their second in command and I have no doubt he will instill it into the Arsenal players if he hasn’t done so already.

Our position in the Premier League is not good and on our current form we’re getting closer to the bottom three with each game. We have only won once in our last 12 league games and we haven’t won in our last six at home. In recent seasons when we struggled so badly away from home it was our home form which saw us through, but we can’t even rely on that any more.

I honestly think Arteta will make a difference in the long term, but he actually needs to change results quickly too. As bad as the Europa League might be compared to the Champions League it’s an awful lot better than no European football at all which seems a very real possibility at the moment. As bad as we are though we’re still not too far off the other teams chasing fifth place and fourth place is not dead and buried yet considering Chelsea’s current run of results.

We need something to change and maybe just for something small to break in our favour to turn things around. I thought it was going to happen against Chelsea, but we shot ourselves in the foot and I just hope it can happen against United tonight. They’re currently in fifth place with seven points to spare over us, but a win for us tonight would cut that gap to a mere four points.

It’s hard to see where our next win is coming from, but a win might just kickstart a revival. Four wins in a row is the thing of dreams at the moment, but if we could win our next four league games our position would improve greatly. With no team showing any real consistency outside the top three it’s not impossible to believe we can shoot up the table with just a slight upturn in our performances.

Arteta has big problems for tonight though with so many defensive injuries and he’s going to struggle to put out a strong defence. There aren’t too many issues in other positions, but given how poor we have defended this season it’s very worrying. He does have a decision or two to make in other positions too.

Our midfield is offering virtually no return in terms of goals and the burden of our goalscoring is almost solely on the shoulders of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. I think Nicolas Pepe might be one of the few players besides Aubameyang who can add some goals, but he just can’t get a game. I don’t know why Arteta won’t pick him, but both Freddie Ljungberg and Unai Emery didn’t see fit to include our record signing either.

If we can somehow pull something out for tonight I think it will give us the impetus we need, but it’s a big ask for players who have almost forgotten how to win. I’d love to get one over on them on a day when Spurs lost and Chelsea only drew in games they were expected to win. The league table would look an awful lot better for us tonight if we can put a fairly average United team to the sword.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Bournemouth Previewed

The Mikel Arteta era as Arsenal manager gets off to a start today when we play away to Bournemouth. We go into the game in our lowest league position at this time of the season in 36 years as we sit in 11th place. Our hopes of a top four finish seem dim at best, but yet I think Arteta’s appointment offers us genuine hope.

He has a huge job ahead of him, but the noises coming from him so far are very encouraging. Under Unai Emery we had become a very negative team who seemed unable to take control of a game and were reactionary rather than taking the game to opponents. Things got far worse this season and I find it difficult to remember one single Premier League game so far this season where we outplayed our opponents and deserved to win.

Of course Arteta cannot expect to change things overnight and he still has to work with the same players Emery had. Things might change slightly in the January transfer window, but realistically he has to more or less work with what he has. The first thing he will try to do will be to change the attitude of the players and if he’s to succeed it’s something he just has to do.

He’s had a few days to work with them and some of the signs in the last game under the temporary stewardship of Freddie Ljungberg were encouraging. Freddie put out a fairly young side and they worked their socks off to earn a 0-0 draw in a game of few chances. The defensive side of the performance was the encouraging part and we might have taken the three points too, but Jordan Pickford saved from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the game’s best chance.

Considering how bad our defence has been it was encouraging to keep a clean sheet away from home and it was our first away clean sheet since the opening day 1-0 win at Newcastle. Our away games have been drab affairs at best with very little quality on show, but we most certainly have some genuine quality in the squad. Arteta has to find a balance that will allow us to express that attacking quality while still showing solidity at the back. 

I thought Calum Chambers did very well in the centre of the defence against Everton, but he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will miss out today as a result. It means the centre of the defence will see two out of David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi play and you would have to imagine it will be the first two with Mustafi on the bench. As a partnership they have failed to impress despite their vast experience and I just hope they can do better today. Hector Bellerin could return from injury at right back while Bukayo Saka looks likely to continue on the left with both Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac injured. 

I expect a similar line up in midfield to the one at Everton with a combination of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira to anchor things. The two of them have the makings of a good partnership with the right tactics and coaching and Arteta might just be the man to get the most out of them. Of course both players are rumoured to want away from the club and Arteta’s first job with each of them could be to convince them to stay if they are in his long term plans.

Ahead of the two of them I expect to see more experience than we did against Everton and I think Arteta has to go with the potential strongest starting lineup available to him. Aubameyang has to be a shoe-in while I think he has to show the confidence in Nicolas Pepe that appears not to have been shown up to this stage. We spent an awful lot of money on him in the summer and again Arteta has to hope he is the man who can get the most from our record signing.

It looks like Gabriel Martinelli might miss out through injury which could see Alexandre Lacazette come back into the team and Aubameyang switch to a wide role. The most interesting choice could be who plays behind those three players or if Arteta deploys a third midfielder in a central role.

The amount of money we pay Mesut Ozil is quite absurd and we certainly haven’t gotten the return you would expect from a player of his quality in a long time. He’s always been an exceptional talent who performs best with a very strong team around him and that’s something he hasn’t had at Arsenal far too often. If Arteta can get the best from him the team will benefit, but if he can’t it could be the end of the road for Ozil. If it comes to that it won’t be easy to dispose of a player earning as much as he does and I hope we do hang on to him and see the best of him again.

We have only won once in our last 10 league games and we need to turn things around quickly. The top four seems a long way away after Chelsea beat Spurs on Sunday, but fifth place is most certainly still within our reach. All we need is a good run of results with a few wins in a row and we will quickly climb back among the teams hoping to catch up on fourth place.

We can’t wait too long for that run to begin though and it would be great to start it at Bournemouth today. They’re not exactly setting the world alight at the moment either and they have lost five of their last six games with only a 1-0 win away to Chelsea to stand to their name in that time. They have lost their last three home games and they only scored one goal in those games which has to offer us real hope today.

I want and expect to see more commitment from the players today and if Arteta is going to succeed that’s the bare minimum we can expect. We certainly have the players to beat Bournemouth and climb the table, but it’s not going to be an easy fix for Arteta and it’s going to take time. Meanwhile we need to keep improving and taking points as Arteta tries to have the positive influence on the squad which is so badly needed.

I truly hope he succeeds and I have a feeling we have the right man for the job. It’s a long hard task and things won’t always go our way, but I think we will get an idea early on if he can have the required influence on the players. Let’s hope that will start today with three points and a performance to warm the heart and bring us hope for the future.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Brighton Preview

We all hoped the Freddie Ljungberg time in charge at the club would get off to a good start at Norwich on Sunday and for the first half hour it looked like it might just do. However, Norwich scored first and all of our frailties were laid bare for all to see. To their credit the players did at least manage to come back from behind twice to get a 2-2 draw, but it was definitely another two points dropped. Norwich probably deserved all three points by the end of the game though and we were thankful to Bernd Leno for the one point we did get.

We have now played all of the bottom three clubs and failed to beat any of them with 2-2 draws away to Watford and Norwich and at home to Southampton. To be honest we were more than a little fortunate to emerge with a draw from each of those games and it says an awful lot about where we are as a team. There’s a scrap developing for fifth place in the Premier League and it looks like that’s the very best we can achieve this season as it stands.

Defensively we’re an absolute shambles and it just doesn’t look like changing. No matter what defenders we pick they continue to make wrong decisions both individually and collectively. They’re not helped by our midfield making the exact same errors when it comes to the defensive part of their game.

I had hoped Freddie would have picked Nicolas Pepe at Norwich, but from what he said there seems to be some issue with Pepe and he’s carried on Unai Emery’s policy of not giving him even a minute to play. It’s just as well we didn’t splash out a club record fee on him last summer I suppose. As I’ve said before I’d like to see Pepe play wide right of a front three with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang through the middle and Gabriel Martinelli on the left.

Surely a home game against a Brighton team who don’t travel well can afford us an opportunity to play an attacking team with loads of pace. They might have put up a good show in losing 2-1 at Liverpool on Saturday, but Brighton have only taken one point in their last six away games. They’re definitely more adventurous than they were last season, but we should be far too good for them at home if we approach the game in the right way.

I’d love to see both Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney as the full backs if they’re fit enough to play and Lucas Torreira given the job of anchoring the midfield. I think a team built around those three with the attacking trio I mentioned has to be able to get our first win in seven league games. Of course having Mesut Ozil to supply the ammunition for the front three would be great too and the fact Freddie picked him on Sunday is promising.

I expect a much better atmosphere at the Emirates tonight which will hopefully make it a little easier for the players to play. The chances are Freddie won’t get the gig long term, but hopefully he can turn things around enough to leave things in a reasonably good state for whoever takes over. 

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip to Eintracht Frankfurt Previewed

After a performance to forget at Watford on Sunday Arsenal get their Europa League campaign up and running away to Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow night. Last season we lost the final against Chelsea in June and we were knocked out in the semi finals by Atletico Madrid the previous season. It’s a competition we will automatically be one of the favourites to win and so we should be.

Of course we’re only playing in the Europa League because of our failure to qualify for the Champions League for the third season in a row. Our goal for this season has to be a top four finish and the Champions League football it brings with the Europa League only an after thought. The Europa League winners do qualify for the Champions League, but we saw what happened last season when that became our only route to the Champions League.

Unai Emery might well be tempted to play a fairly strong team in Frankfurt to get our campaign off to a good start in what will probably be our hardest game in the group. It would be a huge shock if Arsenal didn’t qualify from the group, but they won’t want to start the group off with a defeat. As a result I think we won’t see as many youngsters and fringe players as we might have expected.

The players who didn’t start on Sunday will probably expect to play and I imagine Callum Chambers, Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Emiliano Martinez will all be in the team. We could also see the return of Rob Holding from his long term injury, but I think he might get a late run from the bench which might see Shkodran Mustafi on from the start. We already know both Mesut Ozil and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have been rested which surely means they will both play at home to Villa on Sunday.

I can’t see what options the manager has on the left and right sides of the defence with Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles more or less having to play. If we do have Torreira and Willock in midfield it’s a matter of who plays with them and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dani Ceballos get the nod. Hopefully the weather in Frankfurt will be more to his liking than the tropical climate in Watford on Sunday.

With Nelson probably playing on the left of the attack we might possibly see Nicolas Pepe or Gabriel Martinelli through the middle with whoever doesn’t play centrally then playing on the right. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the only striker available at the moment, but surely he can’t be risked from the start against Frankfurt. If he’s needed he might make an appearance off the bench, but hopefully that won’t be the case.

Frankfurt have won two and lost two of their league games so far this season and they will be no pushover. They are our toughest opponent in the group and they will have been given massive encouragement by our performance on Sunday. Watford showed them how to play against us and I will be surprised if they don’t try to put us under the same sort of pressure.

Huge questions were asked of the players and the manager after that performance and this is their first chance to answer the criticism. We are giving our opponents far too many chances to shoot against us and the manager has to find a way to stop it. Playing against Arsenal is far too easy far too often for opponents and that’s something which simply has to change.

I’m not so sure we will beat Frankfurt, but I do think we will make the knockout stages with relative ease. Neither Standard Liege or Vitoria should cause us too much trouble and our biggest issue could be the problems we cause for ourselves. Hopefully we can get a good result and put in a performance which can help to build some confidence after Sunday’s abysmal display.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Watford Previewed

With the first of far too many pesky international breaks out of the way it’s back to Premier League football for Arsenal as they travel to Watford this afternoon. After yesterday’s results a win today would move us up to third place behind second placed City on goal difference and possibly level on points with Everton depending on how they do against Bournemouth in the early game. The table is already starting to take shape and it looks like Everton and Leicester will be the two teams looking to break into the top six from last season.

Arsenal came from 2-0 down at home to Spurs in their last game to take a point and that was a very important result for them. After losing 3-1 at Anfield the previous week they couldn’t afford to lose to another team chasing a top four place. A draw might not have been what we wanted prior to the game, but at 2-0 down I was more than happy not to lose.

Unai Emery will be without the services of Alexandre Lacazette who is out for approximately a month with an ankle injury. Lacazette‘s absence leaves the squad a little light of strikers with a lot of games coming up in the next month. It does mean that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will play in his favourite position in all of our league games, but we will most certainly miss Lacazette.

The manager has a few decisions to make ahead of the game with Lacazette’s place to be filled as well as what midfield lineup to choose. With Aubameyang through the middle of the attack we might see Reiss Nelson play on the right while Nicolas Pepe will be on the right. Pepe is slowly settling into the team and I think we’re going to see the best of him very soon.

After his performance against Spurs Matteo Guendouzi has to be nailed on to play in the midfield while Granit Xhaka will more than likely start too despite the ridiculous penalty he gave away in that game. I know he is extremely error prone and those errors are very often costly, but he appears to be one of the first names on the team sheet once he’s fit. If those two are nailed on it leaves one of Dani Ceballos, Joe Willock and Lucas Torreira to choose from which isn’t easy on the other two. 

The boss could always opt for a different formation I suppose, but I doubt it. He could even decide to bring in a fit again Mesut Ozil to the team, but I would be very surprised if he gets any further than the bench at the start of the game at least. We have an abundance of options in midfield at the moment and our defence could be following quite soon.

I imagine we will see the same back four as we did against Spurs, but we have a trio of players on the way back from injuries who will be looking to get into the team. Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney are all part of the long term plans for our defence and the sooner we have them available the better. There are plenty of games coming up for those returning players to blood themselves in between the Europa League and the Carabao Cup. 

Watford are stuck on the bottom of the table with only one point from their first four games and that came in their last game away to Newcastle. Their poor start cost Javi Gracia his job and Quique Sanchez Flores has taken over the reins again. Hopefully they won’t get the traditional new manager “boost” and we can add to their woes by taking the three points.

I have no doubt they will try to get about us and put the boot in where they can in an attempt to unsettle us. We had an awful record away from home last season and we let in far too many goals for our own good. They will look to play on that defensive vulnerability if they can and we need to stay strong and repel them.

It’s all about taking the three points today and while it would be great to put in a performance to remember too it’s the points that matter. We won our first away game at Newcastle despite a pretty poor display and we were well beaten at Liverpool in our last away game. If this season is going to be any better than last season then we have to improve our away performances and results too.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Spurs: NLD Preview

After winning their first two games Arsenal came crashing back to earth last week when they lost 3-1 away to Liverpool. While it wasn’t as bad a defeat as we have suffered at Anfield in recent seasons it still showed we have a long way to go to match the pacesetters in the Premier League. However, our aim this season has to be returning to the top four and the Champions League football it brings.

A defeat at Liverpool might not have helped that cause, but a home game against Spurs is far more important for it. They are definitely one of the other four teams looking to take one of the two places available in the top four as Liverpool and City look set to fight for the title again. There are those who think Spurs will challenge both City and Liverpool this season, but last week’s home result against Newcastle showed exactly why they won’t.

Unai Emery has taken some stick for his formation against Liverpool last week, but it might have been different if either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Nicolas Pepe had taken their good chances to put us ahead in the first half. I don’t think his tactics were right for the game, but at least he tried something he thought might work even if it did seem like the players were unsure of how to enact his plan. I doubt if we will see a formation like that at home to Spurs and I think he has a much better idea how to beat them.

We beat them 4-2 at the Emirates last season and would have won away to them too if it wasn’t for a last minute penalty miss. Interestingly that penalty would have been retaken if VAR had been around due to encroachment from the Spurs player who eventually stopped Aubameyang scoring the rebound. With VAR in use at all Premier League games we can only hope it will catch the serial divers and cheaters that abound in the Spurs team.

The manager has a few decisions to make in his team selection and the toughest one could be about Nacho Monreal. It looks like he could be on his way back to Spain with the European transfer window still open, but he is currently the preferred left back of those available for selection. If he lets Nacho leave it means playing Sead Kolasinac on the left of what will probably be a back four and he seems more than hesitant to do so. 

When Kieran Tierney is back to full fitness he looks destined to make that position his own and it makes economic sense to let Nacho leave. Do we keep him until at least January for just one game, but then again it’s a very important game and one we just cannot afford to lose. It’s a complicated call for the manager to make and he has to be conscious of so many factors when he’s making it.

Other than that decision it appears the rest of the back four picks itself with David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ainsley Maitland-Niles keeping their places in front of Bernd Leno. Luiz showed exactly why there were doubts about us signing him at Liverpool last week when his errors led directly to two of their three goals. He can be a very good player, but he also has that ability in him to cost his team goals in big games in particular. I just hope we won’t see that side of him on Sunday.

The full debut of Pepe last week gives the manager a real selection headache up front. I’m one of those fans who believes we have to play Aubameyang through the middle if we’re going to get the best out of him. If he plays through the middle it doesn’t really leave any room in the team for Alexandre Lacazette, but he’s exactly the type of player you want in a local derby.

It’s a tough call for the manager to make, but I think he has to play both Aubameyang and Pepe with their pace and Spurs vulnerability to the ball over the top. Their defence is a little short on numbers at the moment and looking probably as vulnerable as ours. I think power and pace could be the key against them even if it means leaving Lacazette out of the team.

Winning the midfield battle could be crucial for us and getting to grips with the Spurs midfield won’t be as difficult as getting the better of Liverpool’s last week. Dani Ceballos looked very good in his debut against Burnley, but he didn’t find it as easy against Liverpool. I think he might just relish the chance to play against Spurs at home and show us exactly what he can do.

I would like to see Lucas Torreira alongside him as I think it’s a combination which could be very effective for us and surely Torreira must be ready to start by now after returning from international duty much later than the rest of the squad last month. As much as I like Matteo Guendouzi I would like to see how a midfield trio of Ceballos, Torreira and Joe Willock would fare together.

If the manager were to follow my advice he would have one player left to pick and that would depend on the formation he opts for. There are so many to choose from with Lacazette, Reiss Nelson, Mesut Ozil, Guendouzi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Granit Xhaka all looking for a chance to prove themselves. I think we will see Xhaka in the team, but probably at the expense of one of the midfield trio I prefer and the last place is still a toss up.

As much as getting the right personnel is important it’s also very important to get the tactics and attitude right on the day. If we can approach the game in the same vein as our home games against Spurs, United, Chelsea and Liverpool last season I think we will be on the right track. I hope the players will be anxious to put last week behind them and get one over on their local rivals yet again.

They have only won away to us once in the Premier League since 1993 and that was nine years ago. In the eight games since that defeat we have scored 20 goals against them and only conceded nine including scoring five twice and four once. When we turn it on at home against them the goals flow and that’s exactly what we need on Sunday.

If we can go into the international break five points ahead of Spurs on the back of a victory over them it would be a huge boost for us. While I could take a draw to keep us ahead of them a win is infinitely superior and well within our grasp. Let’s just hope the players can find the level of intensity and commitment needed in a local derby to take those three precious points and the bragging rights that go with them.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Burnley Preview

Arsenal may not have been overly impressive in their 1-0 win at Newcastle last week, but the got the job done and that was of utmost importance. They were rarely bothered in defence and that can’t be a bad thing for a team who only kept one clean sheet in their 19 League games away from home last season. Newcastle didn’t have an awful lot to offer in attack, but that didn’t stop Arsenal conceding to every team in the league except for Watford on their travels last season.

Unai Emery went with quite a few youngsters and fringe players on the day as lack of match fitness among other things deprived him of much of his strongest 11. Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac missed out for security reasons, but thankfully it seems they are clear to play tomorrow and hopefully their “situation” has come to an end. Both Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira sat the game out while both Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos came off the bench late on. 

Those six players could all reasonably expect to be among the first names on the team sheet and we’re still awaiting the returns of Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding from long term injuries. Both of them would be among the first names on the team sheet too when they return so it looks like the manager will be spoiled for choice with a fully fit squad. I still haven’t mentioned David Luiz and he will be hoping to start tomorrow, but it won’t be easy to shift either Sokratis Papastathopoulos or Callum Chambers considering how comfortable they looked last week.

I have no doubt Burnley will offer more of a challenge to our defence and they certainly like to “put it up ‘em” given the opportunity. Ashley Barnes is a well known wind-up merchant and we can’t allow him to get under our collective skin. They had a very good 3-0 win at home to Southampton last week and Barnes grabbed himself a couple of goals in that game.

If memory serves me correctly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is fond of a goal against Burnley and scored twice against them in both of our encounters last season. Whoever the manager brings in I hope he keeps playing Aubameyang through the middle as he’s proven to be a top class goalscorer in any team he has played in. We have a host of players capable of making chances for him and he has the ability to become the top scorer in the Premier League this season.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ozil and Kolasinac return while I think a home game is probably the best place to give Pepe his full debut. Either Ceballos or Torreira could come into midfield and the decision on who to leave out could be made easier if Granit Xhaka isn’t passed fit to play. With those changes it won’t really leave room for either Reiss Nelson or Joe Willock in the starting 11 which is harsh on Willock in particular after his performance last week, but I have no doubt we will see plenty of them over the coming season.

I’m not sure if Henrikh Mkhitaryan will keep his place either and he can be a very frustrating player at times. He played a few very good passes last week and we could or maybe should have scored from at least one of them. He had to be the most wayward player on the pitch when it came to passing at times too and it can be tough to see so many passes go astray or the ball lost so often. I’m not sure whether the output or input we get from him matches up with his game time or his incredibly high wages either.

I think, once we work up a head of steam, we will make plenty of chances against a Burnley team who conceded a lot of goals last season. I’m still not too sure exactly what our style is, but with the players available we are more than capable of playing free flowing attractive football while still being able to protect our defence. It’s that defence that’s still the real worry and they need to work on the best understanding they can ahead of two very tough games in the next two weeks.

Hopefully we can put in a performance to build plenty of confidence ahead of a trip to Liverpool and a home game against Spurs. If we can win tomorrow and come through those two games with two points or more I think it will be a pretty good start to the season. 

David Luiz

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 

Aubameyang against Burnley 

Chance to temporarily go top

2 tough games coming up 

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Smash Their Transfer Record To Sign Nicolas Pepe

It’s been some day to be an Arsenal fan as they broke their transfer record for the third time in two years to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille. When news of his imminent arrival first broke a few days ago I didn’t dare to believe as I pondered all the obstacles in our way, but my doubts were proven wrong when he signed on the dotted line today. It’s still hard to believe a club with supposedly only £40 million to spend this summer could splash almost twice that amount on one player.

Of course we won’t be paying all of the money up front and we have brought in a little money through sales recently with possibly more sales to follow. Pepe joins Gabriel Martinelli as a permanent fixture in the squad this season while Dani Ceballos is on loan from Real Madrid abd William Saliba has signed for us, but been loaned back to St. Etienne for this season. It doesn’t look like we’re finished either with Kieran Tierney looking likely to join us from Celtic very soon and a mystery central defender lined up too if the rumours are to be believed.

Martinelli definitely looks like one for the future and Ceballos will add a lot to the team for the season that he’s with us, but Pepe is the marquee signing us fans were longing for. He had a fantastic season with Lille last season with 23 goals and 11 assists from a wide role and he’s exactly the type of player we have needed for so long. His ability to take players on and beat them at pace is something we badly need in our team and we need someone else besides Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to score consistently.

There’s still some work to be done though and we haven’t added anyone to a very dodgy defence. It looks like both Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny could be on their way out which would make our need for more defenders crucial. The returns of both Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin will be of real benefit to the team and they can’t come soon enough for me.

We have some incredible attacking talent in the team and our forward line has to be one to be feared by any other team. However, if we don’t sort out our defensive issues we’re probably going to have to score at least three goals in every game if we want to win. A few weeks ago I might have said I had no real faith in the club signing the players we need to strengthen the defence, but it’s hard to argue with the players delivered in recent weeks and I really hope they can keep up the fantastic work.

I think the demise of Mesut Ozil in the last couple of seasons was strongly influenced by the departure of Alexis Sanchez and I hope the dynamism offered by Pepe can bring the best out of Ozil again. With the contract he’s on he’s going nowhere so it’s very important for us to get the maximum return possible from such an important and expensive asset. I, for one, can’t wait to see what our attack is capable of this coming season and we don’t have too long to wait.

I could put up links to various videos showing us exactly what we’re getting with the arrival of Pepe, but there’s no real point as they’re so easy for anyone to find themselves. In just 10 days time we should see Pepe unleashed on Newcastle United and hopefully it will be the start of a long and fruitful Arsenal career. He’s only 24 years old so he still has his best years ahead of him and maybe he can be the player to help change our fortunes and get us back into title contention and bring back Champions League football too.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.