A couple of days late due to circumstances beyond my control, here's my take on the Manchester United game on Monday. But to make up for the delay I promise to devote a paragraph or two to anything of interest or amusement that may have occurred in the Champions League this week...
October 2, 2019 16:19
So what's your take? Is your glass half empty or half full? Personally, I was somewhat disappointed by both team selection and then by the amount of respect shown to what is by any stretch of the imagination one of the poorest United sides of the last 25 years.
Yet again, in selecting Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi, Emery's inherent conservatism shone through. That combination stifles the ability to move quickly in transition, and more importantly with his insistence on playing Xhaka at the base means that Torreira - in my opinion Arsenal's best defensive midfielder - is being asked to play a role to which he is not suited.
Xhaka himself had a perfectly adequate game, and Guendouzi was a dynamo as usual, but Torreira is not a box-to-box midfielder and it is not fair to him to play him as one. For me, I'd like to see the triangle inverted and (and this is if Emery insists on selecting Xhaka) I'd prefer to see two midfielders at the base - select two from the three names mentioned above - and Ceballos or preferably the more dynamic Joe Willock further forward.
And United were there for the taking. They're not very good, but the way the team were set up meant that Arsenal were unable to take advantage of that. And please, I don't want to hear that we're well placed in fourth spot after seven games and three of them have been against top six rivals - we could have beaten Spurs and United, we should definitely have beaten Watford, and I'm still inclined to blame the manager for not having done so. It's he who sets the team out, and thereby sets the tone. Until proved otherwise, I'll maintain that Unai Emery is not the man to take Arsenal to the next level.
And so to the incidents that framed the game; the two goals that were amongst very few moments of excitement in the entire 90 minutes.
There's this photograph, which has led to Xhaka being pilloried by many supporters, but it's somewhat unfair on him. I'm not his biggest fan, as you must know, but the still is misleading. He isn't ducking out of the way, but was attempting to head the ball clear. Unfortunately, the ball took a glancing deflection off of Sokratis, and without that Xhaka would have got his head to it (and it would have hurt!).
For me, I'm pinning almost all of the blame for the goal onto Sokratis, who didn't get out fast enough and who then compounded that error by going to ground and turning away from the ball. If he stands up, the ball hits him flush in the stomach or chest, and does not threaten the goal. Instead, the deflection off his hip gives neither Xhaka or Leno the chance to react.
As for the equaliser... well, the first question one has to ask is what precisely caused the linesman to flag. The still quite clearly shows that it is nowhere near offside, and from the moment we saw that on the television we knew - long before the supporters in the ground - that the goal was going to be given. I mean, it's not even close!
Aubameyang took the chance with aplomb, as one has come to expect, but questions need to be asked. What if the referee had blown his whistle on seeing the flag? It was a game-changing moment, and for all the semantics of arguing the toss over a centimetre or two (as we have done over the past few weeks) this wasn't open to any sort of interpretation.
Anyway, a point at OT is not to be sneezed at - for all that it could have been three - and we move on. I hope that we're moving to a point where we have our first-choice full backs available, and Holding forces his way into the side at the expense, I suspect, of Sokratis.
But midfield is still a major issue. It is badly organised, decision-making is poor, and the structure isn't right. The heart of the team is what is holding progress back. I've suggested a solution above, and that would perhaps address issues going forward, but it's the lack of protection for the back four that is the major problem.
I've written before that in being continually exposed the defence is leaving itself open to ridicule, but it's not really their fault. It's freestyle and gung-ho, and will continue to mean that stupid goals are given away. If supporters and pundits can see this, then why can Emery and his obsession with video analysis not do the same?
So we move on to a massively rotated side against Standard Liege, and then a hopefully more controlled performance in what promises to be an entertaining game against Bournemouth on Sunday. I expect two wins.
And as promised, I return to the matter to which I alluded in the very first paragraph. To what could I be referring? I'm sorry, but it needs to be done - let's all laugh at Tottenham while we have the chance. Who knows (or cares) what's going on in that dressing room but it looks like they're going to reach a major watershed at some point this season.
As per the Bayern result, they deserve all the ridicule they are getting, and some of those memes are hysterical. But to put things into perspective, they are still very likely to qualify from that group, as the other two sides are not very good. Still, one has to take on'es chance to have a good laugh whilst one can!
Until next week.