I sit here, head in hands, at my keyboard following another shambolic Arsenal performance, this time resulting in a soul-destroying defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Sheffield United. As those who know me are aware, I usually like to be proved right, but when I wrote in my last piece that I could see Arsenal dropping points they should not do in the very near future I rather hoped that it would not be immediate!
October 23, 2019 11:02I make a point of not looking at punditry and social media straight after a match, as I prefer to make up my own mind and not regurgitate other peoples' views. However, having now taken a peek I have to say that the jury very much appears to have reached its verdict over Unai Emery, and at a much bigger majority than the Brexit decision was made.
Whilst some will argue that chopping and changing the manager is a bad formula and cite Manchester United's post-Ferguson woes, I'd suggest that if you have the wrong man, you have the wrong man. He has won the Europa League a few times, and won loads of titles with PSG - I could do that, frankly! - but he didn't set La Liga alight and I'm becoming increasingly convinced that he won't do that in the Premier League either (as it happens, this piece from Arseblog spells this out more eloquently than I could - https://arseblog.com/2019/10/did-arsenal-give-unai-emery-a-job-he-cant-do/)
Alarm bells sounded for me as soon as I saw the team-sheet. Surprised not to see Holding in the line-up. Shocked to see Kolasinac retain his place at the expense of a fit-again Tierney. Annoyed to see Xhaka in the side, and not Torreira. Angry that Ozil hadn't even travelled! Now I'm not the manager, of course, and I'm not privy to what goes on at London Colney, but that's not close to the side I'd have chosen.
And while Arsenal started okay, were denied a blatant penalty (well done, Mike Dean - and if I may add; what precisely is VAR for?) and Pepe missed a game-changing sitter (there are guys in my weekly football game who would have buried that with no difficulty), but from the moment Sheffield scored things looked bad as they pressed high and put everyone behind the ball.
For all the possession stats, Arsenal barely created another decent chance, Aubameyang was starved of the ball (for the second game in a row), and cross after cross rained into a jam-packed penalty area and was cleared with little fuss.
Ceballos barely made a difference when he was introduced (Lacazette's introduction did help, to be fair), and where was Ozil, the can-opener? Back home in Golders Green, of course!
So 69 per cent possession but just nine shots, and only three of those on target. Unacceptable on any level, and something must be done about this. Either by Emery, or if not it should be taken out of his hands. I've been increasingly concerned that he is not up to this level, and this type of performance only serves to reinforce that feeling.
And as for the goal that was conceded; basic and obvious defending. Just look at this still; the centre forward left unmarked, and right in front of Leno, and nobody on the posts. Schoolboy stuff:
So a thoroughly deflating performance, when the opportunity to cement third place in the league was right there to be taken up. And in the first of a series of eminently winnable matches. This, barring a change in the mindset of both Manager and players, does not bode well. Thank goodness for the opportunity to see the kids on Thursday.
I've got plenty more I want to cover - e.g. Arsene Wenger's autobiography, VAR and even England's Rugby Union team, but that's going to have to wait until next time. I'm too wound up.
Until next time.