Kevin Whitcher
Ah yes, it brought back some good memories. The authority in possession, the slick pinpoint passing, the sudden transition from defence to attack as the opposition were sliced through in true hot knife / butter style. We could have been watching the Invincibles…
And yet, this was not the Arsenal the club moved stadium for us to continue enjoying domination on the football field. It was Manchester City, ominously unbeaten in the league so far this season, with manager Pep Guardiola handing out a football lesson to the Premier League’s version of the Queen Mother. Somebody pour me a gin.
Arsene, post-match, found comfort in bemoaning how the officials favour the home sides, which is probably true, conveniently forgetting it’s something Arsenal benefit from as well. Think non-award of penalty at home to visitors West Brom for a recent example. I have an idea the score was 0-0 at that point. It’s swings and roundabout. No question City’s third goal should not have been given, but their second was certainly a penalty. Monreal took Sterling’s leg as he barged into him.
However, City should have been three up before the interval, with Sterling failing to connect by an inch with a tap-in, and later playing a bad pass that would have given Sane the easiest of finishes. Young Raheem is really a superior version of Theo Walcott. Very dangerous with his pace, but cocks up often enough to frustrate the hell out of you.
Arsenal tried to negate City’s passing game by pressing them deep, but as ‘Match of the Day’ showed all too clearly, they were not working as a team. City always had a man spare, and, in terms of possession, no apparent weak links. This is a team that can play devastating football and I am getting close to the stage of simply sitting back and enjoying it, with a feeling that the title has been decided already. The only thing at stake is Arsenal’s Invincibles status. Pep Guardiola was busy micro-managing his team from the touchline. Wenger left his dugout seat to try and micro-manage the officials. The Spaniard had more joy.
In truth, I am not certain anyone really expected any different, which shows where Arsenal are now. It was not so much the result that gives cause for concern as the gulf in footballing ability. The decision to put Lacazette on the bench looked like folly when he came on and scored. If you are going to pay north of £50 million for a striker, surely you can rely on him for matches like this? Instead, Ozil and Sanchez were prioritized. The message relayed about keeping them was that they would enhance the club’s chances of winning the title. That narrative isn’t quite working out. Neither started at Stamford Bridge and the side gave a more disciplined performance. I think the spirit of the team isn’t helped by the knowledge the pair of superstars are just counting down time now. Once it was clear they were not signing last summer, there were not only good financial reasons to let them go. That they were not interested in prolonging their stay is also an indictment on Arsenal’s current status. Where there used to be a big four, there is now a big three. The Gunners are in a second tier with Tottenham and Liverpool - three clubs trying to recapture glory days of the past.
To have dispensed with Sanchez and Ozil accepts the idea that an element of rebuilding is required for the current playing roster. And while that’s a fact, any changes of personnel on the pitch is pretty much peeing in the wind until Wenger is replaced. Perhaps, next summer, as well as the Chilean and the German, the man from Alsace might finally realize the game is up, or at least someone theoretically superior to him on the board tells him it is. Maybe the two year deal was a way of saying – you’ve got one season to turn this decline around, and if you don’t, then you’ll get a year’s salary as pay off.
In terms of form, Tottenham in a fortnight’s time is a match that does not augur well. Then again, form is supposed to go out of the window on derby day. It’s a very difficult match to predict, but even a home defeat would change nothing. The title this season is so obviously out of reach with only 11 matches played. It’s all about the pursuit of a top four spot now. Haven’t we been here before? Pour me another gin.
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