It wasn’t supposed to be this way! It was supposed to be a thing of beauty, not this…this abomination! Liverpool’s shock loss at home to Crystal Palace had us dreaming of a Prem title, and rightly. so. Even if Aston Villa’s visit was always going to be fraught with peril, I think I speak for most of us when I say that the worst that we expected was a hard fought win. To end up on the very wrong end of an 0-2 scoreline that very much flattered us is a real kick in the knickers, to say the least. Does our season lie (lay?) in ruins? It feels like it, but there’s still time to shut that fat lady up before she even starts.
For one, there’s a tendency to treat the run-in as a series of one-off result. Man City won, Liverpool lost, and so did we; ergo, Man City will win the Prem. The actual maths are not quite so direct. While dropping points in the last few weeks is hardly ideal, they’re only as fatal as the points a side drops throughout the season. If we hadn’t dropped points at home to, say Fulham in August or away to Fulham in December or at home to West Ham, again, in December, these dropped points might not matter one whit. We did. We frittered and wasted the points in an offhand way. Having said all that, we chose one hell of a time to turn in one of the worst performances of the campaign. The thing about dropping points in August or December is that you leave yourself time to make up for it—you find points from other fixtures that you might have otherwise written off. We’ve left ourselves precious little time and precious few fixtures to do so.
Credit Aston Villa and Unai Emery. We always had to know that he’s a better manager than what we saw during his misbegotten time at this club. Given some actual input into transfer policy and a squad that was somewhat better than the Island of Misfit Toys he inherited from Arsène, he’s steered Villa toward a Champions League spot. If there’s any silver lining to this debacle, it’s in the fact that Villa’s gain is Tottenham’s loss. Although Tottenham have a game in hand, Villa have nosed ahead in the quest to claim fourth place. That’s cold comfort indeed.
Turning the lens back on ourselves, I have to wonder why Arteta went ahead with Zinchenko, Jesus, and Trossard (with Havertz in midfield). Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen opponents target Zinchenko relentlessly, seeking to exploit both his tactical weaknesses as that inverted defender and his positional weaknesses as an actual defender. As it was against Bayern, so it was again against Villa. Tomiyasu, a superior defender and adequate distributor, might have been the better choice, depending on his fitness. Up top, we’ve seen fine form from Havertz played as a false nine. His pressing, his hold-up play, and his final product have all been stellar. Why, then, would Arteta deploy him in the midfield to make room for Jesus up top? It seems like it would have made more sense to play Havertz as that false nine/CF with Jesus on the left.
Whatever the squad selection or the tactics were, we never really seemed like we delivered the same determination we’ve seen all season. It’s almost as if Liverpool’s loss, having made it mathematically possible for us to the Prem, paradoxically took the wind out of our sails. We held our destiny in our hands for a few precious hours, and then, like the sands of time, we watched as our destiny slipped through our fingers. We’re still grasping at the last grains, but it’s obvious that we no longer control our destiny. I might even go so far as to say that, should we fail to win the Prem, this would be a bigger bottle-job than last season’s outcome.
We go to Bayern on Wednesday for what may feel like our best remaining chance at silverware. Imagine that, what with Real Madrid or Man City awaiting us in the semifinal, not to mention who we might face in the final itself. Of course, there is still a chance that Man City will suffer some kind of domestic banana peel, and the gap, yawning though it may feel, is only two points. We still have an inside track against Liverpool courtesy of our goal difference. While we have a similar advantage over Man City, that won’t matter unless they drop points. Wouldn’t it be something to see Tottenham of all clubs defeat Man City in order to hand us the title? To dare is to do, after all.
I’m not ready to pick up the prayerbooks. I’m not ready to hear the fat lady sing. I will not go gently into the good night—not yet, not when there’s still a chance. For as much as this setback stings, it’s not a fatal wound. If anything, it might just be the lever that launches us even higher. Man City are not the impregnable monolith that they’ve been over the last four or five years. They have their weaknesses, and it would only take one opponent exploiting those weaknesses to help us reclaim the top spot.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Don’t give up. Chant and sing and shout and pray and perform whatever other rituals you believe in, regardless of what time zone or country you’re in. There’s still some fight left in this squad, and there are countless Gooners whose energy they’ll need. Even if all you’re doing is shouting at your own laptop or telly, your energy matters. Shout yourself hoarse on Wednesday and again on Saturday and again and again until you can’t shout no more. It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
All fair enough. One thing though, I have had it with Jesus and Zinchenko. Lovely blokes but move aside for your more reliable replacements in the summer.
Like you, I’m just about done with Zinchenko. Far too much of a liability at what is meant to be his primary role and not enough of an asset in the secondary roles. I still think Jesus has enough quality to keep although I’d prefer to see Havertz as our forward- although this would create a glut at left wing with Martinelli, Jesus, and Trossard.
Where does one start?
First, as I always seem to repeat, the early season losses or draws count as much as those at the end. You cannot undo them and they appear, anonymously, as numbers in the same two columns in the table as yesterday’s fiasco.
Secondly, before the first AV goal, I was torn between awarding MOM to the entire goal structure or three awards to left post, right post, and cross bar, since they or it had done the best job of defending. Needless to say Bailey and Watkins stole that glory from the woodwork.
You already identified the issues with the lineup that was clearly a point of confusion for the pundits. If Kai was to be criticized for being tentative, then Jesus should be whiplashed and should have been pulled by halftime if not at about 60 minutes.
The 2nd half was a disaster, exemplified by a lethargic display and seemingly no shots on goal. What was said in the dressing room that, instead of energizing the squad, sent them out detheflated and clueless? Can we get tapes of both Emery and Arteta to learn what the respective managers said and did, if only to reinforce who was the better of the two?
If, as I read, our captain was injured even before the CL match last week, let alone, possibly, when kicked in the arm or chest yesterday, why risk more and why no adjustments? Granted he played well last week and for one half, but after that and now, this week, what is Arteta’s plan? Who will, if needed, replace him?
Overall, the longer the match went scoreless, the more I became convinced of a loss and began calculating whether a draw might still save the season. Jon, you wrote, the other day, how City could possibly gain 4th in the PL with their bench players. Could our team after half time have beaten that squad. All I witnessed were, for example, Rice doing little but gifting fans above the goal with balls, Jesus, seemingly, never shooting, lots of perimeter passing that often went away, sloppy play for the 1st goal, and a failure to have anyone in back for the 2nd. This was not a squad that deserved to win the PL or the CL, and we may soon learn whether the latter is also true. I fear the worst when the squad travels east.
Finally, I guess we may have learned, at last, that you do need a clinical striker, if not some other players and what is clearly needed to move up. Last year may well have been a better chance to win the PL, in hindsight, and one can only hope that next year proves to be better than this. While I have already begun tossing everything overboard, I do however, criticize the fans who left before the end. Some of the players, if not all, deserved that much in respect.
Lots of questions, not enough answers. Credit Emery; his side clearly outplayed us. The thing about dropping points so late is that we only have six matches in which we might atone, whereas losing in August at least gives us a chance at saying that some future match from which we might have been content to take just one point is now one from which we should try to take all three. We now have to hope that City’s other commitments cause fatigue, suspensions, perhaps even injuries (not that I actually wish harm to our opponents) leading to them dropping at least two points more than whatever we might drop.
I find that a little ott, Palladio. I share the frustration but your seeming determination to blame Arteta is peculiar.
No one was more fed up that he was by that display as I am sure some of the players will discover.
As for comparing our squad with that of City, you make that sound like a criticism too. Surely we know how their squad is so goodby now? Who does have one to compare with theirs?
palladio is generally a glass half empty sort or that’s the sense I get. comparing our squad to 115 Financial Violations FC isn’t going to prove anything other than that cheaters prosper unless they’re named Everton or Nottingham Forest.