Morning all.

Man City v Arsenal turned out to be men against boys. In every department on the pitch, they were superior and they exposed every weakness Mikel Arteta’s team had and with ease. Time and time again they just went through our midfield as if it wasn’t there.

Guardiola has been at Man City since 2016. He, or rather Man City have spent big during that time.

Arsenal’s reported net spending since Mikel Arteta became manager is reported to be £280 million. Utd’s figures are astonishing and they’re still a football club struggling to find consistency on the pitch.

If Arsenal don’t win the League, which let’s face it, they’re not, it’s not the mauling last night which did the damage. Ever since that Xhaka and Alexander-Arnold spat at Anfield, Mikel Arteta’s team have looked devoid of belief. All that was good has got up and gone. City’s first goal last night was as simple as it gets, not the finish from de Bruyne but the build up. Arsenal press, a ball up to Haaland, he brushes off Holding with ease and lays the ball off for de Bruyne who has about six Arsenal players chasing his tail.

City’s second, on the stroke of half-time was offside in my opinion but I guess David Coote opted to view the camera angle which showed White’s big toe keeping the City player onside . Not for one minute am I trying to suggest it made a huge difference to the outcome but to go into the break 1-0 down might have given us a bit more belief.


Regardless of that, Arsenal were really disappointing. Not because of the result but because of how the result came about. As a team, we simply weren’t at the races and we haven’t been for a few weeks now. Our passing, which for much of the season has been crisp and accurate, is now error strewn. Where there was stability, organisation and confidence, there now seems to be nerves, fear and little fight. Other than off the ball that is but that’s not the solution to our woes.

A friend and I were talking a few weeks ago about this Arsenal and how good they are. The quality of Odegaard, the new Xhaka, the wide men. All of them really as well as Arteta and what a great job he’s been doing. We should have keep quiet really because just a few days after that conversation, Arsenal went to Anfield.

Do Arsenal need better players than already at the club? Of course but then we knew that. I see little point in berating Rob Holding for being bullied by Haaland because big guy has done that to most defenders he’s come up against this season. De Bruyne is one of the best footballers in the game right now, if not the best so struggling against him is no crime in my opinion. But even so, defensively as a team, we handed them the opportunity to breeze through us with great ease and when I say defensively, I mean from the front through to the back. Last night we were toothless.

I thought Mikel Arteta might change tact last night and go with a more defensive setup in attempt to stifle City’s attack and try to catch them on the break. Instead, we fought fire with fire, or at least tried to. It didn’t work. It was never going to was it….

Catch up in the comments.