Morning all.
The wheels have come off at Arsenal. One shocker of a performance and we’re out of the race for top four, Totts are the favourites to secure 4th place and even Man Utd have a better chance than Arsenal of pipping our not so nearest and dearest neighbours. Of course that’s not my opinion but it’s whats being written on the internet, or to be more specific, Sky Sports and Sam Blitz who writes:
The race for Champions League football was Arsenal’s to lose. But as the Premier League enters its final six-week period, suddenly the picture looks very different.
Arsenal have averaged just 3.75 shots on target per game in their last four Premier League matches, so they are not making massive strides to actually test the opposition goalkeeper. This is despite them creating 52 overall shots in that period – only Tottenham and Brighton have managed more. This poor finishing was as clear as day against Palace. Within the space of a few second-half minutes, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard missed clear-cut chances to haul Arsenal back into the contest at 2-0 down.
Er, tell us something we Arsenal fans don’t know! The whole world and his friend knows Arsenal need a striker, just as they know other positions need addressing too but clearly, January wasn’t the time to secure those players. Arsenal tried with Dusan Vlahovic reportedly but he wasn’t interested and no one in the media truly knows if he was the only player Arsenal tried to sign. After the pandemic and without playing in Europe football, whatever money Arsenal spend, they have to get the right player because the last thing the club needs is another expensive failure. A panic signing or two during the winter transfer window would have been a disaster in my opinion. As said yesterday, loans were probably the best option but in reality, the best players are already playing regular football and in a World Cup year, might be reluctant to move. Also, clubs involved in European football are often reluctant to sell their best players other than for an overinflated transfer fee.
The only benefit of securing top four is financial for Arsenal right now. For bringing under 23 players into the mix, Europa League football is probably better. Of course I’d love Mikel Arteta and his team secure Champions League football, I just don’t think it’s the disaster the media suggest if we don’t. Can you imagine playing the likes of Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich etc etc right now? It’d be grim I’m sure and unless Arsenal go big in the summer transfer window, I can’t imagine it’ll be any better next season either.
Arsenal simply aren’t ready to play Champions League football in my opinion. When one looks at the clubs in the Europa League, even that’s a really tough competition to win. I think Arsenal running before they can walk might actually do more harm than good. Remember the 10-2 aggregate score against Bayern? Of course you do because it was humiliating.
Monday night’s performance was awful against a physically strong team but as far as the “Is everything going wrong for Arsenal in the top-four fight” headline on Sky Sports goes, I’d say no. It’s just a blip. I hope.
See you in the comments.
Thanks for the post Rico, who the hell is Sam Blitz?
He sounds like he drives a Tiger tank…
Bonjour Rico et al
If our wheels came off following the defeat at Palace AWAY then what has come off at Chelsea following a resounding 4-1 thumping by Brentford and a 3-1 loss against RM both at HOME???
Good read Rico…..the only thing I am worried is not by the loss of the players or the result against Palace….I am only worried by the fact that Arteta continues to play the same formation when we know it exposes certain players like Tavares and Cedric.
Tavares is not up to EPL level as a fullback in a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation but will be good as a wingback or a winger as his defensive responsibilities will be less. Gabriel was also blamed for last game when infact he had to cover for Tavares as well. With Tierney he does not have to cover for him.
No idea Kev. Needless to say he’s hoping to make a name for himself. Buffoon!
Morning to you, Devil and all.
Let’s wait and see how we line up on Saturday.
A lot of us have been casting our doubts of whether we are ready for Champions League but we understand the need for it. Financially the rewards are far superior and also there is the case for increasing our European co-efficient..as well as attracting players albeit the ones you want , ones that are in it for the long haul not a shop window to go elsewhere.
As you say we are all aware of our striker frailties one and a half goals a game doesnt set you up for comfortable relaxing watching but it’s our defence that has kept us in the race having let in fractionally over 1 goal per game . These are averages and we have suffered a few capitulations espcially as we let in 9 in the infamous first three games
One or two players coming in doesn’t even win this league let alone Europe’s premier competition but it might help winning the secondary one , as you suggested the ther day qualify for C.L come third step down and win the Europa but knowing our luck we will draw an easy group and go out a soon as we meet someone from the higher class.
That would be the ideal solution but I still think CL was unlikely before the injuries, let alone after. Our fixtures are really tough and I can’t see us beating Chelsea, Totts or perhaps West Ham. The best chance we have imo is if Totts have another bad patch, Utd too.
And once again, we ESR and Odegard simultaneously at the beginning, with the result being and the display of each being what it was.
Is it just me who sees what is evident?
From the start we picked the wrong manager, Palace have the our perfect fit as manager.
Morning Rico and all
At the start of the season I believed the ladder would be 1st / 2nd Man c or Liverpool 3rd / 4th Chelsea or Tottenham and 5th / 6th Arsenal or Man u so no our wheels have not fallen off, they have just come a bit loose but with a quick adjustment not all is lost yet.
Maurice, where are Palace in the League?
Hi Geoff, I expected 7/8th for Arsenal.
Is that a one post knee jerk Maurice or do you have anything to add.?
It’s a little like the last years of Wenger anyone looking knows that we are 2 or three players short . Much will depend on how we bridge that gap in the future.
You were right the first time Potter.
Absolutely agree, starting a season being 2/3 players short will seldom end well.
I’d say that the season since the winter transfer window has gone about as well as Mikel and his staff could have hoped. But, the Palace game has cast a long shadow and we are certainly at a potential crossroads right now. The gamble that was taken in not signing anyone could go either way. The injuries are certainly a worry.
I’m interested in whether Mikel can sort the team and send them out to beat Brighton. And then get the players to put in some solid stuff for the upcoming games.
That’s easy for you to say JM…
Seems as if Thomas Partey is set to miss the rest of the games this month, mind you it wouldn’t surprise me if he misses the rest of the season altogether…
When Arsenal didn’t sign anyone in January there was a collective crossing of fingers by the fan base because we all knew that as good as our starting XI was it was clear that all it needed was a couple of injuries and we would be in the mire.
I didn’t think that Tomi would be injured for as long as he has been and I sincerely hope that this isn’t going to signal a common theme in his time at Arsenal fitness wise?
We’ve already had long fitness issues before with the other two absentees, Tierney and Partey, so it’s beginning to look as if it could become a regular, repetitive issue. Which makes me feel that Arteta might have to make a difficult choice and possibly look for a new left back and a new midfield pivot who are similar in quality but more robust because we can’t go into the next few seasons worrying that at crucial times in the season that we’re going to lose two key figures out of our team.
I’d still go for Bissouma next summer, as unlikely as that might seem.
I happen to agree with JM.
ESR should either start as an AM, or should join as a supersub at a later stage of the game, as we have better LWs then him.
Also shows why signing Coutinho or Nkunku would be a sign of incompetence – unless we sell Odegaard or Smith-Rowe first. (Which would probably also show some sign of incompetence, but a different kind and different proportion.)
Arsenal aren’t signing either though are they Pbarany? I’d imagine if we wanted Coutinho, we’d have pipped Villa to his signing.
New post up now