ARS 1-2 BOU: Second Best Again

 The defensive security is gone, the set pieces aren't producing, and there's no flow or sting in our attack.  Everyone was off today.  At this point in the season, every squad is injury-hit, so the absence of Saka, Timber, Merino, and Odegaard is no excuse.  Bournemouth, a good team but one that had drawn five games in a row, came to our place and looked very comfortable.  Madueke fell asleep for a couple seconds and the Cherries got a great crossing opportunity, then a freak deflection allowed Kroupi to finish smartly from two yards into an open goal.  We got one back with a pen on an unintentional handball.  1-1 at the half.  The second half went even worse, as we produced nothing other than some dangerous corners and Bournemouth scored their winner via an untracked midfielder who latched onto a loose ball in our area.  We never really looked like getting back into it.  Fair result.

We look like pretenders, not champions.  If Bournemouth can ease past us at the Emirates, how could we hope to win games against Man City, PSG, Barcelona, or Bayern?  The Gunners are shorn of belief, and that's understandable.  They look lost out there.  A turnaround is required and it could still come if we can get a fit Saka in the lineup.  And of course City could stumble, but they specialize in finishing strong and must feel that they have a great chance to lift another cup.

Arteta has to shoulder a lot of blame for this collapse.  Where are the ideas?  Every game they try the same stuff that didn't work the last time.  The players are talented but they can't make progressive passes.  It's really easy to stifle us, and way too easy to get quality chances at our goal.  Raya could not bail us out today.  We got one lucky penalty but gave away two sloppy goals.  Saliba and Gabriel are probably ruing signing new contracts, figuring that Arsenal and silverware are not compatible.

The season's not over, and we have a decent shot at winning the league and an outside chance at the Champions' League.  But after today, I am not optimistic.  I dread the comments on Arseblog.  Supporters will be angry, and it's hard to blame them.

SPO 0-1 ARS: Cagey Match, Narrow Win

 My main concern with this match is that Sporting won most of the second balls.  I've noticed this in other games.  But overall, I thought our men acquitted themselves well against a team that hasn't lost in a long time on their home ground.  The goal advantage is valuable, but I hope it doesn't lure Arteta into thinking we can go into a shell and go through to the semis.  We really should press for goals; Sporting was having trouble getting out of their half.

SOU 2-1 ARS: The Best Team Won. It Wasn't Us.

 Despite all the talk from Arteta about how well Southampton is playing--they're 15 games unbeaten--he did not respect them enough in his team selection, and did not prepare the team adequately.  We were disjointed and toothless.  Every team in the world knows how to play us now, and Arteta (and staff) is unable to come up with any ideas to reinvigorate the offense.  He just throws more defensive players forward and we get hit on the counter.  That's if we aren't smothered by a talented team led by a great tactician--then we're simply throttled.  Individual mistakes were costly, of course, but we lost as a team.

Seven league games to go.  All look winnable except for City away, so if we lose that one we can still win the league with five wins and a draw.  But no team fears us now.  We can be got at, and frustrated, and everyone knows it.  As for Champions' League, we'd have to find a couple more gears to have decent chance at the trophy.  I don't accept the injury excuses; every team has them at this point.  As a collective, we aren't as good as we thought.  I think Arteta has to shoulder a lot of the responsibility for his stodgy tactics.  He's as stubborn as Wenger.

ARS 0-2 MCI: Gunners Blown Away in Second Half

 First, it was a solid professional win over Leverkusen (2-0) to progress to the Champions' League quarterfinals.  Although Real knocked out City in that competition, they proved the better side today in winning the Carabao Cup, a trophy they win as often as not in recent years.  We put out a strong side and the first half was evenly contested.  But in the second, City was faster, stronger, and smarter, piling on the pressure until Kepa cracked and gave them their first goal by attempting to catch it when a simple punch would have sufficed.  It slipped through his fingers and O'Reilly got his head to it as it floated across goal.  The same player got a free header for City's second five minutes later.  Arsenal never looked like scoring, although we did hit the woodwork twice late on after the game was lost.

I don't know why we looked so toothless.  City defended well, but we seldom tested them.  There must be lessons to learn here, and we better learn them, because I don't think Pep has given up on catching us for the league title--nor should he based on today's evidence.  At least the press can stop yapping about a quadruple.

ARS 2-0 EVE: The Agony, More Agony, Yet More Agony, and the Ecstasy

 Okay, I'll give Everton credit for their excellent defense and their very real goal threat.  We could have lost this game despite bossing it most of the time.  But eventually we wore them down, with the sensational Max Dowman announcing himself on the big stage with the game-winning cross and then the icing on the cake goal, making him the Premier League's youngest ever (16years 73 days) scorer.  So, happy times.

But before that 89th minute tap-in for Gyokeres, it sure looked like we were never going to score.  Saka was livelier than he was in Germany, but could not make the key difference.  Madueke started on the left and was ineffective; when Martinelli replaced him he was not much better.  Eze continues to disappoint.  As our #10 (on his shirt and in the formation today) it was incumbent upon him to be the creative force, and he was not that.  Havertz seemed likeliest to make a breakthrough but didn't, though he really should have been awarded a penalty when the defender he blew by stepped on his heel and brought him down.

The Toffees had a couple of great chances but were denied by Calafiori's upraised foot and the woodwork, and Raya made some good saves.  I'll look up the xG later, but those were all good chances.  Unfortunately, Timber had to be replaced in the first half for what looked like a groin pull.

As of this writing, it's all square between West Ham and Man City.  I expect the Citizens to pull it out, but one can hope.  Former Gunner Mavropanos scored the Hammers goal on a corner.

LEV 1-1 ARS: In Second Gear

 It was a poor display from Arsenal for the most part, featuring lots of misplayed passes.  We looked more threatening when we, uh, actually tried to threaten.  Off the ball, the spirit was willing, but the press was weak.  Gyokeres was not bad; Martinelli was subpar; Eze was ineffective; and Saka was not producing danger.  We had better play with more class in the return match at home.  Arteta has to have more ideas for breaking down defenses.

MFT 1-2 ARS: Three Really Good Goals in Hotly Contested Game

 Mansfield Town did what was expected, giving it a real go at home against a much changed Arsenal   Had they finished better, they could have struck first.  They pushed us hard but got back in a timely way when they lost the ball.  We started two 16 year olds (Dowman and Salmon) and they did OK, except for the wayward pass from Salmon that led to Mansfield's equalizer.  Trossard was in midfield and was having a mediocre game, then went down with some sort of injury and was replaced.  Martinelli started and was poor.  Jesus started and was even worse.  Havertz was fine.  Norgaard did well. Mosquera was not great.  Calafiori did well but went down with what looked like a hamstring strain.  We played in an unfamiliar 3-4-2-1 formation with a few players who seldom start for us, so looked quite disjointed.  Two powerful strikes from Madueke and Eze were blasted into the upper right corner, and Mansfield got their own super strike past Kepa (should he have done better?) under pressure and into the lower right corner.  On to the quarters!