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!

BHA 0-1 ARS: How the Hell Did We Win This One?

 Short answer:  defense and a freak goal from Saka.  (The keeper was fooled by a tiny deflection and it went between his legs) 

 For most of the game, Brighton played better, at least until they approached our penalty box, when they looked toothless.  Is Arteta playing five dimensional chess here with sitting back and letting opponents take it to us?  As long as it works, I'm OK with it.  City managed to drop points to Forest while racking up some nice stats.  Here's a comparison of the two games:

#BHAARS: • xG: 0.80 – 0.43 • Big chances: 2 – 0 • Shots (on target): 11 (3) – 7 (2) • Possession: 60% – 40% #MCINFO: • xG: 2.02 – 0.97 • Big chances: 5 – 2 • Shots (on target): 21 (6) – 9 (4) • Possession: 70% – 30%

Brighton and City had twice the xG of their opponents and lots more possession and shots. But we won and Forest drew. I really don't think we can play like this the rest of the season and win anything, so I'm going to hope we improve. Anyway, it's a seven point lead (City has a game in hand) and all we need to do is win seven of the last eight--six if we draw against City--to win the league. Fingers crossed.

FA Cup this weekend against Mansfield Town, Champions' League midweek at Leverkusen, a home league fixture against Everton, hosting Leverkusen, and on 3/22 there's the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. Then the players all go to an international break to prepare for the World Cup.

Happy St Totteringham's Day

 From ESPN:

Arsenal fans can celebrate the earliest 'St Totteringham's Day' in Premier League history after north London rivals Tottenham fell to another defeat on Sunday.

St Totteringham's Day is an unofficial celebration for Arsenal fans that marks the date on which the Gunners are mathematically guaranteed to finish higher in the table than Tottenham.