Three at the back again, this time with Bellerin and Gibbs as wingbacks, and Monreal-Kos-Gabriel as the three amigos in front of Cech. Xhakalin were in front of them, and Walcott, Ozil, and Alexis were up top. It wasn't working very well in the first half, and only a little better in the second. It may have been the personnel rather than the system. This was a poor game for Alexis, who gave the ball away numerous times, including in our half at least once. Theo was virtually anonymous, and played like a man who is sure he'll never score again. Ozil was typically lethargic on defense but did put some nice balls in on passes, free kicks, and corners. Coquelin was ineffective offensively whenever he tried to do something more ambitious than make the easy square pass. Even Kos gave some balls away. Bellerin's crosses were bad, but then no one from Arsenal looked interested in meeting them anyway. Cech made some fine saves but also was profligate on distribution, and flapped at a couple crosses. We had just five shots on goal.
Our goal was not one of them. When the players marched out onto the Emirates pitch, I said to myself, "A Huth own-goal would be great." I mean, that chest was made to bounce shots off of, and I'm sure that's exactly what Nacho had in mind when he launched that rocket into the man-mountain from Germany. It was around the 85 minute mark, so not too soon. Chances were rare for both teams, but when they came, they went begging. Welbeck had come in for Gibbs ten minutes earlier and we went to a back four; and a few minutes after Welbeck came on Giroud replaced Walcott and Ramsey replaced Coquelin. We were more dangerous after the subs. There was a moment of panic when Kos hyperextended his knee after the three substitutions, but he came back on and was effective.
Unconvincing to say the least. Alexis looks as if he's worn out, which would not be a surprise. I'll hand out praise for Monreal, Gabriel, Kos, and Xhaka, who were all solid. Gibbs and Bellerin were fine defensively. We were too easy for the Foxes to defend, though. This sort of performance is not going to be enough to get us out of Europa League. Credit to Leicester for good organization and hard work, but we should have created more and better chances and won this game easily.
I guess Perez's thigh injury will keep him out for the rest of the season. Too bad. I'd love to see him out there. We don't really miss Mustafi.
We will have to step things up for the NLD. Spurs dominated Palace today and won 1-0 at Selhurst Park to a team that cut us to ribbons. Neither team will want to settle for a point, so it should be wide open.
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