Dialing it Back

Fortunately, today's loss to the bottom side in the league was not televised.  It looks as if injuries to a slew of defenders is going to doom our chances of a top four finish.  I will never understand why they loaned out Chambers.

I'll be doing some traveling soon and will not be keeping this blog up, not that anyone will notice.

Man U 2 - 2 Arsenal: Two Points Dropped, Two Men Down

United was as lively as I've seen them this season, and it proved enough to deny us three points when we were the better team.  The goals were all pretty ugly, frankly, so I'm not going to write about them.  The most important result of this game is almost certainly the injuries to Holding (knee) and Ramsey (ankle) just as the "festive period" gets underway.  Both will be missed, but it's the center back's absence that is more problematic.  Again, I don't understand why Chambers was loaned out.  Monreal and Koscielny may be fit soon, and just in time.  I suppose there may be a youth prospect ready to fill in, but I'm not sure who it is.

Marouane Fellaini is a disgrace.  He came on late, and his contribution consisted of yanking Guendouzi's hair to bring him down, and elbowing Torreira (I think) in the head.  He should not have finished this game.  Disgusting.

Fortunately, our Europa League game is meaningless except as a way to integrate some young guys into the first squad to add needed depth.

Arsenal 4 - 2 Tottenham

Since this is my blog, and no one reads it anyway, I can say that we did catch Spuds at a good time.  Our Thursday fixture was a walk in the (very cold) park compared to their must-win struggle against Inter.  We rested almost all our starters, whereas they had to play most of theirs.  I think this contributed to Harry Kane's muted performance, especially compared to the lively Son who played maybe 25 minutes mid-week.  It also helped that we were at home.  On the other hand, Mike Dean was officiating, which is usually worth a goal for Spuds, and so it was today.

It was shocking that we were behind at the half, despite our history of doing just that this year in the EPL, given how well we played.  Two PKs and a GK error...that 45 minutes deserved better.  We dominated, but TOT had their moments.  They had no answer for the questions we asked in the second half, though.  The goal of the match was Auba's equalizer, of course.  Magnificent!  What a goalscorer.  Ten so far in the EPL.  It was the right decision to hit it first time, and boy did he hit it.  Laca's left-footed slipping shot took a wonderful deflection off Dier, so yeah, some luck there.  But Torreira's run and finish were superb.  Spuds had few prime chances and when Vertonghen was sent off for a very ugly flying spike tackle into Lacazette's standing leg, the only question was whether we were going to make it 5-2 for old times' sake.

This was a classic NLD, complete with several multiplayer altercations, strong tackles, and controversial calls.  The whole team can feel proud, but Torreira was my man of the match.

On to Old Trafford!  Man U looked out of sorts at St Mary's yesterday.  I read that Mourinho called Pogba "a virus" in the locker room post-match.  That always motivates a player.

Bournemouth 1 - 2 Arsenal

I was hoping for an easy win today.  I expected it to be more comfortable.  But we got three points, with some assistance from a linesman and a stunning own-goal.  The Gunners did their usual routine, starting slow, and kept their perfect run of no halftime leads by failing to shut up shop in the last minute of the first half.  From a very dangerous possession in the Cherries' box, Iwobi lost the ball and a few passes later some unmarked guy in red and black finished beautifully past our keeper, who couldn't have kept it out.  We dominated the second half, but could put only one goal into the net off a rapid, flowing move off a free kick at the half line.  Auba stretched to tap in the perfect cross from Kolasinac, who'd been released behind the defense by a lovely through ball from Iwobi.  A last minute dumb foul by Mustafi (I knew it was coming) just outside our area gave Bournemouth a dangerous free kick that Stanislaus sent over the bar.  Phew.

Tactically, this game was interesting for a number of reasons.  We had three at the back, Mustafi on the right, Holding on the left, and Sokratis in the middle.  Maybe this was because Emery did not trust Kolasinac to do the defensive business; I endorse that opinion.  The comment I made most during the game was "Where is Kolasinac?!?"  He got forward well and looked healthy, finally.  On balance I thought he had a pretty good game.  Bellerin was excellent, though he can be criticized for not hustling back before the Cherries goal.  Torreira was great again, and had a shot hit the post.  Xhaka was good enough.  Our front three had an underwhelming game.  For me, Iwobi was brightest, Auba decent, and Mikhi poor.  In the second half, Emery had Holding push up behind Kolasinac, and it worked pretty well.  I didn't like the substitutions, which were all late in the game.  Torreira came out for Guendouzi (I'd have pulled Xhaka or Mikhi) and Ramsey came in for Iwobi (I'd have put him in for Mikhi).  Nketieh came in for Auba in injury time; that was OK but I'd have put in another defender.

Well, three points is very welcome, and it is probably a good thing that we didn't have it all our own way.  These guys have no reason for complacency.  Spurs are not going to be any easier.  I hope he gives youth a chance in Ukraine on Thursday.

Arsenal 1 - 1 Liverpool

Great game, wasn't it?  It could easily have been another 4-3 contest.  Considering the balance of chances and the disallowed goal, we were fortunate to get a point, but I would have been delighted with our performance even had we lost.  We went after them from the get-go and dealt with the counters very well.  We ramped up the pressure after going down and got the goal we deserved.

NBC had Laca as man of the match, but for my money Torreira was the key.  I was a bit disappointed with Mikhi, but overall I am not in a mood to complain about anybody.  I was afraid Kolasinac would be torched, but he had cover and I thought he did well.

Liverpool is a really solid team that can blow games open in a hurry.  This was a real test for us, and I think we passed it.  We need to kick on from here, winning against the likes of Crystal Palace and Bournemouth and taking points from other top six clubs from here on out.  My fear is that more defensive injuries could weaken us in the back.  The season thus far has been an endorsement of Emery's vision, strategy, and tactics that fans and players can plainly see.  Imagine how much brighter things would look had we beaten Chelsea, which we could have.

PK Heartbreak for DC United...Blackpool falls short in League Cup

Columbus did what they had to do tonight and pretty much throttled DC's offense until late.  They had more shots and more chances, and they might have felt unlucky not to have won it in regulation.  But a late equalizer in extra time by Nick DeLeon sent this to the spot.  Steffen looked a lot more assured against penalties than Hamid, and he saved two:  Rooney's and Acosta's.  Hamid did make a save, and another Crew player hit the post, but when DeLeon took the fifth for DC, he skied it over the bar, and it's the Crew who go on to try to get something off NYCFC in Columbus in their first leg Sunday.

Between the wind, the occasion, and a referee who was reluctant to blow the whistle, neither team found it easy to run their offenses.  Columbus's defense was tighter, I thought.  Audi Field magic wasn't enough.

...

Jenko got 90 for Arsenal and played his part in a dicey Carabao (League) Cup round-of-16 encounter.  Once again Mikhi had a chance to make his case and didn't.  Pleguezelo and Smith Rowe did very well, the latter scoring when Jenkinson's dangerous cross was palmed out to him.  Lichtsteiner had redirected a Guendouzi pass inside the far post for our first.  After the French teenager was sent off for two soft yellows, the Seasiders got one back off a corner, but a straight red when Auba was scythed down restored parity in numbers and we saw out the game.  Spuds are up next for the quarters at the Emirates.

Crystal Palace 2 - 2 Arsenal

An energetic, feisty Palace drew with us on the back of two well-taken penalty kicks.  They outshot us, had more corners, and fouled less often, so this was not a case of them grabbing a point against the run of play.  It was a game of mistakes and narrow margins, the one shining moment being Xhaka's magnificent free kick from a tight angle.  All four goals came from set pieces, three of them from stupid fouls and one off a corner scored when the ball crossed the line by 9mm (and Lacazette's fingers may have lightly brushed the ball first).  It was an entertaining game, but not pretty.

I think we all knew that Xhaka at left back was a gamble.  The penalty on him is one of those that always piss me off, because Zaha's sole intention was to draw it.  But Xhaka cooperated and the whistle blew.  Mustafi's was his typical diving in/going to ground for no good reason.  Stand up and try to block any shot, Shkodran!  And what was Lacazette thinking when with our whole team up and in possession he launched a looping ball to no one in particular towards our goal from the opposition corner?  We were one up--kicking it out would have been smarter, knocking it off a Palace player for a corner smarter yet.  The two points dropped had a lot to do with that error.

It is no secret that we got a lot of luck in that string of eleven wins.  Today, luck wasn't enough, even though we got some:  Palace hit the post twice, one of their attackers flopped and on another day it may have been (wrongly) whistled, and Lacazette's hand may have cost us the Auba goal that barely crossed the line.  Palace has a right to feel that they were the ones who dropped two points.

If anyone played well in this game, I missed it.  Holding and Torreira seemed effective, and Bellerin was pretty dangerous in the first half (I will be checking to see what his issue was).  All in all, not a confidence builder.

...

Of course, the midweek game against Sporting may have had something to do with our lackluster performance today.  That was not an easy win, but it was important to get the W against our strongest opponent away.  If we can beat them at the Emery-ates, we win the group.  Even a draw makes us odds-on to win it.  It was the first time Sporting lost in Lisbon since Barca beat them more than a year ago.

Arsenal 3 - 1 Leicester

I will admit that I was worried after the Leicester goal.  We'd done little until that point, and the Foxes could have gone up by more than the one.  I don't think Holding should have been called for handball; the forward collided with him and moved his arm onto the ball.  (That's my story anyway.)  But we did pick up a couple of yellow cards.  Leicester's defense looked pretty well organized and we never looked like scoring.  But the goal woke us up, I guess, because all of a sudden we were all over them and the equalizer came just before the half, a lovely assured finish from the captain Ozil, his having orchestrated the move.

It was mostly Arsenal all second half, though there was that header off a corner that crashed off our crossbar.  The arrival of Aubameyang and Guendouzi (for the less than effective Mkhitaryan and for Lichtsteiner, who I thought did well) kicked us up into another gear, and Leicester was fortunate not to have shipped more than the two goals in the half by the whistle.  Both were sweetly crafted, primarily by Ozil, and finished by Auba.

Everyone played his part.  Leno made some important, difficult saves early on.  Holding and Mustafi handled the big, fast forwards well enough.  Bellerin and Lichtsteiner were sent bombing up the sidelines to provide width and were out of position when we lost the ball.  But I was very impressed with the Barca style pressing that often won the ball right back.  Xhaka didn't have his best game, though he had a surprisingly good shift filling in at left back.  Torreira was fantastic, filling the holes and pinching the ball.  He and Guendouzi are an awesome pairing, full of energy and inventiveness.

Ozil was the main man today.  He really bossed things.  He got space because he made space.  He does the simple things so well, and every once in a while, he does the extraordinary things even better.  The defense-splitting pass to Hector that set up the second goal was the best moment of many good ones.

But Lacazette and Iwobi were excellent as well.  (Mikhi wasn't at their level today.)  I love Laca's work rate.  He chases everything, and keeps two CBs busy.  Iwobi gets better and better.  He tracks back too.  (Laca and Alex had to cover for Mikhi and Mesut in this regard.)  Ramsey came in late for Ozil and looked dangerous.

We didn't climb in the table but Chelsea's draw with Man U puts them ahead of us only on GD.  Emery's post-match comments showed that he still considers Arsenal a work in progress.  He's right.  We may be exposed against Man U or Spuds next month.  but it is beginning to look as though he has a team who can mow down inferior opposition when they get a head of steam.  I believe we've scored about three quarters of our goals in the second half.  Whether it's conditioning or Emery's tactical sense, it augurs well.

DC United in the Playoffs

DC United looks very strong now.  They're roaring into the playoffs, ripping off win after win.  The most crucial was the 5-0 score over Montreal, but every point was important and now they've clinched a spot with a game to go, having beaten Dallas 1-0 and NYCFC 3-1 at Audi Field.  In fact, they're sitting in 5th at present and could move up a spot or two if everything goes their way. 

It's not all Wayne Rooney, either.  He won the Dallas game with a spectacular free kick from way out, but even though he got two goals against New York, Luciano Acosta was the man of that match.  He slalomed around four or five defenders before feeding Rooney for a tap-in for the first goal, then curled a beauty past their keeper from outside the box for the second (set up by some excellent holdup play by Rooney, of course).  But Senor Wayne (as Acosta calls him) is the driving force, and has imparted belief to the team as well as injecting talent.

I'm actually very impressed by their defense these days, as well, especially the DMs Canouse and Moreno.  Birnbaum is a rock at CB.  And for my money, Hamid is the class of the league in goal. 

Asad, Rooney, Acosta, Arriola, and Segura all look dangerous on offense in any combination, and they still have 10-goal Darren Mattocks sitting on the bench just in case.  I don't think anyone would be shocked to see them hoist the MLS Cup after this run, though they're not the favorites.

Good times for DC United fans.  I have got to get to some games next season.

Fulham 1 - 5 Arsenal ... DC United 2 - 1 Chicago Fire

We didn't start the Fire.  We stopped the Fire.  Rooney again led the way as we overcame a feisty Chicago bunch that played pretty well for a team that was eliminated from the postseason some time ago.  The play was going mostly our way in the first half, but a disallowed goal (VAR is going to change things) left it scoreless at the half.  Then the Fire got a very nice individual goal to make our playoff chances dim a little.  Wayne Rooney was having none of it.  He was barely onside when he redirected a shot, causing the Fire keeper to fumble it. and he stuffed in the rebound.  He scored a penalty when our relentless pressure forced a foul in the area.  Job done, and we're in pole position.  We still have to win three of our last four to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, and have tough opposition, but who would bet against us now?  Nick DeLeon is back too to give us some depth.  These guys are legitimate contenders for the MLS Cup--but first they have to punch their ticket.

...

Fulham actually tried to play with us, and as pretty much anyone could have predicted, it backfired in spectacular fashion.  Laca and Auba's strikes were beautifully taken, but Ramsey's delicious backheel at the end of a gorgeous lightning team goal in which he played a role three times will almost certainly be a goal of the season finalist.  What a magnificent performance.  Let's hope everyone plays us this open.

The international break means Emery can continue to work with most of our players to fine tune a system that they all have confidence in.  It's a new start for Iwobi, who has graduated from "promising" to "pretty damned good".  Torreira is every bit as valuable as we expected.  The center back situation is still worrying, and Koscielny can't be expected to fix that when he comes back.  If we can't acquire another quality CB, we'll have to bring Chambers back sooner rather than later.  I still don't know why we loaned him out.  If Kolasinac can't learn to handle his defensive duties better, we have insufficient cover for my man Nacho.  On the right, the Bellerin-Lichtsteiner consortiom seems more than adequate, and maybe Jenkinson can revive his career here.  Stefan is near his expiration date.

I have always liked Elneny and we're not getting a lot out of him now.  He doesn't really suit Emery's style, so he doesn't play much.  Mkhitaryan seems in decline to me.  Otherwise, we seem in reasonably good shape in midfield.  It looks as though Aaron is intent on leaving.  (If he does go, that means the currently injured Carl Jenkinson will be the last of the vaunted "British core."  Ox is laid up for a year on Liverpool's dime, Theo is having a very respectable run in Everton's attack, Keiran Gibbs is in the Championship with West Brom, and Jack Wilshere has taken his dodgy ankles to West Ham.)  I hope he stays; he's real class and still has an awesome engine.  Ozil isn't going anywhere.  I hope he starts playing to his potential; he's far below it now.  Iwobi has arrived, and Smith Rowe is waiting in the wings to feature more regularly.  Welbz has turned into a reliable winger who provides defensive cover and a scoring threat.

Up top, we have two of the more dangerous strikers in the league, and they are working really well together.  While I would have said last year that our team was "top heavy" because of the offensive threats, Emery has changed the character of the team.  This is who we are now.  Unai said it himself early on:  he'd rather win 5-4 than 1-0.  I don't know if the crowd was right when they sang "We have our Arsenal back" yesterday, but I really like the Arsenal we have now, whether we got it back or it's a whole new version.  Long may it continue.

Good Times

We're not exactly blowing opponents away, but we are winning, and usually by two goals.  The system Emery uses simply puts too much pressure on our center backs.  They're not the fastest, and the number of one-on-ones we've allowed with our keeper is insane.  It will definitely come back to haunt us one day, but how can anyone argue with seven wins in a row?  Sure, the opposition was not of the highest quality, but Watford was above us in the table until yesterday.

This early in the season, it's easy to feel optimistic.  New manager and all that, and we're in fifth, five up on Man U and level with 4th place Spuds.  I'd feel a little better had we not farmed out Chambers.  Kos may never be effective again, and if Nacho or any CB gets hurt, we're in trouble.  Buying Leno was very smart.  I hope they let Emi start in Qarabag.

...

DC United beat Montreal Impact 5-0 in a game that our manager Ben Olsen admitted was "damn even" despite the flattering score.  In the US, our addiction to playoffs has infected soccer too, so if DC can win four out of its last five, we'll slip into the last playoff spot and have a shot at winning the MLS Cup.  It's not all Wayne Rooney, and it's not all Audi Field, though together they may explain a lot of our return to respectability.  Luciano Acosta, Yamil Asad, and Paul Arriola click with Rooney and each other amazingly well.  They think they can score buckets of goals and they're right.  No team will want to face us in the playoffs.

...

I'm betting that Mourinho is fired tomorrow.  Why stall?  He obviously wants out and is going to make them pay to get rid of his malign presence.  Just pull the trigger already.  Why anyone signs a contract with this guy for more than two years max is beyond me.  Man U is dripping with star talent and can play with anyone, if the manager lets them.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Everton

[The last couple games weren't televised here, so I don't blog on them.  My comments are sufficiently uninformed after seeing the games.]

Not good enough.  The three points were a relief, yes, but we required a man of the match performance from Cech (and some Toffee incompetence in front of goal) to secure them.  (More about the linesman's contribution below.)  The defensive fragility has to be the main concern for Emery.  I am still mystified about Chambers's loan to Fulham.  I like Sokratis, and I'm not as down on Mustafi as everyone else seems to be, but I think Holding-Chambers would do as well as they do.  And if they go down injured, it's Holding and who?  Bellerin is looking increasingly beatable, and Monreal is slowing down a trifle.  Behind them, it's 34 year old Lichtsteiner and a banjaxed Kolasinac, whose healthy defensive prowess is suspect.

Our terrible start unfortunately coincided with Torreira's debut as a starter.  I thought he was very good today.  Xhaka, however, gave the ball away too many times for my liking.  Ramsey didn't do enough, Ozil seemed to avoid anything resembling a challenge, and Auba was off his game.  I don't fault Lacazette, whose winning goal was magnificent, and whose industry all over the field was appreciated.

Everton was surprisingly lively today, so credit to them for making this a very uncomfortable game for us.  But they have to feel hard done by, with the misses from all three of their strikers, the brilliant curler from Laca, and the offside goal.  That pretty much killed their spirit, and it was a horrible miss from the linesman.  I was happy that the good, beautiful strike stood as the winner.

If we play like this against Watford, we're going to lose. 

If Loving Wayne Rooney Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right

MLS has finally decided that DC United merits a big name import, and it has transformed us into a dangerous side with ambition.  The brand new Audi Field will be the venue for eight of our last ten games.  Before Rooney's arrival, we were mired at the bottom of the MLS standings.  Now, we're six points from the last playoff (what is it about Americans and playoffs?) spot with three games in hand.

DC United was the premier MLS team in its first decade.  We won the MLS Cup four times (including three of the first four years), the CONCACAF Champions League, three US Open Cups, and four Supporters' Shields (best regular season record).  But as the rest of the league moved into soccer-only stadiums, we were still playing in funky old RFK; and the league concentrated on building up the New York and LA franchises at the expense of the rest of the teams.  We were pretty awful for quite a while.  The one triumph was an unlikely US Open Cup in 2013, a year we finished dead last in the league. 

There's nothing wrong with coach Ben Olsen, local hero.  We just didn't have enough good players.  Goalkeeper Bill Hamid is top class, and I'm delighted he returned from a disappointing European stint.  Luciano Acosta is excellent.  Most of the rest of the players had to be replaced, though, and that's what happened.  Still, it was not clicking for United until Audi Field became Wayne's World.  He's provided leadership, a damned near perfect example, incredible effort, and sublime skill in driving us to pick up points and climb the table.  He's gotten five assists and four goals in (about) ten games, and has rejuvenated the play of Acosta, who now looks like one of the most dangerous players in the league.  Here's a really nice blog post from PlanetFootball with clips.  The one from the Orlando game is incredible--check it out if you have not already seen it.  The stuff of dreams!

Rooney is 32 years old.  He's a Manchester United and England legend.  But he's already well on the way to becoming a DC United legend as well.

Cardiff 2 - 3 Arsenal

For the neutrals, this was a fantastic game.  For me, it was torture--but with a happy ending.  All five goals were very well taken, though it's fair to say that poor control, dodgy refereeing, and lax defense were present in the buildups, though that takes away nothing from the goals and assists.  Mustafi's header was excellent, and so was the header that made it 2-2 for the Welsh side.  You just can't strike a ball better than Laca and Auba did for their goals, and the Camarasa chance was not easy but he buried it.

So, defense.  What defense?  If Warnock's men were trying to prevent chances, it did not work.  Laca hit the post, and several great Arsenal chances were spurned, blocked, or saved.  For our part, it's becoming increasingly clear that our system is not catering to our defensive abilities.  Had Emery not impressed on the men how important it was to snuff out counters with intentional fouls, it may have been worse.  As it was, we were in danger of going down to ten men when both fullbacks picked up early yellows. 

I liked the way we moved the ball.  Maybe Ozil was greasing the gears.  I haven't seen any player ratings, but Xhaka seemed off the pace to me, and exhibited some bad judgement, most spectacularly for the stupid cross-field giveaway just before halftime that led to the (first) tying goal.  Gwendouzi looked good, I thought, and Ramsey was lively.  I love Lacazette, though.  He works really hard on O and D and has good vision.  Bellerin did his job and so did Nacho, but I think they're being asked to do an awful lot.  Sokratis and Mustafi are not good, fast, or disciplined enough to be able to deal with counters without help, but our fullbacks are always way up the field when we lose the ball.  Torreira helps in that regard but he's not the complete answer.  Cech seems to me to be very uncomfortable back there.  He's asked to play out of the back and he's not terribly good at it; and he never knows what he's going to get from his CBs on corners and crosses.  He's supposed to be the secure option, but aside from his still excellent reading of the game and decent shot-stopping abilities, he appears to be the risky option in the early going.

This was a very necessary three points when we could easily have dropped two or three.  Cardiff had just three shots on goal, but missed some glorious chances by skying them when a good shot would have scored.  After the break, we have to shore things up in the back somehow.  We can't just wait for an aging Kos to get healthy again.  I will never understand the decision to farm out Chambers, but Holding and Mavrapanos are still on the squad and from what I've seen they can't do much worse than the guys Emery keeps sending out.

Arsenal 3 - 1 West Ham

I've been on vacation and missed the first two games, which means they don't count, right?

After our unfortunate failure to snatch a point or three at the Bridge, I'm going to take the three points earned today as our due.  It could have been very different had the Hammers taken their chances.  On the other hand, Fabianski (I always liked him and wish he were still with us) saved a goal or two with some stellar reflex saves.  We were on top most of the game.

Both defenses looked pretty bad, I thought.  I was screaming at the TV as West Ham players simply dribbled 40 yards upfield without a challenge.  To be fair, Emery's system has Bellerin (and sometimes Monreal) way out of position when we lose the ball, Mkhi wasn't covering well, Xhaka is next to useless in these situations, and I certainly don't want Mustafi or Sokratis diving in as the last defender.  The Hammers could have had five or six, if they finished a whole lot better than they seem capable of.  West Ham's defenders just looked befuddled, as the ten men they kept behind the ball seemed unable to prevent several great opportunities that might have put this game out of sight with a half hour to spare.  Lukas bailed them out (and Cech had a very good game too).

Jack's return to the Emirates did not result in anything that looked like a statement, unless it was "Yeah, this really is what I've become."  Lucas Perez had his chance to put a dagger in our hearts but his attempted cross was way too far in front of the shadow-of-his-former-self Chicharito.

I was a bit surprised it was Guendouzi making way for Torreira, but the tactical move proved to be the right one.  Laca also was a shot in the arm--I love the way he plays defense from the front.  Ramsey, Mkhi, and Iwobi were disappointing, but not awful.  Auba was closest to that for us, but we saw flashes and I think he'll come good soon. 

Why did we loan out Chambers?  Is Emery expecting Kos to come back and be the CB he was years ago?  Unless Torreira is another Kante, we're always going to ship a cheap goal with Mustakratis.  I expect to see Mavrapanos sooner rather than later unless those two start clicking.

Who does not love Nacho?  Rhetorical question; everyone loves Nacho.  Welbeck is another guy who has once again proven useful in a clutch situation.  Kudos to Emery for putting him in for PEA.

I don't know anything about the Ozil situation.  I expect it'll get sorted out easily enough.  Aaron needs to decide what he wants to do.  I wish he'd have done that a month ago.

At least we aren't bottom of the table!

DC United 2 - 1 Colorado

Wayne Rooney scores his first MLS goal, gets his nose broken, and wins me over completely.  What a warrior, and what a force.  OK, we were at home against a poor team that almost stole a point from us, but I liked what I saw from the squad last night.  They showed some belief, and they justified it.  It should have been 4-1, really, but chances went begging.  The playoffs are almost certainly out of reach for us, but most of our games the rest of the way are at Audi Field and we should climb in the standings.  I have to go to a game.

Congratulations, France. Now, Back to Club Football!

Nice WC.  France were deserving winners.  Croatia won me over with their heart and skill.  England overachieved, Belgium was impressive.  OK, that happened.

Arsenal's preseason is going about how I expected.  Emery is finding out some things members of his squad do well and not so well.  About that:

What happened to Mkhitaryan?  He really looked poor in the ICC games.  Unless he recaptures his old form, Lucas Perez could rise above him in the pecking order. 

Kolasinac looks like a guy every winger in the EPL will want to play against.  That's not what i'd have expected after his first few games for us. 

I hate to say it, but Aaron Ramsey is talking like a guy who loves his football but would rather be doing it for someone else.  He's still got the skills and the engine; I just wish he'd commit to us so Emery could instill the discipline he's lacking.

Gwendouzi has really announced himself.  Emery wouldn't have given him so many minutes if he weren't considering him as a first team regular.  he looks the part; time will tell.

Leno seems solid enough.  Cech cost us points last season, and we can't afford that.  Martinez does not convince me, but I want him to stay and improve. 

Bellerin is still excellent.  I can't believe anyone is criticizing him.

I'm perplexed about the center back situation.  All of them have weaknesses.  Unless Torreia can provide lots better protection than Xhaka and Elneny and Ramsey did, we're going to ship a lot of preventable goals again.  The upside is that we have a lot of decent (though not great) CBs, so we're not an injury away from a bigger problem.  Maybe a three-back system is a tactical option in some games.  Mustafi has to break his habit of diving in to try to win balls in the attacking half, or get better at it.

Smith-Rowe may have sold Emery on keeping him on the first team.  He looks like an Arsenal player.  Nelson showed well, I thought.

Auba and Lacazette looked as dangerous as ever.  Both are going to score plenty of goals for us.  There's no Giroud-flavored Plan B now, but maybe that's just something we have to accept.  I miss the big lug, but I'll get over it.

All our rivals have plenty of talent and (except for Spuds) have bought more of it.  If we crack the top four at the end of the season, it will be because Emery gets more out of his squad than anyone has a right to expect.  You never know; maybe City is jaded, United has Jose fatigue, Spuds tear themselves apart, and Chelsea keeps fading.  Liverpool is the top six team that seems surest to improve in the standings.  I'm not going to worry about West Ham or the other teams that are trying to climb the table this season.  I have to believe we're better.

And there's always the cup competitions, which I hope Emery takes very seriously.

Not Watch World Cup? Like That Would Happen.

I tried not to tune in, but of course I failed.  Fox is doing its best to drive me away.  Their coverage stinks.  Derek Rae is the only decent play by play guy, and the color commentators are pretty bad.  Warren Barton is fine in the studio, but he gets really annoying in my ear for 90 minutes.  Aly Wagner is decent; Tony Meola OK.  Everyone else goes on mute.  Actually, that's how I usually watch this WC. 

Now that Messi and Ronaldo are going home, the only player left that Fox acknowledges is Neymar.  It's as though no one at Fox follows football beyond reading gossip magazines.

OK, the games:

I was delighted that Germany crashed out and Mexico moved on.  Play was uneven and many games were not exactly thrilling, but most were at least close.  There were plenty of late goals.  VAR is a success as far as I'm concerned.  There was the usual excitement and drama in most of the groups for the third group game.  In the knockouts, France 4 - 3 Argentina was really good, I thought.  The two games today that were decided via kicks-from-the-spot were fairly dour affairs, especially the Russia win over Spain, which was terrible.  In 120 minutes, Spain completed over a thousand passes to Russia's 200, but never tested Akinfeev.  Their only score was an own-goal; Russia got a PK after the aptly named Pique intentionally blocked a header with his arm.  DaGea was shockingly bad this WC, and he looked awful in the shootout.  I'm thinking Belgium has as good a chance as any team to win it all, and if Mexico can't do it, I'll be rooting for them.  But if England or Switzerland can be champion, great.  I can't get behind Russia; I hate the way they play.

Miscellaneous

The first set of transfers--Papastathopoulos, Leichsteiner, some teenagers--are underwhelming.  We shall see if we get a good CM.  Emery is probably going to have to get more out of the guys already on staff.  Let's hope Ramsey is one of them, and Jack would be helpful too.

The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 44 year history.  The Wizards were bounced in the first playoff round.  DC United is awful again.  The Nationals are pretty good again.

I will try to resist the World Cup.  It's in Russia for one thing, and of course the absence of the US and Italy takes a lot of the interest out of it for me.  Qatar is probably going to be a complete mess that discredits FIFA entirely.  I can't believe they didn't do that selection over again.

Emery Out! Plus, Serie A and FA Cup

Arsenal is so far behind other Premier League clubs in the vital "total managers" statistic that they're catching up by firing them before they're hired.  The Arteta Era was apparently short-lived, lasting just a few days.  We shall see if the Emery Era has more staying power.

I was fine with Arteta, and I think I'm fine with Emery.  He did great things at Sevilla with a budget that is less than Arsenal's, but was just OK at PSG, with a budget bigger than ours.  He's won stuff and he's managed some of the biggest egos in sport.  Ozil should be a walk in the park after Neymar.

Let's hope the board gets everything settled soon so the new man (whoever it is) can staff up.  This must mean that Pep gets his wish and he keeps Mikel by his side.  I hope the latter does not feel as though a rug has been yanked from under him.  I suspect that those rumors about his appointment being a done deal were not from anyone reliable, and Arteta was not counting on anything.

...

Speaking of rug yanking, as a Roma fan, I had a ball watching Inter snatch the last Champions' League slot from Lazio in the final 15 minutes of their game.  (It was extra delicious that it was in Rome.)  The fascists needed only a draw and were up 2-1 in the 75th minute, but a penalty allowed the nerazzuri to draw even.  The next minute, a stupid sliding tackle as far from either goal as you can get earned one of the biancaceleste a second yellow, and a couple minutes after that, a corner produced the winning header for Inter. 

...

In the epic battle between Alexis and Giroud for the FA Cup, the HFB prevailed in what turned (in the second half) into a pretty exciting game.  Hazard lost his marker (Herrera) and induced the luckless Phil Jones to foul him as he bore down on the world's best goalkeeper.  Hazard may have been a slight favorite to beat DeGea close in from a tight angle, but he was a big favorite to beat him from the spot, which he did.  Chelsea played with 10 or 11 behind the ball after that, but things did open up in the second half and both teams had good opportunities.  Giroud had a decent game, Sanchez a poor one (though his very good set piece deliveries deserved better from his teammates).  Mourinho was sad, so I was happy.  plus, we still have the most FA Cup wins, 13 to United's 12 (Spuds and Chavs have 8 each, I believe).

Arteta Out!

Just practicing. 

Actually, I like this move.  We always knew Mikel was a leader and had a fine football brain.  He's steeped in the Barca-Arsenal-Guardiola ethos.  I've read that he wasn't the most popular figure in the Arsenal dressing room, and I don't mind that at all.  He won't be a pal anymore, he'll be the boss.  I hear he's looking to hire Santi, so he's got a good cop on the staff.  There won't be a lot of money to spend on new players; Arteta will have to get the most out of the guys on hand, which he's as likely to be able to do as any, having played with most of them.

Bellerin may be more inclined to want to stay, now that a fellow Spaniard is in charge.  The big question is Ramsey, who's out of contract a year from now.  They need to resign him.  I'd like Jack to stay, but if he doesn't, that's not as big a loss.  The attack is already quite potent; where we flopped this season was on defense.  There were too many mistakes (Cech and Mustafi were especially guilty) and we weren't prepared and organized properly.  After Szczesny's comments about our goalkeeping coaching, I'm not sorry to see changes there.  We do need a new #1 (I thought the Pole was fine, and frankly even countryman Fabianski would be an upgrade at this point), but I doubt we'd attract Oblak or the equivalent.  We're already working on acquiring a center half, if you believe the rumors, and I still like Chambers and Holding.  Mavropanos could be an option in a year or two.  I have not given up on Mustafi--he may need a kick in the rear and some instruction.  Nacho has at least another year in him.  Maybe Kolasinac will become that guy he was in his first few games.

We're not hopeless in midfield by a long shot.  Maitland-Niles is just about ready to contribute on a regular basis, Aaron is excellent, Xhaka was in good form the second half of the season, Elneny is reliable, Ozil could be on the cusp of greatness now that he's got Auba to assist.  The wings could use spicing up, if Mikhi isn't going to regain form.

Welbeck may be surplus to requirements, but I really like him as an insurance policy.  Laca and Auba are magnificent.  Iwobi needs to have a breakout year.

Anyway, I'm giving Mikel the benefit of the doubt, and I hope other supporters do too.  We'll know in a year if we're making progress under the new man.

Huddersfield 0 - 1 Arsenal ...and More!

Odd game.  We were outplayed much of the time but we looked the more dangerous side. Fair result, I think.  Credit to Huddersfield; they seemed more switched on than our guys.  Props to Ospina, who took a lickin' and kept on tickin'.  My player of the game.  Neither side had anything much to play for.  The home fans planned a tribute (22nd minute, natch) to our departing boss, who appreciated it a lot.  We broke the away game curse in 2018, finally.

It speaks to how much class Wenger has that while most Arsenal supporters wanted him to leave, they all respect the hell out of him and were grateful for the good years and the trophies.  He recognizes that his legacy isn't just in the stadium and the trophy case, but in the human interactions that the Arsenal way has fostered.  That's something I hope we build on, rather than tear down; it can happen quickly under a manager like Mourinho.  Wenger never blamed the players, even when they screwed up.  He kept faith with them, healthy or injured, in form and out, and even after they left the club.  Real class.

...

Serie A worked out as I hoped, with Juventus winning the double again and Roma qualifying for Champions' League, with the inside track on 3rd place and direct entry into the group stage.  Fiorentina, unfortunately, is out of Europe.

Adopted team Notts County drew 1-1 at Coventry in the first leg of the promotion semi from League 2.  Fingers crossed.

I've always admired Wayne Rooney, but I hope he doesn't come to DC United.  It's too much money, and I want to see them try to improve the old fashioned way.

Arsenal 5 - 0 Burnley

Burnley were abject, and Arsenal scored five lovely goals (it could have been eight) to send Arsene Wenger off in style.  Every Gunner had a good game.  In addition to his other virtues, it seems Xhaka is made of the same iron as Giroud (who was once again the hero for Chelsea, scoring the only goal in the Liverpool game).  Opponents bounce off him and are the worse for it, whether or not they initiate the contact.  Auba and Lacazette both scored and looked commanding.  Our fullbacks got into the act with a goal (Kolasinac) and two assists (Bellerin).  I was happy to see Iwobi finish a great chance perfectly.

Arsene's sendoff was sublime.  Seeing him standing in the center circle alone with the full stadium roaring was emotional.

Atletico Madrid 1 - 0 Arsenal (2-1 aggregate)

I figured we'd need two goals today, but we didn't even get close to scoring.  In truth, our opponents might have had three goals but for some last ditch defending.  Our offensive sequences produced some quarter-chances at most.  Mkhitaryan's blast over the bar (Oblak had it covered) may have been our highlight. 

First, what a tragic sight to see Kos writhing on the ground with what looks like a career-ending achilles injury.  Accordionists around the world are in mourning.  Chambers was very good, I thought, so it may not have made a difference in the game.  Our problem was an inability to break Atletico down.  Once again, Oblak didn't have to do anything special; his defenders did just enough to snuff out our promising incursions into the 18 yard box.

My comments on the players:

Ospina looked shaky at times but he did what was expected of him.  He's not at fault for the goal.

Bellerin was at fault for the goal, and it was an awful defensive lapse.  Otherwise, I thought he was fine.

Poor Kos.  Chambers was very good.

Mustafi did not convince me, but he was good enough.

Monreal should have done better with his crosses.  But he gets a good grade from me overall.

Xhaka was fine.  Jack had a good game.  Aaron was very good.

Ozil was the big disappointment.  He needed to come up big and he was pretty poor.

Welbeck was good.  Lacazette played his heart out and I thought he was excellent.

Mikhi didn't look 100%.  We can only wonder what could have happened had he been fit enough for 90 minutes.

This game confirmed what we all knew:  Atletico is the better team.  We gave it our best, and I was proud of the guys as they progressed through the Europa League, but we weren't good enough.

Arsenal 1 - 1 Atletico Madrid

What a fucking disaster.  Ironically, I thought we looked better 11 vs 11 in the first ten minutes than we did with the man advantage.  1-1 would have been a terrible result for us had Atletico played full strength; a man down, it was catastrophic.  Don't ask me what Kos was thinking when he tried to hook the ball back up field rather than simply clearing it.  Griezmann's chance here, made easier by Mustafi's going to ground, wasn't their only one in the game either.  We tested Oblak but outside of a late fingertip save off a Ramsey header he didn't have to do anything particularly special.

We played well, I thought.  The sad truth is that Atletico is the better team, especially their defense.  They spotted us a man for 85 minutes (yes, those were both deserved yellows) and still drew.  We can definitely win the game next week, but we'll need something more than we got this game.  Will Mikhi be back?  I thought everyone had a pretty good game, though both our CBs looked shaky at times.  No blame can be attached to Ospina, who saved every shot he could and whose distribution was really good.  I am going to complain about Xhaka repeatedly shooting from 35 yards, though.  He was nowhere near the goal, and Oblak is not going to be beaten from distance.

No neutral is going to give us much chance to progress after this.  I can't blame them.  This leg was almost Spursian in its futility.  But there's another leg next week.

Arsenal Alums Come Good, and Anticipating Tomorrow's Clash with Atletico

I'll start with the bad news:  Ox's awful-looking injury yesterday early in Liverpool's demolition of Roma.  I read that he's going to miss the World Cup (where he might well have started) but be fit for the start of next season.  AOC was a popular figure at Arsenal, for good reason, and I've always liked him a lot.  He was having a really good season at Liverpool and this is a real blow for him (and England and the Reds).

Giroud is Chelsea's latest hero, after coming in late and turning a 0-2 loss into a 3-2 win in the EPL against Southampton, then beating the same opponents in the FA Cup semifinal with this brilliant goal, one of the FA Cup's finest ever.  I love Olivier and am happy for him.  I hope he repeats his heroics against Man U in the final to keep them at 12 Cups (to our 13).

I don't love Alexis and wasn't sorry to see him start slowly at United, but he's gotten hot recently and won their FA Cup semi for them against Spuds.  Good for him.

Finally, Theo Walcott is doing what Big Sam wants and influencing games for Everton.  He won their league clash against Newcastle with the only goal of the game.  He's playing more defense, though he's not great at it, and doing his usual thing making good runs, putting in excellent crosses, and getting called offside.  He deserves to start regularly somewhere, and Everton is a good club.  Ox's injury may leave a seat open on the plane to Russia for a right winger.

________________________________

I don't know what to expect tomorrow at the Emirates.  I can see us winning 4-1 or losing 0-2.  The freak injury to Elneny is rough on him and on Arsenal, but word is that he should be OK for the World Cup, where he'll be crucial to Egypt's success.  But we're in trouble in midfield, without much cover for our obvious Ozil-Ramsey-Xhaka starting triangle.  Jack just doesn't look effective lately, and throwing Maitland-Niles in there could be a disaster (though he's my first choice should we lose a starter).  Nelson and Willock just aren't ready, and I don't see Iwobi as a credible central midfielder.

A lot depends on Welbeck rising to the occasion.  You know Lacazette will keep the Atletico CBs busy with his energetic movement.  I don't expect Mkhitaryan back so soon, so I guess it's Iwobi out wide right; he's a weak point the way he's playing recently.  Our defenders are going to need some cover.  I have no idea what's wrong with Kolasinac, but at this point he's unlikely to be thrown into an important game no matter how healthy he is.  I suppose he might be a late defensive replacement if we've got a lead we want to protect.  If Kos isn't 100%, I'd rather see Holding in there, but a healthy Kos is still our best and smartest defender.

Hoping for the best!

Arsenal 4 - 1 West Ham

During the first half, I was expecting the Hammers to pot the first goal on one of those long balls, and they nearly did a couple of times.  We looked fairly abject.  We started strongly after the break and got the go-ahead goal, but when West Ham put Lanzini and Hernandez in, they piled on the pressure and got a deserved goal.  Replacing Iwobi with Aubameyang had an almost magical effect, considering how poorly Alex played.  We dominated after that and I'm surprised it took until the last ten minutes to get the winner.  Truth be told, two of our goals were partly the result of defensive howlers--on the corner they had a guy on the post who made no effort to keep Nacho's shot out, and their CB ducked under Ramsey's cross, fooling everyone and leaving Auba and Hart watching it bounce into the goal. 

It was great to see Lacazette rewarded for his industry, and I hope he's fresh enough to run like that on Thursday.  No Mikhi, no Elneny, and maybe no Ozil or Wilshere means tough sledding against Atletico.  They lost 0-3 on Saturday; did they rest starters?  They will be fresher and they will be going for away goals.  Our starters will all be on four days' rest and we'll be missing some important guys.  Hmmm.

AMN did well enough in midfield, but he wasn't under tremendous pressure.  Our center mid options are extremely limited, especially if Ozil is unavailable.  Danny looked pretty good, I thought.  Aaron was great. 

Wenger Out. Really.

In typically classy fashion, Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board is reacting with gratitude and sorrow to Wenger's announcement that he'll be leaving this summer.  I suppose he may have come to this conclusion himself, but I don't think so.  He does deserve for it to play out this way.  It's not a bad time to make this announcement:  all the potential candidates for his job (more on that later) now know it'll be open, we need some shaking up, and everyone will still be motivated to finish strongly in Europa League.

While I have been hoping for this day for years, like nearly all Arsenal supporters I'm deeply grateful to Arsene.  His flaws were easily forgivable (except for the not winning trophies for nine years part) because it was evident that he loved the club and his players, and nearly all of them loved him too.  There will never be another Sir Alex, but M. Wenger is at least in that conversation.  He's one of the greats.

As for replacements, I'd like to see Monaco's Leonardo Jardim chosen, but Thomas Tuchel or Luis Enrique would be interesting.  I don't want Low and definitely don't want Brendan fucking Rodgers.  Tuchel would have a huge issue with our new head of recruitment Mislintat unless they could manage to act maturely enough to get past their bust-up at Dortmund.  I used to think Simeone was in the running, but I don't see his name in the odds sheets now.  PSG or Chelsea may outbid us for our first choice.  But if you were a big time manager, the prospect of working for an organization that likes to give its manager lots of power and time might be a big draw.  We aren't a Mourinho organization, the way I see it, willing to break the bank for a year on top and then wave bye-bye to the manager after a disappointing followup.  We want a long term relationship now.  I'd definitely take three League championships and seven FA Cups in the next 22 years.

But with Arsenal, who knows?  It could be Eddie Howe or Patrick Vieira.  Would you really be surprised?

Newcastle 2 - 1 Arsenal

I doubt there was any Arsenal supporter who did not see this coming.  The Magpies are in great form, our away form is awful (we set a Premier League record for us for consecutive away losses, and we're the only EPL team not to get any points away in 2018).  The lineup was puzzling to say the least.  I get why Ozil, Bellerin, Ramsey, et al were left in London.  But if we were going to play like this with a high back line, why the glacial Chambers at right back instead of Maitland-Niles?  A back three would have been better, with AMN at right fullback and no Willock.  Joe Willock is a nice prospect, but playing him as a #10 today was just stupid.  And of all the players not to rest today, why Mustafi?  I think he was partially at fault for both Toon goals, and did little to justify his presence on the field.  I'm not saying Holding looked good either, but Shkodran is dreadful.  The worst part is when he points at everyone else after a goal, when he's usually the guy most at fault.  Steve Bould must get no respect from our defenders if he can't break Mustafi of this terrible habit. 

Our front line did fine, for the most part.  The midfield was just OK.  Our defending was bad.  The tactics were abysmal.  This is another exhibit for the prosecution in the Trial of Arsene Wenger.  I don't know if seventh is "good enough" to get a Europa League slot this season, but that's where we're going to end up if Burnley keeps playing well.  I'm dreading seeing Antoine Griezman dribbling at Mustafi.

An afternoon to forget, for sure.  I'm starting now.

CSKA 2 - 2 Arsenal (3-6 aggregate)

I was thinking 1-1 before a ball was kicked.  I just didn't see CSKA getting three goals, even at home.  The first half hour convinced me that these two teams could play ten hours and not score.  Cue the defensive errors.  Nacho should not have been beaten so easily for the header that Cech's rebound save of was deposited in his goal.  And Mustafi was asleep AGAIN as his mark ghosted past him.  Why would he just stand there and not run to goal, or put a body on his man, or something?  He was quick enough to raise his arm for offsides (though he kept the scorer well onside).  I don't really fault Cech on the first goal, but on the second, he should have done much better.  If he's going to punch it, punch it up and away.  Or catch the damned thing.  It was a hard shot and I'm sure it was moving, but that goal was a gift.

In general, I thought we made it too easy for CSKA.  The referee was keeping his cards in his pocket, as both teams got a little physical.  There were a lot of stoppages for what looked like real injury worries.  We misplaced a lot of passes.  Our periods of pressure seldom led to anything threatening.  Then assist king-for-a-day Elneny took over, slipping Welbeck in on the keeper, and Danny finished as well as any striker in the world could have, hard and high inside the far post, at 75'.  That took the starch out of CSKA, who until then looked as though they believed they were going through.  Elneny sent a through-ball to Aaron for the icing on this moderately tasty cake with less than a minute to go in stoppage time.

I'm getting very annoyed with Mustafi.  Kos was fine but is not the force he once was.  Monreal did not have a good game, though he did manage to win some headers later in important situations.  Bellerin did pretty well, I thought.  Cech made some good saves, but those two rebounds were GK errors, no way around it.  Ramsey and Elneny did well, but the latter seemed to need some time to get into the game properly.  I loved the way both of them kept running until the end.  Mo got two assists, but what I'll remember is him running frantically in the last few minutes to pressure the ball as two CSKA men passed it back and forth, finally forcing one of them to pass it back into their own half because they couldn't pass him.  Delicious.  Ramsey may have been our best player.  Ozil did not have one of his better games.  I don't think I've ever seen a player with less interest in defending, and I watched Theo Walcott for ten years.  Welbz was very good again today.  Lacazette never really got into the game, but I think it was not his fault.  It was smart to sub him off for Iwobi late.  Speaking of Iwobi, his miss after being set up was abject.  He could have controlled it; he should at least have put it on frame if he was going to strike it. 

Wilshere was the first guy to be substituted, and none too soon for me.  I thought he was really bad.  He needs a rest.  A long rest.

I don't like Lazio (I support Roma), so I was delighted to see them crash out in spectacular fashion in Salzburg, even if Red Bull was involved.  Marseille made sure that the other Red Bull team will not be in the semis, in another thrilling game.  Atletico ground out a "just enough to win the tie" result and round out the foursome.  There are no easy games left for anyone.  I'd prefer to avoid Atletico in the semis and roll the dice against them in the final, but we'll play whoever we're drawn with.  There's no reason not to be optimistic.  Here's hoping Mikhi gets well soon--we missed him today.

Roma Ecstasy, Juve Agony

Roma knocked Barca out of Champions' League with a commanding display, and Juve reached parity at Madrid until a late late penalty set the stage for Ronaldo to send an unstoppable PK past Szczesny, who was in for Buffon, who must have pissed Michael Oliver off immensely to have earned a straight red.  A sad end to Gigi's Champions' League career.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see the Roma game, but the commentary I've seen indicates that Barca was thoroughly outplayed.  Juventus did not dominate Real while getting their three goals, and there was always a danger of a Madrid goal.  I was just hoping it didn't come too late for Juve to fight back.  I can't understand why Allegri waited to put in his last two substitutes.  Higuain was gassed, and Real was starting to wear the Italians down.  I had the feeling that extra time would be owned by Madrid, but you never know, and why wouldn't Allegri want to freshen up what was obviously a tired squad?  Dybala's lack of discipline in Turin was very costly.  They could have used him today, and of course there may not have been a third Real goal had he not been sent off.

Well, it was a valiant fightback.

Watching this game made me realize how behind the pace Arsenal is today.  We would not have competed against either team today.  They were excellent.  We've got some improvements to make for sure.  Getting past CSKA tomorrow is the task before us, though.

Arsenal 3 - 2 Southampton

The team selection showed that Wenger did not take the Saints seriously.  The early going showed that the visitors were the more dangerous team, and it was no surprise that they scored first.  Mustafi was the most culpable, allowing Shane Long to nip in front of him to poke one past a helpless Cech, who let Shkodran know exactly what he thought of his lazy play.  Meanwhile, the Gunners' ponderous buildups resulted in no shots at all until a nifty move put the ball in front of Aubamayang, who smuggled it past the keeper to equalize at the half hour mark.  At 38', Welbeck put us ahead with some sublime control, and a hard shot that got a big deflection to take it past the keeper.

OK, it's halftime.  I don't like what I'm seeing, particularly from Iwobi and Nelson.  But with the way we're defending, we will probably need another to close this out.

Yeah, as I predicted, Arsenal gave the Saints several chances with stupid fouls and poor defending and eventually they cashed in.  It has to be said that McCarthy is having a fantastic game, making several great saves to keep his team in it.  Iwobi made our go-ahead goal with wonderful control and an excellent left footed cross that Welbeck headed perfectly past McCarthy.  (This was redemption for Danny, who'd missed a sitter minutes before.)  The game had been chippy and sloppy all through, but it got totally out of hand after Jack tore a chunk out of Stephens's shirt, who objected so violently that the referee gave him a red card.  In the aftermath, Elneny managed to get himself thrown out too, which is too bad because he had a good game and is an important player for us.

Random notes:

I apologize for my criticism of Iwobi.  He came good and was solid for us in the end.

Jack embarrassed himself and was no improvement over a tired Reiss Nelson, who he was subbed in for.  Dumb move, Arsene.  At this rate, Wilshere may have trouble finding a club who'll take him for free.  If I were on Arsenal's board, I'd consider reducing the offer on the table.  If I were Jack, I'd sign that contract as soon as I was out of the shower--maybe before I went in.  He was just plain awful.  Southgate would be crazy to give him a roster spot in Russia.

Welbeck went a long way towards putting himself in our first team rotation, with an assist and two goals, and a spirited defensive effort.  MOTM.

Mustafi is a puzzle.  He was crap today.  Chambers looked like the better center back, and when that happens, Mustafi is really poor.  (Calum did make some fine passes.)

Both keepers get a gold star.  Too many free shots were given up by the two sides, but they stopped the ones they could.

Hector was taken off in the second half.  I'm not sure what that was about; he's probably carrying a problem.  He did look off the pace today.

Kolasinac is not the player he looked to be early in the season.  He needs to round into form if he wants to remain part of Arsenal's plans.

We definitely missed Ozil and Ramsey.

Anyway, three points and a much-needed confidence boost for Danny, as well as a continuation of Auba's flying start for us.

Arsenal 4 - 1 CSKA

We should have had a couple more goals, but this should be enough to see us through, barring an all-too-believable collapse in Moscow, perhaps induced by a chemical attack on our players.  Still, it's probably a safer trip than City had to Liverpool.

Ramsey and Lacazette deserved their braces, and it bodes well to see them perform like this.  Our central defenders were less impressive.  Jack looked off again, and Xhakelneny did enough.  Our fullbacks were excellent, and the front three were superb.

Please, guys, don't let Southampton off easy.  Get sharper and take care of business with maximum efficiency.  Wrap up sixth place at a canter.

I'd love for us to win Europa League, but I am afraid of Atletico Madrid.  I can see us beating anyone else, though Lazio is looking pretty good.  We'll need to be stronger in the middle of defense.  Kos looks a shadow of his former self.  Holding and Chambers may be called on in this campaign.

Juve Implodes, DC United Fizzles

Defensive errors, and superb finishing from Ronaldo, has done for Juventus already in their quarterfinal tie.  Madrid really managed the game well.  Juve looked dangerous for long stretches, but just couldn't seal the deal, despite going close a few times.  I'm not going to relive the goals; just ask CR7 how great he was and he'll tell you himself.  It was dumb errors that did Juve in, though.  The less said about Dybala's poor judgment, the better.  Any chance we had in the second leg disappeared after he got a stupid second yellow (the first was for diving) and got sent off.  The third goal followed, and of course he's not going to play the next game. 

I wasn't tremendously confident, having seen Tottenham outplay the Old Lady 150 out of the 180 minutes, but damn, Juve actually looked good today.  Real was simply better.

My home town team, DC United, is poor again this year.  If MLS relegated teams, United would have gone down years ago.  We were just about the worst in the league last season too.  I don't think it's the coach; Ben Olsen has the players' respect and is getting what pretty much any manager would get out of this crew.  We're just not one of the league's good teams anymore.  It hurts, because we used to be the best:  four MLS Cups, Supporters' Shields, US Open Cups...but those days are gone (though there was that surprise US Open cup a few years ago).  We're 0-2-3 now.  Two points in five games.  They're building a new stadium; I'll check it out.  But season tickets seem like a bad idea.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Stoke

I'm starting this as the second half begins.  The first was horrible, like a poor MLS game.  Auba must be wondering why we bought him.  Clearly, we've forgotten he's out there.  Stoke gets a few free kick opportunities which they waste.  Back later...

At about the 70th minute, a football game started.  Shaqiri almost got a goal Olympico from a corner, then Arsenal started piling on the pressure.  The breakthrough came when Ozil was tripped from behind for a penalty (clear cut for me, but the commentators didn't like the call).  Auba put it away in the 75th, then a few minutes later he volleyed smartly past Butland off a corner.  Lacazette, who came on late, finished things off by tucking away a PK he won by being shoved to the turf from behind--stupid.  Stoke looked like a relegation team, but then so did we until the last 15 minutes.

There were just too damned many misplaced passes.  Had we been playing Swansea or Leicester, we'd have been punished.  But Stoke was really bad, and eventually also really tired.  They made mistakes and that was that.

CSKA should not be afraid, on today's evidence.  But Lacazette seemed pretty sharp to me and Mikhi looks ready to pick up where he left off in Europa League.  We'll have Koscielny in the back, which is always good.  Fingers crossed for Thursday.

Drifting, and Boycott the Cup

Stoke at home is the perfect test for us right now.  We know exactly what we're going to get, they're motivated, and we have the opportunity to impress the supporters with a commanding performance in a game everyone should expect us to win easily.  Will the Gunners show up?  I think so.  I'd love for us to throttle the Orcs and run up the score early, so we can pull Mesut and play Lacazette alongside Aubameyang for a while.  That said, we could of course do what we did against Brighton or Swansea.  A test.

This World Cup in Russia thing has come along at a good time for a grand gesture.  England should boycott, and every other nation should join them.  It wasn't Qatar-level crazy for Russia to have been awarded these games, but it was thoroughly corrupt.  And now we have Putin ordering hits on English soil, one after the other, to include serious injury to UK citizens in the process.  That's after his successfully pushing Brexit.  What are they waiting for, him to assassinate the Queen?  Of course, the key test of such a move would be whether others, especially Germany, supported the UK and not FIFA and the TV networks.  You may say it's sour grapes coming from an American (and Italy supporter).  But really, did the US, Italy, or England stand a chance of winning the World Cup under any circumstances this year?  Germany's the favorite, and here's a chance for them to seize moral leadership of the "Free World" as they used to say.  I'm surprised I don't see a movement for this.

Arsenal 3 - 1 AC Milan (5-1) Europa League Round of 16

It was a very ominous start.  One minute in, Milan had a golden opportunity blasted just wide of Ospina's near post.  After a good spell for the Gunners, Koscielny had to be replaced (Chambers) with what looked like a back problem.  He'd been bumped on an offensive corner, but it didn't seem like a hard blow.  (Speaking of hard blows, this was another physical game; Milan fought hard.)  At about 34 minutes, it got even more ominous as an unpronounceable player for Milan sent a 28 yard screamer into the far lower corner to put the Rossoneri a goal away from forcing extra time.  It was completely against the run of play; we dominated the half.

The main point of controversy will be Danny Welbeck going down very easily in the area when given a tap on the shoulder from a Milan defender.  I'm not used to thinking of Danny as a diver, but this is one pen I would not have given.  Donnaruma went the wrong way and Welbeck scored the penalty he'd won.  A minute or so later, a ball came up off an Italian boot in our box and hit Chambers's arm.  I've seen these given, even though it couldn't have been intentional, but this was a no-call.  Milan's corners were awful all game, which was great, since that's not Ospina's strong suit.  1-1 at the half didn't do our dominance justice, but it preserved the two goal cushion so I felt good about it.

Milan looked a little better after the break, but not much.  We had more of the ball and more chances, though things did open up some and it was an entertaining match.  Donnaruma had been making excellent saves in goal for Milan, but on a 25 yard blast from Xhaka around minute 70, he could not keep it out even though he got two arms on it.  Welbeck was on hand to tap it in (if he was onside) had the keeper not gathered it in, though.  2-1 for the good guys and everyone breathed easier.  Milan would need three goals now, and even though they'd fashioned a few chances, they never looked like finishing them.  Ospina had something to do with that, but mostly it was poor work from Milan.  Welbeck got another gift when Jack stood a short cross up perfectly for Ramsey to head it in, but he managed to hit Donnaruma with it, and the ball bounced up and to Danny for the easiest goal he'll ever score intentionally.  (I have faith that he'll put one in for us off his pancreas one day.)

Like the game in Italy, it's hard to say how much of this result was us and how much was Milan being very poor.  But the passing was crisp and we were getting in good positions constantly.  Aaron and Jack had very good shots kept out by great saves from Donnaruma.  After that first minute, our defense looked organized.  It was a great team performance.

I'm going to chop the game ball into three pieces and give them to Mustafi, Monreal, and Bellerin.  They were instrumental in shutting down attacks and maintaining possession.  Chambers was good too, though not up to Kos standards.  Xhaka seemed more switched on today, though he did give the ball away a couple times in our half.  Jack did his job and was generally quite good, though I wasn't as impressed as the FS1 commentators were.  Aaron did very well and (as usual) covered a lot of ground.  Mkhi was good but seemed to run out of gas in the second half; it was no surprise to see Elneny brought in to replace him, and Mo really shut things down.  (I love that guy.)  Welbeck did a good job leading the line, but I would like to see him win more headers.  I'm saving Ozil for last, because I want to register my complaint about him registering his complaints against his teammates' passing.  I'm sick of seeing him throw up his hands, give a disgusted expression, and put his head down as he walks back after his run was missed or he wasn't found by a pass.  His defensive commitment was conspicuous by its total absence.  (I was happy to see him taken out for Kolasinac, who was fine.)  Ozil was good in possession but not great.  I think the team carried him today more than the other way around.  It's going to cause problems in the squad if our highest paid star keeps acting like this.

Well, it's on to a European quarterfinal (albeit the second-tier one) for the first time in eight years.  I'm daring to hope again, though Atletico is not going to be this easy to play.  They have world class strikers and are well coached.  (I hope Simeone considers a move to London.)  Never did I imagine that Arsenal would take Milan apart like this.  At times, we were playing with them like a cat plays with a mouse.  The guys need to take some confidence from this very well played tie.  How we lost to the likes of Brighton and Swansea is a mystery.  That's in the past; the men can bask in the last three victories through the international break, come back, and (I hope) continue their winning ways in the EPL and Europe.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Watford

In the summer of 2016, we went to England to (among other things) watch the Ultimate World Championships.  Our daughter represented her adopted country New Zealand (which did well).  The games were held on university fields adjacent to the Watford training ground, and the tournament used their facilities.  (It was of course next door to Arsenal's training ground, which a uniformed guard forbade me to even take a picture of from the access road, let alone enter.)  I started thinking fondly of Watford FC.  Now I fucking hate them.  Deeney is a grade A asshole, and Richarlison-whatever is such a blatant diver he should be yellow carded on sight. 

So it was with great pleasure that I watched their demolition today at the Emirates.  Deeney's crap PK, making possible Cech's 200th EPL clean sheet and first AFC saved penalty, was the two-inch thick icing on a very tasty cake.  I didn't even mind the bad call that awarded them the penalty after seeing that block.  I HATE it when players (Jack does it all the time) just knock the ball past a player and run into him to get a free kick, and it's even worse in the box.  Compounding that Atkinson error was the failure to award Mkhitaryan a penalty for getting absolutely wiped out with a slide tackle a couple minutes later.  At least he didn't buy Richarlison's dive a few minutes from the end.

Nice goals, right?  It has to be said that Watford could have had a couple as well, but they were not good enough to make the most of their opportunities.  We made do with our second choice center backs after Mustafi was kicked out of the game (sheesh, could Watford have been any more obvious that their whole game plan was "kick Arsenal"?), and AMN looked very good deputising for Hector.  Auba seems quite comfortable now and the two connections he made with Mikhi bode well for the future.  I hope we get Lacazette back for Milan but even if we don't the rest that Ramsey, Bellerin, and Kos got should set us up nicely.

I am going to complain about Xhaka again.  He was too casual on the ball throughout the game, and the guy just has to jaw at the referee enough to warrant a card.  This is idiotic.  Most clubs clamp down on this from whiny players, but Wenger could never cure Giroud or Xhaka of this dopey habit.  I'd levy severe fines for that sort of nonsense.  If Granit put that energy into coming back for the ball insted of waiting for it to get to him as an opposing midfielder nips it off him, he'd be a better player.  Mikhi gave the ball away quite a bit too, but at least he committed himself to atone for the error each time.

I would be remiss if I did not utter a hearty virtual Nelson Mundt "Ha Ha!" at the Spuds crashing out to my second favorite team, the bianconeri from Torino.  Delightful.  Chiellini rubbed it in, too.  Tottenham actually outplayed Juve over the 180 minutes, but once again it was "just enough to win" from Szczesny's new team.

Milan 0 - 2 Arsenal (1st leg Europa Round of 16)

I'm not gonna lie:  I expected us to get steamrolled today.  Welbeck up top, no Bellerin...it seemed ominous.  The first three minutes gave me no reason for optimism.  (Why do we come out every game in the last several years and look so vulnerable at the back?)  But we found our stride, and started moving the ball very smartly.  It became clear that Milan did not have the speed to take maximum advantage of our rather slow set of defenders, we controlled the air, and our mids totally outplayed theirs.  Mikhi's goal was deflected, but he hit the crossbar subsequently so I feel he deserved one on the night.  I liked his hustle all game too.  Aaron (courtesy of Mesut) caught Milan napping just before the half for one of the easiest goals he'll ever score.  The second half was decent game management on our part and very sorry attacking on Milan's.  Really, they looked awful.  I can't believe they haven't been beaten in their previous 13.

Kolasinac looked quite good before he had to go off.  i hope it wasn't serious.  AMN was a fantastic replacement, though, and was extremely effective.  What was Mustafi doing in the offensive third, especially after we'd taken the lead?  He was caught out a few times, and once he was leveled by Ospina as he struggled to get back on defense after coughing up the ball.  That guy is scary.  Chambers did OK but he too had scary moments.

All in all, a good day at the office.  It's something to hold on to when AC Milan visit the Emirates next week.  We may need that cushion if we can't replicate this excellent performance.  Surely the rossoneri won't be that bad.

BHA 2 - 1 Arsenal

They got me again.  Seriously, I must be industrial grade stupid.  I figured we'd start playing with heart and skill and be organized.  What a moron.  The game was lost early when our typical lack of anything approaching defensive awareness presented a very energized Brighton with enough opportunities to score four goals.  They got two, and as it turns out that was plenty. 

The announcers tried to keep our interest up, but in truth it was an ugly game in which Arsenal did pretty much everything stupid and careless they could think of to make a bottom half team look like a world beater.  I don't see any reason to keep Wenger around a day longer; do you?  The players don't believe in him, the system, or each other.  As professionals, this is deeply embarrassing to them, but none of them is being provided with the preparation and instruction that every other professional team in the fricking planet gets.

What point is there to playing in Europe at all?  Stan seems to want to ruin the club.  Maybe someone should tell him that while tanking in the US means you get better draft choices, tanking in the rest of the world means that eventually you get relegated. 

Tell me you didn't want Giroud out there in the second half.  I sure did.  I know fuck all about football.  I coached rec league girls for a decade and never played organized outdoor.  But I could set up the Gunners better than Wenger at this point.  I'm not kidding.

The board has to fire Arsene.  He's been given several years more than any other club would give any other manager.  Fire him NOW.  Take Bould with you, Arsene.  Bring in any available solid manager as caretaker and then find someone who can get more out of a very talented bunch of players, and who can target the GK, backs, and other positions we need improvement in.  But I think that this team could have been in the top four mix with a good manager this season.  We sure don't have one now.  Rehiring him was epically stupid.

Orlando City 1 - 1 DC United and Saturday Roundup

AOC got another assist today.  It's amazing what a little coaching can do.  There were some other games in the EPL too, but who cares?  I just hope Stoke gets relegated.

Szczesny was all smiles on the sideline hugging his new dad Gigi after Juve got a last minute winner at the Stadio Olimpico over Lazio.  Since Roma defeated Napoli 4-2 in Naples later, Juve is a point behind Napoli and has a snow-delayed game in hand, it's looking good for them.  I believe Juventus is home for their remaining game.  Just as in the EPL, there will be a mad scramble for the last ECL slot.  At least one of Inter, Roma, and Lazio will miss out.  Milan has a decent shot at making it too.

DC managed to bottle an easy three points tonight after getting a 1-0 lead (having missed a penalty earlier) and going a man up for a deserved red on the oddly named PC.  United looked a bit dodgy for the remainder of the half, and in the second, they were terrible.  Orlando deserved more than the point they earned with a too-easy equalizer in stoppage time.  I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from United, given the situation.  They couldn't keep the ball and they could not prevent chance after chance for the undermanned Orlando.  The 11 men always get a few breakaway chances when the 10 men are pressing, but DC never looked like scoring on them, constantly making wrong decisions or failing to attack the goal.  It's going to be another long, painful season if they don't improve dramatically.

Arsenal 0 - 3 Manchester City

At the half, when I'm writing this first paragraph, I have to say I am not feeling as down on the squad as I was at the half on Sunday.  I'm annoyed at how easily City sliced through us, and am wondering where the hell our central midfielders were, but we could have had a couple goals ourselves had the finishing been better or the defense not so lucky.  Anyway, we have another 45 to play and if this finishes 6-0 then we'll have to accept it and start preparing for Brighton.

...OK, full time, and City managed the game to perfection.  Aubameyang took a poor penalty that was saved smartly, but otherwise Arsenal's attacks were smothered without incident.  I believe we outshot them, but there's no question who was going to win this game.

I don't think we made a substitution.  It's as though Wenger has forgotten he's a manager.  If we weren't ever going to turn this around, there's Brighton to think of on the weekend.

I didn't see the players give up.  I will not be dumping on them.  I love Ramsey; he never stops running.  Kolasinac seems to have gotten his full speed back. 

This is a weird feeling for me.  The season hasn't lost meaning this early since I've started following the Gunners about 20 years ago.  There's still Europa League, but it seems fanciful to imagine us winning that after the Ostersunds second leg debacle.  I'll be watching and hoping, but I have no expectations there.  We're going to finish 6th, so there's no "fourth trophy" to work towards.  Our visit to Old Trafford is the only time we'll be playing a top five team.  It's a matter of grinding out wins in the games we have left, if we can, and trying to beat our European opponents (Milan's first up).

No one's reading this blog anyway, so I may take a break from it on occasion.  It's primarily a way for me to get the feelings out of my system and sort out how I think about the club and the way we're playing and how it's run.  I wonder if I shouldn't transfer some support to DC United, who inaugurate their new stadium this summer.  Juve is still on Napoli's tail in Serie A, so there's that.  (If only they can nip Spuds in their ECL second leg...)

Arsenal 0 - 3 Manchester City (League Cup)

Our improbable run in this cup ended ignominiously as we were humiliated  by a far superior team.  I told my family that it we were going down 4-0 before the game, but I told them the same thing before the FA Cup final last May.  You never know.  But today, we were beaten all over the pitch.  Bravo was never worried; not even he could screw up badly enough to gift us a goal, though he tried.  It was Mustafi who was in a generous mood, failing to do a damned thing to hinder Aguero as he collected a goal kick and dinked over a helpless Ospina.  He looked offside, but they had VAR and I assume Chambers or Kos kept him on when Mustafi decided to stay wrong side of Aguero.

The other two goals showcased City's other talents, and our lack of organization.  Suffice it to say that the scoreline flattered Arsenal, who may have gotten a shot or two on goal all game, and not many shots at all.  There's no point running down the whole roster; as a unit we stank.  Seriously, City would have had a harder time with almost any team in the league--all four divisions.  It was that easy for them.  Our guys knew it too.  They looked frustrated and dejected long before the final whistle.  And they knew we had to face the same juggernaut four days from today in front of the restive home fans.

I swear that were I in Kroenke's place, I'd fire Wenger tomorrow.  It's that desperate a situation, not just for this season but for this group of players.  When I have the energy, I may opine on what needs to happen for this club to reach the level it achieved in the early Wenger era.  But not today.

Arsenal 4 - 2 Ostersunds (aggregate)

I'll give Wenger credit for starting Ozil in the first leg; that may have kept us in Europa League.  Because almost everything else he and the team did was poor.  We weren't 3-0 better than the Swedes in the first game, but we were half as good as them in the second.  We played down to their level and then some.  Manchester City will be thinking they can count on the Carabao Cup, even after their exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Wigan (again).  Arsenal were booed off the field today, and why not?  We were awful.  In no particular order:

Ospina was fine, although he seemed a trifle casual playing the ball with his feet.  His penalty save in the first game was first rate, and he made some nice saves here too.

Now I see why Maitland-Niles isn't being played at DM.  He stinks there.  He kept giving the ball away and he couldn't pick out a pass to save his life.  Both he and Elneny played too far up the field on several occasions, but then so did Holding.

This was a game that Jack should have dominated.  But he seemed very ordinary.  Disappointing.  Iwobi has lots of talent, but that final ball is elusive.  Welbeck was almost entirely useless.  Mkhitaryan passed poorly and looked like someone that Man U is well rid of.

Bellerin was one of our better players, which is not saying much.  Kolasinac grew into the game, but had a horror first half.  Chambers and Holding were not "better than Cannavaro."  Not even both of them.  Just awful.

So...this is who we are.  Missing Aubameyang, Ozil, Ramsey, and Lacazette, and not playing Kos, Monreal, and Mustafi, we struggled to win a two-legged tie against a very ordinary (if inspired) Swedish team starting a former York City player.  Our opponent in the next round should be favored, no matter who it is.

What Top Four Prospects? Tottenham 1 - 0 Arsenal

No complaints here.  On the day, Spurs were better, and not by a little bit either.  They had 57% possession, ten corners (to our 2), and outshot us 16-4, 8-1 on target.  Their offside trap worked perfectly; ours, not so much.  Despite the golden opportunities for a late equalizer, my view is that only some poor finishing by Spurs kept them from being out of sight by then.  We won't finish top four because we aren't a top four team.  Spurs may be, but we are not, this week.  And we've run out of weeks to haul in the teams ahead of us.

I don't think it was a matter of our system or of our personnel.  It came down to execution.  Spurs had an eleven out there who knew each other.  We had our regular back four, the usual mix-and-match midfield, and an attacking four who barely were acquainted on the playing field.  Those guys might tear up Everton on talent alone, but today they did not have the time and space to work things out with their new mates.  By April, they may be a well-öiled machine, but then we'll be at least six points off fourth place and maybe that many back of fifth too, barring a collapse by Chelsea.

I don't know if Ramsey would have changed anything.  I didn't mind seeing Elneny in front of a back four, but he does not contribute much offensively.  Xhaka was more disciplined than usual, or maybe it was that he had Elneny cleaning up behind him.  Tottenham did their damage from the flanks, with better crossing than we are capable of.  Ozil and Mkhitaryan could have covered better, but I'm not going to assign blame for the goal (or their other chances).  Tottenham's speed of thought was quicker on both sides of the ball.  Our guys did well individually; but their team played better.

The most disappointing player was of course Mikhi.  His final ball was way off and he wasn't combining well.  Auba got very little service.  (By the way, the linesman made the right but very tight call on his first half chance to go one on one with Lloris.  I'd happily trade the one they gave Auba against Everton for this one, but it does not work that way.)  Ozil was not bad, but I would have hoped for more defensive work in the derby.  Jack did his usual thing but the defense dealt with it.  I'm getting seriously annoyed with Bellerin:  he gets by far the most chances to cross the ball into the box but the quality is dreadful.  He does everything else well;  shouldn't this be an area he can work on?  Spurs had more of the ball, and a lot more in dangerous areas, so they had more crossing opportunities.  Some of them were outstanding, including the one Kane got up high (with a little assist) to head so perfectly for the goal.  (I would not have blown for a foul there.)  The subs were a mixed bag.  I thought Lacazette gave them real problems (and should have equalized late), but Iwobi seemed easy to defend, coughing up the ball repeatedly.  Welbeck just did not look the part when he had a chance to influence the game. 

The future seems a bit clearer now.  Lacazette needs to get his goals in the Europa League (Aubameyang is cup-tied) and Wenger really has to concentrate on that contest.  Ostersund should not be an obstacle if we take the game seriously, and by the next round we'll have played the Carabao Cup final (which is obviously a big priority).  No way can Leicester overtake us for sixth, and it's highly unlikely we can climb into fourth now.  The tables I look at show fifth spot as the last Europa League place, but doesn't the League Cup winner get a slot?  If we win, we're in; if City win, sixth place should go to Europe, right?  And then there are the FA Cup finalists, who probably will include at least one top five team, meaning sixth is still a Europa League place.  Next year it seems certain we're going to Europe one way or another, but it would be fantastic to go to Champions' League as the Europa winners.

I have to believe Conte would get more out of Arsenal next season than Wenger.  It seems that someone has gotten to Kroenke and convinced him to spend more money and let people other than Wenger make the personnel decisions.  That tells me that they're planning for a future post-Wenger in a way I have not seen before.  Is Conte the man?  I like him, but he is more in the Mourinho mold.  He won't be at the Emirates long, assuming he even wants the job.  He could decide to do the Italy job again and say goodbye to club football if Chelsea fire him.  But there are few if any better gigs than Arsenal in 2018-19.  They're going for a top GK, CB, and DM.  Mert is all but gone, Kos is aging, and Monreal is also in decline (but they're both still excellent).  Mustafi is a starter but he'll need a partner better than he is.  Chambers and Holding are fine but not quite top four quality.  The great thing about the Gunners is that we have all the firepower any club could need.  Once they start clicking--and they will--the goals will be there.  Tighten things up through the center and Arsenal is a top four team, maybe a title contender.  Easier said than done, but I expect a resurgence next season.  If we can manage a cup win this year, that'll be three years running (and four out of five) with silverware.  That's not shabby.  This is not Burnley; we're not even Tottenham when it comes right down to it.  They're playing better than we are today; they ARE better than we are today.  But I think our past, including our recent past, is superior in terms of achievement, and I like our chances next year better than our North London rivals.  Kane may be sold; Dele Alli will still be a wanker.  Stadium debt will tempt them to continue their golden habit of selling their best players for ridiculous amounts of money.  No amount of Lamelas would replace Prince Harry.

But it's about us, not them.  There's glory, and silverware, on offer this season; and the prospects are bright for next season too.  It was a bad day today, but I'm expecting many better days in the months and years to come.

Top Four Prospects

I definitely think we should be all in on the Europa League.  It's a ticket to the Champions' League and a meaningful trophy in and of itself.  But can we finish in a top four spot in the league?  Last week I'd have said "No way".  But this weekend's results saw us get three points closer to a troubled Chelsea and two points closer to Liverpool and Tottenham.  Assuming the Manchester clubs are uncatchable, we'd need to finish above two of those three.   Here's the table.  We're five points and a bad goal differential from fourth place.  Our recent form has been poor.  We have not shored up the defense.  But we have strengthened the attack.  (I am not trying to say Mikhi is better than Alexis or Auba is better than Giroud; I am saying that we'll score more goals with the team going forward than we would have without the personnel changes, for a lot of reasons.)  We've already played Chelsea twice and can do them no more damage.  We play Spurs on Saturday.  Chelsea play Spurs and Liverpool later in the season.  If we do the business at Wembley vs Spurs, we need to do two points better than them in the other 11 games.  It's doable.  Chelsea has a brutal schedule and they are not looking good right now, so yeah, we can overhaul them.  Liverpool has the easiest league schedule and I expect they'll finish in third, but they could crack.  So, sure we have a chance.  Much depends on Saturday's early game.

Giroud was brought on for a short-handed Chelsea shortly before they equalized today, but Watford closed out the game in style and left Conte looking haunted.  I like him and think he'd be good at Arsenal, but I'm not sure he'd be good for Arsenal, if you take my meaning.  He'd have to understand that he had to work with our board, and that most of our spending has already been done, so he wouldn't be getting a big war chest this summer.  Wenger really seems to have lost the plot, but maybe he'll regain some of his mojo.  It seems to me that his tactical flubs have cost us points this season.