test 3

Manchester City 5 - 0 Arsenal

 I didn't even know what day Arsenal was playing this weekend, or whether it was televised.  So when I looked at LiveScore today while grocery shopping, it was a surprise to see that our game was already over, but it was not a surprise to find out we lost.  Xhaka did what Xhaka does best:  earn a straight red doing something stupid.  But we were already down by two goals.  We never had a shot on goal, despite having all our "creative" players on the pitch.  The three-man back line may as well have been two or one for all the good it did.  Five easy goals; from what I read it could have been eight had Leno not kept making good saves.

Bottom of the table.  With 105 points on offer the rest of the way, I'm sure we'll get at least 40 to avoid relegation, and may pick up 50 or 55.  But on the evidence so far, we'll do well to finish 8th again.  Unless there's a dramatic turnaround after the break, the only question is how long it takes to sack Arteta.  Shame, really--Sanllehi and Edu stuck him with some players he did not want and the club has finally backed him this season, perhaps too late.  I like the young players and I fear Kroenke will cash in on them and doom the club to mediocrity or worse.

WBA 0 - 6 Arsenal

 West Brom is off to a good start in the Championship (10 points from four games) so this looked to be a real test.  But their manager decided he'd rather see how his young players could do on the pitch than have the distraction of the EFL, so it was a mismatch with the strong lineup the Gunners put out there.  Kolasinac as a center back alongside Holding was a surprise.  Tavares was left and Chambers right in defense.  Xhaka and Elneny played in front of them, with Odegaard as the #10 and a superstrong front line of (from L-R) Saka, Aubameyang, and Pepe.  Ramsdale was in goal, and made some nice saves to keep a clean sheet.  Arsenal sliced through the Baggies' midfield and defense on numerous occasions with stylish attacks.  The final score did not flatter Arsenal; they really were that much better.

Man City will be a very different proposition this weekend.  But Auba's hat trick ought to boost his confidence (the third was very nice) and it can't hurt for the forwards to have been rewarded for making good runs.  The makeshift defense wasn't severely tested.

This was just the second round of the League Cup.  Arsenal got a bye to the third round for the last 25 years because they were playing in Europe.  With no European football, the domestic cups take on added importance, and Arteta should be able to put out a strong team every time.

Arsenal 0 - 2 Chelsea

 "Too easy" is something I say at least a dozen times every Arsenal game.  Both Chelsea goals were the result of Kieran Tierney's getting caught inside and leaving his marker totally free outside.  The Chavs could have had more.  The Gunners didn't really come close to scoring, if you don't count that 50-50 penalty shout on Saka that we didn't get.  Both CBs are on a yellow for dumb challenges far away from the goal, so they'll be even more ineffectual in the second half.  The Blues could score again if they wanted to, but may just decide to hold on to the three points.

[after FT]  Yeah, they decided to dial it back a notch and make sure Arsenal didn't get back into the game.  We looked better in the second half, and almost scored a couple times.  (Holding's header was the best chance.)  But Leno had to make some smart saves to keep this from being a total laugher.  Tierney came up lame, but Tavares looked very good to me.  Chelsea were the better team, no doubt, but we were hampered by Arteta's tactics.  The press did not pay off and we wasted a lot of energy.  Against Chelsea, I think we should have looked to counter, and made things secure in the back.  Every team in the league is probably looking forward to playing against a Holding-Mari central defensive pairing.  Lukaku can make almost any defender look bad, but this was ridiculous.  Is White injured already?  

In relegation territory already!  Overachievers.

Brentford 2 - 0 Arsenal

 1-0 at the half, and it could be worse.  We're getting outplayed.  No excuses--there are injuries and illnesses, but I like the team sent out there.  Sambi made a couple errors, Xhaka nearly gave away another goal by dwelling on the ball, and our back line looks lost.  I hope the second half features a more energetic Arsenal.  What I've seen so far is not a great advertisement for the Arteta Way.

...No such luck.  The goal seemed to me to be a clear foul on Leno; but that's not how the officials saw it, and it didn't matter anyway.  It was a disjointed performance.  Sambi and Chambers were obvious weak points, but mainly it was a lack of ideas and organization.  That's Arteta.

It does not look promising.  Brentford is exactly the type of team Arteta would have wanted to play.  They just did it better than we did.  Yes, we had chances, and Raya made a great save.  But Brentford had chances too, with Leno making a fine save.  A healthy Partey would have made a difference, but on today's evidence, top half looks like an aspiration rather than a given.