Will the Last Gunner to Leave Please Turn Out the Lights?

 With a few hours to go in the transfer window, this is how it's gone:

Arsenal

In
Lino Sousa (West Brom)

Out
Harry Clarke (Hibernian) Loan
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma) Loan
Folarin Balogun (Middlesbrough) Loan
Deyan Iliev (released)
Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Lincoln) Loan
Sead Kolasinac (Marseille) Free
Pablo Mari (Udinese) Loan
Karl Hein (Reading) Loan
Tyreece John-Jules (Sheff Wed) Loan
Calum Chambers (Aston Villa)
Ryan Alebiosu (Crewe Alexandra) Loan
Nikolaj Moller (FC Den Bosch) Loan

In addition, Aubamayang is rumored to be going to Barcelona.  While some of those loan departures above are young guys whose Arsenal careers may not be over (Balogun will almost certainly be in Arteta's plans for next year), many are not coming back.  Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were once mainstays of the club, important and versatile squad players who contributed in important ways.  AMN was fantastic filling in at left back in our last FA Cup winning campaign, for instance.  Kolasinac was our starting left back for quite a few games.  Pablo Mari played CB for a while. The only addition is a 17 year old who will join the academy and play for the U18s.

We're light almost everywhere now.  We don't have a central striker that anyone is afraid of.  Our best mids are fine, but we don't have enough to cover for suspensions and injuries.  There's no credible backup for Tomiyasu at right back, especially now that Chambers was sold.  Our only spare central defender is Rob Holding.  The rest of this season looks as though it will be an exercise in doing more with less, which seldom works out well in sports.

There was talk of our picking up American GK Matt Turner from MLS, but it seems as though we and Leno are stuck with each other until the summer, when Turner is supposed to make the move.  Ramsdale is cemented in as our #1 going forward in all but shirt number.  (The on-loan Szczesny retained the number for Leno's first year so turnabout is fair play here.

The fans are scratching their heads.  Instead of making moves to improve our chances at European places, we're engaging in a concerted attempt to trim the wage bill.  I am not understanding this.

Arsenal 0 - 0 Burnley -- Ugly game, ugly result

 I have to credit Burnley for a well organized and energetic defense.  But few teams have been unable to break down Burnley's resistance on the road this year.  Add us to that short list.  Lacazette spurned our best chance, but Pope made only one save of note that I remember.  The good teams find a way to win these games.  

The annoying thing is that all the Arsenal players looked sharp to me.  I didn't see a weak link, but the chain was not up to the task.  There were important absences, but that's not excuse--the team out there was strong and should have done the job.  Arteta needs to find some tactical nous soon, or we'll be mid-table again.

No Silverware This Year

 Liverpool eased through to the Carabao Cup final 2-0 over a limp Arsenal.  It was not televised.  This comes after a miserable 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest as we tripped over the first FA Cup hurdle.  Only a top six finish can redeem this season, and probably save Arteta's job.

Arsenal Women Crash Out of Conti Cup: Arsenal 0 - 1 Manchester United

 Our poor run of form continued as we were eliminated in the quarterfinals of this analog to the men's League (Carabao) Cup.  It was a disheartening watch as the Gunners were not incisive enough although they had the better of the play.  The difference was a header off a free kick, very well taken by the United players.  We're still in command of our fate in the league, but the matgin is not wide and the squad has to start performing.  Blackstenius looked like a real threat; she'll help.

Arsenal Interest in Italian Supercup: INT 2-1 JUV

 The Old Lady went down, deservedly but in heartbreaking fashion, as our former star Alexis Sanchez put the last kick of extra time past Szczesny.  David Ospina was in goal for Inter.  I had thought he was playing in Turkey.  It's remarkable how many former Arsenal keepers are starting for big clubs in Europe.  In addition to Ospina and Szczesny, there's Martinez at Villa and Fabianski at West Ham.  Leno may be playing first team football at a big club too next year.

Brighton 1 Crystal Palace 1

 The own goal blues spoiled a decent effort by CP, but such things happen.  Gallagher gave us an early lead, and three points seemed in the cards until this unfortunate late error allowed Brighton to escape with a draw.  

Who Says Ties Are Boring? LIV 0-0 ARS and BHA 1-1 CP

 Granit Xhaka did what Granit Xhaka does, and got sent off after 24 minutes of the first half of our League Cup semifinal at Anfield.  We were already shorthanded (so was Liverpool, to be fair) due to Covid and AFCON and injuries.  But the team defended well and we escaped with a scoreless draw.

The N23 Derby was its usual spiky self, with Palace getting a point despite being outplayed by a wide margin.  Gallagher finished beautifully after one of Palace's few offensive threats at minute 68, but they had to settle for a point after Brighton's relentless pressure forced an own goal with a minute to go in regular time.  The first half saw a VAR penalty saved by the Palace keeper, followed immediately by a disallowed Brighton goal when Maupay kicked the ball out of the keeper's hands.  It was a good game, with impressive performances all around.  I really like Brighton's Trossard and Cucurella (who looks like Marouane Fellaini's mini-me).  Gallegher was the Palace standout.  Both teams are mid-table, four points apart.  

The North London Derby may be played Sunday if the league turns down Arteta's request for a reschedule.  We'd be down to a skeleton crew.  This game has big implications for the top four race.

Well, There Was This: Roma 3 - 4 Juventus

 Highlights can be found here.

The goals were all very good.  There was plenty of Arsenal interest here.  Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the Gunner who was loaned to Roma days ago, had a dreadful game for the Giallorossi.  Former Arsenal #1 Szczesny, now between the sticks for Juve, saved a late penalty.  And Jose Mourinho is sad, always a good thing.

My fave NFL team, the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, beat the San Diego Chargers in a wild game in overtime.  It was a very significant game for both, as the winner of would make the playoffs and the loser would not.

The Baltimore Ravens infuriatingly gave away a playoff spot to the Steelers when their QB threw an interception in the end zone late.  They lost in OT.  They have made a habit of last minute collapses this season.

Double Disaster: Birmingham 2 - 0 Arsenal Women and Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal (FA Cup)

 Fortunately, neither of these catastrophes was televised in the US so I missed the full experience of both the men and women losing in huge upsets.  Days like this make me question why I care about sports.

Referee Stuart Atwell MOTM as City Steal Three Points

 I don't usually whine about refereeing, but this game was a prime example of an official deciding to become the star and ruining a very good game.  There were two penalty decisions to make, both of which could have gone either way. After his VAR reviews, he did not award one to Arsenal but did to City, after originally waving them off.  Then he really got into the match, awarding Gabriel two questionable yellows in five minutes to put us down a man with the score 1-1 and 31 minutes to play in normal time.  It was only a matter of time, and the Cityzens made it unnecessary for Atwell to give them another PK (which I suspect he'd have found a reason to do if at all possible) when a hopeful ball into the box fortuitously fell to Rodri, who tucked it away under pressure.  

Arsenal's home fans were livid, and disgracefully but understandably littered the field with water bottles after this fantastic performance from their men against the champions, who have now won eleven games in a row.  They stayed to sing to their team despite the loss, for in truth they outplayed City and had every reason to believe this game was stolen from them by dodgy officiating.  City had two shots on goal all game, one a penalty, and both went in.

Few expected Arsenal to get anything out of this game.  The result leaves us vulnerable to being passed by both Spuds and ManU with their games in hand.  However, if we play like this the rest of the season, we'll do very well, at least in games Atwell does not referee.