WOL 0-2 ARS and ARS 5-0 CHE: Two Clean Sheets

 The games are coming faster than my ability to blog about them, apparently.  We dominated Wolves, who had an xG of about .16.  Trossard's opener was unstoppable.  He was set up by Jesus in a remarkable demonstration of strength and determination.  He seems to be coming back into form, even if he's still carrying injuries.  It was nervy for us at 1-0, so it was with relief that I watched Odegaard pounce on a rebounded blocked pass to squeezed one between the keeper and the near post from a tight angle.

Speaking of which, that's what Trossard did for our very early opener against Chelsea.  They were playing without an ill Cole Palmer and seemed befuddled all game.  They tried hard and created a few good chances, but the Blues were overmatched and eventually cut to pieces in the second half, White and Havertz scoring two apiece in an 18 minute stretch.  It pads our considerable goal difference advantage should City drop points along the way.  We're now three points clear of Liverpool (who have a game in hand) and four clear of City (who have two games in hand).  It's a great place to be.

We take a team bus up Seven Sisters Road to Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday for a serious test of our title challenge.  Then it's Bournemouth at home, a trip to Old Trafford, and Everton at the Emirates.  Not the easiest of run-ins, but the men will be up for it.

Arsenal has scored the most goals of any Premier League team, and allowed the fewest goals.  I believe that we've been lucky when it comes to injuries to key players, which helps.  In the back line, the left back position has been hit hard but the rest of the defenders have played almost every game.  Timber tore his ACL in the first game, though, and hasn't played since at the senior level.  Martinelli has been in and out.  Partey was out for most of the season in midfield, and of course Jesus has been hurt much of the season.  But Gabriel Magalhes, Saliba, Odegaard, Saka, White, Havertz, and Rice have been available pretty much throughout the season.  They look tired sometimes, but that's how it is for teams in multiple competitions.

BAY 1-0 ARS (3-2 agg): Out of Gas

 Since the Arsenal game was not carried free, I watched City lose to Real on PKs.  It was a very good game.  The Arseblog commentary, and their post-game posts, indicate that Bayern simply were better.  The Gunners did not threaten often, and our main men look very tired.  We could use some more quality depth, like any team.  We're still not out of the EPL title race, and got to the last eight in Europe's toughest competition.  

ARS 0-2 AVL: A Costly Off-Day

 Villa deserved the three points today.  The Gunners had a good first half but could not cash in on their opportunities.  The Villans owned us in the second half and the goals were coming.  It could have been worse.  I thought Zinchenko was a weak link today.  But it was a case of "not good enough" for Arsenal, who joined Liverpool in the bottling works as City has a clear field to a fourth straight title.  

Can I wonder out loud why Everton has been deducted points twice this season for dodgy financial transactions, but City has been charged with 115 violations of the same rules over a year ago but nothing has happened?  

ARS 2-2 BAY: Naive Again From the Gunners

 Kiwior was not anyone's first choice for left back except Arteta's, and he made a crucial error for Bayern's second.  Raya came too far out of goal to set up Bayern's first.  This is so un-Arsenal.  Credit to Bayern for taking full advantage of our screwups (though they could have had a third). 

Arteta's personnel change at the break was Zinchenko for Kiwior.  It almost backfired immediately as Sane got the better of our diminutive fullback, but we survived.  The tying goal came from some brilliant close work from Jesus at the edge of the box, who slipped it to Trossard for an assured finish.  Both players had been brought on a few minutes previous.  The last sub was Thomas Partey, who did not look good.  There was a penalty shout in the dying seconds when Saka went down after having pushed the ball past Neuer, but no referee is going to call it unless it's more clear-cut.  Saka probably should have taken the shot.

This game reminded me of the first Porto match, in that Arsenal pushed so hard for goals that they left themselves vulnerable.  It's not like them.  Saliba was carrying the ball into the final third; that's something that should be reserved for games when we're either three up or two down.  Arteta has to be furious about the yellow cards not taken which would have prevented Bayern's goals.

Well, now we have to win in Munich.  I'm confident, if we stay focused and don't leave a lot of space behind.

It finished 3-3 in Madrid.  Both ties are finely poised.

BHA 0-3 ARS: Impressive

 Coming before the Bayern game, this fixture rated to be a tough one for us.  Brighton had not lost at home since August.  But the Gunners were on top all game, until 2-0 anyway, and it was clear from the off that an Arsenal win was in the cards.  A Saka PK was the lone first half goal, then Havertz slotted home from close range, and late on Trossard dinked the excellent Seagull keeper on a breakaway.  Brighton was tough, but we were just too good.  Arsenal tops the table, at least until Liverpool plays tomorrow.

The USWNT had a good outing against Japan, winning 2-1.

ARS 2-0 LUT: Cruise Control

 A much-changed side outclassed Luton at the Emirates today.  The Hatters are injury-ravaged, but always give a good ccount of themselves.  They had the longest EPL streak of games in which they scored at least once.  The Gunners started five players who didn't start Sunday, and they didn't click as well as hoped, but it was enough.  It may be very useful to have given important minutes to some of the men out there, especially Emile Smith-Rowe and Thomas Partey.  They did pretty well.  I wish Arteta would give Odegaard a break, though.

City beat Villa comfortably; Liverpool hosts Sheffield United tomorrow.

MCI 0-0 ARS: I'll Take It

 Neither team played well enough to win today, or poorly enough to lose.  This was the first home game in 57 that Chelsea failed to score.  Arsenal lost the last seven at the Etihad.  This point is great.  Liverpool's earlier win means they're two up on us and three on City.  Well, the job is still the same:  win every game and hope the competition doesn't.

Arsenal Women Win Conti Cup 1-0 Over Chelsea

 Emma Hayes (Chelsea coach) was sad after 120 minutes today at Molineux as Arsenal women got their bit of silverware.  Aww.  Maybe it'll make her hungry for US glory when she takes over the USWNT job this summer.  Stina Blackstenius powered the winner in after 116 minutes.  Congratulations to them.  They're out of the other cup competitions and can't catch Man City and Chelsea at the top of the WSL.

Mexico 0-2 USMNT: Dos a Cero de Nuevo

 The semifinal against Jamaica was the US team at its worst:  toothless and sloppy.  After allowing a goal within 40 seconds due to inattention, we failed to score for the next 95 minutes, when we got an own-goal to send the game into extra time.  Then the Americans kicked into gear and put two past the Reggae Boyz keeper, thanks to incisive passes from Gio Reyna.  Jamaica was without several of its most dangerous players, so this result was worrisome.

But in the final, Mexico was not particularly scary, and the US had the better chances, putting two past the 38 year old Ochoa (who is now slow as well as short, a bad combination in goal) and forcing him into a couple of sharp reaction saves too.  Matt Turner didn't have to do anything difficult all game.  This makes it three out of three CONCACAF Nations League championships in the tournament's short history.  It bodes well for the World Cup two years hence, when we share hosting duties with Mexico and Canada.  Dream big!

ARS* 1-0 POR (1-1 agg., 4-2 pens): This Club Needed That

 Arsenal has been a Champions' League also-ran for that contest's existence.  We did get to the final in 2005, but lost to Barca.  We've never won it, and often go out in the first knockout round. Our Europa League record isn't spectacular, either.  For the stature of the club, a good European showing is something the Arsenal need to do every year, and win a cup some time.  This is big.

Porto was really tough.  They're third in the Primeira and in good recent form.  They knew what they wanted to do and executed very well.  The third-country refereeing was not great, especially in the first game, so they cooperated with Porto's time-wasting, play-acting, and constant fouling.  The Gunners did not play well against Porto's dogged defense and lightning counters.  So 1-1 after 210+ minutes seemed about right.  All four Arsenal penalty kickers in the shootout scored; Raya saved two Porto attempts to win this knockout round.

Whew.  Let's hope we play better in the next round.

SHU 0-6 ARS and ARS 2-1 BRE: The Ecstasy and the Agony, and then More Ecstasy

 Well.  The Gunners had more than their fair share of good fortune to add to their great play at Bramall Lane, padding the score via a couple of deflections.  The Blades were never in the game.  Six scorers...that's the Arsenal way this season.  Brentford gave us all we could handle on our ground yesterday, but we overcame an amazingly dumb gift goal from our former regular GK to get three necessary points in what is a fabulous title race.  In fairness, Ramsdale made two spectacular saves in the second half that I don't think Raya would have made.  In the end, two more headed goals, from Rice and Havertz, both from Ben White crosses, were just enough to overcome the feisty Bees.  

Ramsdale's evening was a perfect demonstration of why he was fine for us last season but not for this one.  There's no better shot stopper, but he still isn't good enough with the ball at his feet to fit in with Arteta's total control philosophy.  If he plays for us again, it will be because of injury or suspension to Raya, though I'd make him a last minute substitution* for Raya if a Champions' League game is about to go to penalties.  I expect a team will buy him off us.  He's good on a team where he'll be called on repeatedly to bail out his defense.  He'd be an upgrade on many EPL keepers, I think.  But he's not going to spend time as a backup for Arsenal.

Havertz has silenced the doubters and has a great chant now:  "Sixty million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again!"  Arteta gave him every chance to integrate with the squad and boy has he ever.  I still think he can improve his finishing.  He's keeping Jesus off the team.  

The focus has to be on Porto now.  To be eliminated from the ECL now would be big failure.  At the end of the month, of course, there's the showdown with Man City.  Their draw with Liverpool at Anfield today leaves us in first place on goal difference against the Reds and one point better than City.  The pressure on all three contenders to win every game is enormous.

*  Boy was I wrong about that!  Raya was great in the shootout against Porto.

How many times

 Can a team blow a won game in the last seconds? 

Crystal Palace 1 Luton 1  

A team that can do that, so many times, deserves to be relegated

   

ARS 4-1 NEW: Total Dominance

 I didn't watch the Porto game.  I hope that our last-minute errors don't doom our Champions League quest.

The Premier League dream is still alive after the Gunners' 4-1 thrashing of the Magpies.  I like their manager and there's talent in their team, but they looked pathetic yesterday.  Joe Willock, an Arsenal product who became a hero at St James's Park when we loaned him there and was subsequently bought by them for about $33M, scored their goal late on a great running header.  (Another former Gunner from the academy, Alex Iwobi, scored the winning goal for Fulham yesterday against Man U.)  The first half saw Arsenal throttle Newcastle, and the second half wasn't a whole lot better for the Toon.  Arsenal became the first Premier League team to score multiple goals in seven consecutive halves, for what that's worth.  Jorginho was named man of the match.  He managed the defensive midfield duties (there wasn't a lot to deal with) and provided some penetrating passes.  Really, everyone in red played well.  

We don't control our destiny in the league.  We play City and can pass them by beating them, but Liverpool has only to win their last 12 games (!) to ensure the title.  They just won the League Cup today.

BUR 0-5 ARS: Good Day at the Office for Arteta

 Liverpool had won the early game 4-1 over Brentford, so we had to win to stay in touch with them at two points back, which we did, passing their goal differential in the process.  Spuds lost at home to Wolves in the same time slot, so there's an 8 point gap now, bringing St Totteringham's Day closer.  And in the game of the week, Chelsea managed a draw with Man City at the Etihad, meaning that if City win their game in hand, they're only one point better than us with a worse GD.  There's a long way to go (13 games), but this is shaping up to be a great title race.  All three are in cup competitions, and injuries are thinning their squads.  Arsenal plays City away and City plays Liverpool; those are crucial contests.  In the EPL, upsets are a regular occurrence.  

Well, back to the Arsenal win.  Burnley tried very hard all game, but were outclassed.  A fine strike from Odegaard sent us ahead, and a few minutes before the break Trossard went down in the box (too easily, I think) and we were awarded a PK, which Saka dispatched.  In the second half, Saka blasted into the roof of the net with his right foot (they never expect that from him), Trossard curled a loose ball past the keeper, and finally Havertz nutmegged a defender and netted with only the keeper to beat.  Burnley had just 34% possession and no shots on target.  The effort was there from the Clarets but the skill to stay with the Gunners was not.  The scoreline did not flatter us; Arsenal really was that much better.  We could use Jesus, Tomiyasu, and Zinchenko, but are managing fine without them for now.  (Vieira and Timber are probably unavailable for most of the rest of the season.)  Smith-Rowe subbed in and seems fit, if a bit rusty.  Kiwior slotted in as left back again and was fine.  Up front, Trossard was the false 9.

Notts County lost to Wrexham, Arsenal Women beat Man U, and Juve drew against relegation threatened Verona.  And Wellington Phoenix is top of the A-League!

CRY 1-3 CHE: Not Again!

 It's getting ridiculous.  Without Eze and Olise, the Eagles managed a 1-0 halftime lead courtesy of a fine strike from Lerma.  But Gallagher leveled soon after the restart, and just when it seemed Crystal Palace might get a point, Gallagher struck again.  There was another goal late in injury time to make it look easier for the Blues than it was, though in truth they were the better team on the night.

Injuries are making it a tough slog in Palace's struggle to escape relegation.  With their current form, it is very plausible that they'll drop to the Championship.

If that happens, they may have to sell their prize assets.  They'll be desperate to stay up.

WHU 0-6 ARS: Keeping Pace

 The Hammers had beaten us twice this season despite being outshot by a wide margin, but today they were off color and got beaten easily on set plays to go behind, then were picked apart in open play while chasing the game.  We were very good, but West Ham were poor.  It could have been 7-0 or 8-0 but for some smart saves from Areola and wayward finishing from a couple Gunners.  A good day at the office, and a boost for goal differential.

The other teams in the race won yesterday, with Villa and Man U (5th and 6th place) playing in a few minutes.  It stays tight.  We play at the Etihad later in the season, and City plays Liverpool, so there's some direct combat.  But it looks as though to win the league the top teams will have to win the games they're supposed to win.

ARS 3-1 LIV: We're Not Out of the Race

 To be honest, I was not optimistic about today's game.  Liverpool has been very good lately, us not so much.  And they beat us at the Emirates 2-0 in the FA Cup not long ago.  So it was great to see Arsenal impose its will on Liverpool for long periods in the first half.  There was a touch of fortune about both goals in the 1-1 half, but while the Reds had their nearly moments, the Gunners had the better chances and most of the play.  In the second, Arsenal still looked the better side, but got their goal on a dreadful mixup between van Dyke and Allison, who presented the ball to Martinelli to roll into the net.  To give our speedy Brazilian credit, he was so strong resisting VVD's charging shoulder that the big defender's momentum carried him into contact with the onrushing keeper.  Martinelli was a threat until he was subbed out for Trossard, who justified this move by turning magnificently at the byline near the halfway mark and racing onto the keeper.  Once again, it was VVD to the rescue to deflect Trossard's angled shot (aimed for the back post) through Allison's legs for our third, in injury time.  Oh, and Konate picked up two (borderline) yellows and was sent off somewhere in there.  Happy days.

We're still trailing Liverpool by two points, and if City wins their two games in hand, they'll be three better than us.  But we still play Man City, and City has to play Liverpool yet.  It could get tangled.  Villa is just three points back of us, and Spuds only two back of Villa, then it's a six point gap to United.  An intriguing race to be sure.

It's a potential relegation scrap, though it appears only 18th place is in doubt, Burnley and Sheffield United both appearing to have accepted their fate.  Everton is likely to move out of 18th, with Luton a point ahead at 20 points, Forest at 21, Brentford at 22, and Palace at 24.  None is safe.

NFO 1-2 ARS: Just Enough to Win

 We thoroughly dominated Forest, but it took a horrendous goalkeeping error from former Gunner (and US #1) Matt Turner to break the deadlock in the second half.  Then naive play from Forest allowed a 4 on 3 which Saka finished off.  Arsenal was cruising until an 89th minute scrappy goal from Awoniyi jangled nerves.  But Forest could not get a second, and we took three points ahead of the showdown with Liverpool on the weekend.  We will have to play much better than this to beat them.  This was our first league double over them in 25 years, and we'd lost the last three at the City Ground.

Villa was soundly beaten at home by Newcastle, a shock result since the Magpies had lost four in a row and Villa hadn't lost at home for nearly a year.  I expect the Villans will not be able to compete for the league, but they'll give the ECL slots a go.  The game of the day was at Selhurst, where Palace came back from deficits (to Sheffield United) twice and grabbed the points off two goals from Eze, both assisted by Olise, who scored the winner.  I don't know what their contract situations are, but every top club in the world could use either of them--and Palace needs them both.  Luton pounded Brighton and seems capable of climbing out of trouble, Everton may get out of the relegation zone.  There are so many bad teams that the relegation fight could get confusing.  The Blades and Clarets are still favorites to drop, but there's room for one more in the Championship next season.

ARS 5 - 0 CP: A Sad End to Roy Hodgson's Career?

 The Gunners did not have to do anything special to beat Palace soundly.  Goals from a couple of well-worked corners in the first half provided the platform to open up the visitors.  A breakaway goal by Trossard sealed the points, then in injury time the Palace substitutes naively left it too open in the back and Martinelli twice found himself with only the keeper to beat, and did so in Henryesque style (that trademark curl into the far bottom corner).  It could have been worse, too, but for some desperate defending at times.  Interestingly, there were no yellow cards issued in this game.  That's rare.

Graham Potter was spotted attending this game, a sure sign that he's being tapped up by the Palace management as a replacement for Hodgson, who today was recognized by the announcers as the oldest ever manager of an English top flight team at 76.  It's a cruel fate for a widely respected man in the game.

He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup and qualification for Euro 1996; Switzerland had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1960s. From 2006 to 2007, he managed the Finland national team, guiding them to their highest-ever FIFA ranking of 33rd place and coming close to qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in their history. He managed the England national team from May 2012 to June 2016. Other clubs that Hodgson has managed include Inter Milan, Blackburn Rovers, Malmö, Grasshoppers, Copenhagen, Udinese, Fulham, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Watford.

Arsenal has a lot of work to do if they expect to challenge for the Premier League title this season.  I think it's not a likely prospect now, but the players are good and maybe things will come together.  I thought Smith-Rowe looked sharp today when he was brought on, and he could lift us.

Palace needs to get points soon to stop the rot.  They're just five points above the drop zone, but four three teams would have to pass them in the standings for them to be relegated.  On the basis of today's performance, I could believe that can happen.  They need Olise back at least.  I will say that their away kit today was very classy.

 

ARS 0-2 LIV (FA Cup)

 Fortunately, I didn't watch this one.  From what I can see, the Gunners created numerous first half chances but couldn't score.  Then we chucked one into our own goal late on.  Arteta is going to have to change something up, because with current form we might not even get top six.

FUL 2-1 ARS: Gunners Not Trophy-Ready

 As the game wound down yesterday, the phrase "easy to play against" kept running through my head.  That was what they used to say about us in the late Wenger era.  Everyone knew what we were going to try to do and they'd made plans to counter it, and knew we'd give them a few chances.  Fulham just did everything they planned better than we did, and Arteta had no adjustments.  When I saw Kiwior get a start, I was glad, because we need a left fullback to do the defensive job.  But Arteta wanted Kiwior to invert into midfield like Zinchenko, which is just dumb.  The Cottagers set up to frustrate our attack, and then take advantage of our attacking commitment to counter.  Long story short, they did that and more.  We were second best again in a London derby we needed to win to maintain any pretense of challenging for the title.

I have criticisms of Arsenal players, but I'm not going to make them in this post.  This was another of Arteta's losses.  He simply won't admit that everyone in the league has figured out how to negate his setup.  Teams that try to play an open style will be sliced open by Arsenal, but if they organize their low block properly we aren't versatile enough to score.  To be honest, Arsenal had been lucky in quite a few games.  This dreadful stretch has been coming for a while.  Our roster is stacked with great players in most positions.  Saliba and Gabriel may be the best center back pairing in the world.  Rice may be the best holding midfielder.  We have two top goalkeepers.  The fullbacks are fine though not top class.  Saka and Martinelli are very good wingers; Odegaard is a world class attacking midfielder.  The glaring weakness is at center forward.  We don't really have one when Jesus plays--he operates like a third winger--and we don't have a good one when Nketieh plays.  We also downgraded at the position ("left 8") that Xhaka played last season, with Havertz.  What would ten Hag give to trade squads?  Answer:  a lot.  It's not personnel, it's how they're prepared, selected, and organized.

I don't have the heart to go into the way we've collapsed on set piece play, from Trossard's awful corner kicks to sloppy defending on their corners, or on our increasingly impotent offense.  The players are losing faith in the Arteta Way, and why shouldn't they?  We're good, but not good enough to tell everyone exactly what we're going to do and then keep doing it whether it works or not.  I know it seems crazy, but maybe Arteta did his best work in assembling this group, and is not the guy to get the best out of them.  He deserves the rest of the season to try to put things right, but frankly I don't think he has it in him to admit that he needs to do something different to have a chance at top four.  (Forget winning the league.)  I hope I'm wrong, but based on our recent form I expect we'll be out of the FA Cup and in fifth or sixth place by February.  

There's no point splashing cash in January; it won't work.  Let's take stock in June, either basking in the glory of a major trophy or ruing a drop into Europa Conference League territory.  If Arteta needs to go, there will be plenty of applicants.  This is a group of players that can do great things with great management.