USWNT 1-2 Japan (SheBelieves Cup)

 Japan was awesome.  They pressed more often than not, effectively.  Their passing was sharper.  If anything, the scoreline flatters the US.  Coach Emma Hayes used a lot of young players, some with no caps.  She learned a lot ahead of World Cup qualifying, and I think that was her primary goal.  The game was a decent watch, but both squads looked tired in the second half, and it was getting late, so I bailed at the hour mark with Japan up by the final score.

NFO 0-0 ARS: I'll Take It

 In the league, the goal I think Arsenal should shoot for is finishing comfortably in the top five.  This draw keeps us 6 points up on Forest, our closest chaser, and ten above 6th place Newcastle.  I doubt that four teams will get hot enough to vault over us in the table, but to be on the safe side we'll need to win six or seven of the remaining eleven games to secure Champions' League football, which this club needs to continue to improve.  ECL broadcast and prize money runs to about £80M, money that can buy a good striker and keep us on the right side of financial fair play rules.

Arteta will want to do well in the ECL knockout rounds, but it'll be tough.

ARS 0-1 WHU: Abandon All Hope of a Title Challenge

 This is pretty much what I expected, actually.  at 24 minutes, I said to myself, "We're not going to win this game."  The goal was dreadful from our perspective.  Calafiori let Kudus put in a very good cross, and no one picked up Jared Bowen of all people who had an easy header to beat Raya.  We had plenty of defenders back; they just didn't do their jobs.  Up top, West Ham simply packed it in and dared us to score.  We couldn't.  This is what every team will do to us now.  Leicester for some reason wanted to play with us and we got a couple goals.  Brentford got twice as many yesterday; Leicester is not a good football team now.  Neither is West Ham, but they were better than Arsenal today.  Lewis-Skelly's awful error in giving the ball away at the halfway line didn't help.  This is the second time a defender had to haul down an attacker because Raya plays so damned high up the pitch, earning a red card.  There's no good reason for that positioning either.  The Hammers had the better chances too; it could have been worse.  Arteta and his men will want to win every remaining game, but they won't, because we don't have a striker.  We'll have to try to advance in ECL and not collapse so badly in the league that we're out of the top four or five.

St least Notts County won.  

LEI 0-2 ARS: Nwaneri and Merino Brilliant

 There's been a lot of blather about Mikel Merino being the solution for Arsenal's striker crisis, but 25 minutes against Leicester's defense is not a true experiment for that hypothesis.  His goals were well taken, the assists from Nwaneri and Trossard near perfect.  We needed 3 points from this game and we got them.  However, the Foxes are in the relegation zone for a reason.  And we struggled for 80 minutes without forcing their keeper into anything heroic.  I do agree that Merino will have to play at least a false 9 out of necessity.  But he's not a striker.  He does not have great pace or a proven shooting touch.  He's not going to get assists like that every game.  He's what we have now and I wish him the best.  It's still going to be tough to win games without a recognized striker.  Any of Liverpool's front men would be a nailed-on starter for Arsenal.

Some of our close rivals in the table (Chelsea, Newcastle, Forest, Villa) dropped points over the weekend, making it less likely that a severe dropoff in form would see us fall out of a Champions' League spot.

Arsenal women won the North London Derby 5-0 in a match that was not as close as the score indicated.

The originals?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoke_City_F.C.#/media/File:Stoke_city_fc_1877-78.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoke_City_F.C.

A Proper Merseyside Derby, and Arsenal Injury Crisis DEFCON 5

 Everton got a 98th minute equalizer to send the Goodison crowd into ecstasy.  120 of these derbies have been played at Goodison, each team winning 41 and drawing the rest; this was the last to be played there, Everton moving to a new ground next season.  The play was typically spirited and spiky, with plenty of yellow cards, and there were afters, causing three red cards, one to Reds manager Arne Slot.  Great game.

It seems that Kai Havertz twanged his hamstring in Dubai during training.  It's being reported as a season-ending injury, but who knows?  We now have no strikers, and just three forwards, one of them being the over-the-hill Raheem Sterling, and another being the 17 years old Nwaneri.  Trossard is the third.  Arteta will have to pull a few rabbits out of his hat if we're to remain competitive.

Zaha on loan to Charlotte

 Can he  be as successful as Benteke has been for Washington?  If even close to that level, he will be a valuable asset.  At 32, he's getting old.  

Newcastle Has Our Number

 The Magpies dismissed us rather handily over the two semifinal legs, 2-0 each.  I don't know why we're such easy pickings for the Toon.  They're physical, but so are we.  Anyway, we're out of both the domestic cups, having bottled it against Man U last month in the FA cup.

I noticed that Stoke was beaten in FA Cup action after PKs by Cardiff. Former Gunners Calum Chambers and Chris Willock both scored penalties in the shootout.  I once thought Chambers would be a starting central defender for us for a long time, with Rob Holding, but neither proved to be what was needed.  Chris Willock didn't play on our senior team, but was in our youth setup with his brother Joe, now a Geordie.  (How many nicknames does Newcastle need?)

Martinelli twanged a hamstring at St James's Park and will be out for a month.  We're pretty much out of forwards.  Can Arteta make some tactical moves to adapt?  He seems wedded to his 4-3-3 formation, but it has to have some flexibility.

ARS 5-1 MCI: Who needs a striker?

 Erling Haaland showed what elite strikers can do, outfoxing, outjumping, and overpowering William Saliba, one of the world's best central defenders, to score the equalizing goal at the Emirates ten minutes after the half.  Arsenal showed what good teams can do even without an elite striker, harrying the City players into repeated giveaways, and getting goals from two midfielders, two forwards, and a defensive back. 17 year old Ethan Nwaneri capped a fabulous Gunners performance, following goals from Odegaard, Partey, 18 year old Lewis-Skelly, and Havertz.  Arsenal led for all but two minutes of this game.  MO tucked away a goal at 1 minute 5 seconds following a steal deep in City territory, and Partey's deflected strike came just one minute after Haaland equalized.  Raya played an important role as well, making two excellent saves when it was a one goal game.  The last five games between these teams have resulted in four Arsenal wins and one draw.

Earlier today, Crystal Palace was good value for their 2-0 win at Old Trafford, both goals coming from Mateta.  Sadly, Spuds finally won a Premier League game.

Liverpool is playing at such a high level, and so consistently, that it's hard to see them being overhauled by Arsenal, even assuming the Gunners win at Anfield.  But all that we can do is play like this every game and see what happens.  

Game in progress - a Wow!

 Nottingham Forest 5 Brighton 0

the Tricky Trees coming roaring back after losing 0-5 to Bournemouth last week