Southampton 4-0 Arsenal: outgunned

When I saw Fonte power his header past Cech in the 66th minute, I turned the game off. It’s what I always do when the Gunners go 3 down. I haven’t watched us lose to United 8-2. I haven’t witnessed our 6-0 humiliation at the hands of Chelsea, or the 5-1 at Anfield. Even this year I have turned off our game vs Bayern.

Thing is, I just can’t stand it. I’ve been called plastic for that. But I still turn games off. And I will do it again in the future when we go 3 goals behind.

Why? The answer is simple: I suffer together with my team. When we fall behind big time, my suffering reaches tipping point: I physically can’t watch my team suffer. If they can’t put themselves out of their (and my) misery, then only I can do that. By turning off the TV.

What can I say about our defeat? We just didn’t turn up for the game. It’s happened before, it’s happened again and it will happen in the future. Unless we identify the problem behind it and address it, which I doubt. It’s the same as with the injury situation: if it was easy to solve, we would have done it already.

The thing I rue the most is that we never seem to get away with playing badly. We almost always get punished for not turning up, only the extent varies, whether it’s a fluky 2-0 opening-day loss to West Ham or a thorough bashing at the Allianz Arena.

I have watched quite a few of United’s games this season (hours I’ll never get back for things more productive or, at least, more satisfying). Their luck has run out, it seems, that with 3 successive defeats in a row and a 7-game winless streak in all competitions, but they have been shit all season. Even their fans admit that. The number of games where United were really good and won as a consequence can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet their points haul suggests they weren’t as bad as they actually were.

That is the thing I love, and hate, most about Arsenal. This may well be the reason why I support them and will continue to do so. Nothing good ever comes easy for the Gunners. Our good results are a continuation of good performances. But we don’t get lucky bounces, or at least we don’t get them often enough to worth mentioning them. We either turn up, work hard and win, or we lose resoundingly. We crumble. We self-detonate in spectacular fashion.

Yesterday was one of the times when we haven’t turned up at all. Like against Zagreb, West Ham, Bayern. Sometimes we get incredibly unlucky with refereeing, for example. Like against Chelsea or West Brom. But most of the time we are the masters of our own downfall.

Despite me not being in a mood to discuss the performance in detail, there are still things I would like to focus on. I’ll start with the very thing I liked about our performance vs City, the thing we completely lacked at St. Mary’s. One which lies at the heart of such an atrocious performance, in my view.

The intensity

It just wasn’t there. Poof. Gone. We did the exact opposite of what should have been done, of what we managed vs City.

We lost duels, we didn’t track runners, we failed to keep our shape, we allowed Southampton to have the ball without putting pressure on them. What’s more, our efficiency dropped big time compared to 6 days ago. For example we took 8 shots with 5 on target in both games, but were only able to create 1 big chance vs Soton compared to 3 vs City. Here are the numbers which show how much our intensity dropped.

Metric	Manchester City	Southampton
Ball recoveries	62	46
Tackles	20/29	11/20
Interceptions	24	16
Dispossessed	10	20

What does it tell us? We were much less willing to attack Southampton players in possession, hence the drop. I regret a lot there is no such metric as “duels” (or at least it isn’t available for the wider audience), because I suspect that’s where we really lost the game.

The referee

He was shite. That doesn’t make us world beaters, but Jonathan Moss made three costly decisions on the first three goals, plus a lot of small decisions went Soton’s way.

There was an offside in the build-up to the first, Long blatantly tripped Koscielny to escape his marker for the second and the third wasn’t a corner. That doesn’t change the fact we defended like a pile of dung on all three occasions, but saying the ref didn’t influence the outcome of the game would be wrong in the extreme.

The (over)reaction

That was something else. Immediately after the loss people started calling for Wenger’s head, lambasting Per Mertesacker, saying Flamini is no longer up for it and so on and so forth.

Wenger went from being a tactical genius to being unable to implement basic things right, Mertesacker’s massive rock-solid City performance was forgotten and he went back to being a slow and useless lamppost, Flamini was “all over the place” 5 days after demonstrating brilliant acumen to pocket Silva, while Olivier Giroud transformed into a donkey from a clinical finisher.

If you look at your Twitter timeline (and I strongly recommend you not to), our title bid is over. We don’t have the depth, the mentality, the quality, the right manager - you name it.

Let’s just ignore the fact Manchester “much better than us” City actually trail us by a point, having lost to us just a game ago. Let’s close our eyes City were comprehensively beaten three times this season, losing twice by a 4-1 scoreline, one of these times was at home. Let’s talk down all our previous achievements and good games.

No perspective whatsoever. I swear to God our fanbase is as reactionary as it gets. Every loss is an utter failure, which should immediately be “seriously inquired into” and put right by axing the manager and half the squad.

The verdict

This loss hurts. The fact that this loss came at a time when we had a chance to go top hurts even more. The fact that we were actually outplayed and humiliated doesn’t bear thinking about.

But the fact remains: this loss isn’t the end of the world. We are still second in the league, two points behind Leicester who take on City in the next game. We have created ourselves a cushion by beating City, now we’ve blown it. Yes, we now have a worse goal difference.

However we are still well-placed in the grand scheme of things. We haven’t lost three league games in a row. We aren’t in the 15th place, desperately trying to get top 6. We are still in the title mix, whatever anyone else might have you believe.

Now let’s hope we show up and do the job against Bournemouth.

Unfortunately I have an exam on Monday, so I don’t even know whether I’ll make the game. I’m leaving you in the safe hands of Sohum to cover the match. See you in 2016.

Until then

Southampton preview: round the merry-go-round

No rest for the wicked as the Gunners (along with the other 19 teams, truth be told) prepare for their Boxing Day game against Southampton.

And despite Southampton’s atrocious recent form (1 point in 6 games, with only 2 goals scored during that run), I feel uneasy about this match. Maybe because I can’t recall the last time we had an easy game vs the Saints. Our 2-0 loss against them on New Year’s day will surely live long in memory.

Head-to-head

Our record vs Southampton is not too shabby overall - just one loss in 11 meetings (6 wins, 4 draws). However our away record is much worse - just one win in the last 6 games (3 draws, 2 losses).

Right now we are arguably the in-form team. We left our wretched November behind us and won 3 games on the trot, while Southampton, as mentioned above, look very fragile and have recorded no wins in December (in three attempts). Their winless streak of 6 saw the Saints keep no clean sheets, score just twice, concede 9 and get spanked 6-1 by Liverpool in the cup on top of that.

All of this makes the Southampton a dangerous team to play right now. They resemble a wounded and cornered animal and should thus be approached with full concentration and very apprehensively. Furthermore, the quality of their squad suggests Koeman’s men can do much better.

It’s like someone lit the fuse with Saints being the powder barrel. I don’t want Arsenal to be near them when the thing explodes.

Team news and squad

No news is good news, eh? Damn, no. Sanchez and Arteta should have been back already, Wilshere too. None of them are, however, so we’ll have to make do with the players we have for at least another 3 games.

Frankly, I don’t see Wenger rotating much, if at all. Following a string of injuries in November, coupled with some bad results (the two may well be linked with one another, I suspect), Arsene seems to have settled on a formula which he fancies and which produces the desired results. He has played the exact same combination for 3 games in a row and I don’t think we’ll see it tweaked today. More likely the Bournemouth game is earmarked for rotation.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Bellerin - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Monreal - Flamini - Ramsey - Ozil - Walcott - Campbell - Giroud

Rotation issues

Now that’s going to be an issue for us in 2 days. I suspect Cech and our back 4 will stay the same, simply because defenders don’t need a breather as much as other outfield players do (Gabriel is the only switch I can see Arsene making vs Bournemouth), things will get trickier further up field.

I’m pretty sure Ozil will get a rest, the question is, who in the current squad can do what he does? Without Cazorla and Rosicky we find ourselves in a hard spot. Oxlade seems to be messing up even easy passes these days, while none of our wingers are capable of doing a decent job at 10.

The only person who can come close to filling this hole is Aaron Ramsey, so I’m keeping everything crossed the Welshman, with his endless supply of energy will find a way to feature in both games. Luckily he should be relatively fresh, having returned to the squad less just a month ago.

We then have a question regarding our midfield pairing. Just like Ramsey, Flamini didn’t play a lot until a month or so ago, so here’s hoping he has enough left in the tank to play two games in two days. We can give Calum Chambers another shot alongside the Frenchman, while we can also try Oxlade-Chamberlain there. I doubt we’ll see Arteta, though, on whom Wenger said:

“It is the same calf injury, but every time I take a gamble and put him back in he has a set back

This time I was to be a little more cautious & get him to play one or 2 games in the reserves before he comes back and plays.”

However utilising Oxlade as an 8 deprives us of an opportunity to rotate our front three. While Walcott may not need it (the Englishman only started 3 games since his return), Giroud (started 12 games in a row) and Campbell (started 11 games in a row) may well need one. A tough dilemma for the manager.

The verdict

“The confidence following a victory like the one against Manchester City of course increases dramatically. What you want to maintain is the urgency and remember how much a defeat hurts.

You have to take the positives out of a game to believe in your strengths. That balance between confidence and urgency has to be right.”

Simply put, today we need another top level performance. We can’t let our concentration levels drop even a little bit, because I’m sure Southampton will be looking to end their winless streak in front of their fans.

So come on you Gunners.

I’ll be back with you tomorrow, with a customary review of the game.

Until then

Arsenal 2-1 Manchester City: efficient Gunners get the win

The game was approaching a half-hour mark when I started having serious misgivings about Arsenal winning it. An opening 15-minute period of Arsenal’s sterile possession gave way to a 15-minute period of City’s sterile possession and then Arsenal seized control of the ball once more. But nothing was happening still.

31st minute came and were treated to a “shots” box. Arsenal 0, Manchester City 6. “At least they only put one on target and created no moments of real danger” I was thinking, when Aguero sidefooted a through ball into De Breyne’s path and the Belgian fired inches wide of the far post.

But no sooner than my shock from what I’ve just witnessed had worn off, we were in front. Koscielny threaded a fine pass to Mesut Ozil from the halfway, Ozil’s pass ended up at Walcott’s feet and the Englishman fired an unstoppable curled effort past Hart after sidestepping Mangala.

That wasn’t the end of it, though. 15 seconds from the whistle Mangala misplaced a pass, Walcott intercepted it, found Ozil and the German laid the ball on a platter for Olivier Giroud to smash home from close range. 2 shots, 2 on target, 2 goals.

This passage served the simple purpose of illustrating how quickly things can change in a game and how fine the margins are. A minute after we could have gone behind we scored. A simple misplaced pass with just 15 seconds to go can lead to devastating circumstances. That was...enlightening, for me at least.

However, let’s get to the points of interest.

The attitude

This was the standout feature for me. Every single one of our players fought like mad. Tackling, intercepting, scooping up loose balls, closing City’s players down all over the pitch. Going into aerial duels with taller and/or stronger opponents, engaging in physical battles. All the while looking to spring counter-attacks by sparking into life.

All of this we did without Alexis Sanchez and Francis Coquelin. Arsene later summed it up:

“You had times where you had players on the ground at both sides of the pitch because of that total commitment”.

I loved every bit of it. We weren’t bullied by an arguably stronger (physically) City’s midfield. The players fought for one another, they fought for the ball and they looked ready to die on the pitch, but not concede an inch of space. More of that please in the future.

Per Mertesacker

Our captain was absolutely massive. He is not a frequent guest in my articles, maybe because defenders often fly under the radar somewhat due to their less flashy contributions, but the German was the definition of a rock at the heart of our defense. Calm and assured, he mopped up again and again. Here are his numbers:

1. 5 ball recoveries
2. 2/2 tackles
3. 1 interception

Doesn’t look all that impressive, does it? Because that’s not the best part of it.

1. 9/10 clearances
2. 5/5 headed clearances
3. 3/3 aerial duels

How’s that for a defensive masterclass? Even Adrian Clarke picked Per as his main man. The German’s tackling numbers and stuff don’t look all that impressive because City were rarely allowed to attack through the middle. We crowded them out, forced them to lump crosses in from wide areas and that was where Mert came in. Brilliant.

Hector Bellerin

That was much like the Hector we all know and love. The Spaniard was a live wire the entire evening, he was quick to spring attacks and support them, but his defending was also top notch. Neither Delph nor Sterling were able to do anything of note and the credit for this goes to Hector.

The boy made 3 tackles, 3 interceptions, 8 ball recoveries and was successful with 4 out of 6 attempted clearances, but it was his calm manner, no-nonsense approach to his duties I liked the most. Coupled with electric pace, naturally.

Joel Campbell

Here’s a player transformed. Since Joel was handed his first competitive Premier League start vs Swansea, he grew in confidence and stature. He improved with every game and his performance against Pellegrini’s men was, dare I say, his best in an Arsenal shirt.

Yes, he squandered a glorious chance from a Monreal cross and probably should have done better when put through by Koscielny, but this was offset by a good defensive shift (as always) and his overall desire to make things happen. “Make things happen” is hard to measure, however if you watched the game you’ll know what I mean. Sincerely hope Campbell retains his place in the near future, the lad showed massive improvement and deserves it.

Aaron Ramsey

Before I go on, I’d like to say I’m still fuming Rambo didn’t convert his chances. Both were very good chances and both arguably should have ended up in the net, therefore ending the game as a contest.

However, I find myself hard-pressed to be mad at Ramsey. The Welshman put in an all-around energetic display, like Campbell, his desire to make things happen was, and always is, immense.

Rambo spurned his chances and he only created one for his teammates, but in a game where we stayed compact and played on the counter (thus only enjoying 42% of possession), he did what most people begged him to do prior to the game and stayed close to Flamini, providing cover. And still managed to have his best moments in attack.

The aftermath

It was a massive win with a massive performance from the lads. The scoreline flatters City: we could, and should, have went 3-0 up early in the 2nd half, ending the game as a contest. So I don’t understand how Pellegrini can say City were the better side. Watch the game again, Manuel. Or do you think possession equals being better? Then you are as wrong as your counterpart from the other side of Manchester.

The only dark spot is Alexis Sanchez, or, to be more exact, his absence. Wenger shed light on the issue after the game and the news was not comforting:

“He had a slight one (setback) two days ago but he planned to be on the bench tonight but he is so keen. He has got a little bit of a pain and we didn’t take a gamble.

I think he will be back January 10. Christmas period - you can’t count him.”

Here go our opportunities for rotation. I’m glad Campbell and Giroud didn’t play all that much in the first months, while Oxlade and Walcott just got back from injuries, which means all four should be relatively fresh. Will they be fresh enough to play three times from December 26th to January 2nd? We’ll see, but I think some rotation is inevitable, most likely when we take on Bournemouth.

The win takes us within just 2 points of Leicester and gives us room for manoeuvre, as City are now 4 points behind, and Spurs, United and Palace lag us by 7 points.

Now we should chase the Foxes just like Ozil chases the league assist record.

Merry Christmas to you and until later.

Manchester City preview: battle of the heavyweights

Showdown time has arrived. We take on Manchester City on Monday and this game represents a clash between two heavyweights, two potential champions.

Should we write down Leicester as a team which won’t fight for the title? Common sense and basic logic say we should. Even the manner in which Leicester play is very dangerous for a team with title aspirations: open-ended football, the Foxes concede almost as many goals as they score. Only the bottom seven teams conceded more than Ranieri’s men - 24. For comparison’s sake, Arsenal conceded 13, United and Spurs 14 and City 17.

Right now the saving grace of Leicester is that they score more than they concede. But, of the 37 goals they scored (league high by some distance, naturally) 28 were scored by either Mahrez or Vardy. That’s 75%. Should Vardy or, more damagingly to Leicester, Mahrez, sustain an injury or should their form fade away or should the big boys come knocking in January, Leicester will have a hard time keeping up their current form. Because their leaky defense won’t go anywhere overnight, while Mahrez or Vardy can.

But after 17 games… Leicester are top of the league. They sit on 38 points having picked up their last 10 in games against United, Swansea, Chelsea and Everton. And Leicester will be top come Christmas, because Arsenal and City are 5 and 6 points away respectively having played just a game less.

You can not write Leicester off as far as I’m concerned. And you have to admire the work Ranieri has done. This time last year the Foxes were dead last, fighting to stay up. What a difference a year makes. You can’t of course forget about Nigel Pearson. The guy has come in, had a brilliant run from March to May and kept the Foxes up. But I’m not sure Pearson would have been able to do what Ranieri is doing now, which is turning relegation fodder into basically title contenders with a wave of the hand, spending less than 7 million pounds on Kante, Mahrez and Vardy, arguably Leicester three top players.

And how fitting it seems Ranieri was the one who ended Mourinho’s career at Chelsea, putting the final nail in the Portuguese’s coffin. If I was searching for a man who deserved the honour to be the last straw to break Mourinho’s back, Ranieri would be second only to Arsene Wenger. A likeable, intelligent guy, a shrewd manager, who has been the target of Mourinho’s insufferable behavior just goes and beats the Special One at the one thing Mourinho thought he was the best at: football. No mind games, no cheap taunts. Poetic.

But I’ve veered off a bit. Back to the task at hand: City. Let’s start with the usual team news.

Team news

Well, there isn’t much to report about on that front. We have the same squad that faced Sunderland a week ago, plus maybe Alexis Sanchez, who, according to Arsene “has a slight chance” to make the game. Arteta should be the next one to come back, hope he makes it in time for the Southampton game and the busy Christmas schedule following it.

Squad and approach

City’s game is no ground for experiments, so I don’t expect many changes. No Chambers, no Gabriel, no Oxlade-Chamberlain, if you ask me. The only two changes I can see Wenger making is Alexis Sanchez back on the wing and Walcott up top.

As for the first change, I’m not sure Alexis will, or indeed should, be risked from the first minutes. But I also can’t see the Chilean missing the game of that magnitude entirely. A place on the bench seems the most likely and the most logical decision.

Regarding the Theo/Giroud dilemma, it would most likely depend on whether Sanchez starts on the left. Of course Arsene can play Theo up front and Oxlade on the wing, but again, playing Ox is a risk based on his current form. However if Sanchez starts… Then Theo is probably a better option up front. Simply because he’ll keep City’s defenders on the back foot and will be better suited to exploiting the gaps on counter attacks, whereas Giroud will engage in a physical battle with Otamendi and Demichelis. But it all hinges on Sanchez starting, because I don’t believe Wenger will risk starting Oxlade.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Bellerin - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Monreal - Flamini - Ramsey - Ozil - Campbell - Walcott - Giroud

As for the approach, well, I don’t think Pellegrini will change his game and decide to sit back. Wenger is more likely to do that, we’ve seen how he did it at the Etihad. Question is whether he will want to do that at home, in front of the fans.

Personally, I’d advocate exactly this. Without Coquelin and Cazorla we are more vulnerable on the counter and City have quality in abundance to hurt us there. But a carefully thought-out more guarded approach can bear fruit. Hope Wenger showed his lads the reels from City’s losses to Spurs, Liverpool and, most recently, Stoke.

With the right plan, City can be picked apart. Their main weakness right now is the Demichelis-Otamendi partnership. Demichelis is just not very good at defending, while Otamendi is still adapting to the Prem. Hart is also no Cech (ha!), so creating good chances will basically equal goals. We can be sure Hart is more likely to concede than to save these. He has one of the worst big chance save percentages among the top keepers, maybe one of the worst in the league - under 40%. For comparison’s sake, Cech has a 74-75% one.

Another point to bear in mind is City’s midfield. They have no Fernando right now and, like Kompany’s absence, it’s a big plus for us, because their midfield won’t be as secure with Toure at the base. However, it still looks quite daunting and more physical than ours. So we’ll have to stay compact, otherwise City can rip us apart. Another thing in favour of a more guarded approach.

The verdict

Quite frankly, I see no reason why we can’t beat City, especially if Alexis Sanchez returns. Stoke, Liverpool and Spurs were all able to comprehensively do it and we can’t say it was down to luck or City being off on the day. They just identified City’s weaknesses and were able to correctly exploit them. Why can’t we do the same?

This game is more of a “must-not-lose-it” than “vital-to-win-it”. But it has to be said a draw means we’ll trail Leicester by 4 points. It will also mean a harder 2nd part of the season, since we only play Chelsea and Leicester at home. Liverpool, City, United, Tottenham will be all away games, which means additional difficulties in picking up points, meaning we better do it now.

So come on you Gunners.

Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal: Giroud and Ramsey fire Arsenal to the top

Quite unexpectedly (for me, first of all) I made the game. That’s due to my missing out on Cumberbetch’s “Hamlet”. For those of you interested, someone here came up with a brilliant idea to broadcast the play on a big screen, in cinemas. And sell tickets, naturally.

So my friend proposed we go and see the play, but then a last-minute hindrance prevented him from joining me. That’s my personal life in a nutshell. Even when I do have the energy and desire to go out on a weekend, something stops me at the last possible minute.

Away from my non-existent personal life, and, more importantly, moaning of a 22-year-old and back to matters Arsenal, though. The Gunners did the job in a calm and professional manner and, despite this not being one of our better performances, I’ll have a dull 2-0 over a rollercoaster 3-2, say, any day. I just love it when the Gunners go about their business as calmly as they did today. 3 points, top of the league, a clean sheet and an intact nervous system. On to points of interest.

The performance itself

It felt like we were playing in second gear the entire game, but this I can’t blame the boys for. The performance in midweek was as draining as it was exciting. Both on physical and mental fronts. The same 11 guys who started in Greece also started in Birmingham. That’s as much down to the quality of their game as to our inability to rotate them. Sanchez’s return can’t come soon enough, but I fear this won’t ease the burden on our midfield. Hope Arteta’s working on his calves.

The quality that set us apart on the day, the same which helped us overpower Olympiacos, was efficiency in front of goal. Up until 80th minute we took only 5 shots with 2 on target, both were goals. In the final 14 minutes we took another 3 shots, 2 of which were on target, but our overall 8 shots looked meagre compared to Villa’s 18. The Villains’ downfall was what? You are right, efficiency.

Villa took 18 shots, but only two were on target and both were from outside the box. Cech can catch these potshots all day long (congratulations to him for equalling James’ record, by the way). But a more revealing stat shows us both Arsene’s troops and Garde’s men took 7 shots from inside the box, the difference being efficiency. 4 of our 7 shots were on target, 2 of them goals, while the Villains saw one shot blocked and the other 6 put wide.

In other words, while being far from exciting, the Gunners were clinical and that was enough.

Hector Bellerin

Our Spaniard seems to be suffering from a dip in form. Ever since he came back from his injury. Hector didn’t quite looked himself. This run stretches to 8 games, including today’s.

Bayern performance exempting (I simply don’t want to recall that atrocity), we have conceded 5 goals in 7 games. It’s not much per se, but most of these goals came from the right side of the pitch or can be in some way traced back to Bellerin.

Spurs? Kane outrun Mert who tried to cover for Hector, who was out of position badly. West Brom? Bellerin failed to man-mark Morrison for the first and allowed a low cross to come in for the 2nd. Norwich? The pass for the goal came from the right side. Sunderland? Who the hell was Koscielny covering for on the right when he conceded that free-kick? And against Villa Bellerin was suspect defensively again.

Maybe I’m being picky. After all, Bellerin is only 20, it’s his first season as a regular. It’s not like he is Monreal, a full-back with years of experience (kudos to Monreal, by the way, another solid performance). Form fluctuates at such a young age, this is nothing new.

Moreover, we have to understand Bellerin’s, erm, surroundings, changed quite a lot in these past weeks. By that I mean we longer have Coquelin and Cazorla, who were better suited to cover for the Spaniard. Both patrolled the space in front of our back 4 more efficiently than Ramsey and Flamini currently do. Also, instead of having Ramsey on the flank, Hector now has Campbell. Our right-back is as affected by the current changes as the rest of the team, maybe more.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of room for manoeuvre, at least till Cazorla and Coquelin return. Or until Arsene buys a new holding midfielder in January. So Hector has to adapt to the new situation somehow.

Aaron Ramsey

Rambo had another good performance in the middle. He scored that second goal (and started the move which led to it himself), he completed 71 out of his 78 attempted passes (made the most passes of any on-field player), while also chipping in in defense, winning 5 tackles, 3 of these centrally, 2 near our box. Finally, the Welshman ran a whopping 12 km, setting a new Premier League record. The man’s an engine.

Arsene was also full of praise for Aaron:

“He had an outstanding performance today. I think of course he is naturally more of a central midfielder and I pushed him out wide for a while because I believe we have seen many times that when players are pushed against the line they need to shorten their technique. When they come back into the middle again, they are better players.”

Make it 2 goals and 2 assists for Ramsey in his last 3 games. Also notice how Arsene talks about purposefully playing Aaron wide. It clearly never was his intention to keep the Welshman there till the end of days.

However, I still think a Flamini-Ramsey partnership is too gung-ho. Neither can set a tempo to our game (other than chaotic) and I sincerely hope Arsene addresses this problem by either making Arteta/Wilshere a part of the equation or delving into the depths of the transfer market in January.

The aftermath

That was a very important win with some nice little bonuses on top: Giroud scored his 50th league goal by coolly converting another penalty, Cech kept his first clean sheet since October, thus equalling James’ record, Ozil got his 13th assist in just 15 games...

But it was also important from a strategic point of view. Arsenal has moved into the 1st place as a result, a point above City (who got a lucky bounce vs Swansea) and Leicester. Granted, Leicester can still leapfrog us, but they’ll have to beat Chelsea to do that. Doesn’t seem particularly likely, but with Chelsea you just never know…

However we also put some distance between us and the rest. United are now 4 points behind, Spurs (hahaha) and Palace 7 and everyone else even more. Nice weekend for the Gunners. Now we get 8 days till the City game to recover and prepare both physically and mentally.

Let’s hope we do just that.

Until later