The last 3 results were disappointing. It’s not that Arsenal played exceptionally badly. But considering the level of the teams of the PL, each small mistake turns out to be costly. The difference this season was our mistakes were unpunished primarily due to some individual brilliance at key moments from certain players, and a little bit of luck. Now, with the second half of the season underway, it almost seems like PL fantasy league where we have used up the wild card and the free hit at the beginning of the season, and we are left with crucial injuries and no funds. Our passionate and polarising fanbase is starting to show the cracks again. It just seems like the same old Arsenal.
But I seriously want to believe that this season is different. For starters, we have not choked against the top 4. We still have one game in hand. And we have a squad that has been amalgamated through years of disheveling, losing superstars to either trophies, money, or plain apathy, and we have added some good players to our squad. Trossard looks like he has been with this team since its inception, and Jorginho has been decent, if not impressive, in the couple of games he has played.
However, my main concern is the lack of Plan B. Teams have realized Saka is our primary outlet and have overloaded the RW during our games. This did leave Nketiah with some space evident through the 2 open headers that he got—and missed. Martinelli seems isolated. And we are struggling to score, again. Everton was a game where we made the mistake of underestimating our opponents, going overconfident, and losing due to a solitary goal playing against a team with their backs against the walls and a stadium really backing their team. Brentford was a game we played on second gear, and never really tried or looked like getting a positive result. City, with their caliber, punished our 2 mistakes and scored a brilliant 3rd goal. We weren’t bad, but we were average. And Champions can’t afford to be average for too long.
I hope to see some changes. The subs have been predictable, and it almost seems like Arteta doesn’t trust our bench to play for the team. Trossard shows promise and should be rewarded with a start. Vieira seems to be a player who has a keen eye and can get an occasional killer pass, and he needs more time, especially when we are chasing a game, and I hope Arteta can come up with a plan to accommodate him in place of Xhaka/Jorginho and plug the defensive hole that might come up at the same time. And I hope players who had a bad game against City get a 1-1 for about an hour with Arteta and his famous whiteboard anecdotes and come out ready to put their mistakes behind them and also with a mental note to never have to endure the torture again.
The season is far from done. And I would like to see the beginning of the fightback from today. And I hope we take the title race to the wire. Winning would be great, and losing after a fightback won’t be the worst way to go, but giving up because of a couple of hiccups will be something that will really be disappointing. The fans have waited so long for a title. We haven’t celebrated St Totteringham’s day for a long time now. And we have seen our team collapse mid-season, season after season. The least we deserve this year, after the start, is a fight. And we will be fighting alongside.
North London forever.