Dropping points against Everton in a disappointing manner, most Arsenal fans expected the team to pick up at least a draw, if not a win at Etihad. Given the positives of the season so far, the Arsenal cohort had sufficient reason, albeit reserved given the demolitions of several other teams in the PL, to believe that the boys could bat out a decent result. While there were several mistakes by the linesman at critical junctures during the contest, we have to consider our mistakes for conceding poorly. Consider what Jack said after the Everton match: “If you can’t win, don’t lose.”
There were several points upon which our system broke down against the dangerous City side and we were duly punished. Let’s have at the mistakes which led to 6 goals.
1-0. A goal off a corner. In previous seasons, set-pieces seemed to be our inherent weakness which had been eradicated but for today’s opening goal. It’s clearly noticeable that zonal marking does not allow any room for error as it means one flick of the ball and it lands at the feet of an intended or even unintended opponent which more often than not, will lead to a goal. Koscielny’s marking on Aguero could have been slightly tighter, after Demichelis flicked the header backwards, but much to our dismay, Koscielny faltered this time. The marking on Demichelis’ run should have been tighter as well.
2-1. This goal was very frustrating to watch. The entire game I had watched Monreal shift centrally rather than asserting his authority at left back, for no primary reason. At the local pub where I was watching the match with a city-record breaking number of Gooners (Sydney), I kept pointing out that every attack City made, they passed and switched the ball to Negredo and Zabaleta both of whom were creating danger down our left flank. Negredo should have scored one earlier which should have given Monreal a wake up call, however, it was not to be. Zabaleta received the ball and with a simple cross found Negredo. Sure, Koscielny could have saved the cross, but there was very little chance of that. I was quite disappointed with Monreal in this fixture.
3-1. An example of our midfield just not on their game at all today. Ozil near our goal line on the right flank, passed the ball to Flamini who should have been wary of the pass but reacted too late. The ball was received by Fernandinho who finessed a fine shot out of Szczesny’s reach. You give City the chance and they’ll punish you. That’s exactly what they did. Our passing could be best described on the day as “incomplete.” Many passes, critical moves made too long, too short, too late. It almost looked like the boys had never played with each other before.
4-2. THIS goal frustrated me the most. Having already seen Monreal punished for being out of position in City’s 2nd goal, Monreal was easy pickings for City here. This time, Navas wasn’t closed down and made a very simple low cross from our left flank, on the edge of the box. Monreal was definitely at fault for not closing down Navas and being out of position, however, the next bit baffled me the most when watching the replays. After Koscielny had been stretchered off the pitch (with what we initially feared to be a cruciate ligament injury but ended up being a “deep laceration” as we found out post-match), Vermaelan was brought on to fill in Kosc’s position. Usually Vermaelan is has a sound reading of the game, however in this instance, he made an unforgivable fundamental defending error . When the cross came in, his position should have been in front of David Silva, yet, he bizarrely stood closer to the goal, out of Silva’s way allowing the Spaniard the easiest of touches to score. Quite poor positioning from Vermaelan. With Koscielny out, one can only wonder if Vermaelan is ready to step up, especially against Chelsea, Monday week.
This goal was the one that knocked the stuffing out of Arsenal. At 3-2, I didn’t celebrate as the pub went wild around me. I was quietly optimistic. We stood a chance. But after conceding the 4th, Arsenal just seemed to succumb to some fatal realisation that the game was over. Which led to the next goal.
5-2. Out of the game the boys believed. As a result of our midfield being lackadaisical in possession, City pounced. Jack lost the ball to Yaya Toure and lay flat on his face after the tackle rather than bouncing to his feet to win back the ball like we usually see him do. Knackered. The City attack was relentless and with Nasri itching to score against his former employers, he made a darting run around our defenders and made an easy pass to Fernandinho in the box who shimmied passed Mertesacker and slotted in his 2nd.
6-3. A penalty as a result of what I’d like to think as frustration from Mertesacker. As City advanced closer to our penalty box deep into stoppage time, the attackers bore closer to Vermaelan who was backing away slowly which seemed to force Mertesacker out of his position to close down the attack. Unfortunately, this exposed a gap and with the large numbers of players in the attack, the tore through which resulted in Szczesny handing them a penalty.
A rather miserable scoreline, a match which allowed those close to us to catch up. Arsene said after the match:
“I’m very disappointed because we didn’t do our defensive job as we are used to.”
We simply made too many defensive errors at crucial moments which allowed City to pounce and score. You give them an inch and they’ll take a yard. Which they very well did. Our midfield lost the ball far too easily and allowed too much space to the Man City midfielders and attackers. When Arsene said “We didn’t defend well from up front and did not show enough solidarity defensively. That’s too easy going” it summed up our defensive circus aptly. Harsh I may be, but only on the face of fundamental errors. Of course, many of our players would have faced fatigue on the back of the Napoli match midweek which succeeded a late Sunday game against Everton. One would have thought that the fixture at Etihad would have been on Sunday but unfortunately, in this imperfect world, TV channels have a major influence on the fixture schedule.
There were of course other things to consider besides our defensive errors in the match. For one, I was surprised that Jack wasn’t substituted near the 60th minute mark. At half time, I said to the Gunners around me that Jack should come off for a attacking minded, hungry Rosicky. Coming off the bench, Rosicky’s attack minded approach would be exactly the boost we needed in midfield to kick-start some sort of revival. Jack was quite poor in the first half and his reluctancy to regain possession for the 5th goal was exactly what I had been referring to. He just wasn’t at his best, whether it was fatigue or his inexperience which led him to drop his performance level while losing, before the final whistle. I’m hoping it doesn’t become a habit of Jack’s.
Although, we did see some rather wonderful passes by Jack Wilshere, which found Giroud on a couple of occasions. Giroud however, couldn’t take advantage of a single opportunity. His first glaring miss, he belted a beautiful lofted pass from Wilshere, sky high, off his left foot when it truly would have been easier to hit the ball at least on target. His second miss was a pass from Wilshere yet again, but this time, Giroud had the opportunity to head the ball goal bound, however, from 8 yards out, he helped the ball on its way past the far post. It was quite bizarre. His third was comical. When he had time and space just outside the 6 yard box to make a simple pass with his right foot to Wilshere, Ramsey or Ozil, he comically made a small touch with his left foot which sent the ball out of play. Another bizarre incident. I like Giroud though but like I’ve said before and like a few around me at the pub were saying, these incidences are the mark of only a good striker, not a world class one. Something we’re still missing.
The next issue was the linesman. 3 off-sides given to our players when they were very clearly onside, disallowing one goal and another potential goal. It could have been a difficult call, but in line, we could see Man City defenders behind our players, namely, Giroud and Bendtner. Very very poor officiating by the linesman on the day. These kinds of calls absolutely ruin a football match. A return of our bad luck with officials, perhaps? Hope not. Touch wood.
In these kinds fixtures, our lack of depth is very apparent. Being 4-2 down, instead of bringing on Rosicky or Cazorla, two very experienced and talented players who have fantastic ball control and an attacking minded approach, Arsene brought on Bendtner for Giroud. The commentator even ludicrously said “Arsenal are preparing their secret weapon, Niklas Bendter.” The less that can be said, the better really. We’re missing depth up front, something I along with many other Gunners, hope Arsene will rectify come January. Bendtner didn’t do too poorly when he came off the bench though. As a matter of fact, he even scored a goal, even though it was incorrectly disallowed, it shows he has something. Good for him. I hope another team notices that and bags him for a couple of millions in January.
But not all was bleak. One positive was Theo Walcott. His first start after returning from injury and he was Arsenal’s best performer on the day followed by Mertesacker who put his body on the line even in helpless situations. Theo 2nd goal was absolutely delightful, a peachy curler into the top corner from 13 yards out. Beautiful. I kept shouting during the match for Theo to get off set-piece duty and get into the box because I knew that he could find the ball and finish! He does miss often but boy, can he score as well! Theo’s return has come at a good time and his pace down the right flank will be a necessary asset against upcoming opponents like Chelsea. Welcome back Theo!
To add to the rather eventful match, Jack was caught on camera flipping the bird to Man City fans, for which he has been charged by the FA and was given 24 hours to respond to the charge which is most likely to be a one match ban (ala Suarez vs Fulham). Such conduct should not be tolerated at the club at all and on top of his smoking issues, one has to wonder what is becoming of the promising young superstar. I sincerely hope Le Professeur has something up his sleeve to guide Wilshere back on track. Jack did thank the away fans though a couple of days after the match. “They’ve been great over the start of the season even though we lost the first game at home,” Wilshere told Arsenal Player. “The away fans are brilliant. We have to apologise to them, they spent their money to come up [to Manchester] and we didn’t perform to the level they expect.” So kudos to those away fans that travelled up to Manchester. You’ve down all us Gunners proud.
Also, at the end of the match, it is customary for the players to thank the fans, home and away, however, Ozil was seen walking off the pitch without thanking the fans. Actually, it wouldn’t have been noticed as much had Mertesacker not raced over and wagged an angry finger in his compatriot’s face. Per was seen barking at Ozil for not thanking the fans while Ozil mouthed off obscenities at Per with raised arms. Of course, it was all in the heat of the moment and everyone who knows Ozil at all knows he’s a very humble and caring person. Let’s not forget, upon his arrival at Arsenal, he insisted on going around to each and every staff member at Arsenal and greeting them. Later on the next day, he updated his status on Facebook with an apology to the fans saying:
“Sorry I didn’t thank the fans at the end of the game!
“You have been brilliant to me and I know you had travelled a long way and spent your money to support us. I was upset with the result and know I should have come to you to say ‘thank you’ and I know it is a big Arsenal tradition win, lose or draw.”
It’s good to see Per carrying so much passion for the team, for the club and for the fans. His attitude will go a long way in lifting us after defeats like this. His passion has always been apparent and will be a much needed factor during our run in at the end of the season.
However, let’s concentrate on the now. We must pick ourselves up after this defeat. Let’s not forget, we’re still top of the table. As Arsene said, “If we cannot pick ourselves up by being top of the league what will happen if we are not top of the league?” 9 days to prepare for Chelsea. Refreshed, the boys should be hungry for the challenge. I’ll fully expect the boys to go for the jugular and finally earn Arsene his first win over Mourinho. Hope the boys are ready.
‘Til next time then Gunners. This is Arsenal.
-Sir Gunner.
A Gentleman's Arsenal 