Question answered, Man City is still the best

Wednesday didn’t work out the way we had hoped. Obviously.

The Gunners were manhandled, schooled and throughly beaten by a much better Manchester City football club. This can be no doubt in anyone’s mind.

Questioned answered, Man City is still the best.

Did Arsenal play their best match of the season on Wednesday? Absolutely not, however, it’s so obvious the Gunners need help in the midfield. Pep Guardiola’s midfield engine dominated from start to finish.

Kevin De Bruyne was brilliant from the opening kick-of, and Erling Haaland is a beast.

We chased and chased and chased. Except for a few rare occasions, we couldn’t consistently hold the ball or create much of anything in the final third. Jesus, Saka and Martinelli were basically invisible, but when they did have the ball at their feet, two or three City players were on top of them to take it away. We had no answers to those questions.

If we are ever to compete with City on a level playing field next season, there is a lot of work to be done in the off-season for Edu Gaspar and Mikel Arteta. If we are to compete man-to-man with City next season we will need solid, talented and experienced reinforcements, or we will still be carrying Pep’s water.

Arteta is working to build his club in the fashion of Guardiola’s side. For the most part it has been working, however, Pep has a better squad, and a team built with versatility. That’s one area where we are seriously lacking.

Of course, we missed William Saliba in Wednesday’s match. Maybe he would have prevented one of their goals, but at the end the day, City would still have dominated. Rob Holding tried hard, but is not of the caliber to really compete with a striker like Haaland.

Yes, we can complain about a missed handball call on Haaland, and yes, the no-offsides call on John Stones goal was extremely close, however, we were never really in the match despite those questionable VAR decisions.

We can run, but we cannot hide from the fact we were thoroughly beaten by a much better team, and the teacher schooled his student.

Need we say no more. In our three head-to-head matches this season, Manchester City won all three, with a +6 goal differential.

As it stands, unless Arsenal can win the remaining five games on the schedule, and unless City loses at least two of their remaining six, Arsenal will not raise the Premier League trophy this season.

What also really hurts is the fact that Arsenal is their own worse enemy. Dropping a total of seven points to cellar-dwellers Everton and Southampton this season is inexcusable. Those are the matches that count just as much as Wednesday’s. Those seven points would have put us nine points clear of Manchester City, right now.

It looks like Manchester City will win the title again this season. It will be their fourth in a row, and fifth of the last six. They are truly a Premier League dynasty. They could also win this year’s FA Cup and the Champions League as well, which would complete a remarkable treble.

Man City should be champions. They are the best team.

Okay, enough about Man City.

On the brighter side, the Gunners will compete in next season’s Champions League. That is great new, and a wonderful accomplishment. It’s been a very long time.

At the end of the day, and as much as Wednesday still hurts, we need to look at the Arsenal season as a whole. It has gone beyond expectations. The team has been wonderful, and has provided us with a million moments of joy.

Our time will come, and yes, Wednesday will be a learning lesson, and provides all of us with a better indication of where the club stands in the Arteta project.

The last four matches is not a fair representation of the entire season for Arsenal. It’s just unfortunate the lads played their worst football at the worst time.

Did they bottle it, did the pressure become more than they could handle, or did the pin finally burst the bubble?

I don’t really know, but what I do know is that we are closer than we were last year at this time. We just need more help.

The team needs to put this one in the rearview mirror quickly, or the rest of the season could go south as well.

COYG!

Gunner1953