A tough day at Villa, but not totally unexpected

It was a disappointing day at Villa Park for Mikel Arteta, his team, and for all of us, too.

I am extremely disappointed, but not totally surprised by the outcome. After a remarkable week for the club, a letdown was possible…and ultimately, inevitable.

If you look at the overall picture leading into this game, the cards were stacked in Villa’s favor.

A) They were facing a team that was emotionally and physically zapped, and B) Villa was fighting relegation for Premier League survival.

The Villa squad was high on emotion, while our lads seemed somewhat lost and lethargic throughout the match. Case in point, we had ZERO shots on target. So now with this defeat, the Gunners can only gain entry into the 2020-2021 Europa League with a win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final on August 1st.

Here’s what the boss told Arsenal.com in his post-match comments, “This is football and every game is completely different. First of all, I’ll congratulate Villa on their performance and the win under such pressure of fighting relegation and for us it’s been a very emotionally and physically demanding week. We tried everything. I think you cannot fault the effort of the players, but after the goal we needed to find ways to attack them better in the final third and we lacked that creativity and that final cross and spark”

He also addressed the banner that flew over Villa Park during the game, “I have full support from the Kroenkes, from the board, from the sporting director and we are putting a very strong plan together to try to do as much as we can in the shortest period. At the end of the day, the league table doesn’t lie and we know the gap that we have to fill in and we are on board with trying to do everything together.”

These are the highs and lows of professional football in England. Following two monumental wins just days ago, reality now sets in as the Gunners find themselves buried in 10th place in the Premier League, with zero chance of qualifying for European competition through league play this season.

With 5 days to go before the league season concludes v Watford, the boss told Arsenal.com, “After a disappointment you have to lift the players and you want to play straight away as quickly as possible. The players were disappointed today, again I can’t fault their effort because I think they tried and tried till the last minute really really hard but it’s been an emotionally and physically demanding week.”

Yes, it was a demanding week, and unfortunately, Arsenal currently lacks the depth to win important games like today at the end of a demanding week. The question remains, how many players do we need to bring in to make this squad once again more consistent, more resilient and more feared? Is it 3, 4, 5? I’m sure more posts will follow on this subject, but for now, it’s time to put today’s game to bed, have a night cap, and say…

Good night Gooners, wherever you are!