Arteta needs to heal the wounds and kick some butts

Now that I’ve had some time to digest yesterday’s calamity at Manchester City, I realize that I am most upset with myself. Why, you ask. Well, for starters, I predicted the Gunners would defeat City 3-2. I thought our club would come back with spirit, determination and drive. I thought the Gunners would have fixed some of the the problems they had battled though out the season. I thought Mesut Ozil would rekindle his old magical flame, and I thought Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would be unstoppable. And, I thought opening against a tough club like City would inspire our team to get even more fit and more prepared. Obviously, I thought a lot of things that just weren’t true, and it really showed yesterday. My bad.

Even Mikel Arteta admitted “everything went wrong, beginning with Xhaka’s injury.”

In his defense, within minutes of the opening whistle, Arteta had to make two defensive changes to the line-up, replacing both Xhaka and Mari. This wasn’t the tactics he had planned, however, this is a game of unpredictabilities, where anything can happen at any moment to upset the applecart. If Mari wasn’t injured and forced off the pitch would he have made the same mistakes his replacement David Luiz did? One can only speculate Mari’s performance would have been sharper and smarter, but we’ll never know.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda…the mantra of an Arsenal supporter.

So, what did we learn from yesterday’s defeat?
Here’s my perspective on the entire situation after watching Wednesday’s match…take it or leave it.

1) It’s obvious Arsenal can not compete with the top tier of this league. Against the league’s perennial top 5 this season, Arsenal has 1 win, 3 draws and 5 defeats.
2) Arsenal is unable to move the ball out of the back against a tough high press.
3) Arsenal lacks a creative engine in the midfield who can push a defense back on their heals and provide chances for the front line.
4) Arsenal lacks a strong and communicative leader on the back line.
5) Arsenal puts too much pressure on Bernd Leno to make saves and avoid stupid goals.
6) Arsenal lacks a playing identity, a style. What are they trying to be?

Bottom line, the club has some drastic holes to fill in the transfer market.

Now, I will not give up on this team today or ever, however, there needs to be a reality check, and it needs to begin Saturday at Brighton and Hove. Arteta said yesterday his team needs to begin winning games, and now. Saturday is a golden opportunity to start a run for points. The clock is ticking on this season. There are 30 points up for grabs, and each one is as important as the other.

Indeed, our young coach has his work cut out for him. He needs to heal the wounds, kick some butts, and find an XI that can win some games.

Maybe the transfer market will improve the squad for 2020-2021, but for now, we are who we are…but then again, who are we?

Cheers, and stay healthy and safe!

Gunner1953