Well that was rather good. Beautiful ,fast ,aggressive , organised football in the first half to open up a 2 goal lead, then controlled shape in the 2nd half to maintain the advantage. What a wonderful refreshing change to the way we have laboured for the bulk of the past 18 months.

The result was needed, but not half as much as the performance. That should give the players belief in Arteta and in turn give him the belief in the playes. Players that had been written off in the media and by many of our own fans, specifically Ozil, Xhaka, Torreira and Luiz, were absolutely brilliant.

I said that Mikel would struggle to find a balanced midfield, how wrong could I have been?

Lacazette, much maligned in recent week, although not at his best in front of goal, put in a shift and a half.

Ozil purred like the beautiful player he is, he was back to his best, again,

Torreira was everything we hoped he would be when we signed him and Xhaka will have upset a lot of people because he ran the midfield.

This my positive friends, was a great start to the new decade, the time of Arteta dawns.

A desperately disappointing result, especially given how well we played in the first half. In that half we were very compact , energetic and aggressive in the tackle and pressing. The goal though came from a set piece rather than any good bit of creative play. However, we were value for the first half lead.

Ozil and Torreira had done very well and Aubameyang had put in a real shift. But the warning signs were there to be seen in the last 15 minutes when Chelea grew into the game.

The second half was a totally different kettle of fish. Chelsea were totally dominant although we seemed to be containing them. Then Leno decided to give them a helping hand by completely missing a ball in from a free kick. A free kick needlessly given away by Lacazette, who all in all had another disappointing game. If Lacazette is not careful he will be scapegoat in chief as soon as Xhaka sprints out the door, How we missed Xhaka today, I might add, his understudy, Guendouzi, had a poor game as he seemed the only player not to understand the team shape.

Talking about Matteo, the winning goal came when he did his normal poor attempt to win an aerial ball, and nodded it to a Chelsea player , setting them off on a breakaway.

So as disappointing as it was, we have to accept that we were not good enough in the second half. I think a draw would have been a fair result, but who said football was fair?

If Xhaka has indeed decided he has had enough of us, we desperately need a CM to fill the gap, as there is no one near his level on the roster capable of stepping up.

Have a nice new year and don’t fret too much, Mikel has this, it will come, sooner or later

It was only a point and only a single goal, but that was much better.

The team looked like a team again. Ozil was the best player on the pitch, closely followed by Xhaka and then Torreira. Our midfield was all of a sudden balanced. Ozil creating 3 really good chances in the first 11 minutes and looking class until he was withdrawn on about 75 minutes, presumably the lack of game time taking a physical toll.

Torreira did everything we expected from him when he signed, he hustled and harried, won ball after ball and layed it off effectively.

Xhaka sat deep, always ready to take the ball and distribute it with a variety of fantastic passes.

Saka and AMN both coped well defensively and the two center backs look quite secure.

Sadly there were some negatives as well.

Lacazette had a poor game, and that’s being kind. Maybe his being dropped has affected his confidence,or maybe his performance tell us why he has been dropped?

I thought Nelson struggled as well, he and Saka squandered some really good opportunities to deliver a telling final ball, in fact even a half decent final ball was not to be seen.

All in all it was a game we should have won on our performance, there were huge green shoots of improvement.

Well done boys and well done Mikel, after just 3 days training , outstanding progress.

A point is a point, as they say.

I have to be honest though, Everton were awful.

In the spirit  of the blog , let’s look at the positives. We fielded an awfully young team and we didn’t lose. I thought David Luiz had a fine game, I feel that when he is on the ball he brings an urgency and progression that drives the team forward as a unit. Chambers was solid and for once we saw a CB pairing that worked well together.

Xhaka once again showed that  his distractors rate his performance before a ball is kicked, some of his long passing was sublime and he ended the game with a 90%+ passing,he also made some important clearances and interceptions. He is a fine player and I hope Mikel can convince him to stay.

Amn and Saka did not let themselves down in any way,both looking dangerous on the rare occasions that the ventured forward. I suspect they were told to be conservative.

No need to be critical of any of the other players because all we can ask is that the give their all, i think they did, no lack of effort from anyone.

Mikel has a big job, but I am convinced he is the right man for us.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

It’s official, Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal head coach. 

Since the departure of Unai Emery there have been endless discussions , articles, podcasts and twitter threads from people with various levels of insight and knowledge, about who should take over. As ever, just about everyone is positive that their choice is the right choice and any other choice will be a huge mistake by the imbeciles running the club. Now that Arteta is confirmed there will be endless discussions, articles, podcasts and twitter threads telling us why it is the right thing, or why it’s total bollocks of an appointment. So, let me start.

I have wanted Mikel as our manager, above all others, since his final year as club captain. Why? Because he was Arsene on the field when he played. He was for me the epitome of everything good at Arsenal. He put in 100% every minute of every game, he led, instructed, cajoled and fought, all while showing a style of play that was the essence of Wengerball.

Of course that was as a player, other players have done as much, so why him as a coach , you might reasonably ask?

Well it was because of his clear understanding of the game, everything he said and did reflected a grasp of shape , tactics, tempo and desire that I felt he would bring to the table as a manager/coach.

Every interview, every word about how he saw the game , every moment spent discussing with Arsene, suggested he had the credentials.

We have all seen the quotes from Arsene, Pep and Poch, waxing lyrical about his potential, I can’t really think of three better endorsees.

I am led to believe he was hugely respected by his team mates, but not particularly popular, Why? Because he demand they all give their all in games and training and was quick to let them know they when they should be giving more. Well isn’t that exactly what we want from a coach?

I for one could not be happier. Yes he faces many problems with the squad, he has no experience, but so what? The appointment gives me hope that we will see, sooner or later,  the return of the kind of football that I want to watch, the values that I want to support and the return of The Arsenal I love.

Mikel came to us at our lowest ebb as a player and he comes to us at a bad period now, if he has half the effect he had as a player, good times will return.

I simply love the man.

I will leave you with the words and thoughts of the man himself ,

“When I was younger my dream was always to play for Barcelona. But after that, if you had asked me where I would like to play when I first arrived in the UK, the answer would have been Arsenal – and that’s the truth. The way they played, the team they had, the philosophy of attacking football, they enjoyed playing the way I do and I would have chosen them ahead of any other. Now that I’m here, I feel so proud to be part of this football club. What they’ve done with it, how they’ve managed it and built it up, is unbelievable.”

and

“One is Arsène Wenger, of course – he has a philosophy that he’s never going to change because he really believes in it. That is the most important thing, because if you don’t really believe in something then you’ll just change it after one bad result and drive your players crazy.”

Now than , as they say  This IS MY MANAGER !