Right , let’s look at the good stuff first. We got a point away at United, despite being a goal behind at halftime, not many manage that. Young Saka had a good game, an assist and but for a lucky deflection, he would have had a winning goal. The lad played the full 90 and didn’t look at all out of place. I also thought Luiz had a good game and looked our most creative player (is that a positive?).

As for the game itself? It was poor. Some would say awful.

Once again we saw a midfield that could simply not dominate of create. Torreira, a DM by trade,looked to be playing as a 10. Matteo hurried and scurried all game and this seems tt impress many, but his distribution is average and he gets the ball taken from him regularly. Because of this imbalance in MF, Xhaka is being asked to do stuff that he is unsuited to, and so he can’t do the job he is very suited to. It’s a mess.

Dani comes on and it’s clear he is no Mesut Ozil, who didn’t even make the trip. Tragic.

The goal we did get basically came courtesy of United gifting us the ball on the edge of their own area, well taken, but a gift anyway.

20 odd minutes in we had 28% possession against a team with a MF that is shocking.

I want to be enthusiastic, but honestly, if Arsenal hadn’t been involve, I would have turned over and watched a rerun of Dad’s Army. It was a dire game. With the player available to Emery, good football shouldn’t be too much to ask. But we are not seeing any, and there appears to be no prospect of it coming.

Good day one all.

With three wins on the spin, in as many competitions, Arsenal go up against Manchester United at Old Trafford with renewed optimism and exciting young players making their return to the side following long injury spells.

Look, we can all agree that there are underlying issues with how the Gunners play but things aren’t exactly scorched earth. We are still going at top-four pace, thanks to flaws elsewhere in the Premier League. So let’s forget about the mind-numbing Vicarage Road trip and even the first hour vs Aston Villa. The last 20 or so minutes of that game our boys had a real bite in them and showed a lot of heart as they dug real for that win. A few unlikely heroes led the charge and that is the sort of character we can all get behind despite our differences in opinion of coach Unai Emery.

I’m not gonna pretend all is well because the lack of defensive organization is glaring. There’s also a fear that we may become as reliant on Bernd Leno and we are on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. I just think if the coach would focus on taking games to the opposition instead of being “scared” there’s lots to be excited about. I can admit I had doubts but after seeing those returning players… Both Rob Holding and Calum Chambers don’t seem afflicted by a susceptibility for liability. Together with Kieran Tierney, who had an encouraging first game, and flaming Hector Bellerín they could provide a secure base for our attackers to perform. This Gunners side is not short of talent and if Emery find a workable formula and just take the handbrake off already… watch this space.

These of course are grim times for Manutd. With just two wins in their last 11 league games Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is feeling the heat. His bosses have spent the most on transfers in the PL this summer so one can imagine he’s under pressure to turnaround their fortunes.

In many ways these teams are like two sides of the same coin. The Red Devils look strong defensively, before the shock defeat to West Ham last weekend they conceded just four goals in five league outings, but are underwhelming going forward, scoring four in that last five. While the Gunners got goals in them but also have an embarrassing reputation of conceding rather silly.

Manutd’s attacking woes are further compounded with both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial currently struggling with injuries and Paul Pogba a doubt. Meaning OGS could put his hopes on youngsters Daniel James and Mason Greenwood to trouble our defense.

These teams met three times last season. Our Old Trafford trip  ended in a 2-2 draw as the hosts came back twice from a goal down. They beat us 3-1 in the FA Cup during the ‘Solskjaer renaissance’. We, of course, got our revenge with a 2-0 win at the Emirates late in the season.

In recent years this old rivalry is far from the top-of-the-table encounters of yore, however, it’s never short of drama and consequence as this already got that a feel of being pivotal to both’s top-four ambitions. A win will move Arsenal within two points of free scoring Mancity (second on the table) and leave Manutd in the bottom half of the table – and Ole losing grip on the wheel.

The Gunners haven’t won a league game at Old Trafford since autumn of 2006 though and whatever Manutd’s form, or lack thereof, their players are at their best on the most intense occasions. Whilst they’re currently looking all out of sorts and not the most relentless attacking side, our organization and focus at the back still has to be on point if we want to have any joy.

This is such a difficult game to call for various reason, but if ever Arsenal want to break their Old Trafford hoodoo as well as getting a first away win against top-six opposition under Unai Emery, there’s  no better time than the present.

May we make this one count. COYG!

Labo

Well now then, what an enjoyable watch that was.

It’s a pleasant change to see us dominant in every area of the pitch.

A much changed team was streets ahead of the 2nd tier opposition, who were, to be fair, poor on the night.

I felt Torreira was off with his passing, but scurried well. Other than that there can be no complaints.

Ozil orchestrated the game and it was a joy to watch. I don’t think he lost the ball even once in the first 45.

Chambers did well yet again, Mustafi and Holding both had no problems  and Tierney made a mightily impressive start to his Arsenal career.

In fact, they were all impressive. I loved every minute of it,and Hector came on and immediately contributed with an assist.

More of this please.

Well this is a difficult write. The absolute joy of winning ,with ten men, after being twice a goal behind, has to be tempered by how awful we were for almost 70 minutes.

Until AMN was sent off it had been an even game, with both sides being equally poor. We appeared to have the edge in attack, but Villa looked to be more in control of the midfield. Once again we left spaces between our defenders and the midfield and didn’t keep the ball well enough when in possession.

Xhaka was playing some great balls into the final 3rd, but blotted his copy book with a stupid booking , he also looked to be the one midfielder to be dashing back to cover the defence, but being captain, perhaps he should have been better positioned and demanded that Dani and Matteo were also keeping a better shape. I thought both of the young lads were having stinkers,especially Dani who slowed down play as a matter of course. Until Joe and Lucas  came on ,our midfield unit just didn’t work. There is of course an argument that when they did come on, Villa sat back and allowed us time and space in the midfield, that made us look better. Who knows, but look better we did. Especially Guendouzi who transformed into a real driving force in the latter stages.

The players deserve full credit for the result, it was achieved became of their spirit and skill. But it somewhat masks the clear problems we had. Why, one must ask, do they need to perform a miracle to get a win at home against Villa?

Aubameyang is simply wonderful, in that he gave the penalty to Pepe, who looked in dire need of a goal. That is true team spirit. We owe him a lot this season, and it’s only game 6.

So I’m very happy that we won, but once again there are more questions than answers.

Ozil just has to play, not playing his is an act of self harm.

Also, there was some real cheating going on today, trying to get players sent off, Papa, I’m looking at you. I hate that sort of nonsense when it’s done to us, and I hate to see us do it.

Right, goodnight and COYG.

A fantastic result away in Germany against a team that had not previously lost at home to an English team. Saka was excellent, 2 assists and a goal. Wonderful stuff. Martinez looked most assure, distributed the ball well and made some outstanding saves, he has a shout for MOTM too. Xhaka played a great game and led the team with commanding authority.

We looked terrific on the break and not one player had a bad game. Everything is rosey in the Arsenal garden, or is it?

The truth is they had 24 attempts to our 16, At times they strolled through our midfield as if it wasn’t there. In fact very often it actually wasn’t there. There was no control in midfield and the space between it and our defence was huge at times. We were 1 goal up against the run of play,and it was a lucky deflection. That said, we had missed a couple of golden opportunities prior to scoring. But so had they. We got two late goals ,when they went down to 10 men, that gives the score no semblance of reality.

Anyway, it’s great to win and that is our most difficult fixture out of the way. We should be very happy with the result, and very aware of how it could have been completely different.

It’s no secret that I have have major doubts about whether Mr.Emery is the right man for Arsenal. I pointed out early in the 22 game unbeaten run that the football was poor and that the underlying statistics were very worrying. Now it seems more and more people are seeing the problems. Excuses that were rolled out are now looking less and less valid.

It needs a better vision, better understanding, liberty for the players, belief that even the most difficult team can be beaten, not fear and loathing and disharmony and limited liberties.

What we currently have are a head coach fearful of losing and players scared to follow their initiative because Emery has already showed he doesn’t tolerate defiance.

What I don’t understand is the obsession with “Emery need more time”. That ship has sailed with his contract up for review in a few months. So for all intents and purposes he is currently coaching the team to save his job. There are teams conceding far less shots at goal with players inferior to the players we have starting. The great hope is that Bellerin   , Holding and Tierney will fix our woes, but I have my doubts. They certainly won’t fix our midfield, which for me is the problem.

Last season even with Bellerín and Holding we were sloppy in defense. Just like now Auba’s goals spared our blushes. We also had world class Aaron Ramsey to call upon when the going got tough, or the experience of Mkhitaryan to solidify our midfield. Özil will continue to get crumbs. Holding will likely be part of of back 3 which could mean Ceballos being sacrificed because Guendouzi currently look to be first name on the matchday sheet.

Arsenal’s best run last season was when we conceded 1 goal in 8 matches…. we had Ramsey, Özil and Xhaka in midfield and yes even the much maligned Mustafi in defense. There was no Holding or Bellerín.

The players are not our problem , our lack of identity is. If every week your boss instructed you to go about your job in a different way, how could you ever perfect anything? How could you hone and sharpen your skills? How would your colleagues understand what they should do to compliment you? This mishmash of styles has never worked for any team good team in the history of football.

In my opinion we have comfortably the 3rd best squad in the league, but honestly, watching the team plod through games, you couldn’t tell.

We have a set up that is specifically designed to make the replacement of the head coach and easy process. I think we should use it, and the sooner the better.

The worst team in the league had 31 attempts at goal. an all time Arsenal PL record.

We were Shite.

Th-th-th-that’s all folks.