SMACKED BY EMERY AT THE DEATH - WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

EMERY PUTS GLOVES ON ARTETA, AGAIN

Unai Emery’s personal hatred of everything I stand for has once again been the undoing of a good Arsenal run. I’m sorry Arsenal fans, this is mostly my fault.

We lost in the second worst way possible… a last kick of the game winner after some shoddy defensive work in the box. Buendia was an inspired sub, he got aim of the goal, and just laced it high into the net. A horrible moment, a momentum killer, but half expected because it’s Unai and he is Mikel Arteta kryptonite.

I don’t want to lay into the players too much. They have been excellent over a very long time and they are still top of the league. This Villa game was a rare afternoon where we conceded over 1 xG and looked utterly shambolic in defence for most of the game.

But why are we there? Gabriel was allowed to go and play with Brazil while nursing an injury and Saliba was injured in training. That is on Arsenal as a whole. We are still a rookie club when it comes to protecting players in busy periods and the same list of issues is getting at us again.

Arteta shrugs his shoulders and points to the fixture list, but in the same press conference tells everyone he has another training session to decide on player fitness. He is his own worst enemy.

The starting 11, really, was all it could be. We had a midfield duo of Declan and Zubi that have been wrecked over the past two weeks. Our game is built on power and explosivity and when we lack it, teams can get at us.

That said, it was not the totality of the issues against Villa. We struggled in the final third and we were sloppy in defence. The first goal from Matty Cash was a worldie, but Eze went to sleep and gave him a free hit.

The last minute goal was a melee of players, but we did not clear our lines and let’s be brutally honest here, Madueke needs to make a better decision when Declan frees him at the back post. A shot that hits the side netting is not the level. He should be good enough to put that across goal like Saka would. The man is a good player, but the rawness in games like this is all too clear.

Arteta did try and change the game early for once. He made two subs at halftime, pulling off the dreadfully ineffective Eze from the left wing and yanking Merino who was no doubt gassed after all the minutes.

Trossard and Gyokeres entered the fray and the Belgian winger continued his outrageous form with a simple back post finish.

Viktor Gyokeres was coming back from an injury, but he was dreadful. His runs were poor. He was overpowered as per usual. He didn’t create a chance or a shot. He lost the ball five times. Some are coming to the realization that we do not have a top class player here. Some are hoping there is more to come. I am not sure there is more to come. This is what he has been like the whole season bar 45 minutes against Burnley. Shame you cannot play newly promoted teams every week. In the Premier League, this guy has no superpowers and it now seems Premier League defenders have the measure of him.

The one bright spark of the afternoon for me was Martin Odegaard. He created three chances, had three shots, and did a lot of good defensive work. There are complaints that he holds onto the ball too long, and I can agree there, but he will get sharper as he gets fitter. This is my point with Big Vik. Odegaard is showing signs of life right away. Big Vik, who has been usurped by Merino, showed nothing despite being fit for two weeks. I cannot wait to see Kai Havertz back in the mixer and even Gabriel Jesus is preferable.

So where do we go? Some Arsenal fans need to pull themselves together. The weak knees are embarrassing to watch. I have never seen so many grown men give up on a season while we are top of two leagues at the same time. Grow up. The title race was never going to be easy and we were always going to have slips, especially in December.

The job to be done is rotate heavily in Champions League. Smack Wolves and Everton. Then make some tough choices on that League Cup semi on the 23rd.

We need to see a nasty reaction to this result and do what title winners do when they drop unexpected points. Brutalize the rest of the season.

Ok, that’s me done for the day. See you in the comments. X