Villa defeat a one-off or a sign of a deeper malaise?

Arsenal 0 Aston Villa 3
Premier League
Sunday 8th November 2020  7.15pm

Unlike the narrow defeats to Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester, yesterday evening’s trouncing at home to Villa was a horrorshow. I’d say it couldn’t have been much worse, but the honest truth is that Dean Smith’s team could have won by more.

They came to the Emirates without fear, played with purpose, aggression and intelligence, and exposed a very below par Arsenal eleven. Mikel Arteta stuck with the same eleven that started at Old Trafford and that seemed the right decision. However the performances in the two games were like chalk and cheese. 

Arsenal had a very early warning with a disallowed McGinn goal for offside, which at least evened out feelings about the Lacazette header against Leicester that was chalked off for Xhaka’s supposed interference with the keeper. They were fortunate though – as with Casper Schmeichel two weekends ago, Leno would not have stopped the rocket of an effort entering the net even without Ross Barkley obscuring his view. 

Ultimately, it was academic. Villa took the lead anyway, through some good play leading to a Bukayo Saka own goal as Arsenal really did not seem at the races. A situation that worsened except for a brief flurry in the second half after the introduction of Nketiah and Pepe. Their one route back into the game was a bread and butter header that Lacazette put over the bar at one down. It might have changed the momentum of the game, but in truth, I think Villa would have won it anyway. They were just so much better.

The Partey –Eleneny pairing that promised so much after last weekend’s triumph at Old Trafford was broken up at the interval, as Ceballos replaced the Ghanaian, Elneny presumably favoured for his defensive discipline. Ceballos did clear one off the line, but in a poor team performance, his own ability to play creative football from deep did not seem to influence matters very much at all. It was difficult to pick out anyone wearing an Arsenal shirt in this game for praise.

Villa’s goals in the second half were well-worked with good use of space and excellent passing. They were able to pick out colleagues without obstruction in a way that Arteta’s team seemed largely unable to. Arsenal boyhood fan Olly Watkins converted their second and third goals. Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley demonstrated why their reputations are high in the English game with performances that made you wonder how much they might improve Arsenal, especially Grealish. He is three years younger than Jack Wilshere, who left the club in the summer of 2018. Of course, Wilshere’s career was destroyed by injury, but the raw talent was obvious. So it is with Villa’s captain. 

Pepe and Nketiah replaced Willian and Lacazette, who had the odd moment but for the most part made you think that Arteta would have been better not starting either forward. Inconsistency is an issue with Arsenal’s attacking players, and that had been largely salvaged up to now through the meanness of the defence. That all went to pot last night. 

We should of course put this into perspective. Villa are, due to their signings, a much better team than the one that only just avoided relegation last season. And they hammered a Liverpool team that included Virgil Van Dijk at home 7-2. They need to be given plenty of credit, just as we are justified in condemning an Arsenal performance in which the attitude and commitment just didn’t seem to be there. Did they not like the November Rain. It was less Gun(ner)s and Roses and more Bummers and Posers. Sorry, just had to do that. A man needs some kind of amusement after seeing his team taken to the cleaners in this fashion.

The hope is that it is a one-off, the kind of freak result that lessons are learned from and is then quickly forgotten, an aberration like Manchester United losing 5-0 at Newcastle. The fear is that, ultimately nothing has changed. Points-wise there is little difference between now and the start of last season under Unai Emery. Arsenal are in the bottom half of the table. Worse still, in terms of personnel, Arteta doesn’t really have too many options. Will returning Granit Xhaka to the starting eleven genuinely improve things? 

The players have until two weeks to go away, clear their heads on international duty and come back refreshed and go again. Leeds away could see absolutely anything, but one thing is for sure. Leeds will attack with the same vigour at Villa did, but we can only hope less quality. 

It was a very bad day at the office, and not the first under Arteta. This season is a big challenge for him, the last half of 2019-20 effectively a free pass. They have got some tough games on the road behind them now, but at home, against the likes of Leicester and Villa, you cannot expect to just turn up and win. And it is starting to feel like the Emirates is returning to a bit of a comfort zone for some of the players now. That’s not how you progress. Arteta is trying to keep everyone on their toes, and I expect some players who have been out in the cold to get a chance when everyone returns from international duty, not least Joe Willock.  

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