Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Brighton 0 Arsenal 1 Premier League Tuesday 29th December 2020 6pm   So a classic game of two halves, as Arsenal’s no-show in the opening 45 minutes at Brighton went unpunished thanks to the inability of the home side’s forwards. The Seagulls have apparently only won a solitary Premier League home match during the year of 2020, and Gooners, Bernd Leno and Matteo Guendouzi will remember that particular occasion all too well. The Gunners were so poor in the opening half last night, you could easily have had an unfortunate and possibly unique double happening at the Amex. Fair play to Mike Arteta for retaining the side, specifically the youngsters, that had served him so well on Boxing Day, with the exception of Alex Lacazette, perhaps a little unfortunate to make way for the fit again Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. However, his players didn’t initially deliver. Brighton offered a different style to Chelsea, more conservative. They are known as draw specialists and you could see why. Orga...

  Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1 Premier League Saturday 26th December 2020 5.30pm   Well, well, well. Laca, Xhaka and Saka – I think you’d have got long odds on those three all scoring in the same game, and probably long odds on Granit Xhaka scoring in any game, but after a horrid sequence during November and December, with only a sprinkling of Europa League wins against relative no-marks, Arsenal won their first Premier League match since Old Trafford back on the 1st November. Seven winless fixtures later, and hopes were not exactly high amongst Gooners who probably thought that the festive period might be just the right time for a two week winter break (an idea I am guessing has been shelved this season?) But football can surprise, and perhaps the most significant news of the day was that Willian and David Luiz both felt unwell, although neither had tested positive for COVID. Gabriel was a less welcome absentee, after having been in contact with somebody who had tested positive, even ...

Arsenal 1 Manchester City 4 Carabao Cup 5th Round Tuesday 22nd December 2020  8pm Another game, another disappointing performance. The bookies had Arsenal at over 5-1 for a home win in a cup tie, which shows how far they have fallen. Remember the days of Fortress Emirates anybody? We can’t know what the owners of the club are privately thinking, but to this observer, my belief is that Mikel Arteta has another six matches to keep his job. One of those is less important in the greater scheme of things – the home FA Cup tie against Newcastle. Another is pretty much written off – the visit of Chelsea on Boxing Day. Anything there would be a bonus. But the four matches that will determine Mikel Arteta’s future is the quartet of Premier League games that follow Chelsea. Brighton and West Brom away, followed by Palace and Newcastle at home. My thought is that anything less than eight points from these matches will mean the manager is given his P45. Inexperienced as the team runn...

  Everton 2 Arsenal 1 Premier League Saturday 19th December 2020, 5.30pm In the ‘Match of the Day’ analysis of Arsenal’s performance in their defeat at Everton, the lack of hunger of too many of Mikel Arteta’s players to either run into space when their team was in possession, or close it down when they didn’t was damning. It told a story of a collection of players in the comfort bubble complacency zone that has existed at the club for well over a decade.   Standards have slipped incrementally, almost unnoticeably over the short term. However, the last time Arsenal qualified for the Champions League was in 2016. Two FA Cup wins have done little to mask a general malaise which has not been addressed. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Mikel Arteta’s tactics. They work for Pep Guardiola often enough. However, he is stuck with a ragtag bunch of well-rewarded players who have been on the metaphorical beach since the middle of October.   Quite simply, too many can’t be ...

Arsenal 1 Southampton 1 Premier League Wednesday 16th December 2020, 6pm On the upside, a very unwelcome record was avoided, as Arsenal avoided a fifth consecutive home league defeat. And there were signs of life in the sick patient in the form of Bukayo Saka, who showed a willingness to try and makes things happen, resulting in Arsenal’s third goal in their last nine Premier League outings. But overall, pickings were slim if we are looking for the green shoots of recovery in last night’s fixture at home to Southampton, a game that in the old days felt like a guaranteed three points. The real star of the evening lined up for the visitors, as Theo Walcott both scored the opening goal, and drew the foul that saw an Arsenal player sent off for the third time in recent weeks. It really felt like Arteta’s defence were playing too high a line, even if Theo’s pace isn’t what it used to be.   At least the manager had the sense to drop Willian and Lacazette, two of the most underperfor...

  Arsenal 0 Burnley 1 Premier League Sunday 13th December 2020, 7.15pm When I was a child, I have a vivid memory of a Sunday evening routine. I had a bath, then wearing a dressing gown would watch Esther Rantzen’s ‘That’s Life!’ (consumer rights come light entertainment) program on BBC1 whilst eating a packet of crisps and drinking a cup of tea. I did actually like the show (I was maybe 12 years old), although there was a general feeling of the end of the good times on Sunday evening, as Monday morning would be a return to school after two days of liberty. So it was a bittersweet experience. Fast forward to 2020, and young Gooners must dread Sunday evenings. Never mind the prospect of lessons the morning after, it’s the crushing inevitability of Arsenal being defeated in a home match at the Emirates by all and sundry, and a post-match Mikel Arteta interview in which he bemoans the lack of ability of his team to put the ball in the net. It’s pretty grim viewing watching the Gunners ...

  Dundalk 2 Arsenal 4   Europa League Matchday Six Thursday 10th December 2020, 5.55pm It would, of course have made a great away trip. I mean… Dublin (although granted, December might not be the most pleasant month, weather-wise, to be visiting Ireland). As it was, Arsenal completed their Europa League group stage commitments in an empty Aviva Stadium. Apparently, in spite of the lack of fans allowed to watch, their European matches were switched from the far more characteristic Oriel Park (pictured) due to the facilities required by UEFA – I am guessing for the media. It certainly can’t have been for the quality of the playing surface, the rugby union markings all too visible. The irony of this was that Dundalk certainly didn’t play in the style of Ireland’s international team back in the days of Jack Charlton, who would have used a roughed-up pitch to their advantage.   Thinking of Charlton, who passed away earlier this year, it’s interesting how the death of footballe...

  Tottenham 2 Arsenal 0 Premier League Sunday 6th December 2020, 4.30pm No-one on the red side of North London expected much from this game. We could clutch straws with the idea that the law of averages meant Arsenal were due a result, or that form goes out of the window on derby day, but this match went to form. And in summary, Jose Mourinho got his tactics right, demonstrating his far greater experience of winning football matches, a talent that has worrying implications for Gooners that have been singing about Spurs not winning the title since 1961 for decades.   The story of this match was very simple. Spurs were ruthless on the counter attack twice (albeit assisted by Thomas Partey’s lack of nous which left his team a man short for the second), and were able to defend their lead relatively comfortably, in spite of allowing Arsenal the ball for the majority of the match. In Kane and Son, they have a pair of in-form strikers. Arteta’s forwards cannot buy a goal, a dearth th...

  Arsenal 4 Rapid Vienna 1 Europa League Matchday Five Thursday 3rd December 2020, 8pm You can’t argue with Arsenal’s consistency in this competition so far in a very unusual season. They have won their last four matches by a margin of three goals, either 3-0 or 4-1. The latter scoreline was the result the last time that the club entertained European opposition – Molde – at the Emirates. It’s good to get these wins under the belt, good to give a run out for non-first team starters, but a reflection of the huge gap in quality between the Premier League and the majority of other top flight divisions on the continent.   Still, the big story of last night was obviously the return of the paying public to an Arsenal home match. There was a scramble for tickets for this one. Now if you’d told me a year ago that would be the case for a Thursday night Europa League group game in December, I’d have questioned your sanity. How times change. Still, think on this. If you think Arsenal fans...