Oh! Brother… we’re in a mess

Brentford 2 Arsenal 0  
Premier League  
Friday 13th August 2021 8pm  

This will fly over the heads of many, but for some reason, in recent days, the 1984 track “Oh! Brother!” by Manchester indie band The Fall has been in my head, possibly inspired by family events, but let’s not go there. However, it seemed an apt tune for last night’s fiasco at Brentford’s new stadium. The chorus goes…
“Oh little brother!
We’re in a mess!
Don’t look at me that way
Don’t put me to the test”
I actually played it after getting home from the game and it gave me a lot more enjoyment than the performance of Mikel Arteta’s team in west London.

There wasn’t much optimism going into the new campaign, largely as a consequence of Arsenal failing to do enough business in the transfer market before the Premier League kicked off, and a disappointing pre-season. However, even where there is not confidence, there is always a glimmer of hope. That candle didn’t flicker long before being extinguished in a horrorshow of a performance against the newly promoted Brentford. 

And with Chelsea and Manchester City next up, you won’t find too many Gooners who think the club will be anywhere but the relegation zone after three matches have been played. Arteta won’t be sacked until December, as the club are not proactive, due to the lack of football nous at executive and boardroom level, and the season will turn out to be another wasted one. As Unai Emery should have gone after Baku, the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal should have been enough for Arsenal to look for a new head coach during the summer. If Arteta’s tactical genius pulled off a triumph in winning the 2020 FA Cup, well, maybe he got carried away, but it sure isn’t a strength now.

Still, it will make for a slightly more interesting ‘All or Nothing’ series on Amazon Prime, the Gunners being the subject of this season’s effort. We already know the ending (spoiler alert) – it will be nothing. Having said that, remember that the club will have a veto on what is shown, so it will only tell the side of the story that they are prepared for the public to see.

I was messaged before the game last night: 

Arteta being asked about Lacazette and Aubameyang …. “They say they are ill”. Telling.

This suggests something not right – although if the players want away, they are dreaming unless prepared to take a wage cut. You do get the feeling there has been a fallout with Arteta and the pair simply aren’t going to do anything to help him keep his job. Aubameyang’s being dropped for being late to get to the stadium for last season’s home north London derby could well be a factor here. Arteta drew a line in the sand, but it doesn’t look to have worked out so well. It’s difficult to get respect from seasoned pros when you have little track record to justify your methods, unless they are seen to be working. 

So Balogun – a hope for the future - started upfront, flanked by Pepe and Martinelli. The latter got very little gametime last season, and Balogun himself should have been given regular minutes from the bench to integrate him with the first team once he signed a long-term deal. So with two relatively unfamiliar faces, the lack of understanding was predictable, especially when balls were being fed from deep by Lokonga, another newbie. Over the course of 90 minutes, Arteta had Balogun, Martinelli and Pepe as his centre forward. Pepe did nearly score at two down, but generally it felt like there was nobody in position to take advantage of balls from the left flank, often from Tierney. 

Defensively, the two Brentford goals were avoidable with better defending, especially the second from a corner. As for the first, it seems a mystery why players do not get tighter, and Chambers didn’t do his prospects of becoming the regular right back much good here. The home side created greater danger with their chances, in spite of having less of the ball, but in truth were not that great. And the reality is they didn’t have to be to win this game, so poor were Arteta’s team. Oh for a commanding centre back who is comfortable on the ball. Oh hang on… another message, this one sent at 9.42, when the game was up, although not over -
William Saliba made more clearances (7) than any other player on the pitch during Marseille's 3-2 win vs. Montpellier. He passed the ball into the final third more times (13) than any OM team-mate and also created two chances.
Not good enough for Arsenal – goes without saying. 

In terms of creativity Lokonga (or Sambi if you prefer) put some decent balls through, even if they were generally not read by the forwards. Emile Smith Rowe did try to make things happen, but it was a night where nothing came off. Telegraph journo Sam Dean pondered if the fact that Lokonga did the post-match interview duties indicated that here was a player with leadership qualities willing to step forward and front up, or a sign of a lack of leaders in the team. It certainly felt like the latter. Granit Xhaka was captain, and was almost caught out in his own penalty area due to complacency in the first half. When Thomas Partey is fit, I hope Xhaka is dropped – he symbolizes a lot that is wrong with Arsenal’s approach. 

The arc of doom hasn’t gone away – that’s the recycling of the ball across the back and through the goalkeeper, with the occasional touch of one of the two central midfield players. The ball goes nowhere, the only thing the ends up moving forward is the clock, and the conclusion tends to be a loss of possession. Better to drive forward and show some initiative? But Arsenal think they are playing safe, controlling the game. In reality they are simply sucking the life out of their own ability to go and win a football match on the front foot, as more confident teams do. Only when Saka was introduced as a second half sub (to a heartwarming response from both sets of supporters) did Arteta’s team establish a bit of incision towards the Brentford box. However, it came to nought, and when they conceded a second goal, you really couldn’t see them coming back for a draw.

The match fizzled out, Pepe had his aforementioned chance which produced a good save from the Brentford keeper, but aside from that the attempts on goal were very few. Some wins can turn this around, and the head coach has plenty of Europa League-free weekends in which to put things right, but there aren’t many who have faith in his ability to do that. So it will drag on. Arsenal will win some matches at home, but now the crowds are back, Arteta will not get the free ride he did when his team had that appalling run at the back end of 2020. Arsenal are struggling to sell seats for next weekend against Chelsea. The club’s decline is now hurting the bank balance even more, and at this point, the owner might suddenly realize he has allowed his asset to dwindle in value through being poorly advised.

Right now, it just feels like the club is rotten from top to bottom, with a lot of low-paid employees laid off – a false economy with the implications for the poor service fans are now getting - and those that remain struggling with the workload. The decision-making has shown that people in higher positions don’t seem to know what they are doing. Emi Martinez is a better keeper than Leno. William Saliba seems worth the money the club paid for him, but is not being used. Aubameyang and Willian were given contracts that they are not justifying. What is the solution? Probably to write this season off, promote more of the kids and give them matches to develop, and get a new coach in who can organize a team to win football matches – which means defending better and creating more chances to score. Simple. 

I’ll end with a tweet and a response that cheered me up post match…

Sky Sports News: An Arsenal season ticket holder has been issued with a three-year stadium ban by the club for “inciting violence” against midfielder Granit Xhaka
Reply from It Must Be…And it is: This is the problem, rewarding that behaviour.

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