No more (Arsenal) red in this season’s cup as it’s 2018 all over again

Nottingham Forest 1 Arsenal 0  
FA Cup 3rd Round  
Sunday 9th January 2022 5.10pm   

Mikel Arteta played a mix and match side – as is often the way in the earlier rounds of the domestic cups – and it was such a selection that were beaten 4-2 at the City Ground in January 2018, Arsene Wenger’s final match in this competition. Rob Holding was the sole representative remaining from that line up, and that experience should have ensured that he of all people must have been aware of the danger of fielding weakened sides in the cup, especially away. He was the captain yesterday, but evidently was unable to motivate the troops sufficiently, as performance-wise, it didn't feel all that different to four years ago.

All white kits were worn as part of a campaign to prevent the needless deaths of teenagers from knife crime, with cuts closing youth centres and removing safer alternatives for how youngsters spend their spare time, compared to gang culture. A worthy initiative, let’s hope it has some kind of positive effect. Arsenal last wore an all white kit in the 3rd round of this competition in January 1970, away at Blackpool, at least according to this site, although photographic evidence is not easily found. The effect was a little compromised by the red FA badge on the shirt sleeves, but regardless, if this is how Arsenal are going to perform in white, let’s hope we see the back of that, in addition to the tragic loss of young lives they wore the kit to highlight.

One youngster who has taken a far better path is Charlie Patino, and Arteta, with a serious lack of midfield options (Granit Xhaka was absent having tested positive for Covid) showed his faith in the teenager by giving him a start in midfield alongside Sambi Lokonga. Patino did ok coming on as a sub at home against a tiring League One Sunderland, but yesterday was a very different matter, as we will get to. On a side note Ainsley Maitland-Niles played at right wing back for Roma against Juventus yesterday in a game they conspired to lose 4-3 after being 3-1 up.

Up front, it was a fairly strong attack, although the selection of Eddie Nketiah may have been with the slight hope that the club might be able to get something for him this month before his contract expires. Eddie has been offered an extension with a salary that does not match his agent’s ambitions, but the amount of opportunities he has been given suggests that he is never going to be considered as more than a back-up player, and he has failed to produce his England U21 form in an Arsenal shirt, at least against opposition of note. Any value he might have had plummeted over two hours in Nottingham.

The visitors started poorly, simply not switched on, not at the races. Nuno Tavares lost the ball nine times in the first half hour and was humiliatingly hooked for Kieran Tierney. It symbolized the Gunners’ first half. The midfield was pretty much non-existent, a pair of young players out of their depth. Lokonga played deeper, but neither he nor Patino saw much of the ball. There was not enough intelligent movement, allied with a lack of pace, drive and good technique. It revealed the lack of squad depth at the club.

You’d imagine Arteta read the riot act during the interval, but whatever happened in the away dressing room, we got more of the same after the interval – at least in terms of quality. Arsenal did fashion some attacks, I will grant you that, but it was Forest who looked more committed, more likely winners. Never bet with emotion is one of my mantras. After an hour I saw the odds on Forest winning the tie and stuck £20 on to make a £53.90 profit. A bet I would have been happy to lose, but the odds just looked too good, given what I was witnessing. 

Arsenal had four first choice players at the start of the game, and after Tierney’s entrance ten minutes before the break, it meant that half the team were amongst those that had given Manchester City a run for their money and put together a storming run of victories before that. But they could not drag the second stringers along to produce a performance worthy of the name. Nketiah was guilty of a couple of poor misses. Saka had the chance to lob the keeper when clear. But not too much else was created, and Forest had enough dangerous attacks to make Bernd Leno the team’s best performer. 

From one, in the last ten minutes, they scored, and although you expected Arsenal to rally, it all felt a bit half-hearted. Lacazette came on for Patino at 0-0, but made little impact. Martinelli and to an extent Tierney, were kept quiet by Forest right back Spence, and if Arteta wants a better back up for Tomiyasu than Cedric, it’s worth taking a look at him. 

By the end of the game, I was almost £54 better off and have used zero of the three home cup ties paid for on my season ticket (the normal seven went out of the window due to the lack of European involvement and even Arsenal haven’t got the nerve to start including the League Cup in the season ticket price). Forest were facing a 4th round tie against Leicester and the traveling support a miserable Sunday evening trip down the M1. 

One imagines there will be a stronger eleven fielded against Liverpool in the League Cup, although in honesty, Spurs away next weekend is the more important game, given the financial rewards of fourth place. So I expect to still see a few of the reserves. I have no idea whether or not Emile Smith Rowe would have made a difference to the side against Forest, but imagine he will get a run out on Thursday if he has recovered sufficiently from his groin strain. 

The cup exit could be a blessing in disguise, given the club’s priorities. The League Cup still offers the chance of a little glory, and hell, a guarantee of Europa League football next season at least. But what yesterday told us was something we have seen often enough before to not be so surprised. When you play mix and match elevens, you will often get mix and match performances. So it was in this very fixture four years ago, and with regard to the strength in depth of Arsenal’s first team squad, it feels like nothing’s changed. 

A quick note to finish here that my old writing partner Alex Fynn has a few remaining copies of the 2016 edition of our book 'Arsenal: the Making of a Modern Superclub' to sell at £5 plus £3.50 postage to UK addresses only. This is now the only way you can get a copy as it is sold out from the publishers and no longer reprinting. Please email me – gooner.ed@gmail.com if you want a copy or and I will reply with details of how to make payment.

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