Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 1   Premier League   Wednesday 23rd April 2022   12.30pm     There have been a couple of highly significant missed Manchester United penalties in this fixture down the years. Brian McLair’s miss in a 1988 FA Cup game at Highbury ignited a rather spicy rivalry that never really died until Arsenal fell away as title contenders after moving stadium almost 20 years later. And of course, Ruud van Nistelroy’s effort against the crossbar in the late summer of 2003 ultimately meant the Gunners were able to complete a season without suffering a league defeat. Time will tell the importance of Bruno Fernandes’ miss yesterday afternoon, but it could actually accelerate Arsenal’s return to a hint of the club’s former status if they narrowly squeeze into next season’s Champions League in five games’ time.   A win’s a win, but this was not a 3-1 game. It was certainly cause for celebration, but until the final whistle was near enough to ensure United could not recover a tw

  Chelsea 2   Arsenal 4   Premier League    Wednesday 20th April 2022   7.45pm     Arsenal’s young guns came to the rescue at the Bridge with a huge result to reverse the downward trend of the last three matches, which had looked to prematurely end the hopes of a return to Champions League football. Young players are going to be inconsistent by nature, but the upside of that is when it comes good, and last night they were helped by a Chelsea team that took the game to them, instead of the defence v attack kind of match that saw defeats against Brighton and Southampton.   The law of averages played a part. Eddie Nketiah couldn’t keep making Premier League appearances and not scoring. Arsenal’s run of defeats could not continue forever. Granted, neither looked likely to change given Chelsea were the opposition, but maybe their playing a day later than Arsenal last weekend helped a little. Early on, it was all Chelsea and it looked like it was going to be a long evening. Arsenal were play

Southampton 1 Arsenal 0   Premier League   Saturday 16th April 2022 3pm     A second Saturday 3pm kick off in a row feels like a bit of a rarity, but it’s also an indication that Arsenal matches don’t really matter so much these days, at least in terms of a wider TV audience. A third defeat in a row, and a fourth in the last five matches, points to the wheels coming off at the business end of the season, which is something we’ve seen a little too often since the club upped sticks in 2006 and moved to the Emirates. Rather astonishingly, Arsenal’s chances of making fourth place are still very much in their own hands – given they still have to play all of the other four teams credibly vying for third and fourth place in their remaining seven matches. However, the Gunners can’t buy a goal these days – netting once in total against the combined might of Palace, Brighton and Southampton. Last weekend, Chelsea played at St Mary’s and walloped their hosts 6-0. You could argue that to get some

Arsenal 1 Brighton 2   Premier League   Saturday 9th April 2022  3pm     Really, it should not have come as a surprise. Without a recognized goalscorer, such a thin squad it was always going to be wing and a prayer stuff, and with three points and a solitary goal from their last four matches, it looks inevitable that Arsenal are now realistically looking at whether or not they can halt their decline enough to just qualify for European competition of some form next season. With matches against Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham and Spurs to come, you can certainly forget fourth place. Arsenal cannot even beat Brighton at home. The ‘project’ has been badly exposed in the last two games. The run of undefeated matches propelled Mikel Arteta’s team into fourth place, but I couldn’t last, undone by injuries, the inexperience of too much youth and the inescapable reality that the two centre-forwards on Arsenal’s books are invariably incapable of scoring goals. Whatever happened with Pierre

Crystal Palace 3 Arsenal 0   Premier League   Monday 4th April 2022 8pm     There will be some who saw a future Arsenal’ future manager last night at Selhurst Park. A man able to get his team to play spirited, organized football and achieve a convincing result against the bookies’ odds. Unfortunately for the Gunners’ Champions League aspirations, that wasn’t Mikel Arteta.   No doubt that Spurs’ recent good run under Antonio Conte has upped the pressure, and made a result last night feel very necessary. Even so, Arsenal have won their last five league away matches since the debacle at Everton, so credit to them for taking 15 points from 18. The concern is that the lack of squad depth might now tell. Tierney did not start last night, the word being he is probably out for the season. Tomiyasu doesn’t look like coming back any time soon, although in fairness, Cedric, aside from one poor moment he got himself out of, was possibly the best defender for the away side at Palace. Nuno Tavares t