A defence punished by individual errors, a midfield without the ability to control a game, a forward line starved of chances.

So much has changed in the world in the last 3 months , so little has changed on the football pitch.

Away to Manchester City was always going to be a tough re-start for the 2019/20 season.

Prior to the suspension for Covid19, Arsenal were showing a bit of form.

Unbeaten in the league in 2020, only Liverpool had gained more points in the previous 6 games. But Arsenal had not won at the Etihad since 2015 and victory on Wednesday night made it 7 wins in a row for Abu Dhabi sportswashing project.

Since Sheikh Mansour bought the club back in 2008, Arsenal have lost 15 of the 29 meetings between the clubs. Prior to his purchase, it was 15 defeats in 107 games; a run dating back to 1936.

It was a terribly predictable performance from Arsenal. One which could have been a replay from many games under Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger.

A solid start, followed by individual errors at the back, ending in another defeat on the road to a top team.

The performance of David Luiz was almost as predictable as Arsenal.

How often throughout the Brazilian’s career – for Arsenal, Chelsea and Brazil – has he made a huge clanger in a game, and then followed it up with a second one?

Back in October, Arsenal faced Liverpool. 1-0 down but in the game. Luiz allowed Salah to get inside him, and then decided to pull the Egyptian down. Penalty. Goal. 2-0. Game over.

Whilst Manchester City were dominating, we were holding firm going into injury time of the first half.

Mikel Arteta’s decision to sacrifice creativity for hard work seemed to be working – and thanks to some good saves from Berd Leno, it was 0-0. Then Luiz – who had coem on for the injured Pablo Mari, let a ball slip past him and Raheem Sterling but the home side 1-0 up.

6 minutes into the second half and Luiz let Riyad Mahrez give him the slip, and then decided to pull him down. Penalty. Red card. Goal. Game over.

After that, the match became a training session. Manchester City passing the ball around with zero threat from Arsenal, but not overly looking to threat themselves.

A late Phil Foden goal in 2nd half injury time was the cherry on the cake.

Despite losing 3-0, Arsenal were not actually that bad defensively.

Leno, Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi and Kieran Tierney were all having good games. They were let down by the clown between them.

With Granit Xhaka and early victim to injury, Arsenal were completely overun in midfield. It was literally men against boys.

Matteo Guendouzi + Joe Willock v Kevin de Bruyne + David Silva.

It was like putting Tyson Fury in the ring with someone who had only recently turned pro. It was a complete miss match.

In de Bruyne and Silva, Man City had 2 world class players. In Guendouzi and Willock Arsenal had 2 average players.

During the game someone asked me “what Arsenal players would get into the Manchester City team”. The answer was “none”.

You get what you pay for.

Manchester City spend over £80million a year on salaries than Arsenal. Over a 30 man first team squad, that is an average of £50,000 a week more.

The more you have available to pay on players, the better players you can attract. That is fact.

Man City pay 2 players over £300,000 a week (reportedly). Arsenal just 1. They pay 4 players above £200,000 a week compared to Arsenal’s 2. 6 players get paid above £150,000 a week against Arsenal’s 3.

11 Manchester City players are paid above £120,000 a week – basically their starting XI. Just 5 Arsenal players are paid above that.

Put simply, for every player Arsenal have within a wage bracket, Manchester City have two. And this pattern continues until you drop below £80,000 a week. Arsenal dominate the lower paid positions.

You can not expect to compete for the top 2 places on a consistent basis when you only pay the 5th highest wage bill.

The lack of control in midfield, meant that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka were starved of the ball.

In games like last night, it must be very hard for strikers to remain motivated.

It would not be a surprise if last night was to be the last time we see David Luiz in an Arsenal, shirt. And as for Mesut Ozil, that is a blog for another day.

Tomorrow we go again away to Brighton. It would have been a great trip a month ago when we had 28c weather. A quick train to the seaside and plenty of beer.

Hopefully we get the enjoyment of a victory to replace the disappointment of a top trip stolen.

Keenos

Manchester City (1) 3 Arsenal (0) 0
Premier League
Etihad Stadium, 318 Ashton New Rd, Manchester M11 3F
Wednesday, 17th June 2020. Kick-off time: 8.15pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, Pablo Marí, Shkodran Mustafi, Kieran Tierney; Granit Xhaka, Mattéo Guendouzi; Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Dani Ceballos, Alexandre Lacazette, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nicolas Pépé, David Luiz, Reiss Nelson, Emiliano Martínez, Sead Kolašinac, Gabriel Martinelli.
Red Cards: David Luiz
Yellow Cards: Kieran Tierney
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 32%
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restructions

Where have we all been, what have we not seen? So much has happened in the interim, that it would take a weighty tome to explain and summarise everything; but the main thing surely, is that the sport we all truly love is back after a lengthy hiatus, and we all heartily welcome its long overdue return. No two ways about it, we have to accrue as many points possible from the remaining matches in order to ensure European football for next season, starting with the tough match in Manchester tonight. And then there is the small matter of the FA Cup to play for as well. Let’s go!

One minute silence to remember the victims of coronavirus in the dank and dark Manchester rain just before the kick-off proved to be the moving and poignant action that it was intended to be in these changing times. Bernd Leno was called into action early on, when he pushed away a Kevin de Bruyne shot which proved to be more dangerous than was first thought. Sadly Granit Xhaka was injured in this incident, and had to be replaced by Dani Ceballos, when it was realised that his injury was worse than first thought. Although the home side had the best of the early period, it was Eddie Nketiah who was desperately unlucky in not scoring when his shot went narrowly wide after just twelve minutes. How unlucky, to lose two players within twenty-five minutes when Pablo Marí was forced to leave the match with an injury, to be replaced by the much-maligned David Luiz, who immediately dovetailed into his usual position in the back four. Minutes later, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was unlucky not to score when his side-footed shot went over the bar, and by the half-hour mark, Arsenal started to play some interesting shapes across the pitch, The match became quite spirited and fast-paced now, and in the absence of a much-needed goal, both sides showed intent and passion. Bernd Leno made a match-saving parry after thirty-four minutes from David Silva, and City started to apply pressure on the Arsenal defence. Shkodran Mustafi was unlucky not to score when he failed to connect a ball from a Bukayo Saka free-kick minutes before the break, and in injury time, an unfortunate bounce of the ball from the thigh of David Luiz found the right foot of Raheem Sterling,who wasted no time in putting the home side ahead.

Three minutes into the second half, a clumsy tackle by David Luiz on Riyad Mahrez not only gifted City a penalty (which they subseuqently scored, courtesy of Kevin de Bruyne), but he got sent off for his trouble, and we were down to ten men with forty minutes of the match left to play. With an extra player on the pitch, the home side started to feel the wind behind them and controlled everything fairly confidently now. Arsenal now appeared to play a match of damage limitation, which really meant that they were pinned down in their own half for periods of the game. Thanks to the extra substitute rule of this final period of the season, Mikel Arteta brought on Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Lacazette and Reiss Nelson for Eddie Nketiah, Mattéo Guendouzi and Joe Willock to try and get something/anything out of this seemingly lost match. Time and time again Bernd Leno kept out shots from the City players, and had it not been for his agility and skill, things could have been a whole lot worse than they were. An injuty to Eric Garcia when Ederson collided with him meant that both sides were down to ten men for the rest of the match, as all substitutes had now been used, so in an odd turn of events, numerically we were equal again. Or maybe not. In the first minute of eleven minutes injury time, Phil Foden bagged City’s third after Sergio Aguero’s shot bounced off the post. And still City kept coming, with relentless attacking football, right until the merciful final whistle.

Football may well be coming home, but it certainly never looked in our direction tonight. Although we started the match in good heart, the home side gradually and slowly took control and dominance. After David Luiz was dismissed, we were doomed; City punished us so badly at times, it started to look like a training match. We have got to pick ourselves up for the Brighton match in three days’ time, and start picking up points before events run away from us. Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions.Stick with the winners.

Our next match: Brighton and Hove Albion at AMEX Stadium, Village Way, Brighton BN1 9BL on Saturday, 20th June at 3.00pm (Premier League).

Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.