Arsenal (0) 0 Chelsea (2) 2

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Sunday, 22nd August 2021. Kick-off time: 4.30pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Cédric Soares, Rob Holding, Pablo Marí, Kieran Tierney; Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli; Nicolas Pépé.

Substitutes: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nuno Tavares, Calum Chambers, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Folarin Balogun, Sead Kolašinac, Aaron Ramsdale.

Yellow Cards: Pablo Marí, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 35%

Referee: Paul Tierney

Assistant Referees: Constantine Hatzidakis, Neil Davies

Fourth Official: David Coote

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Chris Kavanagh; AVAR Sian Massey-Ellis

Attendance: 58,729

Welcome to the Emirates for the first home game of the season; today our opponents are Chelsea. The good news is that we have secured the services of Martin Ødegaard and Aaron Ramsdale, although the former is not available to play today because he is awaiting visa clearance. The bad news is that Ben White has been taken ill and Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson and Willian have all tested positive for COVID-19, and as such are unavailable for this match, but the fourth member of this particular group, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has since tested negative, so he will be on the substitute’s bench this afternoon.

Within a minute, we had the first shot on goal, as Emile Smith-Rowe’s effort brought on a comfortable save from Edouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal. As expected, both teams spent the opening minutes of the match probing each other’s defence, and out on the left hand side, Kieran Tierney was finding spaces in order to get some low crosses into the Chelsea penalty area. The pace of our forwards were causing the visitors issues at the back, and it was against the run of play, when after fifteen minutes, Chelsea took the lead when their new striker Romelu Lukaku had the easiest of tasks to shrug Pablo Marí away to tap it into the net from point-blank range. Chelsea now had their tails up and their confidence on the ball became evident to see with constant raids on our goal. However, after twenty-three minutes, we managed to break out and Nicolas Pépé released Bukayo Saka in the left channel with a superb ball, but he was unlucky not to get a snap shot on the Chelsea goal, as a strong block from Cesar Azpilicueta meant that the chance had gone. Every time the visitors came forward they exposed our weaknesses at the back, and at times things look quite messy and disorganised. Ten minutes from the break, Kieran Tierney was exposed out on the left, and as Mason Mount slotted the ball over and into our penalty area, Reece James was left with the simple act of scoring the second goal of the match for the visitors. Shortly afterwards, we had a surefire penalty call denied when Bukayo Saka was clumsily brought down in the Chelsea penalty area by Reece James but unbelievably referee Paul Tierney ignored our pleas. Just before the break, we started to apply pressure on the Chelsea goal, and won a couple of hard-earned corners, but we ended the half two goals down, sadly.

Chelsea started the second half in earnest and almost immediately placed us onto the back foot by pressurising us into our own half. Kieran Tierney lifted the crowd with some inspired play, and using his example as a lead, we took the match to the visitors, and a long-range shot from Bukayo Saka was tipped over the bar by Edouard Mendy. Pablo Marí was unlucky not to score when his header went over the bar, and a few minutes later, Bukayo Saka was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and almost immediately his presence lifted the team; in fact within a minute or so, he had an excellent goalscoring chance which was pushed aside by the Chelsea goalie. We started to look a little more lively, and sadly Kieran Tierney picked up an injury which left him with a limp. Minutes later, he was replaced by Nuno Tavares, who promptly got himself booked for a foul on Romelu Lukaku. Somehow, a header from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into the penalty area gave a chance for Emile Smith-Rowe to score, but sadly Edouard Mendy was first to it. Bernd Leno made a fantastic save from a header by Romelu Lukaku when he pushed the ball onto the bar and over, and with ten minutes remaining, Folarin Balogun replaced Gabriel Martinelli, which invigorated the team, as we started to push the ball around better and created chances in their penalty area. We appeared to run out of steam towards the end of the match, which the visitors sensed and tried to grab a third goal, but thankfully we managed to stand firm at the back. In the three minutes’ injury time, we simply did out best to contain the ball and keep Chelsea out, which we achieved, but either way, the two goals that were scored in the first half were the difference between the clubs today.

Not surprised at the result, but disappointed overall. Despite spending more money than any other club in Europe on transfer fees in this window (£130m), the hard and bitter truth is that clubs such as Chelsea are so much ahead of us now, and with no European football in the near distant future at the Emirates, it’s hard to see how we can attract top, experienced players to turn this around. Never in our history have we been in this position quite so early in the season, and with Manchester City being our next opponents in the Premiership, this situation is starting to look bleaker every week now. What is to be done? We know that we have several players to return from injury and illness, but even so, they may not be enough for us to finish in a high enough position at the end of the season in order to be in Europe for the next campaign. The senior players are not stepping up to the plate, there are no on-field leaders and the team appears to be directionless; even if Mikel Arteta stepped down tomorrow, we would still have the same set of players and as it stands, that may not be enough to get us where we should be historically, as many of our squad are young, inexperienced players. This is truly going to be a more difficult season than most of us ever imagined. Tough times ahead for us all.

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: West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Wednesday, 25th August at 8.00pm (EFL/Carabao Cup). 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.

“There are some non-negotiables. The demands we put on the team, the commitment, the energy we put in, that dominance” – Mikel Arteta, December 2019.

“We need a team with 100 per cent of people involved in what we do. The most important thing they should have is respect, the second is commitment and the third one is passion. Those three ingredients are non-negotiable” – Mikel Arteta, August 2021.

Since becoming manager of the club, Arteta has spoken a few times about how important commitment to the club is for him. But it is a lack of commitment from both players and the club which could derail our season before it gets into Autumn and ultimately end up costing Arteta his job.

But I have never known an Arsenal squad to be less committed to the club than the one we have, or the club less committed to its players.

The majority of the players at the club either want to leave, have been told they can leave if an offer comes in, or have previously been cast aside.

Starting in goal; it is well known that Bernd Leno will not sign a new contract and wants to end his career in Germany. He still has two years left on that deal.

After being backed by Arteta in the battle for number ones with Emi Martinez, to then refuse to discuss a new deal is really disappointing.

So we end up with a number one who has an eye on leaving in the next 12 months.

Runar Alex Runarsson will go down as one of the clubs worst signings. So out of his depth. Not his fault. He just is not good enough.

The door is open for him to leave, whether on loan or permanent, but there are no takers.

Hector Bellerin’s time at Arsenal has clearly run its course. He needs a new challenge and Arsenal need a new right back.

It is beneficial for both parties that Bellerin leaves this summer and it is clear both he can the club have been looking for suitors. But none have materialised.

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How many times over the years have we tried to sell Calum Chambers?

We have seen him go out on loan to Fulham and Middlesbrough both nearly joining Crystal Palace. We could have made it much clearer over the last 5 years that he is not wanted out the club. Yet there he was, starting the first game of the season.

Rob Holding nearly joined Newcastle last summer.

It was only a last minute u-turn by Arteta that saw him not only stay at the club but also sign a new deal. From being on the verge of exiting one week to wearing the captains armband not too long after. Not the only time it has happened.

As for Saed Kolasinac; most are probably surprised he is still here.

Told he wasn’t wanted last summer; the Bosnian ended up putting his feet up for 6 months before leaving to Schalke on loan.

A summer later and we are in exactly the same position with him. He doesn’t want to be here, we don’t want him here, but no one wants him.

If you think the Rob Holding u-turn was big, the Granit Xhaka one was huge.

Xhaka has abused the fans, thrown the captains arm band on the ground, demanded to leave. And yet on the first day of the season he is still at Arsenal. Wearing the captains armband and signed a new deal.

Now I like Xhaka as a player. I think he gets an unfair press. But how can you be so close to leaving the club, and then be rewarded with a new deal and captaincy? It sums the club up.

Mohamed Elneny is another who went from “no longer required” to “important squad member” in a blink of an eye.

He spent he spent 2019/20 on loan at Besiktas as no one wanted to sign him, having started just 5 Premier League games the campaign before.

Then last season he started 17 Premier League games.

Another who has gone from not wanted to regular player despite still not really being wanted.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles was on the cusp of joining Wolves last summer. A last minute change of mind by Arteta (is indecisiveness a trait of his?) saw him stay. He then started just 5 games.

In January we turned down a bid from Leicester City as we “did not want to sell to a rival” and he ended the season on loan at WBA.

He is still at the club. He still doesn’t want to be here. Arteta still doesn’t want him.

The door is open for Willian to leave.

He has reportedly been told that if he can agree a deal with another club, we will terminate his contract with no liability to either side. Yet no other club has come in for him due to his wages being so high. He has been at the club for a year.

Arse aka re also open to selling youngsters Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson if the right offer comes in.

Both have never really had a chance under Arteta, and when they have played probably showed they are not of the level we require moving forward. Another 2 that are not part of the managers plans, but we have yet to move on.

Nicolas Pepe is another who would be open to leave if the right offer came in.

The club record signing has never really reached the heights we had all hoped and reports were last summer the club were looking to recoup some money on him and that if an offer in the region of £40million came in he would be gone.

And then we come to the big two. Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

With one year left on his contract, Arsenal would jump at the opportunity to cash in on Lacazette if an offer came in. But like with so many of our players – no offers are coming in for him.

And the Aubameyang new contract is looking like a bad a decision as the Mesut Ozil one.

He looks disinterested, lacks sharpness and focus. He either is not mentally right or at 32 is on the decline. Maybe it is both.

But one year into his 3 year deal, Arsenal are open to selling him and he is open to leaving the club. But like Lacazette, there is not exactly a queue of clubs chasing him.

So Arteta talks about commitment to the cause. But the majority of the squad are either not committed to us or we are not committed to them. And this is shown on the pitch with a lack of hunger and desire.

Arthur Okonkwo, Cedric Soares, Ben White, Gabriel, Pablo Mari, Kieran Tierney, Nuno Taveras, Thomas Partey, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Florian Balogun are the only first team squad players that have not been linked with moves away in the last 12 months.

That is just 13 players; 3 of whom are new signings and 2 are recently promoted youth team products.

You take those 5 away and we have just 8 players from last season that you could say are still “100% committed to the club”. And you see on the pitch the different levels in performance of those against everyone else.

The worry is when over half the squad is not committed, that is could run like poison through those players who are committed.

This all started with Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustsfi, Saed Kolasinac and Sokratis a year or more ago.

They were told they were not needed by the club but we struggled to move them on. They ended up remaining at the club despite no being wanted, not even being registered to play.

Arteta is not blameless in all of this.

He has a tendency to cast players aside very quickly, and an indecisiveness which has led to u-turns on sales.

Being indecisive and alienating staff members is poor management regardless of industry. This usually creates issues within the work force which spreads. And that is where Arsenal are at now.

We have a squad of players who lack commitment to us and we lack commitment to them.

The problem is that due to the financial crisis across European football, we are unable to sell the majority of these players so Arteta is going to have to find a way to work with them, get the best out of them. I am just not sure he has the man management skills to get the squad back on side and giving 100% for the season.

Keenos

Towards the end of last season I came to the realisation that Arsenal had to make the leap and replace Mikel Arteta before the money was blown again. I really wanted Arteta to succeed. I still do want him to succeed as that means Arsenal would be doing well. Pre-season and Friday has me frightened, quite honestly.

With Arteta staying I was convinced we were at least going to see wholesale change to the squad, the system we play on the pitch, and the style of play. I was certain we’d get back to playing with more than one player up front, we’d move the ball quickly with attacking intent, and that numerous players would be bombed out while players we actually need would come in. How wrong can you be?

In many ways it shouldn’t come as a surprise that what we are seeing is the same turgid, boring, slow, negative football which is totally reliant on any attacking threat coming from two kids and a left-back. The failure to move on the dead wood, and thus free up space in the squad, is not necessarily the fault of Arteta and Arsenal. If people don’t want to sign the likes of Kolasinac, Willian, Elneny, Bellerin, Soares, Nketiah etc that makes life difficult – the fact Arsenal have some of these players on stupid wages in the first place is another story. The signing of a centre-back who we all knew wasn’t the kind of defender we needed, and for an utterly ridiculous transfer fee, is most definitely on Arteta, Edu and co. And the style of play and choice of formation is without doubt the fault of Arteta.

The style of play, if you can call it that, is actually the method employed in the latter years of Wenger when we no longer had a lot of top class footballers. The emphasis was placed upon possession football in the hope that Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla or Mesut Ozil might create something out of nothing. Invariably one of them did for a while. Or at least they did it often enough to keep Arsenal vaguely competitive in terms of competing for a qualifying place for the Champions League. Who was one of Wenger’s key midfield players in the dross years but none other than Mikel Arteta. I actually liked Arteta as a player at Arsenal and he was far better than many will now give him credit for. But he clearly was more than content at times with receiving the ball from Mertesacker and giving it straight back to him or to Koscielny. It all sounds vaguely familiar doesn’t it?

It amazes me that, after what happened in the semi-final at home to Villarreal last year, the Manager has changed nothing. How can he come out after the game last night and lament the lack of players getting in the box when he’s taken off the only two strikers in the side? He also chose to use that soundbite on the day Arsenal sold a goal scoring midfielder to Newcastle. He sounded to me like he was blaming Balogun and Martinelli for the fact Arsenal didn’t get a result last night. His substitutions were as Wenger-like as the football Arsenal played with two junior players taken off even though they were the only ones likely to be able to actually get on the end of something. As per usual the system never did change. The desire to play a forward pass was exclusive to Smith Rowe, Saka and Tierney. And that’s before we get to the comedy defending and goalkeeping that has become a hallmark of Arsenal over the last 15 years or so.

The club just seems to be drifting now. We have one goalkeeper in the squad, and he’s third rate at the very best. We have players stinking the squad out, not the least of which is our official Captain. Arteta flexed his muscles with Ozil, Guendouzi and Saliba, but seems powerless of show genuine leadership and strip Aubameyang of the armband and boot the lazy sod into touch. If him and Lacazette are “ill” then tell us what’s wrong with them rather than “they say they feel unwell” being the quote. I’m a Granit Xhaka advocate, but making him skipper ahead of Tierney, for example, given what has gone on previously and the fact that we spent all Summer waiting for Roma to sign him can only leave everyone confused. Bellerin and Soares are still here. We’ve signed Ben White, the wrong centre-back from Brighton. Lokonga I hope will be a real prospect but largely looked out of it last night – he gets a free pass from me though, but wouldn’t it be nice if we signed a player for once who could hit the ground running? 

I wasn’t looking forward to Friday night after the awful pre-season where it had become apparent that nothing had changed about our approach to the game. My fears were sadly well founded. We stand a very real chance of taking no more than 3 points from the first 18 and being out of the League Cup. By then Arteta will have been sacked, but we’ll have spent all our money. It will all be too late. Again. The only thing saving Arsenal from a place in the most dangerous of the lower reaches of the Premier League, as things stand this evening, is the fact the league is full of dross even worse than ours.

Next week a half-empty stadium will greet The Arsenal after more than a year where almost nobody has been to a game. How embarrassing is that going to be. It underlines what some of us have always known about the genuine core Arsenal support, but a 60,000 seat monolith with 40,000 people (maximum) inside it for a big London derby will speak volumes about where the club is. The people from Amazon Prime must be pissing themselves silly that they’ve bought access all areas to this shower and it’s us fans who are going to suffer.

Dover Marksman