The only way is up....right?

There was a real heavyweight clash in the premier league yesterday. Two of the great clubs going toe to toe, controversy, a red card, drama. But before Liverpool and Chelsea faced off we had to endure Manchester City toy with Arsenal for 90 minutes, in what was akin to watching a cat play with a trapped mouse until it decided it had had enough of it.

Honestly, What good is there to say about what was served up by Arsenal yesterday lunchtime? If you really want to find a positive from yesterday then you could maybe at a stretch point to the first five or so minutes, where we showed a bit of attacking endeavour and a bit of energy. But then the inevitable happened. City scored with what was their first real attack with intent, the heads dropped and the flood gates opened. The only surprise was that the score was kept down to 5-0, and Arsenal finished the day, and matchday 3, 20th in the league. 0 wins, 0 draws, 0 goals, 0 points and a goal difference of -9. 

Now you could argue there were some mitigating factors. In the lead up to the second City goal you could make the case that Laporte should have seen red after he clearly looked at Callum Chambers before slapping him square in the face. That would have kept the score at 1-0 and City down to ten, rather than  2-0 after all of 10 minutes. You could definitely make that case in light of the fact that Kolasinac was penalised for a much lesser version of the same challenge minutes later.

You could argue that Granit Xhaka should not have seen red for his two footed lunge at Cancelo after 35 minutes. That he clearly won the ball. That whatever contact was minimal at best. That maybe a yellow would have been sufficient. I don't subscribe to that line of thinking. As soon as I saw the lunge I immediately expected the red card to come out. It may have been a decision that you are more likely to get as the away team these days, but you just can't go in for that type of challenge these days. And it isn't like Xhaka doesn't have previous for this type of sending off either. Whenever the going gets tough, he puts on his faux hard man act and does something reckless like this. Whether it be out of frustration or to try and show he is a leader up for the fight it is counter productive, leaves the team in a bigger hole than it is already in and I've had enough of it.

You could even argue that the number of missing players due to injuries or illness meant we never had a chance of winning, so we should be less critical. I can sort of take your point on that one. But no one is saying we should have gone there and won. We are saying that we should go there, look organised, put in a bit of a fight, at least make City work for it. Instead we got a back three which included Kolasinac, a player who we have been actively trying to get rid of all window yet has somehow started the last two games. A midfield which only featured one conventional midfielder in Xhaka, who whad to try and contain Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo Silva almost single handed. When you look at that you can almost see why he gets so worked up that he gets himself sent off. 

Off course if you miss players of the quality of Partey and your first choice defensive pairing of White and Gabriel then you will be up against it. But when you face those types of obstacles it is incumbent on the manager to give his team the best chance of putting in a performance, be it though some form of tactical game plan or picking an 11 that has a chance to compete from whatever resources you have available.  

The problem we have is, there is only so long that we can continue to make the same excuses before questions seriously have to be asked. No manager has the goldilocks conditions of everything being "just right", but they manage to do their jobs ok and get results.  Look at the teams who went to the Etihad and got a result last season: Leicester, West Brom and Leeds all went their last season and got a minimum of a point. Leeds went down to 10 men at around the same time as Arsenal did and went on to win. At the moment it seems that everything has to be perfect for Arteta to get a win, and that is just not realistic.

Understandably, the social media outpouring for Arteta's head on a platter was loud and overwhelming yesterday. At this stage I am not one of them. Although we can't keep making the same excuses, we do have to acknowledge that he has not at any point that I can recall had that fully fit squad to choose from and get his style implemented. 

It would appear then that the upcoming international break has come at just the right time for him. It would seem that for the next game against Norwich, a bottom of the table clash nonetheless, he will have that fit squad. He will have had an extended break from the league for training and getting plans implemented.  For that reason, I think the next 5 league games will be the deciding factor in Arteta's reign. Norwich (H), Burnley (A), Sp*rs (H), Brighton (A) and Palace (H) should on paper represent a good opportunity for points, with a target of 13 not unrealistic, and also fixtures that should present opportunities to play some attacking football and score some goals. If however the game against Norwich was to go badly and leave Arsenal stranded at the foot of the table only 4 games in, then Arteta's future could very well be up in the air.