ETIHAD STADIUM — There was one moment in the first-half sunshine at the Etihad that summed up where anarchic and apathetic Arsenal are right now.
Chasing the game, already 2-0 down, early in the first half, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson stood with his foot on the ball and surveyed his options.
A master craftsman with the ball at his feet, the Brazilian only needs a millisecond to spray a pinpoint pass to any position on the pitch. In this case, he had an eternity. Time seemed to stand still as he stood with his foot on the ball, as if we were all watching on Zoom and everything had frozen.
There was no technical glitch. The problem was Arsenal had given up the ghost, with two-thirds of the match to go. What made their lack of pressure on the Brazilian for a good 20 seconds – a lifetime in a live sporting event – all the more inexplicable was Ederson had just, minutes previously, almost gifted a goal to Emile Smith-Rowe, who had closed down a casual pass from the City stopper and almost found the net.
Normally unflappable, his nerves would have been a little frayed, and it did not take a neuroscientist to work out that putting him under pressure at the next opportunity was a must. Not for this Arsenal team, who seem on the road to nowhere under a coach who appears powerless to stop their perpetual demise.
This was no contest. This was not the type of match the makes the Premier League the most competitive league in the world. This was an opening training session, between the seniors and the Under-14s.
Looking to avoid losing their opening three league games to a season for the first time in 67 years, you’d think there’d be at least be some fight in Arsenal, but after conceding two goals that would have had any watching defensive coaches wincing in disbelief, you could put a fork in Arsenal, they were done.
Xhaka then got travelling Arsenal supporters’ blood pressure boiling that bit more, earning himself an inexplicable red card for a needless two-footed lunge. No player has been sent off more times in the Premier League since the Swiss made his debut in August 2016. You could hear Jose Mourinho and the Roma transfer committee breathing a huge sigh of relief from thousands of miles away.
Ten years to the day since Arsenal were embarrassed 8-2 at Old Trafford, fans must have been fearing a repeat, or worse, when Gabriel Jesus made it three, again unchallenged.
Rodri got in on the act early in the second half, but City seemed to take pity on their opponents and Mikel Arteta, back at the ground where he impressed as Guardiola’s assistant between 2016 -2019, and only added one more late on.
The stats do not make for positive reading. Arsenal are only the second team in Premier League history to lose their first three matches in a season and have a goal difference of minus nine, after Wolves in 2003-04, who went on to finish bottom of the table.
It won’t get that bad, a relegation battle does not await, but when you look at the personnel in that Arsenal camp, there are not many you would turn to in a crisis to instigate change.
Arteta has called for patience and has done well to drum that into the supporters’ thoughts. Most other managers would not get away with what he has achieved, or not as the case may be.
There is two weeks for Arteta to mull over this mess before Arsenal’s next match. But on this evidence, no matter who the opponent, the Gunners just don’t seem capable of rousing themselves to even make a fight of it this season.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3zqw5Xe
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