Well, well, well. So much to cover from an afternoon of drama, pathos and black comedy at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Some of which actually left me wondering why I bother to make the journey to watch my team, I'm sorry to say.
October 29, 2019 09:42I've got a lot to cover in this article; from the Palace game there's team selection and tactics, Martin Atkinson and VAR, Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery. Outside of that I am going to touch on Thursday night's fortunate Europa League victory, racism and even rugby union. Bear with me, please:
Firstly, I was delighted to see Kieran Tierney's name finally in the starting line-up. To my mind, one of several personnel changes I'd like to see made to the team (which would also see Bellerin, Holding and Torreira starting). However, I was somewhat bemused by the tactics when the game started. Guendouzi and Ceballos were split wide in front of Xhaka, which a) left gaps in central midfield and b) inhibited the forward runs of the full backs, who often found the space they wanted to move into already occupied. With Palace sitting deep, we also saw how difficult it was for any of the forwards to find space - and especially, how little decent ball they received all afternoon. I'll come back to that.
Despite the normal sluggish start (why this should be I simply do not know, as for a man who loves a video Emery never seems quite prepared for the opposition and Arsenal should, of course, be taking the game to the likes of Crystal Palace), everything in the garden looked rosy as both centre-backs scored from successive corners - 2-0 after just 10 minutes and we thought/hoped that we could relax a bit. But the game settled down into the normal turgid routine to which we are becoming used - slow passing between the centre backs and midfield, often followed by a long diagonal. Agonising to watch, frankly, as it sucks all the ingenuity out of the players. But at least we were two up, so we could live with it.
Then followed the first Atkinson howler. He booked Zaha for an apparent dive over Chambers' outstretched leg - couldn't wait to get his card out, in fact - but VAR overturned that decision and awarded the penalty. Quite rightly, now we've seen the replays, but here the flaws in the system are revealed.
Firstly, let's be clear that it was a(nother) appalling call by Atkinson. Secondly, there are remarkable similarities between this incident and one in the Bournemouth game a couple of weeks ago for which Pepe ought to have been awarded a penalty and following which Anthony Taylor, on VAR duty that day, is reported to have said that he felt that it was a penalty but didn't want to overrule the match official (who was, by the way, Martin Atkinson). Now if that's the case, what the hell is VAR there for if not to overrule a clearly wrong decision?
Let's also not forget the incident on Monday evening when Sokratis had his shirt pulled whilst jumping to head the ball at a corner, in full view of referee Mike Dean (fast now becoming only our second least favourite referee) and which the VAR official chose not to review.
What's hard for the supporters in the ground is that we are unable to see what is being looked at, which makes spontaneous celebration well-nigh impossible and which frankly makes it advantageous to watch the game on tv instead. And this was clearly illustrated with the chalking off of Sokratis' late winner (the images below illustrate the incorrect reason it was disallowed - legs tripping him up, hands on his back, Cahill falling over him):
So firstly, if anything it is Chambers, surrounded by three defenders, who is being fouled so it could in fact have been a penalty. Secondly, not a single Palace player complained when the ball crashed into the back of the net. Thirdly, VAR is supposed to overrule clearly incorrect, objective decisions, and this one is as subjective as it gets. And finally, it took over a minute before the VAR review started and a further half a minute for it to be disallowed.
There's a screen sitting on the side of the pitch for referees to look at incidents such as this. I understand that this has not been utilised even once in the Premier League this season. Contrast this with the NFL, which uses it all the time and whilst NFL officials get some subjective decisions wrong they at least get the final say on them; not one man sitting in a darkened room 100 miles away. And contrast the difference with the way that rugby union deals with such incidents.
And here's the most extraordinary thing. I left my seat soon after the goal was chalked off, as it was very late in the game and I have to collect my disabled son from his seat 4 blocks down and get him out of the ground before the crowd piles out. And whilst I was walking through the concourse, tv screens were showing the reason why the goal was disallowed; something that the crowd were denied and who therefore had no clue as to the reason. What's to stop that being shown on the big screens inside the ground, I simply do not know.
In short, Arsenal are getting a rough deal on VAR, with the only goal decision overturned in their favour so far this season the one at Old Trafford when Aubameyang, three yards onside, was inexplicably flagged off by a linesman who had clearly taken leave of his senses. And in short, yesterday Arsenal were robbed of victory by an incorrect, subjective VAR call. And lest we forget the extraordinary decisions that have gone against Watford and Everton this season too. VAR is already broken.
OK; I think I've done that to death, so I shall move on - to only the second most contentious issue of the afternoon.
Following Palace's equaliser, Emery decided to change things and chose to bring on 18-year-old winger Bukayo Saka for our esteemed captain, Granit Xhaka. Now, Xhaka's substitution on Monday night was apparently greeted by plenty of cheers by the travelling Arsenal fans, but that was nothing to the crowd reaction yesterday as it felt like 30,000 people cheered the sight of the number 34 going up (not me, however - I do, nonetheless, own up to having booed Emmanuel Eboue once, but I think you'd all agree that that's understandable).
However, what followed was a soap opera rolled up into a single minute. I honestly feel for Xhaka. He's struggling to have a big positive impact on matches and he didn't give himself the arm band. But he didn't help himself by dawdling his way off, arms outstretched, and thus pushing up the decibel levels as cheers turned to boos. He should have got off the pitch as soon as he could - those few seconds could have made a difference at the end - and that's what started the booing.
He threw the armband in the direction of Aubameyang, refused a handshake from Emery, allegedly swore at the crowd and tore off his shirt before disappearing directly down the tunnel. He was quite rightly distraught, as were many of the squad (particularly Torreira, whose place he is taking up), and I have to say that I totally condemn the behaviour of those Arsenal fans who behaved in the way they did. I understand that the players have rallied around Xhaka, and that's good to hear. For all our views on whether Xhaka should be in the side, let alone captain, the actions of the crowd were indefensible.
Where this leaves Xhaka going forward, or indeed Emery whose choice as captain he is, is another matter. And I'll now turn my attentions to the Manager. Arsenal social media is becoming more and more vociferous in its criticism of Emery, and as I've said before I no longer believe that he is the man to take the club forward, and with still no discernable style of play, forwards being starved of service by the formation, and little sign of any of this changing, his position is clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable. And for a side going for Top Four, a total of one point gleaned from matches against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace is unacceptable.
I understand that Josh Kroenke was at the game, whilst Stan was also in London yesterday (albeit to watch his beloved LA Rams at Wembley). Clearly, Xhaka-gate turns the spotlight further onto Emery too.
It's also worth noting that as Arsenal huffed and puffed in the search for a winner, the few hundred voices that had been singing the Ozil song on Thursday were joined by thousands more on Sunday. The decision to leave him out of all these matchday squads is apparently a club decision, not Emery's, but it's simply bonkers in my view. The team is crying out for something different, and Ozil is best placed to deliver different - if not from the start then certainly in the last 20 minutes of a game.
Just a quick mention of a few other things that probably deserved more attention. Firstly, the dreadful performance on Thursday evening that ended with those two moments of magic from Pepe that'll hopefully ignite his Arsenal career. Again, Emery's selction has to come under scrutiny as a lightweight midfield of Torreria, Willock and Maitland-Niles was overrun in the first half. The latter two have probably taken a step back as a result of that, and I supect that AMN could do with a loan after Christmas.
Secondly, racism in football as highlighted in Bulgaria last week. This sort of thing is a sign that humanity needs to take a good look at itself, and England is by no means clear of it - as we saw with Yeovil, of all places, the following weekend. As the stench of antisemitism rises, society needs to take a good look at itself and football is a microcosm of that.
And finally, I've had a couple of excellent Saturday mornings these past two weeks watching England's rugby union team reach the final of their World Cup, culminating in a pulsating defeat of the mighty All Blacks. So come on boys - bring it home!
Until next time.
Written by David Marks - 59-year-old married father of 4, now semi-retired. "I've been an Arsenal fan since my father first took him to Highbury when I was six."
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