And the Season Starts with a Whimper

The Starting Line Ups

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The only real surprise here was seeing Mattéo Guendouzi in the first team today.  It is telling to see the 19 year old in the starting line up for Arsenal, while De Bruyne, Silva, Sané, Jesus, and Kompany started on the bench for City.  Any one of these players would walk into Arsenal as a marquee signing.  Given City’s depth it was immediately clear they are on another level.  And by halftime that initial assumption had been proven.  City had us on our back foot, leaving me quite relieved to be only a goal down.

Petr Cech started in goal, which although anticipated all week was still a surprise to me.  And 14 min in when Sterling drifted past Bellerin and Guendouzi to strike first blood Cech barely moved off his line, reaffirming my skepticism about starting the aging and fallible goaltender.  Why did we buy Leno, Ospina could have continued as our back up if Leno wasn’t going to start?  And for those who say Leno will get his chances, what are we waiting for?  But on the 29th minute Cech redeemed himself with a great save from a Mahrez free kick just outside the box (a foul Sokartis was lucky not to see a red card for), followed by a foot save on the Laporte follow up.  And in general Cech did fairly well, only conceding again midway through the second half as a completely unmarked Bernardo Silva slotted home a cross in the penalty area which Cech can’t be blamed for.

Arsenal looked disjointed in the first half, almost fearful of the marauding City players.  Things certainly could have gotten much worse for the Gunners after the break, but with a couple changes midway through the second half our team was able to generate some positive football.

What went wrong?

It is difficult to say anything went wrong when you lose to Manchester City by only two goals.  But we can pinpoint a few deficiencies on our behalf.  In the first half, and to a lesser extent also in the second, the midfield was dominated by City.  Ramsey played extremely high up the pitch and seemed non-existent from the defensive point of view.  Guendouzi’s presence was felt, and although a surprise selection to start today, he seemed the more capable of the two deeper lying central midfielders.  Xhaka on the other hand was most noticeable when making late tackles which exposed his frequently criticized lack of pace.  In essence, both the replacement of Ramsey with Lacazette and Torreira for Xhaka were positive changes.  As Ramsey was playing nearly as a second striker, why not just play a striker.  And Torreira’s introduction injected pace and some ability to breakdown City’s midfield dominance.   Torreira’s distribution wasn’t bad either, as he showed with an over the top pass to Aubameyang who finished well, but was unfortunately off side.  A second goal late on was also encouraging, but again Ozil was clearly offside.  Silva’s late strike finished us off and exposed our ongoing defensive concerns, which I doubt will have been completely answered in the transfer window, but we must remember the competition we faced today was amongst the best.

What needs to be done?

In the end, there are positives to take away from our opening game.  What is a game after all, but a series of moments all in line, and Arsenal had their moments.  I believe our offence has what it takes, our defence is mediocre, but the main area we fell short was in the middle of the park. When Torreira replaced Xhaka, there was an improved presence in midfield, but still our attacking midfield options lack the ubiquity required to control the game.  Ozil and Ramsey are good players, but they are both fairly unidimensional, lacking the defensive presence required to control the midfield.  De Bruyne may be the epitome of this position with strength and physicality and the ability to make his presence stated both offensively and defensively.  I realize Ainsely Maitland-Niles, who unfortunately was taken off with what could be a serious injury, has been touted as a defensive midfielder, but his pervasiveness could be more what we need in the centre of the midfield.  With a forward line of Auba, Lacazette, and any of Mikitaryhan/Ozil/Ramsey, I don’t think a diminutive solely attacking player behind the striker is what we need.  We need someone with a physical presence to control the midfield and ultimately control the game.

It wasn’t the best start, but it wasn’t the worst.  From what we saw today, and given we are still a team in transition, we can remain optimistic about this season!