Don’t Believe The Hype
The Master v. The Apprentice. Arsenal off to our best league start in years. City off to their worst start in years. The debut of Thomas Partey. With so many storylines, it’s a damn shame that the actual match was nowhere near the pre-match hype. As passive of an offensive showing as it was, who would believe that we actually got 11 shots off today?
Sunday Morning Quarterback
With Ceballos–one of our most creative players–sitting deep in front of our backline for most of the match, it’s no wonder that we failed to get Auba–our greatest goalscoring threat–more than a few touches in the final third. Thank God for Saka, who–despite being the youngest player on the pitch–seemed to be the only Gunner who understood that you can’t win if you don’t shoot. It’s underwhelming attacking performances like this that make one wonder – Should Arteta set his personal feelings towards Ozil aside and give the nothing-if-not-creative German a chance to earn his £350,000 per week wages? But alas, our manager chose to bring on Laca and Nketiah, as if finishing was the issue rather than a lack of real chances. Perhaps Partey–who had two assists for Ghana during the week–should have debuted sooner in an attempt to unlock a City defense that before today had not collected its first clean sheet of the season?
Reality Check
After our loss to Liverpool in Week 3, this was our second major test of this league season. And while the season remains young, Gooners should view losing (hell, I would have gladly taken a draw) to a City sans Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte, and Benjamin Mendy as a missed opportunity and a sign that in spite of our positive start to the season, our boys remain very much a work-in-process. Let’s hope for a more enjoyable watch against Leicester next week.