Arsenal’s defence was blown away by Haaland, but Rob Holding seems to get the most stick because he’s English
UNFORTUNATELY for Arsenal, their game against Manchester City looked like men versus boys.
As a result, Mikel Arteta’s dream of lifting the Premier League title is done.
In fact, I thought it was done when they failed to close out against West Ham.
Arsenal may have lost at the Etihad — big time — but the three games before were more mentally destructive.
Had they scored a third against Liverpool and seen off West Ham and Southampton, that would have shaped their destiny.
It is difficult to keep saying they “bottled it”, and with my previous comments on Arsenal everyone is going to associate that with me.
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They have done very well this season but, ultimately, it is over.
That result has shown me that City are just on another level in every department, as they are to a lot of teams in this country.
Rodri showed Thomas Partey there is another level. Erling Haaland showed that to Gabriel Jesus. Kyle Walker showed Gabriel Martinelli.
Kevin De Bruyne stepped up and made that game look easy. Jack Grealish grew into it. The higher the stakes, those bigger players say, ‘Let’s have a bit of this’. Arsenal didn’t have that.
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Their squad depth right now is vulnerable. They need three or four players over the summer to be in a position to compete on all fronts. Arsenal tried to press, which was actually very good, and nick it high up.
But then City just clipped it into Haaland and he was so strong and powerful.
I was at the first game between them, at the Emirates, and he wasn’t like that.
His link-up was not great and Gabriel and William Saliba had him on toast, even though he eventually scored.
But on Wednesday . . . Wow! He was a monster. I know he missed chances but that was his best all-around game in a City shirt.
I felt sorry for Rob Holding. He got the short end of the stick, even though Gabriel got bullied just as badly.
Is it because Rob is English so we have to give him a bit more?
Ben White was also poor. Oleksandr Zinchenko was awful. So, the abuse of Rob was strange, and he even ended up scoring.
'A SCAPEGOAT'
It is always easy to watch a game and criticise, but in the heat of the moment he got really tight on Haaland, who had an unbelievable first touch before the first goal. It was just poor defending in general.
At times, Rob has become a scapegoat. He didn’t play as poorly as people think.
Sometimes, you just have to look back at City and go, ‘That’s a bloody good team’.
The biggest telling point for me was that after the game, the City players were not celebrating wildly. It felt like job done, who’s next?
That is the sign of a team who are used to that level of pressure.
But I would disagree that the pressure is now off Arsenal. I actually think it is on more than ever.
If they go through these next five games and win two, draw two, lose one, it will feel like a waste of time. They will then carry that into next year.
City laid a marker on Arsenal. These Arsenal boys need to go and do that to Chelsea and Newcastle to show them they will be around for a long time.
FROM my experiences, the most common mindset of a squad with a caretaker boss in charge is: if the club aren’t taking it seriously, why should I?
You don’t point fingers at the guy who has just stepped in, more at the club.
The players will think: “We all know this coach won’t be here for the long term. You as an owner do not know what that even looks like — so why don’t I just wait until summer and then I’ll figure out my long term?”
Players want leadership but what does the leadership look like right now at Stamford Bridge? Questionable.
Tottenham? All over the place. They have just got rid of a manager, a director of football and an interim — and it shows.
That was my biggest takeaway from Spurs’ loss up at Newcastle.
They were playing against a team who know who the owners are, know what the manager wants, know what the expectations of the fans are and know what they are doing. That’s why Newcastle go out week in, week out and play exciting stuff.
Look at Frank Lampard at Chelsea — it must be really difficult.
I’m sure he took that job with the intention of doing well until the summer and boosting his profile to get another job.
Unfortunately, with the club in disarray, he might struggle to get employed again, his name tarnished alongside Chelsea’s.
As for Ryan Mason at Spurs, I don’t think it will work. He has the look of a guy positioning himself to let other clubs know he is available.
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Spurs have gone from sacking one of the best managers in football in Antonio Conte for Mason, an inexperienced coach — and that shows a clear lack of direction and leadership.
They needed to make a brave statement with a director of football and new manager to give them a couple of weeks to assess and go again in pre-season.
