The 11 men of Arsenal couldn’t overcome Manchester United’s 10.
No surprise.
Seemed to lack the ability to finish despite all their possession in United’s 18 yard box.
Again, no surprise.
Arsenal have had problems with scoring from play (as opposed to set pieces) for quite a long time now.
Missed a penalty in regular time as well.
Well, Saka is out injured, and someone needs to remind Arsenal (and Mr Arteta) that in order to win games, you need to score goals, and that means that you actually need to put the ball in your opponent's net.
The problem with Kai Havertz (and I have always been one who has long harboured doubts about him as a player) is not just a missed penalty today - it is that he should never have been asked to take penalties.
In fact, I am at a loss to understand why someone who is skilled, competent, confident, reliable, steady, - someone such as Declan Rice - was not given the task of taking penalties, instead.
More to the point, the problem is that he is not a natural goal scorer - for, he only scores when he is both confident, and comfortable, and when others (such as Saka) are also scoring frequently - and to rely on him as such, or expect such from him, is an error - not an egregious error, but a fundamental error, one that arises from a fundamental misunderstanding of what he can bring to the team and do on the pitch.
Havertz is good at intelligent positioning, and at creating conditions and situations which enable others to score.
However, at the moment, in Arsenal, there are no natural scorers, and Havertz cannot be expected to address this deficiency, as his judgment in front of goal (as opposed to intelligent positioning on the way there) is seriously flawed and profoundly lacking; again, this is not a new problem, but is one - in the absence of others with the ability to actually put the ball in the net - that is becoming more pronounced with each game. Havertz missing absolute sitters is becoming a sort of steady background beat, a sort of ambient music or noise, to this season.
Moreover, Havertz is - temperamentally - a brittle player, one whose confidence (and judgment) - are suspect, because temperamentally, he is fragile and frail, and - frankly - unreliable. His perennially brittle confidence is a luxury that I am not so sure the team needs - or can afford - and I do not understand Arteta's evident fondness for him. Yes, he tries hard, and is clearly a hard worker, - both very commendable traits - but equally clearly, he seems to need constant emotional - or psychological - reinforcement and support.
However, worse still is Arteta's continued failure to recognise - and address the clear shortcomings in his team - for example, an evident inability to score from open play is not a new problem for Arsenal.
Likewise, I am not entirely convinced by Raya in goal; yes, he may have been an upgrade on Leno, or - and I am less convinced of this, on Ramsdale - (and, for the millionth time, I will state that we should never have sold Martínez, even though he is clearly something of a prat, as a human being), but I am not entirely certain that he is quite good enough to be among the very best at this level.
And I remain completely unconvinced by Raheem Sterling - I just do not understand why we ever even bought him, as I fail to see what he brings to the team.
Then, Gabriel Jesus was injured today (to add to all of the other injuries in the team), - and I am not optimistic over an early return - he has never been quite the same player since his injury in te World Cup a few years ago - while some of our other players are not yet restored to full health following injuries.
Worse again is what seems to me is the cultivation of a clear culture of favourites by Arteta (as well as failing to recognise - or address their flaws) - and, concomitant with that - players who are deemed surplus to requirements and who are frozen out as a consequence.
If Arteta is unable (or unwilling) to address these problems - none of which are new - he needs to recruit staff who will compensate for his blind spots, his increasingly obvious myopia.
Whinging and whining about the footballs used in a match is embarrassing, and cringe-inducing, - really, it was excruciating, and I'm an Arsenal supporter, and have been for decades, but this was acutely embarrassing - and a striking example of not owning your own mistakes.
Anyway, no surprise.
I have reconciled myself to winning (absolutely) no trophies (yet again) this season.
