Arsenal nicked it against Newcastle. A win is a win they will say. But nobody watching that game was convinced by anything they saw and deep down every Arsenal fan knows it.
It was a snoozefest. Boring, bland, uninspiring. Newcastle missed a clear cut chance and Arsenal rode their luck. That is the story of Arsenal's season in one sentence really.
And Eddie Howe. He is on borrowed time at Newcastle. There is a real possibility he will not be there next season and honestly you get the feeling he might not even want to be. We all know he had his eye on the England job. When a manager stops fully believing in the project the results follow.
Now let us talk about the game itself because there was a moment that summed up everything wrong with this Arsenal side. Gyokeres had a four on one. Four Arsenal shirts against one Newcastle defender. He found the one Newcastle shirt. Brock Lesnar would have been proud of that defending but that is not the point. A striker of Gyokeres quality, the man who was unstoppable at Sporting, should score that in his sleep. That is what this Arteta system has done to him. Destroyed his confidence, destroyed his instincts, turned a natural goalscorer into a nervous wreck.
Havertz was subbed off in the first half. Looked more like a precaution than anything serious but we cannot be sure. Odegaard was running around trying to hype the fans up. Bro. Do something on the pitch first. Let the fans hype themselves up because of what they are seeing. You should not need to beg your own crowd for noise.
And can we talk about Noni Madueke for a second. Arsenal paid forty million plus for Noni Madueke. Forty million. For Noni Madueke. If you are a club that has not won a league title in over twenty years and you genuinely want to challenge City, you go for Kvaratskhelia. You go for Leao. You go for Olise. Yes Olise plays the same wing as Saka but look at City. They have two world class players competing for every single position and it makes everyone better. Arsenal had the budget and they went for Noni Madueke. That tells you everything about the thought process at that club right now.
Look at the squad. Who actually looks threatening? Who looks like they can win you a game on their own? Eze. That is it. One player. Odegaard is off it. Havertz is off it. Gyokeres is lost. Saka has been below his best all season even before the injury. And Zubimendi. The man has played around fifty games, somewhere near three thousand minutes this season. He was playing thirty seven games a season at his old club. Arteta has run him into the ground and then wonders why he looks tired and found out. You have Norgaard sitting there, experienced, reliable, and Arteta does not trust him. This manager does not rotate, does not manage his squad and does not learn.
I agree with Paul Scholes when he said Arsenal would be the worst champions if they won it. I am sorry to Arsenal fans but that is the truth. It is genuinely hard to watch them play. Boring, bland, a complete snoozefest. And when you compare it to the Henry era, the Vieira era, the Invincibles, this club has lost its soul somewhere along the way.
Arsenal fans need to hold their club to a higher standard. Not beg for trophies. Demand them. Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in England and in the world and the fanbase deserves better than this. Some fans are happy settling for second and that is their right. But the real ones can see what is happening and these performances do not fill anyone with confidence.
The Gyokeres miss. The Havertz miss against City. The criminal decision to sub Eze against City. These moments might come back to haunt Arteta when the season ends. Luck will not win you the league. And Arsenal are running out of both.