Villa - on the bus. Accept when you are beaten

Arsenal suffered a second loss of the season at a difficult ground, allowing the chasing pack to close the gap uncomfortably.

Before the game, the commentator shared that Aston Villa had lost a single home game all of last season, and that defeat came courtesy of us. That’s a truly impressive record, usually the preserve of title contenders. We played them in their first home match of the season, and while I haven’t tracked them closely since, they hadn’t lost ever since, despite only finishing fifth.

That fact sent a shiver down my spine—I suddenly realised just how tough today was going to be. However, that v was immediately countered by our brilliant away fans. In the second minute of the game, all I could hear on the broadcast was the new, catchy Eze chant: “.. fk off Tottenham, I’m a Gooner now”. By the third minute, it had switched to “...ooooh, Mikel Merino”—our supporters are pure class, completely silencing the home stadium.

Arteta deployed the best available starting eleven; with Saliba sidelined, there were no real surprises. Our defensive options were so threadbare that Arteta even had to prematurely unpack the Salmon he’d bought for the Christmas table. Sorry, I know it’s kind of a ‘Dad joke’, but I simply couldn’t resist.

Both teams began exchanging pressing attacks. We were slightly more effective, carving out two half-chances. During the second one, Merino completely fluffed his pass to Saka and, once again, demonstrated his excellent character: he fell to the ground, full of regret and apologies. I’ve mentioned our fans are classy, haven’t I? They rallied behind Mikel with another “ooooh” chant—I couldn’t have been prouder.

In the 10th minute, Villa moved the ball to Watkins in just two passes (though McGinn had actually tripped Calafiori, meaning the potential goal could have been disallowed). Watkins too easily got away from Hincapie inside our box… but super-hero David Raya was there to bail us out again. Our Spanish keeper simply anticipated where Watkins would shoot, leaped before the shot, and won the duel. That’s the second time this week he’s thwarted a massive chance at a critical moment.

Villa Park immediately erupted. The danger for Villa stemmed from getting in behind our defensive midfield, and individual skills of Rodgers and Watkins. Both had been rather crappy for the first two months of the campaign, yet they chose this precise moment to hit form against us. I’m unsure if Unai Emery specifically planned to load our defensive midfield zone or if this is a standard Villa tactic, but it certainly worked against our less-than-fresh “double pivot”.

Ian Maatsen was also making runs up to 60 meters with the ball, constantly penetrating our box. This isn’t a fault of our team—it’s what Maatsen does and he’s excellent at it. The caveat is that he’s usually defensively exposed. It was Saka’s job to exploit this weakness. He nearly did in the 21st minute, but the goal was chalked off for offside. It was that rare kind of offside that actually proved irrelevant—had Saka held the line during the pass, Villa’s defenders would never have caught him, and they certainly weren’t catching Eze. Saka’s second major opportunity came in the 43rd minute after he did everything to set up White to score. Ben’s shot was saved, though it looked like he had the time for another touch which would have allowed for a more precise strike.

In this continuous exchange of blows, Martin Odegaard managed to bring much-needed control. He slowed the tempo at times and made the football more positional, which didn’t exactly suit Villa. Unfortunately, he still, too many times, has eyes only for Saka. We brought Eze and Calafiori into this team for a reason. Eze is capable of producing magical moments, and Ricky looks more comfortable operating around the penalty box than around a pasta maker. But our key ball-players aren’t involving them much in the build-up—the ball stubbornly remains concentrated on the right flank.

Villa’s second big chance was stopped by Declan Rice (who else?), who bravely threw his body on the line. Villa’s third big chance, however, resulted in a goal. We allowed their player an unopposed cross from ten meters outside the box. The ball sailed past the center of the box, Eze was caught watching the play unfold, and Raya simply couldn’t save the bullet shot that Cash fired (I won’t entertain complaints about unlikely goals—Cash makes these types of scoring runs regularly).

At that moment, Arteta pulled a faded picture of a young Brazilian winger from his wallet and stared at it with a hint of nostalgia.

Strong second half

I was trying to think what options we actually have on the bench for strengthening up, considering the recent performances? The only one I could come up with is bringing in Gyokeres to terrorise their defence, sending Merino either to the bench or into midfield. On the bench probably made more sense, since Merino has to deputize for Declan in midweek.

That’s exactly what Arteta did straight after the break: the substitution I described before, as well as the “punishment” substitution for Eze. I wouldn’t say Eze had a poor match today. Our team play truly neglected that left side; the ball simply didn’t go through him. And regarding the goal—

I never expected him to perform well as the last defender (he probably hasn’t had that role in his career); for that role, we have a specially trained Martinelli in the squad.

Arteta brought on Trossard (I didn’t even realise he had a full half of football in him), and Leo demonstrated exactly what Eze lacked: aggression and determination. Within his first five minutes, he got on the end of Odegaard’s cross and was close to converting it. Within his first eight, he was there to finish the chance created by another brilliant run from Saka. Gyokeres dragged a defender into the never-ending struggle and into the net, and Leo was there to smash the ball home and offer a fresh tissue for Martinez’s tears.

Trossard celebrating the goal - Metro

After our subs in the previous games didn’t really move the needle, Trossard reminded us what a real impactful sub looks like! With all the money that was spent on widening the squad in summer, Trossard is the one showing up on such hostile grounds - just unbelievable!

In moments like this, I always dream of us catching that wave of pressure and confidence to score the second and completely reverse the result. But for some reason, it rarely happens for us in big games; I can’t recall when we managed a double comeback punch inside 10 minutes. I don’t know whether this comes down to specific instructions from Arteta or if Villa simply seized the initiative by force.

The match continued with an exchange of blows: Arsenal had quantity, Villa had quality, but the score remained 1-1. Hincapie, despite having constant struggles to stop Watkins in the one-of-one duels, cleared all the potential counterattacks through his unbelievable pace. I would really like to see what he has to offer as a full back, when Gabriel is back to the squad.

I looked at our bench and couldn’t find many options to improve the attack. We needed someone who could genuinely create a chance individually through skill, not just a systematic player. The two names I considered for this criterion were Nwaneri and Madueke. I know Arteta would never field Nwaneri (whether in place of Odegaard or Zubimendi) in such a tight, competitive game—there’s simply not enough trust there.

Arteta did, however, bring on Madueke, primarily to protect Saka from a potential red card. The move made sense; the league isn’t over today, and we can’t afford him missing any games. The Madueke who came on was completely ANONYMOUS. Remember Maatsen? A fresh Madueke failed to ask any difficult questions of the Villa left-back, who already had 75 minutes in his legs. And to top it all off, in the 92nd minute, Rice delivered a brilliant cross right across the box that found Madueke. What on earth was he attempting there? Shooting past Martinez from the narrowest of angles? His finish was utterly nonsensical. He should have cut back inside, left Maatsen sliding, and then taken a shot with his proper left foot.

The harsh reality is: Madueke is there to give Saka a rest, but he’s not the player to pull the team through tough moments. That’s what you usually get when you go and shop at Chelsea.

We had chances, and Villa had theirs—unbelievable misses and incredible last-second tackles. It smelled like a draw; it looked and felt like a draw. But in the very last moments of the game, Villa threw every resource they had forward. Maatsen (yes, Madueke, the guy who played for 90 minutes) started their attack by entering our box yet again. Our entire defence and midfield threw their bodies on the line repeatedly, but Buendia (a fresh player, Madueke) scored the winner. And critically, none of our front three, including Martinelli, the defensive powerhouse, and Madueke, rushed back to salvage a draw.

Gutted defenders - JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

It’s really heartbreaking to see our defenders like this after they gave everything away in this game and I don’t feel some of our subs contributed in the same manner.

Post-game conclusions

I am simply not prepared for last-minute winners from our opponents—they always sting terribly. But after I calmed down, I can say that this is the first loss of points this season where I can’t fairly lay the blame on Arteta much.

Against Man City and Liverpool, Arteta had deployed an excessively fearful approach. Against Sunderland, instead of introducing attackers and pushing the team to maintain an offensive threat, he brought on a centre-back, which only invited more pressure on us. Against Chelsea, he failed to inject the proper motivation into the team in the second half, leading to a uniformly poor performance.

However, today was an exception—we were up against a very capable side in their own ground, with a severely weakened defence of our own. We performed better in the second half, we brought on players to inject fresh energy into the game, but we still lost. We must tip our hats to our opponents, who were simply good on the day and converted that into a victory.

The only possible takeaway for Arteta is the realisation that we should better conserve our key players for such demanding fixtures. Additionally, Arteta might need to reconsider who he puts his faith in during certain game scenarios. I genuinely struggle to understand why Nwaneri is completely overlooked in these matches, yet Madueke is the player Arteta fully trusts, as is Martinelli, following his subpar display mid-week.

We remain at the top of the league table, but we have allowed our rivals to move uncomfortably close. We have essentially used up all our margin for error. The immediate goal must now be to take all 12 points from our next four league fixtures, which is entirely achievable, and would put us firmly back in the driving seat. But before those four, we are due a visit to a beautiful city in Belgium.

Rotation is the only answer

The most dreadful consequence of this defeat for me is the fear that Arteta will now deploy quite a strong side in the Champions League to “change the narrative”. That would be nothing short of a massive mistake.

I refuse to hear any talk about the “narrative”—Arteta is the one who dictates the narrative for our lads. If he tells them they can turn everything around against Wolves within a week, that will be their mentality. If he assures them that we can afford to drop points in the Champions League without jeopardising our standing, they will adopt that mindset accordingly.

And this sentiment is not far from the truth. We have 15 points secured and three matches remaining. One of those three is a home tie against Kairat. We should easily win that match regardless of the line-up—no disrespect intended to the opposition, but the difference in individual quality is simply immense. That would bring us to 18 points, with two fixtures left against Brugge and Inter. This means a draw should be perfectly acceptable. 19 points would certainly guarantee a top-4 finish, and 20 points would secure a top-2 spot.

It is also simpler to approach European matches with a mindset geared towards accepting a draw. It permits us to avoid overcommitting, play a secure game, and compel the opposition to attack us—they are the ones who still need to earn their place under the Champions League spotlight this spring. This strategy may also best suit our bench players, who are perhaps not as possession-focused.

We likely have limited options in defence, although I might even be tempted to use that holiday Salmon to give Timber a much-needed rest. The midfield must unequivocally feature Norgaard and Merino. Martinelli, Nwaneri, Madueke, and Gyokeres should spearhead our attack, with Kepa safeguarding the goal. I remain unconvinced that keepers who only feature in the League Cup and FA Cup can rise to truly crucial occasions, but I could, of course, be mistaken 🙂

This current squad possesses all the necessary quality to secure the required result in Belgium, and I sincerely hope this defeat does not cloud Arteta’s judgement or prepared plans!