SPECIAL SAUCE MISSING (AGAIN)

BUT ALL IS NOT LOST...

Where to start, eh? All that hype, so much meh…

We were off to a bad start before the game even kicked off with that tifo. I’m not normally one to criticise creative execution — that’s someone’s baby, you don’t know what happened along the way, and you never know when it’ll be you in the firing line… but the idea doesn’t look like it came from a designer or an artist. It looked like Tanya in accounts googled ‘Gunners’ and threw the first thing she found into a PowerPoint before sending it to the printers. Tifos are for the fans. If the fans don’t want to make one, clubs shouldn’t step into the void… unless they have the Dua Lipa of street artists.

I honestly thought we’d be getting a disgustingly good design from NorthBanksy or someone in that circle. Alas, we landed on something as uninspired as a heavily mayonnaise’d cracker. Art imitated life — or performance, or however I’m supposed to frame that idea so you know I thought the team played with all the spice of a bag of Walkers Ready Salted potato crisps.

Enough about food…

I had Arsenal UCL semi-final PTSD—the sharp reverbs of hype shattered by an early PSG goal set the tone for a struggle bus of an evening that felt very familiar when put in the context of our season. Some people slammed the fans, Wayne Rooney one of them… I’m sorry, not having it, it was up to the players to find the extra gears at home to fire people out of their in-stadium stupor.

The sweeping criticisms post-game were predictable and probably deserved, but they also felt naive. It’s the first leg of a semi-final against a team we got at all night. They are a world-class outfit, and they were fractionally better than Arsenal. We are also a world-class outfit, and we didn’t perform at our peak. The result could have gone any way, in any combination, because the margins in the Champions League are so fine, and the players are so good. Paris are beauty, Arsenal are beast… and when beast doesn’t score, you can find a thousand reasons they’re not at the level — but we’ve seen enough major scalps this season to know that kind of carry-on is tripe. I don’t want to read ‘didn’t want it enough’ or ‘not the right mentality’… we’re in the semi-finals of the hardest competition in the world. If you’re distilling a game down to mentality, I’d suggest you’re struggling to analyse the game — because you’ve fallen down the hole of tired tropes. Throwing out intangible criticisms won’t cut it.

We were certainly lucky in the opening 25 minutes. David Raya made a couple of really good saves, but the real luck was keeping Jurrien Timber on the pitch. He was pulled up about five times for fouls on Kvaratskhelia, and then somehow managed to avoid a foul for putting his arm around the waist of the Georgian in the penalty area and dropping him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winger cause Timber so many issues. It felt a little like Ben White getting beasted by Rashford a few seasons ago—he didn’t have any answers. And because he was in such a bind, he couldn’t be the attacking protagonist he usually is in tight, technical games like that.

PSG were just too much for Arsenal in the opening 30. They committed to the press and boxed Arsenal in. No doubt we missed the calmness of Thomas Partey at the base of midfield, but let’s be honest—even he would’ve struggled against a Lucho team that just found its rhythm instantly.

That said, we also asked probing questions of PSG all night long. I spoke to Matt after the game and he bemoaned the attacking play feeling familiar… My counter to that is this: my view of the season has been low chance creation and low quality. Can you say the same about last night? I don’t think so. Martinelli was put through on goal, opened up his body like Thierry, and forced a one-handed save from Donnarumma. Trossard beat their high line in the second half, and the giant Italian gave his shot the same treatment. Merino had a well-crafted set piece ruled offside. Arsenal created 1.69 xG to Paris’ 1.29. As I said earlier, that game could’ve been 2-0 to Arsenal and you’d have accepted it. It could also have been 3-0 to Paris and you’d have shrugged and said, “Ok, I get it.”

The difference was a moment of magic from Kvaratskhelia and Dembélé. It was a half-chance, a clever assist, and the sort of low-margin finish that is absolutely standard in Champions League football. Arsenal didn’t finish their high-margin chances, and we didn’t have any bang-BANG magic this week.

But I see promise in the openings we found. PSG will not be feeling home and dry. Arsenal players will probably feel aggrieved they didn’t take anything from the game in front of their home fans. The next leg, at 1-0, is still wide open. This isn’t a PSG that’s good at keeping clean sheets.

I won’t labour the point, but the referee really wasn’t at the standard you expect in the Champions League. He didn’t let the game flow, he was overly officious, he wasn’t counting fouls, and he just got in the way of the game. Yes, we probably should’ve conceded a penalty—but there were also moments that went PSG’s way. Bukayo Saka forced a mistake on the right, was clean through on goal, and the ref pulled it back for a foul. On the left, Gabi got booked for getting fouled by Hakimi. Just sloppy stuff.

There were some performances I didn’t like, but the main one for me was Martin Ødegaard. It’s really hard to hide from that outing. It was a disaster. He was sloppy on the ball, didn’t offer much creatively, took too many touches, made poor decisions… he looked broken by the performance. This graphic appeared on 28 minutes.

Arsenal—a team of control and precision—were dropping Stoke passing numbers. I’m not blaming him entirely, but this is the guy who is our conductor. Our leader. The guy who leads the press, sets the tone for quality, and takes the game by the scruff of the neck. That wasn’t him this evening, and he has to ask questions of himself—and Arteta has to wonder what has happened to this guy. He’s just beginning his peak years and he looks more broken than he did when Madrid binned him. You just cannot play like that as a captain in a UCL semi-final. It’s very, very concerning.

MLS was sensational. Everything about his game speaks to a 24 year old with 100 appearances under their belt, but he’s just a kid. He digests the mission, reads the game, uses his body like a veteran, and his weight of passing just gets better and better. I was shocked at how good he was on a stage he shouldn’t be anywhere near.

David Raya also had a good game. Some folk on the internet were telling me my eyes were lying, but I saw a keeper who was brave all game, made some great saves, and gave stability to a defence that creaked at times. He’s brilliant. Truly world-class.

Leandro Trossard didn’t really play like he was offended. You need him freshly slighted, not feeling like the manager had no other choice. When you get the “no other choice” performance, it’s often quite painful to watch. He hit the target twice, but he didn’t really act as an outlet for us. He lost the ball 14 times and failed to impose himself in a threatening way.

I don’t think it was much better across the front three. Bukayo had threatening phases during the game—moments where you felt he was getting into that Bergkamp mood—but it never manifested. He also lost the ball a lot, didn’t offer much in front of goal, and didn’t give us the hero moment we’re so used to.

But… it’s only halfway done. There’s plenty more to come. More openings. More drama. Maybe more magic. Arteta has a week to work out what went wrong last night and rectify it with something special. Big teams overturn deficits way bigger than this one. Paris away will be fearsome—but so was Madrid away.

The main area that needs to be addressed is belief. We looked nervous from minute one yesterday, and the goal led to a cagey approach. If you don’t believe in the Champions League, you don’t get. Reaching a semi-final is an incredible achievement, but we can’t exit it without more blood on the pitch. I want to see fifth-gear Arsenal next week. Boldness. Aggression. Duel-winning… and magic. Arsenal exited last year because we lacked magic. Can we conjure some in the next game? It’s going to be a long seven days waiting to find out.

But my advice? Don’t vent your spleen yet. We wouldn’t be celebrating a final right now if we were winning, so don’t cry in your GCs because we’re a goal down with 90 minutes to play. All it takes is one goal.

Ok—sorry we didn’t get to an On The Whistle last night. Johnny was at the game, and Matt is a full-time suit these days with important things to do with important people. What can I do? Oh… tell him to quit the job to go full-time podcasting? Good shout. I’ll book the “quick chat” call for Friday 4pm and I’ll get this sorted.

Enjoy the pod—it’s here. HERE IS A VERY SPECIAL OFFER AVAILS ON THE SHORT TERM if you want to access it. x

P.S. Thank you to everyone that reads this website and especially the sickos that subscribe. I was looking at some data earlier, and I have subscribers in 113 countries. That’s pretty crazy for a little blog about Arsenal. I say it to people I meet, there’s no easier way to meet people than to pitch up at a sports bar and tell people you support Arsenal. x