Arsenal destroy Everton: is it the new dawn?

Models are just models, they aren’t real life. Sometimes a model can predict a 1-1 draw and then real life can throw up a 5-2 win. Meh, it happens. I’m not even going to alter the model, yet.

My predictron merely looks at past performances and uses them to “predict” a likely outcome for the future. It doesn’t know that Ronald Koeman’s men are going to give up on a game. Nor does it sense that Arsenal’s front three of Lacazette, Ozil, and Alexis are going to come prepared to fight for once this season. And it doesn’t predict red cards, which make the game so much easier. But that’s exactly what happened and Arsenal ran out 5-2 winners.

After every defeat we are told that we need to take it as a one-off and that we aren’t allowed to see a pattern of despair. And after every big win we are told we should celebrate as if the team has turned a corner. But for me, I’ve seen so many Arsenal performances now, some brilliant losses, some well deserved wins, and some absolutely appalling wins, and now I know that the truth is somewhere in between.

It was a marvelous performance by Arsenal’s front three. Adrian Clarke in his breakdown on the dot com showed how Arsenal’s one-touch passing between Alexis, Ozil, Ramsey, and what’s his name the guy who is sometimes allowed to play up front, opened up the passing lanes and eviscerated Everton’s defense. And it’s very true! That was a sweet display.

But clarke also showed how Everton’s midfielders, especially Gueye (he wears “Gana” on the back of his shirt), didn’t really track the runners, especially Ramsey. He made that one tackle in the first 10 minutes, and in fact the entire Everton team looked up for it in the first 10 minutes: they pressed and harassed Arsenal, forcing turnovers and showing that the Gunners really can’t cope with pressure. And then after they took the lead, Everton pulled up the handbrake and Arsenal took them apart.

That Rooney goal was exactly what Gooners have been complaining about for years. Xhaka was having a nightmare first 10 minutes, he literally cannot handle pressure, and his midfield partner (I guess it’s Ramsey) was off playing CF. So, when he has a brain fart and doesn’t notice that Gana is closing him down, he’s super casual with the ball and has it taken off him. From there the goal is almost inevitable. Mertesacker can’t really close down because he lacks the speed and if he tried to step up even lead-footed old man Rooney would simply dribble around him. So, he hesitates and rooney picks his spot for the goal.

I was fuming after that goal. I was complaining about the fact that Arsenal are the only club in the world that tries to get away with playing a single midfielder.

But then Arsenal gathered themselves up and took the game to Everton. Or maybe you’re still a tad cynical, like me, and feel like Everton didn’t really fight back. Either way, it was a master class of what Arsenal can do to team if they let them. Ramsey’s runs went unchecked by Gueye-Gana, Ozil was popping up everywhere to pick up possession, and Ozil’s passing was perfect on the day. Meanwhile Alexis was running at the defenders and no one tried to even take the ball off him, he was dispossessed just once. Even that forward guy who is allowed to have the ball every once in a while was graciously given four shots.

And there was no element of luck in this game. Arsenal created 30 shots, got 14 on target, and took 6 big chances. Expected goals for the Arsenal were 4.63. If there was any luck it was Pickford, who saved 3 big chances in the first half and Rooney with his long range shot – that’s a 3% shot normally (I admit that I don’t know what the percentage is when the defenders don’t close down). Everton were so poor on the day that they only created 0.99 expected goals. Everton didn’t even try to hit Arsenal on the counter. They just looked like a team who had given up on their manager and it’s not a surprise to find out that Koeman was fired today.

It’s a funny thing. I think that 5-2 win perfectly sums up Arsenal under Arsene Wenger since 2008. Score five because the opposition didn’t show up but let two in because your defenders and midfielders are a bit too relaxed and the midfield is disorganized.

While everyone else is celebrating, it’s actually a frustrating result for me. I see the quality in this team. Lacazette should score 30 goals for Arsenal, easily. Ozil should have 20 assists now that he has a real goal scorer. Alexis should find the game easier now that Arsenal have so many more attacking options.

But this was the same team which lost 1-0 to Stoke City, the worst defensive team in the League. That lost 4-0 to Liverpool, a team with calamitous defense as its hallmark. That lost 2-1 to Watford, the 6th worst defense in the League. And which scraped a 1-0 win over Red Star Belgrade. The commonality among all those teams is that they pressed and harassed Arsenal and Arsenal couldn’t handle the pressure.

Next Sunday, Arsenal host Swansea, the worst attacking team in the League – they have an expected goals for of 7.2 for the season… Man City created an expected goals of 6.22 when they played against Crystal Palace! Swansea’s expected goals in all 4 of their away games this season is just 1.33. Total.

That will be followed by Red Star at home and I think we should enjoy these next three games while they last because after that Arsenal are getting shoved into the wood chipper that is Man City and Tottenham, back-to-back.

Maybe I’m overly cynical. Maybe I should just enjoy the 5-2 wins while they last. But I just can’t help but think this is yet another false dawn for the Arsenal and that as soon as we face some opposition who want to give us a good game, we’ll be right back to scrabbling for 6th place. Or maybe I can just be optimistic for a few weeks. Watch Arsenal gain some momentum against Norwich tomorrow, Swansea on Sunday, then Red Star at home, each game building into a crescendo, a tidal wave of a performance against Man City, just before the international break. That’s the hope, isn’t it?

Qq

36 comments

  1. Thanks for this article. But, coming on about Arsenal the lost to Stoke City, what about referee disallowed Lacazatte ‘s goal? Coming against Watford, then again an other one causing Arsenal Team a non-Penalty by Referee?

    When it comes to analyse game, we should have to look all the aspects and facts, and to put our critics, No mention of Referee’s damage?

    1. The only consistent thing is a disproportionate number of calls go against us. (Otherwise please explain why Bellerin’s tackle was called a foul but Gana’s was not.) Not every call, but enough that it doesnt even out.

      I’ve always been skeptical of a nefarious plot, though its clear from listening to the commentators on TV and reading the papers that there is a lot of hostility toward Wenger and that suggests bias could be a factor.

      However, I have a new scapegoat, the fans. Our home moaners are hiring planes for flybys instead of doing their job of influencing the referees. (The away fans are excellent)

      https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/oct/22/football-safe-standing-home-advantage-studies

      1. I am down with doing a scientific study of Arsenal’s results to determine referee bias. I don’t know how this will look but I’m ok with trying it.

    2. Complaining about the referees is a scapegoat. If you truly believe that Arsenal are systematically being cheated by the referees then there is no reason to analyze any game as all games are simply at the whim of the refs. Also, there is no reason to watch any games, unless you enjoy being angered by the systematic cheating. And finally, if you truly believe that there is systematic cheating, we should be able to prove it by the results. How would we do that?

      1. There’s no obvious way to prove any of it, but I think there’s maybe something to be said about it being “culturally” okay to kick Arsenal for a long time now. This isn’t too say anything major happened yesterday, however if we acknowledge inherent bias is a real thing, then maybe the Deeney cojones comment is a window into what I certainly believe was a thing during project youth. These days there’s a lot else going wrong when Arsenal lose, not to mention the English game being officiated from the get-go in a more liberal fashion, but the narrative surrounding Arsenal in England from those days was one almost of victim blaming, where Arsenal and their foreigns and their smaller skilled players were asking for it playing that way – or something to that effect. Arsène has never particularly helped himself in this regard with some of his, arguably accurate, comments. I don’t think it’s so crazy to wonder if the greater cultural narrative surrounding the club has an effect on inherent bias when some referees at some times have to make a decision. Özil getting thrown before that Swansea goal a couple seasons for example. Be stronger there son, or something. The penalty numbers are another good example, they have a bit of “hmm that’s odd” in them. The English player going in hard is playing hard vs. that Continental player definitely fouled and needs to shape up in attitude divide is an over-used trope, but it was more a real thing 10-years ago when Arsenal were re-building their identity post Invincibles and seemed at least to carry on for a while no matter how many young British players we had. Look how little protection Wilshire has gotten one the years. At this point we’re more of a meme club people like to joke about so in a way it maybe continues. The larger point, if I have one, is when Arsenal are wronged by a decision there isn’t much of an outrage outside of our fans’ reaction, maybe that’s a big club thing, but maybe there’s a specific flavor of that that goes with Arsenal that doesn’t help and potentially harms at times vs. Fergie time and all that.

        Anyway, just my two cents. Too many decisions haven’t passed the smell test at times and it’s irked me for a long while.

        1. Deeney didn’t even really bully anyone. We weren’t kicked off the pitch either.

          I watch a lot of English football. Players go in hard. I tell you if you saw some of the fouls in the games like Stoke v. West Ham you’d think it was a different era. But they aren’t the only ones. Tottenham literally run around kicking everyone. Any team managed by Mourinho is literally just straight thugs. The league rewards this kind of play. It’s actually foolish not to take advantage of the league’s physicality.

          And Wenger knows this, Arsenal used to be one of the most physical teams. Bisan Lauren was a monster. Ashley Cole didn’t turn into a cunt when he went to Chelsea, he was always a hard cunt. Sol Campbell didn’t spare anyone an inch of physicality. Even Arsenal’s so-called finesse players were seriously edgy: Bergkamp elbowed people ALL THE TIME. Vieira may have gotten a few too many red cards but he deserved almost all of them. And Thierry Henry gave as much as he got.

      2. I think the point Bruce is trying to make is that you – rightly – do not consider the possibility that a player gets a red card as part of your prediction. Yet conversely you would use (and many others have used) the penalty at Watford, to vindicate their prediction that Arsenal would stutter away from home against that type of team.

        Both are cases where an event happens in the pitch that is unforeseen (a penalty decision that was very weak and a red card that was not predictable) and yet changes the outcome of the game. But you’re saying “Look at the Watford result, it proves that Arsenal suck away at tough-to-break-down teams” because of an event that was as unpredictable as the very red card that you say made it easier for Arsenal against Arsenal.

        I am sorry if this came off as a rant, I am trying to understand the logic. It just feels like you are downplaying Arsenal’s performance against Everton by noting that it was due an unpredictable event like Gueye’s red card but have overplayed the loss at Watford as being “typical Arsenal” when there was a decision that was unpredictable that went against Arsenal.

        I believe that Bellerin’s tackle was a penalty but so was Danny Welbeck’s call for a penalty earlier in the game.

          1. Okay. I understand your disagreement. I’ll take another example then – Troy deeney was offside when the ball was played to him for the second goal. That was a wrong decision that was unpredictable and changed the outcome of the game.

          2. You mean when the Watford player deflects Richarliason’s shot? The only angle I have of that shows Deeney onside. That’s a really tough call to expect someone to get right, honestly, and I think the ref did fine there. I had no problem with that goal from a referee standpoint. I had a problem with Xhaka not covering.

      3. Didn’t you make a post showing before that Arsenal gets the most cards per foul of any team in the league by far?

  2. I can understand you scepticism ; I also would like to see this kind of result repeated against a top team. Everton were so lacklustre that it is impossible to draw too many conclusions
    What is very clear is that if somehow we could get the front three of Ozil, Lacazette & Sanchez to remain together, what promise there would be for the future.
    However we must address our midfield failings and I don’t feel we have anyone at the club that can do that right now, although I would love to see Jack Wilshere figure in the picture somehow, but maybe we will have to view him as the replacement for Ozil if he goes !? Mind you the top teams do not seem to be queuing up for Ozil right now; perhaps that is why he suddenly seems able to turn on a star performance.

  3. Echoing my comment from yesterday. We need a midfield partner for Xhaka. Fast, strong, good dribbling, not easily dispossessed, who constantly makes himself available, so Xhaka can choose long pass or dump it off and let the player drive forward. He needs to play defense too. Ideally strong in the tackle and good at interceptions and pressing, but most of all needs to smell danger.

    I think Keita is that player and we should outbid liverpool in January, pariculalrly if we are in striking distance of the title. Then if we are dominant with that addition we try and get Ozil/Sanchez to resign.

  4. Jack wud work wit coq not wt xhaka.but ramsy jack and coq or xhaka in a 3man midfield cud wok against man city.jack alone wud drive tru dem

  5. One to be enjoyed for sure, but also not to be presumed for the next match.
    Ozil and Alexis are great players, even ‘world class’, but whether they turn up or instead shrink from the press/think they’re a one man team is anybody’s guess. I think they are both temperaments not to be relied on (especially) given their contract scenarios.
    However, Sunday was a game they turned up for, were fit for and seemed to enjoy playing with teammates in. So let’s enjoy Wengerball when it works – as Claridge send on the BBC text commentary: “brilliant. They’re playing as only Arsenal can”.
    As we know, that cuts both ways, so I too dread reality returning against City and the Totts and the exposure of our ‘indefensible’ tactics, and there’s even a possibility that we might get a comeuppance against one of the trio mentioned before.
    However, till then, let’s all say “Olé ‘O.L.A.'”!

  6. Being a realist, I cannot say that Arsenal beating a dire Everton means we’ve turned a corner or now have momentum on our side because I don’t trust this season’s team to not lay down under pressure the next game out.
    I would hope that this win says to the players that this is how we can do it going forward be it a Swansea, Man City or a Man U.
    I need Bellerin to get a clue from Koscienly as to how to make better crosses to actual targets rather than passing to a zip code.
    I need Ramsey to remember he is in partnership with Xhaka in our MIDFIELD and he’s not some free spirited hippie out picking flowers in the oppositions’ six yard box.
    Cech’s antics showed he needs to be working on his foot speed and distribution decisions rather than playing with ping pong balls for hand reaction speed.
    I love the fact that Monreal has more goals this season than Oxlade-Chamberlain but I wish he hadn’t joined Roberto Carlos in the under-weighted pass leads to a goal club.
    And oh by the way Deeney we have bigger fish to fry rather than just trying to get to 40 points.

  7. I am still relishing that Giroud goal in Serbia so this game was an unexpected but welcome treat.

    But a treat is all it is. It is not indicative of anything about how the rest of The Arsenal’s next few games may play out. As Tim has said, this thumping victory against one of the most woeful Everton sides in recent memory won’t mean a thing won’t mean a thing when we run into the buzz saws of Man CIty and the Tiny Tots who stopped being tiny last season and are clearly eating their spinach and rescuing Olive Oil on a weekly basis. They kind of look like Popeye the Sailor Man in their whites. Wankers.

    I started treating pretty much all Arsenal matches as one-offs a few years ago when it became obvious that Wenger teams implode at regular intervals and little to no real winning consistency over an entire season.

    Another sweet treat is always welcome but a reckoning with the dentist is inevitable with this team.

  8. That was the attacking performance of the season. Ozil was superb. Some of his one touch key passes were simply out of this world. But it’s no more indicative of turning a corner as in now we’re going to fight for the title than the Watford result was an indication that we’re finishing in the bottom half. Since the breakup of the Invincibles, Arsenal have been capable of twenty, even thirty game stretches where we’re accruing the 2.4 points/game necessary to win a title. And then we inevitably have a stretch of ten games where we accrue 1 point of less per game which means that we end up 3rd, 4th, or 5th. This is Arsenal under Wenger. I absolutely loved watching this game and will savor it but there is no way that it represents some “watershed” moment in this team’s title chase. Sorry, the watershed moment comes when Wenger leaves.

    1. Agree (how could one not, at this point?), but that game *might* be the “watershed moment” that leads to us going on one of those 20-30 game runs of which you speak, and that might be the difference in us finishing inside or outside the top four. Maybe that’s me being overly optimistic, I don’t know.

      The reason I think it might be the sign of a way forward towards consistently better football/results once again is that it was the first time we’ve seen that front three start a game. If they can play anywhere close to that well on a regular basis, we’ll do well, and have a great chance of finishing top 4.

      Reasons to be less optimistic:
      1. As Tim points out, our upcoming fixture list is about to get hard again.
      2. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the midfield still needs sorting. Going back to late last season, Ramsey’s run of form has been the best he’s played in 3 or so years. He still does stuff that gets on my nerves, but he’s back to looking like a proper top-level footballer again, which is great to see. BUT, there’s no way we’re going to get away with him bombing forward and leaving Xhaka on his own so often (unless we change formations and add another body in there). Neither the Swiss nor our back line is sufficiently composed with or without the ball for that kind of adventurousness to work consistently against good teams.

      1. My fantasy formation, 4-3-3, replacing one of the central defenders with Coq. One of our biggest problems has been how easily Xhaka is bypassed when he’s left alone in midfield. Once our midfield is bypassed, it doesn’t really matter if there’s two or three central defenders, they’re going backwards with attackers running in full flight towards them. In my opinion, it would be better to to stop the attack in midfield before the counter is attacking the backline at full speed. Having another midfielder, especially one with Coq’s mobility and ball winning capability might allow us to stop counters at source. The other tweak would be to have the fullbacks play just slightly more conservatively by having one stay at midfield level when his opposite is in the attacking third.

        This allows Ramsey to push forward without abandoning the midfield to Xhaka alone. Sanchez, Ozil and Lacazette don’t have to change how they play. 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 it doesn’t matter, Ozil and Sanchez will play in the half spaces behind Lacazette. Granted, we’d probably be vulnerable down the flanks but I’d rather be weak down the flanks than straight up the gut.

        1. Completely agree, though it would be a lot better if Coquelin’s comfort on the ball was greater than it is in reality (agree with Dr Duh that someone who can dribble a bit, but with Coq’s aggression
          and defensive covering, would be ideal). But we went round and round in circles in the summer on this site about what the ideal new midfielder for us would look like, only for the club to buy no one, so I guess we gotta suck it up and make do. In home games against weak opposition I’d consider putting Wilshere in that midfield 3, but in trickier games I agree it has to be Coquelin (maybe in the future someone like AMN or Joe Willock will show they can combine the best of both).

          The next question would be who from Sunday’s lineup do you drop to make the formation switch. Right now–and nothing against how he’s playing per se–I think it should be Kolasinac over any of the back three, given how amazing Monreal’s been of late and that he naturally offers more defensively as a more conservative LB than SK (and the fact that Nacho-Kos is probably too small to be a starting CB pairing in England).

          Anyway, not anticipating any of this actually happening, at least not until we get humiliated in back to back games against City and Spurs…

  9. “Arsenal’s front three of Lacazette, Ozil, and Alexis … come prepared to fight for once this season”

    First time the trident plays so I don’t get the “for once” and Lacazette has been excellent … otherwise in close agreement with this post.

    Xhaka would look a lot closer to the player he could be (and his passing stats would be better) if he had a bit more support at crucial moments, that’s for sure. I still like him, I think he can still grow into the Arteta role. What Arsenal are asking of him is huge though – worldies would also struggle

    We would look even more dangerous if Ramsey stayed home even for just a few seconds longer – we would get the ball out from the back easier and quicker. Too many times Xhaka has to go back again to the CBs because nobody in front of him is deep enough to receive a shorter pass. Maybe the idea is that with 3 at the back one of those 3 can step up to be a CM when we’re in possession and support XG. Maybe this is one reason why Wenger’s keen on blooding Elneny there. But then the two outside CBs seem to go wide instead to give options on the flanks. Dunno.

    From memory Mertesacker hesitated to close Rooney down because he also had someone to his left open for a through ball and so tried to cover that option as well. I have never been coached in defence and I never know what’s best to do in those situations, would be interested to hear from those in the know.

    And yes, if we feed Laca he will score. We need to do that more. It’s a pretty simple game sometimes.

  10. Good write up Tim but we’ve been there before ,haven’t we.

    Arsenal have a handful or so of these kind of performances every season that almost seemingly come out of nowhere , and after which some of us begin to think that perhaps Arsene might still have it in him to take the club to the next level he so often speaks of.
    But then inevitably the reality strikes again and Arsenal do what they usually do –
    their seasonal yo- yo routine .

    Re refereeing and the possibility of the anti – Arsenal , league -wide conspiracy.
    I think there have been enough bad calls coming our way to warrant an independent and closer look at the possibility of a bias.
    Unfortunately the only people who have done something to the effect thus far (that I’m aware of ), are themselves too biased to be taken seriously by anyone other than some Arsenal fans visiting their site.

    If one can’t admit Arsenal got lucky breaks against the likes of City ,for example
    ( bad call disallowing their goal in the FA semis) , or Chelsea in the FA cup final
    ( Alexis’ hand ball that lead to the goal), or any number of other decisions that went our way last season, then one’s credibility is shot to pieces forever after.

    Arsene himself gets proven a hypocrite in this particular department over and over, when even the most straight forward decision that might’ve benefited Arsenal becomes a reason for the most convoluted explanation and justification given.
    Rodriguez gets wiped out by Mustafi in the WBA game for what should be a clear penalty, but apparently the advantage isn’t to call a pen but rather allow a speculative shot from open play.

    That said, the penalty statistics for and against as well as some other dubious calls against Arsenal might suggest there is something at play other than incompetence or human error alone.

    If one is honest with themselves however, one would have to admit we aren’t winning the league no matter the referees, but we might win a cup competition with help of some lucky calls the way we did last season.

  11. @Tom,

    All of the refereeing decisions that have been ‘flagged’ as being incorrect by Untold Arsenal have been done so by qualified referees. In years when non-Arsenal supporting referees have been involved those have given more decisions as incorrect than those who do support Arsenal. Last season every decision that was highlighted had video evidence added to enable anyone to judge the veracity of the original decision and the reasons why we were saying it wasn’t correct.

    There have been various other attempts to look at dodgy decisions, as far as I am aware none of them have done so by viewing the following games, most have been based on the decisions included in Match of the Day or other highlight programmes where the video footage has already been highly selective.

    All of the referee reviews that have been done are still available on the Untold Arsenal website. You can get full videos of most (if not all of the matches on the .com and by looking at the time of each incident with the relevant video footage you can make up your own mind..

    @Tim,

    If you want any of my data on refereeing incidents, please contact me directly. I am a big fan of your data work.

  12. Models are severely limited in predicting results. Too many variables (which you mention), and which you don’t — such as pitch conditions. Notably, many commenters here saw an Arsenal loss or a draw as the most likely result, even though they were fully aware that Koeman wasn’t getting the job done.

    Not averse to going to a midfield three. We seem to be advocating that for reasons that are both understandable, and not. Let’s start with the reason that is understandable , i.e. that Ramsey is too attacking. What was notable was that Wenger singled him out for praise, saying that his runs contributed to our bamboozling Everton’s defence. So Aaron is not doing some headless chicken routine, as some analysis would have us believe… he is playing the way Arsene wants him to. Now we can argue whether Arsene gets that right (and I don’t think he does), but Ramsey is not freestyling, as Wenger makes clear (by implication) time and again.

    I happen to agree that his and Xhaka’s styles are not compatible and they’re not the ideal midfield combo, and that we need a fix there. But frankly, I’m far less happy with the totality of what Xhaka brings to the table. If I had to choose one of the two CMs, it wouldn’t be the Swiss, on current form.

    Which brings me to the point that’s not so understandable. We talk about finding an ideal partner for Xhaka, rather than upgrade on him, replace him or iron out his shortcomings. We seem to be arguing for someone to paper over the cracks in his game, one of the biggest of which is sometime lapses in concentration. On Sunday, he showed the touch of a young Adebayor, getting the ball in a tight area. The Everton player probably fouled him on competing for the loose, breaking ball, but he still needed to be a better caretaker of it on his first touch. Does having another body close to him make it more likely that we win it back? Of course, but not in all situations. The tight space in which he miscontrolled the ball, lost it and was robbed it it, would have necessitated a teammate virtually playing in is pocket — as his bodyguard. That’s a luxury. But I agree, balance is important and we don’t quite have it. It’s why Terry Venables liked the limited David Batty more than the outrageously talented Matt Le Tissier, and why coaches liked players such as Dunga and Deschamps.

    In fairness, though, Xhaka actually had good game after giving away the ball for the Rooney goal, and could have had two goals. But he’s infuriatingly prone to getting caught in possession, and when he does, doesn’t have the speed of thought or foot to win it back. The better teams give him no time on the ball, and he’s not so assured then. Give him time and space and he’ll murder you.

    The intriguing solution is to play with a midfield three. Even so Coquelin is not an adequately high-enough quality central midfielder, but he’s what we have, so, barring a punt on Maitland-Niles, I guess he’ll have to do. He is too limited. Even playing in a three he’ll have to use the ball better, and the added body (him) doesn’t necessarily mean a team geared to getting better results. In sacrificing 352, we sacrifice Kolasinac. I know who I’d prefer in my XI, but again, balance. Coq adds no forward momentum and little offence, and frankly, not a whole heap of tough-tackling D either.

    A word about offence… I don’t see how Welbeck gets back in the XI, which is fine by me. You play your best attackers in the forward positions. That worked crackingly well on Sunday.

  13. I would also like to thank Andrew Madley for not sending off El-Neny and not giving a PK on Debussy, two big decisions which went our way for a change.
    Who knew that Arsenal’s bench filled with kids would be our salvation today because we looked poor in trying to break down Norwich .
    The goal we gave up looked like El-Neny forgot he was the CB and stepped up to be the DM and left space for the goalscorer to run into free as the wind.
    Wilshere got really stretched out today and hopefully he will not pay for that down the road.

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