Arsenal were disappointing 2-1 losers this afternoon when they played host to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium, and Aaron Ramsdale was not happy at how his side performed.
From kick-off, you could tell that this wasn’t the same hungry and confident team that we had grown accustomed to watching prior to the international break, and we were struggling to retain possession in our rival’s half.
Even after Lee Trossard put our side behind, there still wasn’t enough guile shown to convince me that we were going to come alive and chase the dying Champions League dream, with the most passionate and inspiring moment the actual celebration for our disallowed goal, which VAR ruled out for offside just before half-time.
Ramsdale agreed that today’s showing was simply ‘not good enough’, and added that he was expecting to see his side show a positive reaction to last week’s painful display, something that just didn’t happen.
“It’s not good enough,” Ramsdale told Arsenal.com. “Two games on the spin where the first 45 minutes has got away from us. You make it an uphill battle against any team in the Premier League if you’re losing at halftime.
“We were not in the rhythm of the game, that’s unlike us, especially at home where we’ve normally started really well all season. It was a really poor performance and as I said we, went to the end but that’s a given at any club, especially this club. When you give a team a step up in the Premier League it’s always hard to get back in the game.
“One-nil down is tough enough, two-nil down in the Premier League is even harder, so if we’d have got the first goal back even earlier we might have pushed and pushed but there was too much to do in the end.
“This was supposed to be the reaction game but it wasn’t. We’ve lost and not managed to pick up any points and next week is even bigger. I think we just need to go out there and be free and play our game, you know? It’s a game of football and I think in the first half we were very tense and slow so we just need to go out there next week, trust what the manager and the coaching staff are saying and go and play our football, which we’ve done all season.”
I can’t help it, but unless the likes of Tierney and Partey are back any time soon, I cannot see this side finding what they need to fight for the top four. I’m not sure whether it is the confidence in our unit that is lacking in their absence, or the solidity of having a complete back four that you can believe in to earn clean sheets which is ruining our mentality, but what is evident is that this team doesn’t believe.
When the players aren’t believing, or when they’re clearly struggling to give their all, the fans will not be onside, and all these negatives will build up.
Did you see any belief from our players today?
Patrick