Arsenal disappoint with below-par performance against Sheffield United.
So now we know, this Arsenal team is no different or better than the one that saw last season out.
This is not a knee-jerk reaction just resignation. Arsenal had an opportunity to go back third and blew it. They had a chance to put a gap between themselves and Spurs and Man Utd and blew it.
The first half was a sign of things to come, no vision, no creativity and no penetration. It was not exactly against the run of play when the Blades scored. That in itself is a sad indictment of Unai Emery’s side.
Before the game kicked off the feeling was this was going to be one of those nights. Simply put, there was almost no creativity in the side apart from the underperforming Nicolas Pepe.
The truth is that United deserved their first-half lead but hopes were high we would see a change in the second half.
Well, that was wishful thinking because Arsenal did not improve.
Arsenal had more possession after the break but was hardly dominant and a goal did not seem all that likely.
Pepe missed a sitter but was busy, however, we needed more from the record signing and he was found wanting, again.
Guendouzi was another busy one but ineffective with it. Xhaka was unfortunate to be subbed because he was not the worse player on the pitch. Willock was clearly out of position. There was nothing down the flanks, wonder why that was.
In fact, no one player played rotten but none played well and that is the simple truth of the matter. But you cannot blame the players too much, the setup and formation were wrong from the start.
Poor performance was matched by the result, a 1-0 loss to a promoted team.