Arsenal beat Huddersfield Town five goals to nil at the Emirates Stadium. It was Town’s third heavy defeat of the season, after losing 4-0 to Bournemouth and Spurs, and we’ll probably lose by a similar scoreline again this season. Most realistic Town fans would have expected the odd thumping before the season started but it still stings to see our team take a beating.
The reaction to the game on Twitter and Facebook has been quite divisive. The glass-half-empty kind of fans are talking about how we’re not good enough and laying into individual players (and the occasional comment about Wagner too). There are also a significant portion of fans that are quite serene about the game’s outcome, not expecting much from the game in the first place.
So were we bad or were they great? The short answer is: Arsenal were very good. Maybe Town could have done better, particularly in the four minutes where three goals went in, but the result was more to do with Arsenal’s quality rather than our lack of it.
Arsenal were very good at times
I’d compare Arsenal’s performance against Town to Matt LeTissier in his prime. They didn’t do a great deal for long periods of the game, but occasionally burst into life and pulled off something spectacular.
From the first goal going in after a few minutes until the second goal on the 67th minute Town were competing well. However, Arsenal had an extra gear available to them, and when things clicked for them they were sensational.
Ozil, in particular, was able to carve open our defence at will with his excellent range of passing. One consolation for Town fans is that he’ll probably be playing for Barcelona by the time Arsenal come to the John Smith’s Stadium.
Town didn’t take their chances
I feel like I’ve written this before, but Town had good chances which they didn’t take. Quaner was clean through on goal and didn’t do enough with the opportunity he had. Mounié also could have done better at times (though he looked sharper than in recent games).
If Town had been able to take a couple of their chances when they were 1-0 down then the crowd might have turned on the home team and it could have gone another way. But we didn’t.
Strikers that are able to consistently score goals in the Premier League aren’t exactly cheap though, so it’s no surprise that we’re struggling in this area. Steve Mounié and Laurent Depoitre both have huge potential, but we can’t expect too much from them.
Embed from Getty Images
We’re too open when we go behind in games
I’ve always quite admired the way that David Wagner encourages Town to really have a go at teams when we’re behind. Throwing caution to the wind and trying to get back in the game makes for a more exciting spectacle. But teams find it easier to score again once they go ahead against us.
I remember in Lee Clark’s spell as Town manager in League One we’d play teams with much smaller budgets and, in theory, inferior players. They would frustrate us, sit deep, and try to keep the game tight even if they were behind. Then in the last five minutes, they’d hurl everything at us and often get something out of the game.
The last time Town came from behind to win a league game was in February, when we beat Rotherham 3-2 away from home with a 90th-minute winner from Tommy Smith. I don’t know how we can turn this around, but I’m sure David Wagner will be thinking about it.
The top six are at a different level to the rest
Everyone talks up the quality in the Premier League, but I don’t think there’s a huge gulf between the top half of the Championship and the bottom half of the Premier League. But the top six Premier League teams are operating on a different level to the rest.
Arsenal showed against Town that they’re capable of playing football that our players can’t cope with. This isn’t because we’ve got bad players, they’re just not world class players. Unfortunately, we have to accept that we’ve got little chance against these top sides when they’re able to play to their potential.
We’re still in good shape
Town are 14th in the league and five points clear of the relegation zone and we’re a third of the way into the season. It’s easy to get hung up on the fact we’ve not won an away game since the opening day, or even scored a goal away from home. But we’ve picked up enough points at home for us to have a respectable league position.
We also have an intelligent head coach that will be thinking hard about how to turn around our away form. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a big response from Town in Saturday’s game at Goodison Park.
Embed from Getty Images
Town fans need to be pragmatic in defeat to teams like Arsenal – your blog highlights why this is the case. We generally have a squad that can compete if we play to our potential. Our season won’t be defined by away results to the top six teams.
Let’s not be too dispondent. Everyone wrote us off before we even kicked a ball. We knew that there would be ups and downs. We had them last season (5-0 at Fulham). We have a good squad and an excellent coach. We need to stick with them, whatever the outcome. Don’t forget that Burnley were relegated in their first season but came back stronger. Look at them now. The important thing is that we keep David Wagner.