Football Daily | Mikel Arteta’s revisionism and the end of the road for Arsenal

6 hours ago 4

JUST WIN (BABY)

Having had time to reflect on Arsenal’s semi-final defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in Bigger Cup, Football Daily has arrived at the conclusion that there are a couple of ways to frame the exit of Mikel Arteta’s side. The first is to say that, despite being plagued by long-term knack to key personnel and endlessly persecuted by referees at home and abroad, they played extremely well for long periods across both legs and were perhaps unlucky to come up against a mighty state-owned behemoth. A mighty state-owned behemoth that is backed by limitless financial resources and is able to field a goalkeeper who is in the form of his life, and who had his task made a little easier by the fact that Arsenal were forced to field a side with no recognised centre-forward in both matches. Yes, that sounds fair.

Of course you could also point out that despite being funded by a Trump-donor billionaire, playing in a stadium named after a Gulf state with a dubious human rights record’s national airline and wearing badges on their sleeves exhorting all who see them to visit an African country run by a dictator, these comparatively plucky underdogs have somehow spent the thick end of £700m in the past four years to become a Tony Pulis-era Stoke City tribute act. A Tony Pulis-era Stoke City tribute act that has lost all four legs of two cup semi-finals they contested this season and come up so short in their tilt for the Premier League that there’s a very real chance they’ll end up coming third or fourth in what was widely predicted to be a two-horse race. Yes, that also sounds fair.

And while the reasons for Arsenal’s shortcomings this season might sit somewhere in between, the option to ignore all evidence and swerve in the face of all logic is also available, and is what Arteta seems to have done. In the buildup to the second leg in Paris, he could be heard highlighting the paltry number of points Liverpool required to win the Premier League this season, apparently without realising that Arne Slot’s side were only able to wrap up the title so early because their closest rivals kept throwing away leads and drawing games they should have won. After Wednesday night’s game, Arteta was at it again, sounding a mite delusional as he claimed PSG only won because their goalkeeper played well. “I don’t think there’s been a better team in the competition from what I’ve seen,” he chirped in an interview with TNT Sports, talking about Arsenal. “But we are out. We deserved much more but this competition is about the boxes, the strikers most of the time and the goalkeeper and theirs was the best player in both games.”

While you wouldn’t need to waste money on an expensive barrister to make the case that Arsenal got exactly what they deserved over two legs against PSG, it is worth noting that they got a lot further in Bigger Cup than most people expected and might well have got even further if they’d managed to put away at least one of the three glorious chances they created in the opening seven minutes of the second leg. As things stand, however, they’re out and the only big Win of note they have for succour remains their inappropriately named training-ground labrador. At the time of writing, rumours that she could soon be joined by a summer-signing canine companion named Next Season remain unconfirmed.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I ended up in the Anfield boardroom after the match, then partied with the team. The DJ clocked that I was there, played Andy Williams’ House of Bamboo and it all went right off. Harvey Elliott and a few other players dragged me [over] and made me do it with them” – actor James Nelson-Joyce on line-dancing with the Liverpool squad after their title triumph.

Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott celebrates after winning the Premier League

I know Atlético Madrid were supposed to be looking to sign him, but after Wednesday night’s performance in Paris, will anybody want to fight for the right to Partey?” – Declan Hackett.

Following another barren season for Mikel Arteta’s team, may I suggest they have a nickname similar to the Neverkusen epithet foisted upon Bayer at the start of this century? ‘Nahrsenal’ perhaps” – Duncan Roberts.

Re: yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition) and Ron Springett being unveiled as the new Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper. Is this the first (and potentially only) example of a new signing being unveiled before the press pack and performing keepy-outies? Admittedly he does appear to be nowhere near his goal or even in the 18-yard box but anyway …” – Derek McGee.

Send letters to [email protected]. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Derek McGee. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.