Freddie Ljungberg’s first match as Arsenal manager didn’t result in a win but it did give us a lot more entertainment, so here are 22 things I noticed during the game.
He made weird selection choices to start with
Back came Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi but there was still not place for Nicolas Pepe.
Everyone has a cleanslate
What this told the whole squad was that everyone gets a do-over, a chance to start again to make an impression. Not everybody took it.
The defence is still f**ked
How we fix it is the multi-million dollar question. Getting better defenders would probably be a start.
Freddie doesn’t wear a suit
He arrived in an aran jumper and took his place pitchside in a tracksuit.
Arsenal seem ‘liberated’
They look like they’ve had a huge, depressingly boring weight lifted from their shoulders.
Vivianne Miedema is pushing for a place in the starting lineup
With six goals and four assists to give Arsenal a 10-0 lead before she was subbed off after 79 minutes, is there a hotter striker on the planet right now? Bring her in for the Europa League games. (you can see them all here)
Freddie knows you can’t throw a lead away if you don’t have one in the first place
It’s genius.
Unai left and VAR became our friend
Not only did VAR give us a penalty but it gave us another go when we messed it up.
Tim Krul can’t handle being shushed by Auba
Acting like a total knob as Auba got ready to take his penalty again, Tim Kul cried like a baby when Auba smashed it passed him and then shushed him as he ran off to celebrate.
2 days with Freddie is better than 18 months with Unai
It’s going to take a lot longer to undo the Spaniard’s damage, but we already look like we want to play football again.
There is much more work to do but at least it was entertaining
When was the last time you were that engaged in an Arsenal match?
The change in the attitude of the players since Thursday gives me great hope
Imagine what this team can do with proper instruction over a sustained period of time?
Arsenal can still get your heart racing
I was genuinely on the edge of my seat for parts of this game, not because of the great football, but because it was actually entertaining and I’d no clue how it was going to turn out. Even though we didn’t win, had Emery got them to play like this, even though it wasn’t great, he’d still be in a job.
Can anything fix Arsenal’s defence?
I don’t know, can it? We surely can’t keep relying on Bernd Leno like this.
Mustafi is still the same
He’s looked good as a bit-part player this season but against Norwich he was awful. I don’t know how many times he lost his man or his man lost him with ease yet somehow he made four clearances and two interceptions.
This 2-2 was much less sad and depressing compared to the last one
The score may be the same as Unai Emery’s last league game but that’s about all they have in common.
When we needed a winner we brought on attackers not Lucas Torreira
Total madness.
Arsenal fans care again
Arsenal fans, myself included, were finding it really hard to engage with this team under Emery but it hasn’t taken much to get us all on-board again.
Mesut Ozil can still create football porn
The noise I made when Mesut Ozil tried that near-post flick cannot be repeated in case there is anyone here under 18.
We should put Mustafi up front
The uncanny way the ball deflects him and into our goal could be utilised at the other end. Just stick him in front of the opposition goal and kick the ball at him. One of them, at least, will deflect in.
Norwich have turned into a d*ckish team
Norwich have always been something of a bland entity but on Sunday they were a right bunch of little toads, their fans included. Booing us for being fouled, singing ‘same old Arsenal, always cheating’ as they got punished for breaking the rules, it’s not even original.
We didn’t get outshot
…and you think nothing has changed?
Tut tut…