If Arsenal are to achieve all of their aims this season, they will need a sizeable daub of luck to go with their skill, commitment and tenacity.
We saw in midweek against Bodo/Glimt that some games don’t go entirely according to plan and sometimes you need to ride your luck and dig in.
Well, if you want to call the Bodo win fortuitous, I’m not sure there is a word sufficient to cover the win we picked up at Elland Road as the hosts spurned a series of excellent chance to let Arsenal come away with all three points.
In the immediate aftermath of victory, you can bask a little in getting away with the points but, when the dust settles, the manager will need to have stern words with his team. In the second half in particular, they were appallingly bad, by far the worst they have been this season.
A serious post-mortem will be needed because, from top to bottom, almost nothing went right for them. But for Bukayo Saka’s moment of sublime quality, the Gunners had precious little to show for their efforts and that is unacceptable. Everything we know the manager demands from his side was absent and there was nothing he could do to change it or even offset it.
It felt as bad as it did against Newcastle at the back end of last season.
A great deal of credit must also go to Leeds United, though. As bad as they were in this fixture last season, when we basically walked through them, they were electric this time around. The intensity of their press, their technical quality and their quality of pass were exceptional. How they have come away with nothing to show for their efforts is remarkable.
We were simply unable to exert any control of the ball or on the game in the second half. Our decision-making was erratic and exacerbated the problem by a factor of 10. Nobody, with the possible exception of Aaron Ramsdale can or should come away with any credit.
The normally unflappable William Saliba was panicked and made several big errors, Martin Odegaard (assist aside) was wildly wayward, and Thomas Partey was overwhelmed. Our lack of control in any part of the midfield meant our outlets, Gabriel Martinelli, Saka and Gabriel Jesus were largely bystanders, unable to affect any pressure or, indeed, relieve it.
I think, by now, you get the picture; it really wasn’t good.
There will be plenty of games to come in which we play much better and come away with much less. Today, we played terribly and picked up all three points. Who knows how crucial they might be come the end of the season.
If we’re looking for silver linings here, that is undoubtedly it. We will finish another weekend at the top of the table and move another tiny step towards achieving our goals this season. Days like today remind us that the league title is naught but a dream but top four is well within our grasp. Let’s take these points and march on.
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