Arsenal demonstrate that they are so close, yet so far

Arsenal had their rematch against Manchester City in the palms of their hands, and yet when you face the Citizens, it takes but a moment of madness to lose it all. In the case of the Gunners, however, the madness reared itself a few times in quick succession.

While the team scored by after 31 minutes thanks to Bukayo Saka, things began to unravel after half-time when a penalty conceded and subsequent yellow card to Gabriel Magalhaes for dissent set Riyad Mahrez up, a spot-kick that he converted with little issue. Only minutes later, Gabriel, who is, to be sure, a really fantastic young defender, made another mistake and picked his second yellow and was shown the door.

Arsenal did well to hold the team down with only ten men, but in stoppage time it was Rodri who proved to be too much, and the go-ahead goal was scored. The Gunners did not lose to City like they lost to City earlier in the season, but they lost to them all the same. Moral victories still often count as zero points though, and while this young team continues to take real steps towards their goals and potentials, they remain so far at times.

With the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals against Liverpool postponed, this team has more time to process and train before it takes on the Reds. They will have to be ready to play better against them than Arsenal did weeks ago.

Arsenal next face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup after Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool is postponed

With the first leg against Liverpool being pushed back by two weeks, a match at Nottingham Forest will be Arsenal’s next contest. The third round of the FA Cup will not be so simple, despite the relative good form that Arsenal has found themselves in recently.

While the team should handily win, sides from lower divisions are often putting in such massive effort and concentration that they can pick matches off from unwary clubs who might be focusing more on the coming match in the Premier League, rather than that FA or Carabao Cup match against a team from below. Heavy rotation helps, too.

The Gunners will use their youth, not that they ever do not use their youth, but it will be really fun to see Folarin Balogun lead the charge (if he’s still here), Charlie Patino use the ball in the midfield and build up, and how incredible some of the others are as well. Albert Sambi Lokonga and Omari Hutchinson may see action, as well Nuno Tavares.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have a really good problem right now. With so much youth bounding about the club at so many different positions they will have the luxury of mixing and matching young, homegrown talent across the outfit in the same way that Pep and company up in Manchester do it with the millions of pounds worth of players that they purchase, sign and train each year.

After Forest, Arsenal will get their first crack at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-finals away from home, and what they can do with that chance will help to illustrate what the second match might look like for the Gunners.

Putting pressure on Jurgen Klopp in the first match will require scoring and taking advantage of any irregular players that the team might have playing for them. Klopp will respond of course, perhaps in that match and most certainly in the following match, and will be a much more difficult encounter at Anfield with real ambition and their own spread of spectacular talent.

The match sandwiched in between each of these legs, however, is one against Tottenham Hotspur at their place. A North London Derby will be difficult with Antonio Conte as the opposition’s boss, but Arteta must show that, even against a top class manager in his own right, the entire team and team concepts at Arsenal are carrying this side further than some very good players can with Spurs.

It will be a tough few weeks for Arsenal, but a stretch that could really be rewarding for the club too. It could see another derby victory against a top rival, and it could also see a trip to the Carabao Cup final. It could see deflating losses in these matches too, and so must be cautious as they go into this tough mini-stretch of matches across competitions.

Overcoming this adversity will be just the next step in the evolution of this team, and with good form and fortune, the team will be able to accomplish just that against teams that will be trying quite hard to defeat this young Arsenal lot who have found themselves playing at a really high level in recent weeks, even against a team like Pep Guardiola and Manchester City