The Warm-Up: Arsenal are beyond banter now

Arsenal were abject against Manchester City in their 3-1 defeat. From top to bottom, they were a complete hot mess. And therein lies the problem facing Unai Emery. Arsenal's issues are structural.

The seeds of this shambles were sown long before Emery was anywhere near the club.

Shkodran Mustafi was bought for £35 million in 2016. But what due diligence was done? The Warm-Up is always after a bit of work on the side (times are tough), and, despite having no football qualifications or scouting experience, would have been more than capable to have told whatever clown deemed otherwise that the German is not a serviceable Premier League defender. He just isn't. Whoever advised the club to sign him isn't, or wasn't, fit for purpose.

The Warm-Up does not mean to single the centre-half out but he is indicative of a club that has lacked an actual plan for a while.

A side that pay someone £350,000 every week but can't find said player a spot in the starting XI are a shambles. This is not the fault of the players, or the manager, but those at boardroom level.

Their successes also represent failures of sorts. Who signs Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after signing Alexandre Lacazette? Both superb players but both who want to play through middle. A club without a plan signs them.

Emery did well to paper over the sham during the autumn but the side have regressed to the mean and that mean is summed up by the below.

At this stage the Banter Era is going to be looked back upon fondly.

There is a team in there somewhere though. They may have signed players haphazardly and with no overarching plan but there are some quality players knocking about in that hot mess.

Patience is the order of the day - looking at you AFTVmedia.

His antics might not make Neymar the most palatable of characters but he is one hell of a footballer.

To the Warm-Up's mind it is no coincidence that PSG lost their first league game of the season, against Lyon, with the Brazilian absent.

And all of a sudden the Champions League tie between PSG and Manchester United looks a lot closer to call.

It looked a horrendous draw for the Old Trafford club when PSG's name came out of the hat back on December 17.

However, without Neymar, PSG are all of a sudden in wobble mode, meaning from nowhere it represents a great opportunity for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men.

With Neymar, PSG can beat anyone but without him they are susceptible to looking like a team that lacks leadership.

It might not always seem it but Neymar is a leader and that is only part of his greatness.

It felt inevitable but the news the wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson has been found is no less crushing.

Thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of both men at a desperately sad time.

Hopefully, the families can find some sort of closure in the news.

If you don't know about the bromance between Kevin Wimmer and Son Heung-min then inform yourself.

Call The Warm-Up a traditionalist gammon (The Warm-Up is steadfastly not a gammon) but if the name of a sport can't accurately describe itself then it might be time to wind it in and have a deep, hard look at oneself. American Football - do the Warm-Up a favour.

Credit where it is due as this is great...

...if it wasn't clearly doctored.

Sam Wallace on the curious case of Danny Drinkwater and his Chelsea career is certainly worth a gander on a Monday morning commute into work.

"Sarri says Drinkwater is a 'very good player in a 4-4-2", which is an odd observation given it is a system neither the Italian nor many other Premier League manager plays for any considerable part of the 90 minutes. In this case, it is not a transfer or a loan that Drinkwater needs, it is a time machine set to 2001," writes Wallace.

"What has been so unusual about Drinkwater’s situation is just how little impetus there has been from the player to find a solution."

The Warm-Up usually tries to tie Retro Corner to some sort of anniversary or other, or the big news of the day. Not today. This one is dedicated to Juan Roman Riquelme because, well, Juan Roman Riquelme.

The above nutmeg is quite something but, boy, this one is a whole different level.

He did not touch the ball. Complete and utter filth. A genuine piece of art.

Nick Miller, who incorporates the casual greatness of Juan Roman Riquelme in everything he does, is here on Tuesday.

Before that, another maverick, Liverpool take on West Ham in the Premier League at the London Stadium.