Arsenal fans had high hopes from their side going into the third season under Mikel Arteta’s tutelage. Arteta had shown immense promise during the second half of last season with a rigid defensive display by the Gunners. The Spaniard even made some sensible signings by bringing in Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ben White amongst others to bolster the squad. However, all those hopes came tumbling down as the Gunners have lost their first three games of the season for the first time ever. The North London outfit are yet to score a single goal in the league and have already conceded nine.
Where It Went All Wrong For Arsenal
There is no straight jacket answer as to where it went wrong for Arsenal, whereas it’s more of various accumulated causes which sent the Gunners into disarray.
Defence
Since his arrival, Mikel Arteta has been working on strengthening the defence more than any other aspect of the team. However, his plan of being able to play out from the back doesn’t happen overnight. Neither it can be performed by any defenders. He brought in Gabriel from Lille and the Brazilian did a great job during his initial matches. His injury, however, has been detrimental to the Gunners this term. He will probably return after the international break and help Arteta shore up the shortcomings at the back.
Ben White has missed two crucial games against Chelsea and City after contacting Covid. He will be an upgrade on his return considering the players Arteta had chosen to field against those two heavyweight teams. However, the decisions to loan out Mavropanos and Saliba and keeping Kolasinac makes no sense as the Bosnian never played at centre back. He was thrown into the team against the reigning champions and it massively backfired. If Arteta does set his team up with three at the back, he needs better centre backs at the club. Rob Holding, Calum Chamber and Pablo Mari look nowhere close to a defender able enough to compete at the highest level.
The right-back position at Arsenal is simply too wretched to even find a solution. Hector Bellerin was set to leave the club but have not found any suitor as of yet. On the other hand, Cedric Soares is still somehow employed by a professional football club. It seems Arsenal can neither play with 3 at the back nor can they go to a conventional back four system.
Midfield
Thomas Partey has become the backbone of the team within the short span of time he has been with the side. However, the Ghanaian midfielder’s injury concerns have been a worry for the manager. He looked unplayable every time he was in the squad and Arsenal have massively missed him. The London side, however, have failed to partner him up with anyone capable yet. Lokonga looks to be very promising but he is too rookie to be given a prominent role. Matteo Guendouzi, despite having decent seasons at the Emirates, was loaned out. Whereas, Granit Xhaka was about to leave the club but ended up staying. The Swiss seems to never learn from his mistakes and was shown a straight red on Saturday at Etihad after he two-footed Joao Cancelo.
Arteta needs someone who can protect the backline and allow Partey to carry the ball forward freely. Granit Xhaka has been holding back the team for a long time now and it is high time the manager takes a stern decision regarding his future. Attacking midfielders will not be able to play freely by being concerned about conceding on every counterattack and right now that has been the situation at the club. Emile Smith Rowe and Maritn Odegaard are the best Arsenal can afford to have now and they require protection by the players behind them. Otherwise, the situation will remain like the previous seasons where will look more likely to concede when they are on the attacking mode.
Attack
Creativity up the pitch was never an issue under Arsene Wenger or even Unai Emery. However, Mikel Arteta worked so much on his defence, his attacking players seem to have forgotten how to play. Aubameyang and Lacazette both have been very poor in recent times baring one or two games. Nicola Pepe had stints of good spells but then faded away. Bukayo Saka remains the only shining light at Arsenal as he continues to prove people wrong.
Arsenal’s forward players looked very lethargic and do not seem to care at all. That attitude towards the game needs to change before adding anything to it. The senior players have to take charge of the squad and lead the youngsters through this tough time. Arteta has the toughest job at hand in turning things around for the Gunners and indeed he will be looking towards his players to support his cause.
