What’s going on with Arsenal?
Injury issues
With the increase in fixtures, the number of players getting injured is also increasing and Arsenal is not untouchable with that. They have lost their club captain Martin Ødegaard and their star boy Bukayo Saka due to injuries. One more winger Gabriel Martinelli was also sidelined due to his injury problems.
Red Cards
Arsenal has historically struggled with disciplinary issues. Over the past two years, Mikel Arteta has made significant strides in addressing this problem. However, this season, there seems to be a setback. In the first eight matches, Arsenal has already received three red cards, suggesting that old habits may be resurfacing. Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, and now William Saliba have all been sent off due to lapses in judgment.
Team Selection/Bench Strength
Injuries have hindered Mikel Arteta’s team selection. Against Bournemouth, he fielded four center-backs, two defensive midfielders, and a debutant in Mikel Merino. Fans were perplexed by the lack of a creative midfielder who could generate chances from nothing. Two years ago, Arsenal’s late-season collapse was partly attributed to a dearth of backup options for their key players. The bench still appears weak, and there is no direct replacement for captain Martin Ødegaard. While they have options on the wings, it’s the midfield, particularly the creative midfield, that could be a source of future struggles for Arsenal.
Arsenal fans remain hopeful as their team is still alive in all competitions. With Manchester City losing Rodri for an extended period and Kevin De Bruyne still out injured, Mikel Arteta and his players have a prime opportunity to finally secure a trophy this season, but not if we continue to drop points like we did yesterday.
This is a Guest Post from Kumar Satyam
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I think the red cards have been our greatest undoing because they are the constant in all the PL games in which we have dropped points. I’m sure Arteta and his staff are very much aware of this but it’s time to bring it to a stop.
I don’t buy the points about injuries. All teams have injuries. The possibility of having all players fit and available throughout a season is very slim. There will always be injuries unfortunately.
I get those who are calling for the inclusion of Ethan, but at the same time it’s important to manage expectations and pressure on young players or you risk ruining careers before they even start.
By the way I think Saka was a greater loss than even Odegaard. Statistically he’s the most creative player in the league currently.I think he’s our most important player. With him, I think he manages to get at least one excellent corner delivery and Gabi scores. The corners were awful but you can’t blame Rice because he normally takes them perfectly from the other side. It needed a left footed player.
Lets not complain about injuries. We had a team good enough to beat Bournemouth. It was on the manager and players.
I like Arteta but he plays too cautious even against small teams. And our players have got to grow up, these consistent unnecessary Red cards are killing us. Arteta has got to sort these things out.
We have dropped points against Brighton, Bournemouth and Man City because we made it difficult for ourselves with these Red cards.
🤦♂️
The postmortem, would suggest the lost was as a direct result of going down a man short, but have seen old Arsenal under the legendary Frenchman wining time and time again playing short.
What Arsenal must now do is drill the outfit to play short, we must have a clear plan in the event we have to play with a player less, have seen lesser teams does it effectively.
Nothing is going wrong with Arsenal, we just lost our first game of the season, nothing more, nothing less. Win tomorrow and Sunday and the Bournemouth game will be forgotten.