New Season, Same Arsenal

“Weak. Pathetic. Boys against men. It’s just Arsenal.” For once I could not agree more with Jamie Carragher. We were absolutely bullied. Manhandled. As a matter of fact I originally started this post of with the words ‘Wow. Oh wow.’ Let’s not kid ourselves… this was no surprise.

Attacking:

Now I wanted to put this as my first point because it is possibly our biggest problem. Arsenal have a phobia of playing through the middle. I simply don’t understand it. Ian Wright said at half time that he’d “hate to be a striker in this team”. He is completely right. Whether its Balogun, Nketiah, Lacazette, Aubameyang… hell even if it’s me, the ball needs to played to the feet of the ST. I wouldn’t stop talking about it last season, yet it happened again. WE HAVE NO AERIAL THREAT. I can’t think of one Top 8 team that doesn’t have someone who can get on the end of a cross, yet we continue to bombard our opposition with crosses. Don’t get me wrong, Tierney looked deadly down the left hand side again but why play with a ST if you aren’t going to use him.

Defending:

The fact that that throw in bounced in the box makes me physically sick. It is absolutely pathetic. God-awful. It is easy to say that Leno was in an armbar, but I could count at least 8 other Arsenal players in that box. Because at the end of the day, its all about the second ball. Whenever there is a 50/50, you have to be on the second ball. Didn’t happen for the first goal. Didn’t happen for the second goal.

Weak Points:

To think that we shipped Saliba back off to France so that we could have Mari on the bench. Whether Gabriel is injured or not, Pablo Mari is not someone you play if you want to make European football. He isn’t quick enough. Every time Tierney would join the attack, Mari would get exposed. Many times when Tierney was back too, Mari would get exposed.

Callum Chambers does not cut it as a starting RB. All he proved was that if Arsenal are to get anywhere near European football, we need a quality RB to put pen to paper by the end of August 31st. Today, Chambers was subpar on defence and much too casual on offence.

Debutants:

Now this is what I like to see. Albert Sambi Lokonga seemed to be the perfect Partey replacement. Cool, calm and collected in possession. Always seems to find the right pass and is absolutely killer on the half turn. Looked constantly for a little close-range dink through the last line to Smith-Rowe which is bound to come off in future games.

Ben White had a more moderate debut. He had a good game and whilst silencing Ivan Toney isn’t an easy job, at times he was beaten leaving the defence exposed. He also must take part of the responsibility for the second goal. Other than that, he was very calm in possession and looks like he will be a great fit in the future.

Highlights:

We gave Emile Smith-Rowe the Number 10 shirt and I am very excited to see what he can do with that. An absolute killer on the half turn, accelerates the ball through the midfield into attack with a few quick dribbles. Finds the right passes and is just missing that instinct in front of net. Once he gets that, it is danger time. Arsenal's man of the match for me.

The other main high point was Bukayo Saka. Arteta put him on around the 60th minute and he changed the game completely. At LM he linked up with Tierney and Smith-Rowe seamlessly and made Arsenal instantly look like scoring. I’d like to see what he can really do out at LM now.

It’s Not All Lost:

I am well aware that a 2-0 loss to a club who is debuting in the Premier League is not the way to start a redemption campaign. Let’s call it how it is: Sergi Canos tore us apart, Mbuema was brilliant and Pillock could have blocked a train if it was directed at his goal.

On the other hand, are injury list consisted of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Gabriel and Partey. Next up we have Chelsea and Manchester City, and although there is a large chance that we finish Round 3 with 0 points, let’s see if we can get a winning formula.

Ben White and Gabriel in CB. Partey and Lokonga in the midfield. Smith-Rowe, Pepe, Saka and Lacazette up top.

Let’s see what we can do.