We know Arsenal rely heavily on Saka and even before Saka’s injury, their performances were lackluster. But damn, we still weren’t quite ready because they looked toothless a lot of the time in his absence.
Mikel Arteta’s side are solid enough to control the game at will and won’t lose their minds over any of the injustices that have happened this week, but they are set to face Manchester United with ten men in the FA Cup third round The performance highlighted how Arsenal’s performance in the final third was unconvincing.
Even against ten men, Arsenal’s scoring opportunities were clearly limited to set-pieces and nothing else. Even against Altay Bayindil, when Declan Rice appeared to be trying to shoot straight from a corner, that didn’t inspire confidence in the team’s creativity.
The penalty that was saved felt very Arsenal, even if it was an excellent save. Taking the kick-off when correctly offside is Arsenal’s style. The forward trio of Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling made Arsenal almost feel injured for much of the game and the end product delivered was exactly what you were looking for. what is expected.
Read: Mikel Arteta’s negativity, Bukayo Saka’s injury and set-pieces: What’s wrong with Arsenal?
It’s fair and correct to point out that, as against Liverpool, United’s defense was generally very good, certainly considering their numerical disadvantage. Harry Maguire didn’t get enough credit for his performance at Anfield last weekend, but he and Matthijs de Ligt get the credit they deserve here.
After a poor run of form, the work Ruben Amorim has put in on the training ground is starting to show on game day, at least in terms of repairing the defence.
Now, both managers will need to prove their ability at the other end of the pitch – but the reality is that for Arteta, like Amorim, there is little he can do without adding more quality to the front line There are only so many of them.
Coaches can provide a framework for defenses and the principles and positions they want their teams to adhere to when it comes to possession, but any coach at any level will tell you that they ideally want to give attacking players just as much freedom once they get to the end A third, just do their thing as much as possible. The problem both sides have is that their stuff isn’t very good at all.
For Arsenal, this represents a clear decline. Although the personnel are largely the same, this Arsenal is a far cry from last season’s free-scoring form, and it’s difficult to put a clear finger on why this is the case. Injuries haven’t helped, but they don’t explain why Leandro Trossard can’t hit a shot from less than 35 yards in the air, or why Martin Odegaard continues to dominate the game, but Ben Lallana has as many Premier League assists this season as Adam.
The fact that Arsenal think Sterling could be the solution to their summer problems shows they are well aware of the problem and (belatedly) eager to resolve it; without complacency or seeing Sterling at Chelsea any period of time, then it is unlikely that a deadline transfer will be approved. We doubt there are any desperate Gunners who will be delighted by the prospect of Sterling returning as the most natural replacement for Saka.
Generally speaking, we’re not a “pay your way” kind of people, but it’s hard to find a better solution for Arsenal at the moment. They’ve already been knocked out of one cup and teetering on another because of this issue; another trophyless season looks highly likely unless they can pull some bloody spectacular out of their bag this month something.
More Arsenal coverage from F365…
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