Mikel Arteta and his men were stopped in their tracks yesterday by Manchester United. Their impressive winning run was halted. As we have seen with Arsenal teams in the past, a lack of concentration caused their defeat yesterday. From the way they played, they should have at least gotten a point from the game. Though their own mistakes caused them the 3 points, their overall performance was impressive. They had the majority of the possession which they couldn’t make good use of.
I believe the coach should also take some of the blame for the defeat. He should have known that with the players at the disposal of Ten Hag, he was very likely to play on the counter-attack. Hence should not have deployed a high defensive line. Even with the substitutions he made, he was a bit hasty. When Arsenal went down 2 goals to 1, they still had the chance of rescuing the game. They were just very wasteful in front of the goal. Sometimes I wonder what the players wanted to do. I don’t know if they wanted to dribble into the 18-yard box and dribble the goalkeeper too.
They had numerous chances to score from shooting positions but they fluffed their lines. They never tested De Gea from long range. Looking at the struggles of De Gea in their previous games, they should have at least taken their chances. Their captain Odegaard was most often guilty of this. He could have been more decisive. He had opportunities to shoot but he rather chose to pass. This is something that Arteta must work on with the team. They should learn to test the opposition’s goalkeepers.
If they continue playing this way, they will be susceptible to teams that play on the counter. They will remain in their defensive shells and catch you on the break. The loss shouldn’t demoralise them. We are just 6 games into the season. They should learn from their mistakes and move on.
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