Arsenal and the casual attitude that continues to cost them

Sports

add

“Rage, anger and frustration” were the feelings Mikel Arteta could sense inside the Emirates after Arsenal let another lead slip to lose to Bournemouth.

That frustration built over the course of the 2-1 defeat. Arsenal did not seem to get out of second gear and were too casual, again — and it gave Bournemouth encouragement. It did not boil over in the form of mass boos but large sections of the ground emptied in the closing stages.

This was the 10th Premier League match Arsenal had failed to win after leading this season. The loss brought their tally for points dropped from winning positions to 21, their joint-most in a single season alongside the 2019-20 campaign. Arteta said there will be a “different answer” to why points were dropped in each of those games, but that it keeps happening is worrying.

Nine of those 10 matches ended in draws. Arsenal’s first three draws of the season all came after they had a man sent off. As the season progressed, the reasons became more varied, as they started the New Year by surpassing their tally for draws in each of their last two seasons (seven, compared to five and six).

Arsenal had won once and drawn three in their last four league games before Bournemouth’s arrival, with the stalemates all coming before important Champions League knockout ties. A goal behind in their semi-final to Paris Saint-Germain before ahead of Wednesday’s second leg, a full-strength starting lineup was not expected to go full tilt but the manner of the defeat is concerning.

Declan Rice’s opener came from a flowing move in a mixed first half. While Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka were involved in attacking moves, Thomas Partey, Ben White, Martin Odegaard and David Raya all had moments that could have cost Arsenal.

Rice gave Arsenal a first-half lead (GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

“In many situations we are giving balls away that is nowhere near the standard that we’re quite certain of,” Arteta admitted in his post-match press conference.

Within minutes of the restart, Odegaard miscontrolled an intelligent Raya pass into midfield and an unnecessary chaos returned to the game. No matter how many attacks Arsenal mounted, they always dragged themselves back into a state of flux. Around the hour mark it was Partey who received the ball unaware of his surroundings, had the ball stolen off him and Bournemouth were charging towards Raya again.

Andoni Iraola had planned to pounce in the second half, admitting post-match that Antoine Semenyo, usually a starter out wide, was being saved for his 65th-minute introduction. That is when Arsenal paid the price for their sloppiness. Within 10 minutes, goals from Dean Huijsen and Evanilson turned the game on its head.

“We certainly missed the most important one (aspect needed in the Premier League), which is defending the box,” Arteta said. “We did it very poorly three times. One in the first half and two in the second half and it cost us the points. Maybe we lacked a little bit of freshness.”

Arsenal’s wins over Real Madrid were between 1-1 draws to Everton and Brentford, while a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace preceded their first-leg defeat to PSG. Part of those draws were down to significant changes to the starting XIs but that was not the case against Bournemouth — just Partey replacing Mikel Merino and Benjamin White in for Jurrien Timber from the team that lost 1-0 to PSG.

PSG head coach Luis Enrique will not have any complaints about the energy of his squad for the second leg in Paris. His team also lost, 2-1 to Strasbourg, but they made 10 changes. Joao Neves was the only player to start at the Emirates and this weekend — it helps that they are already Ligue 1 champions.

Huijsen equalised for Arsenal (Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)

That is not a luxury Arsenal have. While “second again” has been chanted jokingly towards them for months, they are now in danger of slipping from the position that seemed all but theirs. They could be third by the next time they play, on the evening of May 11. Newcastle United are five points behind them but play twice before Arsenal’s next game — two wins would see them leapfrog Arteta’s side before they kick off at Anfield.

Even with that pressure, there could have been potential areas for rotation on Saturday. Myles Lewis-Skelly is likely to start at left-back in Paris, but was given 90 minutes against Bournemouth, as were Odegaard and Partey in midfield. After emphasising that attacking midfield is Ethan Nwaneri’s “main position” in his pre-match press conference, this could have been a good opportunity to give the 18-year-old his first meaningful minutes there for months. Instead, he was brought on with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling in the 86th minute.

The mood of Arteta and the Arsenal fans who’d remained at the Emirates had darkened by then. On ensuring that momentum does not creep into the second leg in Paris, the Arsenal manager said: “We wanted to create a good vibe. A positive result would have really helped us to build what we want towards Wednesday.

“What we have created now is a lot of rage, anger, frustration and a bad feeling in the tummy. Let’s make sure we use that for Wednesday to have a massive performance in Paris, win the game and be in the final.”

(Top photo: Arteta and his players at full-time. Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Blues’ Jordan Binnington, built for big moments, is ‘locked in’ for Game 7

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Five reasons Oilers are (and aren’t) better positioned for Golden Knights playoff matchup

Sports