[ad_1]
At the end of a strange weekend, in the last weeks of the strangest year, seeing Arsenal booed by a meager crowd at the Emirates felt to many like a delicious taste of normalcy.
Burnley earned his first road win of the season, only his second overall, with a 1-0 win at the Emirates and his first win at Arsenal since 1974. And despite the Claret’s struggles so far this season, everything was very predictable.
Because despite all the talk about cultural reboots and “energy change”, after almost a year with Arteta, this is the same Arsenal as always. Undisciplined, vulnerable and lacking in character: The Gunners displayed the same flaws they have suffered under the direction of three managers.
With Arteta, it was supposed to be different. A different style, a different mindset. Indeed, Arsenal are setting new benchmarks under the rookie boss, but all wrong.
His last nadir marks a low of 61 years. This was Arsenal’s fourth straight home loss in the league, a streak so miserable that they have to go back to 1959 for the last time they endured such a streak.
Within this defeat, Arsenal received their sixth red card under Arteta. That’s twice as many as any other Premier League team in the same time frame, although surely none were as dumb as Granit Xhaka’s exit in the 58th minute.
Arsenal have received twice as many red cards as any other Premier League club since Mikel Arteta took over (6).
All of them pure red. 😬 pic.twitter.com/1lJf0rHT6P
– Squawka Soccer (@Squawka) December 13, 2020
The midfielder first fouled Dwight McNeil, a yellow card infraction itself, before taking offense at Ashley Westwood, whose intention appeared to be to act as a peacemaker. Xhaka, having stumbled, regained her balance, if not her composure, before putting her hand around Westwood’s throat. He escaped immediate censorship, but the VAR ensured that he made a well-deserved early exit, much to Arteta’s resigned exasperation.
We know these Arsenal players don’t realize it quickly, if at all, but Mohamed Elneny would have had trouble explaining why he had followed Xhaka to the showers 15 minutes later. After getting her hands in James Tarkowski’s face, Elneny should have seen red too, but the VAR, perhaps in sympathy for Arsenal at this point, let him go. Burnley, however, did not and from the next corner they took the lead thanks to an own goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Since open play this season, the Arsenal captain has now scored as many goals for Burnley as for the Gunners.
The inclusion of Xhaka and Elneny together in Arsenal’s midfield drew now-familiar sighs of exasperation from Arsenal fans tired of seeing a midfield so devoid of creativity. Elneny came to XI as the only change from the Tottenham-educated team last week and that alteration was forced on Arteta by the injury of Thomas Partey. another midfielder apparently lacking the necessary knowledge.
Among Arteta’s so-called “non-negotiable” ones, Xhaka’s spot on the side is apparently the foremost of them. Which nullifies and nullifies any claim that Arteta has not yet printed its brand on this equipment
When Arteta arrived, Xhaka looked finished as an Arsenal player. The ‘heart of the midfielder was already gone’ and a departure was inevitable, albeit late. But Arteta answered for Xhaka.
“I like it a lot,” said the Swiss international’s coach. “The way we want to play, if we bring him in, he can be a great player for this football club.”
“That’s it. His commitment… I like his way of being, his way of life, his professionalism and his way of training. How focused he is every time I speak, listen and are willing to learn. “
Arteta must be teaching the wrong things. Without a doubt, two goals scored in eight games suggest this. Ten goals in 12 games is the club’s lowest number at this stage of the season since 1981-82.
Feature F365: The cases for and against firing the top five for the slice
They created some chances against Burnley. Nick Pope’s clever save to deny Alexandre Lacazette denied the Gunners a goal in the first half since Sept. 28 and a flurry of shots early in the second period was useless, opportunities wasted by players woefully lacking in confidence. in front of the goal.
But once again, his main route to Pope’s goal was the crossovers. They finished with 39 deliveries from the outside, five less than last week at the Spurs but six more than the loss to the Wolves.
After that match, Arteta said: “I think it is the first time in the Premier League that we have put 33 crosses. I tell you that if we do it more consistently we will score more goals. If we put the bodies that we had at certain times in the box, they are mathematics, pure mathematics and it will happen. “
Arteta needs to verify his calculations. After tonight, Arsenal lead the Premier League in crossover attempts. Before tonight, they were third from the bottom in crossover accuracy. They are currently finding a teammate with only 17 percent of their submissions.
Such a basic and simple approach suggests one of two things: Arteta, in fact, learned very little from Pep Guardiola; or, more likely, he doesn’t trust this team to play the way he wants. Either way, there is no quick fix, not one that can be achieved without the cruelty and foresight that the Arsenal board apparently lacks.
Ian Watson
[ad_2]