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It was very positive for Arsenal to hold a 10-man point against Leeds on Sunday, but I can understand why there is concern about the Gunners’ current form.
There has to be, because clearly they have stalled or even regressed a bit from where they were just a few weeks ago with Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal are on a streak of just one win in their last five Premier League games and have only scored once in that span as well.
They were playing poorly and creating very little at Elland Road even before Nicolas Pepe was sent off, and their performance in their last game before the international break, a 3-0 loss at home to Aston Villa, was very disappointing.
That’s why people are now questioning Arteta and his tactics for the first time since he took office in December last year, but I’m sure it will change things.
‘In the past, Arsenal would have lost’
Arteta has done a lot in a short time and so far there has been nothing but improvement, but things were never going to keep going well.
There are always ups and downs for every new manager, let alone someone on their first job.
True, I expected more from Arsenal on Sunday, but we’ve seen some other performances this weekend where the teams weren’t at their normal level, such as Manchester City and Manchester United, which is understandable immediately after the international break.
I think it is unfair to exaggerate with any criticism of Arteta now, especially because of the progress that his team has made in recent months.
You should also consider who they were playing with. Leeds was injured after a couple of poor results and responded by showing exactly what it was about.
Marcelo Bielsa’s team was full of career and desire, and showed great quality and discipline as well.
They never gave Arsenal a moment of peace and it would have been difficult for any team to play well under that kind of intense pressure.
Of course, the Gunners will be disappointed in their performance, but sometimes when you don’t play well, you push yourself and take what you can.
Let’s go back 18 months or two years and Arsenal wouldn’t have. In a scenario like the one they faced on Sunday, they would have been defeated. That is the difference that Arteta has made.
‘A system they were not used to or were not very sure of’
I still think Arsenal are better suited to play with three in the back than the four man defense they used against Leeds.
The injured Thomas Partey, so important in his triumph at Old Trafford in early November, was missing in midfield, and with the three players they had in that area – Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock – they didn’t. it looks very balanced. None of them seemed to know exactly what they should be doing.
What I saw was a team playing with a system they weren’t used to, or were not sure of. Even his broad men, Willian and Pepe, struggled to deal with the intensity of the Leeds press.
Continuing to score a point despite all that was an excellent result, especially after Pepe’s red card.
I don’t like to see players go down as easily as Ezgjan Alioski did, but Pepe’s actions were stupid and selfish, and he left him with a man down for more than 40 minutes.
What followed, and the stamina, effort and desire to stay in the game that I saw from the Gunners players was probably the most enjoyable part of the day for Arteta and any Arsenal fan.
Yes, his fans want to see more quality and to create more chances, and they know that in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang they have a forward who can take advantage of them.
But Arteta’s first goal was to make his team harder to beat and he has succeeded. His team defends well, with a good structure that has given him a base to work on.
The next step will be to play more fluid football and open up the opposition as well, but I think he has players in his squad with the quality that will allow him to do so.
It’s hard to find the right balance between being entertaining and being too open, and just because Arteta has accomplished so much and so quickly doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have time to get the next part right.
Danny Murphy was talking to Chris Bevan of BBC Sport.
