New season. Same old Arsenal. This is what most, if all, Arsenal fans are probably thinking after seeing their side lose their opening Premier League game to Liverpool 4-3 at the Emirates.
The loss to Jurgen Klopp’s side yesterday did not go down well with the Arsenal faithful, many of which booed the side and Arsene Wenger off the field after the final whistle was blown.
Despite witnessing the injury to Gabriel last week in friendly match against Manchester City, Wenger did not respond by buying a replacement – knowing that Per Mertesacker is also sidelined through injury for a few weeks, and Laurent Koscielny ‘unavailable’ because apparently Wenger reckons the defender needs rest following his Euro 2016 campaign with France (roll of the eyes).
So, what does Wenger decide to do for the first game of the season at home against Liverpool? The Frenchman deploys Calum Chambers and Rob Holding in the heart of the defence to fend off the Reds attack. And their inexperience showed. This is not a pop at the two young defenders, but why did Wenger not put a more experienced pairing in the area which receives the most criticism?
Onto midfield. Now you’re at home and want to please the Arsenal faithful with coming away with all three points, so why does Wenger play two holding midfielder in Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny? My brother brought this up while we were watching the game and my only response to his question was, ‘to protect Holding and Chambers’. Now had Wenger paired a more experienced centre-back pairing, the Frenchman could have dropped one of the two holding midfielders and played a more attacking one instead. Bad decision making all round, caused by a poor decision to play two young defenders at the back.
Theo Walcott was anonymous after netting his goal, this before missing a penalty which I knew he was going to fluff.
Aaron Ramsey. It seems to me that the midfielder puts more effort into his game when he plays for his country rather than Arsenal. He is more comfortable playing in the number 10 role, but he hasn’t got the ability to do so and continues to frustrate a lot of the Arsenal faithful with his mediocre performances.
The only bright note I can take out of yesterday’s game is Alex Iwobi’s display. This kid has the potential to become a big star. Hopefully it’s at Arsenal.
An opening defeat isn’t the end of the world, and we do have a number of players unavailable at the moment. But you can grasp whether or not this Arsenal side will actually challenge for the title this season. Personally, my expectations this year is finishing in the top four once again. However, this will not come easy this time around.
I certainly hope yesterday’s defeat is a wakeup call to Wenger to whip out his cheque book and at least sign a centre-back in the next fortnight…that’s if he can remember where he left it.
