It doesn’t take much for the mood to change in football, and Arsenal are the perfect example of that.
Just a few days ago, there was a real sense of optimism around the club following big wins over Nottingham Forest and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League.
However, their performance against Manchester City left a lot to be desired, and were it not for a late equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli, the Gunners would have lost their second Premier League game of the season.
It was a game to forget for much of the Arsenal team, and while Mikel Merino has received plenty of criticism, there is another star that Mikel Arteta should consider dropping for the game this week.
The Arsenal players who underwhelmed vs City
Now it is important to clarify that few, if any, Arsenal players were genuinely terrible yesterday.
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After all, while the result was hugely disappointing, the Gunners would not have earned a point against a team like City if they played terribly.
With that said, there were more than a handful of starters who underwhelmed in a big way, like Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian did little to dispel the idea of him being a better impact player than starter, as in 84 minutes of action, he amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of just 0.15, failed to complete a single cross, didn’t register a shot on target and was accurate with just 78% of his passes.
Someone who had some pretty impressive numbers for the game, but made one consequential mistake, was Gabriel Magalhães.
The Brazilian stalwart found himself far too high up the pitch and mistimed a tackle in the lead-up to Erling Haaland’s opener, which meant he had no chance of catching the Norwegian.
Finally, it was another outing that showed a midfield of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Merino does not work.
Minutes
45′
Expected Goals
0.00
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.03
Assists
0
Passes
18/20
Crosses
0
Long Balls (Accurate)
1 (0)
Shots on Target
0
Aerial Duels (Won)
2 (0)
Lost Possession
6
The latter was particularly ineffective, completing 18 passes, failing to complete a long ball or cross, losing 100% of his aerial duels, losing the ball six times and generally being more of a hindrance to build up than any sort of help in defence.
It was a game to forget for all of these starters, but there is another who was at the very least just as bad and should therefore be dropped from the team this week.
The Arsenal star Arteta should drop
When it comes to arguably the most ineffective player on the pitch for Arsenal yesterday, it probably won’t surprise many of you that we’re talking about Viktor Gyokeres.
Now, before the pitchforks come out, the Swedish international has had a couple of good games for the club, such as Leeds United and Forest, but yesterday was not one of those.
The former Sporting CP superstar was anonymous for pretty much the entire encounter, as while he held the ball up relatively well at points, he offered little to no threat.
Now, there is an argument to be made that the rest of the team didn’t create enough chances for him; it could also be said that the best strikers help create their own chances.
It might sound like a harsh appraisal, but we aren’t the only ones who were disappointed by his performance.
For example, The Standard’s Simon Collings awarded him a 5/10 match rating at full-time, writing that he ‘could not make an impact.’
Unsurprisingly, his statistics more than back this up, as in his 97 minutes of inaction, the Stockholm-born poacher didn’t take a single shot on target, took just 22 touches, completed six passes, lost 100% of his ground duels, lost the ball 13 times and failed in 100% of his dribbles.
In short, it was a poor showing from the man who is supposed to spearhead this Arsenal side to Premier League glory.
Therefore, Arteta should take him out of the firing line for the game against Port Vale tomorrow night, give him time to rest, and hopefully, he can come back into the side next week rejuvenated and ready to show the fans what he can do.
