When the final whistle blew at the Emirates on Sunday, the familiar sense of frustration reverberated throughout North London. On the heels of a massive 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, it seemed as if Arsenal had turned a corner and could be seen as a genuine threat to the top of the table. Ninety minutes and a 3-0 home loss to Aston Villa later, it seems that the sky is once again falling for the Gunners.
Nothing went right against Villa. The midfield partnership of Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny that worked so well last match was broken up by halftime when Partey went off injured. Dani Ceballos came on but could not provide the same balance that Partey gave, and Villa ran wild in the second half. Jack Grealish glided gracefully all across the pitch, causing constant problems to the back line. Ollie Watkins’ pace and knack for making runs in behind were simply too much for Gabriel and Rob Holding to handle, and he was duly rewarded with two goals. But even with the defensive frailties returning at times, the biggest issue that Arsenal currently faces is rather obvious; Their attack is utterly useless at the moment.
When one looks at the Arsenal team sheet, the first thing he or she is drawn to are the names in the final third. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe, and Willian are all prodigious talents bursting with star power and proven track records of success. So why is the attack so terrible right now?
Alexadre Lacazette
At its core, the issue starts with form. Alex Lacazette has lost all confidence in front of the goal after a bright first few matches of the season, and while his hold up play is good, it causes him to come too deep into the middle of the park. That takes him out of the play on too many occasions and creates a void in the box when Arsenal get the ball out wide.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is Arsenal’s best player and one of the finest goal scorers in world football, but he is too isolated of a figure on the left at the moment. He failed to register a single shot on target against Villa and has been sending more crosses in from out wide than shots on net. That is simply unacceptable for a player who is as transcendent a finisher as he is.
Finally, after a three-assist debut against Fulham in the season opener, Willian has been awful on the right wing. Trying to do too much at times, he is being dispossessed at an alarming rate and lacks any cutting edge in the final third.
The international break has come at the right time for the club and manager, Mikel Arteta. The manager now has two weeks to study what is going wrong up front and devise a plan to fix it. Moving Aubameyang centrally seems like the best and most natural choice. He is the best striker at the club, and while he has been a loyal servant playing out of position for this long, he needs an opportunity to go back to where he feels most comfortable in order to start scoring again.
This would also allow more opportunities on the wings for Nicolas Pepe and Reiss Nelson. Pepe can be frustrating at times, but one cannot ignore his goal return in an Arsenal shirt. After scoring 8 goals and setting up a further 10 in his debut season, he already has scored 3 and assisted 2 more so far in limited action this season. Giving him a proper run of matches out at right wing will only increase his comfortability and goal return as he continues to get fully acclimated to English football after his 72 million pound move.
Reiss Nelson is probably the best example of a young player who could help push Arsenal through this crisis. He was magnificent in the Europa League win over Dundalk and was unlucky to pick up a knock before the Molde win. Shockingly, he has not even been in the squad yet for a Premier League match despite Arsenal crying out for pace and creativity, which he has in bunches. Expect to see him integrated into Arteta’s plans out of the break.
Whoever makes up the front three going forward should take notes of Aston Villa’s trio of Ross Barkley, Jack Grealish, and Ollie Watkins performances on Sunday. The continuous, interchanging movement of the three gave Arsenal’s back line fits and led to six clean chances on target and three beautiful goals. There is no reason why Arsenal’s front line can’t follow that same blueprint of constant movement and overlapping runs. The talent is there. It just has to be unlocked.
The other and more complex issue to solve is that of midfield creativity. It is no secret that Arsenal are desperately short of creativity in the center of the park, and nobody new is walking through that door until January at the absolute earliest. Mesut Ozil can’t come to the rescue as he’s not registered in either the Premier League or Europa League (another issue and debate entirely), and Dani Ceballos’ future lies as a number 8, not a 10.
There is one player, however, who could be unleashed in certain situations to help provide a creative spark. Emile Smith-Rowe has been incredibly unlucky so far with injuries in his brief career, but the youngster is absolutely brimming with talent. He has shown all of the necessary qualities to develop into an excellent creative midfielder during his loan last season at Huddersfield, and Arteta would be wise to begin to play him in the Europa League in order to find his footing. Who knows, maybe he hits the ground running immediately and solves Arsenal’s most glaring problem. At the very least, it’ll provide opportunities to a young player who desperately needs and has earned them.
Whatever Arteta chooses to do, it is clear that change is needed up front. He did a masterful job in solving Arsenal’s defensive crisis from last season, and now it is time to do the same in attack. If he can do that and finally field a fully balanced squad, the Gunners should find themselves back pushing for the top four in a season full of parity in the Premier League.
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