Arsenal have really suffered from a lack of continuity in our backline this season.
“I don’t know. I cannot promise you with different personnel it wouldn’t have happened. It was a really random situation.
‘Sometimes you have to praise the opposition. From that angle to score with the only shot of the game for the striker, the way he put it away, he did it. OK credit to them as well, and sometimes you have to recognise that.”
These are the thoughts of Mikel Arteta when quizzed on whether the makeshift backline was to blame for Raul Jimenez’s goal. For sure, those comments will be completely different from his honest view of the goal, a different backline would’ve had a much better chance of preventing that goal.
That goal wasn’t the first where our left side and especially Jakub Kiwior were caught lacking. Think back to Liverpool’s late equalizer in our encounter way back and you can see a sort of trend happening. Now I’m not blaming Kiwior for this, even though I think he should be doing better, we can only blame what has become a constant recurrence this campaign, injuries.
In this case, the constant injuries to members of our defense. The one all draw against Fulham was the ninth time the Gunners have fielded a different backline thus far in this campaign in 15 Premier League matches.
This constant shuffling of the backline has been largely due to the injuries that have plagued us all through this past few months. all of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Riccardo Calafiori have all been injured at some points of the season.
In fact only one (Kieran Tierney) of those names mentioned above is currently fit, leaving us, as it stands, with only four senior defenders to calll upon excluding Lewis-Skelly.
This constant changing of the backline has created instability and a lack of cohesion that was not present for large parts of the previous campaign. For this reason, we have struggled keep cleansheets with more regularity.
In spite of this, it hasn’t been the only reason for our struggles this campaign. Our 15 goals conceded this term is the second best total in the PL, only behind Liverpool by four goals (while also playing a game more). This should tell us that an improvement in attack is needed as well.
Arsenal over the past two Premier League games have barely created chances from open play, we haven’t been able to reach an accumulated XG of 1 from open play in the last two games combined and that’s telling.
If we can’t keep a cleansheet, then we should make sure to outscore our opponents, doing that will require us to create more in the way of clear cut chances and we aren’t doing that at the moment either, things have to change!
Bring us back to the headline, what are your thoughts on our unsettled backline this season?
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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