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The Gunners can either cry in their soup or regroup for Wednesday’s Champions League match v Club Brugge.
Yes, it was very disappointing to lose to Aston Villa on the very last second of the match, however, this will, hopefully, be a little wake-up call for Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Lee Dixon made a very good statement on NBC’s post-match show when he said Arsenal was basically a mess on the back line. He felt they lacked knowing where to be, especially in critical situations. Obviously, we have become so spoiled with Gabriel and Saliba manning the central defense that we tend to take it for granted. Saturday’s back four’s lack of communication and instinct was surely a missing element.
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair unless a compliment was sent to Unai Emery and his team. Their game plan and tactics worked by keeping a lot of pressure on the Arsenal defense.
Arteta told Arsenal.com following the game, “We allowed certain opponents too much space. We gave the ball away ourselves, to the point where it could have cost us the game, before it actually did. So, it’s painful.”
Saturday’s defeat ends an 18 match run of consecutive unbeaten games. Arsenal’s lone defeat prior to Aston Villa was on August 31st v Liverpool. This was also only the second match of the season an opponent has scored more than one goal against the Gunners.
Side note: Arteta is now 5-0-6 v Unai Emery. Arsenal will have a chance for redemption when they face Villa again, this time at home on December 30th.
In terms of player performances v Villa, the top efforts came from David Raya, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard. Everyone else looked average and made little impact onthe game. Arsenal gave away so many passes, they lost too many second chances and duels, plus they showed little to no threat on set pieces.
Obviously, we can’t expect the team to play its best every match, however, we do expect them to be more organized and protective with the ball, especially against a good team like Villa.
Now, hopefully, Arteta needs to pull the boys back together and prepare for Club Brugge on Wednesday, an then the Wolves at home on Saturday.
Keep the faith Gooners, this was a very lucky win for Aston Villa.
The Gunners will bounce back with a vengeance.
You can take that to the bank!
Gunner1953