Paul Merson
Paul Merson
Paul Merson was concerned by what he saw from one Arsenal player during Saturday's bruising defeat to Brighton in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta's men were given an early-season reality check after their perfect start to the season, with Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andrés scoring to end the Gunners' perfect and unbeaten records.
Brighton applied pressure all over the pitch, suffocating their visitors and perhaps creating a blueprint for other teams to get the better of Arsenal, with few teams managing to put on such a dominant performance against Arterta's men over the last couple of years.
A number of Gunners stars struggled to deal with the pressure applied by Brighton, who were brave enough to commit to a heavy press for almost the entire game, which is always going to be a risky approach because of Arsenal's usually incredible passing ability.
But Arsenal simply couldn't figure out a way to play through the press at the AMEX Stadium, and the result was more than fair.
One player who particularly struggled was summer signing Bruno Guimaraes, who was brought off before the hour-mark, just after Brighton had made it 3-0, with Martin Zubimendi coming off the bench.
Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Speaking about the Brazilian's struggle on Sky Sports News, Arsenal legend Merson said during the game: "I said at half-time that he would come off, but he stayed on another 10 minutes or so. It was really quick for him - they closed him down.
"I don't care how good you are. If people get your head down and close you down and make you work, it becomes a leveller. And that's what Brighton have done.
"They haven't given anybody time on the ball to get their head up and pass it, and they've been absolutely brilliant. At the moment, I don't see Arsenal coming back."
Guimaraes stats vs Brighton
Minutes played: 59
Dribbles: 1
Interceptions: 1
Pass success: 84.2%
Passes: 38
Key passes: 0
Shots: 0
Aerial duels won: 0
WhoScored rating: 5.68
Arsenal did not come back, failing to even pull a goal back, and it will be a day Guimaraes will want to forget and move on from swiftly.
Guimaraes didn't lose the ball many times, only once, but he was forced to play safe the majority of the time and hardly ever managed to drive up the pitch as he so often does, failing to register a key pass.
Arsenal signed the Brazilian to be that guy, even in big games and even in big moments, so he is going to have to find answers to playing a team like Brighton, and there will be more who do after seeing the success it yielded on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)