Unconvincing Start to the Season
Unai Emery picked up his first win as our new manager on Saturday, but the win wasn’t as convincing as we would have hoped. West Ham had their fair share of opportunities, again demonstrating the gunners defensive frailties, while on the other end of the pitch our offence struggled with record signing Aubameyang yet to register his first goal or assist of the season. Substitutes Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck, as well as starting left back Nacho Monreal were on target for the gunners after Marko Arnautovic opened the scoring for West Ham, but the score flattered our side who looked pretty equal to the visiting hammers. The previously hapless hammers looked improved compared to their first two outings and will be disappointed to remain winless in the new campaign. A relieved Unai Emery looked content in his post match interview, but upon closer reflection he will realize he has problems in almost every position.
Problems in Every Position
Our defence has shown cracks repeatedly, and playing the high defensive line leaves us vulnerable against through balls and over the top passes. Our defensive deficiencies are well known though with little to no depth in this area, but more surprisingly we are struggling at the other end of the pitch where our offence has yet to click. Ozil missed out due to illness, with Ramsey replacing him in the central attacking midfield position, but Ramsey again showed he does not have the attributes necessary to fill this role. Ramsey at best is a box to box midfielder, though recently he seems to have forgotten to get back to his own penalty box and defend. This may be according to Emery’s plan, but ultimately he does not offer enough solely in attack to forego his defensive responsibilities. Ozil has been poor as well this season, but I expect when he is back to fitness he will retain the number 10 role. As for Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, and whoever Emery sticks on the left wing, things have not gelled as expected. This is however the least of our concerns as I expect the goals should start to come. And I shouldn’t even get started on Granit Xhaka, who I just cannot understand how he has retained his starting spot in the side. His lack of effort and pace are appalling. Essentially the spine of our team is a big question mark while our lack of wide players has long been well recognized. Ultimately, there is not an area on the pitch that does not need improving.
Are Arsenal Keeping up with the Top Teams?
Arsenal supporters have given their team a free pass for the first two weeks of the season, understandably so given the need for time to adjust to Emery’s tactics and integration of new players. However, on Saturday it became apparent that perhaps Emery alone will not be enough to right the Arsenal ship – we also need the right players. This summer our biggest signing was a relatively unknown Lucas Torreira for £26m, while in comparison Chelsea signed Jorginho from Napoli for over £50m. Two defensive midfielders of differing pedigree with Jorginho seamlessly slotting into the Chelsea line up. We do have two £50m signings in Lacazette and Aubameyang, which highlights some questionable business activity as the two play the same position and are identical types of players, but aside from these two we do not sign players of the same value and caliber as the other top five clubs. Mateo Guendouzi’s another good example, a 19 year old signed from Ligue 2 side Lorient who has started all three games for the gunners. Although he has done exceedingly well, and it may well turn out that Guendouzi and Torreira could be astute signings by Emery, it is unlikely that astute signings alone will get us to the level of Europe’s elite clubs. Liverpool spent €182m this summer bringing in a top goal tender and two established top midfielders, after bringing in Van Dijk in the previous transfer window for £75m, smashing the record for a defender. How can we compete with this? And in the summer transfer window we saw lesser teams spending unprecedented amounts on players. Fulham, West Ham, Leicster City and Wolverhamptom have spent €109m, €103m, €114m, and €74m respectively last summer, all brining in quality players which will help them challenge the top teams. A lot of pressure is being placed on Unai Emery, but ultimately football has become a game that requires the right funding to stay competitive. The bottom line is that one would be hard pressed to name a player in our squad that would walk into one of the top five clubs and start.
After a very unconvincing victory against a mediocre side that in truth showed enough to have at least deserved a point, we will need to see much greater consistency from our squad if we truly want to rejoin the Premier League elite. We have fallen down the Premier League table over the last few seasons, and as other teams are becoming increasingly competitive it will be a steep task to get back into the top four. We will hope Emery is given the financial support required to build a team that will be up to the task.
