Following the disappointing defeat against Bournemouth, Mikel Arteta faced the journalists for a press conference ahead of the clash with Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Arsenal missed the talismanic services of Bukayo Saka and it was evident as the team lacked any sort of creativity and a bad night at the office became worse when William Saliba was given his marching orders in the first half.
One of the most critical parts of this press conference was the gaffer confirming the availability of Saka,
“They are closer and both progressing really well. Martin is still not fit. With Bukayo, let’s see how he feels today and in the training session that we have later on.”
In just seven Premier League games, Arsenal has inexplicably received three red cards. It is more exasperating with the fact that two of the three reds were actually avoidable, and I believe that Arsenal would have ended up with positive results if they had 11 players on the pitch.
Here’s what the gaffer said,
“Playing with 10 men, obviously there is an issue. The truth is you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different. Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with 10 men, especially at this level. You see how much of a struggle it is for all of the teams to win football matches. When you want to do it with 10 men for 65 minutes, the task becomes impossible so we need to eradicate that. It’s clear why, the reasons and how. It doesn’t matter, we have to focus that it has to happen.”
I agree with Arteta here and I truly hope that the players change the way they approach the game, because it’s hurting us badly. There was absolutely no need for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard to kick the ball under those circumstances and there is a school of thought echoing that Saliba probably had the pace to chase down Evanilson as he bore down on goal, rather than scythe him down cynically.
Arsenal’s midfield looked out of sorts against Bournemouth with Arteta starting with three defensive midfielders, and we would have fared better if the team had a creative fulcrum in the center of the park. Having a Trossard or even Ethan Nwaneri in midfield would have changed the approach, as the team was bereft of creativity, so Shakhtar Donetsk could be a good brooding for the young midfielder.
If you want to see the full transcript of the press conference, it’s readily available.
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