Arsenal continues to show such a horrible performance in the match against Southampton yesterday, and they once again threw hardship towards the rebuild of Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal could have won in the display against Southampton and eased the heat on Mikel Arteta’s coaching position. They could do it, perhaps, if Gabriel has not received the second yellow card in the 62nd minutes and walked off the field in disappointment. With only 10 men on the field, it was impossible for Arsenal to win the match. Mikel Arteta wanted to have a rebuild at Arsenal when he took over the vacant coach role of Unai Emery, but his work is worsened by his own lads.
It is understandable that the work of Arteta at Arsenal would be a challenging one, but it is unbelievable to be convinced that Arsenal could have played this badly. They defeated the mighty Chelsea in the FA Cup Final and then overcame the English Premier League Champion – Liverpool in the Community Shield Cup match.
But just a few months later, the champions of the FA Cup and Community Shield Cup are now struggling badly in the English Premier League (EPL). One good example will be the most recent match that Arsenal played against Southampton.
The Gunners started the game at a slow pace and they soon were punished by the Saints. Ironically, Theo Walcott – a former gunner – fired off the score for Southampton. The successor of Thierry Henry’s number. 14 shirt scored a goal against his favorite team in the 18th minute.
Such a bad beginning of Arsenal was then eased down by a good goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese equalized the result in the 52nd minute, but it was not enough to claim Arsenal a victory. Gabriel suffered from a silly fault and received the second yellow card.
What a terrible night against Southampton proved how Arsenal’s lads hardened the rebuild of Arteta.
Arteta had a good plan and mindset for a rebuild, probably when he decided to bring in some decent youngsters and put his faith in them. But it was not enough for a rebuild. Lack of discipline makes Arsenal at this moment is so bizarre.
The shaking and misguided fault of Gabriel captured perfectly how Arsenal was playing in the past 5 rounds of EPL. They are shaking, misguided, so naive, and in the end, lack belief. Gabriel was a better performer in the display against Southampton, but 2 faults created in un-security penalized the French defender with a sent off.
Probably it could be worse if Southampton cashed in their opportunities better. However, a drawn result against Arsenal was a good outcome for the Saints, while for Arsenal, it was such a shame to let Southampton set them back.
At least, Arsenal did not lose the game at all, and it is the rare spotlight for Arsenal.
“At the end, if you lose the game again, it would have been a really difficult one to take. The players showed what we expect them to do, sometimes with more or less quality but at least the work is there,” Arteta said.
Arsenal once again shot at themselves and it made the ahead journey of Arteta with Arsenal become a hard one. Who knows how Arteta will solve things out. The only thing we know is that the team still trusts him, a shaking belief that can be ruined at any moment.