How many times can one team make the same mistakes?

Well in Arsenal’s case the answer is continually.

They’re even making the same mistakes that cost legendary boss Arsene Wenger his job in summer of 2018.

Now the fact that the Gunners are still in this same predicament, many are now calling Unai Emery’s future at the Emirates into question.

You can understand the frustration that comes from the stands when they see the team leak too many goals, struggle to put games away, show little in the way of passion and give up valuable leads!

This past weekend saw the North London giants drop two more points as they threw away a goal lead to draw at home with Wolverhampton Wanderers (BBC Match Report).

That was Arsenal’s fifth draw in eleven Premier League outings, only Newcastle United have drawn more so far in this campaign.

It was the third time this term that Arsenal have given up a winning advantage and ended up sharing the spoils. They were two up over Crystal Palace and Watford and in both matches they crumbled under the pressure. Had they managed to see out those three games, in which they were leading, Arsenal would have an extra six points in the bag and that would’ve seen them up to joint third in the table.

The a big reason for their failings is their in ability to keep cleansheets. They’ve only kept two in the league thus far.

They’ve managed to concede fifteen in those eleven games, only Chelsea have conceded more in the Premier League’s top half.

The central defensive partnership of David Luiz and Sokratis doesn’t fill many with confidence. They also don’t get as much protection as they need when captain Granit Xhaka plays in front of them.

The Gunners are also struggling to score the goals needed to see games out. They’ve scored sixteen and thats nowhere near the level of those that currently occupy the top four positions.

They’ve been hampered due to an injury to Alexandre Lacazette. Plus Nicolas Pépé is still finding his feet in an Gunners jersey after his big summer move from Lille OSC.

The problem is that these are the same problems Arsenal had before Emery took over the club. The only thing consistent about The Gunners is their inconsistency!

I have no doubts that Unai can watch his side go on another decent winning run that will see them possibly breaking back into the top four but I can also then see their bottle crashing as soon as they need to prove their credentials.

When asked if his job was under threat, Unai Emery stated :

‘I am very demanding myself and I feel my responsibility to work every time to come back with a better result in the next matches.’

Via Evening Standard

The problem is that we’ve heard this all before too. It doesn’t change the fact that they continue to fail when it counts.

Arsenal seem to be in a bit of a slump and Emery needs to understand that actions speak louder than words. If he can’t right the prolonged wrongs that have choked Arsenal for so long then it will be the manager who’ll be replaced!

Posted on November 4th, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article