Mikel Arteta has called on Arsenal fans to make noise ahead of Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium. His wish was granted, but not in the way he expected.
But perhaps more concerning was how many players looked incredibly average when pushed. And a performance like this could force Arteta to reassemble his team again in the off-season, with the Reds in contention for the title. Frankly speaking, Arsenal have five players who are not good enough.
Let’s start by looking at Arsenal’s scorers. Victor Gokeres’ penalty was sensational. Really. A rocket from the right boot gave Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic no chance to save.
But everything that happened before and after was disgraceful. It was like watching an ordinary person trying to impersonate a professional soccer player.
He had three chances in the second half as Arsenal chased goals. One of them was offside for a yard, the other was a miskick and went over the crossbar, and to top it all off, the header went farther into the goal than forward.
Arsenal spent £55 million on his goalscorer to win games like this. But unless you plan on changing your playing style to fit Gokeres’ profile, you might want to cut your losses while you can.
It wasn’t as good elsewhere. Gabriel Martinelli’s only notable contribution to the match came when he shook the hand of teammate Leandro Trossard after coming on as a second-half substitute. Come to think of it, the Belgian himself wasn’t that great of a player either. The left wing position will require major surgery during the summer.
The same goes for the fullback position. Arsenal’s defensive stability has been one of the cornerstones of the season so far, but the presence of Ben White at right-back and Miles Lewis-Skelly at left-back held the hosts back rather than helping them on Saturday.
It’s no surprise then that there are reports that both Whyte and Lewis-Skelly could be candidates to play this summer. Given that Academy product sales count as pure profit on the books, the latter’s departure should free up some space in the team cost rules. Meanwhile, as the weeks (and defeats) go by, White looks increasingly essential to Arsenal.
