The ‘gunners’ came crashing down on Sunday after a frustrating loss at bitter rivals, Manchester United’s Old Trafford (3-1). The match was a perfect opportunity for the North London team to make a statement as Premier League title contenders. But the ‘red devils’ had something else to say about that.
The match was not shy of controversy, with a first half Martinelli goal disallowed by VAR and the always contentious referee Paul Tierney, after that, United took the lead with a goal from new signing Antony. In the second half Arteta’s men came out of the locker room guns blazing and found the equalizer early on with an easy finish from Bukayo Saka. Things were looking good for the ‘gunners’ with United struggling to keep possession of the ball. Ten Hag organized his team well in the back and his strategy paid off with a very good counter attack when the team needed it the most. After the second goal, Arsenal couldn’t find an answer unlike recent matches were they impressed with how quickly they responded to goals conceded. Mikel Arteta made several substitutions to try to respond, but United finished the game off with another counter, sealing the game and landing the final blow of the evening.
Frustrating result but we learn from it and go again next week ! pic.twitter.com/PMbYBLV9yZ
— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) September 4, 2022
Coming into week six, the ‘gunners’ had a perfect start of the 2022-23 Premier League, taking maximum points on their previous five fixtures, Arteta’s team (youngest squad in the league: avg. 24 y/o) was firing on all cylinders and looked like never before within the Spaniard time as the team’s manager.
Squad Depth Issues
After making an impressive start of the season, Arsenal once again has suffered on this front. Depth is a real struggle for this team. Last season, the ‘gunners’ made a final push for that very longed for fourth place finish, and things were looking good but once again they came up short after taking crucial losses and failing to make up for key injuries (Partey, Tomiyasu, and Tierney all had late season fitness struggles). This summer Arsenal and technical director Edu tried to address this issue bringing in mayor talent (Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, Vieira) but couldn’t find that final singing to address the midfield. This team suffers when Partey is not part of the starting XI, that’s reality, and the Ghanaian has had many long lasting injury stints, so things are once again looking uncertain. Especially when you compare Arsenal’s young squad with powerhouse squads such as City’s or United’s.
What Now?
In the aftermath of the United match every Arsenal player seemed frustrated, but fired up. So this may just be the start of a bigger fire in this ambitious squad that are sure they can deliver. Even though injuries will continue to play a very big part of this team’s success, the ‘gunners’ are playing superb football and they will certainly have a chance to bounce back, keep holding on to the top spot in the league, and prove the United game was just a minor slip when they face 16th place Everton on Sunday. Sandwiched in between, Arsenal will travel to Switzerland to play their Europa League 2022-23 season debut against FC Zurich, this is a tournament they certainly will not take lightly, as lifting this trophy would also get them back to playing Champions League football next year. It will be very interesting to see how Arteta manages his already slim squad. Expect a lot of rotation and opportunities for players who have seen the least playing time on the domestic competition. Mikel Arteta has on his hands the most promising and exiting Arsenal team in years, but the Spaniard has received a lot of confidence and patience from the board after three rough seasons as manager, so there is no better time to make a push to finally return the elite level this club and fans expect, but if things start to go sideways this may just be the end for the young Arsenal’s manager project. Can his young squad be up to the challenge? We can’t wait to find out.
