3. Xhaka needs dropped & other things we learned from Arsenal’s shambolic display at Southampton
Another Arsenal away game, another embarrassing display from men who earn more in a week than I probably have in my entire life.
Olivier Giroud saved the Gunners a point with his 88th-minute goal and I don’t begrudge him his celebration, which overlapped into time his side could have spent fighting for a winner. He was brought on as a super-sup and did his job; their abject display during the first 75 minutes had nothing to do with him.
The match was another example of a personal error costing the team and Arsenal being incapable of netting one of their two thousand shots.
We went 1-0 behind in the third minute. That’s plenty of time to fight back and win the match.
The old Arsenal would have but not this Arsenal. Not this team.
Other than the fact we’re really bad at football – apart from Laca, Ozil and Rambo – here’s five other things we learned from the game.
We can’t defend for s**t!
If Manchester United’s two early goals last weekend weren’t enough, Southampton’s in the third minute on Sunday should be.
Last Saturday it was Shkodran Mustafi’s mistake, this time it was Per Mertesacker who fell over and allowed Charlie Austin to dance through and flick the ball past Petr Cech.
This isn’t a new problem by any stretch, which makes me wonder whether Steve Bould is genuinely working on the defensive side of the game with the lads in training or whether that’s just the official line.
Either way, there’s been no improvement and it’s just embarrassing now.
Per Mertesacker is past his best
As much as I love the BFG, he’s looking well past his best.
Although he has always been slow, his reading of the game and interception rate always made him one of our most reliable defenders.
However, with age and lack of regular game time, he can’t even really do that very well anymore.
It’s a shame but at least he’s already decided to become head of the academy once his contract runs out at the end of the season.
Arsenal should give Mesut Ozil whatever he wants
Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette were the only Arsenal players that didn’t stink out the entire stadium at St. Mary’s.
Ozil was constantly trying to drive play forward but there’s only so much one man can do.
With just six months left on his contract, I sincerely hope the reports are true that he’s signing a new deal.
We should give the playmaker whatever he wants.
I couldn’t care less about Alexis Sanchez.
It’s time for Granit Xhaka to be dropped
The midfielder has been well below par this season and I can’t help but think Jack Wilshere would offer so much more, even if the boss does want the England international to play further forward.
Jack needs game time and at the moment we’re just playing Xhaka for the sake of consistency.
Well, the Switzerland international has been consistently poor for a while now.
Goalkeepers become world class against Arsenal
Top 3 goalkeepers in the world
1.) Anyone that plays Arsenal
2.) De Gea
3.) Neuer— Gooner Nick (@NickVann1987) December 10, 2017
No matter what team you play for, if you’re a goalkeeper, you’ll have the game of your life against the Gunners!
