Premier League matchday 23
Arsenal failed to win again at home and split points against Sheffield United. The Gunners are buried at the 10th spot in the Premier League. Their performance on the pitch are so disappointing and some days their level of football is unacceptable for a club of this dimension.
This season vinegar is part of the club’s DNA. They changed coach but nothing on the scoreboard has improved and the table reflects it. Only 6 wins out 23 games are credited to Arsenal.
Coach Arteta shares, again, his frustration post-game:
I’m very disappointed today. I think the performance deserved three points and I think we lost two points. In the Premier League, if you don’t put the game to bed then in the last 10 or 15 minutes this type of team just need a long ball, a second ball, a set-piece, and you can give the points away. That’s it.
I inherited a team that was in a difficult situation and we’re trying to improve it as much as possible. I don’t know. In the second half, Sheffield United didn’t generate any efforts on goal – it’s just one long ball, a second ball and then someone put it top bins from an incredible angle. It’s difficult to control it.
I think they all went full gas and I think they all tried really hard. We put them under real pressure every time and we didn’t allow them to come out the way they do, to generate the overloads in wide areas and control the second phase, or put balls into the box. I don’t think that was the case. Maybe in the first five or 10 minutes, we had to figure out the game a little bit but after that I think we did.
Then when you’re 1-0 up, the last 10 minutes things change. They changed to a back four and they started to commit more bodies forward, and then they’d have six players in front of the ball. It’s more difficult to control when they play long balls or second balls like this. It’s not easy.
