Winners and Losers: Southampton (a)
Things are beginning to look a little grim. On Saturday, Arsenal suffered their third consecutive loss, this time at the hands of Southampton. The Gunners could not overcome a goal from Jan Bednarek in the 44th minute, once again looking better according to xG and possession stats, but failing to make it count and looking passive for large stretches of the match. Now entering a run of fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester United, and West Ham, Mikel Arteta’s men are staring a full-blown crisis in the face. Below are two Winners and four Losers from a difficult afternoon.
Winners
Nuno Tavares
After playing Granit Xhaka at the position and suggesting he might do so again, Arteta decided to deploy Tavares at left-back. And after a nightmarish showing at Palace, the Portuguese deputy to Kieran Tierney looked mostly up to the task this time. He started brightly, exhibiting his pace, physicality, and aerial ability. But most helpfully, he also demonstrated a willingness to cut inside on his right foot and even shoot on goal. Obviously nothing came of it on the day, but
Eddie Nketiah
In Alexandre Lacazette’s absence, Nketiah wasn’t particularly effective on the day. But at times throughout the match, he was lively. And he offered something Lacazette hasn’t been able to provide in ages: defense-beating speed. Nketiah was able to get past center-backs and offer a threat in behind, and also was active on the left flank a few times as well. It’s not much, but considering Arsenal’s ability to create chances did not seem to suffer too much for it, Nketiah retaining the starting position might be something to consider.
Gabriel
On a day when Ben White, currently sporting a taped-up right knee, put in one of his worse performances in an Arsenal shirt, Gabriel clocked in an admirable shift. The Brazilian remained fairly dominant in 1-v-1 scenarios, keeping things clean on his side. His distribution was also excellent, repeatedly playing line-breaking passes. He remained progressive in his use of the ball throughout the afternoon. After a string of questionable performances, it was encouraging to see Gabriel stabilize and look like his usual secure self.
Losers
Martin Odegaard
Wearing the captain’s armband on Saturday, Odegaard failed to significantly influence the match. He was far less anonymous in the second half, trying hard to play in the forwards and having a few cracks at goal himself. However, his final ball was lacking and his shots were inaccurate. It’s not the first time in recent weeks that the Norwegian has gone missing. Perhaps worst of all, Odegaard repeatedly stepped aside to let Cedric squander good dead ball situations. In multiple senses, Saturday’s captain needs to display more leadership on the pitch.
Cedric
Speaking of which, Cedric appears to be turning back into a pumpkin after several weeks of admirable service. The Portuguese right-back stole the show for the wrong reasons on Saturday, repeatedly firing in useless crosses and getting caught in poor defensive positions. To top it all off, he was somehow allowed to take most of Arsenal’s set pieces on the day. The delivery on those dead ball situations was woeful and surely cost Arsenal multiple golden opportunities to equalize. Hopefully, Takehiro Tomiyasu is finally nearing a return to action.
Arsenal’s January window
In January, Arsenal had a chance to strengthen in order to bolster the squad’s quality for the run-in. But the club chose not to, opting for a thin squad to end the season. With Tierney done for the season, Partey likely facing the same fate, and Arsenal’s forwards failing to consistently score, that decision has looked poorer and poorer with each passing game. To be fair, the permanent options at striker weren’t great. But there were decent forwards available for loan moves. Either way, Arsenal gambled top four, and potentially even top six, on two average forwards and a cast of young attacking players. As things stand, that bet isn’t panning out.
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