Sluggish: Is Arsenal’s Squad Deep Enough? (A Prophetic Pre-PSV Post-mortem)

*Written before our 2-0 defeat to PSV*

Arsenal’s winning run came to an end on Sunday as they dropped two points to a Southampton side which has proved an immovable object in recent years. It seemed as though it was going to be a comfortable trip down South as we created multiple chances early doors and Xhaka smashed home a Ben White assist on 11 minutes. However, in a similar vein to the game away at Leeds last week, Arsenal seemed to retreat in the second half despite taking the lead. It was very reminiscent of Arsenal in the early 21/22 seasons when we would blitz teams early doors and then withstand unholy amounts of pressure. However this time, we looked devoid of ideas and by the second half, it looked as though Southampton were the team who were going to take home three points.

Recently we seem to drop off when we are a goal up – we seem to be lacking that killer instinct which will take us to the next step. A lot of games have ended in tight margins  – Leeds, Southampton, Villa, Fulham, Liverpool – all the Europa games – and these (bar Leeds) are all ones we have dominated.

It is hard to pinpoint where the issue lies. I think, as simple and annoying as it sounds, the team is just a bit knackered. As dull as it is to argue, the turnaround from late Europa League games on a Thursday to away games early on a Sunday is catching up with us. Games against Liverpool and Spurs at home are a different beast. They are very emotionally charged affairs, and when you fall or go down the noise and energy of the crowd are there to pick you up. 10-year-olds calling you a wanker at Leeds and an eerie silence at Southampton are hardly comparable.

I think the fact that we are starting so impressively but tailing off by the second half is a telling sign that the players are running out of gas in this early period of the season. Our #5 could barely string a five-yard pass by the end of the game, Martinelli was making fewer runs on the inside and outside, Xhaka looked tired and Jesus’ inconsistent finishing ability is being made worse by his heavy load (why he started against PSV is beyond me but hey, I’m not paid the big bucks). I think we definitely could’ve won the game, and there isn’t anything to worry about regarding our style of play, but we are definitely on a trajectory whereby the players need a break (at least there isn’t some looming competition on the way…).

Also – On Jesus, whilst I think he would be the first to bemoan his finishing ability, I think most Arsenal, City and PL fans were well aware of him underperforming his xG before he signed. However, the fact we are playing at such a high level is largely down to his transformation of that front line and his influence on the level of everyone around him through his tireless performances. He seems to be doing everything outside of the finishing – and he is getting obliterated by opposition defenders which refs are more than happy to oblige. He will never be a clinical striker, if he was he would probably still be at City. However, he has only been playing as the main man for two months and if it is a tradeoff for everything else then I will happily take it (especially when Xhaka is taking up the striker role anyway).

The improvement in all our pressing metrics, our distance covered and our higher defensive line – whilst made easier by the technical improvement in the team and the bedding in of our patterns of play – must be taking a toll on this team. The squad has got smaller than last year yet we are playing more games with Europe at a higher intensity. These games, like the PL, have also been packed into a smaller timeframe due to the World Cup. We have been forced to take the Europa group seriously this year with a (relatively) tough group compared to previous years and with the added motivation of whoever tops the group getting to skip a stage in the later stages. Topping the group is also incredibly important with the calibre of teams dropping down such as Ajax, Barcelona, Atletico, Juventus and potentially Spurs.

With regards to running out of steam and regardless of our position in the table, the squad has not magically aged and those brought in are still young and adapting to the Premier League. We’ve brought in two young gems Vieira (22) and Saliba (21) alongside Zinchenko (25) and Jesus (25). Zinchenko is currently injured and it is not as if Jesus was playing twice a week for City and when he was, he was not leading the front line or given the positional freedom he is in our system.

I would say we have about a squad of 13/14 who I would feel somewhat comfortable starting in the league:

Ramsdale, Zinchenko, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Saliba, White, Elneny, Vieira, Odegaard, ESR, Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah.

3 of these players listed above are currently injured – Elneny and ESR won’t be back until at least the New Year and no one has any idea when Zinchenko will be back. This leaves these first-team players who could perform to a desirable ability in Europa:

Lokonga, Holding, Turner, Marquinhos, Nelson (at a stretch).

This is a bare squad and indicates somewhat why we have had to dip into those previously mentioned 13/14 for even those easier Europa games. Again, no one has full-strength depth outside of their first-team bar City and possibly Liverpool (when fit), but it is an important indicator as to why we are seeing this drop off in performance levels from the start of the season.

With that in mind, whilst 6/6 against Leeds and Southampton would’ve been lovely, 4/6 is hardly the end of the world. Maybe it is the end of the world if you are competing with City, but I am not there yet to even come close to considering that realistic, and I think failure against this criteria is almost an unfair benchmark against this incredibly youthful team – but it does show how far we have come. I think this run is important to box off before the World Cup to put us in good shape for the post-World Cup run of tough games we are going to face.

In fairness if you look at how many games we have had in October we’ve done very well considering how thick and fast they have come, and on top of this, we have had no injuries on top of the Egyptian King, ESR and Zinchenko. At the end of the day, we are top in everything we are in, playing well, have improved on results we struggled with last season and the run was never going to last forever. However, we are in a very precarious position with injuries, if we lose one, let alone a couple, we could hit crisis immediately.

Pretty much unchanged in the PL this whole season aside from the LB, it does seem this exact squad has had a lot of the juice squeezed out of it and the World Cup could provide a bit of reflection and rebalancing that the squad needs. Trying not to be reactionary but it does feel as though we are a player short and this should be rectified, but understandably the Arsenal hierarchy is very focused on making sure the right person comes in. We made moves for Douglas Luiz and Raphinha in the summer and there is potentially interest in Tielemans and N’Dicka, so the funds are there if we need them. If we are still performing at this level come next January, whilst playing on four fronts after a heavy World Cup in the Winter, I think the Kroenkes should pull the trigger.

Harry Scott

Over optimistic 24-year-old Gooner eager to see those Hale End lads get us back into the Champions League.
Write about Arsenal as an aspiring writer but more importantly as an attempt to put my drunk ramblings in the pub into something a little bit more coherent…