In the match against Fulham in round 3 of the Premier League, despite playing at home at Emirates, the "Gunners" lost in the first minute when Andreas Pereira kicked the ball. Previously, in the matches against Bournemouth and Southampton in the second leg last season, Mikel Arteta and his team also fell into a similar situation. The Gunners became the first team in Premier League history to take a 3-man lead in the first minute of a calendar year. Looking at the big picture, Arsenal have only kept a clean sheet in 4/21 of their most recent home matches since the beginning of the 2022-2023 season.
In these quick goals, Arsenal just need to focus to avoid disaster. However, the disease lost focus from the first seconds, causing the "Gunners" to repeatedly fall into a very tiring chase situation. In the match against Bournemouth, Arsenal only needed to put more pressure on the opponent's cross. As for the games against Southampton and Fulham, as long as they did not miss, things would not have gone as badly.
Mikel Arteta did not criticize his students for their mistakes and said that was part of football. However, the frequency of such situations is an alarm bell for Arsenal. They don't always come back to the line successfully and they are not happy to let themselves fall into the chase right from the first minute like that.
In the last 3 matches of the "Gunners", Arteta has played a defensive system in the same 3/4 position, except for the left-back. Thomas Partey took over on the right wing, Ben White and William Saliba played as a central defender pair, pushing Gabriel up to the bench. The midfield trio is kept the same with Declan Rice in the middle, Kai Havertz on the left and Martin Odegaard on the opposite wing.
This style of play is a bit problematic as White often pushed up as usual and sometimes took up Bukayo Saka's space. Meanwhile, Partey "smells" like to wrap around the middle of the game like a defensive midfielder and step on Rice. For that reason, as long as Fulham are accurate in their passes in midfield, they can easily tear up the "Gunners'" defensive system.
Arteta wants the team to be more flexible and unpredictable, but when he can't get ahead, he is often confused if some players run around the wrong place like White or Partey.
"We have played 3 matches against 3 completely different opponents, before that was the English Super Cup match against Manchester City. Arsenal have adapted and have many good opportunities. There were times when the team had to play with one less player, so it was very difficult to immediately have a smooth operation" - Arteta shared.
