Arsenal vs Southampton Review

Southampton 3-2 Arsenal 

Arsenal's defensive crisis took its toll at St Mary's on Sunday, as the 22 game unbeaten run came to an end.

A makeshift back 3 of Stephan Lichsteiner, Granit Xhaka, and returning captain Laurent Koscielny, who played his first Premier League game since April was always going to be a weakness for the Gunners. 

A first home league win of the season lifts Southampton out of the bottom three and Hasenhuttl, replacement to Mark Hughes, celebrated wildly on the pitch with his players at full-time.

Laurent Koscielny made his first Premier League start for seven months after his injury nightmare suffered against Atletico Madrid as Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette were left on the bench. Danny Ings returned from a hamstring injury in one of two changes for Southampton.

Ings had twice put the Saints ahead (20, 44) on his return from injury but they were pegged back by two Henrik Mkhitaryan goals (28, 53).

With the game locked at 2-2, both teams had chances to win it, but substitute Austin , who replaced Ings, headed home for his fifth goal against the Gunners after Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno misjudged a high cross, in what has been the German’s worst game of the season

Arsenal have still yet to be in front at half-time this season and once again their sharpness early on could be questioned. 

Unai Emery sent on Alexandre Lacazette in place of the injured Hector Bellerin at half-time and switched to a back four. The changes sparked an almost instant response.

Oriol Romeu dallied in possession, which allowed Mkhitaryan to strike from the edge of the box, via a deflection off Jann Vestergaard and into the net.

Shane Long provided Saints with an extra edge when coming off the bench and he had a goal disallowed for offside, with 15 minutes remaining after Maya Yoshida's header was saved brilliantly by Leno. Initially a let off for Arsenal, who 10 minutes later were made to pay for their poor display. 

Hector Bellerin, who according to manager Unai Emery, suffered an injury which will keep him out for “some weeks” adds insult to injury, as Arsenal’s defensive crisis worsens by the week, and news emerged today that young centre back Rob Holding looks to be out for 9 months. 

Arsenal have a few options of how they could soften this crisis. Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis, whilst suspended for the trip to St Mary’s are susceptible to injury as we have seen before this season.  

One option is to look to the January transfer market for a couple of defenders, although targets may be hard to come by in the mid-season.

Arsenal aren’t short of options, and a renowned academy and sense of pride in their youth options could look to youngsters Konstantinos Mavropanos who is set to return from injury later this month and Zech Medley, a youngster who made his debut in the Europa League this season. 

Or maybe Arsenal may trigger their recall option in Calum Chambers loan deal. The English centre back on loan at Fulham, has 83 Arsenal appearances and certainly could add some stability to a diminishing Arsenal defence. This option is however, unfavourable. With the return of Koscielny, Mustafi and Sokratis all imminent, and youngsters Medley and Mavropanos, first team appearances may be limited for Chambers, and his development may be better suited to the Fulham first team. 

Ainsley Maitland-Niles also returned to the Arsenal Premier League first team, following his broken leg on the first game of the season. Maitland-Niles looks set to be Bellerin’s replacement, but again, Arsenal may have to look to spend in January to replenish their squad. 

Albeit with weak defensive options, Emery got his tactics and gameplan wrong. A 4 at the back defence may have been a better option, and with Granit Xhaka, who filled in at left back earlier this season, may have been best placed in that role, rather than at centre back. Alex Iwobi had an ineffectual game, and Arsenal may have been better suited to having Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang play together up top. 

Player Ratings

Leno – 5 – The German keeper didn’t have the greatest game against the Saints yesterday. Was very poor and was certainly at fault, having made a horrible mistake to cost Arsenal the third goal.

Bellerin – 5 – The Spanish RB made a few good runs down the right in the first half but was taken off at half time due to an injury. Bellerin didn’t have enough time to have a proper impact on the game. 

Lichtsteiner – 4 – Lichtsteiner didn’t look comfortable at all playing CB. Was very tight in the defence at some points of the match, Lichtsteiner’s lack of pace cost Arsenal in this game. Was taken off due to a knock in the second half.

Koscielny – 4 – The 33-year-old CB was at fault for the first two goals and had a poor game. To be fair Laurent, it was his first 90 minutes since April

Xhaka – 5 – Xhaka played the role as a CB against Southampton, which is not his usual position. He did okay but this cannot be a long-term solution to the injury list.

Monreal – 6 – The Spaniard had a good spell in the first half and assisted the first goal with an outstanding cross to Mkhitaryan. Overall, Nacho had a decent game but wasn’t really noticed.

Torreira – 7 – Lucas Torreira had a good game again today. He made driving runs from the midfield and constantly put himself on the line, making important interceptions and it was clear he wanted to win the game.

Guendouzi – 4 – The 19-year-old Frenchman wasn’t very good in this game. Not good at all. He was caught out of position many times and needs to do better considering the expectations of Arsenal fans, having already displayed his qualities so far this season.

Iwobi – 4 – Iwobi tried against the Saints but nothing was working for the young Nigerian and was almost invincible on the pitch. 

Mkhitaryan – 5 – The Armenian scored both of Arsenal’s goals against Southampton. The first goal was a well-executed header past Alex McCarthy and the second took deflections to help it disrupt the keeper.

Aubameyang – 4 – The Gabonese forward was poor against Southampton. He should’ve been on the score sheet at least once. He was denied by McCarthy a few times from close range but should be scoring.

Lacazette (Sub) – 6 – The Frenchman came on at half time and provided an assist for the second goal. If we started both Lacazette and Aubameyang the game may have had a different result.

Ozil (Sub) – 3 – Ozil was awful when he came on. He was doing dummies at the centre circle which isn’t acceptable when your being brought on to win the game. He was at fault for the third goal, giving it away at the start of the Southampton attack

Maitland-Niles (Sub) – N/A – Niles wasn’t on the pitch long enough to have any real influence on the game, and a rating cannot be warranted.

Emery – 4 – Poor team selection from Unai today. Shouldn’t have played Xhaka at CB and may have been better placed at the left-back role he performed well in earlier in the season. Lacazette and Aubameyang should both be starting together, and their connection and ability has previously been demonstrated during the early stages of the season.