Arsenal Lost Again! 0 - 2 Against Chelsea!

Well that went just about as we should have it expected it would. Arsenal fell 2-0 to Chelsea at the Emirates. It’s the first time in club history that Arsenal have lost both matches to open the season without scoring a goal. 

It’s going great at Arsenal football club. Do we really think they should be getting results right now? 

The performances to open the season have been pretty poor. There’s no two ways about that. But let’s also acknowledge the context and understand that there is reason to believe this isn’t how it’s going to be. This club needs that international break to reset. Badly.

Arsenal had decent spells of possession and some promising attacking moves. Sambi Lokonga was spreading the ball around nicely and looks a real talent on the ball. But too often, those good passes and attacking moves didn’t turn into chances. Kieran Tierney’s crossing wasn’t as good as it usually is. Bukayo Saka had some uncharacteristically loose touches and was a bit off today (he’s probably knackered and needs a break that he may not get because of all the absences). Neither Gabriel Martinelli nor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got much service or did anything of note.

That’s still a big, big issue. Arsenal need to generate more goal threat if they’re going to do anything this season. Hopefully Martin Odegaard helps with that. I’d wager having either one of the first choice strikers anywhere close to full fitness will too.

One place the Gunner could improve is on corners. They had nine today, and I think they got on the end of one of them. Granted they created an excellent chance on that one connection that Rob Holding really has to put away, but more chances from set pieces would be nice.

Arsenal probably also should have had a penalty today — Bukayo Saka was pretty clearly tripped by Reece James on one of those “tangle of legs” plays that David Luiz seemed to always get whistled for. Maybe things play out a little differently if it’s just 2-1 at the half, but the refereeing, while pretty inconsistent today, wasn’t the difference-maker. That said, two things can be simultaneously true: Arsenal can be bad and get no help from the calls.

The defense, which was so solid last season, suddenly look as if they don’t have a clue what they’re supposed to be doing. For all the good things he did on the ball, Sambi looks lost when Arsenal are out of possession. He’s late to react to runners, and he doesn’t seem to have a solid grasp of where he’s meant to be. That’ll come, I hope — he’s young and needs to adjust. 

Emile Smith Rowe has been brilliant to start the season. He keeps getting close to scoring; one of them is going in soon. Sambi has been a revelation on the ball. He’s progressive and accurate with his passes. The 40-yarder he hit to Kieran Tierney on the dead run in the first half was gorgeous. Bernd Leno played well today too, which was a nice change. He made one incredible save in the second half on Lukaku, a strong one on Havertz, and had two good punches on corners, which he doesn’t normally do.