On Tuesday night, Arsenal suffered a shocking loss away from home after failing to build on their commanding performance in the Champions League opener.
Instead, Mikel Arteta witnessed his team whimper to a humiliating 2-1 loss against RC Lens in front of a hostile French crowd.
What went wrong when RC Lens hosted Arsenal?
Despite the Gunners gaining the lead, a run of missed opportunities gave their hosts a chance to tie the game in a contest that ultimately came down to each team’s individual ability to score goals.
As a result, they scored twice either side of halftime to take the lead, and despite having 67% of the ball and launching 11 efforts at goal, the north London team was unable to respond.
The injury to Bukayo Saka, who had been questionable for the previous several games but was still present, further soured the contest. The England international was removed from last night’s game after helping to score the game’s first goal because it proved to be too much.
after 34 minutes.
Thus instigated Arteta’s big issue, as his replacement, Fabio Vieira, narrowed their formation aggressively. Both he and Leandro Trossard were desperate to come to feet for possession rather than spin in behind and stretch the stubborn hosts, and as such once he was brought on, their attack was largely blunted.
However, this was hardly aided by the disasterclass suffered by the usually-magical Belgian wizard.
How did Leandro Trossard play vs RC Lens?
Starting on the left flank, it was a decidedly anonymous display from the former Brighton and Hove Albion man, who many expected and hoped would start, to replicate his Champions League form from their PSV Eindhoven clash.
Having scored and assisted in that emphatic 4-0 win, the 28-year-old could not have posted a more differing display last night, with his lack of influence emphasised due to the fact that even goalkeeper David Raya enjoyed more touches of the ball (32 v 52).
Trossard had a miserable night, but it wasn’t the only reason; he continued to be wasteful with the few things he did have.
Although Arsenal’s performance was far from stellar, the £27 million trickster had a chance to end the game with a decisive goal that he missed. In the penalty area, the winger collected the ball from Kai Havertz and hopped back onto his right foot before firing a feeble shot at Brice Samba. The £90k per week loser would then go on to lose seven out of the eight duels he engaged in, demonstrating a lack of physicality to match such a terrible night.
Furthermore highlighting this disappointment, the comments of journalist Dan Kilpatrick, who penned the
After that, author Phil Costa would try to explain the aforementioned narrowness problem, implying that should it persist, it might be concerning for him and Arteta: Our offensive gaps were too wide, and now that Trossard and Vieira are wide and both want the ball in their feet, I worry about our ability to extend the game.
Although it seems unlikely that their entire Champions League campaign will be halted, the Spanish strategist will need to identify the root of the problem and fix it right now. He may afford a few slip-ups now, but a tactical and technical bombshell later in the competition cannot be tolerated if he is serious about contending for elite honors.
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