The Gunners need a good result at Stamford Bridge if they want to prevent that feeling of uncertainty from becoming something more worrying.
The uncertainty around Arsenal grows. Wednesday’s defeat by 1-0 against Inter It is not a severe blow to his hopes in the UEFA Champions Leaguebut it does make a top-eight finish and the automatic qualification that comes with it more dubious.
It is the end of a difficult week in which doubts arose unexpectedly off the field with the abrupt departure of the sports director Edu Gaspar and questions are growing about whether they will be able to continue in the race for the title of the Premier League after falling seven points behind the leader, the Liverpool. All three situations are salvageable and resolvable, but the Gunners have been an example of stability and sustained progress for more than two years. This runs the risk of feeling different.
Things haven’t been going well for them lately. Injuries have interrupted his rhythm and the coach Mikel Arteta was visibly frustrated with the refereeing at San Siro after a penalty was denied to Mikel Merino in the area before conceding one in the other. With 28 minutes on the clock, Merino appeared to have been knocked down by the goalkeeper Yann Sommerbut he OUR he must have detected the slightest touch on the ball and a corner kick was awarded.
On the stroke of half-time, Merino handled the ball in the box in one of those unfortunate incidents where the ball hits his hand in what, according to the interpretation of the rules of this competition, is considered an unnatural position, although at the same time At the same time it is difficult to see what else he could have done. Arteta could not hide his frustration.
“I do not understand the decision of the [penal]” he said. “There is no danger. You can’t react because the ball is very close. But anyway, they decide that it is criminal.
“But if that is criminal, then the Mikel Merino where he punches him in the head it has to be 1000% criminal. These are the margins in this game and it is very difficult to accept.
“They told us at the beginning of the season that it wasn’t a penalty. That was clear. Today, it was a different story.”
Hakan Çalhanoglu He converted his penalty and Inter had an advantage to defend. And they defended, as Inter only had one shot in the second half as Arsenal dominated possession and looked for an equaliser.
They threatened more than in the defeat against Newcastle United last weekend, but set pieces were their main weapon until a late attack took the total number of crosses into the box to 46, with no one fit to take advantage of them. It all felt a little predictable.
“The concern is the result and that in both areas we did not do what we have to do,” Arteta said. “And then we didn’t do it, someone else didn’t do it. For sure this is the way I want to see my team.
“Of all the great games we have played in Europe, this is by far the best we have played in recent years.”
That last line stretches the credibility of a coach defending his players a bit, but it is a further sign that Arteta believes there is nothing fundamentally wrong, but rather another case where luck and small margins worked against him.
However, there are too many players who are currently underperforming. In view of Inter It was another night when Leandro Trossard took a step back, Gabriel Martinelli looked dull and Kai Havertz He looked more like the lost player in the Chelsea than the one found by Arsenal. The repeated criticism that Arsenal should have done more to strengthen their attacking options in the summer transfer market will be louder after this.
Much depends on Martin Ødegaard to restore the edge to your game. Ødegaard made his long-awaited return from an ankle injury that had kept him out of the Gunners since August 31 in injury time, but by then it was too late to really influence anything with Inter entrenched in their own area.
The captain of Arsenal He is a sublime player, capable of connecting a faltering team, but it is too much to ask that he do so immediately after almost two months of absence. He could well have come on against Inter just because Havertz He had to leave the field after a clash of heads that ended in stitches. And so, the Arsenal He was defeated, beaten and with his head bowed.
Arteta He insisted that things will soon change. “If we play like today, we have a good chance to win against the Chelsea“, said.
“I told them I’m proud of them. I haven’t seen them play in Europe the way they did today. And we’re very disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted out of the game, that’s for sure.”
It is now three defeats in six games, which includes two in a row for the Gunners. They need a good result at Stamford Bridge if they want to prevent that feeling of uncertainty from turning into something more worrying.