Arsenal Vs Aston Villa: 5 Things We Learned

3 of 6

4. Arsenal need Alexis

I honestly do count this as a lesson learned. Arsenal has been doing perfectly fine since the Chilean got hurt. They may not be excelling, but they are pulling out results. Guys like Campbell and Walcott have been stepping in to bridge the gap that the Chilean left. And it is a huge testament to the team to even be saying that after three matches without him, we are finally hurting for him.

The Aston Villa match just had the feel of a game that could have been dominated by Alexis. Aaron Ramsey picked up a lot of the slack to drive the team and Mesut Ozil was dominant again, but Arsenal did not have any real consistent threat from the wings. Walcott’s contributions came and went and Campbell was not effective. Suddenly we were reminded that Alexis will be back soon.

Having Alexis on the pitch adds a whole new angle for the attack. Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud- they pierce from the middle. They attack head on. Alexis comes from the sides. We saw very little effective attacks coming in from the sides. Alexis would have made that difference.

Onward to the man that would normally sit behind Alexis Sanchez.

Next: 3. Look at Nacho Monreal