Arsenal: “Glimpse into the future” not nearly through clear lens

Arsenal’s hour without Mesut Ozil against Watford was supposedly a “glimpse into the future” but that is tragically missing the point.

Many are calling Arsenal’s first sixty minutes against Watford a “glimpse into the future.” Since Alexis Sachez was not even in the squad and Mesut Ozil came on in the 60th, it was supposed to be the grand fortune-telling of what the Gunners will look like when the two superstars depart, whenever that might be.

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I find this to be incredibly inaccurate. Mostly because of who was missing.

For starters, Arsene Wenger does not often – or ever, rather – turn to two holding midfielders like Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny and we saw why against Watford. There is no push. Not pivot. They slow everything down.

Aaron Ramsey or – God-willing – Jack Wilshere will be paired with one of those two at all times. Unfortunately, due to Ramsey’s injury and Wenger’s mind games with Wilshere, neither was available and we were left with two holding midfielders.

It left Alex Iwobi to reinvent his role and become his own pivot, which was hardly a desirable outcome, given how little attack we mustered.

Not just that, but, depending on how far in the “future” this glimpse is, there are some other things to take into account. If you’re talking post-January sales of Ozil and Alexis, then sure, this might be a pretty accurate representation, but I think you also have to factor in the presence of someone like Reiss Nelson as well as the aforementioned pivot midfielder.

And seriously, it wasn’t that bad – that first hour. Arsenal was defensively stoic against an upstart Watford side. Every bit of attack that they lacked was made up for by rock solid defense that left our goal completely un-threatened.

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Plus, don’t forget, before Ozil, the “future” we all saw, it was 1-0.

If you’re talking about future as in 2018/19 season, then you have to take into account summer moves, like the one of Thomas Lemar that we all know is going to happen. Not to mention the potential for someone like Leon Goretzka.

It’s unfair to say that this is the future that Arsenal are headed towards without Ozil and Alexis and it undermines the positives that the club did show in the process.

By all means, bemoan the loss, because it showed a spiritless side that was beyond frustrating, but to say that these kind of results are what await us in the future? Not a chance. We may have an incompetent board and a manager struggling with modernizing, but we aren’t that far from the competition, except maybe Manchester City.

Next: Arsenal vs Watford Player Ratings

The loss sucks massively, but let’s not get carried away.