Arsenal’s winger crisis: Are there any alternatives?

Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat against Manchester City for the season opener showed fans that they are still a club under much upheaval. Reflective of these is Arsenal’s weaknesses in wide positions.

One of Arsenal’s weaknesses that was painfully clear during the 90 minutes against Manchester City a week ago was the lack of width, both in attack and defense. They were a team that seemed non-threatening in City’s third for all 90 minutes, which was aptly reflected in the 2-0 scoreline. And at the other end, the picture wasn’t much brighter.

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From a viewer’s perspective, the majority of City’s chances came from either bypassing the initial midfield press of Aaron Ramsey, Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka (before the introduction of Lucas Torreira) and mistakes from playing out from the back, mainly due to the implantation of the new coach’s system.

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However, my main issue comes from Arsenal’s inability to manipulate space in wider areas due to a lack of personnel. £50 million budget or not, one of the areas that Unai Emery has yet to address is a winger, specifically on the right — while it may not be his most favourable, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still effective in the left-wing spot.

In contrast, it was City’s wingers, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling, that caused all of the problems, with the latter getting on the scoresheet. Perhaps it was here that Emery set up the team wrong, seeing that Alexandre Lacazette looked more to make space for himself rather than relying on pace and long balls over-the-top.

Furthermore, despite being great footballers, both Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan proved to be ineffective in Emery’s new system of pressing and counter-attack, something I’m not going to critique since it is relatively new for them. However, for Mkhitaryan, who has played under similar pressing systems at Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to adjust.

Emery has to find the correct balance of defence and attack in this team. On the right, Hector Bellerin keeps getting caught too far high without any cover (or any real attacking output), and even though one of the centre-halves should perhaps compensate for this, both Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi lack the awareness to do so.

One of the players Emery could turn to to fill the void at right wing is Reiss Nelson, who had a decent preseason. One thing that the youngster has over the likes of Ozil (who should really be playing in a centralised, number 10 role) is the pace to track back and cover for Bellerin. Although he will definitely be starting in the domestic cup and Europa League games, does he have the capability to secure a starting role in the Premier League?

Another player that Emery might look towards is Alex Iwobi, as he did on the left wing against Chelsea on Saturday to decent effect. The Nigerian had a lacklustre World Cup, losing out to Argentina, getting knocked out in the group stages, and being dropped from the team. But after a good performance against Chelsea in midfield, Iwobi could potentially deputize in a wide role instead of Ozil.

Arsenal are definitely a team in transition. Despite this, they have been progressing, slowly ironing the creases of an old shirt. Let’s just hope they iron quick enough because this crease could be critical.