Arsenal: England prove Gunners’ destitute width

Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling carved through Croatia for England on Sunday afternoon. As I was watching, I could not help but reflect poorly on Arsenal’s wide players as a result of their performances.

As England carved through Croatia for the umpteenth time on Sunday afternoon, darting through exposed ranks of muddled defenders, it was clear how Gareth Southgate had built the key attacking threat of a surprisingly creative, cutting strikeforce: speed and directness out-wide.

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In Marcus Rashford, an adapted striker who has the skill set to play on the wing, even if it is not his most natural position, and Raheem Sterling, England boasted two terrifyingly quick wingers with the intention, purpose and instruction to be direct, with and without the ball.

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England were excellent and should have won the match far more comfortably than the 2-1 manner in which they did. And in large part, it was the threat out wide, through the speed of Sterling and Rashford, fed by a controlling, orchestrating midfield with accurate, progressive distribution, that cut open Croatia time and time again. It came from the style and skill set of the two wingers.

Contrast that to the wide options that Unai Emery currently has available to him at Arsenal. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Only the latter has any resemblance to the skill set of Rashford and Sterling and, even then, he is far clumsier on the ball with loose touches and inconsistent dribbling than either Sterling or Rashford.

And it is even more damning when you consider that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez have all departed in the past 18 months, and that Reiss Nelson is currently performing very well in the Bundesliga, averaging a goal every 51 minutes, on loan at Hoffenheim. This is a squad that used to have these type of wingers. But they lost them.

Admittedly, Chamberlain had to be sold because his contract was set to expire. Sanchez too. And Walcott had proven himself lacking in the necessary quality at the top level. Their departures are not the issue. The issues stem from the inability to replace them with similar players: Mkhitaryan is largely different from Sanchez; Aubameyang is a striker, not a winger; Iwobi is best from a central role.

The lack of proper and productive width in the Arsenal squad is extremely concerning. Of the attacking developments under Emery so far this season, it is certainly the most worrying. And it is probably the biggest area of need for investment in the future.

Width is key to football. It always has been. It always will be. And Arsenal are destitute.