Arsenal Vs Brighton: The winger necessity only deepens

Arsenal dropped two precious points to Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day. Once again, their absence of wingers was the critical flaw. The necessity for investment at the position deepens.

It was half-time. Arsenal, after dominating the opening exchanges, scoring once and missing a string of other opportunities, had slipped into a state of complacency, lost control of the match, especially in defence, and had conceded a criminally loose goal. Unai Emery wanted to change things.

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And so he did. He introduced Alex Iwobi for Mesut Ozil. 15 minutes later, Aaron Ramsey was brought on for Alexandre Lacazette. And then, 10 minutes after that, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, perhaps in a pre-planned substitution, was introduced for Laurent Koscielny and the team shifted to a back three.

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None of these changes worked. Arsenal’s creativity, threat and performance level only decreased as the match progressed. Arsenal dropped two points in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion. This was an ugly match for Emery and his in-game management, which has been excellent for much of the season. Emery’s substitutions have been widely criticised in the aftermath of the draw. But there should be a rather large caveat attached to any questioning of Emery’s decisions.

In reality, what else did people want him to do? With Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Danny Welbeck on the sidelines, the options were limited. That does not excuse his changes. I did not like them at the time. I do not like them with the benefit of hindsight. But it is clear that the problem of Emery’s in-game management is not actually the decisions that he is making. Rather, it is the tools that he is working with, specifically, the lack of true width in the squad.

So far this season, Mkhitaryan and Iwobi have predominantly tended to the wide positions. They are capable of playing those positions, but neither are natural wingers. They both want to be regularly involved with play. They both want to start from central positions, not out wide. They both lack the true pace of a winger, but have enough to speed to patrol the flank to an extent.

What has been noticeable throughout the season when Arsenal attack is the lack of space that they have to work in. This comes from an absence of speed and width. Liverpool, for instance, have Mohamed Salah and Saido Mane. Their very presence stretches the pitch, providing space for Roberto Firmino. Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling do the same for David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne at Manchester City.

The Gunners don’t have any players of that ilk. They do not have a dribbler, a goal threat from wide, a speedy weapon to use on the counter-attack, a terrifying attacker to create chances, engineer space and strike fear into opposing defences. It was painfully noticeable as Emery tried to change his team and chase the game on Wednesday. It has been painfully noticeable all year. And it is not Emery’s fault.

Investment, therefore, is a necessity. That much is absolutely certain. Arsenal need a winger, and that need is only deepening.