Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Eintracht Frankfurt: 5 things we learned – Hello, Bukayo Saka

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal runs with the ball away from Kyle John of Everton during the Premier League 2 match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on August 23, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Harriet Lander/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal runs with the ball away from Kyle John of Everton during the Premier League 2 match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on August 23, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Harriet Lander/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Unai Emery
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – MAY 28: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal gives his team instructions during an Arsenal training session on the eve of the UEFA Europa League Final against Chelsea at Baku Olimpiya Stadion on May 28, 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

2. Defensive problems are structural

Surprisingly for a team that has made more individual errors that have caused goals than any team in the Premier League since the start of last season, conceded penalties in their last three games, all to stupid challenges, and fielded Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz, Sead Kolasinac and Granit Xhaka in the same team, Arsenal’s defensive problems, on this occasion, were not as a result of individual errors or poor individual performances. Rather, they were structural.

Put simply, there was far too much space between each rank: the front three was too far ahead of the central midfield three, which was too far ahead of the back four. That meant that rather than the team being compact from front to back, perhaps spread by only 30 yards, they were spread throughout the pitch, with Frankfurt finding it extremely easy to play through the lines.

This is a Unai Emery problem. He is the head coach. A key part of his job is to organise the team. There is an individual element to this, of course, but the team was extremely poorly organised. Frankfurt had 24 shots, forced Emiliano Martinez into seven saves, some of which were truly outstanding, and had an expected-goals of 1.6 per Opta. Arsenal did not defend well, and that was because they were poorly structured.