Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Vitoria SC: 5 things we learned – Absolute shambles

By Andrew Dowdeswell

GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL - NOVEMBER 06: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal gives his team instructions during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL - NOVEMBER 06: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal gives his team instructions during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images) /
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GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL – NOVEMBER 06: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL – NOVEMBER 06: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images) /

On Wednesday afternoon, Arsenal travelled to Vitoria SC for their fourth Europa League group-stage game. Here are five things we learned from the 1-1 draw.

Arsenal continue to dumbfound their fans as to just how deep their despair can be driven. This time, it was a drab and dreary 1-1 draw with Vitoria SC. This was the Portuguese side’s first point in the Europa League this season. The Gunners had just seven shots, four of which were from set-pieces. They scored one goal, again thanks to a centre-back, and still managed to throw away the victory in the final minutes.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Unai Emery out, again

Here are five things we learned from yet another miserable night.

GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL – NOVEMBER 06: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal gives his team instructions during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
GUIMARAES, PORTUGAL – NOVEMBER 06: Unai Emery, Manager of Arsenal gives his team instructions during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Vitoria Guimaraes and Arsenal FC at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques on November 06, 2019 in Guimaraes, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images) /

5. One man to blame

This was a terrible performance. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it was the worst of the season thus far. And while I never like completely absolving players of blame for their individual displays, on this occasion, I am more than happy to, because that is quite clearly what is happening.

Unai Emery switched to a 3-4-3. That was not the problem. The problem came in its implementation and execution. While looking to use this different system, he did not lean into its strengths — the numerical advantage in the wide channels, the counter-attacking capabilities — and instead played in the same manner that he instils with a 4-3-3. Obviously, it failed, laughably.

Players were asked to do things they could not do, the team was utterly unbalanced, both in and out of possession, they had no foothold in the first half and no creativity in the second, and so, obviously, very few individuals played well. This is a horribly coached team. It is not a surprise that players are playing poorly, and there is only one man to blame.