Arsenal: We tried one end of the spectrum, now try the other

Unai Emery made a clear decision for Arsenal against Leicester City and it didn’t work. Now it’s time to turn around and try the other side.

To be completely fair to Unai Emery, his personnel choices against Leicester City were spot on. He took the advice of a lot of angry Arsenal fans, myself included, who called out for him to just play his best players. That means Mesut Ozil, that means overhauling the defense, that means the whole shebang.

He did that. He started his two superstar strikers. He started Ozil, he fixed the defensive line and got Hector Bellerin back in there. I don’t know what happened with Kieran Tierney, but Sead Kolasinac did quite well for himself.

It still didn’t work. Emery turned to his superstars and it failed to inspire a victory. Or even a draw. Instead, it was more of the same.

Maybe he wants to give this collection another try, or see if they can sort their stuff out if he keeps the faith, but the next logical step would be to turn around and try the complete other end of the spectrum.

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Start the kids.

And I don’t mean all the kids, but the ones that have been so inspirational in midweek matches, and even in some Premier League fixtures. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are the most deserving, but Reiss Nelson is going to be hungry for a way back in and Joe Willock has to be ready to prove himself again after struggling in recent fixtures.

Put them in. Hold no prisoners, take out whoever the hell you feel like, and let the young future of this club try to pull the collective out of the dumps.

The thing about kids is, they don’t get sullied by the politics of the club. They’re in it for love of the game and they are begging for the chance to prove themselves. If effort levels aren’t where Emery wants them to be from his senior players, then put in the kids.

That said, while shifting the spectrum may be a nice thing for the attack, we are in the only side of the spectrum on the defense, and that should absolutely no be changed. The defenders he put out there at King Power are our best defenders. Well, mostly.

Try new things. That’s the most we can ask for if the board isn’t going to take action.