Arsenal: Personnel part of instable defence problem

Arsenal’s defence needs help. Unai Emery is failing his team, the midfield does not provide protection, and Bernd Leno is left stranded. But the defenders themselves must also take responsibility for their problems.

I want to take you back to the seventh minute versus Southampton. Calum Chambers fouled Nathan Redmond. Sokratis, who was marking Danny Ings, Hector Bellerin, who was marking (rather poorly) Ryan Bertrand, David Luiz, who was the last line of defence, and Chambers, he who committed the foul, all stopped moving and turned towards the referee in the same pose.

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Each and every one of them held their arms out, feet rooted, yelling their displeasure at the decision. They looked for all the world like a quartet of hatstands, and they universally turned their backs to the ball and the Southampton players. They were still standing like that when a wide-open Ryan Bertrand put a wide-open Danny Ings through on goal, leaving a helpless Bernd Leno to fling himself at the ball in a futile attempt to prevent a clear goal.

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That is not a coaching issue. Unai Emery did not pick the wrong players for the day, nor the wrong formation. He is not on the pitch, he is not the one who must re-set the defensive shape after each and every stoppage of play. No coach is. It is a pure defensive lapse.

Contrast the defender’s behaviour here to that of Lucas Torreira. He was the third closest to the ball when the foul happened. Immediately, he saw the unmarked Ings in behind the defence. He yelled loud enough to wake Calum Chambers into action, then scampered back to cover two unmarked men in the box in case Ings were to play the ball square. Torreira showed the defensive instincts that you would expect from natural defenders. This was just one terrible moment, but it points to a larger-scale problem that has persisted throughout the season — and beyond.

Bernd Leno leads the Premier League with 53 saves. That may sound positive, but it isn’t. Similarly, in their last five matches, Arsenal have conceded 82 shots and 29 on target. Liverpool’s two goalkeepers have had to save 26 shots all season. The Gunners are conceding shots at an unsustainable rate, one that illustrates the incompetence of the defenders that Emery is forced to use.

Reading through the names is enough to prove this point. Sokratis? Old, lost a step, and is an increasing liability on possession. Luiz? Also old, painfully inconsistent, and always looks on the edge of disaster. Rob Holding? Still recovering from ACL surgery. Chambers? Talented, has honestly looked like Arsenal’s best defender this year, but is still very inconsistent. Dinos Mavropanos? Should be sold because he’s too injury prone to ever have a shot at the first team and has disappointed when he has been given one.

Kieran Tierney is the one bright spot, but he gives away soft fouls sometimes, while Bellerin, like Holding, is also struggling to find his feet following his ACL rehabilitation. At 24 and entering his prime, his performances should not be so detrimental, though patience is required as he rediscovers his match sharpness.

Emery has not helped the situation. He should not be absolved of blame here. But Arsenal’s defenders simply are not good enough, and no 19-year-old Frenchman is going to change that.