Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Olympiakos: 5 things we learned – Job done

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
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PIRAEUS, GREECE – FEBRUARY 20: Mattéo Guendouzi of Arsenal FC and Guilherme of Olympiacos FC during the UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg match between Olympiacos FC and Arsenal FC at Karaiskakis Stadium on February 20, 2020 in Piraeus, Greece. (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images)
PIRAEUS, GREECE – FEBRUARY 20: Mattéo Guendouzi of Arsenal FC and Guilherme of Olympiacos FC during the UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg match between Olympiacos FC and Arsenal FC at Karaiskakis Stadium on February 20, 2020 in Piraeus, Greece. (Photo by MB Media/Getty Images) /

4. Movement off the ball

A quick scroll down Twitter is all that is needed to view the greatest frustration of Arsenal fans after the match. Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock and others have come under fire for the lack of progression of their passing, choosing conservative options instead of pushing the ball forwards and into more advanced areas of the pitch.

While these players must take their share of the responsibility, there is also a wider problem that should be acknowledged: the movement off the ball was non-existent, the speed of the overall play was far too slow, and there were very limited options to play forwards into, thus forcing the backwards, sideways and overall conservative passing.

Guendouzi and Xhaka controlled the game quite nicely in midfield, especially for much of the first half and in parts of the second, but they lacked purpose in their passing because there were limited opportunities to play with such. Arsenal played backwards too often, but the cause of it is far deeper than just the players playing the passes.