Arsenal Vs Olympiakos: 5 things we learned – Job done

3. Mikel Arteta made mistakes

This was one of the worst performances under Mikel Arteta. The Arsenal head coach has not made many mistakes in his two months at the club, but his team selection and overall approach here was one.

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It started with using Sokratis at right-back. Even if Arteta did not trust Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Shkodran Mustafi would have been a much more capable selection with Sokratis moving into his better-suited centre-back position. But the primary issues stemmed in the offensive positions.

Joe Willock struggled to link play throughout as the number 10. Dani Ceballos then came on, someone who excels at knitting together position, but Willock remained on the pitch, Gabriel Martinelli withdrawn instead. And then there was the use of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was noticeably distressed at being shunted out to the right flank.

In a 0-0 against Burnley, Arteta attempted to use Martinelli, Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in a front three. It didn’t work. He did the same here and the same imbalances once again cost the team attacking fluency and threat. Arsenal won the game, yes, but the decisions of their manager are worthy of criticism.