Arsenal: 4 talking points from 1-0 Tottenham defeat

As far as preparations go, losing to Chelsea and then Tottenham in back-to-back fixtures ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser on Friday is near enough as bad as it can get. Throw in the injury to Thomas Partey and the situation becomes increasingly dire.

Mikel Arteta opted to field a side that looks certain to be starting against Brentford in a few short days. Albert Sambi Lokonga partnered Granit Xhaka in midfield and there was a first start for Ben White in the heart of defene, with perhaps the only alteration ahead of the trip to west London being the inclusion of Calum Chambers in Hector Bellerin’s stead.

Aside from those playing, there were absences for Rob Holding, Joe Willock and Willian from the matchday squad.

The manager insisted Holding wasn’t fit to feature but offered the strongest indication yet that Willock’s time at Arsenal is drawing to an end. Stating that he will ‘explain the reasons when we can’ was about as clear as he could be about a transfer nearing being finalised without outright saying it.

Arsenal: 4 talking points from 1-0 Tottenham defeat as Mikel Arteta oversees pre-season loss ahead of Premier League opener against Brentford

As for Willian, he simply didn’t make the squad. There is nothing brewing at the minute to suggest that he will also be leaving this window.

In regards to the match itself, having settled after a nervy opening ten minutes when the high press looked uncertain, Arsenal gained control of proceedings until the half-time whistle. Dele Alli spurned the best chance for the hosts while Alexandre Lacazette struck the post with an effort from distance.

Arteta cited the substitutions for an unorganised second period, but the issues of control where there before any changes were made.

The average second half showing was compounded with ten minutes left to play when some poor defending from Mohamed Elneny and particularly Pablo Mari ended up with Heung-min Son firing past Bernd Leno from close range.

Another defeat and more concern. Here are the talking points.

1. Same Old Arsenal

Having territory and possession of the ball in the final third is good. It’s very good. That’s the area the ball needs to be before you can score goals, therefore seeing it in that zone is supposed to be the start of what is believed to be chance creation.

When no such opportunities are forthcoming, nobody should be surprised. After all, looking at the Arsenal forward line and seeing the exact same personnel who lacked the creative bite last season do so again this time around is precisely what you’d expect.

Turning domination into goals, or at least presentable situations to score, was what hindered Arsenal last season. The story was the same most weeks, with domination in advanced areas ruined by a lack of creativity and foolish errors in their own third.

Fast forward to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it was rinse and repeat.

With no signs of these glaring issues being rectified on the training pitch or in the transfer market, the caveat of it ‘being pre-season’ becomes null and void. These are the same players going through the same patterns producing the same results.

Worry can only be bottled up for so long.

2. Pablo Mari Struggles With High Line

Now it’s unfair to state that Pablo Mari is incapable of playing in a high press system with a higher line since it’s only really been two games in which he’s tried to manage with the approach, but having seen him falter against Chelsea and once again against Spurs, there are a few alarm bells.

Gabriel was one half of a transfer move to facilitate this switch, with White the other. With the Brazilian out injured the next in line is his teammate who does not appear capable of meeting the requirements of the role.

This isn’t time to suddenly berate Mari and forget all of the positive displays he’s had. No revisionism. He was long being selected ahead of Gabriel by both Arteta and supporters last term.

What can be deduced from the previous two matches is his lack of pace or inability to maneuver his body quickly will be a concern as Arsenal adopt this approach throughout the season.

He isn’t as capable of shifting side to side with great agility and against the pace of players such as Son, and Callum Hudson-Odoi last time out, his limitations and deficiencies are laid bare.

Gabriel returning is going to be most welcome.

3. Ben White is Arsenal’s Man of the Match

Let’s look at the positives here. It’s a really easy one to pick out, too.

White, on his first Arsenal start, looked just about as solid as you’d want from a £50m signing. Or from a centre-back in general. Every aspect of his game was collected and tidy, this all despite training for just four days.

Reading the game aerially there was some smart positioning and when he was faced with runners he commanded his zones brilliantly, ushering them into less dangerous areas where the midfielders and forward could retreat back into the block.

What won’t have gone unnoticed was his carries out from the back. Heavily scouted by Arteta and co, this trait was one of the key reasons behind pursuing his signature and there were a few delightful examples of that skill on show.

Receiving the ball from deep, his ability to move with pace up towards the halfway line with composed technical ability opens up new angles for passes that other centre-backs in the side can’t manage. Holding, for example, is incapable of doing so and relies on close range distribution while the speedier White showed this off effortlessly.

It was the overall manner with which he got about the pitch that satisfied the most. Everything was supremely calm and, dare we say, made to look easy.

Early days, of course, but early positive signs too.

4. Play Aubameyang at Centre-Forward or Don’t Play Him At All

Anyone worried about the centre-forward position? While we’ve cut Aubameyang some slack in pre-season, the general issue of the strike force is starting to crank up the dials of distress.

On Sunday, however, we saw another pointless affair of Aubameyang being shunted out on the left. It does not require pre-season to know this is no longer a viable option. Either you play the captain at No. 9 or you don’t play him at all.

In terms of options, there is mitigation for Arteta: only Reiss Nelson was available to play on the left from the options on the bench with Bukayo Saka not ready to be starting matches. Willian wasn’t even present.

However, just play Nelson there, then. Aubameyang did work out on the left when Granit Xhaka stayed infield and Kieran Tierney was freer to feed him down the line in quick back-to-front motions, but with the Scot playing as an auxiliary winger it leaves Aubameyang picking up spaces where he isn’t threatening.

As for Lacazette, he’s now looking destined to play out his contract. It’s inexcusable. Five years for £50m and he has hasn’t surpassed 20 goals in a campaign. Play one of the two at striker and leave the other one out. If the Premier League clash with Brentford comes around and the same front three are persisted with then the same glaring issues will remain.