3 areas where Arsenal’s team mentality is worryingly weak

Arsenal did an immaculate job of making supporters forget about the bitter frustration of losing to Manchester United by handing everyone an even worse 98-minute performance to stew over.

Losing 2-1 to Everton makes it three Premier League defeats in their last four, with the only reprieve in that spell coming in the form of a 2-0 home win over the second bottom in the table.

There was nothing to be cheerful about on Monday. Martin Odegaard was the pick of a dreadful bunch, and not much more, yet even he spurned a glorious chance by refusing to use his right foot.

From having the opportunity to sneak into the top four two matches ago, Arsenal find themselves down in seventh with a near enough every fixture on the list imprinted with the words ‘must win’. Keep on dropping points and the calendars will be out to double check it isn’t 2020/21.

Arsenal: 3 areas where the team’s mentality is worryingly weak after another Premier League defeat at the hands of Everton

So many aspects of the team performance were dispiriting. It’s another match Arsenal have taken the lead in and allowed to squander, and another easily avoidable defeat against painfully average opposition.

There is much wrong with this team, from structure, to the setup, to game management and to attacking principles. 18 goals in 15 matches is another shocking return. Last season doesn’t feel like an anomaly.

But there are other deep-rooted issues that need tackling: this team is mentally weak and the manner of defeats and nuances of performances make that abundantly clear.

Fragility in the players’ minds has to be eradicated. No one player or one person in the playing and coaching staff is less culpable than the rest, with three standout areas indicating a weak mentality across this side.

1. The Intention to Play Seems Lost

What is alluring about playing for Arsenal? Down the years it’s been the brand of football and desire to attack teams. It looked fun under Arsene Wenger, was chaotic with Unai Emery in charge and, while primarily defensive under Mikel Arteta, is still considered part of the fabric of this team ever since Wenger took charge.

That burning desire to attack, overload, take players on and hurt teams is missing. Something inside the players’ heads is shackling attacking principles.

Against Everton the team seemed held back. Only a few of the players on that pitch came across as wanting to impact the game in a positive sense. Others looked happy to play their part and shift the responsibility elsewhere.

The likes of Emile Smith Rowe want to play. They want to attack. They want to enjoy themselves on the pitch. In large part it looks like playing for Arsenal of late is a chore, not an enjoyment.

Confidence is notoriously tough to build up in football and so easy to lose. What drives confidence in this team appears to be entirely contingent on getting results as opposed to playing to win. The intention to step onto that pitch and drive to victory alongside ten of your fellow warriors isn’t there.

It’s a Wenger classic of ‘playing with the handbrake on’. Lay that on the team’s mentality, but before doing so put that on the manager’s desk for instilling that as a belief system.

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