Arsenal: 3 negatives from 3-2 win over Watford

2. General Lack of Composure

Something that may have stemmed from the earlier point of taking the game lightly, there were also some moments lacking composure from players who’ve had jittery spells in recent matches.

Gabriel, who has had an excellent season overall, has gone slightly off the boil. There are moments of sheer class, like one particular body feint in the first half where he let the ball run across him and bamboozle his marker, as well as some unusual sloppiness from him.

Being a central defender of his age, in the circumstances and pressure of pushing for Europe, some naivety in that position is entirely normal. It’s expected. But he wasn’t alone, with Cedric, Tierney and Ramsdale also guilty.

As the game wore on Granit Xhaka made an error, foolishly hooking a cross-field ball straight to a Watford player in the build-up to the Hornets’ second goal. With your team needing to see the game out and complete ‘300,000 passes in the opponent’s half’, as Arteta put it, that showed a lack of experience from him. Even Benjamin White, who’d had a solid game up until that point, was done by Sissoko in the box when he need to hold his position.

It wasn’t any one individual who properly stood out, just a general lack of composure across the board when the game was easily within Arsenal’s grasp. It shouldn’t have been made to be as nervy as it was.

Perhaps getting ahead of themselves before the game was won, or perhaps just not the best days at the office for certain players, Arsenal just needed to show a touch more calmness overall.

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