Arsenal 1-2 Brighton: Arteta to blame for abysmal defeat

Arsenal saw their Premier League top four hopes suffer a devastating blow at home to Brighton as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat on Saturday.

The horror show that was Crystal Palace was topped. This was worse. Much worse.

There is no denying the significance of the injuries to Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey. Any tema and any manager would suffer. You can’t lose two cornerstones of your side and not be significantly impacted. But there are ways to address those setbacks, which is where a manager shows his credentials.

Despite his poor showing at Selhurst Park it was felt that Nuno Tavares would be given a chance to bounce back. Arsenal signed a left-back in the summer to be a backup. It’s in the name.

Arsenal 1-2 Brighton: Mikel Arteta at fault for a tactical disaster as Gunners’ Premier League top four ambitions suffer with abysmal defeat

Yet Arteta reverted to old ways. Just as he leaned on Granit Xhaka to be a left-back in the closing stages of last season, he opted once more to wander down that ill-fated role. Having lost his best midfielder he opted to take his second best midfielder out of the middle of the park. It didn’t work in any way shape or form, with balance and authority abandoned, and experience poorly distributed.

Leaving half of the Emirates Stadium free behind him in the build-up to the first goal, Arsenal also struggled desperately to build through the thirds, with sluggish connections all over the pitch resulting in passes to feet or passes astray. Not one person could watch the events unfolding on Saturday and see a successful formula.

Tactical tweaks and gameplans can go wrong. It’s not the end of the world so long as they’re rectified. Coming out after the break without any changes in personnel, Arteta instead moved into a hybrid back-three shape with Xhaka swapping between left-back and midfield, all the while Lacazette was allowed to continue vanishing into different corners of the pitch.

It played out even worse than it sounds. He overthought it. He went galaxy brain again.

It’s the deviation from the norm that is most alarming. Arteta should have learned from last season, when he asked the team to implement a new shape in the wake of Tierney’s injury, that major systematic teething problems follow. Xhaka at left-back does not work. Not for him, not for anyone. While the players are not infallible, they were set up to fail.

To allow these issues to continue to fester when they’re evidently at fault for a turgid performance is weak management. It’s that straightforward. All the negative details of the match were worsened by his decision making: Sambi needed help in midfield, Xhaka suffers at left-back, and Lacazette provided nothing yet was kept on ahead of Martinelli.

He has done superbly this season, without doubt. There have been multiple reasons to cherish his contributions and laud his methods. But not here. This was a defeat that had his fingerprints all over it.

And he’s been found guilty.