Over the last two seasons Arsenal have been nothing short of exceptional in pursuit of the Premier League title.
They have gone toe to toe with Manchester City and thrived. In 2022/23, it was five points separating the two, last term it was just two points separating them. However, in 2024/25, it’s looking like the margin could be even bigger.
The Gunners have certainly not had things all their own way this season. Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba have seen red while Martin Odegaard has missed a lengthy period through injury. The same magic, the same sparkle that has been there over the last 24 months is not apparent now.
That has never been more apparent than during their 1-0 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday. St James’ Park is never an easy place to go but Arsenal have ridden out tough circumstances in 2024. This was a worrying performance, therefore.
It lacked character, it lacked fight, it lacked passion, it lacked creativity. In all, it was an insipid display from a team allegedly challenging for the title. Sadly for those in the away end on Sunday, their title dream may be as good as done already. That certainly wasn’t in the script, was it?
What went wrong at Newcastle for Arsenal
Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit when a team has scored a good goal against you. That’s what happened on Saturday lunchtime. Anthony Gordon raced down the right and swung in an inch-perfect cross that Arsenal-linked Alexandre Isak headed home.
That was arguably the finest chance either side had in the match and it was one that decided things.
The biggest frustration for supporters will no doubt be the tactics, or lack thereof, that Mikel Arteta employed in the north east this weekend.
On paper, it was a team that was good enough to win the game but tactically it was a horrible performance. Trossard and Kai Havertz crisscrossed between playing as the central striker and the attacking midfielder but that didn’t work.
Havertz needed to be on the shoulder of the Toon defence but had one of his worst games in an Arsenal shirt, winning just two of his ten duels and giving away three fouls.
There was also a lack of impetus on the left-hand side. Gabriel Martinelli got very little change from Newcastle right-back Tino Livramento who won all four of his ground duels and two of his three aerial duels.
In truth, the game was crying out for Ethan Nwaneri but even when he was introduced, it was too little too late. Without Odegaard, Arsenal lack so much creativity and that was evidenced in Trossard’s shoddy display at St James’.
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Trossard's performance in numbers
Last season the little Belgian was excellent in Arsenal colours. Only Bukayo Saka scored more goals than the former Brighton man but he has struggled to replicate a similar level of performance this time around.
Some degree of context must be applied. He’s not been playing on his favoured left-hand side and has been trying to make up for Odegaard’s absence. Sadly, it just hasn’t happened for him.
Trossard has only scored twice in 12 outings this term and it did not get much better for him on Saturday afternoon.
Minutes played
71
Touches
37
Accurate passes
17/22 (77%)
Shots
2
Dribble success
0/2
Crosses
0
Key passes
0
Ground duels won
2/9
Aerial duels won
0/1
Fouls
1
Possession lost
12x
Clearances
1
Interceptions
0
Tackles
0
Dribbled past
3x
Hauled off with 20 minutes to go, the 29-year-old left the pitch having done very little to get his side back into the encounter, registering fewer passes (17) than even goalkeeper David Raya (18), managed.
He was notably poor in the first half, squandering possession with ease on all too many occasions. One moment came towards the end of the opening 45 minutes where he attempted to play a ball into Saka who had acres of space on the edge of the area but it was awfully overhit.
That was one of 12 times that Trossard gave away the ball in what was a desperately poor performance. To make matters worse, he failed to produce a single key pass and had two shots, one of which was dragged wide in the opening minutes of the match.
As GOAL reporter Gill Clark put it, he ‘gave the ball away far too many times in a sloppy showing’, thus warranting a 4/10 match rating for his efforts.
So, when Arsenal face Inter Milan in the Champions League in midweek, the Belgium international must be reduced to a place on the bench. Now is the time to give Nwaneri a go instead.
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