Top four chances officially blown out of our own hands as another disappointing away defeat condemns Emery's side to a third straight loss. Leicester hand the Gunners another embarrassing away day as form worsens at just the wrong time.
The game started badly, went badly and finished badly as a first half red card to right back Ainsley Maitland-Niles meant it was a mountain to climb for an already flat looking Arsenal. Leicester set up just right, knowing Arsenal's away confidence was low and without a real playmaker in the side, the Foxes took advantage. The Gunners had a few sniffs in the first half through Iwobi and Lacazette but nothing of real note with only one testing goalkeeper Schmeichel. After an earlier yellow card, Maitland-Niles picked up his second yellow in the 36th minute to see red and although it was a harsh dismissal where he looked to have tackled thin air, he gave the referee a decision to make. And make one he did.
The defensive resistance didn't last too long though, even with Laurent Koscielny entering the fray at the interval. 59 minutes is and it was all but over after James Maddison found Youri Tielemans who fired in from just inside the box. Harsh on Bernd Leno between the Arsenal sticks who was fantastic on the day. He really must question himself as to whether moving to North London was right for him, as week on week, he plays well but loses clean sheets because his defense are completely incapable. They let him down time after time and as a fan, I feel for him at times. Leicester's chances kept coming as Arsenal began to tire. Leno stood tall to Harvey Barnes and Ricardo Pereira in quick succession but the wave just kept coming. With four minutes left, still only 1-0 down, Arsenal were chasing a leveler but one long ball from the keeper fed the dangerous Vardy to ousted Sokratis for pace beat Leno to deal game over. Injury time came and so did a Leicester third as Vardy grabbed a second from close range after good work down the wing from Pereira. Arsenal crumble away from home again, and without a real playmaker in the side, things look very bleak.
Ratings and Talking Points
Unai Emery: 6
The Head Coach went with what he thought best and although a back three may have been the better option, he had to consider Thurday's Europa League game as well. Koscielny sat this out and did Mavropanos, both on the bench. Ozil and Monreal missed out completely through injury, and the German's absence especially was really felt. What Emery doesn't get the blame for though is the complete incompetence of some players. Five yard passes were going awry, stitching team mates up with woeful bouncers, and misplaced balls meant there was no pace and no aggression to Arsenal's play. Emery got stuck in from the side lines though after frustrations boiled over as Maitland-Niles' yellows and consequential red caused innate tensions between he and the fourth official. Three days to turn it round and get his side going again.
Bernd Leno: 8
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 5
Shkodran Mustafi: 5
Sokratis: 5
Sead Kolasinac: 5
Lucas Torreira: 5
Granit Xhaka: 5
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 3
Alex Iwobi: 4.5
Alex Lacazette: 4.5
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 4.5
Subs
Laurent Koscielny: 4.5
Matteo Guendouzi: 4.5
Eddie Nketiah: 4.5
Do These Players Ever Learn?
You can excuse an off day, of course. However, what you cannot excuse are the same mistakes time after time. Poor positioning, lack of marking, no communication, silly fouls, red cards, woeful shooting...its the same things week and week and game after game. Do these Arsenal players ever learn? Do they actually get told off for being so poor at their job? In any other industry, someone performing so below expectations is likely to be reprimanded. At Arsenal, there seems to be no one on charge, and no aggression or anger being thrown at the players. Cleary the airy fairy approach to team talks and half times doesn't work. It's the same old thing, especially at away games, we don't have leaders and there seems to be very little communication between the players to take charge and improve things on the pitch. Things need to change for next season, and if they don't improve now, next season could be spoiled already.
@craigbennett10
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