Europa League
Gunners Misfire in Belarus
Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat away to BATE Borisov in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32. Unai Emery’s side failed miserably in a game they were expected to win easily. Heading into the Thursday night matchup, the Gunners were one of the favorites to win the competition. Now their spot in the round of 16 is up in the air. Credit to BATE for breaking down Arsenal’s defense on the brink of halftime with Dragun netting the winner. Alexandre Lacazette’s late sending off for an elbow compounds Arsenal’s problems.
Tactical Disaster
Unai Emery is not impressing anyone with his tactics lately. It was a questionable decision to abandon the midfield three for a back three in this matchup. Surely a back four would have been able to get the job done with the a good midfield trio ahead of them. Emery should have played a straight back four of Monreal, Koscielny, Mustafi, and Maitland-Niles. It is understandable that Arsenal are dealing with defensive issues. They have a big hole at right back and did not fix that during the winter transfer period. Torreira should have been included in the starting XI, replacing Kolasinac.
The lack of creativity from midfield is what hurt Arsenal. Some of Arsenal’s best performances this season have come in the 4-3-1-2 formation. A number 10 was needed. They created plenty of opportunities, but did not have enough in the team to switch it up when things were not working. They do not want to go back to the Arsene Wenger days of no “plan B.”
Arsenal have been a weak team at the back for far too long. They struggle against any and all types of attacking players. BATE had never scored in a European knockout tie until this match. Since Arsenal are not in FA Cup action this weekend, they have a full week to prepare for the second leg at home. All it will take is a 2-0 win to get through. But how much can we trust Arsenal to keep a clean sheet?
Second Leg
The second leg will take place at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Thursday, February 21st. Many expect Arsenal to turn this around in the second leg with Emery’s experience in the competition. After all, he did win the competition three years straight with Sevilla. The Gunners Champions League qualification for next year will largely depend on what they can do in this competition.
Photo credit to Arsenal via Twitter
