BIRMINGHAM, England — Every manager will tell you a title race is a marathon not a sprint. If so Saturday rather felt like the day when Arsenal hit the wall. Defeat at the death was all too easy to see coming for a side who had long since run out of puff, their creaking bodies unable to offer one last hoof to safety as the ball cannoned around their area in the 95th minute. A punch of verve and Emiliano Bunedia and the league leaders were beaten 2-1 for the first time since August.
It is worth bearing that fact in mind. The sky has not fallen in. Arsenal will hold at least a two point cushion over the rest of the table come the end of the weekend. They are three clear of their conquerors Aston Villa, who will be proven to be the paper tigers of this title race before too long unless they play this well every single week. When Arsenal were on song in the second half they played at a level comparable to their best performances in the season.
There was just no way they could sustain it. It spoke volumes for the situation they have manufactured for themselves that the man who turned the tide off the bench in the second half, Leandro Trossard, couldn’t make it to the final whistle. Arsenal were dead on their feet. And it is December. After a brief respite in the week after next, the fixture list ramps up to its customary hamstring flaying Christmas intensity. Arsenal do not look at all ready for that.
Training sessions must have the look of that scene in Monty Python. Bring out your crocked. Gotta get to Gabriel Heinze’s, he’s lost five defenders this day. Those that do make it to the pitch look like they’re trudging through mud. Arriving at Villa Park it was not a case that Arsenal lacked numbers. Their current injury list runs to just four, though plenty of those who did make the trip to the Midlands had the look of the walking wounded.
The biggest trouble is that the injuries they do have in the treatment room are heavily targeted in specific areas, Cristhian Mosquera expected to miss at least six weeks with an ankle injury. Gabriel might not be back much before then, while the vague timeline for William Saliba remains “days.” We’ve had at least eight of them.
Jurrien Timber filled in impressively at center back, but it was apparent from early on that Arsenal were not the defensive force that they would be when anchored by Saliba and Gabriel. It took only 10 minutes for one of the Premier League’s most brilliantly curious records to be broken. Prior to Saturday, Arsenal had not allowed a single shot worth more than half an expected goal, indeed they’d frequently gone through entire games with the quality of their shots a fair way below 0.5 xG. Not this day, a slip by the struggling Riccardo Calafiori allowing John McGinn to play in Ollie Watkins, who bounced around Timber and Piero Hincapie before driving a shot too close to David Raya, not for the last time.
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No wonder, when Arsenal kept giving the ball to Villa in dangerous areas. “We had some difficulties in the first half,” said Arteta, “especially with very unusual giveaways that we had given after regaining the ball, which is a really dangerous moment against them.
“The game was constantly at the edge because we gave two balls away as well, very dangerous. Those open situations, again, man-to-man in the last line, they are really good at taking those chances. But, yeah, we have to learn from it. The way we conceded the first goal as well, very far from our standards.”
That opener saw Eberechi Eze switch off at the back post, leaving Matty Cash unmarked to thunder in a low drive. There was, however, more to this than individual errors. In the first half Arteta seemed intent on leaving his defenders man to man with Villa forwards who were taller and stronger than them. That might be viable if Arsenal were able to throttle their hosts in their own half but there are few midfields better placed to play through pressure than those with Youri Tielemans in them. The Gunners were slow to get up to their man, giving Villa midfielders the space to turn and play passes to unleash that three-on-three.
Meanwhile, when Arsenal had the ball they had too few options to stretch play behind Unai Emery’s backline. Bukayo Saka was customarily dangerous but there was too much for him to do. The introduction of Trossard eased that, but there was only so long he could offer before he had to be withdrawn as he still feels the after-effects of his recent calf injury. “The boys are willing to put absolutely everything,” said Arteta. “They tried, the situation with Leo is the same. He could only play a certain amount of minutes.”
Perhaps Viktor Gyokeres too can point to his recent injury as mitigation for a poor display. There keeps needing to be something to explain though with Arsenal’s marquee summer signing failing to register a shot at Villa Park. He was no less insipid in the duels, failing to offer his teammates a target as the pressure ratcheted up late on. Too many of Arsenal’s substitutes, all aggressively made as Arteta pursued the late winger, failed to push the game away from their defenders.
They were uniformly exhausted. Arteta offered no deeper explanation than the “very dangerous individual giveaways” he kept coming back to, which are so unlike Arsenal. The explanation is simple, however. Tired minds beget tired bodies. Calafiori’s limp at the final whistle was that of a player who came back from international break with a knock and hasn’t had a match off since. Hincapie might not have the sheer volume of minutes that others in this squad do, but he picked up an injury early in his Arsenal career and since making his first start against Chelsea it has been non-stop for the Ecuadorian, who played the occasion in skittish fashion. Declan Rice shrugged off a calf issue, but the man they call the horse at London Colney looked like he was at risk of falling at the last hurdle.
Perhaps there was only so much mitigating Arteta could do. He took the likes of Saka and Timber out of the starting XI for Brentford and there was hardly much rotation that could be done around the Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Chelsea trilogy. Arsenal didn’t have Villa Park to fire up the legs for that one last push, but they have at least checked that off a fixture list that also includes trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, St. James’ Park and Stamford Bridge. To have come through this stage of the season with only two defeats, with a lead at the top of the table is an outcome not every Arsenal supporter would have expected.
“Everything that they have put in the last two weeks and the results that we got, the performances, and to lose it that way emotionally is very touching,” said Arteta. “You just feel that, yeah, everything that you put, it hasn’t been worth it. But it is worth it, because we will learn again from today and it will make us a better team again.”
One of the learnings from Saturday might be to grasp the opportunities to rest when they come. It is Club Brugge away in the Champions League on Wednesday with a top eight spot hard to fritter away, followed by the visit of Wolves to the Emirates Stadium. There is a chance to get out of this relative funk and it is only seven points dropped in their last five. In a Premier League like this one, that is a manageable run.
Only, of course, if Arsenal can quickly turn things around. On Saturday’s evidence there is not a lot these tired bodies and minds can do with the necessary swiftness.
