Arsenal fell 2-1 to Southampton to go out of the FA Cup. It’s disappointing to have back-to-back matches be eliminations, but I think it was clear when the lineups were released that Mikel Arteta and Arsenal’s focus is on the Champions League and the Premier League. Too many players came back from the international break carrying injuries, and unfortunately, the players named in the lineup to replace them gave a pretty good showing of why they’re buried on the depth chart.
The Gunners didn’t play
particularly well nor were they all that bad. They were mostly fine. And when your B (or worse) side plays “just fine” you can lose games! Let’s go down the Arsenal lineup:
- Kepa: backup keeper who is not nearly as good with the ball at his feet as the starter. The defense has not looked as settled or composed in front of him, and I have to think some of that is they don’t feel as secure that they can knock it back to the keeper to relieve the pressure. Today’s match was likely the last time we see him play for Arsenal, barring injury.
- Ben White: backup right back who has been up-and-down this season. Made a HORRIBLE judgment that gifted Southampton the first goal.
- Myles Lewis-Skelly: arguably the most disappointing Arsenal player this season. Looks a shadow of the young man who burst onto the scene last year. He has hardly played and it would seem for good reason. He looks slow of foot and in decision-making.
- Gabriel: played fine. Had to come off, hopefully as a precaution, and was icing his knee on the bench. It was his beautiful through ball that created the Arsenal goal.
- Cristhian Mosquera: backup CB. Played alright. Made a couple really big mistakes but cleaned up his own messes.
- Christian Norgaard: barely plays. He’s about as plain vanilla of a player as they come. He has fulfilled his intended purpose this season and did again today – that is to play the minutes Mikel Arteta doesn’t want either Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi playing. He really doesn’t bring much to the table, though. He just kinda…is.
- Martin Ødegaard: he looked solid in his first game back in ages. There is / was some rust to knock off — he fluffed a massive chance early in the first half. His influence on the tempo and Arsenal’s possession was apparent from the opening whistle. For me, his performance was confidence-inspiring for the run-in. It looked like he’ll able to contribute down the stretch.
- Gabriel Martinelli: played fine. He did what he always does — work really hard and lack as much end product as you’d like to see from him.
- Kai Havertz: to my eye, he’s still working back towards being fully sharp. Made a nice run to pick up an assist on the Arsenal goal.
- Gabriel Jesus: contributed very little. I don’t think he’s got it anymore.
Which brings us to Max Dowman. He’s already a star. He was the best player on the pitch for Arsenal and doesn’t look out of place at a first team level. He’ll make at least one meaningful goal contribution during the run-in. You can book it.
As for the subs, Noni Madueke looked energetic but did his thing where he gets moving too fast to stay on his feet. It’s great news that he was able to make the team and play after leaving that England match in a knee brace. Viktor Gyokeres scored the goal but didn’t do much else. Riccardo Calafiori played. Martin Zubimendi and William Saliba were fine. Both left international duty early, so it’s good that they were able to play.
Much has been made about Arsenal’s improved depth, but I think a handful of matches in the second half of the season, today in particular, have poked some holes in that. The first couple of depth guys are quality footballers. The rest, less so. The squad needs a refresh this summer.
It’s really difficult for me to get worked up about this match. I’m also not going to take anything away from it going forward. We aren’t likely to see anything approaching this lineup again. The key players who didn’t play today will be out there for nearly every remaining minute of the season, fitness permitting. And the silver lining of going out of the FA Cup is that it creates a few more breaks in the schedule for those guys to get some rest.
Full focus on the Champions League and Premier League.
