We could finally see the revival of the Arsenal left-hand side after the international break. It is no secret that the Arsenal left-hand flank really struggled last season, and we sorely missed Granit Xhaka at LCM…
Oleksander Zinchenko “got found out,” and he became a weak link with his inverted fullback role. And Gabriel Martinelli looked to have lost his spark…
This season, Arsenal recognised the importance of revitalising their LHS and made significant investments there. They recruited left-back Riccardo Calafiori for around £42 million and LCM Mikel Merino for around £32 million.
Interestingly, the duo hasn’t really had much time to play together because of injury. Mikel Merino missed the entire month of September due to injury, and upon his return, Calafiori quickly found himself sidelined.
After the international break, Mikel Arteta will finally have a fully fit Calafiori, Merino, and Martinelli available for selection.
He has all his best LHS players on paper available but as to if he decides to unleash them immediately, we will have to wait and see.
Merino’s performance against Chelsea gave us hope for his potential influence in the LHS; if he can replicate his cameo appearance in the London derby in the upcoming games, and his great form for Spain inmidweek, he could propel the Arsenal LHS to similar heights as Martin Odegaard does for the RHS.
Riccardo Calafiori’s return is undoubtedly significant. The Italian defender brings personality, aggression, and huge technicality to the Gunners’ buildup and moves up with possession. With Merino finding his consistency, Martinelli could finally find the support he was missing, and Arsenal could be well balanced to suffocate opponents on either side.
Arsenal are 9 points off the top of the league. Are we finally going to see Arsenal at their best as we look forward to them turning around their season after a dissappointing start?
Sam P
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I hope merino has hit form, I do think he’s a generally solid player but he has a spark of real quality in him that catches opponents out – if he can fit into our team and play his game, I do think he’ll do very well.
Calafiori at his best is a menace running forwards. From what I’ve seen, he’s best at charging through the middle, though, not overlapping, because he can open teams up with direct running and he has the composure to find teammates in space. Defensively, I’m not fully convinced yet, tbh – very aggressive and often wins the first ball, but can get caught in the wrong position, I think. Still, a definite improvement on zinchenko, I’m just not sure if he’s better than timber at LB – maybe (definitely not saying he’s not), or maybe it’s a horses for courses situation. In any case, I’d rather see timber playing a bit less this season, given the injury he’s only recently recovered from.
Arsenal need to go on a run, plain and simple.
Whomever Arteta selects, all the players and even Arteta need to step it up. 9 points down already is a concern, but the form and performances are more concerning.
We simply have been a shadow of the last 2 years. Injuries, schedule, have been obstacles, but we don’t look or have not played like title contenders.
I believe we will see an improvement after the break, and a good result against Forest will be a springboard to a winning run of games.