Mikel Arteta was frustrated after William Saliba missed the match against Chelsea. The French defender was a surprise omission from the squad when the line up was released an hour before kick off. It was later confirmed that he had suffered a knock the previous day, ruling him out of the game. His absence was noticeable as Arsenal worked to a 1-1 draw against a ten man Chelsea. The inexperienced pairing of Piero Hincapié and Cristhian Mosquera started, but both endured difficult moments against a physical Chelsea side. They also struggled in the build up and made several errors throughout the game – both picking up yellow cards in the process. It may not have been unexpected, as it was a partnership that had never featured together for Arsenal before.
Arteta on losing his centre back pairing
Saliba’s injury follows Gabriel’s recent setback, although the France international is expected to recover quickly. When asked about the impact of being without his established central partnership, Arteta told Arsenal, “It’s been a headache, because we’ve had to have a lot of options and changes over the last few months for different reasons. That one is very unexpected and it happened yesterday, but the beauty of it is that you have players so willing to play, so willing to connect with each other, and it makes their relationship even better. So, it was a great match for all of us, and it gives you the reassurance that whoever is there is going to perform.”
Short turnaround for Arsenal
Arsenal now prepare for the visit of Brentford on Wednesday at the Emirates Stadium as the fixtures continue to come thick and fast. With the short gap between the two matches, the game may arrive too soon for Saliba. He is expected to be back in contention for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
What are you thoughts on Mosquera & Hincapie v Chelsea?
Benjamin Kenneth
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Our defence lacked the composure that we usually see from our back four. Both Mosquera and Hincapie were truly tested in an intense battle. Both needed to do better. Both are on the goal line when we concede the goal….Mosquera never gets off the ground. They will learn from this game. MLS is having a poor week overall.
Timber brilliant but at the death he goes for a header that Gyokeres should have taken….It was a big ask for TWO new central defenders but we keep saying that we have bought well , so…..
Overall they did reasonably well. Chelsea’s goal was also arguably offside so they might even have kept a clean sheet.
It’s difficult to come in to such a tough game with limited experience in this league.
This is why we spent 80 odd million on the pair ,let’s not make out they are players from the under 21s .
Just more excuses ,bottom line Chelsea played halve the game with 10 men and looked the better team .
I agree with you, in fact there were several other players who looked off that day as well.
Saka and mental mistakes, maybe Madueke needs to start next game and Saka can sit that game out.
We have talent, but think we need to do better on some of the rotations, when we are able.
Not surprised that Mosquera and Hincapie looked a bit off; physical match against Chelsea, but showed some rust from sitting on the bench in my opinion.
In the future perhaps pair up Mosquera with Gabriel and Saliba with Hincapie against lower table opponents, just to avoid them collecting rust.
Which pair? As far as I know, we spent just 5mil to get Hincappie on loan and 15mil to secure Mosquera deal… So which pair are you talking about?
And they did reasonably well considering the circumstances and opponents..