Arsenal suffered with a lack of creativity in their defeat to Bournemouth and Mikel Arteta now must consider Ethan Nwaneri for the next match
It was hardly a surprise that Arsenal struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities whatsoever during their 2-0 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday. In fact, as they suffered their first defeat of the season, the best chance of the game came from Kepa Arrizabalaga gifting a pass to Mikel Merino, who set up Gabriel Martinelli in a must-score moment.
In the absence of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, Arteta opted to go for Mikel Merino who started in a similar role for Spain over the international break. The difference being that Fabian Ruiz was also in the midfield with him, which of course helped provide La Roja with plenty more progression.
With Declan Rice, who was excellent, and Thomas Partey, Arsenal’s midfield as a collective perhaps did well, but they don’t have the same incisiveness and directness that the likes of Odegaard and Saka add to the side.
Raheem Sterling came off for Jakub Kiwior, further stunting the attack as needs-must following William Saliba’s red card. But it wasn’t until very late on that Ethan Nwaneri came onto the field and yet again his style and verve left onlookers pondering what might have been.
The teenager has been impressive in his showings from both the bench and when he started the League Cup game against Bolton. It felt like an opportunity missed to start Nwaneri against Southampton before the international break and with the way they played that and this game, it felt the same on Saturday evening.
Arsenal have Liverpool in the league next which would be a big call to throw Nwaneri into that game. Beforehand however is a home clash with Shakhtar Donetsk who have struggled in Europe so far and it might be here where the trial to start Nwaneri is setup nicely.
The return to fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko is perhaps another element to consider. The Ukrainian has his limitations defensively but he does indeed offer a lot going forwards, particularly with his progressive passing.
For Liverpool, Arsenal will hope, however, that Jurrien Timber can recover from the issues he has been suffering meaning Ben White can slot into the suspended William Saliba’s role. A true challenge is coming and the Cherries were seen as one of the contextually easier tests this month and creativity, or the lack of, will be in focus in the weeks to come.