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No sooner had Arsenal’s starting line-up against Brentford been named than the club’s fans trooped to Twitter to start their moaning and complaints.
The Gunners opened the 2021/22 Premier League season against the newly-promoted side on Friday at the Brentford Community Stadium. While many expected Mikel Arteta’s side to dominate, they were rather second-best for larger parts.
Arsenal’s starting line-up had too many inexperienced players. Albert Sambi Lokonga, Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith-Rowe and Folarin Balogun all made the starting XI. A good team, no doubt, but certainly not good enough for a competition as tough as the Premier League.
The north London outfit simply couldn’t cope with Brentford’s intensity and were ultimately beaten 2-0, thanks to goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard on either side of the half-time whistle.
The season is just starting but Arsenal are already showing signs of a team that will not challenge for any trophy. If anything, their loss to Brentford typifies a side that has not improved from last season.
New season, same old Arsenal
Jamie Carragher certainly wasn’t lying when he retorted on Sky Sports:
"New season, same old story.”
Brentford have proven to be a good side but still, this was only the first Premier League game in their history.
And yet the Bees were largely comfortable against Arsenal. The Gunners’ defending for the first goal was as shambolic as the word itself stands for.
Their defending for the second goal was even worse. Neither of Callum Chambers, Ben White or Pablo Mari could deal with a long throw-in, allowing Norgaard to ghost in behind to head the ball home.
Such petty mistakes and childish defending really cost the Gunners last season and it appears they are yet to snap out of it. It may be a new season but Arsenal are yet to come to the party.
Mikel Arteta’s make or break season
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta cut a very frustrated figure during his post-match press conference. If the Spaniard had his way, he probably would have declined to speak to the media after such a disappointing performance from his side.
The Arsenal boss, though, has very little time to get the club back on track. Yes, the unavailability of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Thomas Partey may have denied the team some of its regular stars, but it doesn’t paper over their lethargic performance against Brentford.
"I'm disappointed. It's not the way we wanted to start the season. We didn't start well, conceding a goal in an isolated incident,” Arteta told Sky Sports after the game.
“We didn't cope well with the second balls or long balls. And that's all they needed to create problems for us. Then we conceded from a long throw.
"The biggest worry was our threat in front goal. The amount of times we got around the box and got in great situations but it wasn't enough threat or shots on target. If you don't do that in the Premier League then you won't win.”
After finishing eighth in the Premier League last season, there is little room for another underwhelming season for Arteta and Arsenal. The Gunners boss has been given enough time to get things right and this could be his make-or-break season.
Should he fail to deliver, it’s likely that he will be shown the exit.
