Opportunity missed
The general feeling among the Arsenal fan base this morning is one of indifference to the fact that they were eliminated from the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. But supporters can afford to have that mindset.
Their primary focus this season is purely on Arsenal's unexpected title charge, with Premier League games taking absolute priority over anything else. For the Gunners squad players though it's a different story.
As we head off to the World Cup break, the reality is that many of them will find their game time limited now. Mikel Arteta has historically taken the knockout rounds of the Europa League pretty seriously, and with the bottom heavy nature of this league season, you can expect him to field the first team in most of the matches going forward in the campaign. As a result, domestic cup competitions appear to offer the best chance of consistent game time for Arsenal's second string. With that in mind you would have thought they might have approached the game with a bit more intensity.
READ MORE: William Saliba shows Arsenal World Cup gratitude as contract decision looms
The Gunners weren't particularly bad on the night and actually created some good chances, but for certain players the game was a disappointment. The likes of Marquinhos are youngsters making their way in the game so anything above fine would have been a bonus performance-wise, but for players like Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga, the standards are higher.
Both have shown that they're more than capable of holding their own in the Premier League side across runs in the team, but if they are to ever trouble that first XI, these are the opportunities they have to grasp. Both might have scored on another day and then perhaps we would have been having a different conversation, but their general anonymity in a match they really should be grabbing by the scruff of the neck was troubling.
Like against Zurich, Lokonga looked confused by his role slightly, playing in a deeper position to allow Kieran Tierney to bomb on the first half, but then getting forward himself much more in the Granit Xhaka mould during the second. Vieira, meanwhile, was disappointing in the final third and lacked the decisiveness that was so present in his early matches.
Of course it's very difficult to find consistency of any sort when you are in and out of the team and in a much-changed lineup at that. Players thrive off rhythm and a defined role. Both Lokonga and Vieira have been victims of their own versatility in the positions they've had to play for the good of the team at points this season, but it's frustrating to see them failing to deliver against a rotated Brighton side when playing in areas of the pitch that amplify their strengths.
The Arsenal midfield has arguably been their strongest area of the pitch this season and as a result it's been very settled. Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard are daunting scalps to take in the battle for first team selection, but Lokonga and Vieira have not made it easy for themselves. With no Carabao Cup football in the second half of this campaign now, their opportunities to show their capabilities will be limited and getting in Mikel Arteta's first XI is going to be difficult.
Horrible night for Hein
It seems cruel to dwell too much on a nightmare debut for 20-year-old keeper Karl Hein, but on a night where there aren't too many other major talking points from an Arsenal perspective, it has to be discussed.
It was something of a shock to see the academy youngster in the starting XI at all as team news came out. Matt Turner has generally played the cup games so far this season and after missing two matches with a groin injury it felt like a good time to give the American a final run out before the World Cup.
Instead though it was third choice keeper Hein who was thrown in his for his senior Arsenal debut. Unlike with most youngsters coming on for a first game of the season, this didn't actually feel like too much of a risk. Despite being just 20, Hein has been Estonia's No.1 for two years now. He was also impressing during a loan spell with Reading in the Championship last year, before a freak injury falling in his house saw his season ended. However, in his first senior match at the Emirates Stadium, things did not go to plan.
In possibly the most unfortunate stroke of luck imaginable, he slipped with Danny Welbeck bearing down on goal. As if things then couldn't get any worse he managed to get up, but in a clear haze of panic brought down Welbeck as the former Arsenal striker looked to round him to give away a penalty.
Had he got up to save the spot kick then we might have been able to joke that was all part of the plan to ensure an eye catching debut, but sadly Welbeck sent him the wrong way from 12 yards. In this instance, professional footballing environments can be unforgiving places. There is often little sympathy for mistakes, particularly when they are as costly as that.
This Arsenal side is no ordinary team at the moment though and their remarkable team spirit rose to the fore once again as William Saliba and Rob Holding both raced over to young Hein to offer him a high five of consolation in an attempt to get him going again. These sentiments were echoed after the game by Mikel Arteta, who challenged Hein to bounce back stronger from a horrible moment.
"Everybody has been supporting him," the Spaniard told football.london. "Everybody was supporting him straight after. We all make mistakes, me the first one, the players all the time and it’s part of the game. He needs to carry on. When you make an error it’s about how you react, not about the error. This is going to happen in his career and it happened today unfortunately."
Arteta offers January transfer hint
If there was one thing that was abundantly clear on Wednesday night, it was that Arsenal need more depth in their squad. The first team has been all conquering and superb in the Premier League this season, but when it comes to cup competition the Gunners have been far from convincing.
Of course, there are reasons from this away from the quality of the players. As mentioned before constant changing of positions and partnerships to suit the immediate needs of the team does not help, while Mikel Arteta has been very keen on the symbiotic importance of the units of three that his side operate in across the pitch which cannot form coherently without consistent game time.
However, when you look across the pitch it's hard not to think that the Gunners could use a little more. Although he was excellent, William Saliba once again had to start a cup competition and share the game with Gabriel. It is clear that a left-footed centre back to partner Rob Holding in these games would be a welcome addition.
We've already mentioned the midfield, but up front there is room for strengthening too. Eddie Nketiah actually had a very good game aside from his goal, but Reiss Nelson only showed flashes, while Marquinhos, despite impressive work rate, looks as though he needs a little more time before he is oven-ready for the first team.
This is not exactly anything we don't know, though, and Mikel Arteta was willing to acknowledge that his side needed was lacking in certain areas as things stand. "I said from day one that we have a short squad because at the end we left some players," the Spaniard said. "It’s what we have. If everyone’s available and no one is injured we are OK, but the moment there is, we know what it is. It’s nothing new."
Early indications seem to be that Arsenal will be willing trying to try and strengthen the squad should the right chances become available in January and Arteta was willing to confirm this in the post-match press conference. "We’ll have to discuss the opportunities that we have, the capacity that we have for any changes and be on the market for opportunities because we don’t know what’s going to happen the last game before the World Cup," he said. "So it’s a lot of options that are open."
Post-World Cup, the Gunners aim to be competing on two fronts as they target success in both the Premier League and Europa League - with the FA Cup thrown in for good measure. As things stand, the squad - while talented - probably isn't strong enough to do that. With a few smart January acquisitions though, that could all be turned on its head.
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