It wasn’t meant to be for Arsenal on Wednesday night as they left Molineux with just a share of the spoils rather than all three points, which would’ve extend the gap to seven points adrift of Manchester City. Here’s three things Read Arsenal learned.
Bukayo Saka, operating in the No.10 role, drew first blood inside five minutes – and it looked as if Mikel Arteta’s men were going to have a field day.
Piero Hincapie doubled their lead four minutes shy of the hour mark but Hugo Bueno’s 61st-minute curler set the tone for Wolves’ comeback.
In dramatic scenes, Tom Edozie’s senior debut ended in delight for the young Englishman as his on-goal shot bundled past Riccardo Calafiori on the line. In truth, Wolves punished Arsenal’s complacency.
Are Arsenal too dependent on the brilliance of Kai Havertz?
As Martin Keown mentioned, Kai Havertz is ‘all too important’ for Arsenal. The German, 26, has played a mere three Premier League matches this term – but there is an evident improvement in their frontline fluidity when he’s available and starting.
Without his innate ability to hold up the ball and relieve pressure for teammates, the Gunners lacked a reliable frontman in the second half.
Viktor Gyokeres, once again, struggled to get anything to stick. The Swedish striker was signed for his goal-getting ability but Havertz is more of a full package in terms of his offering at centre-forward.
Tactical tinkering or tired legs?
Arteta’s decision to move the usually-talismanic Saka into a central role initially looked like a masterstroke when he scored the opener early on. But, as the match wore on, the decision looked odd.
Unable to make things happen in the same manner he did against Wigan Athletic, Saka – who recently signed a new five-year deal – was eventually taken off in the 73rd minute with an injury.
Should Arteta keep it simpler? With Leandro Trossard also forced off with a knock, there is now a glaring lack of depth on the wings – and moving Saka out of position hampered that.
There was also an evident drop in Arsenal’s intensity after the 60th minute, minutes after Bueno gave the home crowd a glimmer of hope, and that was the catalyst for Wolves’ comeback. Because Arteta loves him, Jurrien Timber also looked spent and not at his best.
Individual errors for Arsenal are creeping in
Typically, you can rely on Arsenal being defensively sound. Last term, they conceded just 34 goals – seven fewer than winners Liverpool – and central to that was David Raya, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba. As a result, Wolves’ 94th-minute equaliser was unusual.
A nightmare for those associated to the Gunners, a glaring miscommunication between Raya and Gabriel allowed 19-year-old debutant Edozie to snatch a point.
Arteta believes that Arsenal only have themselves to blame for letting their two-goal lead slip. “We’re very disappointed with the end result, but I think we have to fault ourselves,” he said.
“I think the performance in the second half doesn’t show the level and the standards required in the Premier League to win in the manner that we should have won the game, especially in the way that we played in the first half.”
For a team with ambitions of being the best in the land, such basis errors are becoming too commonplace at the worst possible time. Looking to right their wrongs, they face Tottenham Hotspur on February 22.
