LONDON — It’s nearly 5 years to the day since Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal had been overwhelmed 3-0 at Crystal Palace, selling the away supporters to chant “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” at underperforming full-back Hector Bellerin.
Monday’s defeat by the same score on the same ground featured one other shambolic show from a defender, Nuno Tavares, however it didn’t immediate comparable derision given the workforce’s latest buoyancy underneath Mikel Arteta. But that sense of historical past repeating might be a specific supply of frustration for Arteta, who has centered a lot of his work since taking cost in December 2019 on eradicating a tradition of underperformance that set in underneath Wenger and reared its head once more right here.
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A spirited Palace aspect brutally exploited Arsenal’s shortcomings in a displaying that raises severe questions concerning the Gunners’ sturdiness within the race for a Premier League top-four end. With no European or home cup soccer to sate a big squad, Arteta streamlined his group in January, permitting 5 gamers to go away the membership and not using a single first-team signing, within the perception a leaner Arsenal can be higher outfitted to fulfill the only real demand of capitalising on a promising place to safe Champions League qualification for the primary time since 2017, that penultimate season underneath Wenger by which the membership’s 19-year keep in Europe’s premier competitors got here to an finish.
Current outcomes — six wins prior to now eight league video games — have made that look a shrewd name, however it will solely take a few accidents to underline the dimensions of that gamble, and that’s exactly the place Arteta finds himself now. Defender Kieran Tierney will see a specialist on Tuesday with the membership fearing a knee drawback might sideline him for the remainder of the season.
“The feeling that he had, it wasn’t really positive and what the scans showed either, but we have to wait and see what happens,” Arteta stated.
Tavares, his pure understudy, lasted simply 34 minutes earlier than being substituted in January’s FA Cup third-round defeat at Nottingham Forest. He threw his gloves to the ground in frustration at being singled out. This time, on his first begin since, he was withdrawn on the interval and by that stage, Arsenal had already thrown within the towel.
“We weren’t at the races today and especially in the first half we were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play,” Arteta stated. “When we did a little bit, we were sloppy on the ball. We didn’t have any dominance, any sequences of play where we could take control of the game and we conceded two poor goals as well, so overall it is unacceptable, put our hand up, apologise, regroup and tomorrow is a new day.”
Palace started with vibrancy and objective, Jean-Philippe Mateta opening the scoring with a Sixteenth-minute header as Joachim Andersen steered again a Conor Gallagher free kick. Ben White‘s foul to provide Gallagher an opportunity to ship was poor however Gabriel‘s positioning eight minutes later was worse, failing to chop out Andersen’s go to Jordan Ayew, who steered a low shot previous Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal continued to lack conviction of their play and depth of their urgent. Tavares was maybe unlucky to be singled out on the break given the Gunners’ collective malaise, a choice that feels greater within the context of Tierney’s seemingly absence.
Arteta has different choices at left-back, specifically midfielder Granit Xhaka, who deputised there within the second half, and Cedric Soares, who might change from right-back if Takehiro Tomiyasu returns from a calf damage. But Tavares now has one other humiliation to beat, one thing Arteta defined away as a “tactical reason … I’m sorry it was Nuno again but we had to do it,” and the Portugal youth worldwide could but be required within the last 9 matches given how stretched the squad could grow to be.
Winger Nicolas Pepe was lacking with sickness and midfielder Thomas Partey might now be one other absentee. The Ghana midfielder misplaced the ball to Wilfried Zaha late within the second half and pulled up with a limp. Zaha burst ahead and was clipped within the field by Martin Odegaard, incomes a penalty he dispatched moments after Partey hobbled off injured, holding his thigh.
“He felt something in the same area that he got injured previously, so [it is] a big concern,” Arteta stated.
Arsenal did enhance within the second half, however whereas beforehand the supporting forged have been in a position to offset Alexandre Lacazette‘s modest aim return, Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe had been all unable to take presentable possibilities that would have triggered a revival.
This was a foul evening for Arsenal’s aim distinction akin to Tottenham Hotspur, who finish the weekend in fourth place and have now emerged because the Gunners’ most severe rivals for that top-four spot. Palace’s shutout right here accomplished a seven-goal swing in Spurs’ favour.
It was additionally additional proof of the tremendous job Patrick Vieira is doing at Selhurst Park. He was thought-about for the Arsenal job following Wenger’s departure, and on this proof will certainly be a candidate to return to his former membership once more in future, though Arteta can rightly proceed to imagine the membership stay on an general upward trajectory regardless of a troublesome evening.
He might be aware of Arsenal’s historical past, nonetheless. Arteta has spoken usually concerning the bond with supporters and he went to applaud the away part at full-time, lots of whom stayed to indicate their assist. They’ve come a good distance collectively, far sufficient to not enable one poor outing alone to divide them.
But Arsenal recovered from shedding to Palace in 2016-17 by profitable seven of their last eight league matches. Though additionally they received the FA Cup, the Gunners missed out on a top-four end to Spurs — shedding to their bitter rivals within the run-in to fall brief by a solitary level. This chastening night should function a warning.
