Arsenal haven’t had the best of starts to the season. Besides it being the first season for Arsenal for the past 22 years to see a different manager apart from Arsene Wenger. It did leave the fans with mixed emotions of bitterness and ecstasy to see the change in the club. Unai Emery being proactive In the transfer window did impress a lot of fans. They were excited to watch the season opener to have their team play with new tactics under their new manager. Having said, things did not shape as they expected.
They suffered two consecutive defeats in their first two matches. They played two of the top 6 teams in their two matches. They expected the defense to improve this season after having defense issues in the entire last season. Looks like it still hasn’t settled having conceded five goals in their opening two matches. Unai Emery known for his strong defensive tactics but couldn’t keep away from his opponents scoring against his team.
The positives to take from the game against Chelsea was the fighting spirit after having gone down 2-0 to come back to 2-2 was an absolute delight to watch for all the arsenal fans until Marcos Alonso having to spoil the party for the Arsenal fans by slotting home the winner.
It sealed 3 points for Chelsea. There are quite a few of the players who have performed well and are the one’s expected to rise under Unai Emery.
Here are the top three players so far this season :
3. Matteo Guendouzi :
A kid of 19 years bought from PSG for a fee of just £7m is having time of his life at Arsenal. He is one of them who is expected to shine under Emery. Having had an excellent pre-season. Fans were excited to see him play in the Premier League opener. He made his debut against Manchester City at Emirates. He started both the matches against Manchester City and Chelsea. The 19-year-old Guendouzi has only committed one foul so far, again showing just how precise he is in the tackle.
It may be early days, and we know stats don’t quite tell the full story, but to be second in the list of tackles attempted in the entire Premier League – ahead of the likes of Kante, Xhaka, Pogba and Keita – tells it’s own story.
After seeing Xhaka having to give away so many silly fouls last couple of seasons ,this might finally come to an end with introduction of Guendouzi. Sounds great for Arsenal, doesn’t it? Is he gonna be chosen over Xhaka this season?
