Arsenal's 2-0 loss to newly promoted Brentford on Friday night has raised question marks over their defence and fighting spirit.
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A number of Arsenal players were in the firing line after their 2-0 loss to newly promoted Brentfod in the English Premier League 2021-22 opener on Friday night. Jamie Carragher held little back after the Gunners’ lacklustre performance at Brentford Community stadium as a Sky Sports pundit. Mikel Arteta’s side conceded two soft goals to start their first campaign without European football in 25 years. Sergi Canos beat Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno at the near post before Christian Norgaard headed in from close range.
The Bees, who were playing their first top-flight match after 74 years, displayed a confident and charismatic performance against a below-par Arsenal side. The Gunners were without their two main strikers – Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang because of illness. Meanwhile, Arteta decided not to start with Bukayo Saka, who came on as a substitute in the second half. And the young attacking trio of Pepe, Martinelli and Balogun struggled to get going.
Arsenal’s defence was very poor last night as they never looked like a settled outfit. Thomas Frank’s team was physically dominating and was successfully winning the second balls consistently. Meanwhile, the Arsenal defence also struggled to cope with the long aerial balls played from the back by Brentford, one such pass from the goalkeeper Davis Rayan paved the way for the opening goal of the new Premier League season.
And the second goal conceded by the away side was also the result of poor defending. Arsenal defence allowed a long throw-in to bounce inside the six-yard box and Norgaard reacted quicker than defender Ben White to head in from close range. The GBP 50 million central defender’s positioning wasn’t great and he was also slow to react.
Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports following the game, said White needs to do more if he’s to succeed as a centre-back in a back four.
“He is not going to get taller so he has got to be cleverer with his body shape and movement to deal with big strikers. You want to see him do well but I must say that he was linked with Liverpool for the last 12 to 18 months,” Carragher said on Sky.
“That my fear was that l didn’t want him to come to Liverpool because he is not tall enough and not good enough in the air. When he played in a back three at Brighton, the two alongside him were giants. People are going to be watching tonight and think ‘just play long balls on Ben White’s head and you will get joy’.”
Arsenal’s next opponents are European champions Chelsea and White will need to handle the 6 foot 4 inch tall forward Romelu Lukaku, who has recently returned to the Blues from Inter Milan after a stellar Serie A campaign.
