Why did Arsenal only try to defend after Saliba’s sending off? Just keep on attacking… | OneFootball

Was Arsenal’s approach to going down to 10 men versus Bournemouth after the William Saliba red card all wrong?

In red card situations, one can understand the importance of defending when you have a lead or are playing against a large team like Manchester City to avoid an embarrassing scoreline.

However, it appeared that we chose to play defensively against a team we had the quality to defeat. Why did we look defensive when we could have still tried to apply pressure on the Cherries?

With Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel, and Ben White, Arsenal could have formed a formidable back three that excelled in one-on-one situations, posing a threat to the misfiring Bournemouth attack, which had missed 13 big chances before that game.

With Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, and Thomas Partey all defensive-minded, there was certainly no need to introduce Jakub Kiwior. The defensive strength of Arsenal was sufficient to handle the challenges posed by the Cherries.

Leandro Trossard’s red card forced Arsenal to play 10 men in the second half of the 2-2 draw against Manchester City. In that game, Arsenal had no choice but to sit back and defend with a low block, as failing to do so would have given City an opportunity to embarrass them.

How I wish Arteta had taken the criticism of sitting deep and defending against the Cityzens to heart, and he had said to his boys versus Bournemouth, “Just attack.”

If Arsenal had concentrated on attacking and lost through counterattacks rather than a corner and a penalty, it would have been understandable.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t like what I saw before Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri came on. In fact, when they came on, their desire to attack Bournemouth gave us hope that we could salvage something from that match. Unfortunately, we lost 2-0.

Was Arteta right to try and play for just a point?

Daniel O

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