Arsenal failed the 5/10 star who lost the ball 27x

Arsenal came to theirs FA Cup third round clash with old rivals Manchester United knowing that not everything is in their favor.

This term was one of bad success. From those red cards against Brighton, Bournemouth and Manchester City to Martin Odegaardan ankle injury in September and a heartbreaking hamstring injury to Bukaya Saka.

Mikel Arteta coached some brilliant matches this term, but due to a series of circumstances, he failed to cross the line in several cases.

Well, in football you can make your own luck, and the Gunners haven’t carried it over in their two cup games in recent days. Against Newcastle United, the Londoners created a number of chances with Kai Havertz mostly missed a header from a few meters away.

Against United when the Red Devils won on penalties on Sunday, it was the same old story; Arsenal couldn’t score some great chances.

It was Bruno Fernandes who opened the scoring in the rest of the game, but after Diogo Dalot’s red card, Gabriel brought the hosts back into the tie. Arteta’s side couldn’t find the net from that point on and were made to pay for their wasteful finishing, losing 5-3 on penalties.

The aforementioned Havertz was perhaps the biggest culprit at the Emirates Stadium.

Kai Havertz’s performance in numbers against Man United

Arsenal needed a striker last January. Havertz eventually moved on score eight goals and register seven assists as a center forward in the finals of 2023/24.

However, the Gunners entered the summer window and need a centre-forward again. They didn’t get it and instead put their faith in the German again.

He scored four goals in the first seven matches league campaign, that decision seemed justified.

However, a year on from when their problems in front of goal really looked bad, Arsenal are no better. In fact, they look even worse this time.

Make no mistake, management simply need to strengthen the squad this month or this number of players could be in for a particularly tricky end to the season.

That’s because Havertz is once again starting to show why many questioned him A £65m summer signing 2023. For the most part, the former Chelsea man has defied his critics, but in the last two matches he has shown why he cannot be trusted to lead the line long-term.

If his miss against the Toon a few days ago was bad, his efforts against Ruben Amorim’s men were even worse.

Indeed, he sliced ​​a shot from just a few yards before it got worse towards the end of the game when the ball accidentally fell to the Germany international from close range. Did he score? Of course not. He shot incredibly over the goal.

Going into the penalty shootout with a lack of confidence, it was perhaps no surprise to see him miss the penalty. He was the only player to miss. It was decisive.

As it happens, another player missed a penalty, in regular time. That was the skipper.

Martin Odegaard’s performance in numbers against Man United

Last term, Odegaard was simply a phenomenal part of this Arsenal team. He was a key component, scored 11 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. Along with Saka, they ran riot on the right, unlocking teams and making opposing defenders beg for mercy.

Well, this time it was a little different. In fact, it was very different. Odegaard has yet to score from open play in 2024/25 and has been far from his best since returning from a 12-game lay-off with an ankle injury.

His poor run of form showed no signs of slowing against United on Sunday and it was his missed penalty that prevented Arsenal from running away with things in regulation time.

After Harry Maguire was adjudged to have tripped Havertz, the Norwegian stepped up but was denied by a superb stop from substitute goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. It was the first penalty that Odegaard missed in his career so far.

These things can happen, but he like Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid noticed during the gamehis compositions were mostly “miserable”. Now, it will take some time to live up to Saka’s corner kick from the right, but of his few crosses into the penalty area, not many have gone off the mark.

Although the captain played an incredible ten key passes, eight more than any other player on the pitch, few of them really meant much apart from Declan Rice’s second-half header from which he should have scored.

To make matters worse, Odegaard gave the ball away 27 times, more than any outfield player, and his inability to score really frustrated the Emirates Stadium crowd.

He had three shots in the game with just one on target, but on more than one occasion, the 26-year-old received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and decided to pass to a teammate rather than shoot. It was no surprise to see him get a low player rating after the game GOAL which gave 5/10 former Madrid native.

It is obvious that the Norwegian international, like many of his teammates, suffers from a lack of self-confidence.

Two defeats in the cup in a few days won’t help, but some new reinforcements certainly will. If Arsenal are to salvage anything from this season, the squad needs to strengthen and fast. For you Stan Kroenke.