Arsenal may have been unfortunate to lose to Chelsea after dominating for large spells, but Mikel Arteta’s failure to deal with the introduction of Jorginho arguably cost his team.The Italian gave his side a foothold in the match after coming on in the first half and even got an unlikely equaliser, and the Gunners’ never recovered the threat they posed early on in the match.Arteta is, of course, learning in his first-ever managerial spell and is trying to improve his understanding of the new players he has at his disposal, so it is possible he will look back and learn from the errors he made, such as a lack of action.
In particular, his decision not to make substitutes earlier on allowed the Blues to mount pressure on the defensive backline, and in the end find two goals which allowed them to steal all three points, and supporters criticised the man in the dugout as a result.
Some fans suggest that he failed to deal with the changes made by Frank Lampard, and although pressure was increasing the Gunners only conceded because of individual mistakes from Bernd Leno and Shkodran Mustafi.
As a result, it is unfair to pin the defeat on the Spaniard’s shoulders, as Arsenal looked much improved in terms of their shape and intensity, and may have held on if Calum Chambers hadn’t sustained an injury.
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Nevertheless, comparisons have been made to Arsene Wenger, but not in the way Arteta would have hoped for. The former Arsenal boss was also often guilty of making substitutions too late, and that is something the new man will have to avoid.
Elsewhere, another former Arsenal man has been on the fans’ lips recently, with talk about bringing him back to the club.
