Journalist James McNicholas now believes that one Arsenal player may have lost Mikel Arteta’s trust in recent weeks.
The lack of control that Arsenal were able to exert over Aston Villa on Sunday was an aberration in the wider context of this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side have routinely dominated games over the course of this campaign, monopolising territory and possession, and restricting their opponents to very few goalscoring opportunities.
The Arsenal defence has been in a class of its own this season when it comes to denying chances. This rigidity has been achieved by cultivating a culture and playing style that values defensive commitment, concentration, and consistency.
Oleksandr Zinchenko exposed as Arsenal weak link
However, Oleksandr Zinchenko has struggled to keep up with direction of progress at the Emirates Stadium. The Ukrainian left-back was named in the starting XI against Aston Villa, and not for the first time, he was guilty of defensive lapses and misplaced passes in dangerous areas in his time on the pitch. Zinchenko was even booed by some Arsenal fans when he was hauled off late on in the game.
Zinchenko has always been something of a defensive liability for Arsenal. He is not the most robust physical presence, cannot dominate aerially, and struggles in one-on-one duels. In the past, though, the former Manchester City man has offset these deficiencies with his ability on the ball.
The 27-year-old performs the left-back role in an inverted fashion, meaning that he regularly drifts into the middle of the park to bolster the Gunners’ midfield unit. At his best, he can operate as an auxiliary playmaker of sorts from this position, using his creativity and impressive range of passing to carve out opportunities for his teammates.
All too often over the course of his injury-hit campaign this time around, though, Zinchenko has failed to pull the strings in such an incisive manner.
How does Mikel Arteta now view Oleksandr Zinchenko?
With his on-the-ball game not up to par, there is no real justification for his defensive flaws. This is a huge problem for Arteta, and something that the Spanish coach needs to face up to. There is no doubt that the manager values Zinchenko and appreciates his skillset, but the full-back is now regularly being targeted as a weak link by opposition sides.
James McNicholas believes that this trend has caused Arteta to have a change of heart about Zinchenko’s place in the squad. Speaking on the Handbrake Off podcast, the reporter said, “Mikel Arteta has shown incredible faith in Zinchenko. I remember at times, even a few months ago, where Arsenal might win but he’d make a mistake that would lead to an opposition goal and he [Arteta] would almost laugh it off. He would say, ‘well that’s Alex. We know that about Alex, but we love what he brings to the team.’”
“I don’t see him laughing about it quite so much anymore. I get the sense that his own feeling, his own conviction about it, is evolving. I think if you look at the evolution of the team more broadly, it seems to me that this season has been all about reducing risk, reducing jeopardy, not giving the opposition anything. I feel like Zinchenko, at this point in time, feels like a bit of a relic of last season, in that respect.”