Alan Shearer pinpoints what Arsenal must change to stop dropping points
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal lost ground on their title-challenging rivals after the 10-men Gunners suffered defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday, and they have been issued a warning by Alan Shearer
by Ben Crawford · The MirrorArsenal players must work on their discipline or risk the Premier League title slipping from their grasp again this season, warns Alan Shearer.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners came into the 2024/25 campaign with the hope of finally hoisting a league trophy after two years of finishing as runners-up and two decades without one. But they have already started to lose ground to those expected to also command the summit, in the form of Manchester City and Liverpool, who both play today (Sunday) in search of three precious points against Wolves and Chelsea respectively.
Having already drawn twice, once against Brighton and the other against rivals City, Arteta's men suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday night against Bournemouth. In all of these instances, one of their players saw red.
Such ill-discipline can’t continue, according to Shearer, if the north London side wishes to mount a successful title challenge this campaign.
William Saliba became the latest offender during his side's 2-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium. Leandro Trossard’s miscued back-pass looked to have played newly signed Cherries striker Evanilson through on goal. But, goal-side of the scampering-back Saliba, the Brazilian was hauled down.
Though a yellow was initially given, VAR deemed that Arsenal’s usually impervious Frenchman had denied the home side a clear goalscoring opportunity, and he was handed his marching orders. Unable to cope with the man disadvantage, a goal from Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty sealed the Gunners’ fate.
Arguably Arteta’s most astute defender, Saliba, will now miss next week’s pivotal table-topping clash with Liverpool. And Shearer insists Arsenal's stars only have themselves to blame, despite fans suggesting they've been hard done by with some decisions.
“It can’t continue,” Shearer told BBC Sport when asked about Arsenal’s disciplinary issues. “It has to change. They’re not going to get enough points if it doesn’t - you’ve seen the games, and it’s happened already this season, with the two draws and this defeat.“
The last point-dropping occasion for Arsenal - a breathless 2-2 draw against Pep Guardiola’s Citizens – again saw their fate sealed by a red card, of which they lead the league in with three.
His side 2-1 up and purring heading into the second half, Trossard was handed a second yellow for kicking away the ball after a foul on Bernardo Silva, and it took until the eighth minute of added time for a John Stones dagger to split the spoils.
An unsatisfactory 1-1 draw against Brighton in August was also partially down to another sending-off. After Kai Havertz gave the home side a 1-0 lead, Declan Rice was adjudged to have delayed the restart and, like Trossard, was shown the tunnel.
Midfielder Rice came clean about such issues after this latest Bournemouth sorrow, insisting that he and his peers must do better if they are to mount a bonafide title challenge once again.
"We've kicked ourselves in the foot now three times in eight games," Rice told Sky Sports. "We've got away with it twice - at home to Brighton, away to Man City - but luck doesn't always go your way.
"I am proud of us for continuing to fight and believe. Thought we played really well even with 10 men. The naivety of it is, we need to stop making mistakes. We want 11 players for 90 minutes, and that wins football matches. That wins football matches.
"There are no regrets tonight, other than the fact we can't keep making silly mistakes. You always need your best players on the pitch, and [a sending-off] then gives the other players a mountain to climb when you are down to 10 men.”
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