Unai Emery’s Arsenal display wrong attitude to shine light on same old problems after crumbling at Watford

Watford 2-2 Arsenal: The Gunners blew a 2-0 lead as mistakes from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz proved costly

For a short spell in the first half of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Watford at Vicarage Road, Unai Emery’s team looked composed and in charge of the game. The opening goal had come against the run of play but when Dani Ceballos dispossessed Will Hughes in front of the dugouts, the Gunners struck with speed and precision.

Sead Kolasinac collected the loose ball, drove to the edge of the area and slipped a pass to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The striker took a touch and pirouetted with exquisite grace before placing the ball into the net.

Conviction drained from the home side, who had been aggressive, sharp and dangerous in the opening 21 minutes. Quique Sanchez Flores must have groaned. This was the Arsenal he remembered from his previous Premier League experience in 2015-16, when Watford shipped seven goals against the Gunners, losing 3-0 at home and 4-0 at the Emirates.

The next 15 minutes seemed to confirm that impression. As Sanchez Flores’ team dropped ever deeper, Emery’s men began to enjoy themselves. Mesut Ozil, making his first league appearance of the season, began to find space. Arsenal strung together 18 passes to get the ball to the German and the next one carved open the left side of Watford’s defence. Ainsley Maitland-Niles overlapped and sent in a cross that Aubameyang put away with style. After 32 minutes the natural order seemed to have asserted itself. “The first half after the goal was difficult for us,” Sanchez Flores said. “We were not ready to receive these kicks to our brain.”

There are few better sides to watch when things are going their way than Arsenal. Perhaps, though, Sanchez Flores recalled an FA Cup sixth round tie at the Emirates when Watford won 2-1. That match came between the home and away games against Barcelona in the Champions League, a 23-day period when Arsenal’s season self-destructed with five successive defeats.

That was under Arsene Wenger but an aversion to pressure has been institutionalised at the Emirates. Let them play, they will kill you. Challenge them and, all too often, Arsenal fade. They had been sloppy and aimless before the goals. “I reminded the team of how we played in the first 15-20 minutes,” Sanchez Flores said of his half-time message.

All Arsenal’s problems were highlighted in the second period. In truth, they were only good in the first 45 minutes when Watford surrendered territory and impetus.

Emery started the game with what appeared to be a midfield diamond but there was nothing precious about it. It was hard to discern any kind of shape. Matteo Guendouzi, in particular, kept popping up in strange positions. The 20-year-old is admired for his effort and engine but his performance was scatterbrained. Just after the second goal he popped up on the edge of his own area to take the ball from Bernd Leno but the pass was not crisp enough and Guendouzi was dozing. Gerard Deulofeu and Andre Gray could not convert the resulting chances but it was one of those moments when you could feel the conviction swelling in the Watford side.

Unai Emery delivers a message to his Arsenal team at Watford (REUTERS)

After the break the balance of belief had clearly shifted. Guendouzi, ‘helping’ his defence, found Hughes in the area but the Watford man blasted over. The visiting side were ragged.

Ceballos, Granit Xhaka and Guendouzi did not establish any sort of pattern. Ozil, when he did anything, did his own thing. Yet when Arsenal unravelled, it was the defence that took centre stage.

Emery’s team are not equipped to play the ball out from the back but you can see his logic. “If we can break their pressing,” the manager said, “we can connect with our midfielders and have space to continue to impose our gameplan.” When Leno rolled a goal kick to Sokratis Papastathopoulos the only thing that broke was Arsenal’s resistance. Again, the pass from defence had no pace. Deulofeu could not believe his luck and deflected the ball to Tom Cleverley, who steered it into the net. It was an entirely self-inflicted wound.

Xhaka claims Arsenal were scared (REUTERS)

The Arsenal manager’s response was to change the structure of his midfield from shapeless to amorphous. Joe Willock replaced Ceballos to the shock of the crowd. It was, Emery reasoned, “very hot.” The Spaniard did not appear to be suffering in the heat. He was much the coolest of the midfielders. Lucas Torreira came on for Guendouzi who, with a lack of self-awareness, made a 2-1 gesture to Watford fans. That hubris is emblematic of attitudes at the Emirates. “Matteo is young and very emotional,” Emery said. “Sometimes he needs to make mistakes to improve.” There is another tradition at the Emirates, stretching back to Wenger, of players not being held to account for their blunders.

Guendouzi was soon to feel silly, though not quite as abashed as David Luiz. The Brazilian met the onrushing Roberto Pereyra just inside the box with an awkward lunge that was clearly a penalty. Pereyra, on as a substitute, rammed home the spot-kick to level the scores.

David Luiz and Granit Xhaka appear dejected (AFP/Getty)

There were nine minutes left and Arsenal hung on for dear life. Deulofeu, having one of his more effective days, carved out chance after chance. The best opportunity came at the end when Abdoulaye Doucoure shot at Leno from the edge of the six-yard box. Watford had 31 shots on goal. Aubameyang, watching from the other end, could only dream about such service.

Sanchez Flores was content afterwards. He has enough talent at his disposal to ensure that he can survive more than a season this time around, even given Watford’s perverse attitude to employing managers.

Emery has bigger problems. Xhaka claimed some of his team-mates were hiding in the second half. “We were too scared,” he said. “No one wanted the ball.” The Swiss had a point.

Arsenal were disjointed. Their attitude was wrong. All the problems that Emery was brought in to address remain, despite spending more than £200 million. No one expects miracles but a semblance of organisation and a sense of purpose would buy the 47-year-old some credit. There was little sign of either on display at Vicarage Road.