Arsenal vs Wolves: Pressure mounts on Unai Emery as Gunners throw away yet another win
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored again but the Mexican's equaliser ensured the points are shared
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Your support makes all the difference.More boos and groans at Arsenal, and yet more dropped points. Granit Xhaka was this time not there, but an underwhelming Mesut Ozil was, indicating these setbacks are down to so much more than any one player. Whether they’re still down to one man, however, is another matter.
Unai Emery’s increasingly confusing tactics - counter-attacking but counter-productive - felt like they directly fed into this 1-1 home draw with Wolves, making it a third successive league game without a win.
No proper sorry from Xhaka, but another sorry performance from his team.
The word at Arsenal is that the manager has not fully lost the dressing room yet, but that won’t be long coming if he can’t actually figure out how to win any games. Actually sacrificing leads through his substitutions only worsens it, as he literally makes his team worse.
And this is the major problem in this team right now.
Far from getting more of an idea of themselves the longer Emery is over this team, Arsenal seem less and less sure of themselves, or what they’re supposed to be doing.
Last season's dull functionality has given way to a more unpredictable incompetence.
It is now as if everything he touches just gets worse, from the Xhaka issue to the Ozil issue to the fact both of those have now been overshadowed by another poor result.
Wolves, however, were anything but poor.
They were the better team for most of the game, and probably deserved more.
The wonder is just why - again - Arsenal gave them so much of the play.
Despite finally having their best pure footballer on the pitch in Ozil, Emery’s side were still so oddly reluctant to actually get on the ball and take it to Wolves, again standing off in such a strange way. You could say there was a one-off logic because Wolves themselves are a conspicuously counter-attacking team, except Arsenal now do this most of the time.
It meant most of the game was an awful lot of nothing, Wolves not quite comfortable with being just invited on.
It is precisely this that has been a source of so much frustration to Arsenal fans - and some of the players - under Emery, but it does admittedly offer one release. The approach allows Aubameyang and Lacazette to play in the same team, and the only moments where this game really sparked was when they combined.
It of course led to the goal. After typically good work from Matteo Guendouzi out wide, he played the ball into Lacazette who cut it back for his strike partner. Aubameyang duly guided it into the corner of Rui Patricio’s net.
All the best moments involved them, and occasionally Dani Ceballos and Ozil. One divine Ceballos ball down the right almost released the duo. One glorious Ozil backheel from Aubameyang pass saw Lacazette blaze over.
It was occasionally enjoyable, but this was kind of the problem. It all felt instinctive and off the cuff rather than integrated.
Wolves very quickly realised they had a more coherent idea of play, but the question whether they had the quality to actually make it count.
A certain unfamiliarity with having so much of the ball meant most of the best chances fell to the man on the edge of it. Ruben Neves, however, couldn’t quite find his range.
He was narrowly over with one trademark long-range shot, and then hit an effort a bit too close to Leno when arriving late in the box.
And that was what was so infuriating, beyond the fact that Emery’s substitutions - another long-term flaw - cost Arsenal any initiative they actually had. Wolves had been working so hard to get nowhere, only for Arsenal to just offer them the easiest way through.
They just switched off, especially Ceballos… and the centre-halves… and most of the defence. Take your pick. Wolves were able to.
Jonny played an unchallenged throw to the edge of the box, Joao Moutinho hooked it across first-time, and Raul Jimenez headed in from close range. There just felt so many opportunities to clear it, or do anything.
This was again the price of Emery’s approach.
This is why, no matter what happens with Xhaka, no matter what happens with Ozil, there always feels another problem around the corner.
The next win, however, doesn’t look so close.
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