Arsenal’s indiscipline

31/10/2024 11:00:19
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Author: Jack Guing,

Over the last couple of seasons in the Premier League Arsenal have battled for the title. Man City have been the team victorious in the title races but Arsenal are slowly closing the gap. Arsenal have failed to win on 3 occasions in the Premier League this season and on each of those occasions they have had a man sent off. They drew 1-1 with Brighton, having been 1-0 up when they went down to 10 men.

They drew 2-2 with Man City having been 1-2 ahead when going down to 10 men. Finally, they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth, their only defeat in all competitions so far this season. The game was 0-0 at the time of William Saiba’s red card in that game. Arsenal will certainly need to improve their discipline if they want to win this season’s Premier League because at the moment it is costing them matches and points. Here we will take a look at these red cards and if they were justified, as well as looking at pundits' opinions on the subject.

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Arsenal seeing Red

As mentioned, Arsenal have received 3 red cards this season in the Premier League versus Brighton, Man City and Bournemouth. Arsenal have also received 18 yellow cards this season, which is only the 13th most in the league but combined with the red cards it is showing a problem. They have the most red cards in the division this season with Nottingham Forest and Southampton both having 2 red cards this season.

Title rivals Liverpool and Man City both have 0 red cards to this point, showing the difference in discipline between the title rivals. Versus Brighton, Declan Rice received a red card in the form of two yellow cards, with the second coming as a result of him kicking the ball away. It was harsh but in my opinion the red card was justified as it is in the rule book. The sympathy for this red card evaporated when Arsenal did not learn their lesson from it versus Man City.

Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card also for kicking the ball away, showing naivety from the Arsenal players. This was a certain red card as Trossard committed a foul before kicking the ball up the other end of the field, he could have no complaints. Arsenal’s 3rd red card of the season came from William Saliba who received a straight red card versus Bournemouth as a result of pulling Bournemouth striker Evanilson down as he ran towards goal.

This was a stonewall red card as Evanilson would have got to the ball and ran towards goal, taking a shot and maybe even scoring. It was a clear goal scoring opportunity and the red card was the only right call. Saliba will now miss their huge clash versus Liverpool and Arsenal will be hoping their indiscipline does not cost them.

"The biggest problem isn't the points, it's how often they are getting red cards. It has got to stop. You are talking about a team in Manchester City, where you can't afford to let them get away. If you are getting red cards, you aren't going to pull that back."

Pundits View

Some pundits have been very critical of Arsenal’s discipline this season and are of a similar view to me that it will cost them if it continues. One of these pundits is Alan Shearer. Alan Shearer insists that Arsenal must address the concerning trend of receiving red cards so often if they want to achieve their goals. Following their defeat to Bournemouth he stated “It can’t continue. 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. Giving his thoughts on the Gunners’ disciplinary record, Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: "The biggest problem isn't the points, it's how often they are getting red cards. It has got to stop. You are talking about a team in Manchester City, where you can't afford to let them get away. If you are getting red cards, you aren't going to pull that back."

This disciplinary issue is not a new thing for Arsenal. Since Arteta took charge in December 2019, Arsenal has picked up 18 red cards – five more than anyone else in the same period. Liverpool has picked up just six in that time, while City have been shown nine reds. Arsenal will need to improve their discipline if they want to win this season's Premier League.

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✒️ Jack Guing – Football and GAA Sports Expert

Jack Guing has a strong knowledge of the sport of GAA through the lens of performance analysis with multiple GAA teams. He holds a master's degree in sports performance. He has a huge love of all things sports, especially golf, soccer and GAA. He uses statistics and performance analysis in order to predict the outcome of matches and events.