Sport nation3 players who cost Arsenal the most against Fulham
After a ghastly 2-0 defeat to West Ham, Arsenal were expected to rebound in a big way on Sunday afternoon against Fulham. It seemed like they would, too, after an early go-ahead goal from superstar winger Bukayo Saka.
However, Arsenal lost control of the game, surrendering two goals to the Cottagers without any sort of a response.
In some ways, it was an even more dreadful performance than the one against West Ham, because, in the second half, the Gunners created so little to threaten the Fulham goal.
Here are three players who cost Arsenal the most in this road defeat.
LW Gabriel Martinelli
Another poor performance from the star left winger, as Gabriel Martinelli made so many fundamental positional and passing errors that led to transition attacks for Fulham.
The effort is there for Martinelli, but the quality hasn’t been this week. Martinelli created just one chance before being hooked off just after the hour mark, and he wasn’t even sprightly in his one-on-one duels.
Arsenal need their star left winger to come up with that something special and add an additional goal threat. His lack of sharpness is just as big of an issue as the poor finishing from the strikers. The wingers must do more in this system.
ST Eddie Nketiah
Eddie Nketiah was non-existent for much of the match against Fulham, and you have to squint at his numbers in order to believe that he actually was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.
It’s hard to remember what Nketiah did positively on the pitch. He drew some fouls but was a passenger on the field. Nketiah is a good all-around striker, but he didn’t even create any chances or have any lively dribbles on the ball.
Arsenal are going to need more from their 24-year-old striker. Nketiah is entering his peak years as a key part of the Arsenal rotation in the Premier League title race, so it is fair to expect a higher standard of play from him.
CB Gabriel Magalhães
Although Gabriel Magalhães wasn’t awful and had a couple of nifty defensive interventions, the reality is that he was lacking on both goals, particularly the second one scored by Fulham’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
The Fulham man was Gabriel’s responsibility on the corner. Before the play began, you could clearly see Gabriel trying to bully the much smaller player with shoves in the back.
De Cordova-Reid cooly played them off, stuck with the play, and was quicker to the ball to dispatch it into the back of the net. Honestly, there are few things more embarrassing for a center back than to get beat to the ball like that on a set piece.
Gabriel didn’t want the ball as much as his opponent, he was too fixated on winning some sort of physical battle of the egos, and he cost his team two points with some fundamentally poor defending.
Clearly, Gabriel is better than that. He’s one of the best center backs in the league. But that’s the margin for error in the Premier League. You can’t get caught napping like that, or you will cost your team points in the table.
3 players who cost Arsenal the most against Fulham
After a ghastly 2-0 defeat to West Ham, Arsenal were expected to rebound in a big way on Sunday afternoon against Fulham. It seemed like they would, too, after an early go-ahead goal from superstar winger Bukayo Saka.
However, Arsenal lost control of the game, surrendering two goals to the Cottagers without any sort of a response.
In some ways, it was an even more dreadful performance than the one against West Ham, because, in the second half, the Gunners created so little to threaten the Fulham goal.
Here are three players who cost Arsenal the most in this road defeat.
LW Gabriel Martinelli
Another poor performance from the star left winger, as Gabriel Martinelli made so many fundamental positional and passing errors that led to transition attacks for Fulham.
The effort is there for Martinelli, but the quality hasn’t been this week. Martinelli created just one chance before being hooked off just after the hour mark, and he wasn’t even sprightly in his one-on-one duels.
Arsenal need their star left winger to come up with that something special and add an additional goal threat. His lack of sharpness is just as big of an issue as the poor finishing from the strikers. The wingers must do more in this system.
ST Eddie Nketiah
Eddie Nketiah was non-existent for much of the match against Fulham, and you have to squint at his numbers in order to believe that he actually was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.
It’s hard to remember what Nketiah did positively on the pitch. He drew some fouls but was a passenger on the field. Nketiah is a good all-around striker, but he didn’t even create any chances or have any lively dribbles on the ball.
Arsenal are going to need more from their 24-year-old striker. Nketiah is entering his peak years as a key part of the Arsenal rotation in the Premier League title race, so it is fair to expect a higher standard of play from him.
CB Gabriel Magalhães
Although Gabriel Magalhães wasn’t awful and had a couple of nifty defensive interventions, the reality is that he was lacking on both goals, particularly the second one scored by Fulham’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
The Fulham man was Gabriel’s responsibility on the corner. Before the play began, you could clearly see Gabriel trying to bully the much smaller player with shoves in the back.
De Cordova-Reid cooly played them off, stuck with the play, and was quicker to the ball to dispatch it into the back of the net. Honestly, there are few things more embarrassing for a center back than to get beat to the ball like that on a set piece.
Gabriel didn’t want the ball as much as his opponent, he was too fixated on winning some sort of physical battle of the egos, and he cost his team two points with some fundamentally poor defending.
Clearly, Gabriel is better than that. He’s one of the best center backs in the league. But that’s the margin for error in the Premier League. You can’t get caught napping like that, or you will cost your team points in the table.
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