Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been warned about one possible weakness in his side’s armoury by a former favourite – despite the Gunners’ big win at Brighton on Saturday evening.
Goals from Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard gave Arsenal an ultimately comfortable 3-0 win at the Amex, but the Seagulls caused some problems for the Gunners in the first half.
And during his half-time analysis on Sky Sports, ex-Arsenal attacker Theo Walcott highlighted where the Gunners may need to improve against the very best teams.
Walcott commented on how Brighton winger Simon Adingra was finding some joy down the right and had Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko on the back foot at times in the opening 45 minutes.
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“They are doing really well at isolating Zinchenko on one-on-one situations,” Walcott said. “I would have to say that Adingra, at times, is getting himself into some fantastic positions.”
Highlighting one example on-screen, he added: “You can see he is isolated one-v-one here, Zinchenko, and never really seems comfortable going back toward his goal. I almost feel like he (Adingra) runs out of ideas or overcomplicates it.”
Brighton were not able to isolate Zinchenko in the same way after the break and the former Manchester City player was replaced by Takehiro Tamoiyasu after 72 minutes.
But Walcott may have highlighted an important issue ahead of big tests for Arsenal in the remainder of this season – starting with Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich.
In the Premier League, meanwhile, the Gunners moved provisionally to the top of the table ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Manchester United on Sunday.
