3 – It was ‘all right’ on the night
If all this talk of a new right sided forward doesn’t come to fruition, Arteta can be pretty comfortable in the fact that his current crop are doing the job.
Despite Ben White being the only new addition, Arsenal’s new look right hand side of the team are taking shape and were an incredible threat throughout against Bournemouth.
A lot more attacking on our right side yesterday. White, Odegaard and Saka our top three for attacking third passes. Interesting to see White more attacking, thought he had another great game. pic.twitter.com/UOeXLgvTVQ
— PB (@OliPriceBates) August 21, 2022
The performance of White is now keeping Takehiro Tomiyasu and Cedric Soares, two specialised right full-backs, out of Arteta’s starting XI.
And as long as that continues, we’re likely to see a big change in the squad used for Europa League football which still allows us quality in all areas.
My only concern will always be Bukayo Saka, who has now played 262 of the 270 possible minutes in the Premier League the season as Arteta once again relies on his star boy.
Once again this makes Arsenal’s movement in the transfer market difficult, with any attacker knowing that they would require a big fight for playing time.
Arsenal could well opt to go with a player that is capable of slotting in at centre forward as well, with Jesus and Nketiah both capable of playing on the wing.
With the recent update that Arteta will keep hold of new boy Marquinhos until at least January, it remains to be seen whether a signing will be 100% achievable.