‘Non-existent’: £47m man unlikely to be at Arsenal next season amid ‘2/10’ display today – TBR View

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal looked like they were on the right tracks, but sadly it looks as though the wheels are coming off at the worst possible time.

The Gunners were hoping to bounce back from their 3-0 humbling at Crystal Palace when they hosted Brighton on Saturday.

Arsenal were at home and their opponents had gone seven games without a win. So on paper, there are certainly more daunting propositions.

However, Mikel Arteta’s charges were once again poor as the visitors ran out 2-1 winners at the Emirates.

The Arsenal boss opted to name Granit Xhaka at left-back, but this decision backfired for the Gunners in the 28th minute.

The Switzerland international was absent as Enock Mwepu went down that channel before pulling back for Leandro Trossard to slam home.

Admittedly, the Gunners suffered a controversial call when Gabriel Martinelli got the ball in the back of the net.

A four-minute VAR check deemed him to be narrowly offside from Gabriel Magalhaes’s nod back across goal.

Then, Brighton got a second in the 66th minute, Mwepu steering Moises Caicedo’s cut-back into the bottom corner.

Arsenal did step up a gear and pulled one back through a deflected Martin Odegaard effort, but they couldn’t muster up a second.

So, a second huge blow for the Gunners in the space of a week for their Champions League hopes.

“Becoming a hindrance”

Few Arsenal players emerged from the game with any credit, and Alexandre Lacazette came under particular criticism.

Football.london gave the Arsene Wenger signing 4/10 and wrote: “Non-existent again.

“Teams have snuffed out the Frenchman as a link man in recent weeks. And with his goalscoring record as poor as it is, you wonder what he brings to the team.”

90Min went as low as 2/10, writing: “Completely anonymous. Where once his presence benefitted Arsenal, it’s now becoming a hindrance.”

Meanwhile, the Evening Standard gave him 5/10, writing: “Starved of service. His best work was done when picking the ball up in deeper areas, but never looked like scoring.”

Lacazette has been good for Arsenal for the most part since signing for a reported £47million in 2017.

However, it’s damning to hear that “teams have snuffed” him out and that he’s anonymous time and time again.

Lacazette’s contract is up in the summer and it looks increasingly unlikely that Arteta will let him go instead of offering him a new one.