Mikel Arteta has made sacrifices to improve Arsenal’s defence and it’s affecting Lacazette, Aubameyang and Pepe
Arsenal have sacrificed their attacking flair for defensive stability, Tony Cascarino has told talkSPORT.
Mikel Arteta brought in plenty of reinforcements to bolster his defence during the summer transfer window.
Gabriel signed from Lille for £23.4million while Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares also made loan moves permanent.
Defensive midfielder Thomas Partey also joined on transfer deadline day as they paid his £45million release clause from Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal have the second best defensive record in the Premier League with just six goals conceded in five games. However, they’ve only scored eight goals.
Cascarino told Weekend Sports Breakfast: “They are a much better defending team than they were. Obviously, you don’t want to ever lose that but you don’t want to give up something offensively.
“I think Arsenal have. In the way they are playing, they’ve slightly taken away some of the flair of Lacazette, Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang, all of those players in how they can affect a game, that’s slightly been taken away.”
Cascarino added: “Arteta is a coach who will always dissect the opposition to the umpteenth degree and go with a side that is prepared to take on, and is best suited to play against them.”