Well, it all comes down to this for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side take on Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League final tonight in the knowledge that winning by a two-goal margin will send them to the club’s first final in the competition in 19 years – their second overall.
However, for them to get those two goals, or even to win by one and get through to penalties, the North Londoners are going to have to be at their very best from the first minute to the last, and that means making some personnel changes from the team that lost against Bournemouth.
In particular, there’s one player who has to be ruthlessly dropped by Arteta, a player who struggled just as much as the out-of-form Martin Odegaard did.
Arsenal's poor performers
Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth going over some of the other starters who underwhelmed on Saturday afternoon, such as Leandro Trossard.
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The Belgian wasn’t terrible on the day, but as can sometimes happen when he starts up top, the natural winger offered little to nothing in attack, earning himself a 6/10 from the Standard’s Simon Collings.
Likewise, it was another worrying showing from David Raya, who once again looked shakey in possession and almost gifted the visitors a goal out of nothing with a poor pass out from the back.
Finally, while he did manage to pick up an assist for Declan Rice’s great goal, it was yet another poor game for Odegaard, as his lacklustre marking of Evanilson in the closing stages saw the Cherries knick all three points and more than justified the 6/10 match rating he received from Collings.
However, while the Norwegian will almost certainly keep his place in the team for tonight’s game thanks to the armband and a lack of other genuine options, there was another starter who simply has to be dropped by Arteta ahead of tonight.
The Arsenal star who has to be dropped
So, while Trossard is likely one of the starters who will be taken out of the lineup for tonight’s game, Ben White should be another.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion star came back into the starting XI on the back of news that Jurrien Timber had picked up a minor knock.
While £50m defender wasn’t terrible on the day, he didn’t convince anyone that he should keep his place now that the Dutchman’s seemingly back in full training.
For example, while the Englishman offered something on the overlap and should eventually get back up to speed, he really struggled with the defensive side of the game and was ‘troubled by Dango Ouattara’s pace,’ per Collings.
Unfortunately, on top of looking shaky and failing the eye test, the Gunners’ “warrior,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also had some pretty terrible statistics from the game.
Minutes
86′
Expected Assists
0.01
Clearances
6
Dribbled Past
3
Ground Duels (Won)
5 (1)
Lost Possession
8
Passing Accuracy
22/28 (79%)
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (0)
For example, while he did well to make six clearances, he was dribbled past three times, lost four of five ground duels, lost the ball eight times, failed his one and only attempted dribble and amassed a dire expected assists figure of 0.01.
Ultimately, if he couldn’t live with Ouattara on the weekend, then there is no way the manager should be looking to start him against potentially Khvicha Kvaratskhelia tonight.
That is especially true now that Timber seems to be fit and back in contention, who respected analyst Ben Mattinson has described as an “elite 1v1 defender” following his monstrous display away to Real Madrid.
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