Arsenal’s hopes of winning a treble are now over as Southampton knocked them out of the FA Cup with a stunning performance at St Mary’s.
The Gunners looked to be back in the game through Viktor Gyokeres but Shea Charles got a winner for the Saints to fire them to Wembley.
For Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, it was another sobering night and one which the Spanish coach will reflect deeply on.
Indeed, with one of the worst performances of the season under their belt, we at Arsenal Insider have identified THREE things learned for Arsenal from the defeat to Southampton.
Who was the worst performer for Arsenal against Southampton?
Arsenal need to move on from Gabriel Jesus
There have been times when Gabriel Jesus has been doubted and slandered by groups of Arsenal fans and to be honest, on tonight’s display, it was clear why.
Jesus’ performance was just nowhere near that of what a Premier League club at the top of the table requires.
The Brazilian seems to have lost his way a touch and despite having obvious quality, he just does not show it enough for Arsenal on nights like tonight.
It was no surprise that Viktor Gyokeres was the man to get Arsenal back into things. Now, Arsenal will surely be looking to the summer and a new striker who can offer more than Jesus when the main man is out.
David Raya has to play every game
It’s all well and good having two goalkeepers and Mikel Arteta wanting to give Kepa playing time but this is twice now that Arsenal have lost with him in goal.
In a nutshell, Arsenal’s entire defence simply looks completely different when Kepa is behind it.
That showed all evening as the Gunners’ backline looked shaky and off their game. There was a few times that the ball ended up back with Kepa and he did nothing with it.
From now on, Arteta just has to pick David Raya. No more trying to keep Kepa happy.
Max Dowman is the real deal
On a miserable night for Arsenal’s players, there was one shining light in the form of Max Dowman.
The 16-year-old was given a start and played the entire game as he was Arsenal’s most prominent player for the entire game.
Dowman looked like Arsenal’s biggest threat when he had the ball and even in the dying embers of the game, he was probing and looking for a way to break Southampton’s defence down.
There just has to be a place for Dowman to be involved between now and the end of the season.
This game proved Dowman can do it and with Arsenal clearly lacking spark right now, Dowman might just be the man to bring things to life.
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