From an offensive point of view, Arsenal gave a much better account of themselves against Aston Villa – they deserved their 2-0 lead at the start of the second half.
Arsenal started very fast and Mikel Arteta’s side had Villa penned in their own half for the first 10 minutes or so of the game.
It was a throwback performance in some respects – given the injury crisis at the club, the Emirates Stadium has become a bit less of a fortress in recent weeks.
However, Emi Martinez was under pressure and Arsenal made the most of their dominance.
Of course, all of that good attacking work was undermined by Arsenal’s defending in the second 45 minutes, some of which highlighted a big selection error by Arteta.
With William Saliba missing, the Arsenal manager chose to play Thomas Partey out of position at right-back, a decision which cost the Gunners once again.
Mikel Arteta should have trusted Jakub Kiwior against Aston Villa
Put simply, Partey has a terrible record at right-back.
Jurrien Timber is an excellent shout to deputise for Saliba at right centre-back, but with only Partey then available to play as a full-back, Arteta got it wrong.
Arsenal don’t want to lose Jakub Kiwior in January, the club are convinced that they need the Poland international to stick around for the next six-months at least.
Yet, with Saliba out, Kiwior didn’t play a minute and Arteta awkwardly reshuffled his defence in order to avoid the centre-back coming in.
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Of course, Kiwior is left-footed and better-suited to playing in the Gabriel Magalhaes role, but he is surely more than capable of playing on the right side.
In fact, Kiwior played that exact role alongside Riccardo Calafiori when Arsenal beat Bolton Wanderers 5-1 in the EFL Cup earlier this season.
Villa are obviously much better opposition but Kiwior didn’t look awkward on that occasion, and arguably outperformed Arsenal’s big-money Italian alongside him.
Had Kiwior played, Timber would still be in place at right-back and Arsenal may have prevented both goals which stemmed from an issue on their right-hand side.
Thomas Partey should never play at right-back again for Arsenal
Partey was criticised against Villa and deservedly so, he lost Ollie Watkins really poorly for the visitor’s second goal.
But Partey’s inability to cope defensively at right-back has already been obvious this season, an error Arsenal should have learned from.
Of course, Arteta does also deserve some sympathy – he also won’t be enjoying Arsenal’s continuous injury crisis.
But failing to start Kiwior can only be judged as a clear mistake from outside the club.
Perhaps Kiwior isn’t in the best place to come in right now, something Arteta might be able to see in training behind closed doors.
But from the outside it seems so obvious that Arteta needs to stop putting players out of position, especially when the likes of Kiwior are waiting on the sidelines with a point to prove.
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