Arsenal crashed out of the Carabao Cup in humiliating fashion on Wednesday night, losing 4-0 on aggregate to Newcastle United.
The Gunners came into the game having to overturn a two-goal deficit, and never looked like achieving this.
Newcastle ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, courtesy of a poacher’s effort from Jacob Murphy and a slotted finish from Anthony Gordon.
While the North Londoners started positively, they quickly faded as it became more apparent that they wouldn’t progress to the final.
The cup exit means Mikel Arteta’s side have just the Premier League and the Champions League to compete for, for the remainder of the season.
Mikel Arteta abandoned tactical change for Arsenal v Newcastle
Arsenal’s wingers typically stick to the touchline under Arteta, tasked with supplying the width as the full-backs take up more central positions.
However, for the first half an hour of the clash with the Magpies at St. James’ Park, the Spaniard opted to ditch this normal ploy and situated his wide men much more centrally.
Both Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli were noticeably deployed close to Kai Havertz, operating in the half spaces inside the box.
The duo of wingers were rarely in possession out wide, instead picking the ball up in dangerous areas and combining with the likes of Martin Odegaard and Havertz.
The intricate combination play made Arsenal look a threat, and Newcastle were unsure how to deal with these box overloads early on.
Odegaard spurned a huge chance minutes before Newcastle’s opener, which arose from central link-up play between Trossard and Martinelli.
It was evident that cramming the middle of the pitch with Arsenal’s attackers was the Gunners best route to finding the back of the net, with Trossard also missing a presentable opportunity through these means.
However, after the goal didn’t come in the first 30 minutes or so, Arsenal reverted to type.
Martinelli and Trossard were all of a sudden caught isolated out wide with little support, and Arteta’s team’s attack became blunted and predictable.
They resorted to spamming crosses, which Newcastle’s centre-backs dealt with easily, while in the second half Arsenal were incapable of getting the ball into the box in any capacity.
Whether this glaring tactical change was instructional in the first place or the players simply returned to what they’re used to doing in adversity, only Arteta knows.
The statistics v Newcastle show Arsenal’s drop off
Trossard’s performance divided fans, although the Belgian’s industry on the ball in the early stages was certainly a bright spark in the first half.
When shifted further out wide, he was regularly receiving the ball with two men to beat and with little support, and thus his performance levels dropped.
| Arsenal’s Statistics vs Newcastle | ||
| Stat | First 25 minutes | After the 25th minute |
| Shots | 6 | 5 |
| Expected Goals | 0.47 | 0.47 |
The statistics demonstrate that most of Arsenal’s threat came in the first 25 minutes of the match.
Six of the Gunners’ eleven shots came in the opening 25, as well as almost 0.5 of the team’s total expected goals.
Of Arsenal’s remaining 0.47 xG, 0.39 of it came from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s 90th minute header from a corner.
While it’s possible that soft factors impacted how Arsenal’s players played, as they lost belief in their ability to turn the game around, it’s also possible that the tactical tweak stifled their attack significantly.