Arsenal’s New Signings Will Hope to Improve Upon Their Debut Display

EMIRATES STADIUM, London—Against Southampton, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger handed debuts to Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. Both players were recruited from La Liga in the final few days of the transfer window, and the Gunners boss clearly felt they were ready to make an immediate impact.

However, neither quite made the impression they would have hoped for. Although they came away with three points, this was a difficult day for Arsenal—and their debutants found it tougher than most. 

Had this been a great Arsenal performance, it would have been easier. It’s far easier to fit into a side that is firing on all cylinders, but the Gunners looked decidedly rusty after returning from the international break. 

That’s often the way—when the squad disperse to represent their countries it can be difficult to jell immediately upon reconvening. However, when that’s the case the manager should take steps to ensure there is as much continuity as possible. In this instance, Wenger chose to break up the three partnerships which were integral in Arsenal’s victory over Watford in their previous Premier League game.

That trio of pairings included Rob Holding and Laurent Koscielny, Granit Xhaka and Santi Cazorla, and Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Leaving out Holding made sense, especially given the availability of the more experienced Mustafi, but it was difficult to find a logic for breaking up Xhaka and Cazorla. Those two were imperious at Vicarage Road—with two gifted passers anchoring the midfield, Arsenal were able to control possession against the Hornets. 

This time, Francis Coquelin started ahead of Xhaka. The Arsenal academy product is not able to match the Swiss international’s technical ability, and consequently Wenger’s men struggled to dominate the ball in quite the same way.

Up top, Ozil and Alexis had been irresistible last time out. Although the Chilean had struggled to make an impact as a centre-forward in Arsenal’s first two Premier League games, with Ozil behind him he suddenly came to life. However, after returning from international duty late on Thursday night, Alexis began from the bench against Southampton. In his place, Lucas made …

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