FIVE Things We Learned From Arsenal’s Loss To Napoli

Arsenal fell to a 2-0 loss away at Napoli tonight and surrendered top spot to Borussia Dortmund. The Gunners are through to the next round of the Champions League, though, despite the loss, so here are five things we learned from the tie.

1) Arteta needs the break

The Spaniard looked sluggish from the off and in my mind Arsene Wenger should have started with a more mobile outlet.

His pass success was at 83% which seems reasonable but considering how Arteta usually uses the ball you could actually consider it wasteful. He may feel as though his sending off was harsh but his overall performance wasn’t up to his usual standard.

2) Arsenal need a back up striker

Olivier Giroud has looked tired in different points of the season already and in my opinion Wenger is in need of a world class striker to provide back up for the Frenchman to keep him fresh.

His hold up play looked off, he misplaced his only cross of the game and he only completed 76% of his passes. He only managed one shot on target, too.

3) Higuain could’ve done a job at the Emirates

While I mentioned that I think the Gunners could do with another striker, Higuain – who was linked with a move to north London in the summer – opened the scoring and notched his 11th goal of the season.

4) Gunners were overrun

It may be because of the disadvantage but Arsenal were being dominated in the middle tonight and it shows in the statistics. Napoli made 12 tackles, 20 interceptions and forced Arsenal into 30 clearances.

5) Callejon needs to improve on his headers

The little Spaniard may have scored an impressive chip in the last minute but the little forward found himself being dominated in the air. He went up for seven and won, err, none.