Gary O’Neil has now been revealing an ultimately unsuccessful plan he had to stop Arsenal star Bukayo Saka yesterday.
O’Neil was speaking on the BBC’s Match of the Day and mentioned the specific plan his team were working on to stop Arsenal’s Saka.
The manager suggested that his side had spent much of the week focused on being aggressive whilst doubling up on Arsenal’s wingers.
However, he wasn’t happy with the ‘hesitant’ display his defenders produced.
O’Neil said: “2-0 down, to concede the goals the way we did was disappointing.
“Especially the first because it’s a situation that we practised, worked on a lot, so many bodies around Saka.
“For him to be able to wriggle through and for us to be slightly hesitant around the penalty area with our defending, disappointed.
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“Second goal from Arsenal was an incredible goal, the speed that they move the ball at.”
Of course, many teams do now arrive at the Emirates with a specific plan for Bukayo Saka in mind.
However, keeping him quiet for 90 minutes is proving near impossible.
Gary O’Neil knew Bukayo Saka would be Arsenal’s danger man
Brentford stifled much of Arsenal’s attacking play last week, as they often do against top sides in their 5-3-2.
However, it was Saka’s delightful delivery, dispatched by Kai Havertz, that ultimately made the difference for a vital three points.
But it’s certainly understandable that O’Neil was so frustrated – Arsenal have rarely had so much success, so early on in games this season.
Of course, the positive for the manager will be a late rally, one that was threatening for the whole of the second half.
And it similarly seemed that Mikel Arteta recognised the danger.
Arteta was becoming more and more animated on the touchline, and was incredibly frustrated with one Arsenal player around the 70th minute.
Either way, Arsenal did look solid in their defending late on and rarely looked too stretched.
Arsenal are now getting used to the likes of Gary O’Neil having specific plans for their stars like Bukayo Saka – and they are now overcoming them.
And the robust foundation Arsenal have built is now affording more patience with their attacking performances.
The side too often found themselves chasing games in highly-emotional comebacks last season, however there’s now a certainly steely ruthlessness about this ever-evolving Arteta side.