Why Arsenal duo of Flamini-Arteta can’t compete with Premier League’s elite?

Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta

Arsenal’s 6-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Saturday put a huge dent in their title hopes, ruined Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game in charge of the club and highlighted some of the deficiencies with a number of the Arsenal players and the team as a whole.

Despite having found themselves with a shot at their first Premier League title in ten years they have come up short against the better teams in the division. They have suffered big defeats to Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea while they have lost 1-0 and drew 0-0 with what is the worst Manchester United side of the Premier League era.

Quite simply, they are not cutting it against and not taking enough points off of the other teams in the top four and a number of their players are coming up short in these matches, in particular midfield duo Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal Midfield Performance Scores

Overall, the duo are having a good season. Arteta has a Squawka Performance Score of 581 while Flamini has managed 360, making them Arsenal’s fourth and fifth best midfielders respectively.

Tasked with breaking up play, stopping the opposition and starting moves for their team, they are responsible for tackling, making interceptions and passing as well as creating chances.

Both have completed a very impressive 92% of attempted passes over the duration of the season and Arteta has made 45 interceptions in 23 Premier League games, while Flamini has 32 in 21. However, both average less than a 50% success rate when it comes to tackling.

Arsenal – Pass Success Rates

Against Chelsea on Saturday, Arteta attempted 65 passes and completed 94% of them. However, none of those led to a goalscoring opportunity. He also only won two of six tackles, of which he also lost three on the edge of his penalty area and only made one interception.

Mikel Arteta stats

Flamini only played the second half after Wenger tried to change things following a dismal first half and a red card to Kieron Gibbs. He attempted one tackle and lost out and did not make a single interception.

Arteta was absent for the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad but Flamini played for 75 minutes and managed a Performance Score of just five. His pass completion was, as usual, top notch, with 92% finding a team-mate. However, he lost four of the seven tackles he contested and made just one interception.

Flamini Tackle Success vs Man City

It is evident that the two of them aren’t affecting games against the bigger teams. Their pass success is usually high but the passing itself is rarely productive or incisive. Their defensive duties are generally performed badly against the top sides.

Flamini and Arteta can play this way against some of the lesser teams when Arsenal dominate possession and need their midfield to retain the ball more than they need it to win the ball back but they lack the steel, grit and determination to protect the Arsenal back line against the most lethal of attacks.

Flamini and Arteta really need to up their game, especially with Manchester City visiting the Emirates next weekend.