Is Nacho Monreal leaving Arsenal exposed?

Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal

Injury problems at the heart of the Arsenal defence have come at an extremely inconvenient time for Arsene Wenger’s side. The Gunners were forced to play a makeshift back-four in the second half against Sunderland on the weekend and the Frenchman will be hoping Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny will be fit for the club’s trip to Stoke City this Saturday.

The poor form of Spaniard Nacho Monreal has been particularly conspicuous in recent weeks and Wenger will be conscious of this as he selects his starting line-up to face the Potters. In light of Kieran Gibbs’ injury, which he sustained against Bayern Munich, he has little other option but to use the ex-Malaga man at left-back.

His defensive frailties have become strikingly obvious in Arsenal’s more challenging matches this month. In the Premier League he struggled considerably against Liverpool and in Europe, against Bayern, he looked nothing short of lost.

Against the former, Monreal was largely at fault for his own club’s destruction.Liverpool’s dominant 5-1 victory saw Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge thrive upon his inability to cope, showing up his lack of pace and poor positioning.

The Spaniard recorded a Squawka Performance Score of -23 points in this match as he failed to win a single tackle, conceding two fouls during his time on the pitch. He was clearly targeted as a weak point in the Arsenal side, with Liverpool converging on him and playing the ball into the space vacated behind him. He was eventually substituted for Gibbs in the 61st minute.

This screenshot was taken from the Squawka Football App – Download it here

Similarly, against Bayern Munich, Monreal looked susceptible throughout. Again, his lack of pace caused problems for Arsenal, as the Bavarians focused their forward raids on the right-flank.

While the 27-year-old cannot be blamed for either goals in the club’s 2-0 defeat, his positional sense cost his side on both occasions. From his four attempted tackles in this match, he won the ball just once. He also lost his only attempted headed duel while his passing accuracy was worryingly poor at just a 56% from his nine attempts to find a teammate.

Nacho Monreal Tackles vs Bayern

Even in the first half of the Gunner’s 4-1 victory against Sunderland, he did very little to impress. He failed to contribute at the back, whilst he created just one goal scoring opportunity for his teammates. A knock in the first half brought an end to his match and he was taken off at half time. His final Performance Score of just nine points suggests just how poor his contribution really was.

There can be no question as to who is the better left-back. Kieran Gibbs is far superior and ideally Wenger would prefer to have the Englishman back to full fitness for the club’s up and coming fixtures. He looked assured in his brief appearances against Liverpool and Bayern and his return certainly cannot come soon enough.

Obviously Monreal’s form is a huge concern in the Englishman’s absence, he has proven a liability against Arsenal’s more dangerous opponents and during a tough period of fixtures, he could prove the difference between victory and defeat. With Bayern, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City all to come before the end of March, Wenger will be praying the Spaniard can pull through.