Arsenal’s defeat to Brighton has just become even more worrying

Arsenal were beaten by Brighton at the weekend in what was the Gunners’ worst league defeat for more than two years.

Mikel Arteta’s side lost 3-0 to Brighton, and while the performance was poor, many chalked it down to being just a bad day at the office rather than anything more concerning at a deeper level.

However, that may not be the case.

Indeed, speaking to Play Sports, Sunderland’s Thomas Meunier has been analysing Arsenal’s loss to Brighton, and he suggests that the Seagulls’ gameplan was ‘perfect’, and, more concerningly, it sounds rather easy to emulate.

Thomas Meunier comments on Brighton’s win vs Arsenal

Meunier analysed this game for the Belgian broadcaster and he had some key takeaways.

The defender noted that Brighton’s gameplan was to exploit the spaces between the lines and shoot from distance rather than trying to break down a defensive line that is impossible to beat.

@playsportsbelgium_fr

Brighton a réussi l’exploit de battre ceux que beaucoup pensaient intouchables… Ils se sont imposés 3-0 face à Arsenal, le champion en titre. « Ils ont su exploiter les espaces entre les lignes, ils ont fait le match parfait », souligne Thomas Meunier. 👉 Suivez la #PremierLeague et la Bundesliga sur Play Sports FR 1 et 2, inclus dans votre Option VOOSPORT WORLD ou Orange Sport #premierleague #thomasmeunier #arsenalfc

♬ son original – Play Sports FR – Play Sports FR

“They played Arsenal’s game brilliantly, really. They weren’t stubbornly trying to break through that last line, which is almost impossible to penetrate.

“Instead, they exploited the spaces between the midfield lines, between the midfield line and the final defensive line, and tried their luck from distance — and that’s what worked.

“Whenever there was a bit of space, they had players who can strike the ball really well. And there you go, the shots went in, and they scored two or three goals that way.

“They were also pretty solid defensively.

“So yeah, they played a perfect game.”

If Meunier noticed this, you best believe that every other manager in the Premier League has made the same observation too.

Scarily, Brighton’s blueprint for thrashing Arsenal isn’t hard to replicate, every team in the Premier League has players who can exploit space between the lines and shoot from distance, and that may well be the way to get at Arsenal.

Sometimes, it only takes one tactic to figure out how to undo a team, and Brighton may have just shown the rest of the footballing world how Arsenal can be taken down with some rather simple tactics.