Five reasons why Arsenal’s defence have struggled this season

The first reason is that we have a lack of defensively-minded footballers in the squad. The mainstays of the team are captain Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini who have both struggled especially in the big games against the top teams. These two experienced players are arguably in the twilight of their playing years and lack the strength and pace to cope with top offensive players. Both have also previously had discipline problems, this season they have collected in total seven yellow cards. This figure is not that bad, but in previous seasons they have had quite a few red cards.