GOAL
The north London club’s abysmal recent run continued against Liverpool in the FA Cup, and the spotlight should be on the manager
“Merit-wise, there is no question that we deserve to win the games, but the results are very different,” Mikel Arteta said after Arsenal’s 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. “But when my team plays with that courage and attitude against probably the best team in Europe right now in terms of momentum, what can I do but stick by them and support them?”
The Gunners have now lost three successive games, after also being humbled by West Ham and Fulham in the Premier League, and another clear route to silverware has been closed off. And no matter what Arteta might believe, Liverpool are deservedly in the hat for the FA Cup fourth round.
A grand total of 16 chances went begging for Arsenal in the heavyweight tie, with Kai Havertz spurning the best of them during a one-sided first half. Inevitably, Liverpool gradually upped their game in the second period, and showed the clinical edge their opponents were lacking by scoring two late goals.
Pressed on whether his squad are developing a psychological issue in front of goal, Arteta added: “Probably it has. That’s why I think we need to reset.” The Spaniard isn’t running away from Arsenal’s main problem, but he does seem oblivious to the fact it is a result of his poor choices in the transfer market.
Arteta was given license to spend over £200 million ($254m) in the summer, but the players he brought in haven’t made Arsenal any better. In actual fact, the Gunners are now clearly going backwards under Arteta, who should count himself lucky that he’s not under more pressure.
Arsenal’s season is in danger of going down the drain, and the blame has to fall on the manager. For all the progress made in terms of playing style during Arteta’s tenure, they are no closer to any tangible rewards, and it’s unlikely that the January transfer window will provide a timely boost.
Havertz & Raya over a proper striker?!
Arsenal came agonisingly close to winning their first Premier League title in 19 years last season, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard admirably sharing the main goalscoring burden amid Gabriel Jesus’ struggles for fitness.
In the end, the difference between the Gunners and eventual champions Manchester City was Erling Haaland’s presence in Pep Guardiola’s line-up. City scraped a number of wins without playing at their best purely because the Norwegian was in the right place to make a decisive contribution, but Arsenal didn’t have that luxury.
When the Gunners’ star attacking trio inevitably ran out of steam, so too did their title push. Yes, they were also hampered by the injury-enforced absence of William Saliba at the back, but it seemed like a no-brainer for Arteta to target a proper No.9 in order to take his side to the next level.
Instead, he made Havertz his priority target, and Arsenal successfully negotiated a £65m ($82m) deal with Chelsea. The languid German had just endured his worst season yet at Stamford Bridge, but Arteta decided he was the right man to come in and replace outgoing midfield general Granit Xhaka.
Securing a goalkeeping upgrade was also deemed to be more important than going for a new striker, with Arteta drafting in David Raya on loan from Brentford. Predictably, those two signings have since proven to be huge missteps.
