“It is what it is,” Mikel Arteta shrugged, sounding like a deflated Love Island contestant.
Rather than finishing bottom of a public poll, Arteta’s philosophical reflection came after a third consecutive defeat for his Arsenal side. The Gunners limped into the winter break on the back of one win in seven games across all competitions, tumbling from the top spot they held on Christmas Day to five points adrift of league-leading Liverpool.
With almost half the season still to play and the Champions League knockout stages on the horizon, here is how Arteta can turn things around.
Arsenal’s slump has coincided with a spell of misfortune in front of goal. Since Christmas Day, the capital outfit have scored just once from 63 shots. While a new striker is one alternative, the current Gunners squad will likely regain their aim in time.
Football is a painfully random game – an inconvenient truth that is often overlooked in the constant search for explanations. Pep Guardiola captured the infuriating and engaging reality when he opined: “Football is the only sport where you can lose by playing better, that’s why it’s so attractive to people.”
Against Aston Villa, West Ham United and at home to Liverpool in the FA Cup, Arsenal created more than enough chances to comfortably win. “We haven’t capitalised,” Arteta admitted following the third-round exit to Liverpool. “Not just today, but in the last few games as well. That’s why we’re not winning games. Merit-wise, there is no question that we deserve to win the games but the results are very different.”
Given the financial restrictions that serve as a bolted lock on any transfer war chest fans may be hoping for this January, Arsenal simply can’t afford a striker that will shift the needle more than simple regression to the mean. In fact, any funds spent in winter will only reduce the budget this summer, when a wider array of talents will be available.
However, that’s not to say that Arteta can’t make any tweaks.
Kai Havertz has looked more comfortable at left-back than leading the line this season. After a stuttering start to life in Arsenal’s midfield, Havertz had belatedly begun to look less pained in a red shirt. When the Gunners were turned over 2-0 at home to West Ham in December, many onlookers pointed to Havertz’s suspension as justification for Arsenal’s subpar performance.
Arteta could call upon Havertz for Liverpool’s visit in the cup and shoehorned the ephemeral German into the centre-forward role. While Havertz served as a useful focal point to bypass Liverpool’s press, his innate clumsiness in front of goal squandered most of Arsenal’s chances.
Havertz describes his best role – “more or less” – as “a midfield player but I like to go into the box”. Even if Gabriel Jesus is sidelined with a knee injury, it would be better to spare Havertz the ignominy of unconvincingly swiping at shots and start Eddie Nketiah – or perhaps even Leandro Trossard – through the middle.
Arteta may have been suspended for Arsenal’s trip to Villa Park in December but there was no shortage of tactical instruction for the players on the pitch. Under the thinly veiled pretence of warming up, substitute Jorginho camped out on the touchline, barking orders to his teammates as they battled valiantly despite a 1-0 reverse.
Jorginho offers the same direction on the pitch. Not only does the metronomic passer allow Declan Rice to push forward and use his remarkable physicality to press higher up the pitch, but offers some much-needed thrust through the middle.
Just 22.3% of Arsenal’s chances this season have been created from the central third of the pitch – the lowest share of any Premier League club (per Opta). The Gunners lean heavily upon Bukayo Saka down their right flank but Jorginho can help shift the focus – no player in Arsenal’s squad averages more passes into the final third than the Italian (8.8).
While Thomas Partey continues his long trek back to full fitness, Jorginho could be in line for more game time in the new year.
Arsenal’s 2-0 reverse to Liverpool in the FA Cup underscored the key difference between the two leading challengers to Manchester City’s crown. After watching his side get torn apart time and again by their wasteful hosts, Jurgen Klopp reacted during the half-time interval.
Klopp called Liverpool’s transformative substitutions “the story of our season” earlier this term, so frequently has the manager been able to impact the game from the bench.
Arteta would be right to point out that Arsenal do not have the same strength in depth as Liverpool but it was a positional switch between two starters – Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez – which loosened Arsenal’s stranglehold on the contest.
If Arsenal’s starting setup – be that personnel and formation – is not working, Arteta has to find a way of impacting the game from the touchline.
The statistical quirk behind Arsenal’s finishing woes has exacerbated the lack of attacking fluency that has plagued the Gunners all season. Up against packed defences and stubborn low blocks, Arsenal have struggled to create clear chances from open play. “When you’re sitting in traffic,” Arteta observed, “I want to go 100 miles an hour but I have three buses and 55 taxis and motorbikes around me, so it’s tricky.”
Arsenal have bypassed the gridlock with their set-piece expertise but they cannot afford to drop their intensity off the ball either. Klopp famously claimed that a well-oiled press was better than any playmaker, a theory Arteta clear subscribes to.
The Gunners have created 40 shots from high turnovers this season – the best figure in the Premier League. Yet, Arsenal have only scored three goals from such situations, a tally that nine clubs can better. While their actual playmakers are crowded out of contests, Arsenal must continue to press feverishly. Eventually, these chances will be converted, theoretically.
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