Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had plenty to say about the VAR decision that he felt cost his side the game against Newcastle on Saturday, but the truth is that it looks like his post-match rant is little more than a convenient distraction from the fact that the changes he’s made this season have taken his team backwards.
Many will have had Arsenal as one of the title favourites this season, with the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham during the summer showing huge ambition to pull off against their bitter rivals Manchester City. Rice aside, however, the Gunners have not spent their money particularly well, and it’s allowed both Liverpool and Tottenham to overtake them as more likely rivals to Pep Guardiola’s treble winners this term.
Arsenal were truly excellent last season and may well have won the title if not for William Saliba’s injury meaning Rob Holding had to fill in for so many important games – an enforced change that looks even worse now with the benefit of hindsight as Saliba has returned to fitness and form while Holding has barely kicked a ball since his summer move to Crystal Palace.
So while last year was no fluke, there was a huge opportunity here for Arsenal, and it’s starting to look like they haven’t taken it: losing Granit Xhaka, one of their players of the season, seems all the more baffling after his tremendous start at Bayer Leverkusen, while Kai Havertz’s signing never really looked like it made sense and still doesn’t, while big questions have to be asked of Arteta for bringing in David Raya as his new number one when Aaron Ramsdale had a perfectly good season in 2022/23.
Of course, Arsenal have had some awful luck with injuries which shouldn’t be forgotten – Jurrien Timber, most cruelly, didn’t even last his full Premier League debut and will be fortunate to play any meaningful role this season. Elsewhere, Gabriel Jesus has only played a handful of games, following on from some fitness issues last term as well. Thomas Partey also can’t seem to stay fit, begging the question once again as to why it was Xhaka rather than him who was shown the door over the summer.
The continued absence of Jesus has meant more playing time for Eddie Nketiah – a popular figure at the Emirates Stadium after rising up through the club’s academy, but not a striker who is ever likely to be good enough for a title-challenging team. Hat-tricks against teams like Sheffield United will of course bring a cheer to the Emirates crowd, but it’s pretty worthless when he can’t seem to score away from home or make much of an impact against teams in the top half. There’s no guarantee Folarin Balogun would have been a better option, but you could again forgive Arsenal fans for asking if they sold the right striker this summer.
All in all, it’s not looking good for Arteta and he knows it. “There’s so much at stake here … it’s so difficult to compete at this level,” the Spanish tactician said after the game, almost hinting that Newcastle’s controversial goal may already have cost his side the title this year – but the truth is arguably more frustrating than that: Arsenal were in a position to take a positive step forward, but, for whatever reason, ended up over-thinking it and reinventing the wheel when the old one was rolling along quite nicely in the right direction.
We all know it took Manchester City a bit of time to get going last season as they continued to trail Arsenal in the title race, and some Gooners may comfort themselves that a similar phenomenon is occurring here and that the tide could change in particular once Partey and Jesus are available again, and if Timber can return earlier can expected, but the truth is that for all the faith placed in Raya and Havertz, Arsenal are not yet seeing any kind of return on their summer investment – unless those two can really step up soon, that will be where Arteta and co. have to look back and take some responsibility for their own poor decision-making.
He should play Zinchenko in midfield with Rice and Odegaard and forget about Havertz for now.
Arteta’s inability to conserve what we had last campaign and just make additions has led to an unrecognizable Arsenal once more but it’s not late to make amends.
Insisting on fielding a poorly motivated Havertz is destructive of the progress made in the last campaign