Jamie Carragher has questioned whether or not Arsenal have a world-class ahead line and says they have to enhance their targets from open play if they’re to reignite hopes of a primary Premier League title since 2004.
Mikel Arteta’a aspect sit fourth within the desk after a 2-1 loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage added to a house defeat to West Ham on Thursday.
The Gunners have misplaced back-to-back Premier League video games for the primary time this season, lacking two alternatives to maneuver again to the highest of the desk.
5 video games in the past, Arsenal have been six factors away from champions Manchester Metropolis however at the moment are degree, having performed another recreation with Pep Guardiola’s aspect in World Membership Cup motion earlier than Christmas.
Talking on Monday Night time Soccer, Carragher mentioned: “They obtained in entrance in opposition to Fulham however they did not create an excessive amount of after that. You thought they’d go on to win the sport comfortably however Fulham have been excellent.
“Arsenal have an issue defensively as they give the impression of being actually stretched with [Jurrien] Timber being out and [Takehiro] Tomiyasu solely simply coming again, [Oleksandr] Zinchenko missed the sport.
“Set-piece wise, they’re usually so strong at both ends of the pitch so it was really a result off the back of the West Ham game. They’re two fixtures you look at and you think they should get at least four points – probably six – so to come out of it with nothing is a big blow for them.”
Arsenal had 30 makes an attempt on objective as they slipped to a 2-0 loss to West Ham – but it surely was a unique story on Sunday as Arteta’s aspect toiled to create possibilities on a moist and windy afternoon by the Thames.
Arteta described the newest setback because the nadir of Arsenal’s season – and a part of the issue has been scoring in open play.
In 20 league matches, they’ve solely scored 20 such targets, which ranks them thirteenth within the division, behind the likes of Bournemouth, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Wolves.
For better context, they rank considerably under the earlier six Premier League champions based mostly on their present attacking output. Proper now, Arsenal are counting on set items – however is it sustainable?
“No, they need to be scoring more from open play,” Carragher continued. “On a recent MNF with Freddie Ljungberg, we were almost debating this different Arsenal. And it is a different Arsenal to the one we saw last season.
“My feeling then was that if the attacking entrance three or 4 did not enhance, I felt Arsenal would not win the league. I nonetheless imagine that.
“When I say it’s a different Arsenal, there’s definitely more control. The best way to describe it is that last season it was a bit ‘Jurgen Klopp Liverpool’ and this season it feels more like Man City.
“There’s much less transition, there’s extra management which I feel helps them defensively. However does it assist them offensively?
“The goal against Fulham saw them go from one end of the pitch to the other. An end-to-end game suits the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. Kai Havertz has come in and for me that hasn’t worked because both at Chelsea and now at Arsenal, you’re not quite sure where he plays.
“Out of the entrance 4, Martinelli is the one who is de facto struggling. They’d [Granit] Xhaka in a hard and fast No 8 place final season however this time we have seen Leandro Trossard typically play there, so too Declan Rice. I do not suppose that is serving to Martinelli.
“All of Arsenal’s forwards have scored goals that you would associate with them. How often last season would we see Martin Odegaard scoring goals from a pull back to the edge of the box? We’ve seen it again this time around, so you can see the same patterns and organisation of Arsenal when they attack.
“It made me think whether they are too organised in attack? We see the same repetition but is there enough off-the-cuff? When was the last time you can remember an Arsenal player in those front three or Odegaard scoring a worldie? It’s all a bit too organised.”
“They’re all having really good seasons but the gold standard of shot conversion is 20-plus. That’s what your Mo Salah, your Erling Haaland, your Harry Kane is getting.
“None of Arsenal’s entrance 4 have gotten above that quantity even final season. And but they’re nonetheless creating the identical variety of pictures a recreation and so they’ve nonetheless obtained the identical xG so these gamers are underperforming from final season, when even then nonetheless wasn’t ok by way of successful a title.
“All four of Arsenal’s front are top players but none of them are world class. I think Saka can become world class, but in this league Liverpool won a title because they had Mo Salah.
“Metropolis have gained titles prior to now as a result of they’d [Sergio] Aguero and so they’ve now obtained Haaland. Is that sufficient for Arsenal to win a league title? Are any of them world class proper now to take Arsenal to a title? I would say no.”
Is there a method of this getting mounted in January?
Carragher added: “Yes, of course it can. We know how close Arsenal are monitoring FFP as they’ve spent a lot of money in the last few years. They’ve brought in David Raya from Brentford and that’s almost getting paid next season.
“I feel will probably be powerful for them to convey somebody in of the best high quality that is higher than what they’ve already obtained.
“I’m not quite sure where they get it from but if they don’t – whether in January or next summer – it’s going to be very difficult for them to go above a Manchester City.”
Time for an Arsenal reset?
You would really feel Mikel Arteta’s anger as he spoke to the media at his post-match press convention, writes Sky Sports activities Information’ Oli Yew.
On Thursday, he had seen his aspect miss a bunch of possibilities as they misplaced 2-0 to West Ham. Generally that may occur and is simply a type of issues, mentioned Arteta, however the defeat to Fulham was way more “worrying” for the Spaniard.
Having solely misplaced two of their opening 18 Premier League video games this season (successful 12 and drawing 4), Arsenal have since misplaced each of their final two, simply the second time because the begin of final season that they’ve suffered back-to-back league defeats.
“We had the chance to be top of the table after 20 games. Three days ago, we lost a game that we deserved to win, today was a different story. We weren’t good enough. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror.”
The Gunners now have a break from league motion. They face Liverpool within the FA Cup subsequent Sunday however after that their subsequent league engagement isn’t till January 20 when Crystal Palace go to the Emirates.
It may very well be a break that’s coming simply on the proper time for Arteta and his aspect as they give the impression of being to seek out the fluency and attacking menace that has eluded them to this point this season and was so evident of their second-placed end final season.
It has been a depressing finish to 2023 and after being high of the desk at Christmas, they now end the 12 months in fourth and probably 5 factors behind leaders Liverpool ought to they beat Newcastle on Monday.
However simply as Arsenal have discovered in current weeks, issues can change rapidly and that is one thing for Arteta and the Arsenal supporters to carry onto.