It is still mathematically possible for Arsenal to win the Premier League title this season, but given how relentless Manchester City are when awards season begins, the dream is all but over for the Gunners.
A deflating 3-0 home defeat against Brighton on Sunday leaves Mikel Arteta’s side four points behind City with two games to play, and Pep Guardiola’s men have the added cushion of a game in hand. City will have a fifth title in six years wrapped up next Sunday if they beat Chelsea at the Etihad, regardless of Arsenal’s result at Nottingham Forest the day before.
Arsenal ended the 2021-22 campaign in similarly downbeat mood, but it is testament to the significant strides forward they have made over the past 12 months that this time they are ruing a Premier League trophy that got away, rather than a place in the top four.
Securing a return to the Champions League was Arsenal’s primary objective before a ball was kicked in August and they have achieved that goal with matches to spare.
That feels hollow at the moment, though, considering Arsenal have led the Premier League table for virtually the entire campaign, only to be reeled in by City at the death.
Arteta will hope that this year’s improvement can act as a springboard to go one better in 2023-24 and the experience of going head-to-head with City should only benefit a talented young squad.
Here are the lessons that Arteta, his players and the club can learn from this season’s near miss.
Upgrade defensive backups
Rob Holding has become an unfortunate scapegoat for Arsenal’s demise given their downturn since March coincided with his ascension up Arteta’s central defensive pecking order following William Saliba’s back injury.
Saliba’s importance to Arsenal’s defence is evidenced by the numbers, which paint a stark picture. With Saliba in the side, Arsenal won 21 out of 27 Premier League matches (78 per cent win rate) this season, averaging 2.4 points and conceding 0.92 goals per game. Without him, Arsenal have won only four of their nine league matches (44 per cent win rate), averaged 1.66 points, and conceded 1.8 goals per game.
There is obviously a considerable drop-off between Saliba, one of the best young defenders in Europe, and Holding, a backup player throughout his seven years at Arsenal.
Guardiola has no such concerns at City, with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake all roughly at the same level.
Holding has been a loyal and selfless servant to the Gunners and played an important role in some notable successes, particularly in the 2017 FA Cup final win when he marshalled Diego Costa superbly.
But if Arsenal are to close the gap on City they need greater strength in depth at the back. A potential solution could be to buy a new right-back and have Ben White alternating between both positions.
Tighten up at home
On a related note, Arsenal’s defensive record at home has been bafflingly poor.
The Gunners have the sixth-worst defensive record at home in the Premier League, conceding 25 goals in 18 matches at the Emirates. Only 10th-placed Fulham have let in more (with 27) of sides currently in the top half of the table.
Compare that to Arsenal’s solidity on the road and it is even more puzzling: Manchester City are the only side to have conceded fewer away goals than the Gunners (with 14 to 17).
Over a third of those goals that Arsenal have shipped at home have come during Saliba’s absence, but perhaps there is a tactical issue at play too.
Arsenal’s proactive style and eagerness to dominate at the Emirates has possibly left them too open and vulnerable to opposition counter-attacks.
Be more ruthless
Arsenal raced into two-goal leads against Liverpool and West Ham in back-to-back matches in April and had opportunities to kill both matches before allowing their opponents back into the game.
The Gunners had five shots in the opening half an hour at Anfield, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring with their second effort and Gabriel Jesus doing so from their fifth.
However, for the remaining hour of the contest plus injury time Arsenal managed just four more attempts, one of which came after Roberto Firmino’s 87th-minute equaliser.
Whether through accident or by design, Arsenal retreated after going 2-0 up, which offered Liverpool encouragement; a third goal would have all but settled the contest.
The Anfield factor and quality of Liverpool’s attackers gave Arsenal a free pass of sorts in that one, but no such allowances could be made for the collapse at the London Stadium which was entirely self-inflicted. Arsenal were 2-0 up after 10 minutes but conceded a sloppy penalty and an avoidable equaliser.
On an individual level, more will be expected of Jesus next season. The Brazilian made a flying start to his Arsenal career but the goals have dried up. Jesus has a respectable tally of 10 goals from 24 league appearances but has missed 16 big chances. That is an area he’ll have to improve on.
Control their emotions better
It is difficult to make this argument without sounding like a “Proper Football Man” but there is a chance that Arsenal allowed themselves to get too carried away too early.
Now, that doesn’t mean to say that footballers, coaches, fans, the tea lady, and whoever else should be criticised for celebrating a goal: they have every right to be ecstatic when a 98th-minute winner completes a 3-2 comeback, as was the case with Reiss Nelson’s strike against Bournemouth in March.
But such raucous scenes haven’t really been witnessed at City during their incessant 11-game winning streak which began at the end of February. City have quietly gone about their business in the knowledge that titles are won in May and not in March.
Maybe Arsenal were too excitable when calm heads were required. Perhaps they inadvertently increased the pressure on themselves by getting too emotionally caught up in the title race.
That’s understandable given this is the second-youngest squad in the division and the players will take away plenty of lessons from this experience. They should be better equipped mentally to cope next time.
On a similar theme, Arteta’s touchline dramatics have drawn criticism throughout the campaign. He is far from the only manager who has developed an unhealthy habit of berating fourth officials, but he is certainly one of the most obvious repeat offenders. Maybe he could benefit from dialling down the intensity a touch.
Rebuild central midfield
Martin Odegaard has been magnificent all season. Granit Xhaka has enjoyed his best Arsenal season by a distance – even earning himself a terrace song for the first time in seven years. And Thomas Partey was viewed as the club’s most important player in some quarters during the first two-thirds of the campaign.
Suggesting that Arsenal require a midfield rebuild then may seem harsh, but Odegaard aside, Arsenal could certainly improve in that area of the pitch. A factor that has contributed towards the defence being more leaky has been that Xhaka’s influence has waned and Partey’s form has fallen off a cliff.
Arsenal are believed to be the front-runners to sign Declan Rice from West Ham in the summer and there is no doubt that he would provide far more dynamism than either Xhaka or Partey are capable of. Xhaka has also been linked with a return to the Bundesliga.
The benefit of sealing Champions League football is that Arsenal should be able to attract a higher-calibre of player. Rice fits the bill and looks set to be available for the right price after David Moyes admitted that there is a “good chance” he could leave West Ham at the end of this season.
https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/...lessons-2340861?ito=twitter_share_article-top
*
