Outside Arsenal’s Emirates stadium is a chilly place. Not least in the depths of winter. And not least hours after the full time whistle had sounded on yet another early FA Cup exit, this time in the third round to none other than Manchester United.
While the rivalry isn’t what it once was – long gone are the days of the two clubs battling each other for Premier League superiority, of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira offering each other out in the Highbury tunnel, or Wenger and Ferguson, Henry and Rooney – defeat suffered at United’s hands stings Arsenal fans like a thousand wasps.
These days, both sides fight separate battles. For United, it’s climbing from mid-table, competing for Europe, and breaking the cycle of mediocrity that has rotted them since Ferguson’s 2013 retirement.
For Arsenal, who’ve exited their own banter era under Mikel Arteta’s guidance, the battle is about getting over the final hurdles blocking them from who they are and who many believe they can be.
Despite being one of England, and Europe’s, best sides over the last three seasons, Arsenal have nothing to show for it, no shiny trophy added to their once hefty, now dusty, cabinet. Aside from the 2020 FA Cup, of course.
Mikel Arteta. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
This is partly due to Pep’s Manchester City, who until this season were essentially an unstoppable force, a large boulder barrelling down a smooth, unobstructed mountainside. But also partly due to Arsenal being their own worst enemy, stumbling late in the 2022-23 Premier League season, falling out of all that season’s cup competitions, being eliminated by West Ham in the 2023-24 EFL Cup, and now the loss to United.
Frustrations appear to be high amongst some Arsenal fans, highlighted by clips from the infamous AFTV – Arsenal’s fan TV – calling for Arteta’s job, and jokingly urging for Jose Mourinho’s appointment.
There are shades of late-era Wenger about the present online uproar. The Frenchman’s final seasons at the club whose modern greatness he built were overshadowed by increasingly loud calls for his job that were impossible to ignore or drown out.
Arteta has every right to feel hard done by this criticism given where the club are now compared to where they were when he took over. Yes their current form isn’t great, but he reinvigorated a club spluttering through life, taking them from laughing stock to challengers.
A few factors paint a picture of the Gunners’ awkward recent results. Firstly, Bukayo Saka, the club’s crown jewel and best player, is currently sidelined by injury. Secondly, Martin Odegaard is playing like he’s acting as himself in a movie, unable to inspire the creativity and confidence he so often has in his teammates. And still, Arsenal created enough chances to beat United. They couldn’t convert, or win.
Herein lies where Arteta, and the club’s hierarchy, can be criticised: recruitment.
Specifically, a lack thereof in attacking departments. In recent seasons, Arsenal’s transfer business has been seemingly geared towards two things: making them hard to beat, and improving their physicality. Given the not-so-distant criticisms of the club’s once-soft underbelly, investing in those areas is not only understandable, it’s also been effective.
Yet, football is about balance. It’s all good and well preventing chances, suffocating opponents, and keeping clean sheets, but only if goals fly in at the other end.
In 2022-23 this balance was achieved. Arsenal’s 88 goals came by committee, with each of Saka, Odegaard, and the Gabriels, Jesus and Martinelli, finding the net 10-plus times.
Since that campaign, Saka and Odegaard have improved their levels, form and fitness have evaded Jesus, while Martinelli has performed like a caricature of the player he was that season.
In 2023-24, both Brazilian forwards combined for 10 Premier League goals. While their drop in output was compensated for by Kai Havertz’s 13 goals and Leandro Trossard’s 12, the need for a bonafide centre forward remained.
For their brilliance, Havertz and Trossard aren’t elite level centre forwards. Neither are Jesus, or Martinelli. All four would combine brilliantly with someone adept at leading the line, but they aren’t able to shoulder that burden themselves.
Perhaps scoring by committee will again work, but up to now, 2024-25 has shown that isn’t exactly the case, especially when Arsenal’s set piece potency drops.
Perhaps they thought a loan move for Raheem Sterling would fix things. Which begs the question: had they watched Raheem Sterling over the last 18 months?
Now out of both English domestic cups, despite dominating the xG, the calls are louder than ever for the club to bring in attacking reinforcements, not just a world-class No.9 who can finish the chances Havertz misses with their eyes closed, but also some long needed cover for Saka, who has been working tirelessly since debuting.
Whether they will answer these calls is a whole other question. Arsenal’s financial situation isn’t clear, with the Premier League’s PSR rules complicating matters further. What is clear is that it’s not a change of coaching that’ll increase their chances of winning silverware, nor adding additional defensive options, but bolstering and reinforcing their attacking arsenal in line with their competitors.
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