Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta

 

For a third successive season, Arsenal have come up short in the title race. The Gunners had been tipped by many to be the ones to dethrone Manchester City this term.  

 

After narrowly missing out in the 2023/24 campaign, Mikel Arteta’s team had strengthened in the summer transfer window, spending the best part of £70m Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino while Raheem Sterling joined on loan from Chelsea.  

 

Over the past five years, Arsenal have a net spend of over £450m. Only Manchester United and Chelsea have a higher net spend during this period. Arteta has been backed. He’s been able to put his stamp on this squad. He’s made it his team. As a result, this was supposed to be the season it clicked.  

 

The near misses should’ve built mental resilience. The experiences should’ve improved the players. This was Arteta’s Arsenal.  

 

Yet here we are in May. The Gunners are in a fight for a top four finish after taking just six points from their last five matches. Ahead of kick-off at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, they are admittedly fortunate that Manchester City failed to beat Southampton and go level on points with the Gunners. Arteta’s side knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League in the quarter-final stage but then lost both ties to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final.  

 

 

It is another trophyless season at the Emirates. It might even get worse if they don’t turn their form around in the Premier League. Six teams are battling for four places and Newcastle, Man City, Chelsea and Villa are all in better form than Arsenal at the minute.  

 

So how exactly can Arsenal close the gap on Liverpool next season?  

 

The most obvious answer here would be to sack Arteta.  

 

Jose Mourinho once called Arsene Wenger a specialist in failure but that best describes Arteta right now. There’s always an excuse for their inability to finish the job. Earlier in the week, he made a false claim: "Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons. So for the past two seasons we have two Premier League [titles]. You have to be in the right moment in the right place. Hopefully we will be in the right place in the right moment in Paris tomorrow and earn that right to be in the final."

 

What he said is an outright lie. Liverpool’s 82 points from 35 games is higher than Arsenal managed after the same number of games in 2023/24 (81) and in 2022/23 (81).  

 

The Arsenal manager seems to believe his side have been unlucky rather than anything else. This makes it difficult for him to assess the situation fairly, or properly, and improve. However, it is unlikely he’ll be removed from his position.  

 

So what else can Arsenal do?  

 

Stop signing left-backs, maybe? They have an abundance of them.  

 

Address areas in the squad that need to be looked at. There’s a Declan Rice sized elephant in the room. He’s clearly not a defensive midfielder and enjoys his best games in a box-to-box role, so someone to free him up on a permanent basis is required. Could Martin Zubimendi be that player? We’ll soon find out, I guess.  

 

The attack needs depth. Arsenal can’t handle an injury to Bukayo Saka even though injuries are part and parcel of football. Their success seems to hinge on the England international being fit for the entirety of the season.  

 

 

But one issue that seems to be overlooked is their inability to create. Perhaps this is tied to Saka’s absence, but Arsenal struggle in the final third. The narrative is that they miss a finisher but their xG underperformance this term isn’t that bad (-3.68). For context here, champions Liverpool (-5) have a greater underperformance, as do Champions League rivals Chelsea (-10.76) and Aston Villa (-10.19).  

 

So, yeah, finishing hasn’t been great but they’re by no means the worst offenders. In fact, they’ve done well with their chances. The issue is they aren’t creating anywhere near enough.  

 

They’re fifth for Expected Goals, fifth for shots, fifth for xG per shot and fourth for goals. That is tied to the system and the plan, isn’t it? An attacker like Alexander Isak isn’t going to improve their attacking numbers by much as chances aren’t being created. They need to increase the supply and that comes from midfield and the wide forwards. They have, after all, created just 318 chances from open play, that ranking eighth behind the likes of Tottenham, Fulham and Bournemouth. Liverpool, for context, lead this metric, with 419. 

 

Victor Gyokeres can only do so much in this Arsenal team. The Gunners need to add creators to their ranks. Do that and then assess the finishing of the team. Until then, you’re adding a finisher to a team that doesn’t create.

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