Arsenal could easily be 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League table but their shock home defeat to Manchester United on Sunday has blown the title race wide open and created plenty of doubts about Mikel Arteta’s side winning the title.
Now Arsenal are only four points clear and it feels like they have no momentum.
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But what is wrong? Why have Arsenal all of a sudden gone three games without a win in the Premier League?
There are a few clear themes which have cropped up in recent games which haven’t been there all season: big individual mistakes, players leaving it to one another to take charge and nerves creeping in. All three are interconnected. And perhaps understandable given human nature.
Arsenal have finished in second place in the table for three-straight seasons and we’ve all seen their struggles to close this thing out and win a title for the first time in over 20 years. But just when it looked like both Manchester City and Aston Villa had fallen away with poor recent results and Arsenal were destined to cruise to the title, now they’re only four points clear.
Mental strength questioned as creativity stutters
Roy Keane blamed Arsenal feeling the “pressure” for their stuttering form and recent results: “They have got to get back to basics and embrace this challenge instead of being frightened of it.”
“There are still some questions about the mental strength of the team,” Arsenal legend and captain of the Invincibles, Patrick Vieira said on Sky Sports in the UK after the damaging loss to Man United. “The performance was really disappointing because it is not the fact that they lose the game, it is the way they lose the game. I think there was a lack of creativity, they didn’t create enough, Saka on the right or Trossard on the left didn’t produce enough to really create danger for United. There will be in this situation a leader to lift the spirit of the team. There will be this moment that there will be somebody that when they are on the field they need to understand they have to play. This is a team full of quality. They have to play with more energy and take more risks because they have got the quality. It was a disappointing performance because I didn’t feel like they played with this kind of freedom to express themselves.”
Arteta responded to Vieira’s comments in his post-match press conference.
“That’s fine. We accept every opinion when it comes and where it’s coming from, and they will have the right reasons to say,” Arteta said. “At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to matchday and we were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren’t that good - I don’t know if it was mental because of how much they play, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time and that was the difference.”
But who is the leader that Vieira wants to see stand up and seize the moment? This is still a very young Arsenal team. It seems like everyone is leaving it to someone else to be in charge.
After the defeat Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was asked if nerves kicked in and impacted their performance, but he said he didn’t think so and just that the performance wasn’t good enough. But it’s hard to not connect the two.
As for the main problem against United, Odegaard pointed to Arsenal giving the ball away cheaply to allow counters, which United are very good at, while he also pointed to United winning too many duels in the second half to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Again, that points to nerves creeping in and players leaving it to somebody else.
Regaining freedom is key to Arsenal getting back on track
Is now the time for Arsenal to show a reaction?
“Definitely. It was never going to be easy. Every game is a big challenge and a big test. This is part of football. Now is the time to really be together and work harder than ever. We are still top of the league and we need to keep going and bounce back straight away. That is the only medicine,” Odegaard said.
Right now Arsenal need that medicine fast. Somebody get them a glass of water to take these tablets, pronto.
After a Champions League home game against Kairat on Wednesday they travel to Leeds United on Saturday and the cauldron of Elland Road, against a team who will be the underdogs but are clearly in good form, is a dangerous proposition for the current position Arsenal are in.
Quite simply they need to not think about the situation they are in. The players and Arteta say they aren’t but clearly they are. That is why these nervous displays have seem them drop seven points in their last three games. Have Arsenal been playing that badly? No. They drew 0-0 against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and could have easily won both, then United scored two belters from outside the box. It happens. But Arsenal need to not let this poor run get on top of them and see things spiral.
But for a squad full of talented attackers and wonderfully gifted footballers, a sudden general lack of creativity is down to nerves but also a lack of accountability. Players are hiding and becoming robotic, relying on set piece goals or others to step up, instead of taking risks and doing it yourself. That is not how you win a title.
Arsenal must realize that and rectify the problem quickly otherwise their lead atop the table could be gone in just a few weeks.
