Another Wenger record broken By DAN SMITH
Arsenal used to have a reputation among Europe of, if nothing else, being one of the most entertaining teams to watch.
Even in Arsene Wenger’s declining years, you could trust that the Gunners would always make chances.
Anyone who witnessed the majority of our performances against Crystal Palace and then Brighton will know there was a genuine struggle to create opportunities to score.
That unfortunately has become the norm, with the Gunners no longer considered to be a side who play a beautiful brand of football.
I used to give our manager the benefit of the doubt, in terms of maybe he was thinking he would fix the defence first and then build from there.
Arteta can claim that he’s made us harder to score against and his squad are now capable of grinding out narrow wins.
Yet for a man who often preaches about the club’s values, he should know there are principles that Arsenal used to have in terms of how the game should be played.
He has tried to educate younger Gooners into thinking that getting to half time goalless with Liverpool is something to be proud about, or that wins over Wolves and Villa are considered progress.
Creative talents like Ozil and Aubameyang essentially had their contracts ripped up while Pepe is being frozen out.
Our young coach prefers to micromanage, barking instructions on the touch line instead of trusting players to have freedom to express themselves.
It’s always been the case that if you want to qualify for the Champions League, you need a striker who is prolific. Arsenal have tried to go against the norm by trying to reach the top 4 by relying on two forwards who won’t even be in North London this time next year.
Pundits, including ex-players Paul Merson and Ian Wright are blaming our lack of firepower for Spurs now being favourites to finish above us.
I have long argued we have regressed since Mr Wenger left, backed up by our two consecutive lowest positions in a quarter of a century.
We have fallen so low that I expect a section of our fanbase to argue this summer that top 6 is progress.
All I ever want is Arsenal to try and be the best version of themselves.
I no longer enjoy watching us.
We have failed to score in 9 fixtures this season with still another 8 left to play.
The fact that it is no longer newsworthy again shows how far the standards have fallen.
Not including Europe, Arteta’s set a new low last season with the team failing to score in 14 domestic games. That never happened in 25 years under Mr Wenger, who’s worst record was two seasons where there were 12 domestic fixtures, we failed to score in.
So, if Arsenal fail to score in three more games this season both of Arteta’s first two full seasons as manager will see us having scored in the fewest games in 25 years.
Dan Smith
How Many Games (Domestic) We Failed To Score In Under Mr Wenger…
17/18- 8
16/17- 5
15/16- 10
14/15 – 5
13/14 – 7
12/13- 8
11/12 -7
10/11-7
9/10- 5
8/9- 10
7/8- 3
6/7- 8
5/6-12
4/5- 6
3/4-6
2/3-2
1/2- 1
00/01- 10
1999/00- 6
1998/1999- 12
1997-1998- 11
1996-1997 – 10
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Video – Mikel Arteta post-Brighton “It’s time to criticise ourselves”