Mikel Arteta has done a remarkable job at Arsenal but he still has some big issues to resolve.
There was no way any manager on the planet was going to resolve all the issues at Arsenal in quick fashion, however, Mikel Arteta has done magnificently in the short time he has been in charge but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to turn the club into challengers for major honours.
The right side of the defence
Hector Bellerin is a good player but he is below top quality and no team will be title challengers without a strong right-back come wing-back. Man City and Liverpool have shown how necessary it is to have two strong full-backs and this is one position that Arteta needs to strengthen in the summer transfer window.
Goals from midfield
The stats speak for themselves, the Arsenal midfielders are just not scoring enough and if you continuously rely upon just the forwards to get the goals you will come unstuck sooner or later.
Lack of creativity
It has got better in recent weeks but is still far away from where it should be. Ozil, Ceballos, Torreira, Xhaka, Niles, Willock and Guendouzi have contributed just eight assists in the Premier League this season combined, that is less than one in every three games. That is simply not good enough.
Playing out from the back
Again, slightly better under Arteta but most Arsenal fans will admit that they still get nervous when the lads start playing out from the back and there is a reason for it, Arsenal are just not that good at it. The problem is that they find it difficult to judge when to just hoof the ball and that invites pressure.
Consistency for ninety minutes
It is hardly a secret that Arsenal is a team of two halves. They have got away with it for the most part under Arteta but producing just one good half will eventually be costly. Time and again Arsenal have had to rely on an improved second half to get themselves out of trouble. There will come a time that will not be good enough. They must be able to keep up a high standard for an entire ninety minutes if they are to harbour any hopes of catching up with the likes of Liverpool and Man City.
Mikel Arteta has done fantastic and the lads have improved in many areas and they still are a work in progress but Arsenal is a huge club with a glorious history and before they can get back to the top table they will need to solve the problems that still exist within the team.
MA is aware of the work needed to be done,only few days ago he said there is a lot of things he’d like to implement but before he can do that he wants the team to do the basics right for 90 minutes and doesn’t want to skip steps,so I’m not worried,he knows what he’s doing but time is needed to implement his ideas, don’t forget he came in during the busiest period,Christmas and top of that he had to deal with a very toxic atmosphere,team/players at at an all-time low,so he’s done very well, now with a summer transfer window,pre season,new players we will only get better,slowly but surely,COYG!
We will see. The jury’s still out on MA
NO IT IS NOT STILL OUT! Only YOUR weird jury is still out. Virtually all other Gooners jury has already declared Arteta to be a near genius. A naive comment by you!
Just you Innit…. Just you.
I’m with innit on this one.
Admin how do some of my comments to post vanish into thin air sometimes? Is this on purpose or an error?
No idea, I have not binned any. Maybe your comments failed on the filters.
Most sensible, realistic fans will acknowledge the improvements made by Arteta particularly as he is working with group of players who lack quality in certain areas.To suggest that ” the jury is still out” is to me a failure to recognise what our young, intelligent Manager has achieved in a short period of time.Think what he could do with 2/3 quality additions.
I am sold on Arteta. But you are wrong that Arsenal depends on forwards for goals. No, Arsenal depends only on Pierre the great for goals.