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.
