Guilty only of failing to match Manchester City‘s exacting standards in their last two Premier League title tilts, Arsenal must be kicking themselves that they are now architects of their own downfall at a time when Pep Guardiola’s champions look more vulnerable than ever.
To lose at St James’ Park is not a new experience for Mikel Arteta, who departed licking his wounds after a third defeat from four at Newcastle. But this time, as even Arteta himself admitted, there was no ill discipline or refereeing error to hide behind as an excuse for a misstep.
The problem here was a lack of imagination and the longer term issue of recruitment failures that have left them exposed as injuries begin to bite. Both were equally culpable for their latest away day failure which poses searching questions about whether they have actually progressed since coming so close to toppling City last season.
It could have been worse for Arsenal, who mustered just a single shot on target and were unable to muster even a late cavalry charge when the precocious Ethan Nwaneri was belatedly summoned from the bench. City’s stumble at Bournemouth means the Gunners remain seven points adrift of top spot: not yet terminal for Premier League hopes but leaving them supping in last chance saloon and with little room for error.
The worst part? No one at the Emirates can hide from the inconvenient truth that they have made it much more difficult for themselves by failing to sign adequate cover for Martin Odegaard and an inability to procure an elite striker who might have pressed home Arsenal’s early advantage on Saturday.
Afterwards defender William Saliba spoke of “sticking together” and of retaining belief that they could win the title. But perhaps the most damning indictment of where they are right now is his assertion that “at big clubs you have to be able to win big matches without big players”.
Arsenal just can’t do that right now and the reason is the huge deficit of creativity and enterprise in midfield since Odegaard’s injury in September. Mikel Merino was not signed to carry water but he wasn’t recruited to carry the Gunners’ title hopes either. As he showed in the summer with Spain, he is there to compliment others capable of unpicking defences rather than doing that job himself.
Perhaps the money spent on him could have been better invested in someone capable of stepping in for Odegaard because Arteta doesn’t seem prepared to sacrifice his team’s solidity for Nwaneri. He is Arsenal’s X Factor but is wasted being brought on in the sort of game that Saturday developed into.
“They are really good at what they want to do,” was Arteta’s slightly salty assessment of Newcastle’s disrupting approach, which was pitch perfect for the occasion. But it will have been lost on no one that Bruno Guimaraes – the game’s most creative player – and goalscorer Alexander Isak have been on Arteta’s radar in the past.
“I love my players and wouldn’t swap them for anyone else,” was how he artfully side-stepped the inevitable question about whether he’d wished he had Isak in his team. i understands that Arsenal, curiously, aren’t even interested in him at the moment.
There is not much Arteta or Arsenal’s decision-makers can do about personnel right now, other than welcome Odegaard back with open arms for their midweek Champions League assignment against Inter. He will add a new dimension to their forward play, which looked so mediocre at Newcastle.
We are used to Arsenal pulling and pushing teams into an uncomfortable space with their pace and power under Arteta. But Newcastle were never under threat: the moment when their goalkeeper Nick Pope claimed an aimless Bukayo Saka cross in the 96th minute summing up their attacking efforts. They lacked direction and it needs to be fixed quickly.
