Arsenal have been playing badly for quite some time now, and what is even more worrying is that their performances continue to decline. In December, they achieved several important results, but the manner in which those points were won was far from convincing, and the team was struggling. They escaped against Wolverhampton and other teams, often without control, without dominance, and without the level of football expected from a title contender.
As the season goes on, Arsenal look weaker and weaker, even though they were first. Mikel Arteta relies more and more on set pieces, especially corners and the physical presence of Gabriel and the defensive line. Before the match’s the team and Arteta are hiding the truth about their defenders’ availability for the game.
The club has even brought in new set-piece specialists, which clearly shows the direction Arsenal’s football is taking. The problem is that Arsenal are almost incapable of scoring from open play. Goals from structured attacking football are rare; instead, every match is reduced to crossing into the six-yard box and hoping something happens. When they don’t score, he introduces the stars from the bench.
There has not been a single match where Arteta has deliberately rested his strongest options. Everything is sacrificed for the immediate result, with no long-term planning.
Arsenal have failed to win their last two matches, yet they are fortunate that Manchester City are their only real title rival. However, the City themselves are struggling — inefficient in front of goal, vulnerable defensively, and unable to convert many chances in the last few months. Aston Villa, meanwhile, are too defensively oriented and overly dependent on counterattacks, lacking the ability to dominate weaker opponents.
This is the biggest illusion surrounding Arsenal’s position. They may be top of the table, but this is more a reflection of their rivals’ weaknesses than Arsenal’s own quality.
The key question is obvious: what is really happening, and why is nobody criticising Arsenal? Why is Arteta protected from serious scrutiny? The fantastic football Arsenal played in October and November has completely disappeared. This team now looks like a different side altogether — without ideas, rhythm, or control in open play. Arteta critics are absolutely right now. He is proving to be worst then ever in the last months and weeks.
Arteta has clearly shown that he is willing to sacrifice football development in pursuit of the title. Hiring yet another set-piece specialist symbolises that approach. Arsenal are not evolving, not improving, and not becoming a better football team — they are simply trying to win the title. Arteta is trying to win the title at a cost and to prove everybody wrong. If they win the title, it would be one of the weakest Premier League championships in years, worse than Liverpool’s title-winning season last year.
Liverpool collapsed dramatically in February and March last season. The same scenario now threatens Arsenal — potentially in an even more severe form. Their structural reliance on set pieces and constant deliveries into the six-yard box may bring short-term success, but on long runs, they will fall apart. They are already playing very weakly with the ball and are not on a good level at all.
Football is a game of development, ideas, and progression. Arsenal currently show none of that. Arteta is closing out the season, chasing results, and hoping that Manchester City’s problems and the lack of true competition will hide Arsenal’s growing issues.
But if the approach does not change urgently, we could witness one of the biggest collapses of a major club, potentially a champion in English football history. Many experts were saying this about Liverpool when they won the title; now Arsenal, after a great November and October, have fallen into much bigger problems led by the manager. The development of their game has stopped, and everything is being sacrificed for one title at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta, who is leading this process, is a weak manager with a bad mentality. He is sitting behind and controlling it. He could take them right to the edge to a point that has no return option to win the Premier League title for Arsenal. The second Premier League title for Arsenal in this century.
The form from November is gone.
The confidence of players is gone.
The football is gone.
Arteta is doing everything to win the title — but the way he is doing it may damage Arsenal for years to come.
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