Jamie Carragher has noticed a problem Arsenal have this season, despite the Gunners sitting top of the Premier League table.
Not every team is perfect, which is what was realised about Mikel Arteta’s side after Arsenal’s horrible 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.
The main takeaway from the defeat from an Arsenal point of view was how poor the Gunners looked going forward, which has been a consistent narrative since the season started.
Now that the dust has settled from the Man United loss, more and more feedback is being issued about Arsenal’s attack, and what Jamie Carragher just said might be the most damning.
Finish the sentence: Arsenal’s attackers are struggling because _______________
Jamie Carragher says Arsenal’s attack is ‘not normal’ for a title-challenging side
Every Arsenal forward has underperformed this season; it only takes a glance at the list of the Gunners’ top scorers in the Premier League to realise that.
What Carragher can’t get his head around is how poor Arsenal’s attack is, given that Arteta’s side are favourites to win the title.
Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football [26/01/26 19:39], Carragher asked a question that really got fans thinking.
“When have you ever seen a team at the top of the table, who have been top by six or seven points, but if you were picking the team of the Premier League so far, you wouldn’t have one of their players in the front four?” The pundit asked.
Be honest, how many ELITE forwards do Arsenal actually have?
He continued to say, “That is not normal, that would never happen.
“The best team in the league would always have at least one, maybe two players [forwards], in the team of the season.”
Carragher was right, as we’ve seen from the numbers Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland have been producing for their teams in title-winning campaigns.
“Arsenal don’t have that right now,” the Liverpool legend added, “and that plays into the fact that they don’t have a genuine superstar at the top end of the pitch.”
It has to be said, on this occasion, Carragher is spot on, as no one can argue that Arsenal are missing an attacking superstar.
Arsenal’s wingers have been a problem for many years
Arsenal thought they signed their answer to an attacking superstar in the summer, spending big on Viktor Gyokeres after his 54-goal season for Sporting CP.
Typically, Arsenal haven’t seen anything close to that level from Gyokeres, who has only managed to score five Premier League goals thus far.
The criticism, however, certainly doesn’t begin or end with Gyokeres.
What player does Andrea Berta sign next to improve this list?
Going into arguably every summer transfer window since 2023, Arsenal have needed a world-class winger and striker to bolster the attack.
It’s not happened yet, with the wide areas being the most disappointing, as 31-year-old Leandro Trossard is comfortably Arsenal’s best left-sider.
Focus is needed on an attacking revamp in the summer, which could see several players moved on to allow for new talent to come in and take this squad to the next level.
The issue is, it’s hard to envision that, as if there’s one thing Arteta has proven he’s not the best at, it’s bringing in wingers.
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