Arsenal have struggled to produce their best form so far this season, leaving them in a precarious position as far as the Premier League title race is concerned.
As things stand, the Gunners sit nine points behind current league leaders Liverpool with eleven games played.
Martin Keown has insisted that Arsenal are still in the title race. However, even Mikel Arteta would admit that his side can scarcely afford to drop any more points if they are to stand any chance of being crowned champions this season.
Michael Bridges takes aim at Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
Paul Merson has told Arsenal players that they’ll need to win seven Premier League games in a row from this point on just to keep themselves in title contention.
If the North London club are to start picking up the points they need, though, then their performances will have to improve drastically.
On far too many occasions this season, the Gunners have been toothless in the final third. In their last three outings, across all competitions, Arsenal have found the back of the net just once, when Gabriel Martinelli scored against Chelsea on Sunday.
In general, their play has been conservative and negative, a fact which has not escaped the attention of former Sunderland star Michael Bridges.
Bridges called out Arteta’s tactics on The Optus Sport Football Podcast.
He said: “It’s been like, watching Arsenal of late, these gamesmanship tactics of stalling and delaying – I used to love it when they just got the ball down quick and played at every opportunity – they’ve become a little bit of the gamesmanship masters under Arteta recently and it’s backfired. It has hasn’t paid off for them.”
Was Roy Keane right about Arteta?
This is not the first time this season that Arteta’s tactical approach has been attacked by a pundit.
After Arsenal ground out a draw against Manchester City, playing in a very defensive manner for much of the game after being reduced to ten men, Roy Keane slammed Arteta’s “dinosaur” tactics.
It is certainly fair to say that the Gunners have not been at their free-flowing best this season. Whilst there are mitigating circumstances given how many injuries and suspensions the club have suffered, Arteta’s players have looked uninspired all the same and have fallen short of their own lofty standards.
In order to get Arsenal back on track, Arteta needs to unshackle his players. For instance, Martinelli needs to be given greater license to attack if he is to reach his potential.
As long as Arteta insists on his side playing like underdogs, he will find that they won’t make it to the top.
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