As Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta spoke to TNT Sports at full-time, the Spaniard remarked that the squad is “lacking” one thing. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what that is; a striker.
The Gunners’ 1-0 defeat against West Ham last Saturday felt like a real kick in the teeth, the moment the Premier League title was probably lost. That was hammered home following a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest on a night Liverpool secured all three points again.
Truth be told, the title was lost in January. The club can’t have foreseen an injury to Kai Havertz..or perhaps they could. Alas, it was abundantly clear that Arteta needed help. This squad needed someone, anybody, just any sort of forward that could have lightened the load and scored a few goals.
Since Havertz was injured on that trip to Dubai, Arsenal have netted just twice in three games courtesy of makeshift centre-forward Mikel Merino. They didn’t look like finding the net last weekend and for all their dominance at the City ground on Wednesday, never looked like finding their way past Forest ‘keeper Matz Sels.
Nuno Santo revealed at the end of the game that their game plan was to crowd the midfield, knowing they didn’t need an extra man to deal with Arsenal’s lack of a striker. That summed it up. Pundit Martin Keown was rather left speechless.
So, what can be done? Not a lot to be fair but Arteta did try.
How Arteta's Arsenal tried to break down Nottingham Forest
In all honesty, this wasn’t a bad away performance from Arsenal. If the title race was a close affair this would have gone down as a decent point considering that Nuno’s men are battling for Champions League football.
Unfortunately, they needed to win and they did not. That was largely because of the elephant in the room; no striker.
Arteta has tinkered with his side in recent weeks to try and find a remedy. Leandro Trossard played the first hour against Leicester as the centre-forward and since then it has been Merino.
It’s not his natural role and he’s trying his best. It’s not his fault the board didn’t sign anyone over the winter.
Riccardo Calafiori was even used against Forest as a makeshift attacker. Since signing from Bologna last summer, the Italian has largely played as an inverted left-back.
He was pretty dismal defensively on Wednesday, notably picking up a yellow card within the first few minutes after being skinned by winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Going forward, however, he was perhaps Arsenal’s most threatening player. That’s a dismal sentence all things considered. He did well, though, most memorably striking the post after cutting inside from the left inside the area.
That yellow card meant he didn’t last beyond the half-time interval. The lesser-spotted Kieran Tierney featured instead and looked a threat himself, spreading some nice passes and crosses but when a player who’s rarely featured for the club in two years is who you’re relying on, you know the season is going from bad to worse.
Without Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, Arteta has needed players to stand up. Some have, chiefly Gabriel who looks like a real leader.
Unfortunately, Arsenal’s captain isn’t demonstrating the same confidence right now.
Arsenal's biggest underperformer against Nottingham Forest
While the likes of Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri struggled to find the room to create goalscoring opportunities, it was skipper Martin Odegaard who arguably let down the manager the most in Nottingham.
One of the most beautiful footballers in the Premier League to watch when in-form, he hasn’t been at the races since returning from an ankle lay-off earlier in the campaign.
He’s found the net just once from open play and much to the dismay of many a supporter, looks as though he’s gone into hiding. It’s a wretched sight, it really is. This is Arsenal’s captain and he’s fading into the background, failing to take responsibility with key players out injured.
The Norwegian is missing his partner in crime on the right in Saka but unlike someone such as Nwaneri who is really grabbing the bull by the horns, Odegaard continues to underwhelm.
Assists
0.3
0.2
Key passes
3
2.4
Big chances created
0.5
0.4
Accurate crosses
0.9
0.7
Crossing accuracy %
39%
20.4%
This term, the creative midfielder has seen his numbers decrease significantly when it comes to key passes, big chances created and accurate crosses per 90 minutes.
Those elements were missing from his game this week too, with the Express alarmingly handing the 26-year-old a 3/10 match rating, writing ‘at a time when Arsenal needed their captain most, he was nowhere to be found’.
What did the stats say? Well, he did complete 89% of his passes but he ceded possession on 14 occasions and only supplied one key pass.
Minutes played
85
Touches
59
Accurate passes
39/44 (89%)
Key passes
1
Accurate crosses
1/6
Shots
0
Successful dribbles
2/1
Ground duels won
2/5
Aerial duels won
0/2
Possession lost
14x
Fans are on his back and there are some big concerns surrounding Odegaard’s long-term future in the squad now. Once Saka and Martinelli are back, you do wonder whether his days as a regular starter will continue with Nwaneri champing at the bit to feature in Arsenal’s best side.
When it comes to the former Real Madrid man, comparisons may well be made to a certain Mesut Ozil. Like Odegaard, he was a marvel in control of a football. He could spot passes very few players could see but he also went missing far too regularly in the big moments, when his team needed him most.
Heading into the final months of the season, Arteta shouldn’t just be worried about the lack of an out-and-out centre forward but also the form of one of his classiest players.
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