Less than six months ago, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal produced tactical masterclasses over Manchester City and Chelsea on their way to a record-breaking 14th FA Cup triumph. The Spaniard also led the Gunners to a Community Shield win over Liverpool – his second of three victories against the Premier League champions – and Gooners finally looked ahead to the new campaign with a sense of optimism.
However, as the curtain comes down on what has frankly been a dreadful year in and out of the sporting world, Arsenal's situation could hardly be more contrasting. Arteta's men are enduring their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1974-75 season and find themselves four points clear of the bottom three ahead of a Boxing Day showdown with Chelsea.
The words "Arsenal" and "Relegation" being used in the same sentence still seems inconceivable, but fans, pundits and journalists alike are fearing that the FA Cup winners could be at serious risk of dropping down to the second tier. The Gunners' 101-year stint in the top flight is the longest in English football, but their recent results are certainly that of a side in relegation form.
Gooners have been quick to lay the blame on a number of factors for Arsenal's poor form, such as injuries, the coronavirus pandemic, a lack of investment from the owners and poor decisions in the transfer market. Arteta's managerial credentials have also been called into question recently, with former Arsenal attacker Perry Groves claiming that the Spaniard has just three games left to save his job in the Emirates dugout.
Amid Arsenal's torrid fortunes in the Premier League, Sports Mole provides an in-depth analysis of where things have gone wrong for the North London outfit this season.
RECRUITMENT
Two of Arsenal's top players this season – Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey – both arrived in the summer for reasonable prices. Barring the latter's unfortunate time with injuries, the duo have undoubtedly been excellent coups for the Gunners, which is more than can be said for several more of their recent incomings.
Bringing Willian to the Emirates on a free transfer seemed like a smart move at the time; Premier League proven, plenty of experience with a Champions League side, and the hope that he would add some much-needed creativity to the ranks. However, the £220k-a-week winger has endured a woeful start to life in red and white, with the Brazilian still yet to get off the mark this season, and Willian was widely criticised for his perceived lack of effort at Everton despite Arteta's faith in the attacker.
Willian's fellow winger Nicolas Pepe has not done his £72m price tag justice either. The former Lille man is often demoted to the bench, has little in the way of goal contributions and picked up an embarrassing red card for headbutting Leeds United's Ezgjan Alioski. Gooners have been treated to a taste of what Pepe's left foot can do, but the 25-year-old is already being linked with an exit after struggling to adapt to the English game.
Garnering a £20m fee for Emiliano Martinez was a good bit of business on Arsenal's part, but the Gunners replaced him with a goalkeeper who barely cost a tenth of that price, and it shows. Alex Runarsson's error-strewn performance against Manchester City has Arsenal fans fearing for the remainder of the season if Bernd Leno – who has saved the Gunners on countless occasions – suffers another serious injury.
You would need more than one pair of hands to count the number of Arsenal players who must be moved on in 2021, too. Mesut Ozil and Sokratis - despite both being loyal servants to the club - take up a huge chunk of the Gunners' wage bill while being frozen out of the team. Granit Xhaka enjoyed somewhat of a revival at the back end of last season, but following a needless red card against Burnley, it is difficult to see the midfielder having any future in North London. Alexandre Lacazette, Willian, Sead Kolasinac, Mohamed Elneny, David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi are all players whom Arsenal should be looking to offload as well - with the latter being linked with a shock move to Barcelona despite his notable mistakes in an Arsenal shirt.
MIKEL ARTETA
The most successful managers in the world were all rookies once, and Mikel Arteta - despite learning from one of the best in Pep Guardiola - is no exception. Fellow club legends Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard are in control of the reins at Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, but Arteta's managerial rivals were not thrust into such a demanding role as their first-ever job in the dugout.
Having served as Guardiola's lieutenant for three years, Arteta's appointment at Arsenal initially divided opinion due to his lack of experience in the hotseat. Lampard had guided Derby County to a Championship playoff final before assuming control at Chelsea, while Solskjaer enjoyed stints at Molde and Cardiff City prior to his Old Trafford return. At the moment, Chelsea and United are competing for a top-four finish, whereas talk of Arsenal being relegated is much more than just a joke amongst rival supporters.
The Spaniard has insisted that he needs time to turn Arsenal's fortunes around, and there have already been plenty of positive signs. Despite their underwhelming start to the campaign, Arteta has certainly helped shore up Arsenal's historically leaky defence, and after recovering from coronavirus, the 38-year-old has overseen the smart acquisitions of Partey and Gabriel during a heavily disrupted summer of spending.
On the other hand, Arteta is seemingly still trying to figure out his best system, with the Gunners manager often switching between a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 3-4-3 or a conventional 4-4-2 this season, and Arteta's reluctance to give youngsters like William Saliba, Emile Smith Rowe or Folarin Balogun starts has not sat well with Gooners. Freezing Ozil out of the team appears to have backfired given the Gunners' distinct lack of creativity, and reports of a bust-up with inspirational dressing room figure David Luiz - which the defender has since denied - would not have helped the atmosphere at London Colney.
However, those inside the sport are urging the Gunners to stick with Arteta. The Spaniard's mentor Guardiola has claimed that the Gunners would be making a "big mistake" if they were to give Arteta the boot, and Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos has hailed his manager's impact since taking over from Unai Emery. Technical director Edu has also publicly backed the under-fire Arteta, so it seems highly unlikely that the Spaniard's job is under any threat right now, but plenty more questions will be asked if the Gunners' position becomes all the more precarious approaching the spring.
THE PLAYERS
There have been some individual shining lights in this Arsenal team despite their awful results, with Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka in particular being singled out for their performances. Barring his error-strewn cameo against Southampton, Gabriel has arguably been one of the Premier League's best centre-backs this season, and the Brazilian has quickly become a fan favourite amongst the Arsenal faithful for his assured displays in the Gunners defence.
On the other hand, some of Arsenal's big-hitters are yet to display their true qualities. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract renewal in the summer received more coverage from the club than his signing did, and the 31-year-old's goalscoring troubles since committing his future to the club are well-documented. The former Borussia Dortmund man has only found the back of the net three times in the league so far, while fellow big-money signing Alexandre Lacazette can only boast a trio of top-flight goals too.
Arteta's men have also been prone to the odd rush of blood to the head this season, with Gabriel's sending off against Southampton coming after Nicolas Pepe and Granit Xhaka had also seen red for moments of madness against Leeds United and Burnley. Those temporary exclusions are little in comparison to the situation of Ozil, though, who continues to find himself in the spotlight while watching on from home.
The Gunners' lack of creativity through the middle is evident since Ozil was frozen out of the team. While some fans have been calling for the playmaker's return in January, others have pointed to his lack of contributions when he was given a number of chances earlier in the year. Ozil might not be the answer, but Dominik Szoboszlai could have been, although the Hungary starlet has now penned a deal with RB Leipzig.
Finally, Arsenal have become synonymous with injuries ever since Arsene Wenger's glory days. At one stage of the season, Liverpool were the only Premier League side to have more absentees than Arsenal, but players are slowly starting to filter out of the London Colney medical room. Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari and Gabriel Martinelli are all back in the fold after lengthy layoffs, with the latter's return in particular a huge boost for the struggling capital outfit.
Arteta has warned against viewing Martinelli as Arsenal's saviour, but unless the FA Cup winners can work some sort of magic over the next couple of months, Gooners' relegation nightmares will start becoming all the more realistic heading into the business end of the season.
