Probably, it cannot be said that the Londoners spend the failure season. The second place in the strongest league in the world is a good result. Moreover, Mikel Artet can only become a third trainer in Arsenal’s history after Herbert Chepman and Arsen Wenger, in which the club finishes for three years in a second position. But it is unlikely that someone will comfort. The Gunners had a unique (perhaps the only one with Guardioli) the opportunity to take the title when the Manchester City decline, but they are likely to lose this chance.
London ranks second in the APL by the number of victories (17) and is the second best team by the number of defeats (3). But this is the main problem – the fact that they are everywhere. Arsenal is likely to lose the Liverpool Championship race. It will be a serious strike on Arteti, given that he has been managing the team since 2019, and the slot came only last summer. Some experts even say that the Spaniard may have reached its peak at the London Club and then everything will decline.
There are obvious reasons why the Arsenal season is not the best. One of them is injuries. This is a problem of many teams, including Manchester City, but you need to adapt to different situations. The canonists do not work well because they still do not have a equivalent replacement for key players. Londoners lost three matches this season in the Premier League, two of which did not play Martin Edegora. Bukayo Saka was a big problem for Arsenal, his or her injury. The Englishman took a lot of work. Most attacks were built through it. Bukayo trauma and a small number of effective actions from Edegora after the injury significantly affected the team.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Bukayo Saka and Martin Edegor (right) This season Saka creates an average of 1.34 potentially goal moments per game. This is the highest figure among all players in the top 5 leagues. The Englishman is still the most creative player in Europe, despite the fact that he missed 12 matches in a row in the APL. After a while, Gabriel Zhezus and Kai Havertz went to the infirmary. Both players have serious damage and they will no longer play this season. The personnel situation in the attack of Londoners is close to the critical. And not just in the attack. Arsenal ranks fourth among all Premier League teams in the number of days that players spent in the infirmary. Above the top clubs is only Tottenham.
Edgeor spends 28.2% less than in the previous campaign this season, Saka plays less than 41.1%. In Zhasus, this figure is 44.6% of the game time and it will significantly rise by the end of the season, as in Havertz. The only one who has increased significantly the game time is Leandro Trossard. The Belgian receives almost 50% more gaming time than last season. It remains a quality and useful player who can close several positions, but 4 goals are not too high. Rakhim Sterling, which, by the idea, had to add depths in the composition, did not benefit. There is no depth in the attack of Arsenal.
The Gunners are included in the top 5 of the most successful APL teams, but in general, they seriously asked in the attack in the second half of the season. Since February, they score an average of 0.75 goal per match, and before that there were 2.04 balls. The same applies to blows. In the first half of the season, Londoners sold 14.9% of the gate, and in the second – only 4.9%. All this has led to the fact that since February Arsenal has only scored 1,25 points per match, although before there were 2.08 points per game. The Gunners missed 25 goals in the Premier League-the best indicator among all teams. But for victories, you need not only not miss, but also score, but now the Londoners are in this regard.
Another problem of Arsenal is discipline. “Gunners” get a lot of removal. Sometimes they are strange, sometimes contradictory, but they are. This season, Londoners have received 5 red cards-more than any other Premier League team. Arsenal has spent 210 minutes in the minority in the current APL campaign, which could not but affect the results. In total, 20 red cards were received at the canonical Artet. It is also the highest indicator in the league since its appointment. Some experts explain it with youth, but Londoners are not so young. The average age of the Arsenal composition is 26.17 years. In the list of the youngest teams of the Premier League “Gunners” are only 8th place, so they have some experience.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Thomas Party, Mikel Merino and Yurrien Timber (from left to right) Given the large number of injured players in Londoners, especially in the attack, the transfers in the transfer market seem quite reasonable. Arsenal spent decent sums on Michely Merino and Riccardo Kalafiory, and before that – on Yurrena Timbera, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice. All of them are quality players who benefit the team. But the Gunners did not fulfill their main task in the transfer market – they did not sign the attacker. The Londoners really need the Central Forward. The fact that the top 10 best scorers this season of the Premier League have no player Arsenal, shows a lot.
Injuries, reducing efficiency in attack and problems with the discipline – all this has affected the results of “canon” this season. If the Londoners are finished in second place, it will be considered failure, as the opponents will become even stronger in the following seasons. Manchester City will definitely return to the fight for the championship, Liverpool will enter the transfer market, and Chelsea will strengthen. Maybe Manchester United with Tottenham will be able to claim something. Three seasons Arsenal have scored more and more points on average per match. In the current canonical campaign, an average of 2 points per game is scored, which is the worst result in the last 3 years. Canonicals have a decline, like three other clubs from the Great Six. But they will all restart and become stronger. But the “canons” may have already reached their top.
Sergey Zavalko
Source: Sport.ua