Arsenal: What’s behind the Gunners’ recent slump and how will Mikel Arteta stop the team from ‘bottling’ the Premier League? |Soccer News

The Premier League title race has produced many iconic images over the years. Steven Gerrard’s slip and Kevin Keegan collapsing into the Anfield stands were the only two.

So what is the ultimate meaning of one Manchester City fan drinking an Arsenal bottle in the away end at Stamford Bridge as the title race swings?

Such is the ominous state of affairs in the current title race that one City fan has decided to mock Arsenal, whose team is trailing by six points. We are not simply following a script, and we risk history repeating itself.

This is the period when Manchester City reach top gear, but Arsenal tend to ‘pack’ it. April is the only month of the season under Mikel Arteta in which Arsenal’s winning percentage is below 50 per cent, but City have not lost in that month for five years.

Arsenal are frozen in front of the championship. After losing only three games in the first 49 games of the season, they lost twice as many in the last four games.

So what is behind Arsenal’s recent downturn and how will Arteta stop the rot?

Tactics Arsenal are struggling with

Firstly, Arsenal froze on the pitch. And there is a tactical element to the Gunners’ impasse in recent weeks.

One statistic that emerged from the disastrous defeat to Bournemouth was that Arsenal players passed the ball to David Raya 38 times in 95 minutes. Arsenal were really struggling with Bournemouth’s pressing, a problem they have faced before.

As Arsenal built up from the back, Andoni Iraola lined up in a four-man press, giving Raya the ball and completely sealing off the center of the pitch.

By stopping passing lanes to Martin Zvimendi and Declan Rice, Arsenal left the goalkeeper with two options when he had the ball. Are you going to be forced into a corner against a centre-back or forced into a long position?

Both give the opponent a chance to win the ball back. When Arsenal found Zvimendi and Rice breaking through the line, the Arsenal pair gave away the ball 29 times. If they shoot long, Bournemouth have a 50:50 chance of getting the ball back.

As a result, Bournemouth’s two goals came from Arsenal’s mistakes. Martin Zvimendi’s erratic pass out led to a throw-in, giving Bournemouth the lead. In the second half, Gabriel’s hasty clearance under pressure led to Alex Scott’s winning goal.

The four-man press is a tactic Arsenal have faced recently. Manchester City adopted the same approach in the Carabao Cup final, and this tactic resulted in Josep Guardiola’s side dominating the second half, thwarting Arsenal’s development, much like Bournemouth had done at the Emirates.

Arteta took several weeks to overcome this tactical problem during the international break, but there is still no answer. He needs it quickly, with a reunion with Guardiola’s City coming up this Sunday.

The bigger question is whether Arteta’s tactical acumen can change the tactical narrative.

Look at Guardiola and City who turned Nico O’Reilly into a scoring machine at the right time. We’ve seen this with another defender, Josko Gvardiol, who scored the goal that helped City win the title two seasons ago.

So what’s sitting in Arteta’s tactical corners as the pressure mounts? The Bournemouth game still revealed that the overall attacking play relies on set pieces. An xG of 0.19 in open play against the Cherries is a tall order.

There are also questions about how Arteta has managed this season, especially Zvimendi’s side. The Spanish midfielder is no longer the player who had such an impact at the start of the season and now looks worn out.

Zvimendi has played more minutes than any other Arsenal outfield player this season, playing 3,751 minutes, more than 100 minutes more than the next best player after Rice. Christian Norgaard, meanwhile, has only played 995 minutes this season and is yet to start a Premier League game for Arsenal all season.

Could Arteta have rotated his two main midfielders more? Rice is under strain due to an injury to backup Mikel Merino.

However, Arsenal’s midfield has been overloaded with game time and, in turn, with the opposition’s pressing.

Is Arteta cooperating with his comments?

But are there deeper issues with Arsenal’s play? “It’s not a tactic, it’s a mindset,” Guardiola told reporters after his Man City team defeated Chelsea on Sunday.

There are worrying trends emerging with Arteta, and they’re happening before Arsenal even kick a ball. Before the game against Bournemouth, the Arsenal manager urged supporters to get on their feet for Saturday’s early kick-off.

“So let’s get up early, have an early breakfast, bring lunch, dinner and let’s all do our best together because it has to be a big day,” he said. It’s not the first time he’s done that.

“Bring your boots and bring your shin guards,” he told supporters before Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. And in January this year, ahead of a Premier League match between Arsenal and reigning champions Liverpool, he urged all fans to arrive before 8pm for the 8.15pm kick-off.

However, Arsenal’s team did not feature in all three matches against Bournemouth, PSG and Liverpool. Neither team was able to score a goal from open play. The “big day” that Arteta was looking for did not come, but perhaps that message did not get through to the team.

Arteta’s justification for such an outburst would be honest and innocent. It was a rallying cry to the fans and a desire to maximize every advantage in Arsenal’s favor.

But the screams only added to the noise and tension. I understand the desire to turn up the volume against Liverpool and PSG, but what about at home against Bournemouth? Arsenal want this game to be a normal win and they can do that without any more stress.

It was a mistake to play drums that didn’t need to be played. Especially for a team that already has an uneasy hurdle to cross.

“Arsenal lost on Saturday not because they didn’t want it, but because they wanted it too much and it’s starting to weigh them down,” Gary Neville said after the weekend’s game.

“When you’re aiming for your first title, you start to get tired, you’re mentally drained, your legs look physically tired.

“That’s part of what we saw against Bournemouth: ‘We’re going to win this game, we’re going to win the title and we’re desperate to get it. We want to win it for the first time in 22 years and we’re going to be legends at the club’.”

“They’re not saying that themselves. It’s the noise around the club, the emotion in the stadium, the expectations and the fact that they haven’t done that in the last two or three years that they’ve been in this position.”

Arteta’s restlessness and nervousness rubbed off on his team in Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth. That was reflected in his triple substitution in the 53rd minute, where he removed everyone behind Victor Gokeres and brought in three new options, including 16-year-old Max Dauman.

Given that Bournemouth held on so high, perhaps a calmer side could have kept either the pacey Noni Maduke or Gabriel Martinelli on the pitch. Dauman and Leandro Trossard are both players who like to drive the ball to their feet.

And when Arsenal aren’t winning or living up to their potential, Arteta’s cries seem hypocritical.

Will Arsenal be able to bring back injured players?

How Arteta resolves Arsenal’s current predicament is both within and outside of his control. It is clear that tactical tweaks are needed to beat City, but it will also depend on the return of players.

Sunday, April 19th 4pm

4:30pm kickoff

Against Bournemouth, Arsenal were without Julian Timber, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafioli and Martin Odegaard, with only Ebelesi Eze and Piero Hincapie fit enough on the bench.

At least four of them are guaranteed to start, bringing clarity to situations such as building play at the back, where Arsenal are struggling.

This further reinforces the point that Arsenal are in a very good position considering their injury woes.

Before the March international break, no team in the Premier League had suffered more injuries than the Gunners this season. If you look at the eight teams with the most injuries, most of them are underperforming. Arsenal, Leeds and Aston Villa are the exceptions.

Standards have fallen in Arsenal’s last four games, but Arteta’s side need to remember what got them to where they are for most of the season.

The form leading up to the game against Man City has not defined Arsenal’s season as a whole so far. But Sunday’s game will help.