Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faces perhaps the most defining period of his young career in the season’s eight remaining games.
The Emirates Stadium is suddenly a nervy place after two consecutive defeats to Crystal Palace and Brighton.
This, combined with Spurs’ recent good form means that Arsenal are no longer the frontrunners for 4th place.
It’s not catastrophic yet. Arsenal still have a game in hand on Tottenham and a game against them still to come. However, a few more poor results would represent a collapse after it looked like they had Champions League qualification sewn up.
Read: Premier League Title Race – Advantage Manchester City, Just
Mikel Arteta is without two of his on-field generals in Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey due to injury. Make no mistake, this is a devastating blow. Arsenal had found a system that worked and without those players, it’s back to the drawing board.
Against Brighton, Mikel Arteta played Granit Xhaka at left back instead of his actual backup left back, Nuno Tavares. This meant that Arsenal effectively lost both their central midfielders. Without the combination of Xhaka and Partey in midfield, they couldn’t build up.
It’s a decision that seems to have killed the Arsenal career of Tavares, who was substituted before half time in his previous two appearances. It also makes Arteta’s job harder for him because if he distrusts Tavares that much, he’s effectively lost a third player on top of Tierney and Partey.
Read: Erik ten Hag to Manchester? United Close In On New Manager
You have to wonder if this is a case of a young manager cutting his nose off to spite his face. He may be young, but Arteta is brutal. If he doesn’t rate you, he really doesn’t rate you.
Ozil, Mustafi, Guendouzi, Kolasinac, Aubemeyang… the list of exiled players goes on. If the transfer window was open, Arteta might sell Tavares too. Arteta doesn’t want to compromise on his football principles, or his culture. As well as that, the number of players he trusts is incredibly small.
If Arsenal are going to finish 4th, Arteta is going to have to find a way to trust different players in a different system.
