'Desperate' signing, injuries and Edu departure - Why Arsenal's Premier League title hopes faltered yet again

Arsenal’s Premier League season has tailed off dramatically since around the halfway point, with Liverpool pulling away and now set to wrap up the title without too much sweat.

The Gunners were expecting to go one better than what they have managed in the last two seasons, but they have come up very short, and there will need to be a painful dissection of the campaign and where it all went wrong come the end of the campaign. In the meantime, we have taken a look at some of the reasons Arsenal have come up short as they shift the bulk of their focus on the Champions League.

Edu’s departure

Edu’s departure from Arsenal was a mess, even if there were clear attempts to sweep it under the rug. Arteta and Edu had a seemingly rock-solid relationship, forming something of a dream time that has allowed for solid recruitment over recent years.

But the Brazilian half of that partnership walked away during the season when he decided to join Nottingham Forest. Professional reasons were given, as they often are, but reports emerged later claiming that Edu was unhappy with Arteta’s growing influence over the club, with the manager getting too much of say.

Whether you agree with Edu or not, that is a concerning sign, especially coming from someone who had been doing a very good job. It’s a bad look, and there is concern about how the club is operating, giving up so much control to the manager and moving away from a model that seemed to be working.

Failure to sign a striker X2

Perhaps the most obvious one, Arsenal needed to sign a striker last summer, but they prioritised other areas, signing Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori. Now, both of those were good signings, but they were not what Arsenal needed most. It can be argued that the Gunners would have been better off making a statement signing and making do with what they had in midfield and at left-back, which is actually a position where they already had plenty of depth.

Though, that argument is purely hypothetical. What is not hypothetical is that Arsenal should have signed a striker in January, and they knew it at the time with Gabriel Jesus having been lost to injury, and Kai Havertz followed after the window had closed. Perhaps the right option was not available, but it’s hard to believe that the Gunners couldn’t find anybody to fill the gap.

Even if they were below Arsenal’s usual standard, the Gunners would have been better off with an out and out striker over playing a midfielder out of position. The decision not to sign a striker was a decision to withdraw from the title race, with Arteta knowing he was down to only Havertz and the likelihood of injuries in a long season. Arteta should hold his hands up to that error.

Injuries

What is out of Arteta’s control is injuries, and it would be remiss not to mention the injury issues that helped derail Arsenal’s season. Beyond the striker already mentioned, the loss of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have been huge, and let’s not forget the time Martin Odegaard missed earlier in the season.

There are questions about the lack of quality in depth at Arsenal, but injuries have been one of the key issues this season.

Sterling signing

The loan signing of Raheem Sterling was a desperate one. With no disrespect to Sterling, because he is a good player, he was deemed not good enough by Chelsea who knew their best hope for this season would be a top four finish, and Arteta then decided he could be good enough for his title-challenging team?

The result is more damaging because Sterling has taken up a spot that could have been occupied by a better thought out signing, and he is a player Arteta clearly doesn’t trust to make a difference. That’s not surprising, either, with Sterling having failed to seize his opportunities.

You can’t afford too many passengers in a title-contending squad, and Arsenal have too many. Whether it’s Sterling or Leandro Trossard, the players Arsenal bring in to make a difference are not consistently capable of it. That impacts the Gunners on various levels, whether it’s not being able to cope with injuries or not being able to replace players who are out of form like Gabriel Martinelli was earlier in the season.

Managers of title-winning teams are ruthless with their substitutions, making sure the most in-form player is on the pitch. In Arsenal’s case, the lack of quality depth means Arteta’s best option is usually to leave players like Martinelli on the pitch even if they are not playing well and hoping that they come good eventually. More impact players are needed, and if Arteta has too much say over transfers, the club need to examine the process, especially if they are ending up with players like Sterling, who are not good enough to topple well-rounded squads like that of Liverpool.

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