A Strange Season for Arsenal: What can we expect from Arsenal as the Premier League continues?
With an absence of fans in stadiums and multiple postponed games, The 2020-21 Premier League season has not resembled a regular season. In particular, Arsenal has had a strange season so far, placing on the second side of the league table. From Mikel Arteta's poor management to poor performances from marquee players, the Gunners have struggled, and their goals for the 2020/2021 season have changed since August.
At the beginning of December, the Gunners were looking at their worst season in the last 46 years, as they were only five points clear of relegation. Throughout this season, the team has appeared to lack effort and confidence. Several people have blamed much of this failure on manager Mikel Arteta. For instance, English soccer legend Gary Neville believes “Mikel Arteta has to do one thing in the next few weeks: … he's got to make those Arsenal players look like they are enjoying themselves.” Neville also said that “they look like a bunch of players struggling and toiling with how they'd been asked to play, maybe [because] they didn't believe in [Arteta’s] system.” To salvage the second half of the season, Arteta’s players must adapt to his new coaching system.
The poor performances of its best players have led to Arsenal’s underwhelming season. After a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, Arsenal has failed to score in seven Premier League games. Star attackers on Arsenal have underperformed, and Arsenal has struggled to score goals overall. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gunners' star striker and captain, has played 16 games this season while only contributing three goals. In contrast, in the past few seasons, the Gabon striker contended for the Golden Boot in the EPL.Arsenal’s new summer signing, Willian, has also performed poorly since his arrival.
These lousy performances have put Aubameyang and other star players on the bench, but Arteta’s struggle to choose his starting eleven may be the most crucial issue. Arteta has consistently placed players in positions that are unfamiliar to them. For example, Arteta has played Aubameyang as a winger instead of a striker, and as a result, Aumbeyang might be finding it difficult to score in the new position. This chaos in the starting lineup also appears to be damaging Arteta’s relationship with players, including Arsenal’s other star striker, Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenal is preparing to sell Lacazette because of his strained relationship with his manager. All in all, Arteta needs to have a more commanding and consistent force over his lineup if they want to score goals and compete for a place in the Premier League table.
Perhaps, one silver lining to Arsenal’s tough season is that Arsenal’s miserable performances have allowed some of its youngsters to showcase their talents. Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney, Eddie Nketiah, and Joe Willock have all stepped up in recent weeks and have performed remarkably for their young ages. Although Arsenal’s long term future may be bright, many people question what they can accomplish this season and in upcoming seasons. Arsenal is currently sitting in tenth place, nine points behind Europa League qualification and ten points behind Champions League qualification. Despite a slow start, Arsenal is not too far behind top clubs points-wise. However, the top six teams in the Prem have practically solidified their spots. Thus, qualifying for the Champions League and Europa League seems out of the question for Arsenal. Arsenal fans can only wish that the players adapt to Mikel Arteta’s coaching style and start performing up to their normal standard in upcoming Premier League seasons. If Arsenal returns to its regular play and the youngsters continue playing in their current forms, once adapted to Mikel Arteta’s style of play, Arsenal will become a dangerous side.
