Arteta, please don’t let the season slip away

Mikel Arteta needs to be very careful or Arsenal’s season could slip away. After a 10-game unbeaten streak, the Gunners have now lost 3 of their last 4 matches, all in the Premier League. Just one week ago we were looking at the possibility of jumping into 4th place in the Premier League. However, today we find ourselves in 7th place after losing two matches we could have won.

I’m not sure what it is about this squad that prevents them from holding leads. We had the lead at Old Trafford, and then again on Monday at Goddison Park. But at the end of the day, we came up on the short end of both matches, returning to London with our tail between our legs. Even the manager said, “we are not good enough.”

Arteta has problems that need to be immediately addressed and corrected. Here’s my list of what I see needs to be addressed ASAP. (These are listed in no particular order)

Fix Thomas Partey who is not playing up to his potential. He is losing duels, making poor decisions with the ball and getting manhandled on the pitch in recent matches.

Fix the striker situation. We need to score a lot more goals! Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not scoring goals, even the easy ones. Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are just running out their contracts. Gabriel Martinelli is either hot or cold. When he’s hot, he’s brilliant, but when he is cold, he becomes invisible. And then there is Falorin Balogun, who now looks to be going away on loan.

What to do with Nicolas Pepe who has become another invisible man on the Arsenal bench. Truthfully, I can’t remember the last time he stepped foot on the pitch. The very high-priced player needs to go, or else be given one last chance to show his worth.

Kieran Tierney or Nuno Tavares? Come on, this is a no brainer in my book. Tierney is head and shoulders above Tavares. Tavares is very promising, however, the young fullback can be very careless with the ball. Another thought, move Tierney into the midfield to replace Partey. Just a thought.

Decide what to do with Calum Chambers, Rob Holding,Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mo Elneny. They all need to be given some game time. If Arteta burns out his primary starting XI, the bench will have either very limited or no playing time in live competition. This can be dangerous once players get lost on the bench. More rotation could be good for the soul of this club right now.

And finally, find a way hold on to leads. This Arsenal team seems to become nervous and anxious when they take a one goal lead. They need to develop the confidence to put teams away.

As Arsenal fans and supporters we are frustrated, concerned, depressed and very anxious regarding the remainder of December. These next 5 Premier Leaguer matches this month could hold the key to where the Gunners finish come May.

I know the #Artetaout hashtags are already flying, however, this is not the time to desert the manager, or give up on the players. Yes, we are in a very difficult patch right now, however, we need to keep the faith and hope things will turn around quickly so we can all have a Happy Holiday season!

However, Mikel Arteta has some serious work to do to right the ship before the New Year.

Cheers.

Gunner1953