The Temporary Fix
The sticking plaster of Mikel Merino lasted just seven days before the wound was pouring blood again. His two well-taken finishes against Leicester only temporarily masked a problem that the Arsenal board, Mikel Arteta, his players, and supporters could all see hurtling in their direction after Kai Havertz’s season-ending hamstring injury earlier this month. That is a gaping hole up front, an area that has been neglected in multiple transfer windows and could now well haunt a third straight title-race heartbreak for the club this season. Until Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli return next month, there are going to be a lot more displays like the one against Nottingham Forest, where the excellent centre-backs Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic will be licking their lips at dealing with Merino while launching counter-attacks just as West Ham did.
The Poor Performance
The defeat on Saturday by a side who, under new boss Graham Potter, were well-organized and astute in following their game plan, was not solely the fault of Merino. The statistics speak volumes: of Arsenal’s 20 shots on target, just two were on target, while West Ham managed two on target from a total of five shots. On the Gunners’ part, this performance was woeful, reflecting a poor team effort where Arsenal had plenty of the ball around the goal but lacked the killer instinct to score. The midfield also underwhelmed, struggling to pierce the opposition’s backline. While Martin Odegaard usually provides the creativity, even the Arsenal captain was off the mark, and Declan Rice lasted just 55 minutes, with Ethan Nwaneri being largely anonymous.
The Striker Crisis
The crux of the matter goes back to the necessity of playing a defensive midfielder as a makeshift striker. Merino led the line decently, fending deliveries down to teammates and giving the opposition backline trouble in the air. However, West Ham’s centre-backs were fairly comfortable with his lack of threat in behind, and the Leicester brace looked more and more like an anomaly than a breakthrough. Merino had a couple of shots and created two chances, but never really looked like scoring, nor did any of his teammates. Before Havertz’s injury, the Gunners were already very light in attack with the injuries to Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus, so they can’t say they weren’t warned. It was Jesus’s ACL injury against Manchester United in the FA Cup third-round defeat on January 12 which sent the Arsenal board into overdrive for a forward, but they still could not bring in anyone better than a player who has never played up front in his life.
The Transfer Window Woes
A number of names were explored, with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins being the most realistic. However, they did not want to break the bank for a player they were not certain was world-class, and could not even find a short-term loan deal just to see them through to the end of the season. Days like Saturday make that decision all the poorer. And then they went 1-0 down to Jarrod Bowen’s header. Who could Arteta turn to to get them back into a game they could not really afford to lose? Of the nine substitutes at his disposal, five were full-backs. The two attacking options were Raheem Sterling, who has started just four league matches in a loan spell from Chelsea that is not working out, and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who has never played in the Premier League. The 22-year-old failed to score in 24 appearances during loan spells at League One Cheltenham and Accrington Stanley and cannot be expected to dig Arsenal out of the hole they have created.
The Echoes of Last Season
In terms of the Premier League title race, Saturday felt like deja vu. The Hammers’ 2-0 victory at the Emirates in December last season was much the same, seeing a hard-working visiting side sit back and watch Arsenal fail to offer anything resembling a penetrating threat. The home side took 30 shots that day, but that was largely window dressing—10 were blocked, 12 were from long range, and only eight were on target. Arteta is clearly aware, having referenced the shot totals after each of the West Ham defeats. This loss is a significant setback in their quest to take down Liverpool, who had opened the door to a possible title race with their draws at Everton and Aston Villa.
The Lingering Failures
But because Arsenal are running this race without a striker, it is the failures of January which will linger long on the minds of Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy. The inability to bring in a forward despite clear signs of an impending crisis is a critical oversight. The club’s push for the league title has been derailed by the long-term injuries to key players like Saka and Martinelli, and the decision to play a defensive midfielder as a makeshift striker has only exacerbated the problem. As the season progresses, the absence of a reliable striker will continue to haunt Arsenal, and the decisions made in January will be revisited and criticized until the final whistle.
