Sunday should be the chance to stare into Liverpool's eyes and win the Premier League title from the Reds' grasp. Instead, the Gunners will split into two lines and applaud the opponent Anfield Stadium to form an honorary defender, which should further trigger the introspection situation.
Arsenal, which has started a campaign against the first league champion in 20 years, is now facing a battle to secure a second place. This will be their third straight win, and raise further questions about manager Mikel Arteta's ability to limit five years of continuous progress with the silverware aspired by the fan base.
Arteta said this week about his plans for the next season: "We are very clear about what we need to do to improve. First, the improvements made in our hands and what we can do with the teams we have, and then the team will be in the coaching staff, in the coaching staff, in the department, in the players, and again, better improvements."
These areas must improve Arsenal or what needs to be changed to get them over Liverpool and eventually win the long-awaited championship next season?
Although Liverpool's offensive team is not perfect - indeed, they are expected to transfer Darwin Núñez and try to improve their forward line, the simple fact is that their current crop is better than Arsenal. Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Núñez offer more than Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Bukayo Saka and Loeee Raheem Raheem raheem raheem raheem sterling. Hopefully Ethan Nwaneri can be a true top talent, but he is 18 years old and Arsenal needs to help in the transfer market immediately this summer.
When Benjamin Sesko signed a new contract to stay at RB Leipzig last year, they chose to object to the move forward and again raised the possibility of a possible signing of Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in January. In hindsight, it's easier to say, but Arsenal was struggling in the offense last summer and had no solution to the situation in the season when the opportunity arose. They can never make the same mistake again.
Many forwards are being considered, including Sesko and Viktor Gyökeres of Sporting CP. Alexander Isak may be out of reach, but if Liverpool joins together to sign him from Newcastle United, Arsenal must get into the run if he takes the next level seriously.
When ESPN asked them at a Liverpool press conference on Friday if they needed someone who scored 25 goals per season, Arteta said: "I would look at it more broadly. I think if you score more than 90 goals, then you have a high chance of winning the Premier League. It doesn't guarantee that you are very likely to be very likely, and if your defense is good, then this is so stable, and it's such a stable range. Many of the points are that he has contributed to his goals as well."
The Gunners deal with injuries (more later), but only the absence of Harvez and Jesus can reveal a major shortcoming in the squad. They led the lead in midfielder Mikel Merino in several games this season. Although the Spanish International team is innocent and scored some important goals, the Gunners obviously need a more permanent solution.
"Having players with multiple uses is a reward, and this year is exactly the number of injuries we have to adapt to players," Arteta told ESPN. I thought Mikel could do that because of the intuition and timing he had with very few players. Excellent. ”
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Arteta: PSG reached UCL finals thanks to Donnarumma
Mikel Arteta believes their Champions League semifinals are "deserving more" with Arsenal in PSG.
It now looks like the league's highest goal scorer will be one player on the team, winning the championship for only the third time in the past 10 years. But if Salah (three games left) wins the golden boots, it will be the last three years. This does raise the question of whether the trend is developing and top clubs need a player to post anomaly numbers to make it different.
Arteta was quick to point out that Arsenal shared a club record 91 league goal around the team last season. But they also fell shortly at that time. Since Thierry Henry in 2004-05, no Arsenal player has reached 25 league goals in a season. Salah contributed nine wins in his traction, and Arsenal needed his own game changer.
The most likely candidate is Saka, who has developed into one of the best wingers in Europe. In Arsenal's Champions League quarterfinals, he eclipsed Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo and played against Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals, but overall his season hurt his season with four months of absence after ham muscle surgery. The 23-year-old needs to pick it up where he leaves and keeps moving forward. This season, he became the fourth young player for Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Robbie Fowler. Continuing his upward trajectory in perfectly appropriate sports will help Arsenal bridge the gap next season.
When ESPN's inquiry against Liverpool this week beat the title, Arteta said: "You have to accept that one opponent is better than you in terms of performance than you and have the entire team in the competition.
Arteta is not usually the one who openly dissects his disappointment, but he repeatedly mentions the need for Arsenal to improve player availability. On a line that is often used – he said this in at least three interviews last week. All seven are unavailable.
Arteta's view is that Arsenal has to deal with the damage in the way Liverpool has. So far, only two outfielders have played all 3,150 minutes in the Premier League season: Brentford's Nathan Collins and Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk. Next comes Bryan Mbeumo in Brentford, 3,145, and then Salah at 3,107. Arsenal's most commonly used player is William Saliba (2,906), but their Salah is equivalent to Saka, down 1,544.
Club captain Martin Ødegaard (Martin ødegaard) was injured in September with an ankle injury of 2,134, a figure too low for a midfielder who weaves everything together as a side heartbeat. Ben White had three months of knee problems, and Havertz and Jesus missed the entire run-in until next season. Most teams are struggling in another crazy sport, but Liverpool just manages the sport better than Arsenal.
“I think they’ve been very stable and they definitely deserve to win the championship,” Arteta said of Arne Slot’s team. “They have the entire team (no injuries), the top players perform well, they win a lot of games alone.”
This is Arteta's area of dispute. He suggested that Arsenal was unfairly punished early this season when the referee calibrated the execution of the new rules, especially with the delayed restart of the game. Declan Rice and Trossard sent balls against Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City, respectively.
Both are technically correct decisions, but the allegation is that the rule is not enforced uniformly. This may make sense, but Arsenal has the most players this season (with Ipswich Town tied for five points). In the case of rice and trossard, they gave the referee a decision to make when it was not needed, at least that part of it. The same can be said for the Saliba red card at the AFC in Bournemouth in October. Myles Lewis-Skelly was dismissed after being overturned by appeals, but there was no probation when he sent West Ham again to another in February.
Arsenal fell 10 points in those five games, and in those five, they were at a digital disadvantage. Liverpool received two red cards this season - one against Andrew Robertson against Fulham in December and Curtis Jones followed a full-time whistle at Everton in February.
Last month Arteta was asked what it takes to compete in the business ending game in all four games. “The quality and availability of the squad,” he replied. "With these two people, we wouldn't be able to play four games. At this level, especially in this country, it's impossible."
Arsenal’s summer is not just about signing forwards. Sources told ESPN that Arsenal is expected to complete a €60 million move for Martín Zubimendi, a deal that represents an early blow to Liverpool as they signed the real social midfielder last summer. Zubimendi chose to stay in Spain, but his head was turned around by Arteta and Arsenal, which would strengthen the area where Jorginho would be lost in free transfers to Flamengo. Partey breached the contract, and his departure could not be ruled out despite negotiations on a possible extension.
Elsewhere, when Neto's loan from Bournemouth ended, Arsenal needed to sign an alternate goalkeeper - Espanyol's Joan García was the preferred option. The winger will further increase momentum with the radar of the sports club Nico Williams.
Asked if there will be a lot of changes in the summer, Arteta said: “We will see at the end of the season and it will depend on what will happen to many players.”
Arsenal appointed Andrea Berta as sporting director in March, hoping that the Italians can help the Gunners from almost men to winners. Now is the time.