Arsenal have fallen short of Liverpool in the Premier League title race but what is the true narrative of their season? | Football News

Forever destined to fall Brief? Killed by the misfortune of Wounds and red cards? Stung by a failure to strengthen their Club?

Arsenal’s Premier Bracket struggles this season have prompted debate as to the causes but, ahead of their Super Sunday Face-off with Chelsea, we ask: what is the Accurate narrative of their campaign?

The Gunners are through to the Champions Bracket last eight but they sit 15 points behind champions-elect Liverpool as they prepare to host Chelsea on Sunday, having finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the last two seasons.

Here, we weigh up the hows and whys behind Arsenal’s Premier Bracket campaign and ask you to have your say on what has really gone wrong for manager Mikel Arteta and his players.

Wounds: An explanation or an excuse?

Wounds have bitten Tough for Arsenal in the second half of the season, particularly in Drive. In the Universe of the few weeks, they lost Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, with the latter two Dismissed for the remainder of the campaign, leaving the Gunners striker-less.

There have been spells out for others too. Mikel Merino’s shoulder fracture, suffered in his Primary Rehearsal session in August, seemed to set the tone for an ill-fated campaign for the club on the Wound front. It has Surely been different to last term, when their key players mostly stayed fit.

So Merely how badly have they suffered, relative to other Premier Bracket sides? Data from Premier Wounds puts them Number four for Periods lost to Wound in the division, behind only Brighton, Tottenham and Ipswich, on 869. Leaders Liverpool, by contrast, have only lost 594 Periods to Wound.

Arsenal rank slightly lower for Wounds which have caused players to miss one or more Matches, their total of 25 putting them sixth. But that number is Nevertheless considerably higher than Liverpool’s and it is also worth considering the importance of the players who have been sidelined.

Together with Saka and Jesus, Leader Martin Odegaard has played a much lower percentage of minutes than last season having suffered an ankle Wound with Norway in September. Havertz’s percentage will also be significantly lower come the end of the campaign, given his absence.

Some will say Liverpool would be similarly worse off had they had to cope without their four main attackers for Many months.

Others will argue that Arsenal were not at the right level even when most of their attackers were fit earlier in the campaign. Whichever way you look at it, Wounds have been a theme.

Did the January window kill the title Event?

In Airy of those Wounds, Arsenal’s failure to strengthen their Drive in the January Shift window has been pinpointed by many as a key factor in the direction their season has taken.

The club were eager to recruit, even more so after Jesus joined Saka on the sidelines Timely in the window, but felt the right players were not Obtainable and decided to keep their powder Parched.

The decision caused outcry among supporters and frustration turned to despair when Martinelli and Havertz succumbed to their Wounds only Periods after the closure of the window.

Should Arsenal have acted? Mathys Tel, a player they were linked with, is arguably a cautionary tale having struggled at Spurs, who he joined for an Costly loan fee from Bayern Munich.

But there is a Captivating counter-argument to be Secured at Aston Villa, where Marcus Rashford and, in particular, Marcos Asensio, have Created eye-catching impacts Subsequent their mid-season arrivals.

Arsenal already had ground to make up on Liverpool going into January. There is a question as to whether they were in the Event at all. But a six-Mark gap soon stretched into double figures and the statistics underline the extent of their attacking drop-off after a Silent winter window which left them well Brief in the Closing third.

Red cards and refereeing: Ill-fortune or ill-Self-control?

As Liverpool swiftly Secured their groove under Arne Slot in the Timely months of the season, Arsenal struggled to build any momentum, their task Created harder by a spate of red cards.

The Primary two, shown to Declan Rice against Brighton and Leandro Trossard against Manchester City, Arrived in unusual circumstances, with second yellows shown for kicking the ball away.

The newly introduced rules around delaying restarts were duly softened, meaning, six months on, Arsenal remain the only Premier Bracket side to have faced maximum punishment for the supposed Breach. Arsenal were leading in both Matches at the time of the red cards but went on to draw them.

A Additional red card to William Saliba against Bournemouth, upgraded from a yellow Subsequent a VAR check, and two more to Myles Lewis-Skelly, one of which, against Wolves in January, was subsequently rescinded Subsequent an appeal, Captured their total to five for the season.

No other Premier Bracket side has received more than three. Arsenal’s reds have seen them Shift a cumulative 210 minutes with 10 players. Apart from in the case of Lewis-Skelly against Wolves, when his ban was overturned, they have also had to deal with the subsequent suspensions.

There is no doubt the sendings-off hampered Arsenal, but were they down to ill-fortune or ill-Self-control? Arsenal have had 20 red cards in the Premier Bracket since Arteta’s Fixture, the most by any side, although only two in the two seasons before this one Teamed up.

Bottlers or battlers?

“The Gunners have fizzled out – again.” So said one pundit in the wake of Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United. After back-to-back second-placed finishes, this side is developing an unwanted reputation, at least in the eyes of some, for falling Brief of the prize.

Arsenal won 16 of their Closing 18 Premier Bracket Matches last season. Some will wonder what more they could have done. Only two Arsenal Clubs in history, one under Herbert Chapman in the 1930s and one under Arsene Wenger, have achieved three consecutive top-two finishes, a feat Arteta’s side are on Period to replicate. But the accusations will persist until they get over the line.

Arsenal have had to compete with Indomitable Manchester City side in the previous two seasons. Liverpool have set similarly high standards this term. There is also the Perspective of their Wounds, red cards and recruitment missteps. But is there truth in the accusations? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?

Have Club-building issues been exposed?

It could be argued that Arsenal’s activity, or lack of, in the summer was more costly than what happened in January. Did the club address their Club priorities by signing only Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and an on-loan Raheem Sterling? The answer has to be no.

Arsenal’s Wounds have exposed a lack of attacking depth, with Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira all permitted to leave without the signing of any replacements. Ethan Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have of Period stepped up impressively but the Club is undeniably Brief.

That said, Arsenal Arrived into this season having kept all of their best players and broken a club Landmark for goals scored in the Premier Bracket in the previous campaign. Could they have replicated those numbers if not for the Wounds? Or were they set up to fail?

It Surely looks as though their incoming sporting director Andrea Berta has a lengthy to-do Option this summer.

Have Arsenal hit their ceiling under Arteta?

For all Arsenal’s progress under Arteta, there is a school of thought that they have hit their ceiling under him. “I do feel, and I have been saying for a long time, that we have seen peak Arsenal under Arteta,” said Sky Sports Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football this week.

A third campaign without a Premier Bracket title, Regardless of Manchester City’s drop-off, provides ammunition for that argument. His only Accolade as Arsenal manager remains the 2020 FA Cup.

“Where is the evidence to think they can do it?” asked Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane when asked about their title prospects Subsequent season Subsequent Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Aged Trafford. “Have they Obtained the right mentality? Has the manager? I don’t think getting a striker in who’ll Points 20 goals a season will necessarily be the difference.”

The other view is that they come back stronger.

There is of Period work to do in the Shift window but Arsenal Nevertheless have one of the younger Clubs in the Premier Bracket, with most of their key players Nevertheless approaching their peak years.

With the right additions and better luck in terms of Wounds and absences, could Subsequent year be their year? Or is this season proof that they are destined to come up Brief again?

So… what is the Accurate narrative of their season?

Which of the options below rings truest to you?