Arsenal’s inevitability

On the previous article, we dived into Arsenal’s tactical approach on key moments of the game, analyzing previous games this season. I hinted that Arsenal lacked unstoppability, a theme to explore today.

Saliba, Saka, Declan Rice, Saliba, Ødegaard. These are world class talents. However, none of them have the inevitable factor to perform even when they’re in poor form or the team is having a bad game.

To better understand this, think of the reigning champions, Manchester City, and two of their core players: De Bruyne and Haaland. These two, as all players in the world, have bad games and face tough periods in form, but they have unstoppable qualities that makes them perform and contribute with G/A or key actions within the match that helps their teams secure points- and, in a league as competitive and elite as the Premier League, every point matters. At any time of a match, De Bruyne can put on a killer pass that goes past 7 men, Haaland can break free from his man and have a chance, and he will not miss it. The same goes for the current leaders of the Prem, Liverpool: Luis Diaz and Salah. The same goes for the current Champions League winners, Real Madrid: Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Mbappe, Rodrygo.. the only player that comes close to being this unstoppable in Arsenal’s squad is Saka. I believe that Arsenal signed Sterling in an attempt to have this unstoppability in key moments of the season, due to the proven goal scoring ability of the experienced winger. This plan is not working and, truth be told, Sterling has always been more about quantity than quality, even in his prime years.

Recruitment needs to be exceptional- which has been since Arteta took over, the profiles have been right but some of the signings raise a few questions. Timber and Calafiori have the right profile for Arsenal: athletic, smart, good on the ball- they totally can play this dynamic game and when both are playing at the same time, Arsenal are even better that they are now; but they’re also injury prone and have been missing some games due to this.

There is a lot of talk for over a year now about a new striker- which makes sense, an unstoppable goalscorer like Haaland is what Arsenal need to be inevitable as well. Among every mentioned name, I will highlight three that I believe to be on Arsenal’s shortlist to fit this role: Alexander Isak, Benjamin Šeško, Viktor Gyökeres and, more recently, Ollie Watkins.

From all of them, I believe Gyökeres to be the best goalscorer, although he is also the least technical one and he thrives when playing against a high line and has the space to run behind the defenders, which is not always what happens against Arsenal. He is also the one with a profile closer to Haaland.

Isak, his compatriot, is, I believe, to be the most technical among these four, is prem proven and has eye for goal too. I think he fits Arsenal’s playstyle but I have some doubts on whether he can be as duelist as Havertz and if he has the unstoppability necessary for Arsenal to evolve once more.

Šeško is for me the next big thing when it comes to strikers. He has a complete profile. He’s tall without hurting his agility and agile without hurting his strength and strong without hurting his speed. On top of that, he is also aerial imposing. Physically, he is very complete and very good on the ball. Off the ball, he’s smart enough to break through the lines and has tremendous goal scoring ability. However, I have some doubts on if he’s ready for this level- rushing his evolution would be a mistake and would compromise not only the player but the buying club too.

Ollie Watkins is the most recent addition to this shortlist- at the time that this article is being written, the player and the club have enrolled in a transfer saga on the last days of the January transfer window. Watkins is, like Isak, a prem proven player- a threat on goal, technically good and his speed is one of his major weapons. For the player, it could be a move that takes him to the elite, after a successful spell at Aston Villa; for Arsenal, it may very well be their clinical striker they’re lacking.

Last summer, Arsenal was very keen and almost signed Šeško, but something went wrong and the deal didn’t come through; at the time this article is being written, Arsenal are keen on Ollie Watkins. If Arsenal will complete Watkins’ signing or go for one of the other three or even anybody else is now an operation they need to conclude quickly.

Arsenal can win major trophies in their current state, but I believe they will do it much easier if they solve this problem.