Arsenal of two seasons ago were a better side, largely because their attackers provided more moments of magic, offered more penetrative combination play and, put simply, scored more goals.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard worked brilliantly together. Kai Havertz played the false-ish nine role astutely. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli offered regular goal contributions from the left. They were pipped at the post by City but they were on the right level. Arteta didn’t recruit further creative attackers the following summer, instead signing Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori: not because he was suddenly all-in on set pieces and defence, but because he, entirely reasonably, thought the attack was already at the right level.
Then, Havertz, Saka and Odegaard’s fitness and form dipped in 2024-25. So the signings last summer — Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze — cost serious money, but were likely to be substitutes in the biggest games if Havertz, Saka and Odegaard were fit. Arteta was trusting that his ‘original’ attackers, when afforded extra rest, would become top-class again, and that the newcomers would chip in too.
The latter happened more than the former. The new signings all made an impact but not a single Arsenal attacker has been in contention for the Premier League’s best XI, for example. Yes, more than ever, football is a squad game. You can retrofit this and pretend it was entirely intentional, but the reality is that Arsenal’s best attacking players — Havertz, Saka and Odegaard — haven’t been capable of regular decisive contributions. Without those moments, Arsenal have fallen back on set pieces and defending.
