The Spaniard's furious outburst at the match officials after Saturday's damaging loss at Newcastle did little to mask the glaring flaws in his team
When Arsenal snapped their 15-game winless streak against Manchester City in the Premier League on October 8, it was billed as the most significant moment of Mikel Arteta's tenure to date. The Gunners finally proved that they are capable of beating Pep Guardiola's side, and moved two points above the champions into second – level with early 2023-24 pacesetters Tottenham.
Arteta's side lost home and away to City last season, and ultimately missed out on the title after a poor run of results down the finishing stretch. But those demons were supposedly exorcised after the narrow 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium, which saw Gabriel Martinelli score a fortunate deflected winner as the visitors endured a rare off-day in the absence of suspended midfield talisman Rodri.
If that were true, Arsenal would have kicked on, and really hammered home their title credentials. Alas, they followed up that statement victory with a 2-2 draw against Chelsea, who let a two-goal lead slip after some calamitous defending in the last 15 minutes of the game.
The Gunners got back on track with a routine 5-0 win against bottom club Sheffield United, but their weaknesses were laid bare once again during a trip to Newcastle on Saturday. Anthony Gordon's controversial 64th-minute goal proved to be the difference between the two sides, and left Arsenal trailing City in the table once again.
Arteta blamed VAR for the defeat, but in truth, Newcastle were good value for the three points. Arsenal only mustered one shot on target in the match – their worst record in a game since way back in February – and they were outbattled in midfield.
Arsenal have yet to properly click into gear this season, despite spending over £200 million ($248m) in the summer transfer window, and the reality is that they do not look any closer to knocking City off their perch. And if Arteta doesn't start acknowledging where his team are going wrong, the gap between the two clubs will only increase…
Getty ImagesVAR complaints make little sense
Gordon's decisive goal against Arsenal wasn't pretty, and it was only upheld after three separate checks from the video assistant referee. The first was for whether the ball had gone out of play before Joe Willock's cross, the second was for a potential foul from Joelinton on Gabriel, and the third was for a possible offside before Gordon fired into an empty net.
In the end, the match officials decided there was no conclusive evidence that warranted the goal being overturned and Stuart Atwell blew for the restart with Newcastle in front. Arsenal were unable to find a way back into the game thereafter, and Arteta went full Kevin Keegan when fulfilling his media duties after the final whistle.
"Embarrassing what happened," the Arsenal boss told . "How this goal stands in the Premier League – this league we say is the best in the world. I've been 20 years in this country and now I feel ashamed. It's a disgrace. There's too much at stake here."
When asked to elaborate, Arteta failed to put forward a clear argument, adding: "Because it's not a goal for many reasons; it’s not a goal, for more than one reason at least. It’s not a goal and it's too much at stake here. We put in so much effort, it’s so difficult to compete at this level, and it's an absolute disgrace."
This is the same man that insisted managers must do their best to "support" referees because "mistakes happen" after Liverpool's Luis Diaz saw a legitimate goal against Tottenham chalked off for offside on September 30. Jurgen Klopp's calls for that game to be replayed were ill-advised, but he did at least have proper grounds to feel aggrieved.
Every single club in the Premier League has been on the wrong end of some questionable VAR calls this season. Wolves seem to have suffered the most, with Gary O'Neil saying he's "given up on referees" after seeing his side lose at Sheffield United after an incredibly soft late penalty decision.
Manchester United, meanwhile, have had the most goals disallowed of any side in the division so far, including one for Alejandro Garnacho in their 3-1 loss against Arsenal in August. The Gunners also had luck on their side when VAR awarded them a penalty after a Cristian Romero handball in their derby draw against Tottenham.
VAR is clearly a problem that will need to be addressed in some way sooner rather than later, not least because of how disruptive the decision-checking process can be to the flow of a match. But over the course of a season, it always tends to balance out.
Arsenal didn't lose against Newcastle because of the referee. And Arteta's misplaced sense of entitlement is blinding him the fact that his team are underperforming in a number of key areas.
AdvertisementGettyHavertz was a complete waste of money
Arsenal could easily have ended up playing the final 60 minutes of the game against Newcastle with 10 men, too. Kai Havertz escaped with just a yellow card after a dangerous lunge on Sean Longstaff, which sparked a brawl between both sets of players.
Arteta would have been better off directing some of his anger towards his £65m ($80m) summer signing. Havertz started the game well enough, showing some neat touches, but his reckless tackle almost derailed the Gunners' entire gameplan, and he had little to no impact on proceedings thereafter.
The Germany international has scored just once in 17 appearances across all competitions for Arsenal since his summer switch from Chelsea – and that goal only came after his team-mates gave him the chance to convert a penalty in a 4-0 victory away at Bournemouth.
Havertz was brought into to replace Granit Xhaka in Arsenal's midfield three, despite the fact he primarily operated as either a striker or No.10 at Stamford Bridge. The fact that the 24-year-old has looked like a fish out of water in Arteta's system should come as little surprise, especially when you also factor in how badly he played during his disastrous final season at Chelsea.
Arsenal were wrong to invest so much money in such an enigmatic player, but Arteta is far too stubborn to admit that. The Spaniard will keep trying to fit Havertz into his starting line-up, and the Gunners will continue to look disjointed as a result.
Havertz will go missing in games for large periods – just as he did during Arsenal's disappointing 3-1 loss at West Ham in the Carabao Cup last week. Even when he does manage to get on the ball, he's rarely taking the risks necessary to open up defences, and doesn't appear to have built up any understanding with the rest of Arsenal's attack as of yet.
Arteta would be wise to keep Havertz on the bench for a period, to spark a change in performance if nothing else. He's quite clearly holding the Gunners back, and they cannot afford to be carrying him heading into a crucial festive period.
GETTYThe Raya-Ramsdale sideshow
Arteta handed David Raya his Arsenal debut for their trip to Everton on September 17, which confirmed a changing of the guard between the sticks. Aaron Ramsdale was one of the Gunners' top performers during their run to a second-place Premier League finish in 2022-23 – albeit while also being prone to the odd basic error.
The Arsenal boss clearly felt that Raya was an upgrade and exactly the kind of goalkeeper that could help his team go one better this time around. But it's now apparent that he jumped the gun in trying to fix a problem that didn't really exist.
Gordon's winner for Newcastle could have been prevented had Raya not got his positioning all wrong when flapping at Willock's cross. That mistake came just a couple of weeks after the Spanish shot-stopper got his angles wrong for Mykhailo Mudryk's goal in the game against Chelsea.
Raya's distribution was also called into question after his misplaced pass led to Lens taking the lead in Arsenal's second Champions League group-stage fixture. The Brentford loanee was shaky in a subsequent 2-1 victory over Sevilla, too, with Gunners legend Thierry Henry insisting he was "lucky" not to concede more goals.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was even more scathing in his assessment of Raya after Arsenal's defeat at Newcastle, as he told : "The guy they've chosen to come in is all over the place. This is now a massive problem for Mikel Arteta. He's made the same mistake [against Newcastle] he made as he did a couple of weeks ago against Chelsea. He got away with it against Sevilla, but he's not got away with it here."
Just like with Havertz, Arteta's vision for Raya has already gone awry. Ramsdale's career at Arsenal looked all but over two months ago, but it's getting harder and harder for Arteta to justify playing Raya ahead of the England man.
Getty ImagesFoolish to rely on Jesus
For much of last season, Arsenal were the best team to watch in English football, with Bukayo Saka, Martinelli and Martin Odegaard leading their charge. Those three men shared 44 goals between them, which helped to cover for the injury-enforced absence of Gabriel Jesus after he was sidelined for three months.
Jesus did still contribute 11 goals and eight assists to the Gunners' cause in 2022-23, but by the end of the campaign it was obvious that more cover was needed up front. Arteta should have gone all out for a new centre-forward instead of making Havertz his number one target so early on in the summer window.
Arsenal did not welcome Jesus back into the first team until the end of August, and although he returned with four goals in 11 appearances, the Brazilian soon found himself back in the treatment room. He picked up a hamstring problem against Sevilla and has sat out the Gunners' last three games, with Eddie Nketiah drafted in to fill his spot.
It's not clear when Jesus will be back either, as Arteta admitted at a press conference last week: "With him [Jesus], I’m honestly not going to give [a timeframe]. I did it once and got it totally wrong. We need to be cautious because we need to treat it in the right way."
Jesus' fitness record at Manchester City wasn't particularly alarming, but that could have something to do with the fact he wasn't always in Guardiola's starting XI. Arsenal are far more reliant on the 26-year-old to lead the line than City were, and that may be taking a toll on him.
Signing Havertz instead of a new frontman could come back to bite Arteta in January, too, with FFP likely to prevent Arsenal from launching a bid for Brentford's Ivan Toney – unless they sanction one or two big sales.
It was always unlikely that Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard could continue to shoulder the main scoring burden for Arsenal. They are creators by trade, and need someone ahead of them to link up with in order to reach an even higher level.
Even when Jesus is available, he lacks the ruthless streak of a truly great No.9. It's a position that the Gunners really must address in order to stay on the coattails of City, who have the ultimate scoring machine at their disposal in the form of Erling Haaland.