Is this the worst Arsenal have looked in post-Wenger era?

Is this the worst Arsenal have looked in post-Wenger era?

By Adam Le Roux

Imagine if 60,000 people had been in the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, the crowds of Christmas shoppers in Covent Garden would have heard the chorus of boos that would have met the final whistle.

The excuses are starting to wear thin now, one win in eight Premier League games has left the Gunners languishing in 15th place in the table, with the relegation zone closer than the top four. 

The 1-0 defeat to Burnley last weekend summed up what a turgid season this has been for Arsenal so far, with the strikers drawing another blank and the whole team letting themselves down yet again.

The stats don’t lie, this has been the worst start to a domestic season in 46 years with Mikel Arteta at the helm, with just 13 points taken from the 12 matches played so far, resulting in the boss receiving the dreaded vote of confidence earlier this week.

Arsene Wenger, all is forgiven

Remember the time when Arsenal fans were up in arms about another fourth-placed finish under Arsene Wenger? Oh what they would give for even a sniff of that happening these days. 

The end of his tenure may not have been the best, but under the Frenchman, at least the Gunners were always in the conversation at the right end of the table, unlike this campaign. 

Teams would come to Highbury or the Emirates and crumble, but recently the visiting side are the ones taking the ascendency in games, with Arsenal coming into Wednesday's match against Southampton off the back of four consecutive home defeats. 

Although the lack of fans may well be affecting the performances on their own patch, any Arsenal side should be capable of picking up at least one victory against Burnley, Wolves or Aston Villa when they come to visit. 

The lack of urgency across the park is clear to see, and after his unforgivable dismissal against the Clarets on Sunday, Granit Xhaka’s time as captain has to be numbered.

The Swiss capped of another mediocre performance in the middle of the park by grabbing Ashley Westwood by the neck in a midfield bust-up, meaning he will be out until after Christmas, although he is unlikely to be missed. 

That red card was the sixth under Arteta’s reign, with Nicolas Pepe receiving one in a similar manner against Leeds United earlier in the season as frustrations boil over onto the pitch, with key players letting the manager down with their petulant outbursts. 

It doesn’t take a footballing genius to work out that the biggest issue plaguing this side at the moment is the lack of firepower in the team, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette firing blanks for much of the season.

Only two teams have scored less goals in the Premier League this campaign than the Gunners, with one of those being Sunday’s opponents Burnley, and look how that turned out. 

The longer this goes on, the longer Arsenal fans will be yearning for the return of Mesut Ozil to the side, which is something they might not have thought they would have been saying this time last year. 

Without the German, the Gunners have lacked a spark and creativity in the final third to make a difference, but Arteta’s stubbornness sees him unavailable on the sidelines after not being named in the Premier League squad at the start of the season.

Although the Spaniard may have wanted to make his mark at the start of his first full season in charge, he must be left ruing his choice to leave out one of the most dynamic players in the team, who can unlock defences at will. 

For as much as he is a nice guy, Arteta just doesn’t seem to have the answer to the current woes, with each match further proof of how far out his depth he seems at the moment. 

It’s a massive case of de ja vu for Arsenal fans, with Unai Emery being shown the door at a similar point last season, despite his side faring better than what has been on show in the current campaign. 

Whether it is the system, the players or the manager, something needs to change soon in that dressing room, otherwise the new year could well be a dismal one for Arsenal. 

Gunners are lockdown losers 

This may be the worst start to a season in nearly half a century, but how many of those have been played behind closed doors in the middle of a pandemic?

Arsene Wenger never had to do it, and although it may not have seemed it at times, there were still close to full houses during Unai Emery’s time in charge of the Gunners, so for that, Arteta has had a tough job on his hands, especially as he tries to rebuild a club on its knees. 

It may be the same for all clubs in the Premier League, but with a young manager trying to find his way it will be so much trickier in the current climate, with the pressure of the Emirates crowd so often spurring the side on to victory. 

Time is often such a privilege to have as a football manager, but despite the wretched performances of late, unless things nosedive even further, Arteta should be given the time to turn things around. 

The Premier League table is so tight, that a few victories over the festive period and into 2021 can really turn things around, and once the confidence gets flowing through this Arsenal team, who knows how far they can go? 

On runs like this it is so often a lucky turn of events that sees fortunes change, and Arsenal fans will take whatever they can to get back to winning ways. 

To take inspiration from another young manager making his way in the English top flight; in 1990 a young Scotsman named Alex Ferguson took one point from the four games leading up to Christmas with Manchester United - the other being a 0-0 draw - and things didn’t turn out too badly for him.

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