Arsenal aren’t just on a poor run — something much deeper is going on

The Gunners head to Chelsea on Sunday in desperate need of a win to lift the sudden gloom, writes Miguel Delaney

Arsenal’s title challenge is in need of a lift after a difficult start to the season (Getty Images)

There’s an example some modern coaches use to show a team that has run out of ideas: it is when they start swinging in crosses, repeatedly, to no effect. Arsenal tried that 46 times against Inter on Wednesday. It isn’t quite the 81 that David Moyes’ Manchester United attempted in the case study example against Fulham in February 2014, but it’s clearly a problem.

Three defeats in six isn’t even the team’s worst run in the last year, but the issue is that it feels like there is something deeper going on. The jubilant excitement about Mikel Arteta’s time, stretching back to the summer of 2022, has abruptly transformed into anxiety, manifesting in an impotent frustration on the pitch. It just isn’t happening for Arsenal right now. It’s all so forced. Headlines about issues the surprise departure of sporting director Edu then become even more consequential, fostering a sense everything is going wrong.

That doesn’t necessarily make Sunday’s trip to Chelsea must-win, given the number of variables this season. Nevertheless, it does feel like the squad need to win, at least to prevent this getting worse. Arsenal need the release.

Arsenal fell to their second defeat of the week in Milan (Getty Images)

The greater frustration is that this would normally be the sort of bad run that every good team occasionally goes through, even Manchester City. The specific problem for Arteta is that it has been compounded by a number of other issues at once, to turn it into something else.

Other clubs might insist that Arsenal’s injury crisis is overstated, but it's true they have lost key individuals. A team can weather that over a few games, as Arsenal did with that 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur and 2-2 draw at Manchester City a month ago. Any longer, however, and you start to see why those players were so important in the first place.

A case in point came in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United. Arsenal have so far just about worked around the loss of Martin Odegaard, but there was a moment when Leandro Trossard suddenly found himself with the ball in a prime Odegaard position. The pass was on. Trossard, so often so good as an impact sub, was this time not on form. The pass didn’t have the right pace, the chance was lost and so was the game.

Arsenal couldn’t keep filling in. A blip that could otherwise have been written off turned into a problem that needed addressing. That was seen in the defeat to Inter. As often happens in those situations, too, borderline incidents become more psychologically influential. A moment going against you becomes a sign that your luck is out, rather than something you just get on with. So it was with the two penalty decisions against Inter involving Mikel Merino.

As temporary as Arsenal can justifiably hope all that is, these moments can also have the effect of exposing some underlying issues.

One is highly debatable. It’s hard not to feel that Arsenal’s recruitment has recently focused a touch too much on physicality, especially in defence. All of Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Merino are well over six foot. Even Jurrien Timber, at five-foot-10, is physically robust.

This is a clear strategy, as Arteta was insistent on ensuring that his team was no longer bullied after the chastening end to the 2022-23 season.

Arsenal have become one of the biggest teams in the league, with a greater focus on set-pieces (Getty Images)

The wonder is whether he’s gone a touch too far. Arsenal could clearly do with more creativity again. Odegaard’s absence has fully exposed that. There is admittedly a long-term consideration there, since the 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri is seen as the future of the club in that area. To sign someone else would unnecessarily stunt his development. Arsenal, right now, almost need Nwaneri to be one year older.

The current profile of the team has all served to force them back, and almost diminish their attack by attrition. Hence so many crosses.

In the meantime, Arsenal could clearly have done with an extra option. They did go into the summer looking for a striker, but couldn’t find anything of value at their budget after the previous year’s purchase of Rice, so decided to wait until next summer. Raheem Sterling represented a compromise option, but there hasn’t been much give so far - particularly in minutes. It doesn’t help that Gabriel Martinelli and now Trossard have dropped off.

They are expecting more forwards they value to be on the market next year. That’s also one of the issues, though.

Captain Martin Odegaard has returned in a boost to Arsenal (REUTERS)

Arsenal are getting to the point where they eventually have to seize the day, after building up for so long. It can’t always be about next year, or else that moment never comes. This is what is compounding the frustration, the idea that this was going to be their season. Bukayo Saka even said as much, declaring “this is the year” back in September. It means there’s now a fog around the team, rather than the clarity they used to enjoy.

That raises the question about another area where they might have gone too far. That is in the noise around the club, be it in injuries or - especially - decisions. One senior executive is known to be extremely vocal about the second point.

It should be stressed that Arteta himself doesn’t indulge this, and some of Arsenal’s complaints about inconsistency of refereeing are fair.

The dressing room is talking about all of this, though. It happens after almost every game, and to the point where some inside it are even sharing social media posts. That’s another borderline issue.

The Gunners have received three red cards in the Premeir League this season (Getty Images)

A siege mentality can be very powerful. If it tips into a persecution complex, however, that power works the opposite way.

All of this feels like it is coming together at once for Arsenal now.

That isn’t to say it’s terminal. They went on an even worse spell at the turn of the year, with three defeats in six, and followed that with a long unbeaten run that took them to the brink of the title. This is what they are capable of. Current negatives can then become positives. Odegaard’s injury now may mean he is fully fresh for the run-in. The team can flow again, and that in a season where it feels like there are more variables. Arne Slot’s Liverpool remain an unknown in terms of longevity. City are strangely vulnerable, and there is still the potential outcome of the hearing.

That will only matter for Arsenal, however, if they have that psychological reset and soon. It’s why they need that win.

Arsenal went a long time without winning at Stamford Bridge, going almost 10 years between October 2011 and May 2021.

They have rarely needed to win there more, and that goes beyond three points.