And to make matters worse Gabriel Jesus, by no means prolific but at least more of a natural fit through the central areas, was taken off on a stretcher in the first half against Manchester United.
Arteta admitted afterwards: “It’s a big worry. He was in quite a lot of pain and had to come off on a stretcher. The worrying factor is the feeling he had when he had to come off.”
Arsenal’s attacking name has been made more on set-pieces this season, with coach Nicolas Jover even getting his own mural outside Emirates Stadium. Twenty of Arsenal’s 62 goals in all competitions, 32%, have come from set-pieces, including penalties. The mural was Jover’s reward.
Arteta was stating the obvious when he said after the FA Cup exit: “There’s an element about not putting the ball in the back of the net.”
He added: “The ball has to go in the net then you have to batter the opponent. That’s the reality.”
Former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott told BBC Sport: “It’s like everyone else has said before. Arsenal need a striker at this time because it would have been a completely different story.
“Arsenal have gone from being a free-flowing forward line, exciting the crowd, to going a bit stale at Emirates Stadium. You need players to do something differently and they haven’t got that at the moment.”
And Micah Richards told Match of the Day: “The difference between Arsenal winning the league or winning these ties is just a centre-forward.”
Arteta and Arsenal’s need is even more urgent following his pessimistic bulletin on Jesus, but solutions are looking hard to find in January.
Not only did Arsenal fail to push the button on a move for Sesko but he has since signed a five-year contract at RB Leipzig, while Gyokeres will be on the radar of Europe’s elite should he come on the market. His former Sporting coach Ruben Amorim would certainly be keen to be reunited with him at Old Trafford.
Alexander Isak, who showed his brilliance by tormenting Arsenal on Tuesday and scoring a goal at the Emirates, is a complete non-starter. He is now worth vastly more than the £60m that brought him from Real Sociedad in August 2022. Take that fee, Newcastle fans would insist, and double it.
Arteta may point out that Arsenal’s Premier League goal tally of 39 is only eight behind Liverpool. It is the same as Chelsea’s, while only Tottenham stand between themselves and Arne Slot’s league leaders with 42.
This is, though, as Arsenal discovered when they came up short against Manchester City in the Premier League in the past two seasons, a pursuit of trophies built on the finest margins, as Arteta and his team are painfully discovering to their cost.
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