Arsenal surrendered the lead and lost at home to Manchester United on Sunday, leaving them just four points behind Manchester City and Aston Villa in the title race.
Arteta has a lot to think about (Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal’s biggest danger is undoubtedly themselves. There was a lot of tension and fear with the players and their performance against Manchester United.
Of course, the only way to overcome that fear is to win the title and cross the line. But until that happens…
This poses a challenge for Mikel Arteta and his players, and there are concerns that if they fail from here it will be difficult to see the manager implementing it.
The scene in the Arsenal dressing room, no matter what Arteta might say, was one of the players lying on the floor, devastated, after that United defeat.
read more: Manager Arsene Wenger reveals his feelings about Arsenal’s loss to Man United
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It was painful, self-inflicted and extremely damaging, as it seriously shook the confidence of a team that had a seven-point lead at the start of the weekend.
Manchester City and Aston Villa won, putting pressure on Arsenal…and then they collapsed.
Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has spoken out on Sky, saying the team doesn’t have enough leaders. He questioned their mental strength.
Honestly, every member of the Invincibles team is now considered a leader. Because they won Arsenal’s last title in 2004 and they did it unbeaten in that style.
But how on earth do you get there? It’s hard to convince someone until they cross the line. However, it cannot be said that Julian Timber does not have strong qualities. Not even Gabriel.
Declan Rice is currently the best midfielder in the Premier League. Martin Zvimendi won for Spain, yes, mistakes and all. Gabriel Jesus was terrible, but he won at Manchester City.
Patrick Vieira gives his verdict against Arsenal (Image: Sky Sports)
Bukayo Saka sometimes wears an armband. Martin Odegaard captains both Arsenal and Norway. He leads the press at games, is loud and demonstrative. People may not see him as a captain, but he leads by example.
But all this means nothing until they win. Once you cross the line, you grow as a player and as a person. Blowing it will make them cringe and question themselves.
If you talk to other coaches, they will tell you that Arsenal are the best team to manage in the Premier League. Arteta was outsmarted by United’s new manager Michael Carrick on Sunday, while Pep Guardiola has more experience at Manchester City.
However, in the game, Arteta is respected as a great manager. He also needs to grow as a leader, as he has to pick up a group of players who have only scored two points in the last three games.
Where next? Leeds leaves. If we win there, we can start again. If it slips, it’s a real crisis and you’ll be hit hard. Then we may see a collapse. It’s really simple.
The Gunners have closed the gap at the top of the Premier League by seven points (Image: BEN STANSALL, AFP via Getty Images)
This is where mental strength comes into play. This is a test of their mettle and it means a lot to Arsenal.
And what makes things even more complicated is that they have such problems up front. Yes, they scored three goals at Inter Milan just five days ago.
But Arsenal spent £64m on Victor Gokeres last summer and ended up performing worse in the top flight than last season. Gabriel Jesus finally started against United, but he wasn’t good enough and was pretty poor. Kai Havertz is not yet fully fit.
It takes some people to spend a lot of money on a striker and end up making the team look bad. But they did it. They are often seen as lacking ideas and goals during matches.
People are starting to say Arsenal will be champions with a bye. That’s tough for City and Aston Villa. they were great. However, Arsenal have the same chance as Liverpool did last season, when their main rivals were not at their best.
It will be a big test for Arsenal. A week ago, there was a funny little photo on social media. Arsenal had a seven point lead. They achieved a 100 percent record and took first place in the Champions League. They will face Wigan in the fourth round of the FA Cup. They will face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
If Arteta gets blown out of this, he will be a laughing stock and will never recover. That’s social media for you. And the neutrals who wanted them to win three years ago have now turned around and want to see them fail.
But if they can’t achieve that in a competent position under Arteta this season, next season will be ten times more difficult.
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