Arsenal’s season is quickly unraveling, with hopes of silverware fading after a promising start. A series of key injuries has exposed the squad’s lack of depth, leading to a string of inconsistent performances. Once hailed for his tactical nouse, Mikel Arteta now faces growing criticism as the team struggles to compete on multiple fronts.
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00:00And what are your expectations for the rest of this season?
00:06You mentioned the Newcastle game,
00:09but how do they actually put a positive spin on suffering so hard in second place,
00:14third place, these so close but yet so far situations they've been in?
00:19How do they put a positive spin on that from now until the end of the season?
00:25Yeah, I mean, it's a tough one.
00:26It's a tough one.
00:27I think there's no doubt that Arsenal have suffered with injuries.
00:30So I think, you know, I mean,
00:32Arsenal's best player over the last few years is Bukayo Saka, has been,
00:36and he's been out.
00:37He's going to be out for another few weeks.
00:39Urdu Guard was out for three weeks this season.
00:42So I think that there could be, for longer than that,
00:45sorry, I know in the season,
00:46but I think the mentality around the group is,
00:49could be that they've been a little bit unlucky with injuries
00:52and certain decisions like those red cards earlier in the year as well.
00:57So I think in terms of the mentality in the squad,
01:01they might point to that as kind of, not excuses,
01:05but maybe things that haven't helped them and that luck has escaped Arsenal.
01:08I've heard that quite a bit this season, things like the Havertz handball,
01:13the, you know, last minute against, was it Brighton that they played?
01:20But yeah, I mean that disallowed goal,
01:22luck has gone against them.
01:23And maybe they'll point to that as something to rally around.
01:26And when those players start coming back and Arsenal find themselves still in the Champions
01:30League with maybe Saka back and Urdu Guard firing again,
01:34maybe they can use that as something to catapult them forward.
01:38And just looking at the latest transfer news, obviously,
01:43you know, it's been a bit of a shadow over Arsenal for the last few seasons,
01:47really, that they are really searching for that big number nine
01:50that's going to supply them a lot of goals.
01:51Obviously, you know, the sort of Alexander Izak-esque,
01:55who actually, you know, scored at the Emirates against them in that cup tie first leg.
02:00I mean, you know, they tried to replace him with that sort of vacant position with Kai Havertz.
02:05It's not really worked. It's more of a false number nine.
02:08And then Gabriel Jesus came in and maybe showed some positivity,
02:12but, you know, maybe a bit of a height issue there and,
02:16you know, a bit of a smaller striker. You need a sort of that target man.
02:19The search still goes on. It continues to go on.
02:23What's the sort of latest from Arsenal in terms of the winter transfer window?
02:28Is that still a massive position that they need improving?
02:32Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think everyone knows that Arsenal are just missing that killer up front.
02:37And I also think that's where fans' frustrations lie most, is with the transfer window.
02:43I don't think Arsenal had a particularly good summer transfer window.
02:47I think Arsenal fans were really expecting an attacker to come in
02:51and they got Raheem Sterling on deadline day, which I don't think has gone down well.
02:56He's barely played for Arsenal. You know, Raheem Sterling has been a fantastic player over his career,
03:00but he's definitely in the twilight of his career at the moment.
03:04And I think we're three weeks into the January window now,
03:09you know, just over three weeks and Arsenal still haven't signed a striker with Gabriel Jesus out with an ACL.
03:16He's going to be out for the rest of the season into next season as well.
03:20So it really feels like something the club desperately need.
03:25In terms of those kind of players, they've been heavily linked with Benjamin Sesco, RB Leipzig,
03:31but that £70 million price tag that apparently is on them
03:35maybe looks a bit too much for Arsenal to spend in January.
03:39There's been reports of them looking at loans and then maybe trying to go for someone in the summer.
03:47Another player to maybe keep an eye on, I'm not sure he's going to solve that kind of powerful striker,
03:52you know, height problem that you mentioned, but Mathias Kenya at Wolves.
03:58It looked as if he was going to sign a new contract at Wolves.
04:01Those contract talks seem to have stalled a little bit and there has been interest from Arsenal.
04:06The club has been said to have been big admirers of him.
04:10But yeah, I mean, that is one to keep an eye on, Mathias Kenya for sure.
04:14I think if Arsenal could maybe get a deal for around £50 million, maybe they might be tempted.
04:20I mean, that does sound quite a lot, I think.
04:23But the problem is, is that everyone knows Arsenal needs a striker.
04:26So those prices are going to be inflated.