Arteta's Arsenal at a crossroads – it's time for ruthlessness

When Mikel Arteta signed his new Arsenal contract in September, he was asked what his main objective is for the club. “To win,” he said. “It has to be that. It has to be that aim.”

Arsenal’s need to take that next step has followed Arteta around all season, one where the Spaniard revealed he is in part four of a five-step plan for this club – the last of which is to “create a dynasty” by winning trophies.

“It generates belief,” he told Sky Sports later in the season. “Experience of having been successful helps you with the other ones.”

Arteta said those words last December, five years after being named Arsenal manager. But while there are dreams of a dynasty, the reality is he has now gone five years without a trophy. Only the FA Cup, six months into his tenure, has been acquired – and even that was a trophy which came out of the blue.

The latest blow to Arteta’s trophy hunt came at PSG and the Parc des Princes, the same place where Arteta’s professional playing career took off. Among his team-mates was Mauricio Pochettino – and parallels between the two are now being made.

Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur side were attractive and ambitious, with multiple title races ending in second and third-placed finishes, plus a Champions League final appearance. But that Spurs team became infamous for not winning anything. Are Arteta’s side running the risk of being remembered in a similar vein?

Injuries will define Arsenal’s season

Initially the feeling is no, at least not yet. Firstly, it feels like Arteta’s Arsenal still have another gear to get to.

This season will be seen as disappointing, especially the feeling of once again being close but not close enough. Especially seeing Manchester City fall away from dominance and another team going on to claim the Premier League title.

But there are some mitigating factors to consider. The first is injuries – where Arsenal’s Premier League high of 27 is not only nearly twice as many as champions Liverpool, but also an outlier for their league position. It should be considered in their end-of-season verdict.

In a campaign where Man Utd and Spurs – who have endured a similar number of injury setbacks, yet sit in the Premier League’s bottom half, while Man City and Chelsea have settled for top-five battles with their injuries – Arsenal actually managed to stay on their same level.

It may not seem like it now, but going from Premier League runners-up and Champions League quarter-finalists, to being Liverpool’s closest challengers and reaching semi-finals in two competitions could even be seen as improvement.

Arsenal’s injury record is even more impactful when looking at how it has affected all areas of the pitch. You can pick an entire outfield XI of Gunners players who have missed more than half a dozen or more matches this term.

Arteta realised that ahead of the first game against PSG, when he saw his stricken stars on the side of the pitch. “(Takehiro) Tomiyasu, next to him (Riccardo) Calafiori, next to him Gabriel, next to him Thomas Partey, next to him Kai Havertz, next to him Gabriel Jesus, next to him Jorginho,” he said.

“That’s a starting line-up. And we don’t have them. We haven’t had them for many, many months.”

Some will likely say Arsenal could have addressed their injuries in the January transfer window, especially the centre-forward-shaped hole in their squad that has existed since the start of last year.

Arsenal will point to the unexpected autumn departure of Edu Gaspar as sporting director destabilising matters off the pitch – another mitigating factor to consider, one that doesn’t happen every year.

But it will not stop the critics and the scrutiny. Does the feeling of coming up short again feel like progress? Arsenal have failed to win their last four semi-final appearances, their longest ever run without progression to the final.

And with settling for second place likely for a third straight year, Arsenal are in a rut, albeit one at the right end of the league table and in the latter stages of competitions.

Transfer war chest? A big summer ahead…

How to the Gunners get out of that rut? Quite simply, there has to be a ruthless edge to them now.

Arsenal feel like they are close, those in the dressing room feel like they dominate every game. Statistics-wise, they can argue that was certainly the case against PSG.

The Gunners created 4.8 worth of expectedgoals over the two legs but could only score once. The first two goals they conceded to PSG through Ousmane Dembele and Fabian Ruiz had xG tallies of 0.04 each. As Arteta told the media between the two legs, the margins are tiny at this level.

That xG imbalance would point towards a new forward coming in, perhaps even a bigger refresh of their forward line.

It is worth remembering that the last time Arsenal signed a recognised No 9 – Gabriel Jesus’ £45m arrival from Manchester City – it had a huge lift on the team. Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli both ended Jesus’ first season with 15 league goals each, with Bukayo Saka on 14.

New sporting director Andrea Berta – who navigated Atletico Madrid’s title-winning and Champions League final era – has the experience of signing strikers for big money. If the Gunners are indeed stuck in this rut, perhaps Berta is the ‘something new’ that Arsenal need to freshen things up.

Striker is now undoubtedly priority No 1 on his summer list. Priority No 2 is to make sure this Arsenal squad stays together. Not only do the Gunners need to prove their critics wrong, they need to convince their major stars that this is the place to be.

The contracts of Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel – key parts of the spine – expire in two years. That will alert clubs all around Europe, particularly news of Saliba’s situation.

Arteta’s Arsenal is at a crossroads now. With rumours of a transfer war chest available to them and the clock ticking on Arteta to deliver a trophy, the months ahead are critical.