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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta arrived like a whiff of fresh air in north London, instantly transforming the fortunes of a largely mediocre team. Although the club couldn't finish in the top 4 and return to the UEFA Champions League, Arteta's men lifted the FA Cup by flooring Manchester City and Chelsea in successive games.
The club began its 2020-21 season on a promising note by beating reigning Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield. With a 3-0 win over Fulham on the opening day of the season, Arsenal topped the Premier League table and followed up with a 2-1 home win over West Ham.
However, since then, Arsenal have been in freefall, losing seven of their next ten league games, to languish in 15th place in the league table. The Gunners are currently on a debilitating four-game losing streak at home following their 0-1 reverse against Burnley, their worst streak in the English top flight in more than six decades.
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Five reasons why Arsenal are struggling under Mikel Arteta in 2020-21
Despite a promising start to his managerial reign, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have had a spectacular meltdown, especially in the league, this season.
With the pressure mounting on Arteta with every passing 'non-result', let us have a look at a few reasons why Arsenal are struggling under the Spanish tactician this season.
#1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's reduced efficacy in an unfamiliar position
After arriving at Arsenal in 2018, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang amassed an impressive 70 goals in 109 games in all competitions before this season.
The former Borussia Dortmund man, who was the Torjägerkanone winner in 2016-17, repeated the trick in the 2018-19 Premier League. Aubameyang celebrated another 22-goal league season last campaign but has uncharacteristically hit a lean phase.
A return of just two goals in 12 Premier League games this season from their star striker has had a direct effect on goal-shy Arsenal's performances. That has got exacerbated, as Arteta has played Aubameyang away from his favoured centre-forward position, which has meant that the Gabon international's shots per game saw a sharp drop.
Aubameyang has often looked lonely on the wings and needs to get back to his favoured position and see more of the ball. If that happens, the striker would have more shots on goal, and Arsenal would be the better off for it.
#2 Lack of goals
With their star striker Aubameyang not producing the goods up front, Arsenal have scored a meagre ten goals in 12 Premier League games this season.
It is the Gunners' worst scoring record in the league in nearly four decades since managing only eight at this stage of the 1981-82 league season.
With the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Willian failing to up the ante amidst Aubameyang's poor form up front, Arsenal have struggled to score goals.
Willian has been especially poor since his arrival at Arsenal in the summer. The experienced campaigner is yet to score a league goal for the club and hasn't assisted one since the opening day of the season.
Arteta needs to find a way to unleash the creative prowess of Willian, else the Brazilian would have to be relegated to the bench.
#3 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil conundrum
Mesut Ozil has been frozen out of the Arsenal squad since March. While it's true that the 32-year-old German playmaker is arguably past his prime, he still has a few years of top-level football left in him.
The decision to omit Ozil from Arsenal's Premier League squad doesn't seem to be an entirely footballing one as the likes of Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette have struggled to conjure goal-scoring opportunities in the German's absence.
Clearly, Arteta needs someone in the middle of the park to create opportunities for the players up front. Ozil, for all his perceived deficiencies like inability to adapt and lack of pace, is still capable of making the killer pass in the attacking third, something Arsenal have sorely lacked this season.
For all his misgivings about Ozil, Arteta needs to recall the exiled player and slot him in Arsenal's central attacking midfield role.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that Ozil can still be reintegrated into the playing XI:
"You have two ways to see a football team. You get everybody to do the same. The same intensity of work, the same defensive work or you find a compromise. You have a more creative player in the team who can do less defensive work but you build a team around him who can compensate for these deficiencies. That is what you have to think about."
#4 Arteta's overly defensive formations
Long gone are the days when Arsenal used to be the most free-flowing side in the Premier League.
Under Mikel Arteta in the Premier League this season, Arsenal have struggled to produce consistent results due to the use of overly defensive formations to counter supposedly stronger teams. That has stifled the creativity of attacking players like Aubameyang or Lacazette.
The duo is at their lethal best when they are given a free rein in the attacking third and are not saddled with defensive responsibilities, something that has not been the case in the 2020-21 edition of the Premier League.
While Aubameyang has been deployed at left wing, Lacazette was tried on a few occasions in the number seven role, with both moves proving to be anything but successful.
#5 The William Saliba situation
After a truncated season-long spell in Ligue 1, William Saliba was widely tipped to become a key player for Arsenal this season. However, that has not been the case.
The former Saint Etienne defender is yet to make his debut for Arsenal despite the Gunners not having the experienced Sokratis Papasthatopoulos in their Premier League squad for the 2020-21 campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has likened Saliba with Kurt Zouma while former Liverpool player Jimmy Carragher is baffled that Arteta has not yet played Saliba. Carragher said in this regard:
"I am surprised we have not seen more of highly-rated teenage defender William Saliba since his signing from Saint-Etienne, even though the youngster was sent off playing for the club’s Under 21s earlier this week."
While Saliba's non-inclusion is not directly attributable to Arsenal's freefall in the Premier League this season, Arteta could have made use of the talented teenager who arrived at the club with much fanfare last summer.
Nevertheless, with Saliba's ability to play from the back, tackling prowess and ball-distribution skills, he could have been a key player for Arsenal this season.
