Mikel Arteta’s worst fear realised as Arsenal boss changes tune on squad depth

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is no longer as content over his squad’s depth, it seems, after a couple of high-profile injuries have left the Gunners looking light in places

Five months after suggesting Arsenal had the squad depth to compete with Liverpool, Mikel Arteta is now singing a different tune.

The Spaniard was confident about the Gunners’ ability to keep pace with England’s despite a number of sales in the summer. Arsenal scored 91 Premier League goals last season – their highest-ever tally in the competition – despite playing without a traditional striker, successfully spreading the burden throughout their squad.

And Arteta remained confident in the club’s ability to find the back of the net despite numerous departures last summer, with Chelsea loanee Raheem Sterling the only offensive recruit to come in. Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira each left in the summer, but the manager remained confident despite a slow summer in regards to new arrivals.

“One of the biggest strengths that we have over the past two or three years has been the way we’ve shared the goals,” he said in August. “We are going to have to continue to do that. If we can on top of that get players to score 25 or 30 goals in the season, then it’s the perfect combination. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Two of Arsenal’s five senior signings in the summer were goalkeepers, while defender Riccardo Calafiori was never liable to contribute much up front. And after Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus’ absences were felt during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, Arteta now appears to be less confident in the depth of his options.

“Not the result, I think when you look at the performances, I don’t know how many teams are playing at this level in the league,” he said following the result. “When you look at the bench you probably say, we are very, very short.”

Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz put the Gunners two up at the Emirates before Villa came back to snag a share of the spoils. Arsenal have now won just one of their last three league games and are six points behind league leaders Liverpool, who also boast one game in hand.

Along with the transfer window additions of Sterling and midfielder Mikel Merino, academy graduate Ethan Nwaneri’s evolution has been a sight to behold. His advancement – along with the promotion of 18-year-old utility Myles Lewis-Skelly – couldn’t have been better-timed, though the youngsters haven’t been enough to prevent a slide in form.

Arsenal have won just one of their last five games and were rocked by the news that Jesus – who was just finding some much-needed form – will miss the rest of the season due to an ACL tear. The news is more positive in Saka’s case, though the winger still isn’t expected to be back until late March as he recovers from hamstring surgery.

That may yet force Arteta’s hand in regards to transfer business this month, with fatigue seemingly taking its toll. The Gunners finished second in the league last season after enjoying fine fortune in the injury department, but this term hasn’t been so kind after a relatively slow summer of business.

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