Running Down the Clock

As some of their London rivals compete in a sort of arms race, Arsenal lie in a weird situation. While they continue to make transfers, none of them push this team to the next level.

With the Madueke move almost completed, how should the team feel with preseason on the horizon?

Barring a big move for a striker, Arsenal’s transfer window feels almost exactly the same as last year’s. The team’s most glaring need remains untouched, as the team stacks up on positions that are already filled.

Christian Nørgaard and Madueke both, without the team context, profile as good signings. Both players showed in previous seasons that they can be impactful Premier League players. However, neither helps this team with their current aspirations.

Despite transforming this team, Arteta’s job feels more in flux this season than any other previous one. Arsenal continues to get agonizingly close to the title, but its roster construction and Arteta’s management hold them back. Unless they sign Gyökeres, this team’s ceiling remains the same as last season.

If Arsenal miss out on the Premier League title once more, where does that leave Arteta? Can the manager survive another year without lifting a trophy?

Madueke, Nøgaard, and Zubimendi are all fine players who help add more depth to a team. None of them, however, solves the team’s problems.

For Nøgaard and Zubimendi, they join an already crowded midfield room that does, however, have some space for one of them. With the departures of Jorginho and the accused criminal, Partey, minutes opened up this summer. Even with the opening of those chances, starters minutes seem unlikely for either player.

PHOTO: Fabrizio Romano/Facebook

Even though he played well as a striker last season, Mikel Merino likely starts alongside Declan Rice in the midfield. Neither of their two big midfield transfers offers anything different to Arsenal’s current makeup. Both play better as deeper-lying midfielders, lacking any true dynamic aspects to their game. 

On the frontline, Arsenal continues to steal players who’ve struggled at Chelsea. Joining the likes of Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke seems doomed to ride the bench yet again.

At best, Madueke’s transfer feels like an insurance policy on Saka. Given how much the team struggled when their talisman missed time, the former PSV winger should be able to help. Yeah, the fee is ludicrous for a bench player, but he remains an upgrade as Saka’s backup.

With Martinelli also potentially on the way out, Madueke could contribute on the left as well. Not a natural left winger, the hope seems to be that he can at least put in a shift there. In a way, this move resembles that of Trossard, where you are bringing in a versatile player for depth.

However, this feels like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Yes, the team gained some nice depth, but how can they be serious about a title challenge with the striker position untouched?

If Arsenal misses out on a potent striker, Arsenal will fall behind their London rivals. Arteta faces perhaps his greatest challenge yet with this current roster construction.

Last season felt like Arsenal’s year. In the Prem, City fell apart early on and Liverpool snuck their way to the title. Similarly, in the Champions League, Arsenal played electrifying football, but couldn’t deal with Luiz Enrique’s PSG.

Yes, bad luck played a key part in the team’s collapse in the second half of the season, but they shot themselves in the foot. Entering the season with only Jesus and Havertz as their strikers, Arteta played with a very thin margin of error. When both players ultimately missed time, it forced the manager into a tough spot.

Additionally, as PSG showed, Arteta’s system can be taken apart. Once you force them through the middle, they can’t compete.

How much longer does the Spaniard have should they miss out on a trophy this season? While his position still seems secure, the seat will get hot soon. The team itself contains too much talent to be wasted on fruitless attempts at winning with his system.

Of course, all these changes should help the club land a top striker, but for now, they enter the preseason as the same team that they were in May. Arsenal remains a piece away from being a dominant side, so they must land that last cog. Either that or Arteta may need to be parted with to get the most out of this current batch of talent.

Arteta rebuilt Arsenal after the malaise of the final Wegner years and the first post-Wegner years.

He deserves credit for it, but this side may be in need of a manager to push them over the edge.

In a summer where they needed to land the final piece to their title puzzle, Arsenal have just rearranged the puzzle on the table. It may look a little better, but it remains fundamentally the same.

Perhaps the last thing remaining for the team is to swap out who is building the puzzle.

PHOTO: Fabrizio Romano/Facebook