Arsenal have passed their first test this week. Their main assignment is still to come on Sunday.
If they play with such little attacking threat against Manchester City as they did in the Champions League tie against Sporting then Pep Guardiola will relish the chance to pick their title rivals apart – and earn a result which would surely make his side favourites for the title.
Viktor Gyokeres, after a few promising displays recently, was woefully off the boil against his former club in Wednesday’s second-leg goalless draw. His inability to hold the ball up affected Arsenal’s ability to build up attacks.
The wide areas were a problem, too. Noni Madueke, who hobbled off in the second half, again struggled with his final product.
And while Gabriel Martinelli admirably tracked back in the second half to win the ball back and earn the praise of the Emirates, he showed no sign of composure and poise in the final third where he is expected to influence the game.
It was hard to see where a goal would come from across the frontline and that is a scenario the north London club cannot afford to happen again on Sunday. It would be naive to park the bus against Guardiola’s men with no attacking outlet.
Arteta has been hit by a barrage of criticism of late after crashing out of two competitions in the previous three and a half weeks.
That pressure has clearly taken its toll in the week which looks set to define Arsenal’s season and Arteta is no longer trying to hide it. During Tuesday’s pre-match press conference he exclaimed ‘I’m on fire’ a few times, leaving those present baffled at the point he was trying to make.
Yet after edging through against Sporting, the Spaniard’s rebuttal of the criticism he and his team have received in light of Arsenal’s tricky month spoke volumes of the toll this has all taken on him.
He claimed it made him wish his team were being filmed in a behind-the-scenes documentary, like they were in their 2021-22 campaign for Amazon’s All or Nothing series.
Arteta said: ‘What happens in reality or where we are, I don’t know if the context and the reality are very much in sight. I wish that we were doing the Arsenal documentary this season, and you can film the last 48 hours and know everything that has been said.
‘I think all of us (watching would) say, “They are in the bottom three?”. So, what are we talking about, guys? Please, enjoy where we are as a club. If someone doesn’t want to do it, so be it.’
Arteta’s comments showed his desire for perspective. Ultimately, Arsenal are still leading the Premier League by six points and the destiny of the title remains in their hands.
But there is a need to inspire confident in attack and with Madueke a doubt for Sunday, there is a clear answer: start Max Dowman at right wing. He came on after 64 minutes and, as he often does, kept trying to get forward with no fear.
The 16-year-old was clattered a few times, too, which would affect the psyche of many young players — but not him.
As Rio Ngumoha proved for Liverpool against Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week: if you’re good enough, you’re old enough, even on the biggest of stages.
Dowman has consistently taken the chances he’s been presented when coming off the bench and he’s worth a roll of the dice on Sunday.
That is when we will truly find out what this team are made of. There’s no hiding now. Crunch time is here.
