Arsenal: 5 factors to save Mikel Arteta’s job and the season

The world is caving in on Mikel Arteta and we’re only three matches into the new domestic league campaign. His tenure as Arsenal boss has been riddled with murmurs of job insecurity and unless he rewrites the narrative then the growing whispers shan’t dissipate.

It’s a results business. Words uttered many times over that suitably cover all the bases of the sport. As a manager you can oversee ten fixtures where you’ve doubled the opponent’s xG or whatever metric of your choosing, but if the scoreline isn’t in your favour then there is no hiding.

Unai Emery’s 22-game unbeaten run is a fine example: Arsenal were not good value for those matches and lucky on numerous occasions but, ultimately, the points were secured.

With back-to-back eighth place finishes sitting on Arteta’s CV, kicking off the new Premier League campaign with their worst start since 1954/55 isn’t the reassuring rallying call that the tide is turning.

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Mikel Arteta is running out of time to save his Arsenal job and in order to rescue the 2021/22 season he will need to manage 5 key factors

He has to start overseeing victories. If there is no success in the short-term then there will be no Arteta in the long-term. Even a few victories won’t cut it as the scale of the turnaround he needs to complete is greater than ever before.

Being backed unlike any manager previously with £150m worth of investment in the form of six new players, he will never have felt better placed to master a revolution.

However, six new additions are not going to suddenly catapult Arsenal into a top six side. They can certainly help, and who knows how quickly they hit the ground running, yet realistically there are some elements beyond Arteta’s control and some only of his control that have to come off to rescue this season.

And also save his job. How can he salvage this wreckage? What needs to happen? Well, a few aspects are imperative and now he has a squad that another manager might be more keen on inheriting, he has to get his act together.

1. Get Aubameyang and Co. Scoring Some **** Goals

Goes without saying, right?

There is no way of foreseeing anything that can be blanketed as a successful season for Arsenal if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not scoring around 20 goals in the Premier League. One of the best penalty box strikers in the division, he is the Gunners’ biggest goal threat.

Another ten-goal league haul will see Arsenal plummet, hence why Arteta sought to remedy this with the permanent capture of Martin Odegaard.

Whether or not he is the key to unlocking the captain is contingent on Arteta striking an attacking balance with his forwards that complements the Gabon international. It can alter based on the opposition, but the trio of Emile Smith Rowe, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka is one that caters to Aubameyang.

These three are the best movers and space invaders of the forwards and those who have the tools to feed the starving No. 14.

But goals must be shared. Arteta has to utilise Nicolas Pepe in a way that enhances his goal threat and find a way to get his two young stars on the scoresheet more often. It hinges on getting them into the right areas of the pitch and this is something preached and perfected on the training pitch.

2. Solve the Right-Back Dilemma With Takehiro Tomiyasu

Could Takehiro Tomiyasu be the solution to Arsenal’s woes at right-back? The truth is we don’t know.

From a profile perspective and having been able to see the tactical fit on paper, we need to see it in action. The 22-year-old is not the finished article and doesn’t arrive as the elite option many fans were hoping for, so we have to wait and see.

For Arteta, however, he’s who he wanted.

"“We followed him for a while,” Arteta said. “We needed a full back who could be very versatile, can play as a centre back, can play in a back three, Tomi has this capacity.”"

Versatility is key among his desires and eyeing such a unique mould of defender means that the specifics of what Arteta wants are clear. He now has to find the systematic benefit of that.

Boasting right-back options who either can’t tackle, can’t cover spaces, are weak in the air, a combination of all those traits and more or simply don’t want to play there, the results of that are etched across the Premier League table.

Ben White and Tomiyasu have to forge a partnership that aids the Gunners’ progression down the right side, gets the ball through the thirds at greater tempo and brings a calmness and stability to the backline. Whether he is or he isn’t, Tomiyasu kind of has to be the right man.

3. So Much Rests on Thomas Partey

A lot of this is out of Arteta’s control as the perennially crocked Thomas Partey boasts a shadow that could injure him.

Already the baffling tactical calls to drain the midfield and leave Sambi unattended against Chelsea and Granit Xhaka likewise against Manchester City were illogical reactions borne out of not having the Ghanaian available.

Sambi has shown glimpses of his on-the-ball ability but still lacks the spatial awareness and defensive reactions to track runners and cover spaces, traits Partey excels in.

Not signing another midfielder will come back to bite Arteta in the backside if Partey falls foul to further setbacks over the course of the season. Sadly, they feel inevitable. And when the do come around there is nobody of his calibre to pick up the pieces, or at least fill in adequately.

This isn’t to say he’s a saviour of any sorts. There is no shirking that the 28-year-old had a disappointing season last term as form and fitness deserted him. He is, however, still well and by far the best central midfielder at the club.

Lose him for long stretches of the season and even if it’s beyond Arteta’s control, his grip on the job will loosen entirely.

4. Manage the Squad Members Whose Futures Are Uncertain

Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi are just a few of the players Arteta was desperate to shift on as he tried to transition to a newer, healthier culture by burning bridges behind him.

While the vast majority, if not all, of the supposed ‘bad eggs’ who hung around London Colney not partaking in the club’s nosediving form have been moved on, Arteta may have presented himself with a fresh batch of unhappy assets.

Hale Enders Eddie Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have never come across as anything other than kind young men who’ve shown love for Arsenal in the years they’ve been there. Nothing suggests they’re going to revolt.

However, Maitland-Niles’ Instagram fiasco and Nketiah’s future being handled so poorly over the past nine months may present a situation where two players who’ve been at the club a while are left restless. There are always unhappy players in a 25-man squad. Only 11 start games, after all.

Yet it’s the circumstances of their use, or lack thereof, that can spark an unwanted atmosphere. Groans about the handling of your future will resonate with others and as we’ve seen with Arteta, he can be quite a marmite figure.

While he’s still here, for now, there is even Sead Kolasinac to consider in all of this. Not everyone is Mohamed Elneny, sadly, and managing the personalities of players who either don’t want to be there or that he doesn’t want to be there is a key demand.

5. Trust Gabriel at Centre-Back This Season

With discussions understandably leaning heavily towards the new additions this summer, the returns of previous absentees are automatically viewed as rectifiers: Partey will reinforce midfield and Gabriel will immediately shore up defence.

It won’t be as smooth of a return for the Brazilian as many might have hoped for. He and White have yet to play a competitive fixture together and his knee injury has kept him out of action since early July.

Still only 23 years old, mistakes will happen over the course of the season. It’s time to trust him at central defence and stop alternating between him and Pablo Mari. With £27m worth of talent, the best course of action is to allow that ability to develop with regular minutes.

If errors occur he should be given the next match to rectify them, not be left to sit on the bench to mull over them. Arsenal will be better for having an in form and backed Gabriel. The desire to utilise a higher line with the additional pace of the two first choice central defenders will naturally produce a few hairy moments. Ride those out and let the Brazilian keep the shirt on his back all Premier League season long.

Given that White and David Luiz share many qualities it could help the partnership blossom as Gabriel was best suited to his former teammate’s skillset. Originally an investment for the future, that time is now. Play him, develop him and believe in him.

He doesn’t need to kick a ball outside of the league and it’s time some return on that investment arrives. That’s by playing him. He’s someone Arsenal need and if Arteta can manage his development properly it will give him the base he craves to make inroads in other areas of the pitch.