Arsenal must right their footing against Norwich

Arsenal began this campaign in just about the worst possible way. While they dominated West Brom in the second round of the Carabao Cup, they were then duly decimated by Manchester City just days later; such is life, throughout history as well as football.

The Gunners need to turn this thing around with a victory, regardless of the roster, and numerous goals against the newly promoted Canaries. While Arsenal have already given pleasure to a newly promoted fanbase, Brentford, they will look to avoid a repeat and instead find some joy for themselves at the Emirates Stadium against a team that did not fare so well last time they had the entire Premier League to showcase their skills.

Should the Gunners find themselves unable to take care of this outfit this week, the glare on Mikel Arteta will only increase dramatically. A win will briefly decrease whatever pressure he does feel, and will get the club ready to do battle against some teams that will provide a greater challenge.

While Norwich is a must-win, it’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg; Burnley follows next week, and while they will likely still be reeling from a tough start to the season, not helped by the visit to Goodison Park on the previous Monday, will be desperate to score and win against an equally frazzled Arsenal lot.

Arsenal: Four matches in fifteen days, starting with Norwich, will test the will of this club and Mikel Arteta

With a victory against the Canaries secured, the Gunners will have hopefully gained some confidence and spirit for the match at Turf Moor. Sean Dyche will surely be on the hot seat, if he isn’t already, and so his team, like Arsenal, should be absolutely desperate.

Six points from these next two matches will do wonders for morale and the season’s prospects, but by no means will Arsenal be out of the weeds yet. Just days later, AFC Wimbledon will visit the Emirates, for the third round of the Carabao Cup and, of course, another must-win, that honestly shouldn’t be much closer than the victory over West Brom.

From there, a North London Derby awaits, as Tottenham also come to visit Arsenal to see if this patch of the capital remains red or not. As of now, Spurs are first in the league and top of the table, and so while it will remain to be seen how good they are as October nears, the Gunners will have to work themselves up over that stretch to feel as though they can be competitive against Nuno Espirito Santo’s re-energized Spurs.

This will not be an easy period, yet will be even more difficult without three points against Norwich first and foremost. While beating Burnley will be useful too, even that will feel less significant without a victory the previous week.

There will not be much time to think over the next two weeks, between training, playing and attempting to tune out the criticism and noise that comes with being a very famous and well-respected club. While the Gunners have not been playing like that over the last several years, they do still have that reputation and must keep up appearances and standards; this is why Arteta remains on the hot seat, and why Unai Emery was fired before him, and Wenger forced out before that.

Should Arteta and Arsenal fail on Saturday then there will be lots of questions to answer, not only from the media, but from the club hierarchy. With Antonio Conte free to choose whatever team he would like as his next job, Arteta has little room to slip further, and while I think he should remain on as the boss of the club, I can understand how his position might eventually be untenable moving forward.

Some have suggested that time may have already come, and it may have. I think that the next four matches will tell that story better. However, and I feel as though, like Wenger said recently, that the team can improve and make up for its early-season struggles.

As I led off with, this match against Norwich is the best, newest chance to prove that the first Premier League matches were flukes and that this team has more to give than what it has. With no goals and no wins there is not much to be thrilled about in north London currently. But by the second international break, things could be quite different.