Has Arsenal’s quiet January window cost them European football?

Here we sit, with just seven games remaining and dreams of return to the Champions League is just about in tatters. Three weeks ago, Arsenal was riding a wave of momentum that had them earmarked for a top four finish.

However, we know how fickle football can be, and fast-forward three games and the Gunners have lost all three, played some terrible football, and look like the side at the start of the campaign that was completely out of its depth.

Arsenal had games in hand and could be as much as six points clear of its nearest rivals in the hunt for the coveted top four spot. Now, with just one game in hand ans three points adrift of Tottenham in fourth, as well as a considerable goal difference, the road to a European place is as tough as it has ever been.

So why has Arsenal fallen off a cliff? That could be pointed back to January. The club needed reinforcements, especially with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being moved on to Barcelona, and Mikel Arteta needed another central midfielder. Neither happened.

https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC/status/1515447971223154689

Has Arsenal’s quiet January window cost them European football? No striker reinforcements could be their Premier League undoing

That left the Gunners with only Alexandre Lacazette as the only true striker of Premier League caliber (at a stretch) and Eddie Nketiah as his backup.

The midfield was humming just three weeks ago. Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka had formed a superb partnership in the heart of the Gunners midfield in their newer roles, but the stocks were wafer thin. Should the unthinkable happen – which it now has – with Partey suffering injury, there would be little to no cover.

Albert Sambi Lokonga has shown his talent in glimpses but is not at Partey’s level. With the Ghanaian now out for the season, all looks lost for Arsenal.

This is a situation that could have and should have been avoided. After the January transfer window slammed shut there was one big fear for Arsenal and their bid to maintain their pursuit for a top-four spot: injuries.

While the club has done brilliantly in trimming the enormous wage bill, and many of the departures were widely welcome, it left the squad light on for bodies. Nketiah led the line against Southampton and Lokonga started in midfield but on the bench was where the problem was. Aside from Emile Smith Rowe and Nicolas Pepe, there was no player of Premier League quality to bring on to try and change the course of the game.

Again, this goes back to January and the club’s inability to consolidate its position in the league table. The argument could be made that Arsenal has been a little unlucky to lose Partey, Kieran Tierney, and Alexandre Lacazette – as well as Takehiro Tomiyasu’s niggling problems – all in the space of three weeks. But that’s football.

With Arsenal still to play Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, and West Ham in their remaining seven games, a top-four spot now looks extremely unlikely.

The frustrating thing for Arsenal fans is that this situation the club finds itself in could have been avoided. It was only going to take an injury to a key player for there to then be serious doubts over whether the Gunners could still mount a challenge.

Alas, with Partey injured, Arsenal simply does not look like the same side. At times there is no organization in midfield, no one to link midfield and attack, and no player capable of doing a job at both ends of the field like the Ghanaian can.

In attack, the Gunners have looked toothless at times as we know that for all of Lacazette’s qualities during the attacking build-up, his inability to score goals has come back to haunt the team time and time again. Not many fans would be happy having a half a season to play with only the Frenchman and Nketiah as the striking options.

If Arsenal does miss out on Champions League football it will be a bitter pill to swallow as it was there for the taking. And until those injuries mentioned above, it was a chance that they were taking.

Could the club have been a little more proactive in the January market? Without a doubt, but on the flip side, could they have brought in a player who was going to make a difference? As we know, mid-season is a tough time to lure top talent away from clubs and, if you do, clubs must severely overpay to get the deal over the line. But if that meant Champions League football returning to the Emirates, would it be worth it? Surely that is an undeniable yes.

Arsenal is limping to the finish line and is not only in danger of missing out on a Champions League spot, but if recent results continue, they could miss out on European football altogether. This is something that just three weeks ago, seemed unthinkable.