Arsenal a victim of its own success?

Arsenal under Mikel Arteta doesn't seem to have the same flair and power of previous seasons, but there might be a reason for that.

Arsenal have been struggling in the Premier League of late. Back-to-back draws with a Monaco win sandwiched in between show that the Gunners are still struggling to hit top gear.

Of course, the long injury list has played its part too, but there might be another reason why the Gunners are seemingly easier to halt this season than in previous years.

We remember when Arsenal rose to title challenger status under Arteta. It was fresh, it was new, and the league hadn't seen it before. As such, back-to-back second-place finishes in 2022/23 and 2023/24 showed the Gunners were on the right track.

But this season? That train is off the tracks, and Goal.com's Sean Walsh has many theories, one being that the rest of the league has caught up to Arsenal's way of doing things.

"When Arteta's Arsenal first announced themselves as genuine title challengers, it was a fun and exciting story of a sleeping giant waking," Walsh writes. "That novelty is gone both inside and outside the club.

"Teams don't afford them the same freedom. Opponents show them far more respect, which is precisely why Everton sought to take the sting out of Saturday's affair from minute one. It couldn't be a back-and-forth contest otherwise they would lose. In contrast, the new threats of Arne Slot's Liverpool and Enzo Maresca's Chelsea have not yet been fully figured out by the rest of the Premier League, making Arsenal look outdated even by their young standards."

Is it really that simple? Arsenal have simply been figured out by the rest of the league?

Granted there is huge merit in that thought with the Gunners not the shiny new toy in the room anymore, but also there is the injury list, which seems to be getting longer with each passing day.

But perhaps what is rather frustrating is that the Gunners, while they were held to draws against Fulham and Everton, showed Monaco a clean pair of heels and looked like how Arsenal are supposed to look under Arteta.

So it isn't like their game has completely fallen away, but this first part of the season shows that either reinforcements need to come in during January and/or Arteta needs to make some tactical tweaks to avoid being "figured out" for even longer.

And Arsenal's title hopes might rest on it.

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