Arteta: I Knew Last Season’s Attacking Numbers Would Be Tough To Replicate

Mikel Arteta predicted a slump in our attacking efficiency…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admitted that he preempted our forward line’s inability to reach last season’s numbers as a lack of efficiency in the final third continues to hamper our chances this term, the Spaniard told the press.

While Bukayo Saka is on course to match last season’s figures with the forward currently sitting on 12 goal contributions in the Premier League, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus are struggling.

According to stats revealed by Sky Sports, the quartet are only converting a combined 10% of their chances this season which doesn’t bode well for a team aiming to win the title.

Arteta has stressed all season that he wants our accuracy in front of goal to improve and was concerned by the margin in the results despite our level of dominance within games.

The Spaniard has now revealed that he expected a dip in our forwards’ productivity, referring to the levels they reached last year as “exceptional”.

“I think what they did last year was exceptional,” Arteta said ahead of our FA Cup tie against Liverpool.

“To maintain those numbers, we knew would be extremely difficult because it was a one-off. Not just for us, a one-off in the league. So we know that we need all the resources and all those kinds of goals to maintain the level that we want in the league.”

One wonders that if Arteta had this foresight, why didn’t he address it last summer? While he did sign Kai Havertz, the German international was brought in to play in midfield.

The boss has only paid a transfer fee for two forwards during his tenure – Jesus and Leandro Trossard. For the levels we want to reach, history shows that there isn’t a magic trick to get your team scoring goals – you need clinic forwards.