Granit Xhaka has insisted that to catch Manchester City that Arsenal must improve and go to the next level. The Gunners were beaten by a single goal by Nottingham Forest despite having a dominant hold on possession and far more opportunities to score.
Forest themselves demonstrated the defensive resilience that Arsenal have lacked in so many games this season, particularly in recent weeks. The Gunners saw their winning run end at Anfield after they sacrificed a two-goal lead before dropping further points to West Ham United and then at home to Southampton.
Xhaka has been a critical part of the group this season and has seen his game go to another level under the coaching of Mikel Arteta. The Swiss international spoke to football.london after the disappointing defeat and discussed the side’s collapse.
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"It is easy to say now where it happens. I mean, we know maybe the West Ham and Southampton game killed us a little bit," Xhaka said.
"But still, the other games we had everything in our hands. Of course, there was the Man City game where we lost, but still after that I think we need to try and we need to keep as long as possible to be there, but we didn’t.
"Against Brighton, we lost clearly. Today as well it was a very difficult game."
It has been a combination of factors which has led to this decline in form. The key injuries to the likes of William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and most recently Gabriel Martinelli has taken their toll and unlike Man City, Arsenal do not have the comparative depth.
The summer is surely an area where the club will look to address these contrasting squad dynamics to their title rivals. football.london asked Xhaka how he feels the squad reaches that next level to better compete with Pep Guardiola’s side but the 30-year-old directed attention to the manager and guys 'upstairs' - although did admit that it’s tricky to discuss the future right now.
"I am totally the wrong guy to speak about it," he added. "You have the coach, you have the guys they are upstairs, they know maybe better than me what’s the next step for this club.
"But, it’s maybe difficult to speak now about what happens next because we are disappointed and sad, but we have to keep going. We have worked 11 months very well, I think. Let's enjoy the last game at home and let's see forward."
He added that this side simply need to continue on the pathway that they have embarked on. Sending a message to his teammates of the present and future that they need to be ready for any challenge the future could bring forth.
Xhaka said: "Yeah, we have to think about it. I mean we played a great season but we have to keep going, we have to take the next step because it will be much more difficult next season than this season.
"We know that. That's why the board and the coach will decide what will happen - but as players, we have to be ready for everything."
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