Arsenal slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Monday night that could prove fatal for their chances of qualifying for Champions League. They now must beat Everton on the final day of the season and hope Tottenham lose at Norwich if they are to pip their rivals.
The visitors knew a win at St James' Park followed by another victory at home to Everton on Sunday would have secured a place inside the top four, but now it seems like they’re almost certain to finish below rivals Spurs and miss out on Champions League football for a sixth straight season.
Post-match, Mikel Arteta admitted, "It was a really difficult night to swallow, Newcastle deserved to win the match comfortably, they were much better than us from the beginning to the last minute. We had nothing in the game.
"They were much better in every department. We were poor with the ball. A lot of things happened during the night, with the substitutions we had to make through injuries, but it's not an excuse. Newcastle deserved to win the match."
Back in the Sky Sports studio, pundit Jamie Carragher blasted Arsenal ’s recent form as being “nowhere near good enough” and questioned why they’re not able to react when things go against them.
“It’s not just the six defeats which are nowhere near good enough, six out of 11. It’s the 11 they go on, they can’t get out of defeats,” said the former Liverpool defender.
“There’s no reaction that you expect from a big team, even at half-time, you think that performance is so poor. You expect it from big teams to come out and show something and that’s what they’re lacking. It’s not a massive underachievement, they probably are the fifth-best team but it’s a massive opportunity dropped.”
Carragher's criticism carries merit. Arsenal under Arteta have often looked void of a Plan B, especially when falling behind and needing to find a route back into a game. This point is captured by the fact that so far this season, Arsenal have conceded first on 11 occasions.
In just one of those 11 matches, Arteta’s men came from behind to win, with the other ten ending in defeats. That hands them a points average of 0.27 from such games this season - only Watford and Norwich have averaged lower than that.
A big contributor to these issues is that Arsenal rarely look to adjust their approach under Arteta. While sticking to principles can in some ways be applauded, trying to break down a team with short intricate passing becomes a much tougher task when they take a lead and can afford to sit deeper and defend in greater numbers.
If this season does end in Champions League disappointment, as seems likely, then Arteta must learn from the experience and find more than one way to grind out results if they’re to compete with and overcome their top-four rivals next season.
