Mikel Areta has admitted that Arsenal lacks the “Spark” to win games and to fight the Premier League title.
Injuries to Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka left Arsenal from the options in the attack. The defensive midfielder Mikel Merino has run the line in the last two games, but the Gunners did not score a goal in both games and only made three shots for the goal in 180 minutes of action.
With a 1-0 defeat against West Ham United and 0: 0, where Nottingham Forest left 13 points behind Liverpool in the title race of the Premier League, Areta admitted that arsenal did not create enough chances to compete in silver.
“It doesn’t feel good,” he considered after the last setback. “We are here to win. But we showed an undeniable character how much we wanted and tried.
“We dominated the game. We tried many different ways. We insisted on it, but this spark was missing to unlock this last pass to unlock a well -organized team. We have to create more shots on the goal.”
The Forest Manager Nuno Espirito Santo summarized Arsenal’s attack performance after the game and admitted that he did not have the need to apply a defensive formation just because the canon “have no striker”.
Havertz and Jesus will only return in the 2025/26 season, while Areteta recently confirmed that Saka and Martinelli will only be ready after the international break in March.