Might Arsenal's lack of attacking verve cost the Gunners the title?
Mikel Arteta was adamant that the blame for Arsenal's defeat by Newcastle United on Saturday lay with the match officials.
"Embarrassing, it’s an absolute disgrace, that’s what it is: a disgrace," he said of the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winning goal.
"It’s not acceptable, there’s too much at stake. I don’t want to be in the hands of these people. I don’t know how to feel. I’m wasting my time, we are wasting our time.
"It’s difficult enough to compete against Newcastle – they are a really good team, but we have to talk about how the hell this goal stood. It’s an absolute disgrace it was allowed."
Gordon’s goal was certainly controversial. It could have been chalked off for three different reasons: the ball out of play, a foul on Gabriel Magalhaes, or an offside. It was no surprise that Arteta was upset, even if the strength of his diatribe was excessive.
In the days to come, though, the Arsenal manager will reflect on his team’s performance more broadly. When he does so, the concern for Arteta will be that Arsenal struggled to create clear-cut chances at St James’ Park.
It is true that Newcastle did not exactly fashion a huge amount of opportunities either. Arsenal looked reasonably solid for much of the encounter. Many visiting teams get blown away at St. James’ Park, but Arsenal were able to keep Newcastle at bay for the most part.
Yet even in the 30 minutes that followed Gordon’s opener, the Gunners produced little of note. Their most likely route to goal was from set-pieces, but poor delivery from Leandro Trossard let them down.
Without the likes of Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus throughout, and Oleksandr Zinchenko until the closing stages, there was a lack of guile to Arsenal’s play. They were unable to either penetrate the Newcastle rearguard through the middle or get around it out wide. Arsenal did not manage a single shot from inside the penalty area when their opponents were ahead.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss was the first time Arsenal have been beaten in the Premier League this season. Even after that setback they remain just three points adrift of top spot, at least until Tottenham Hotspur play Chelsea on Monday night.
Yet compared to this time last season, Arsenal’s football has not been as impressive - particularly going forward. At the time of writing they rank only ninth for shots per game (14.4), seventh for shots on target per game (5.3), seventh for expected goals, and 11th for shots inside the penalty area per game (7.9) - one place lower than Luton Town.
Arsenal were dominant in the opening months of last season, winning 14 and drawing one of their first 16 matches. Nine of those victories - a clear majority of 64% - were by a two-goal margin or more. This season, only 43 percent of their wins have been with the same gap between the two teams.
We are dealing with small sample sizes here. Moreover, Arsenal ultimately fell short in the title race last time out, so it does not really matter how well they played early on. Perhaps this team is better suited to being the chaser rather than the leader.
But once the anger over a contentious refereeing decision fades, Arteta will conclude that his side can do more. If they are to win the title, Arsenal must rediscover their attacking verve.
