Mikel Arteta has confessed it is “not realistic” for Arsenal to sign a new striker in January to address their goalscoring woes.
The Gunners slumped to their third consecutive defeat in all competitions on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to Liverpool that dumped them out of the FA Cup and extended their poor run of form to just one win in their last seven games.
Key to Arsenal’s struggles has been a dip in potency in front of goal, with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli failing to match last season’s electric form and new signing Kai Havertz also failing to have the desired impact thus far.
Asked whether a new striker could be signed in January, Arteta told beIN Sports: “At the moment it does not look realistic.
“What my job is, and what we have to do is improve our players and try to get better results with the players we have. One thing is what we need and another is what we can do.
“What we need to do now is stick behind those players, give them some love, train them and make sure they visualise something very different to what is actually happening now. They’ve done it. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, because they’ve done it.”
Arteta went on to confess he fears Arsenal have developed a psychological issue after another game which saw them create plenty of chances but fail to put the ball in the back of the net.
“Probably it has [become psychological],” he said. “Especially after today – more than it was against Fulham or West Ham before that. That’s why I think we need to reset.
“It is very difficult. But if the team is getting hammered and not playing well and not deserving to win football matches I’d be much more worried. I’m worried because I love winning and we have to win many more games. That’s the thing we have to change and probably what has to be reset is ‘up here’.”
Now out of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, Arsenal’s hopes of silverware this season rest on success in either the Premier League or Champions League.
Source: 90min.com