Arsenal had to settle for a point against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. It was a result that Mike Arteta wanted to avoid.
The gap now between Arsenal and Manchester City is just four points. There was a time when Arsenal were running away with the Premier League title.
However, just two wins in the last five games have made this title race more interesting. Arteta has seen this before.
The Gunners have failed to get over the line in the Premier League in the last few years, even after leading in the title.
The reason for those failures was the lack of squad depth. However, this season, Arteta cannot complain about the squad depth due to the summer transfer business they did.
They also signed Eberechi Eze from the grasp of Tottenham Hotspur. Now, that signing has become a headache for the Gunners.
Eze started the game against Brentford. However, after 45 minutes, Arteta had to take him off and replace him with Martin Odegaard.
The England international had an outing to forget. He failed to register a single successful dribble in the game. Also, he failed to create any chances for his team.
Back in December, when Arsenal lost to Aston Villa, Arteta had to substitute Eze at halftime. After the game, Arteta explained why he had to take Eze off. He said (quote via football.london):
“Because with the way that they were pressing, I think we needed another kind of profile to generate many more problems for them around those areas.
“I think (Odegaard) came on in the pitch really well and the team had another gear and more threat to arrive to the areas that we wanted to do and that’s the decision.”
Arteta also backed Eze to deliver, and he is not worried by the lack of output. He said:
“Well I think he had moments and it’s not easy when you move to a new club.”
Arsenal will face Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday. After that, they will take on Wolverhampton Wanderers with the hope of getting back to winning ways in the Premier League.
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