Arsenal duo to ‘cost’ Mikel Arteta ‘his job’ slammed for ‘going missing’ amid ‘major problem’
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been warned that two of his players could eventually “cost him his job” after they went “missing” against Newcastle United.
The Gunners have endured a disappointing start to the 2024/25 campaign as they have fallen behind Liverpool in the race for the Premier League title.
With Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes faltering, Arteta‘s side could do with winning a trophy this season but their hopes of reaching the Carabao Cup final were dealt a blow on Tuesday night.
This came as they suffered a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle United in the first leg of their semi-final as goals by Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon settled the match in the visitor’s favour.
Isak was the star man as he produced a world-class performance, exposing Arsenal’s desperate need to sign a top-tier striker.
The Gunners are known to admire Isak as he’s been mentioned among several possible targets but they have likely been priced out of a move for the £150m-rated forward.
Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has picked out their “major problem”, claiming Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus could “eventually cost Arteta his job”.
“The story of the game is Newcastle and he mentioned it, Newcastle were efficient and that’s the difference. Just because Arsenal have 69 or 70 per cent possession, is that reflecting the story of the game? Because the most important thing is the final third,” Burley said.
“In the final third, they are mediocre at best and there is a gaping hole, in my opinion, and one of the big differences why Arsenal have come up short when they were fighting City and how they’ve probably come up short against this Liverpool side, because this Liverpool side have got goals all around them without really having a natural striker.”
He added: “Liverpool have got Mo Salah, they’ve got [Luis] Diaz, they’ve got [Diogo] Jota, they’ve got [Cody] Gakpo, all these guys can score in big games. This is a major, major problem for Arsenal, this [Kai] Havertz, [Gabriel] Jesus situation.
“And they don’t address it, then maybe he’ll get the summer to go and address it again and they’ll push again but if he continues to go through this season, which I think they will and then through the summer without addressing it again, I think it’ll eventually cost him his job.”
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Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney has also been critical of Havertz and Jesus, accusing the two players of “going missing”.
“They do the same patterns of play, going down one side and trying to play inside, trying to get a third man runner,” Deeney said.
“All that Newcastle did, they just went [banks of] five and five and said: “Go on, break us down”. And they couldn’t do it.
“Yes, they had a couple of chances, but the chance that came to [Gabriel] Martinelli was a turnover. It wasn’t exactly that they worked it.
“The rest were from bits on corners, so it’s not exactly like they are breaking teams down. The one problem we’ve thrown at Arsenal’s door for the last two years, they need a striker and every year Mikel chooses not to do that.
“He goes with Gabby and he goes with Havertz and he thinks they can do it, but in the crunch time, those guys go missing unfortunately and that’s what happened today.”
