Arteta craves 50-goal striker at Arsenal but with no recognised No9 can his current attackers deliver title glory?
MIKEL ARTETA does not have the luxury of an Erling Haaland to lead his Arsenal line.
A serial, selfish, superhuman goal-getter capable of finding the net 50 times in a season without breaking a sweat. The Norwegian already has 14 in the Premier League.
As a result, Arteta has to get creative, using the collective force of his attacking options to share the goals and assists around the game by game, week by week.
Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz are tasked with that challenge.
Ahead of tonight’s clash with West Ham, Gunners boss Arteta said: “I would love for us to score five goals every week, you know?
“Would I like that Gabi, Eddie, Leo score 50 goals? Yes, for sure. Every manager would want a player that can score 50 goals guaranteed every season.
“But if you don’t have it, it means as well that they have other qualities that empower the qualities of the players next to them.
“I would prefer that those goals are shared because I think it is more probable that this is going to be consistently maintainable. This is what we have done.
“The amount of goals we share in the squad is really positive. We want more goals, that is for sure. I think we have got them within the team. I am very happy.”
But could the Spaniard be happier? Last season, while Arsenal suffered a late title collapse, their wingers stepped up to the plate in the absence of a traditional No.9.
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Saka and Martinelli enjoyed their best campaign in an Arsenal shirt to date, bagging 29 Prem goals between them, as well as 16 assists.
With five goals and six assists in the league already, Saka is well on course to improve on last year’s tally, while Martinelli still has a bit of work to do with just two goals and two assists.
That may be because Brazilian wide man is having less attempts during a 90 minutes this season, averaging 1.8 compared to 2.2 throughout 2022/23.
Unsurprisingly, Saka remains consistent. Last season, it was 2.3 shots a game. This time around, it is just as high at 2.2 shots a game.
Mohamed Salah aside – with 12 Prem goals – the 22-year-old England international has not been outscored by any other his winger rivals in the top four so far this season.
The same cannot be said for Trossard, with three goals and one assist, albeit from five Prem starts. Only 1.3 shots and 0.3 dribbles per game needs improvement also.
As for the more traditional central attackers, this is where Arteta feels he needs a step up in efficiency and regularity. Jesus and Nketiah are not elite goal scorers.
The most Jesus has ever scored in a Prem campaign was for Manchester City in 2019/20 with 14 – the year Pep Guardiola’s men lost out on the title to Liverpool.
Injuries have hampered the Brazilian since arriving in North London, playing only 39 out of a possible 56 in the league across two seasons.
With him, Arsenal are a much better team. Jesus’ link-up play is vital and has a great relationship with Saka and Martinelli, but he still lacks that venom in front of goal.
Having already been on the sidelines for 10 Arsenal games this term, seven strikes in all competitions is not terrible by any means, but only three of them are in the league.
Nketiah continues to be “lethal” off the bench, with five Prem goals from nine starts in the absence of Jesus, yet three of those came in one match at home to Sheffield United.
You get the sense that even if Jesus and Nketiah were unavailable, Arteta would be confident in getting enough goals through other means and reshuffling his pack.
On the one hand, that is a great asset to have. On the other, a sign neither Jesus nor Nketiah are long-term options as Arsenal frontmen.
From midfield, after a short spell out with injury and illness, Odegaard looks to be getting back to the type of form that saw him notch 15 league goals last year.
Four goals for the Emirates skipper, the same as new-boy Kai Havertz – the German looks to have come through his adaptation period and has found his feet in Arteta’s system.
Declan Rice’s three strikes should be mentioned, but he has a far greater role in keeping goals out in this team.
In total, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, Nketiah, Trossard, Odegaard and Havertz have scored 72 per cent of Arsenal’s league tally so far this season (26 out of 36).
All by himself, Haaland has 32 per cent of City’s total (14 out of 43), but Pep’s side can share it around too.
Jack Grealish (3), Jeremy Doku (2), Phil Foden (5), Julian Alvarez (5) and Bernardo Silva (5) have 20 league goals between them.
Scarily, City have averaged 2.8 goals a game since Haaland last played back on December 6, and the scoring machine is due back from his foot knock imminently.
Arteta is right to suggest Arsenal do not necessarily need a Haaland figure to get the goals they need to win the majority of Prem games, especially with a defence as good as theirs, conceding just 16 from 18.
But you cannot help but wonder how good they would be if they did.
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