Arsenal are not playing with the same ‘authority’ as last season and are finding it painfully hard to ‘unlock the door’, Jamie Redknapp has claimed – before suggesting one key position was functioning ‘so much better’ before an incredibly expensive revamp.
Arsenal lost further ground in the Premier League title race by only drawing 1-1 with Brighton on Saturday evening. Ethan Nwaneri put the Gunners ahead, before a controversial penalty was won and converted by Joao Pedro after a head clash with William Saliba.
The draw means Arsenal are five points behind league leaders Liverpool, who have the chance to go eight points clear if they beat 14th-placed Manchester United on Sunday.
With Manchester City also off the pace this season, it could have been Arsenal’s year to go one step better, but they have some serious catching up to do if they are to deny Arne Slot leading Liverpool to the title at the first time of asking.
And according to Redknapp, for any arguments Mikel Arteta can have about the Brighton penalty decision, Arsenal have regressed since being on a similar points tally this time last season.
Redknapp told Sky Sports: “What he’ll acknowledge after when he gets on the bus: They didn’t play well. That’s the facts.
“They haven’t been really at it this year, as much as what we’d expect from Arsenal. I thought they were certainties this year, I said at the start of the year. But they’ve gone backwards in terms of what we expect from them.
“They’ve got the same points as last year this time round last season, but they’re not playing with the same authority. They went on a great run after that and this is when they really found some momentum.
“The hard thing for them is they haven’t obviously got [Bukayo] Saka. [Martin] Odegaard isn’t really hitting the form that you’d really want him to do. And they look, unless they’re going to score a set piece, very difficult for them to open a team up at the moment. I know that [Kai] Havertz didn’t play today, but they are not flying, they are not firing on all cylinders.
“I think the game is quite hard for them at the moment in terms of trying to unlock the door. Maybe it’s a little bit of what the pressure Liverpool are putting on them, who knows. But they’re not playing as well as what we normally expect.
“I go back to a couple of years ago, before Declan Rice came. That midfield of Odegaard and [Thomas] Partey and [Granit] Xhaka was functioning so much better than any midfield that I’ve seen for the last couple of years from Arsenal. They were so much more efficient in how they played. At the moment, it’s not an easy watch when you see Arsenal.”
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Can Arsenal still win Premier League? Redknapp decides
While Liverpool are the heavy favourites to win the Premier League at the moment, there is still around half of the season to play.
Arsenal still have another 54 points to play for, and while it is unlikely they will claim all of them, Redknapp has urged them to ‘go on a Man City type of run’ and see where it takes them.
Over the last couple of seasons, Arsenal were leading the way for large stretches of the season only to be caught in the end by Man City, so they could channel that frustration into their own renewed title charge if they can rediscover some consistency.
Redknapp concluded: “Arsenal have got to go on a Man City type of run to win the title. That’s what they’ve got to do.
“They’ve got to look at what Manchester City have done over the last couple of years when they’ve hunted them down and chased them and made it so difficult and every time Man City would just get three points and put that pressure on Arsenal. But are Arsenal capable of doing it?”
