Arsenal verdict: Arteta’s lack of squad depth laid bare as tired Gunners struggle to keep up red-hot start to season
PSV EINDHOVEN made Arsenal look more National League than Europa League in a Thursday night mauling.
Mikel Arteta desperately needs to boost his squad depth with a January splurge as his tired troops waved the white flag in Holland.
The heroes of North London remain top of the Premier League but they won’t be for long if this form continues.
The midfield looked lethargic and the defence looked knackered – even Aaron Ramsdale was at fault for a goal.
A sluggish back line allowed PSV to run riot in the first half.
The Dutch hosts scored twice in the opening period, only for them both to be disallowed through VAR.
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And a pair of second-half goals from Joey Veerman and Luuk De Jong gave Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team an easy 2-0 win.
Now the Gunners must beat FC Zurich at the Emirates next week to guarantee they won’t be facing the likes of Barcelona and Juventus when they drop down from the Champions League.
After Arsenal fans begged Arteta to rest his stars for the Eindhoven clash, he played near enough a full-strength XI.
Now he must take Zurich seriously and give his experienced players another game in an already gruelling fixture pile-up.
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The former midfielder’s side clearly ran out of steam against Southampton at St Mary’s at the weekend.
They conceded a second-half equaliser and dropped two points as the drop in energy and urgency was all-too clear.
Manchester City are gaining momentum and Pep Guardiola’s team now sit just two points off the league leaders.
Erling Haaland and his mates are baying for blood.
Arteta would not have expected to be ahead of his former mentor at this stage of the season, with the North London club exceeding all expectations so far.
But owner Stan Kroenke is willing to finance another spending spree despite splashing out a hatful of cash in the summer.
He will back the Spanish boss with £50million of hard cash in the January transfer window.
This should help to prevent their title bid being wrecked by burn-out.. if it’s used wisely.
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With a winter World Cup coming up, in which Haaland won’t be involved, Gunners supporters may find themselves watching more tired displays like the one against PSV.
Manager Arteta is said to want to add at least two more players to his squad to help them stay top of the tree this Christmas – and he needs them.
