- Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final
- The Gunners looked toothless in attack for much of Tuesday night’s clash.
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Ian Wright has urged the Arsenal board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window to save the season.
The Gunners suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
Arsenal dominated much of the match and although Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli missed great opportunities, they struggled to break down Newcastle and often looked harmless in attack.
Arteta’s side are currently missing star Bukayo Saka with a hamstring injury, while club captain Martin Odegaard has struggled for form in recent weeks.
The past month also saw the Gunners drop points against Fulham, Everton and Brighton to fall behind in the Premier League title race, and their attacking problems have come into the spotlight.
And, speaking after the clash with Newcastle, Arsenal legend Wright insisted the club will continue to face problems for the rest of the season unless they spend in January.
Ian Wright has urged the Arsenal board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer market
The Gunners struggled to create chances during their 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle.
Wright insisted Arteta “needs help” from the board if he is to save Arsenal’s season
“You have to look at the board now,” said the former Gunners striker ITV. “I don’t know what you do, but you have to try to do something.”
‘Listening to (Newcastle star) Anthony Gordon. Once they get into Newcastle, they feel like there won’t be enough to break them other than what we saw with Martinelli and we didn’t see it often enough.
‘He (Arteta) needs help. I know it’s very difficult to achieve something in this January window, but you need something more because if it continues like this, it will be very difficult to score.
“We don’t score with corners, we don’t score with the opportunities we create, something has to change.” Something has to happen…’
Wright’s comments come despite Arsenal’s heavy spending relative to their rivals since Arteta was appointed in 2019.
The Spaniard has signed 30 players during his tenure for a total outlay of £714m, representing a net spend of £500.14m, according to data from Football Transfers.
In comparison, Man City’s net spend was just £59.75 million in that same period.
However, the problem may arise with the distribution of Arsenal’s spending.
Arsenal struggle for creativity in the absence of Bukayo Saka with a hamstring problem
Wright insisted “something has to happen” this month for Arsenal to resolve their problems.
The Gunners dominated much of the match against Newcastle, but were also wasteful in front of goal.
Arteta has spent £299.2m on defenders and £275.4m on midfielders over the last five years, but only £140m has been spent on attackers – and that figure includes the £65m signing of Kai Havertz in the summer 2023.
However, Les Ferdinand, who was working alongside Wright for ITV, echoed his colleague’s thoughts and felt that Arsenal’s play was too slow against Newcastle.
“Yes, I’m referring to the opportunity they had with Gabriel Martinelli, I thought it was their best option,” he added.
“But to do that they needed to move the ball faster and have runners, but it seemed like they were struggling for an answer tonight.”
It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will enter the market this month, particularly with Saka absent, although both Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard joined during the winter window in previous years.
They will hope to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the second leg of their semi-final next month, while Arteta’s side currently sit six points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race, although the Reds have a party less.
Arsenal return to action on Sunday when they host Man United in the third round of the FA Cup.
