-Credit:Getty
Jamie Carragher has raised the idea that we might already have seen the best of Arsenal under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have finished as runners-up to eventual champion Manchester City in each of the last two Premier League seasons, and they currently find themselves in second place one more — only this time, they’re behind Liverpool.
Arne Slot’s men have been something of a surprise package this season, losing just one of their opening 20 league games to establish themselves as the favorites to win the title.
There is undoubted frustration among Arsenal fans that their club has not been able to capitalize on Manchester City’s barely believable drop-off, and Carragher thinks this season could be a defining one for the North London club under Arteta.
READ MORE: Thomas Frank makes Bryan Mbeumo transfer declaration ahead of Brentford vs Liverpool
READ MORE: Ex-Liverpool star could play major role in securing Marcus Rashford transfer from Man Utd
“Have we already witnessed the peak years of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal reign?” Carragher posed in his column for The Telegraph. “It feels like this Emirates era is heading towards a crossroads, with Arsenal in the middle of a high-stakes game. This will either be one of the greatest seasons in the club’s history – ending a 21-year wait for the Premier League title – or a campaign which ends amid a highly-charged post-season review into how they squandered their best chance to become champions in two decades.”
Carragher argued that Arsenal is not as good as it was in either of the last two campaigns, and pointed to the club’s failure to recruit in attack last summer as one of the main reasons why: “It is obvious where the frustration will be directed if they fall off the pace. Long-standing and justified concerns about a lack of firepower have not been addressed. Prioritising signing midfielder Mikel Merino ahead of another attacker last summer looks like a mistake. Merino is not a game-changer.”
He added: “A nine-point Liverpool lead in December is currently a less-intimidating four points, albeit with a game in hand, with Arsenal’s supporters caught between a sense of frustration and enduring belief.
“That does not disguise the reality that Arsenal are not the same team as the last two years. There is yet to be a performance that leaves you thinking they look like the next champions. The balance of the squad is not right.”