Arsenal have been on the end of some questionable decisions from referees this season, but, let’s be honest, there’s a bigger elephant in the room than the VAR official from Saturday’s draw with Burnley, Kevin Friend.
‘Shooting yourselves in the foot’ is a phrase synonymous with many fans of sporting teams, but, if the definition was ever to be accompanied by a picture, you feel it would be one of this current Gunners squad.
I mean, you have to congratulate the current squad of players on their ability to screw themselves over in circumstances of self-harm not witnessed from any fan of a sports team in a while.
Who is to blame for Arsenal's league position?
Referees
Arsenal
You can go over any of the goals conceded across the last four or five games and they’re virtually all down to individual errors. Prior to Granit Xhaka’s boneheaded decision to pass straight to Chris Wood, the near-escape in both legs versus Benfica and the 1-0 loss at home to Manchester City prove Arsenal’s worst enemies are themselves.
Leaving the midget, although talented footballer, that is Raheem Sterling free in the six-yard box borders on unforgivable. And either side of that was the giving away of a stupid free-kick, penalty and one-on-one attempt against the Liga NOS giants, in a Europa League tie that should never have been so difficult judging on what Jorge Jesus’ side had to offer.
And these are just mistakes from recent outings, missing out errors dating back to the beginning of February.
Cedric Soares gifting possession away in the defeat to Aston Villa, the generous awarding of a penalty and sending offs versus Wolves and allowing Youri Tielemans to waltz into the box in the 3-1 victory over Leicester City two weeks ago.
We all knew Mikel Arteta had a big jobs on his hands prior to his announcement as head coach back in December 2019, however, this season has shown he could be fighting a losing battle if the current mistakes aren’t ironed out, and quickly.
