Arsenal were seven points behind Liverpool coming into Matchday 15 of the Premier League, but with four wins and no losses in their last six games, there was optimism that the Gunners were, once again, turning the corner.
Although Arsenal did not lose on Sunday to local rivals Fulham, they failed to beat former players Bernd Leno, Alex Iwobi, and Emile Smith-Rowe in what was another largely dismal performance from a team that has fallen well below expectations this season.
Arsenal could only muster a 1-1 draw to Fulham in the end, and while some will point to a controversial finish as VAR chalked off Bukayo Saka’s goal, the officiating excuses Arsenal use have become nauseating; simply put, this team isn’t getting the job done.
Here are three talented Arsenal players who need to step up or step aside in 2025, because the Gunners can’t keep dropping points against teams they should be beating if they want to be champions.
CF Kai Havertz
Although Kai Havertz had an assist on paper against Fulham, he didn’t distinguish himself meaningfully and had another lackluster display at the heart of the Arsenal attack.
That’s been the story of Havertz since he arrived in North London from Chelsea. He can have great games and even great months, looking like one of the best players in all of European football with bags of goals and assists.
But then just as suddenly, he’ll go quiet for an even more extended period of time, failing to impose himself on matches and genuinely looking like he doesn’t even belong on a Premier League pitch.
Havertz hasn’t changed from his dismal days at Chelsea, and Arsenal have to realize that they paid top dollar for a guy who is nothing more than a utility center forward, barely at an operative level higher than the man he replaced, Gabriel Jesus.
With five goals and two assists in 14 games and well under a key pass and a dribble completed per contest, Havertz has been above-average at his position only if you compare him to the expectations of a mid-table striker.
For what Arsenal require as aspiring Premier League champions, Havertz is falling well short of that, and he really shouldn’t be getting owned that badly against a duo of Calvin Bassey and Issa Diop.
FW Leandro Trossard
Leandro Trossard has now started 10 out of 15 games on the left wing for Arsenal with Gabriel Martinelli continuing to struggle for a second season running, and while Trossard has actually been a superior option to the Brazilian international, the difference isn’t all that significant.
The Belgian winger was painfully average against Fulham, because while he created a pair of chances for his teammates, that’s no less than what you’d expect from any old attacking player facing Fulham.
Arsenal require more from a starting left winger. Trossard offered no goal threat, no one-on-one ability, and basically played into Fulham’s hands with a stagnant performance befitting a meandering possession side.
If what Jamie Carragher posits is true and Arsenal want to invoke Jose Mourinho by playing nasty defensively and owning set pieces and counters, then they are going to need someone more explosive on that wing than Trossard, who, like Havertz, is really just a decent role player.
Although Trossard is more consistent than Martinelli and both creates and defends better than the 23-year-old, he is basically equivalent overall with far less individual goal-scoring upside, which, after all, is this team’s biggest weakness.
CF Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus didn’t start against Fulham, but in about 20 minutes off the bench, you’d expect a lot more from a veteran striker than what the former Manchester City man had to offer.
He accrued no stats in 20 minutes of a must-win game in the title race against a decent – but beatable – side. Jesus had no key passes, no dribbles completed, no fouls drawn, and not even a single shot. Not one.
That sums up Jesus this season. He has been Arsenal’s worst player, relegated to a bench role below a fairly mediocre Kai Havertz, which is a major indictment of his increasingly erratic and lethargic displays at the center forward position.
Jesus has, in hindsight, been a poor signing, and, at this level in the 2024/25 season, is no longer even fulfilling his most basic obligations as a backup striker for Arsenal.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.