The league table looks generous. The performances, less so. Arsenal set pieces. have quietly become the punchline and the punchline is doing the heavy lifting. When Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus returned from injury, this was supposed to be a luxury problem. Too many attackers, too many goals, too many headaches for Mikel Arteta. Instead, it has turned into a philosophical seminar on why chances keep evaporating while corners keep paying the rent.
Arsenal are still near the summit, beneficiaries of rivals tripping over their own shoelaces. But peel back the results and the picture sharpens. Goals from open play have thinned. Rhythm has gone missing. The attack, once a jazz band improvising in tight spaces, now sounds like it’s playing from sheet music written in disappearing ink.
Arsenal set pieces. and the Comfort of Controlled Chaos
There is no shame in scoring from dead balls. Every champion does it. The problem begins when it becomes a habit rather than a weapon. Arsenal have leaned hard on routines, rehearsals, and the geometry of delivery. Four of their last five goals came after the whistle stopped play. Efficient? Yes. Sustainable? That’s the debate.
According to sources, the coaching staff see this as a phase, not a flaw. But phases have a way of overstaying their welcome. Opponents have noticed. They sit deep, narrow the pitch, invite crosses, and dare Arsenal to break them with invention rather than instruction.
This is where the eye test bites. The ball moves well until it reaches the box, where it suddenly looks like a stranger at a reunion. Familiar faces, awkward pauses, no hugs.
Arsenal set pieces. versus the Search for a No 9
Enter Viktor Gyokeres, signed to bully low blocks and turn half-chances into receipts. The theory was elegant. The practice has been stubborn. The striker’s league numbers read like a riddle without a clever answer: no shots on target across a dozen matches, entire games without a single attempt. That is not drought; that is meteorology.
Arteta, to his credit, has chosen empathy over panic. He talks about the modern striker’s burden, the crowded box, the scarcity of space. He is not wrong. But football is not a thesis defense. The clock ticks, the crowd murmurs, and patience is a finite resource.
Against Nottingham Forest, Gyokeres tried to break free and was calmly escorted back into irrelevance. Ten touches. Substituted. A week earlier, he looked useful against Chelsea. Consistency remains the missing currency.
Arsenal set pieces. masking Wide Woes
The supporting cast has not rescued the plot. Gabriel Martinelli’s league return has been alarmingly light. Noni Madueke’s domestic influence is still loading. Leandro Trossard’s December heat has cooled into January drizzle. Even Bukayo Saka, normally Arsenal’s north star, has been more provider than finisher, and even that has slowed.
Eberechi Eze’s integration has been uneven, his position still a question mark rather than an answer. Talent is everywhere. Alignment is not.
This is the paradox: Arsenal have numbers, options, combinations. They also have hesitation. The final pass arrives a second late. The shot is deferred for a better angle that never comes. When in doubt, win a corner.
Author’s Opinion: Why This Is Both a Problem and a Privilege
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Arsenal’s attack is misfiring, and they are still winning. That is not a crisis; it is a warning wrapped in a gift box. According to sources, internally this is framed as an opportunity rather than an alarm. Get it right now, and the ceiling rises. Ignore it, and spring becomes unforgiving.
Arteta’s loyalty to system and structure has built this team. That same loyalty now asks for flexibility. Kai Havertz, when fully sharp, offers something no one else does: gravity. He drags defenders, holds play, creates oxygen. When Mikel Merino filled in during Gyokeres’ injury, goals flowed and the pitch felt wider. The data whispered what the eye confirmed.
This does not mean abandoning Gyokeres. It means protecting him from himself and from expectation. Confidence is not coached; it is accumulated.
Viktor Gyokeres and the Weight of Numbers
Strikers live in a cruel economy. Movement without goals is appreciated only in theory. Gyokeres works, presses, fights. He also needs shots. Arsenal’s style, compressed and deliberate, has not yet given him the runway he enjoyed elsewhere.
Jesus understands this purgatory. He has lived there. His words about responsibility were not diplomatic filler; they were autobiographical. The problem is that Jesus, for all his intelligence, is also streaky. Havertz is coming, but timing matters. Champions League knockouts do not wait for rhythm.
What Happens Next
Arsenal head into Europe knowing that margins tighten. Finishing top matters. Home legs matter. By then, Arteta hopes Havertz is fully online and choices feel like choices again, not compromises.
For now, the league smiles. Corners keep falling kindly. But football has a memory, and it always asks the same question in April: can you score when the script breaks?
Right now, Arsenal are answering with rehearsed lines. Soon, they will need improvisation.That moment is coming fast. When it arrives, Arsenal must decide whether comfort beats courage, whether routine trumps risk, and whether belief in process can coexist with decisive adaptation. Titles reward teams who evolve midseason, not those who wait politely. Corners help, control helps, but goals from chaos crown champions. The clock is already tapping. Louder questions await soon. Very soon indeed. Now.
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