• Having been flat footed by Arsenal’s last display, the football media are now lost
• Arsenal desperately need a striker because you can’t score goals with kids. (Oh!)

By Tony Attwood

I don’t think it is too much of an exaggeration to say that Arsenal evolved a new (or at least rarely seen) approach to football yesterday – we might call it “goals from everyone, goals from everwhere!) or something like that.  I am sure you can do better.

The media of course, don’t want to know.  On their football page at the moment I write this (lunchtime on 6 March) the only reference the Guardian make to European football is the headline “Liverpool’s remarkable night in Paris”   Which leaves me wondering what was not remarkable about last night in Eindhoven.

Tottenham do, however get a mention with “Postecoglou sees redemption shot in Europa League.”

The Telegraph on its football page has a story about Ozil and his divisive politics and no less than three different Liverpool articles but nothing on Arsenal.  It has two stories about Liverpool on the front page of it football website today.

Si.com does however have a note to the effect that “Arsenal set the record in this year’s round of 16 with a 7-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven. Not only was it Arsenal’s biggest away win in the competition’s history, but ti was the biggest away win in knockout stage history.”  So at least someone noticed record breaking when it happens.

And this really does tell us a lot.   The fact is that Arsenal’s 1-7 win yesterday was two things – record-breaking and against the regular narrative.   And it is this second factor – that the win was not part of the narrative that the media portray about Arsenal, that has stopped it being headline news.

For as we all know perfectly well, the current narrative is, “Arsenal urgently need a striker” and that Arteta is to blame for not buying one.  That story ran all the way through the summer 2024 transfer window, as well as through the January 2025 transfer window, and to avoid being humiliated by their false predictions, the media responded by saying that Arsenal made a big mistake.   See for example

Micah Richards highlights major Arsenal mistake after Liverpool beat Man City in the Metro.

Or as the Sun put it  

Where Arsenal’s transfer window went wrong.

Now the great problem with stuff like this is that some people actually believe it.  And because the media don’t then put any counter view, for example noting the fact that Arsenal are (despite all their injury problems) second in the league and just two goals behind the second highest scoring club (Manchester City) in the Premier League.

Of course, I would love Arsenal to be scoring as many goals as they did in recent years in the League, but what I seem to be able to notice is that Arsenal have been able to score five or more goals in six games this season, despite not having a forward line.  These were in games against Bolton Wanderers, Sporting Clube, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Manchester City and PSV of course.

Now that is not too bad in my opinion.  And it compares with five or more goals scored in eight matches in the whole of last season.  Those were against Sheffield United, RC Lens, Crystal Palace (again), West Ham (again), Burnley, Sheffield United, and Chelsea.

Given that we have 11 league games left this season, plus at least one Champions League match (more likely at least three such games) it is likely that Arsenal will again get up to the rate of scoring five or more goals in eight games this season, despite the massive injury list which (in case you have forgotten) includes the whole of the forward line.

Of course if this narrative about needing a centre forward and thus disrupting how the team plays is bonkers – it may be that we could have a new forward, but it would have to be a player who is able to slot into the team without disrupting the goalscoring that is coming from across the whole XI at the moment.

And that of course is the problem that the “must have a new number 9” brigade won’t contemplate.  It is not the case of putting the new man in the team for a few games – it is taking out one of our regular goal scorers and rearranging how the team plays.

What Arsenal has invented is a way of having multiple scorers throughout the team, which has the effect of keeping the opposition unsure as to who to mark.   To throw that approach out simply to bring in a new number nine while the club is already scoring at such a terrific rate, seems crazy to me.