Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has questioned the direction his former club Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta are heading in after an unconvincing start to the season.
The north London club won the FA Cup at the end of last season but have already lost four league games in 2020/21.
Merson has been far from impressed, and made his thoughts clear in his column for Sky Sports.
“They were a million miles off Leeds last Sunday,” he wrote.
“You watch them and think they are a middle-of-the-table team.”
‘Easy to play against’
Arsenal sit 12th in the Premier League table at the moment. They are already seven points adrift of arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Merson puts this down to manager Mikel Arteta still not knowing his best team.
“It’s very, very easy to play against Arsenal at the moment and it doesn’t help that (Arteta) doesn’t know what his strongest team is,” he claimed.
The Gunners drew another blank last weekend when they were held 0-0 at Leeds. It was the fourth time already this season Arsenal had failed to find the net in a Premier League game.
Aubameyang struggling
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played up front in that match. The 31-year-old has largely operated from the left wing this season.
However, he failed to make the most of his opportunity, and Merson was disappointed by the forward’s showing.
“Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is bringing absolutely nothing to the party at the moment. He played central and was ineffective as he was before.”
Despite their Premier League form, Arsenal have flourished in Europe this season. Arteta’s men beat Molde 3-0 on Thursday to move into the last 32 of the competition.
Arteta aims to build on European form
The Gunners will hope to replicate that form domestically when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Arsenal haven’t won in the league since early November, when they saw off Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.
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