Mikel Arteta is hoping his strikers can rediscover their scoring touch when Arsenal host Nottingham Forestat the Emirates this afternoon.
Neither Gabriel Jesus nor Eddie Nketiah have found the net since the 3-0 win over Bodo/Glimt on 6 October and concerns are growing that their goal drought is adding pressure to a team that has started looking leggy in the last couple of weeks.
With five matches scheduled before club football pauses for the World Cup, opportunities to put things right on the training ground are few and far between. Instead, the boss is relying on his strike duo to draw on their experience to free themselves of the mental block.
“We need goals and we need them from our front players, that’s for sure, to win the games and give us bigger margins,” he said.
“That run of lack of goals has to end for us to be in the position for us to win more matches.
“Training is very restricted but sometimes it is a lot of mental things that you can work on and discuss.
“With the experience that they have, it is not the first time that they have been five games without scoring a goal in their careers – it’s happened to every striker that I know of. You have to deal with it, it’s part of the job.”
After Manchester City’s win over Leicester, the Gunners need to beat Forest to return to top spot in the Premier League table.
While Steve Cooper’s side are bottom of the table, last weekend’s win over Liverpool is a warning that on their day they are capable of beating anyone.
Arsenal know that first-hand having lost at Forest in January in the FA Cup. It’s a result that continues to play on the mind of captain Martin Odegaard.
In his captain’s notes column for the matchday programme, he said: “We played against Nottingham Forest last season when they knocked us out of the cup, so we know to expect a really big test today.
“I played the whole of that FA Cup game last season away at Forest, and I was very impressed with them that day, so if they have improved even more since then, then for sure they will be a difficult test today.
“They will be highly motivated coming to the Emirates today, with the confidence of their result last weekend as well. It’s up to us to get back to winning ways in the league.”
The selected cover photo makes them look pleased about their lack of goals. Smh #nocultureclub
Huh?
Just a troll, ignore it and it will go away. Probably a Chelsea fan who’s having a bad weekend.
Ha ha ha
Oof, swing and a miss with my ironic comments. I’m suitably shamed
I hate these constant press conferences.
Nothing but banal drivel.
“The strikers should score” is hardly a news item.
I wonder whether they’ll eventually shake the format up.
Football coverage in this country in general needs a good revamp; I can count the number of interesting journalists on one hand, and the less said about MotD the better.
And if I see one more ‘best tweets of the weekend’ article..
Lookng forward to being there and cheering them on today. Let’s get back on track before the Chelsea and Zurich matches!!! COYR!!!
This team needs some bit of pressure to sit-up and stay top.That’s why I wasn’t too concerned about city’s escape yesterday.We’ll be facing a five-man defence today but I trust the attackers to find a way.Hoping for maximum points today.
Really ramp the pressure up on forest today. Be brave, look for the spaces and create runs. Pass with pace in front of players. This all starts with the guys at the back. Expect the referee to be a spurs fan and give you nothing. None of this tepid, slow horseshoe bullshit. You are much, much better than them. Create enough chances, a striker will score one which will give them the confidence to score many.
By the way..what a comeback by Spurs last night..
Alan Sunderland was right 😂 Spud – why even bother?
The fact you had to come back from 2-0 down against a team who have been roundly thrashed by all of the other teams around you speaks volumes about where you are right now.
Who?
By the way ..No-one gives a sh*t
This season feels similar to 2015-16, but we are in an even better position this year. I hope (and assume) that Arteta is working to help the team build confidence again after defeats. Leicester’s achievement that year was made possible by consistency built on unity and belief. I think this is why it’s so important that we as fans really get behind the team no matter what. Hoping for a thrashing of the Forest today COYG
I agree, but in the end it’s the players who have to pull their collective finger out and get on with the business on the pitch.
I also hope we have a good win against Forest – it is, after all, second against bottom isn’t it – but it will be a good test of whether the much-talked about reset has worked or is beginning to work at least. After all, if we can’t beat Forest reasonably convincingly at The Emirates today, we face a pretty serious problem that Arteta will need to fix pdq.
Can this team shake off the lethargy in 2 days? I sincerely doubt. I feel we’ll see the “Reset” after the Mundial.
A laboured, 1 or 2 goal win is all I can hope for at this moment. The guys look knackered really.
Surprise me, please.
COYG!!!
Clearly, he’s right. Four goals from five games is a poor return by any standard not least ours in this season particularly. I am a fan of Jesus (sounds good for a lapel badge) and what he’s done for the team since arriving. However, although he contributes much, which is very welcome, his main task is sticking the ball into the net himself – that’s what a principal striker is there for. His tally of five goals I think so far in the PL is OK-ish, but as the games clock up it’s looking increasingly “thinner”. Perhaps he needs to… Read more »
Nketiah doesn’t do goals at a consistent rate.
He actually does nothing at a consistent rate, and is decidedly not up to what we need. We have to step up in the summer. In all honesty Gabriel Jesus should be competing with someone better than Nketiah for the No. 9.