Arsenal legend and Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has said that the club’s season is a write-off, and highlighted Jack Wilshere’s stand-out display against Bournemouth as evidence of their ‘meltdown.’
The Gunners are currently lying in sixth in the Premier League, and a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth over the weekend has put their chances of Champions League qualification in doubt.
Goals from Callum Wilson and Jordon Ibe cancelled out Hector Bellerin’s opener as Arsenal slipped to eight points behind Liverpool, who currently occupy that crucial fourth place.
The defeat also meant the Gunners fell further behind bitter rivals Tottenham, who increased the gap between the two teams to five points with a dominant 4-0 win over Everton.
Talking to Sky Sports, Nicholas said: “Phil Thompson called it a mini-crisis on Soccer Saturday, but I see it as being beyond that now. This season is a write-off and I can’t see where the next win is coming from. How many players do we need for a rebuild? Sanchez will be on his way, I still have hope for Mesut Ozil signing a new deal, but I think we’re five players short of being a top-four side.
“Arsenal are in meltdown, there’s no denying it anymore. When we saw them attack against Liverpool and Manchester United people said we were still a good side, but there’s no balance there with the defensive structure. The true evidence in how far Arsenal have gone backwards is that Jack Wilshere was the best player on the park against Bournemouth and the rest were scared to death.
“We’ve got Alex Iwobi, who hasn’t improved at all, playing when he should be getting punished. Then we’re looking at signing Malcom from Bordeaux, but who knows how long it will take him to adapt to the Premier League. The concern is how bad is it going to get? They’re sixth place and sinking and if Everton had their house in order, they’d be even lower. It is what I feared at the start of the season and I don’t enjoy being right on this occasion.”
OPINION
Nicholas is spot on here, and Arsenal are in big trouble after the Bournemouth defeat. When they were hanging in there with Spurs and Liverpool, with just two or three points between all three clubs, you felt they were in with a shout of that top-four spot. After this weekend, it looks a long way back for the Gunners. With several departures on the horizon, including those of Sanchez and Ozil, the future looks bleak for the club. They will have to start with some big-money signings, such as Malcom and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to have any chance of staying up there next season.