Arsenal’s April curse strikes again! SAMI MOKBEL reveals exactly what needs to change for Mikel Arteta to win major honours

It is April and Arsenal appear to be running out of steam. Again.

For the third consecutive season the Gunners are stuttering at the business end of the season.

Two wins from a possible five in all competitions this month has seen Arsenal crash out of the Champions League to Bayern Munich, while their Premier League defeat to Aston Villa last weekend leaves their title challenge in the balance.

‘It is what it is,’ said head coach Mikel Arteta on Friday when asked about his team’s apparent April curse.

‘We have to accept it. In the two games, especially the Bayern one at home, at the beginning it could have been different.

Yet again, Arsenal have began to crumble as they approach the business end of the season

Mikel Arteta’s side have repeatedly struggled to get results in April, across recent seasons

‘I have reviewed the Villa game three times and I think we were the better team.

‘Now it’s not about talking too much, we have to show what we’re made of and turn the situation around.’

Lose at Wolves this weekend and Arsenal will look an April fool.

Here, Mail Sport looks why their form has dipped and how Arteta may try to rectify the situation.

FATIGUE

Arsenal will have played 52 matches by the end of the season. It comes with the territory of being a top side and it’s a schedule they will have to get used to if they want to continue among Europe’s elite.

But it’s pertinent to stress that this is the first time this batch of players have faced a season of such intensity.

‘Obviously the calendar continues to be more and more demanding, and we have more games, more competitions, less rest, we have two options – we reduce that or we have more players in the squad,’ said Arteta.

To that end, it appears the workload maybe catching up with Arsenal. The drab second half display in last week’s surprise loss to Villa indicated signs of weariness. Their lacklustre showing at Bayern on Wednesday offered further signs that the players are running on empty.

Arteta and his coaching staff have tapered the squad’s training schedule during the final months of the season. A focus on recovery or what the club call ‘regeneration sessions’ have a become key in the run-in.

Arsenal have made ‘regeneration sessions’ a key aspect to their squad training schedule

Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing side will have played 52 matches by the end of the season

That said, however, according to data Arteta is reluctant to rotate his most important players amid recent assertions that Spaniard doesn’t have complete faith in his squad.

Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Ben White, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have all played at least 40 matches this season.

Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz have started 39 and 37, respectively. Arteta has used 25 players in the Premier League, the joint lowest number along with Manchester City, West Ham, Everton and Fulham.

Arteta has made 59 changes to his starting XI in top-flight matches, the 12th most.

His use of substitutes has also been questioned. For example: Arsenal have made 135 substitutions in the Premier League this season, the 10th most. Thirteen of those have been made before the 60th minute and 63 before the 75th, placing them 18th and 12th, respectively.

If certain players are feeling the pace, it would be perfectly understandable. Mail Sport knows at least three of the aforementioned players are paying thousands of pounds for private well-being sessions away from the auspices of Arsenal’s medical team to top up their recoveries in-between matches.

The rigours of a long hard season are felt by all clubs, it isn’t an issue exclusive to Arsenal – although the fact Saka – arguably the club’s most potent attacker – is currently playing with hamstring and groin niggles, as well as a long-term Achilles problem, arrives at the worst possible time.

White has played with a long-standing knee issue that will be re-assessed at the end of the season, though the ACL injury suffered by Jurrien Timber during the opening day of the season and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s unavailability for much of the season has hampered Arteta options at full-back.

Similarly, Gabriel Jesus recently admitted he doesn’t remember the last time he played without pain as Arsenal manage his ongoing knee issue.

Bukayo Saka (L) has been playing for the Gunners despite a number of minor injuries

INEXPERIENCE

Winning becomes a habit. You learn, with experience, how to get over the line. That is, perhaps, Arsenal’s biggest disadvantage of all.

Arteta has assembled a brilliant team, bursting with verve and vibrancy, but they are young and still learning about elite level football.

Most pertinently of all, it is not a team that has won a major trophy together. Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus have enjoyed individual success at rival Premier League sides but nothing can replicate the sense of collective triumph. The value it adds to a team is immeasurable.

Of course, it’s important to add balance to assertions that, for the third consecutive season, that Arsenal are fading when it matters most.

They are second with six games to go, two points behind leaders Manchester City, who are generally considered the best side on the planet.

Last season the club competed for the title with the youngest squad in the league, closing what was a 24 point gap to City during the 2021/22 season to just five.

It’s a rapid improvement, but taking that final step is unquestionably much harder. The club is on course to qualify for the Champions League in back-to-back seasons for the first time in seven years, not necessarily the easiest accomplishment as Eddie Howe and Newcastle have discovered.

Player such as Kai Havertz (centre) have enjoyed individual success elsewhere but, as a collective, Arsenal boast a relatively in-experienced squad

Nevertheless, the annual April fall off should concern Arteta. During the Spaniard’s reign, Arsenal have a 31 percent April win percentage. Overall they have a 58 percent victory ratio under Arteta.

Physical conditioning is a clear factor here. But you wonder what psychological toll playing in high-pressure games towards the season climax is having.

‘The better you become and the closer you are to fighting with the best teams this league has ever had in the history of the Premier League, you know what the margins are,’ explained Arteta.

‘We’ve been at the top for many months in the last 24 months. When you are there, there are only two ways that you can go. You stay there or you go down.

‘There’s only one winner. If you want to be in that mix, you have to cope with any situation that comes because if not, everything is a disappointment.’

During Mikel Arteta’s reign in north London, Arsenal have a 31 percent April win percentage

MAGICAL MOMENTS

Arsenal have accumulated 33 shots on target from outside the penalty area, only five teams have taken less in the Premier League. Of those 33, six were goals, the joint seventh best tally in the division.

Arsenal’s build up play is unquestionably one of the most fluent and decisive in the league. Their patterns and bursts of acceleration through Saka and Gabriel Martinelli provide an irresistible combination.

It is understandable then that they trust the methods that have heralded a lightening improvement over the past three seasons. But if they can’t unlock the door, then sometimes you are reliant on a piece of individual magic.

And there is, arguably, an over-reliance on their mechanisms honed at their London Colney HQ – sometimes you don’t need to score the perfect goal.

Sometimes, taking a punt from distance does the job. Manchester City, for instance, have accumulated double the amount shots on target from outside the box than Arsenal have, scoring 12 from 66.

Set pieces have been a successful source of goals for the Gunners this season, thanks in no small part to their excellent dead ball coach Nicolas Jover.

But even their set piece success has dried up in recent weeks, a dip that has contributed to their recent slump.

The Gunners have often relied on moments from magic from the likes of Gabriel Martinelli

Nicolas Jover (R) has been credited with Arsenal’s set-piece success over the 2023-24 season

So, sometimes a plan B is necessary. ‘I think they [Saka and Odegaard] are constantly targeted,’ said Arteta.

‘Our best players, like any other opponent, we always try to find ways to prepare the game in the best way to help them.

‘If they try to do certain things to stop us we try to find other ways, other spaces, other options. This is a journey that won’t stop because there’s always something else that they’ll try and you have to adapt it and make it work.’

SUMMER PLANS

Arteta made a conscious decision last summer to make his team more robust. The signings of Declan Rice, David Raya and Kai Havertz are additions that have added value. Rice, in particular, has taken his game to a new level since his arrival from West Ham.

But there is an understanding now that the team needs its cherry on the cake. A bonafide match-winner.

Arsenal technical director Edu will be tasked with signing a new prolific centre forward ahead of next season, while a wide player will also become a priority in the event of either Reiss Nelson or Leandro Trossard departing.

The club’s push for a new No 9 casts doubt over Jesus’ role in the team moving forward. The Brazil international is viewed as the club’s first choice striker, but he could be pinned as a wide player next season if Arsenal can land the striker they crave.

The basis of a title winning side is in situ – but there is an emerging view that they require firepower and an extra dash of flair to complete the job.

Declan Rice has developed his game since arriving from West Ham during the summer window

Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is one of the names on the Gunners’ summer shortlist

Thomas Partey’s unreliability and Jorginho’s age will see the club aim to sign a new midfield partner for Rice. Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is admired, while a number of clubs across Europe are keeping a close eye on Bruno Guimaraes situation at Newcastle.

A new left-back is also on Arsenal’s radar, which may have consequences for Zinchenko’s future. The fact Jesus and Zinchenko’s place in the Arteta’s plans are being questioned is indicative of how quickly this side has evolved. The pair were irreplaceable last season.

What is clear, however, is that Arteta needs a squad he trusts. His apparent reluctance to utilise all of his players suggests he may not truly believe in them all.

With that in mind, expect a host of Arsenal’s fringe players to be shown the exit door this summer because if Arsenal are to continue their ascent, Arteta needs a squad – not just a starting XI – he can truly rely on.