Mikel Arteta: ‘It doesn’t matter what we do in the other departments on the pitch, if we don’t score goals, we can do nothing’

MIKEL Arteta says Arsenal “urgently need to start putting the ball in the net” if they are going to save their faltering season.

Heading into the north London derby at Spurs last Sunday, Arteta was convinced that if the Gunners kept whipping in the crosses the goals would come. His team proved it was a lot more complicated than that, however, as they aimlessly launched more than 50 balls into the penalty box at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium only to come away empty handed.

The 2-0 defeat was the fifth time in 11 league outings that Arsenal have failed to score this season, making them the lowest goal-getters in the division outside the bottom three. Arteta has now acknowledged the simple truth of football: if you don’t score goals you can’t win matches.

With Arsenal lying 15th in the table ahead of this Sunday’s home match against Burnley, the Gunners boss was crystal clear on how his side can turn their fortunes around.

“By scoring goals. Very simple,” he said. “We need to score goals. If not, it’s unsustainable.

“It doesn’t matter what we do in the other departments on the pitch, if we don’t score goals, we can do nothing.”

Admitting the derby defeat “hurt a lot”, Arteta added: “I think we had 53 crosses into the box. It’s an incredible number.

“The situations that we generated were very clear. It was missing that final link, that final touch.

“You could see some of the chances that we created as well – there were crosses, cutbacks, we penetrated the penalty box on numerous occasions to find the last pass or the final ball, and when the ball came through we didn’t hit it or they blocked it.

“There were a lot of things happening. If we generate that every week, we will win football matches for sure.

“But at the moment it looks like we need a lot to score a goal.”

Meanwhile, amid increasing concern among fans – some of whom returned to the Emirates for last week’s win over Rapid Vienna – the January transfer window could arrive just in time to save Arteta’s job.

The Gunners are desperately lacking creativity in midfield, sparking rumours they could renew their interest in Lyon’s Houssem Aouar.

Arsenal were heavily linked with the French midfielder in the summer, but failed to meet his £55million asking price.

With speculation that the 22-year-old is unsettled at Lyon, can Arteta convince the board to splash the cash to land his dream signing?

The Gunners are also reportedly interested in RB Salzburg’s Dominik Szoboszlai, but face competition for the midfielder from Real Madrid.