Arsenal's Title Collapse: Who's Bottling It Most?

The consensus is settled: Arsenal are throwing away another Premier League title race. But within that collective meltdown, some shoulders carry far heavier blame than others. We've graded the entire squad from least culpable to most responsible for this unfolding disaster.

The Bystanders

Kai Havertz sits at the bottom of our list despite the noise surrounding his importance. Yes, Martin Keown waxed lyrical about his match-winning qualities, pointing to contributions in the Champions League dead rubber against Kairat Almaty and the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg versus Chelsea. But the numbers tell a different story: Arsenal have won all five games featuring the German, including their only two Premier League victories in their last seven—comfortable 4-0 and 3-0 triumphs over Leeds and Sunderland respectively. He's been their one consistent non-bottler.

Myles Lewis-Skelly? Hardly worth discussing. The 2024/25 breakout star hasn't featured in six consecutive matches and has managed just 310 Premier League minutes all season. Surely worth a look.

Declan Rice continues to labour admirably, carrying the team on his shoulders while Arsenal fans fantasise about handing him the captaincy as though an armband possesses magical properties. His increasingly exasperated expressions on the pitch tell the real story.

Mikel Merino came off the bench to equalise against Manchester United but couldn't prevent defeat. He played no role in the limp Liverpool draw—widely considered the moment the bottling truly began—and foot surgery has conveniently kept him away from the blame game since.

Cristhian Mosquera took a battering from Igor Thiago during the Brentford match but hasn't appeared in the Premier League since early December anyway, so his culpability remains theoretical.

The Genuinely Useless

Viktor Gyokeres' remarkable achievement is managing to be mostly irrelevant all season, thus avoiding responsibility for the collapse. Against Wolves, he managed no shots, touched the ball 12 times, and somehow neither won nor lost an aerial duel in 65 minutes. Blameless through sheer ineffectiveness.

William Saliba missed Brentford through illness but returned for Wolves looking fine. He's not accountable for either goal and remains key to the four clean sheets Arsenal have managed in seven games.

The Inconsistent Performers

Eberechi Eze proved next to nothing before being withdrawn at half-time against Brentford, yet somehow Arsenal supporters have managed to frame his mediocrity as entirely Arteta's fault for not unleashing him to do whatever he pleases.

Noni Madueke continues his mercurial existence—Arsenal fans have cycled through despising him, grudgingly accepting him, and now settling on "fine." He's performed exactly as expected from a winger of his unpredictable nature.

Ben White barely plays and appears blissfully unaware Arsenal are even contesting a title race.

The Complicated Cases

Martin Odegaard's absence was keenly felt during the Wolves stalemate, and his cameo from the bench against Brentford suggested his presence matters. Yet he's featured in numerous matches this season when Arsenal's attack looked equally toothless. His 2022/23 form—when others crumbled around him—suggests Arteta should prioritise getting him back fit.

Piero Hincapie could only watch as Hugo Bueno channelled his inner Arjen Robben, cutting inside to curl a left-footed finish past David Raya. Passive defending after scoring himself amounts to small-scale capitulation.

The Real Problems

Gabriel Magalhães stands atop the Premier League's defensive hierarchy, which makes his bottling potential genuinely alarming. His positioning for Wolves' equaliser on Wednesday left much to be desired, though the second protagonist in that blunder bears primary responsibility.

Martin Zubimendi appears an improvement on his unnamed predecessor and has struck some lovely goals, settling comfortably at the base of midfield. Perhaps too comfortably. Increasingly, forward-passing opportunities disappear in favour of safe options, the early-season elegance replaced by cautious restriction.

Gabriel Jesus arrived as a late substitute and contributed nothing of consequence in 25 minutes before shoving Yerson Mosquera over like a petulant child before the whistle. Rattled doesn't begin to cover it.

Gabriel Martinelli embodies the modern bottlejob. Perfectly capable when fortune smiles, he shrinks pathetically when the pressure intensifies, occupying Arsenal's left wing like a zone dedicated to possession loss. Eight giveaways against Wolves—remarkable he finished the match.

Leandro Trossard, supposedly the man who "makes things happen," has managed one assist and zero goals in his last eight Premier League appearances after four goals and three assists in the previous ten.

The Catastrophic Failures

Riccardo Calafiori's season trajectory is damning. His only goal arrived in game one, his only assists in game two. By Wednesday, he'd reached his nadir: an own goal at stoppage time after blocking Tom Edozie's shot with his first touch, then deflecting the rebound past David Raya with his second.

Jurrien Timber's reputation as "the best right-back in the world"—per William Saliba's assessment—made his Wolves performance genuinely shocking. Late in the contest, under zero pressure with multiple passing options available, Timber launched the ball vaguely towards the Wolves goal but to absolutely no one in particular, like a five-year-old encountering football's most basic principles for the first time.

David Raya, comfortably the Premier League's finest goalkeeper yet somehow "a guy who's got a rick in him," delivered the ultimate bottlejob moment in stoppage time. Whether he called for the ball before colliding with Gabriel remains unclear, but the solution was simple: catch it. His high-ball handling against Brentford looked equally unconvincing, at times suggesting he might dissolve into tears.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring against Wolves—the worst team in Premier League history—yet subsequently disappeared. Your best forward by considerable distance should seize such opportunities, particularly when wearing the armband. Where's the Saka who routinely dismantles elite defenders? When did he last cut inside and curl one into the top corner? That used to happen fortnightly.

Arsenal have won their last two matches without him through injury. Coincidence seems unlikely.

The Man in the Dugout

Mikel Arteta tops this list not through lack of trying, but through repeated failure when it matters most. Articles debating his sacking while Arsenal sit five points clear with the title within reach reveals the depth of past bottlings and widespread scepticism about his ability to avoid another.

He looked like a cold, lonely child on the Brentford touchline and genuinely frightened throughout the Wolves draw. Even at 2-0 up, he appeared as though he'd require two hours alone in a dark room followed by another hour of therapy.

His vow less than a month ago to have Arsenal "live and play with enjoyment" rings hollow. So does his insistence on "courage and conviction." Instead, the team looks cowardly and miserable. His invitation to "jump on the fun boat" was rejected by supporters who recognised it was full of holes and sinking fast.

Time and again, when backs press against the wall, Arteta shrinks with his team rather than lifting them. That pattern, more than any other factor, explains why Arsenal fans have lost faith despite their league position remaining competitive.