Three Things We Learned after Arsenal drew at Fulham as Monaco Champions League clash looms 

Here's the Gooner Fanzine's Ian Mills with his regular Three Things We Learned feature 

Despite dominating possession, we were forced to settle for a share of the spoils at Craven Cottage.

Here are three things that stood out for me, writes Ian Mills for the Gooner

Attacking reinforcements are a must in January –

When Declan Rice played a tremendous throughball for Jesus, our Brazilian ‘striker’ was either caught in two minds, or opted out of what could have been a physical challenge for the ball with Bernd Leno, either way it summed up our current dearth of forward options.

Last summer we actively pursued a new frontman in the shape of Benjamin Sesko, however when he opted to stay at RB Leipzig we appeared to decide we did not need a shiny new forward after all.

We also pushed for Nico Williams only to be again be left frustrated and ended up with a last gasp loan deal for Raheem Sterling.

Jesus adds nothing to our attacking play and has now gone 21 Premier League games in a row without scoring whilst Raheem Sterling only makes cameo appearances occasionally from the bench, such is Mikel Arteta’s lack of trust in him.

Unless we do something in January, and yes I know it a really difficult time to recruit new players, we are going to continue to drop points as the current back up options are simply not good enough.

The margin for error has all but disappeared –

On a weekend when Manchester City dropped more points, and Liverpool did not play we had the opportunity to reduce the Merseysiders lead to four points however we failed to take advantage.

I accept we have had a tricky fixture list upto this point, particularly away from home, however it is just eight wins from 15 played so far.

We are going to have to embark on a phenomenal run while also hoping that Liverpool suffer a serous loss of form to bridge the gap.

Titles are not won in December however they can be lost that early.The footballing

Gods do not appear to be smiling on us –

As the old saying goes ‘you make your own luck’ yet it is difficult not to feel as if things are conspiring against somewhat when you consider the red cards we have suffered, being denied an extra two points by John Stones’ very late equaliser at City, Liverpool levelling late on when we had a makeshift back four, Trossard taking the ball off Havertz’s toe in the last seconds at Stamford Bridge and Saka being denied a late ‘winner’ at Craven Cottage as Martinelli had strayed offside in the build-up.

That said, it is hard to excuse the lacklustre display at Bournemouth or the awful performance at Newcastle.

To be clear this is not a time to feel sorry for ourselves, the only people that can things right are Arteta, his coaching staff and his players.

Save Our Season: Buy A Striker A frustrating afternoon along the banks of the River Thames only underlined the fact that Arsenal need a striker - and fastAdd your email to receive my daily Arsenal @SubstackInc https://t.co/kqZ74ePJUC pic.twitter.com/b7bTOmW6CI

— Layth (@laythy29) December 9, 2024